Grow Your Business and Profitability

The secret to success in business is to get new customers and then get those customers to come back for more and/or at least make a good referral or two.

You can get new customers by knocking on doors, mass media advertising, telemarketing and many other ways.  For most businesses, the most cost effective way of attracting new customers is by getting fund when they are actively looking for you.

And today, that means being found online.

Get Found

Today the majority of people search for products, services and vendors online.

That used to mean you had to have a website. And while it is still a good idea to have an effective website, today that is not the only approach as social media venues have come into existence and flourished.

Get Repeat Business

Once you have a customer it is far easier to get them to make a second and third purchase. Assuming you have provided good service in the first place. That quality of service is up to you and your team, but there are online tactics you should employ to enhance your relationship with your customers.

Whenever possible you want to get existing customers to not only buy more but to make referrals to help you build your business.

This is an arena called reputation management that is going to become increasingly important online in the coming years.

Today there is a superb new tool that can help you get more good reviews and ethically divert the so-so and bad reviews. To learn more click on the image below.

Reputation Management

Your reputation will make or break your business.

Today slime-balls will post garbage and hurt you.  You must know what and how to protect yourself.

The primary key is to get your existing satisfied customers to sing your praises.

This is sometimes hard to do, but those who develop a systematic approach to encouraging positive reviews will be rewarded with more new business as a result.

The internet has become significantly more interactive, which can be a real challenge for small business people who do not have a lot of extra time to get involved in social media.

Social Media

There has been an explosion of social media online, with the advent of vehicles like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest and dozens and dozens of other players.

Mastering any of these is time consuming, and there is no way you can possible master them all.

The secret is understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and optimizing a strategy tailored to your specific needs and marketplace.

And to keep up with the changing trends online.

One of the major trends is the shift to Video.

Video

If a picture is worth a thousand words, it may be that a video is worth ten thousand.

The good news is that video is not as difficult as many think, and better yet need not be a major expense.  Short home made videos can be very effective in the right circumstances.

The effective use of video can sometime trump a huge investment your competitor put into SEO work on their website.

It can increase your own sites ranking by helping increase “hang time” on your site.

And it is increasingly a powerful way to get seen on mobile devices from cell phones to tablets.

And that is another clearly evident major trend today.

Websites

Frankly most small business websites still stink.

Unfortunately, most are buried on page 17 of the search engine results and never get seen.  This is a shame as it is still possible to get many such sites ranked in the search engines when proper on and off page optimization steps are taken.

They seldom capture visitor information so you can reach out and begin building a positive relationship with the prospect.

But even more importantly their content often is lame even when they are found.

Too often sites  focus on the business, the business owner or the features of products and not on providing the searcher answers to the questions they have in their mind.

And to do that properly, it is important to consider where the visitor coming to you internet property (website, facebook page, video etc) is in the Buying Cycle.

Buying Cycle

The key to multiplying marketing profits is to only spend money on targeted prospect who are likely customers.

That requires understanding your key demographics, and then building a relationship with them even when they are not actively in a buying mood to establish your brand and your credibility.

If you have an expensive product or one that has unique features and benefits, you want to be sure to focus key buyer information on those people in your demographic who are yearning for learning.

And finally, you want to be found by those who are actively searching for your product and service when they are “hot to trot” and have money in hand because they want/need to buy now.

Each of the three stages requires slightly different approach and tools and tactics.

The overall combination of the above constitutes you online Marketing Plan.

Small Business Internet Marketing Plan

While any one of the above concepts will help you build your business, the most successful businesses will seek to design a comprehensive marketing approach that includes most if not all of the above features and remains alert to the ever evolving internet landscape.

What I do as your internet marketing consultant is learn about your business first, so that I can assist you in prioritizing your approached and build a robust marketing plan over time.

To learn more, email me at enetwal @ gmail.com

or call me at 612 – 408 – 9924

Please Google + me.

By Earl Netwal