Now, this type of thing is more important in some industries than others.  I would say that if people might need what you have to offer while they are out, you had better make sure that your information displays on a mobile device.  So if you offer say, transportation, restaurant, entertainment, emergency services, anything that people could search for while they are out and make an instant buying decision, make sure your website is “mobile”.

At The Marketer’s Mind, we can certainly help you with this and give you tools to increase your sales.

Tags: internet marketing tips, niche marketing, Jonathan Hook, article marketing, website optimization

As a local businesses, you need to make sure that your Google Places listing is up to date.  This is what controls the information that Google displays in the map at the top of the results page when you do a search for a company, product or service in Google.  If your listing is incomplete, it is likely costing you money.

You need to make sure that your website is up to date and relevant.  Is there information on there that people are looking for?  What questions are people always asking your business?  Put the answers on your website.

Some basic work on your search engine optimization and current, complete information in some online databases can do wonders for your bottom line.

Tags: niche marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing tips, article marketing, website optimization

Not sure how to do it?  Well, if you don’t want to take the time to figure it out, call us and we can get it done for you.  It is very important.  You have the opportunity to edit the description of your business, hours of operation, your address if need be, make sure your website info is up to date and so on.  This way when someone searches for you or the service/products you are offering, your listing will come up on Google Maps.  This information gets displayed BEFORE the search engine results.  This means that a good, updated, current, relevant Google Places listing can get you a visitor and/or a lead/sale before they even scroll down to see the results of their search.  And all this for free!  So make sure your listing is current, your business depends on it.

Tags: internet marketing tips, website optimization, internet marketing, Jonathan Hook, article marketing

Now, I found Facebook is a bit tricky to get started on.  You have to hit a certain threshold of monetary value in your ads before they start pushing them out.  You can adjust the amount you want to spend as you go along and the more clicks your ads get, the less you will pay for them.

Here is a free tip… Put your phone number or contact info right in your ad.  There is lots of room there and you will get people responding to your ad without even clicking on it (and costing you money).

At The Marketer’s Mind, we can create an entire Facebook ad campaign for you.  Let us help you grow your business today.

Tags: internet marketing, article marketing, internet marketing tips, niche marketing, affiliate marketing

For some reason, some small business owners are turned off by the idea of paying to get a visitor to their website or paying for a lead, yet the same business owner will throw hundreds or thousands of dollars on advertising that they can’t track or can’t control.  Makes no sense to me.  If you, as a business owner, can get people coming to your website or calling your place of business for a few cents on a click, then you are leaving business on the table by not using that tool.

Here is why I like Adwords for small business:

1. Most of the time, your competitors are not using it, or are using it poorly.  This makes it easy to get on top and be seen.
2. You can INSTANTLY dominate a search results page by having an ad display at the top or the right hand side of the page.
3. Adwords now integrates with your Google Places listing so visitors can click on your map address right from the ad.
4. Adwords now allows you to link from your ad right in to your site.  You can have up to 10 “extensions” in your ad that take visitors right to specific pages within your website.

Are you seeing why I love Adwords?  I can show a searcher an ad, give them a map to me and direct them specifically within my website BEFORE they even see the competitors search results.  Beautiful.  This is a very useful tool to instantly boost your site’s visibility and gain market share.

Tags: affiliate marketing, niche marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing tips, website optimization

I was recently involved at a local bridal show – related to a project I am working on.  A couple of things simply floored me.  First off, it was very interesting to see what kinds of businesses came out and took part.  Some you would expect, some you might not.  But I was blown away at how few of these businesses actually had a good website.  I mean, it is not rocket science to build one, nor does it cost a small fortune to outsource a nice site.  I understand that not everyone can build one but this is part of your marketing efforts.

For example, there was an event planner there.  To my knowledge they don’t even have a website.  I have looked for them online and can’t find them.  Nor do they have a site listed on their business card.  Their email address is at gmail.com.  Painful really.

Another company had a beautiful display at the show.  The are a business that rents out portable shelters.  So if you want to have an outdoor reception, you call them, they bring in a big tent and set up your deal.  Their business is named All Shelter Sales and Rentals, which unfortunately is not completely what they do.  They had a beautiful display at the trade show offering complete catering equipment, location decorating and so on.  Their website does not do justice to the different types of services and products they offer.

Here is what we do.  You see, our website at starsluxurylimousine.com is used daily right within our business.  Maybe someone finds our info in the phone book or from some advertising and they call us.  They are looking for a wedding package.  Great, we have 3 different wedding packages they can choose from.  But instead of trying to explain what these are over the phone, we just simply send them to the website.  Go check out our website and give us a call back (now, of course we take their contact info in case they do not call us back).  We do this for a couple of reasons.  First, you can’t explain the 3 packages over the phone and what the differences are.  People can’t remember that many details all at once and it just ends up sounding like gibberish when you are done.  So, this is all clearly laid out on our website – it is easy to find and easy to understand.  Secondly, we want people to go to our website.  It looks good, it displays our limousine very well, it is a good website and we are proud to have it.  If people go to our website and then to our competitors, they will book with us.  We want them to go there, call over another family member to say “hey, come see this site” and we want them to bookmark it for future reference.

Now, when people call back after seeing the site (most of the do, by the way) they are ready to book.  Very few questions are left to answer and we have had people that call use, go check the site, and call right back ready to book.  Now that is a great feeling – and a great use of our website.

Tags: article marketing, niche marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing tips, website optimization

Well, that is a good argument and may be valid. However, the times, they are a changin’.

Having a website is like having a sign that says you are open for business. It is just a little part of doing business but it can make your business seem more legitimate to your clients.

Why?

You automatically:
- look more professional
- have more credibility

When you give a person your contact information, it makes you seem more established. When people see that you have your own website, right away it looks like you care about your customers and want to give them information. It is all about positioning yourself and setting yourself apart from the competition. If someone just rolls into town and they look up 3 different businesses and yours is the only one with a website, the others will look poorer for it.

When you have a website, it shows that you are up-to-date and current with your marketing. People expect to see your website address. They may never go and visit your site – they may not need to, but that doesn’t matter. You need to have a site and you need to get it out where people can see it. It can set you apart from other businesses in your town that do not have a site.

Another good reason to have your own website is that you can convey your image to people right inside their own homes.

Someone sitting in their living room can look you up online and find out about your business, the products or services you offer and get to know a bit about you before they even leave their house to buy your product or service. When you buy advertising space, usually the more you buy, the more it costs. A ½ page ad in the phone book costs more than a ¼ page ad. Then they charge you extra for colours and so on.

When you have a website you get to leverage your advertising dollars. Now all you need to do is market your website address and drive traffic there. Once people get to your website, you have basically all the space you want and it doesn’t cost extra! Now you can have pictures, audio, video, demonstrations, coupons, information, details, features, benefits, colours, logo, and anything else you can think of – at little or no extra cost! Far more than you can include directly into the various types of media you are currently utilizing.

So now you have a great “advertisement” – your website – but you are able to buy smaller, less expensive ads in the media. This can be very powerful to your advertising budget.

Having your own website name means you can have an email address at your-own-business-name.com (for example). It becomes part of your identity. It means you can have a company email address. Everyone needs an email address just like everyone needs a phone. Some people just prefer to use email over the phone and by not having one, you could be leaving those people unserved. Do not discount the value that a website – even a simple one – adds to your small business.

Tags: internet marketing, Jonathan Hook, website optimization, niche marketing, internet marketing tips

We are giving away a lot of free information there and if you have an offline business and would like to learn how to make the most of it, check us out.  You could get an idea that turns your business around!

“hey, can you check out my new website and tell me what you think”

“Ok, yup here it is, um, great, well, it looks nice but it won’t sell anything”

“Well, what do you mean, we just had it professionally designed”
“Well for starters, there is no headline, no call to action and no sales copy”

See, my buddy is a computer network specialist.  He has a company that operates locally in his city and provides networking solutions to other companies.  They will go in and maintain a network, set up security, set up software and so on in their clients place of business.  He has a buddy who is an advertising guy – builds websites and the likes.  So here he is with his new website all set up.

The website looks very corporate, tells a litle bit about what they do – describes some of their services.

I said, OK, right now your website looks like all the other websites out there in your field.  Why should a client do business with you above any and all other options available to them?

He couldn’t answer.  See, this is the USP – the Unique Selling Proposition.  What is it that sets you apart – what makes you different, why should anyone do business here?  He never defined what he does or what he sells.

Next question, where is your call to action?

“my what?”

What is it you want people to do once they come to your site?

“Oh, well, I don’t know, I thought I just had to put up a nice site”

(oh, please)

See, my buddy doesn’t even have a clear, defined sales process.  I said, OK, let’s work backwards here.  How do you get new business?

“Well, all I know is that if I can meet with a prospect, there is a pretty good chance I can close them”

OK, now we are getting somewhere.

“OK, so if that is the case, then your website needs to sell a meeting.  You need to irritate a problem that your client would have and then offer to solve the problem by coming in to their business and having a free consultation.  Your website needs to sell the free meeting.  Then you can close them”

Now he was starting to see the light.

See, BEFORE you get started on all of this, you need to take a minute and clearly define your sales process.  What steps do you want your prospect to take?  Make them easy steps to take, tell them what to do, hold their hand as they do it.  Guide them along.  If your business works when you have a meeting with a prospect, then any marketing you do needs to be focussed on getting that meeting.  Print advertising, website, all need to be targeted towards getting that meeting.  The first thing that the prospect should see when they come to your website should be a good headline – one that draws them in and irritates the problem.  The solution to their problem needs to be for them to invite you to a meeting, and then make it very easy for them to set up the meeting right there.

If you can sell face to face, then your website needs to set that up.

It is too bad my buddy didn’t ask me for help BEFORE he set up his site.  What a waste of a website