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

I thought the response would be helpful to other people:

“I would add too that it can be unwise to ignore low PR links for a number of reasons.

1 SEO’s main objective is to get your site in front of relevant eyes. It’s not just being higher in Google. Google is the usual entry point for folks to the ‘Net. Once past The Big G, they go all over the place which is why you need to be in loads of places, not just a single high PR place.

2 The second point is that relying on a few high PR links is a risky business. What happens if the go away? Your platform just got a bit thin. So a broad range of links makes your business more secure.

3 A broad range also looks more natural to Google rather than purely focusing on high PR sites.

4 Another key factor is where those links go to, besides how they link to you. Keywords as anchor text are vital but again, it’s a range of keywords that’s important, and, the target page within the site. Aim for a broad spread of links into your site with a range of keywords. Again it’s more natural because not everyone uses the same search phrase. For example, there are at least seven ways to use panel beater for car body repairs. Same meaning, just different words for different people. And your site needs to be using all of those search phrases.

5 Finally, it’s not only about your site. For long-term strength and business building, you want to be able to control links as well as create them. Most people look at link-building as finding places to link to. That is important as I’ve covered above but there are other strategies too that can be even stronger and longer lived, give you more flexibility and enable you to be very tightly focused in your promotions. This is a marketing approach rather than purely link-building in a technical SEO sense. But as Google makes life easier for their customers (searchers), they inevitably become more market-focused and so should you. Simply if it’s good for the customer it’s good for Google.”

The original question is here if you want to read some other interesting answers:

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=21005&type=member&item=30572825&qid=526f04ff-99b1-478d-a5f1-2e6c9af330e9&goback=.gmp_21005

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Search engine optimization, SEO

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

The April edition of NZ Business magazine has an article discussing some of the issues that business owners face regarding their website designs.

NZ Business magazine including my article on SEO

I hope plenty of people read it as it can help so many business owners and managers

to get better results from their marketing budgets.

I see so many people led up the garden path by so-called web experts and designers

who convince people that they need flashy designs on one hand and can “guarantee” top Google rankings on the other.  It really annoys me when people “mis-lead” clients that way.

Technorati Tags: Search engine optimisation, Search engine optimization, SEO, Website design

Or maybe you get one-time customers but little repeat business.

Or worse still, your phone never rings.

Yet you deeply believe your product or service is just what other companies need.

So what went wrong? Where is your steady stream of clients?
Most businesses struggle to thrive or even fail because they don’t conduct market research before they open, to see if there is a demand for two things:-

1.    their service or
2.    their positioning – how they differentiate themselves from everyone else

They rely on their belief rather than fact or testing the market.

Why don’t more people do it?
One reason is that people just don’t think about doing it.

Another is that market research is notoriously difficult to get any meaningful output.  There are many reasons such as:

•    the difficulty of finding willing respondents in the first place.
•    getting “sensible” answers from them.
•    and finally, being able to believe what they say. Often people will say what they think you want to hear.

Simply put, you cannot rely on what your customers say.

The only reliable source of the truth is what people do.

And there’s one place where people freely and consistently tell you what they want by their actions.

Google.

When people type into Google for business services or products, it’s not to while away an idle half hour or, out of curiosity, to see what the local plumbers are up to on their websites. (Well some of us do but we have our own special peculiarities).
No, people go there to find immediate providers or at least to research potential providers.

Even on social media not all people say what they really think.  Certainly a lot tell their truth but for some it’s a game.  For others, they say what they think is cool. And for more, they don’t want to be seen in public.

But Google gives them privacy and information without being hassled by sales people.  Your prospects feel safe using Google.

The only source of your customers’ truth
So, to increase your chances of success, or rather to reduce your chances of failure, redefine yourself and your business based on what people are typing into Google for your broad category.

You can then drill-down to find more detailed data and then use those Search-terms on your website.

And here’s a big tip.

Don’t forget to use those terms in your off-line communications as well.  People will recognise their words and feel more connected to you as a result.

Rename your offering from the bland “Services” that everyone else uses to match the best Search-term you can find.

For example, in the tree-maintenance industry, instead of crown-lifting, use tree pruning.

Treat your business to the best investment you will ever make

Go to Google’s Keyword Research Tool It’s free.

Find out what words people are really using to describe your business.  You’ll find loads of data. And then use those words on your website.

Learning what it all means and how to use it will be the best day’s work you can do.

But then I would say that wouldn’t I, as an SEO guy.

But it really is the best research tool you can find.

Or, if that all sounds too complicated, ask an expert to do it for you to turn all that data into useful information.

Email me at Andrew@gigmarketing.biz for a no obligation, fixed-price quotation to find out what your market is really looking for.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Search engine optimization, SEO

Think back over the last week about when you’ve been driving around your city.  I live in Auckland, New Zealand but this applies to any city in the world.

How many vans have you seen for plumbers or electricans or any other service for that matter?

Chances are you’ve seen 2 or 3. Maybe more, maybe less but around that number

Now, how many of those can you remember the name of the company?

And even more importantly, how many did you get on the phone and say, “I want you to come and …..” whatever service they provide.

I expect you can’t remember a single one and I’m positive that you didn’t call any of them.

“Hi, I’m in the car behind you.  I’ve been cruising round town looking for a plumber’s van and you’ve saved my bacon.  We’ve got a burst pipe, water flooding everywhere, carpets are ruined…..” It just isn’t going to happen is it?

Yet so many businesses use van livery as a key component in their marketing but as we’ve just seen, it’s completely untargeted, un-noticed and is rarely anywhere near the point of purchase.

And the same is true of many other offline marketing tactics too. Like magazine ads, newspapers, radio etc.  They have a very short life and it’s very unlikely that you have an immediate need of those products at the moment that you might possibly see the ad.

Which is why the media owners and your marketing agency say you have to have a campaign that repeats and reinforces your message. Oh, and keep re-paying for.

Yet when people go to Google, they are actively looking for products or services.

Can you imagine sitting down on a rainy afternoon wondering what to do.  “Ah, I know. I’ll fire up my computer and casually browse for a lawyer, a bookkeeper or an insurance agent.” Again, it’s just not going to happen. People only look for those businesses or more precisely, those websites, when they have a specific need .

And, if you want to be one of those companies people are ready to spend money with, you have to be easy to find, which means being high in Google.

Do you really have to be high in Google?

You decide when you see these stats.

・    60% of local business purchases start with a Google search
・    89% of people only use Page 1 of Google.

So if you aren’t on Page 1, your chances of missing out on those local dollars are worryingly high.

Yet it is relatively easy for most local businesses to be among those at the top of the pile.

The process of rising in Google is SEO or search engine optimization and, because most sites are badly optimized, it’s not difficult to zoom past your competitors to boost your rankings.  The change can be almost overnight for some Search-terms.

For many who decide to do SEO, they want it all and go for the Search-terms with the big traffic volume figuring more searches equals more traffic equals more sales enquiries.

Ehh aghh.

The secret to top Google rankings is to find the Search-terms with low competition.

These probably have less search volume but what would you rather have?

Busting a gut and blow tons of dollars going for a phrase with 200 searches a day but struggling to get off Page 2.  Or ten Search-terms with only 20 searches each per day and being top dog for each one?

A no-brainer huh?

The same number of searches but you are Number 1 ten times instead of number 15 once.  Of course, yo may not get Number 1 each time, but you get the point.

So, to get those local dollars into your bank account do these three things:
・    quit wasting your money on short-life, un-targeted, un-noticed media,
・    divert it to improving your Google ranking.
・    ignore the macho big keywords and target the easy pickings in the low volume Search-phrases.

Want some help?

Drop me a line and I’ll talk you through it.

Best

Andy Haddleton

Technorati Tags: Auckland, local marketing, Search engine optimization, SEO

Many website owners are confused because they thought that having a site would mean they automatically got placed high in Google.

And most are still wondering where is that extra business that they were led to believe would appear once they had a website.

It’s all very frustrating for business owners, especially in these tight economic times.

And if you knew how essential Google is to your business success, you would be horrified.

How significant is a top place in Google?
Imagine what you do when you are looking for a new product or service provider.  Chances are you go to Google like most people do.

•    81% of potential customers go on-line to find out more about a business. (Neilson_online.com)

•    85% of websites are found by search engines rather than being typed into the address bar.  So if you think people know your name or web address, that’s a dangerous assumption.

•    91% of people only use Page 1 (google.com) so if you are on Page 3, you may as well not have a website.

•    42% of clicks go to Number 1 (google.com) so even being on Page 1 doesn’t help you much. 10th position gets less than 3% of clicks.

•    “Small businesses who use the Internet have grown 46% faster than those that do not”. (International Business Journal)

Yet few people know how to get up there and worse, they are sold websites that have no chance of being ranked high in Google

Yet it needn’t be that way.  There are 3 simple steps to getting high in Google but very few web-designers use them, leaving site owners high-and-dry or is that low-and-wet?

What gets a website high in Google?
It’s helpful to think what Google’s primary service aim is.

To deliver the best product (a search result) to their customer (a searcher).

That’s it.

There’s lots of technical stuff behind that but if you want your site to be ranked higher by Google, just give your customers the best match to their searches.

That means if your Home page says, “Welcome to our site. We’ve been in business for…and have .. employees” that’s why your site is low.

The technical term for the getting higher in Google is Search Engine Optimisation or SEO but I like to think of it as a translation service – translating what you, the expert, knows, into what your customer wants..

You might think you know what people are searching for.  After all, how difficult is it to describe your business?

You’d be surprised.  Most clients are amazed at how many variations of their business people use.  Some examples of different Search-terms people have used for the same industry.

•    Business consultant and business consultants.
•    Book-keeper and bookkeeper.
•    Event manager, events manager, event management.
•    Panel beaters, panelbeaters, panel beater, panel beating, smash repair.
•    Tree surgeon, arborist, tree services, tree pruning.

Clients haven’t included all of these different Search-terms on their websites. And, in most cases, they have been using the wrong Search-terms.

What makes a wrong Search-term? Each of those phrases has a different quantity of searches and different numbers of competing pages. And more competition means it’s harder to get to the top.

The key to success is finding the combination of reasonable traffic with less competition.

So now you know your site needs to match what people are searching for, how do you find out what they are typing, how many people are searching for them and how much competition you might have?

The three steps are….
First, learn to speak your customers’ language.

Google actually tells you what people are typing in their Keyword Search Tool. It’s free to use but, as with most things free, it comes at a price….. understanding what it all means.  And there is a ton of data there to learn.

Frankly, many people who regularly use the data, don’t use it properly.  That’s why so few websites make it to the top.

Second, use that language everywhere, even off-line.  After all, it’s what your customers are saying when they think of your business or service.

For your website, it’s essential to use that right language in the right places in the right way.  Again, very few web-masters or designers know what or how to use it.

Third, don’t rely on a sexy web-design to get you top rankings.

Google doesn’t care what shade of red you have, where the images are or whose face is in the picture.  It only cares how close your words are to the searcher’s.

So make your first priority finding out what people are looking for rather than spending your dollars on a design which people will never find.

Make SEO the foundation of your site, not an afterthought.

Bill Gates said, “In the future there will be two types of businesses. Those on the Internet and those out of business.”

It’s safe to amend that to those on Page 1 of Google and those out of business.

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Search engine optimization, SEO

As an SEO guy, I look at myself as a translator… translating the language of the expert (business owner) into the language of the customer. And then using that language on the web pages. Those pages should be very specific so that searchers can find the answer quickly.

The only way to achieve this is to do a Search-term assessment exercise. I call it the STACA – Search-term, Traffic and Competition Analysis.

This shows the site owner the number of searches for each term but crucially for them, the level of competition that they can expect. That way we can target lower competition Search-terms which will get ranked faster than those with more competing pages.

This STACA has another massive benefit. It becomes the centre point to your whole business and marketing planning.

Why?

Because a good business plan is written around a solid market research exercise.

There are two main problems with any market research project:

•    Response and
•    Bias

Getting people to respond in suitable numbers, especially if your budget is limited, is a real headache.  How can you find people.  Where are they?  How can you get them to participate?  And many other questions too.

And however, well phrased the research questions, there is always an element of bias.  People will feel that you want a particular answer or they feel obliged in someway.  And the results are clear in the number of new products that don’t make the grade, sales profits.

So what better market research than the exact words your customers are typing into Google when they are eager to spend money.

It simply couldn’t be better research material.
You can use those exact terms in all of your marketing messages then – off-line too.

By finding out exactly what people want I’ve helped companies go from the obscurity of Page 4 to over 30 different Page 1 results.

They may be very small search volumes but when added together they come close to the big 600 pound gorilla terms they were failing to rank for previously.
That’s much better business for them and…… far better for the customer too as they can easily find what they want.

In business you will always fail if you don’t find out what your market wants.
Using good keyword tools, the market tells you what they want.

And for the local businesses or local branches of big businesses, t’s important to understand that around 60% of significant local purchases start with a Google search.

Finally, most people get the web process the wrong way round.

They spend hours and $000s agonising over the shade of a colour, the position of an image, what’s on the image. Then tack on keyword research and SEO if there’s any budget left. None of that is relevant to Google. None of that will get you ranked.

What will get you ranked and found is using the right Search-terms in the right places.

And it will help you write your marketing plan too.

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Market research, new zealand marketing, SEO

You see a set of curtains that you like.

You love the colours so much that you decide to build a home around them.  You call in an interior designer and get him to build the home.

Inevitably the building doesn’t work efficiently or effectively as a home.  The plumbing might not work.  The electrics, the position of the doors, the construction timbers might not be as strong as they should be. The house probably wouldn’t pass certification by your local council.

So you have to call in an architect and then a builder to remodel the house so that it meets the demands of the family using it.

Obviously no sensible person would begin to even think about building a home around a set of curtains because they like the colour.

Yet that is how 99% of people go about building their website.

•    They have a corporate colour or logo that they want their site to match.
•    Then they call in an interior designer to design the look of the site.
•    Then the designer builds the site.
•    And it almost inevitably does not work for those who want to use it… searchers.
•    So then they decide to cal in an architect to fix the problem.

The architect is an SEO guy.  Not a technical one, that’s a civil engineer but an architect who researches and understands what works from a usability or market point of view.

Before you even begin to discuss the layout of your website with your web-designer, find out what our potential customers want and the build your site around that.

And just like the house, designing, building and decorating, are entirely different skills.  You wouldn’t ask your interior designer to design your house so don’t ask your web-designer to design the structure of your website.

The term web-designer can mislead many people because of the “design” element in the term but it’s no different from the design word in interior-designer.

Now you may have your interior designer acting as project manager for building your home.  That’s fine because they would consciously employ an architect and builder, plumber, electrician etc.

So don’t overload your web-designer with tasks that they aren’t experienced in undertaking.  It’s not fair on them and, as helpful people, they will often agree to do the SEO for you.  Yet for both you and your web-designer, you will both end up with a below par website.

To demonstrate the point, how many clients’ websites do you see on Page 1 of Google?  Very few.

2 or perhaps 3 for most searches.

You’ll see directories, recruitment sites, education courses and wikis taking up most of the Top 10 sites.  In many industries, they take up Page 2 and 3 as well.

The reason is that those sites, which are built by web-designers, aren’t optimised to appear on Page 1.  So if your web-designer says they know and can do SEO, ask them how many of their clients are on Page 1 of Google.

To be fair, I don’t have a clue about creating a design for a web-site.  I know my limitations. Make sure the service providers you employ are honest about their limitations.

Everyone will produce a better result that way.

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Search engine optimization, SEO, Website design