Internet Marketing For Small Businesses And What Not To Do
I was talking to a prospective client today, following-up a proposal I sent for a small website she needs (and wants).
I’ve also sent her an update on the new Google search results plus a piece on how to avoid the biggest mistake people make about their website (an over emphasis on the design of the site rather than the marketing of it). So she’s well informed about the current important aspects to marketing on-line.
But when we spoke she said “Who knows my business better than me?” and she had decided to do more planning for a bigger site. My head swooned at this.
Firstly, making the project bigger is a sure-fire way to bring the project to a screeching halt.
But the biggest problem is that she “knows” her business better than anyone else. While that’s true to a large extent in terms of the operations, most business owners rarely know their business from a customer’s perspective. And almost certainly is the worst person to plan and implement their marketing.
How I Learnt The Secret To Marketing Yourself Online.
Last December, I was struggling to create my new website. I couldn’t get a grip on where to start and thought, “How can I consult to people if I can’t do my own site?”I was in inner turmoil about it.
Then I was being interviewed about SEO by a successful marketing consultant in San Francisco. She mentioned that she always outsources her marketing because she’s too close to it. Phew! It wasn’t just me.
A week later I was chatting with a marketing guy in England and he said the same thing – he outsources his marketing. Hmm – interesting. I see a pattern developing
Then soon after I was talking with New Zealand’s top marketing consultant and he said that he always has someone else check his marketing. Hallelujah! The answer to marketing myself is not to try it.
And that’s it. You are very unlikely to be successful with your marketing, whether it’s an ad, a sales letter, a web page or your search engine optimisation because you know what you want to say but you rarely know what a customer wants to hear.
An Example – The Same Market – Two Different Languages – No Business
A client in a small volume, high ticket price industry was #2 in Google and his competitor was #1 but neither got any traffic to their sites. I did some keyword research and found that between them they had many hundreds of web pages but hardly any searches for their keywords.
At the other end of the spectrum, there were a good number of searches but hardly any pages.
The business owners were using the wrong language because they know the topic inside out but they didn’t know how a customer expresses the problems.
So, for an independent view on your online marketing and SEO, email here for a complementary 30 minute consultation with an Auckland Internet marketing service.
Technorati Tags: Auckland, Internet marketing, local marketing, Small business marketing
Internet marketing for local businesses
An All Too Common Mistake Local Business Owners Make With Their Internet Marketing.
Internet Marketing For Small Businesses And What Not To Do
I was talking to a prospective client today, following-up a proposal I sent for a small website she needs (and wants).
I’ve also sent her an update on the new Google search results plus a piece on how to avoid the biggest mistake people make about their website (an over emphasis on the design of the site rather than the marketing of it). So she’s well informed about the current important aspects to marketing on-line.
But when we spoke she said “Who knows my business better than me?” and she had decided to do more planning for a bigger site. My head swooned at this.
Firstly, making the project bigger is a sure-fire way to bring the project to a screeching halt.
But the biggest problem is that she “knows” her business better than anyone else. While that’s true to a large extent in terms of the operations, most business owners rarely know their business from a customer’s perspective. And almost certainly is the worst person to plan and implement their marketing.
How I Learnt The Secret To Marketing Yourself Online.
Last December, I was struggling to create my new website. I couldn’t get a grip on where to start and thought, “How can I consult to people if I can’t do my own site?”I was in inner turmoil about it.
Then I was being interviewed about SEO by a successful marketing consultant in San Francisco. She mentioned that she always outsources her marketing because she’s too close to it. Phew! It wasn’t just me.
A week later I was chatting with a marketing guy in England and he said the same thing – he outsources his marketing. Hmm – interesting. I see a pattern developing
Then soon after I was talking with New Zealand’s top marketing consultant and he said that he always has someone else check his marketing. Hallelujah! The answer to marketing myself is not to try it.
And that’s it. You are very unlikely to be successful with your marketing, whether it’s an ad, a sales letter, a web page or your search engine optimisation because you know what you want to say but you rarely know what a customer wants to hear.
An Example – The Same Market – Two Different Languages – No Business
A client in a small volume, high ticket price industry was #2 in Google and his competitor was #1 but neither got any traffic to their sites. I did some keyword research and found that between them they had many hundreds of web pages but hardly any searches for their keywords.
At the other end of the spectrum, there were a good number of searches but hardly any pages.
The business owners were using the wrong language because they know the topic inside out but they didn’t know how a customer expresses the problems.
So, for an independent view on your online marketing and SEO, email here for a complementary 30 minute consultation with an Auckland Internet marketing service.
Technorati Tags: Auckland, Internet marketing, local marketing, Small business marketing