I am working with a client to get their new website and online marketing launched. They have been really close to flipping the switch for six months but they, like the majority of businesses, have talked themselves into not being ready.

However, in reality, the website will never be “right” and nor should it. Testing and improving are the keys to progress. And the only way to progress is to get something going something even if it doesn’t feel quite right.

I’ve missed soooo many opportunities in my life in many different areas of my life because I didn’t feel right, the timing wasn’t right or any of a dozen other excuses I made up. (Remind me to tell you about Dire Straits one day when I told myself a false story).

So the result was that I missed out completely in these areas whereas if I had taken the step and it had gone totally wrong, I would have been no worse off and in all probability, I would be far better off.

In fact, if it had gone totally wrong I would have been way ahead because I would have known that that particular episode was not right for me.

Doing something when you don’t feel it is right is scary – I still don’t do as many of my own off-line and on-line marketing activities as I should – but once you have taken the first step, it becomes easier as you go along.

Launching part finished products didn’t do Bill Gates any harm.  So what switch can you flip by Friday this week to increase your online marketing?

Share your experiences below and how you overcame the blocks.

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, local marketing, Small business marketing

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

If you develop a deeper relationship with them, you can achieve three things:

1.       generate repeat business for the initial products,

2.       you could sell other products or

3.       you could sell to them more often

But for some reason, small business owners prefer to go and get new customers. I don’t know why because it’s much harder work to convert a cold prospect.  You have to spend money to get them in. and you are unproven so your competition is much higher.

Anyway, given that that is the preference and entrepreneurs want more sales leads, here are three reasons to help you along that path.

1 Not marketing enough. Period.

It’s amazing how many businesses don’t do any marketing of any substance.  The old adage, “Build it and they’ll come” or “People know me so why should I bother?” – they may have worked in a few cases before but these days, there are is so much competition that you simply cannot afford not to do marketing.

BTW – competition isn’t just another supplier of your service or products. It’s the total competition for your dollars.  So for a holiday company, your competition isn’t just another travel agent but the TV store, the clothes shop and the car salesman.  So your messages have to be compelling against ALL of those.

2 Not marketing in the right places.

Assuming you are one of the marketing-enlightened business owners (if you are still reading, then you must agree with what I’ve written so far), then the next issue is where do you put your compelling messages?

The Yellow Page was a good and reliable but expensive option for many years but now?  Hmmm – the yellow books are used to hold up monitors or stop desks wobbling.

Local papers?  They are getting thinner as people stop advertising because the response rates have dropped off.

No, you need to go where the fish are feeding.  Where people are actually looking for products right there and then.

With newspapers and the like, most people who may see your advert are simply not in the market for your product at that time so your money is wasted.  Unless you spend money each and every week hoping someone will be looking to buy at some stage.

A much better option is to be visible when people are actually searching for information about your product. You become visible when they are in the buying mood. Do you think they are more likely to contact you at that point than at any random moment in time?

3 Not marketing with enough tools.

For those business that do market themselves, most depend on or two tools – Yellow Pages and a flyer perhaps.

But would you build your house on just two pillars?  Probably not – it wouldn’t be very stable.  And so it is with your marketing – it needs to be multiple-legged.

What’s the answer to more sales leads?

So you are looking for a way to do marketing, that’s going to be seen when people are in the buying mode and that has multiple ways of being used.  It sounds a tall order but the solution is…..Internet marketing in its many guises.

• You can use search engine optimisation (SEO) so that you are found in Google when people begin their search process.
• You can use articles and reviews so people can assess your product or service.
• You can claim your spot in Google Places or Maps as it used to be.
• You can use online video marketing to demonstrate your products.
• You can have a mobile phone website.
• You can have a podcast where you talk about your products so people can listen on their mp3.

And many more tools.

Your first step is to find a small business Internet marketing service that understands your situation – not just the technology but business too.  The basics of business don’t change – it’s the how that has changed.

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, mobile marketing, online video, SEO, seo consultant, Small business marketing

That’s a time-tested and proven tactic but you need to use it with care and thought.

He used the example of “How to be better at time management aimed at busy execs.”

There;s definitely a need for that but almost by default, your target market isn’t going to bother looking at your lovingly crafted report simply because they are too busy.

And in all probability they aren’t going to be looking for time management stuff either – they are running around like headless chickens.

So you need to make your training available in places they may be scratching around being super-busy, getting nothing done – like industry forums or blogs.

You also need to make it resonate with them so instead of Time management for busy execs” call it “How to get your life back for execs who don’t see their family.”  That kinda thing.

What’s all that got to do with SEO?

Loads ‘cos SEO isn’t just getting higher in Google.  The real aim of SEO is to get more visitors to your site and they can come from a huge range of places, not just Google. And you need to have your “lead magnets” in lots of less obvious places too.

Go here for more search engine optimisation tips and  SEO marketing

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, Search engine optimization, SEO

Knowing how to write good copy.
Managing staff.
Building rapport with prospects.
Sales skills.
Understanding accounts.
Marketing.
Being open to Internet marketing.

And those answers will probably be influenced by their own area of expertise because they believe that their skill is the key to your business success.  That’s a fair position but you need to think about who is giving you the answer.

The problem is that not humanly possibly to be good at all of those so something has to be sacrificed which ultimately is better business results.

How about this as the key skill?

Decision making.

Al of the skills I gave above you can have done by other people – your staff, contractors or expert agencies.  In fact, you should probably have them all done by external suppliers so you can concentrate on your strategy and talking with customers.

But how do you have them undertaken by others?

By making the decision to do so.

Just decide.

I want more sales.  I want better staff relations.  I want more marketing.

And then find someone to do it for you.

I had an example this week.

Someone rang a client of mine asking how they had got such a good position in Google.  He referred her to me.  We chatted about her situation – she already had a good basic SEO in place but hadn’t got any results yet.  Sometimes you just need patience because it takes time for Google to find sites.

So we were able to talk about the next level for her, not just waiting for people to come to her site but actively going out and getting among people looking for her type of material. I call it marketing off-site.  More on that next week.

It’s the difference between having a shop, hoping people will walk in or sending out flyers, running ads and issuing press releases. You have to actively market your business online, not just wait for people to come to your site.

I gave her a proposal on Monday, we spoke early Wednesday. By midday, she decided to go ahead.

And the result?

Instead of hoping people would come along to her site and maybe see some articles she has written, she now a small part of her has her knowledge in 50 different locations where people are actively looking for material and articles that they can use in their own publications.  You can imagine how much more likely it is that people will find her work now.

She has plenty more material so over time, she will build a huge number of contact opportunities out on the Web.

Plus she also now has 50 links into her site. (Links account for 80% of the ranking of a website).

That’s the power of decision-making.

Making decisions is hard
Decision-making is like any other activity.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Try this exercise.

Stand still, move quickly to one-side and then immediately try changing direction.

Now do the same thing but this time start off by bouncing on your toes or swaying from side to side.

See how much easier it is to change direction when you are moving?  It’s the same with decisions.  If you are in the mind-set of deciding, it’s easier to change to a different tactic.

What if I make the wrong decision?
If you do happen to make a decision that doesn’t give you the results you wanted, when you are in decision-mode, you can easily make another one to do something else.

Teddy Roosevelt, former US President, said,
“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

So, what decisions have you been putting off?  Make a decision today to do something that will take your business forward.

Technorati Tags: action-taking, Internet marketing, Marketing

She said it was uncanny how I’d pre-empted what she was just about to write in her newsletter.  Spooky huh.

Besides the fact that my crystal ball was especially active last week, it’s more that the topic (prospects not making decisions) is so endemic that it affects most of us as far as our business is concerned.

It frustrates the heck out of us because they can’t / won’t / don’t decide to use our service which we KNOW will help them.  It’s plain as day you could take them forward.  Hey, even if they said “No”, at least you would be further ahead.  You could stop wasting time on them.

Yet, many of us are just as guilty when it comes to investing in people who could help us.

Think about it. How many issues do you have in your business where potential service providers have been calling on you but you’ve still not engaged them.

Hmm – my crystal ball is vibrating again.  I think I just struck a chord with a few folks.

If you are resisting taking on suppliers, how can you expect people to take you on?  Same coin, different sides.

So my pressure-point question this week is.

Choose one company on both sides of your business – one prospect and one supplier – that you know you should be doing business with?

Make it your objective this week to commit to converting one prospect and then investing that revenue into your business with a supplier who will be able to take you forward.

Let me know how you get on.

And for the first person to complete both sides, I’ll give you a gratis 27-point SEAT – Search Engine Assessment Test.That’s normally 147 smackeroos.

So, away you go.  Get on the phone.
Now.
What are you waiting for?

And think what that will do for the economy.

Technorati Tags: Action, Internet marketing, local marketing, Small business marketing

Anyway, what have two fugitive, poverty-stricken, unkempt musicians got to do with smart business owners?

Good question and the answer may surprise you.

Before I get to that though, for those who haven’t seen or have forgotten the movie, I’ll quickly re-cap the plot.

The two brothers, Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) and Jake (John Belushi), were raised in a church boy’s home before going on to become blues musicians in Chicago.  One of them is released from jail and the brothers go to see the nun who had raised them because they’d promised to see her when he got out.

They discover that the school is about to be closed because it owes thousands of dollars in city taxes.  Hmm, don’t we all love those taxes huh?

Jake and Elwood decide to raise money to pay the taxes so that other boys can have a home and basic education just like they did.  The problem was, how?

They had no jobs.  No assets.  And they had no money of their own.

Someone suggested they go to see a gospel singer, played by James Brown, to get some inspiration. It’s a great scene in the movie plus some fab music too.  A big gospel choir backing JB with Chaka Khan in the choir too.

As the choir and band are in full throttle, a light shines through the church window onto Jake with “hallelujah” resonating around him.

Then he said. “The Band.  The Band.  I’ve seen the light. Let’s get the band back together.”

And that’s what happens to some business owners.

No, they don’t form a blues band but they do see the light….. about their marketing.  Specifically, they understand the need to use the Internet for their marketing because it’s where customers turn for information about local products and services.

Being smart, they look at their own behaviour when they are looking to buy a new product or service. What do they do?

•    They turn to Google first to research the potential products and suppliers.
•    Then the probably look at a video about the product on YouTube.
•    Maybe read a review or two.
•    Look at some articles or case studies to get some background so they are better informed when they speak to the sales people.
•    Perhaps see what people on Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media sites are saying about it.

Plus they know the Yellow Pages ads, newspapers and flyers aren’t working anymore. So why not use the same tools for their own businesses?

Now most of those that “get it” don’t need or want to know the ins and outs of Internet marketing. They don’t feel inadequate because they don’t understand the technicalities.  After all, they are experts at what they do, not Internet marketing.  They just know it’s the right thing to do because it’s the best way to safeguard the future success of their business they’ve worked so hard to grow and nurture.

So my question to you?

Have you seen the light?

Are your own actions unique or are they typical of over 70% of the buyers when you want to finding local goods and services?

If you know that the Internet is the way of, not just the future but the here and now, then you might be open to some new ways to market your business.  You might want to try it before your competitors see the light.

Send me an email Andrew@gigmarketing.biz or call 021 458089 to see how the light can shine on your business.

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, local marketing, SEO, Small business marketing