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5 Ways to Get Your Business Noticed Without Spending Money

January 18th, 2012 by bstoller

Getting your business noticed can be easy.

Getting Your Business Noticed

You don't have to be this crazy to get your business noticed

Just do something outrageous and you are sure to get attention!   OK – hold on, don’t go overboard – you want a “positive” outrageous not obnoxious!

Here’s some things you can try to get some positive attention to YOUR business:

1.    Build a Website that Promotes Your Business.

50% of all small businesses have a website.   You want to make sure that your website features what your business is better at than your competitors.    There must also be a clear “call to action”.   The call to action can simply be a phone number to call, an e-mail capture form in exchange for a free report or other information that your customers would enjoy, or some other action such as a free coupon to download.   You always want to do your best to capture their information and build up your potential customer list so you can market to them in the future.

2.   Develop a Social Media Strategy

Social Media is the best thing to happen to small business ever!   You, as a small business owner or manager, now have the opportunity to actually have better advertising than that of the larger chains!    There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to do this, but if done correctly this can build a substantial following of loyal customers for very little money.    Many business owners believe that getting a Facebook business page is all it takes.   If you don’t know how, try to find a social media consultant who can work with you to get your program up and running.   A good consultant will do as much or as little as you need.   Don’t forget Twitter and Linked In – each social media platform has it’s own style and fits to different people.    We could go on and on, but we’ll stop here for now.

3.   Claim Your Business Listings From Google and Others

This may take a little time, but it doesn’t cost anything but your time.   Google Places (www.google.com/places) is an extremely important part of your overall internet business strategy.    Most businesses have not claimed their free business listings.   Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the big players and you must first claim your business listing than fill in each one with the same information.   This will help your business get noticed by those searching for your products or services.   Again, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this, but basically make sure you fill out all the information exactly the same way in all.

4.   List Your Company in Directory Listings

Probably the best way to find out which directories to list your business in is to do a search on Google for the keyword phrases that people would more than likely search for to find you.    Look and see what directories are showing up.   Make sure you list your business in those directories immediately.    Most local business consultants will take this much farther and submit your business to literally hundreds of directories.   You may not show up in all the listings, but you will receive numerous backlinks and mentions that will help bring your business listing higher up in the Google Places rankings (and other search engines).

5.   Get Involved With Your Community

Join networking groups, your local chamber of commerce, and other community activities.   Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and involvement with your community is a great way to not only feel better about yourself, but to also get referrals from people who know you.   And, of course, there is minimal costs for this form of “getting noticed”.

Summary:

All in all, getting your business noticed isn’t always about doing crazy things.    “Publicity” and “Promotion” is a necessary thing for all small businesses if they are going to want to stay in business for the long term.

Call us at Discovering Profits if you find you need a little help with getting your business noticed.   We are passionate about helping small businesses succeed!

Categories : marketing fundamentals
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Your Business Has a Competitive Advantage… Doesn’t It?

December 30th, 2011 by bstoller

Marketing Revolves Around The Message Your Business Needs

Many business owners are very confused about how to market.   Let’s face it, as a business owner or manager, you have so many “things” that you have to do every day just to keep the doors open that the last thing that you have time for is marketing.

Here’s a news flash….

90% of all Small Business Fail Within 5 Years!

That’s an alarming statistic, but the numbers are the numbers.competitive advantage for small business

So does that mean that you only have a 10% chance of success over 5 years?    The answer is actually , “No”.    Let me explain.

If you do what the majority of business owners do, you have more like a 100% chance to fail!!!    If you do what the successful businesses do, you are all but guaranteed to succeed!    What is the common denominator for successful businesses?    They understand that they need a steady inflow of customers if they are going to remain in business.   They also understand that they need to take care of their current customers, as it is much cheaper to have repeat business than to constantly attract new customers and lose them.

I could go on and on with this subject (and probably will at a later time), but I want to focus on a habit that successful business owners do (whether they realize it or not).    They find their competitive advantage and market it.

Successful business owners have found their competitive advantage and they proceed to market that advantage.

I recently came across a definition of “Competitive Advantage” that really makes a lot of sense.

Your competitive advantage is an advantage that your company has relative to your competitors. The source of the advantage is something your business does that is distinctive and difficult to replicate.

You must first understand what it is that your competition is doing.   With the internet age, you can gain a lot of information from the internet.  If you don’t at least take the time to review your competitor’s websites, you may as well consider yourself as being part of the group of business owners that probably won’t be around in 5 years.    See what it is that they excel in.   See what it is that you think they are weak at.   Once you analyze your competition, makes some notes and hold on to that info for a few days.

The next step is to figure out what YOUR strengths and weaknesses are.   What does your business excel at?   What is your business weak at?   Take a day or so to do some business soul searching.   Not sure???    Ask some of your customers – they will be more than happy to tell you!!

Once you understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses you can than find areas of weakness with your competitors.    When you match your strengths to the weaknesses of your competition, you have the makings of a very long and prosperous business!!

The last step is to formulate a marketing strategy that focuses on your new found competitive advantage.    You can now focus your business in an area that you are strong – you will realize that much of what you always did really didn’t focus on your strengths and you should probably drop a few services and build upon those that you can outperform all your competition.   That is how small businesses grow – they become known as the specialists who can take care of their problems – the first time!

If you are not a believer in this idea of focusing on your competitive advantage and your strengths, think of this illustration.    If you develop a cough and runny nose, you’ll probably go to your family doctor.    However, if you find out that you or a loved one develops a form of a rare cancer, you probably are going to do everything that you can to see a top specialist, or oncologist.   Why?   Because the oncologist has focused on his competitive advantage over the family doctor.   Guess which one normally makes more money!!

I hope that this helps you to understand that finding then focusing on your competitive advantage is the way to keep your business growing and thriving for many years.    Getting the message out, or marketing, is a big part of this strategy as well.


Categories : marketing fundamentals
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The Mobile Movement – What Business Owners Need to Know

September 9th, 2011 by bstoller

Smartphones and tablets are everywhere. So why is it that approximately 50% of all businesses don’t even have a website??

I’ve done a lot of research and have found that very few small business who DO have websites, have not optimized their sites for mobile users! Why Not??? Because most business owners do not understand the importance of mobile sites for their overall marketing plan – that is, if they HAVE a plan!

We’ll cover marketing plan later. Here’s a video put out be Google that shows the importance of mobile for a business’s overall marketing plan.

Categories : Mobile Marketing
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4th of July 2011 – A Tribute to Our Soldiers

July 4th, 2011 by bstoller

Away from marketing for just a second….   if it weren’t for our soldiers of past and present, we wouldn’t have businesses to market!

Happy Fourth of  July and please think about the sacrifices that our soldiers have made for our freedom!

World War I Footage

World War II – The Landing at Normandy

Korean Conflict Dogfight

Gulf War Footage

War in Iraq

Categories : Just Good Stuff
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Local Business Marketing – When to Use Facebook or Google

July 1st, 2011 by bstoller

The local business marketing arena is confusing.   We’ve gone from a transition from newspapers, magazines, radio, yellow pages to lower cost, more effective and targeted advertising mediums.   Sounds great!  Google or Facebook?

HOLD ON!!!

Most business owners are too busy running their businesses to become marketing experts in all the new methods.   And certainly, they don’t have the time to become SEO (search engine optimization) experts!

If You Built It They Will Come – WRONG!!

This may have worked in ancient days, but today there are too many options for the average consumer.   You can’t just build a website and expect that people will come – they don’t!!   Today you need to have a plan to bring traffic to you – or better yet, take your message to people where they “hang out”.

In the modern world of marketing, there are two main ways to use the internet – Google and Facebook.

So how do you choose which one to use??

First off – you need to realize what your market is – who are your customers and how are they going to normally find your products and services.    Your customers are pretty much going to fall into one of the categories below and possible into a little of each:

  • The Yellow Book searchers – These are the people who have a problem right now and need to find some to take care of their problem.   For example, a kitchen sink all of a sudden has a water line break – DISASTER!!   They need someone to fix their problem right now.    Google Search is the place they will probably be going to to find a plumber.
  • The Impulse Buyers – These people aren’t necessarily looking for anything, but will buy if they find something that catches their eye – kind of like the candy bars and magazines at the grocery checkout.   Facebook is a great way to build awareness of your product or service which can lead to impulsive response.

Of course, I’m way oversimplifying this, but it illustrates the differences between Google and Facebook and how your business can utilize one or the other (or both).

To summarize – Facebook is great for creating awareness of your products or services – building your brand.   Google is better to reach those customers who are ready to make a purchase.

In a perfect scenario, you would use Google to “reel in” all the buyers.   In reality, most people are not ready to buy today or don’t have a need today.   Facebook can create an awareness so when people ARE ready to buy, they will already have someone in mind – YOU.    For those who are ready to buy – Google is great!

There are many various strategies and, of course, there are also many other marketing mediums to use.   Discovering Profits specializes in helping small business understand how to utilize the methods to maximize your return on your marketing dollars.

Categories : Marketing Strategies
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Local Online Marketing for Small Business is Changing

June 25th, 2011 by bstoller

Search engine results are now forever changing!

There is a big shift from Google’s methods of providing excellent content when you search for products and services. They are now beginning to use social recommendations and “likes” to bring search results to the first page that would normally have not been there. Bing has been doing this for a little while, but now the gorilla of all search engines, Google, is accelerating their results.

For years, in order to have top rankings for the search engines, SEO (search engine optimization) experts would have to make sure to have accessible pages featuring top quality content, target the right keyword phrases, and build natural external links back to a site.

But Things are Changing

Cupcake Madness SERPs

The cupcake post from Everywhereist normally wouldn’t rank there. In fact, unless you follow Geraldine on Twitter, chances are you won’t see much of her site in even semi-competitive results.    Here’s a view when logged into Google:

Now compare this to a screen shot if you are NOT logged into Google.

If you notice, there is the regular search engine results if you are not logged into Google – that is, you have a Google Profile.    In the first picture, you see (highlighted with the red circle), that there is a difference in search results because “Geraldine”, who is linked to the searcher, had shared this site while reading.

What Does This Mean to Local Businesses?

It means that now Google is accelerating their local connections to provide search results.   If you don’t have a social media presence you are going to start getting left behind.    While this could be a few months before there is a MAJOR impact, it is our belief that that social connections and search results is here to stay.

Categories : Social Media Marketing
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Top Internet Advertising Predictions – Here Comes Bing and Facebook

June 14th, 2011 by bstoller

The Top Internet Advertising Predictions Include A Change in the Way We Search

Google is Still the King of Local Search – almost 70% off all searches done on the internet are still on Google. Google will probably remain the “gorilla” of search, but there is a major change happening – it’s already started, yet very few people even know about it.

…. Recommendations from Facebook Friends

Here’s how it is working and why you should pay attention.     Facebook and Bing have partnered  few months ago.  Now they are changing the rules when you search to find a local business.   We’re starting to see some results now that show recommendations from a person’s friends from Facebook.   This model is beginning to change the way local search is being done – in fact, Google has now modified their algorithms to include social media recommendations.

If you notice in the picture below, people can now use Bing through the “Facebook Connect”.   Once they do, they can see what others are recommending through the pages that they “Like”.   In this illustration, Jump It Party and Play shows up under the search phrase “birthday party ideas Lafayette IN”.   In this case, their actual Facebook page shows up, as well as my personal Facebook profile image, as I have personally liked this page.    If any of my friends would have “liked”the page, their profile pictures would also have showed up, in effect  giving me a recommendation from one of my friends.

Bing Searches

So What Does This Mean for You?

#1 – If you don’t have a Facebook Business Page (not a personal page), GET ONE NOW!!

#2 – If you already have a Facebook Business Page, you should make sure that you have a program that encourages people to become fans, or “like” your page.

Facebook is still in its infancy stage when it comes to business.   The good news is that those who take adantage of Facebook now, will be many steps ahead of their competitors who choose to ignore the power today.

Let us  know if you need any assistance with setting up or reviewing your business’s Facebook Business Page – the future of your advertising budgets may depend on it!

Categories : Marketing Strategies
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How to Use Marketing to Grow Your Business in Any Economy

June 4th, 2011 by bstoller

Marketing your small business is very confusing to most small business owners and advertising managers.   How much should I spend?   WHERE should I spend it?   Should I not spend anything and only work on social media?   So many questions about the changing face of marketing that many businesses have forgotten that there is more to marketing than simply spending money to attract traffic.

The essence of effective marketing is the ability to attract the customers attention and once having attracted it, to deliver an experience that will assure you that they will come back to repeat it again and again.

From my experience with many business owners, there are many who have simply forgotten this rule.  Many believe that simply getting people to their doors is all it takes.  The truth of the matter is that you have competitors who DO understand this rule and are probably going to end up with some of your customers at some point.

confused customer

There's more to marketing than spending money

Unless….

You go back to the principle and and brush up on your business strategy for keeping your most profitable customers and having a process to handle incoming new customers (or potential customers) from your advertising programs.

Too many times I have seen where businesses have the belief that more customers will equal more profit.   Some of that time, it is correct.  However, if you continually gain more customers only to have them visit you once and never come back, you are probably going backwards.

Your marketing dollars should factor in not just the advertising expense, but also factor in the system to handle new customers.

If you have a hair salon, for example, a first time visitor is probably going to have a lot of questions.   Some questions they will ask, but many will be simply questions like, “Do I feel comfortable here?…    Are these people going to be able to listen to my hair care wants and desires?” …. and so on.

As a business owner, it is up to you to climb into the mind of your customers and figure out what questions they are going to have during their first visit to your store.   You must take care of those questions and concerns or your first time visitor will not be a second time visitor!

Once you have determine the questions and concerns you believe your first time visitors may have, then your second step is to design a system for your business to handle them.   Even if your business is typically not a high repeat business, let’s say a real estate business, by taking the time to understand what your customer wants and needs you will have another form of repeat business – referrals.

I hope this makes sense – marketing is not just getting people to your door.   It’s the entire system that your business uses to process potential customers without alienating your most profitable ones you already have.

If reading this stimulates a little thought or questions, please visit our Facebook Page, become a fan, and post any questions or ideas you may have that could help others.

Categories : Marketing Strategies
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10 Ways to Build Your Brand Online for Small Businesses

May 26th, 2011 by bstoller

Building a Brand Online for Small Businesses Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult

Below is an article from Mashable that we found that summarizes some great ways to build your brand online.   Mashable is a very good source for social media articles and we encourage you to visit them from time to time.

10 Ways For Entrepreneurs To Build Brands Online

Benjamin Lang 14 hours ago by Benjamin Lang 48

brand imageBenjamin Lang is the founder of EpicLaunch and co-founder of MySchoolHelp. You can follow him on Twitter @entrepreneurpro and find out more at BenjaminLang.com.

Everybody needs to get their name out there on the social web. For entrepreneurs, however, it’s an even more critical aspect of the job. A social presence gives you the credibility to attract clients, partners and investors by making yourself available and demonstrating your personality and experience.

Building your online brand in a meaningful way is no easy task, and there are many tools available to get you on the right path. Below, we’ve picked 10 tested methods and highlighted some of the best web tools to help your brand gain momentum in a crowded online marketplace.

1. Media Requests

Being quoted in news articles is an excellent way to demonstrate your authority. It’s a free way to promote yourself and demonstrate thought leadership. There are a few excellent tools out there that connect reporters with people looking to get quoted.

  • HARO is an email digest that connects reporters and sources.
  • NewsBasis allows you to pitch stories to journalists.
  • FlackList is a Rolodex to help the media meet and maintain relationships with experts.
  • Media Kitty is a network that connects journalists with sources.

2. Custom Short URL

Having your own custom URL shortener is a great way to get your name out there. If you often share links on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, it’s very useful. Eric Ries is a prime example. When he distributes a link, he uses his own shortened URL: ericri.es.

Here’s an informative tutorial on how to set up your own shortened URL.

3. Q&A

Sharing your knowledge on Q&A sites is a superb way to build credibility around your name. There are quite a few sites to choose from, so start with the one that has the most buzz around it at the moment: Quora. Robert Scoble has demonstrated the value the site can provide. Having answered more than 500 questions, he’s built a following of more than 22,000 people.

4. Profiles

Be present and active on social networks. It’s crucial to set up your profiles and use the sites to your professional advantage.

Below are some of the top site to establish your presence:

  • About.me: Personal landing page
  • Facebook Page: A valuable way to stay connected with your fans
  • LinkedIn: A business network with full resumes
  • Google Profiles: An important tool for ranking high in search results
  • Twitter: A means to engage and spread your influence through conversation
  • Disqus: Share your knowledge through comments

5. Meetups

Participating in meetups is another excellent way to network and build clout. There a few good tools for finding interesting events in your area. Here are two to get started with:

  • Meetup: Join groups of people that interest you then meet in person.
  • Plancast: You can see which events your friends are attending.

6. Social Email Signatures

Turn your email signature into a social and informative experience. When exchanging emails, everyone in your network will easily be able to find out more about you.

Wisestamp is a popular signature plugin that allows you to create sleek signatures with social icons, RSS feeds and more.

7. Guest Posting

Search for blogs in your area of expertise and pitch them specific ideas for posts. Each blog has its own style and focus, so make sure to tailor your pitches to each outlet. Be ready to share writing samples if asked, and be open to working with editors to revise your post as necessary. Alltop and Technorati are good places to start looking for tops blogs within your area of expertise.

8. Virtual Business Cards

Create a virtual business card so that it’s easy for people to find you and share your information with others. There are many ways to go about this:

  • MiniCard: Buy a domain name and set up a business card-like site.
  • QR Code: Have people scan your unique QR code instead of handing out text-filled cards.
  • Twtbizcard: This site lets you transform your Twitter profile into a business card.
  • Bump: This is an app that allows you to bump phones together to connect with people.

9. Newsletter

Sending out a monthly newsletter will allow you to build up a vast network. If you share valuable content with subscribers, they will then share it with their friends — bringing you a new subscribers and fans. If you do a good job, your list will continue to grow.

Some of the more popular newsletter services include:

  • Mailchimp: A newsletter platform that is free up to 2,000 subscribers
  • Tiny Letter: A simple platform for creating and distributing a newsletter
  • Aweber: Users rave about this paid service, which comes with many options for building out your newsletter

As an example, Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, shares interviews, products and knowledge through his Tiny Letter newsletter, Foundation. At $3.99 per month, it’s a bargain for readers who value his content.

10. Eat with Influencers

The opportunity to grab a meal with other potentially influential people is within your grasp. These days, it’s easy to set up networking meals through online tools like Let’s Lunch or GrubWithUs.

Let’s Lunch is a one-on-one lunch meeting generator that matches people based on reputation, influence, requests and practicality. Right now, it’s only available to people in NYC, Silicon Valley and San Francisco. GrubWithUs allows you to connect with others at group meals that you either find or set up yourself.

Categories : Social Media Marketing
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Today’s Social Influence on Small Business Marketing

May 2nd, 2011 by bstoller

Social Influence is having a tremendous impact on small business marketing.

This chart graphs the effectiveness, difficulty and popularity of each social media marketing tactic.   Just like anything else (sorry about this), the more you work the better the results!

Social Media Chart

The Harder You Work – the Better the Payoff

When you look at the above chart, it becomes clear that the more difficult a tactic is the more effective it is.  If you notice the blogger relations bubble, you will see that it is the most difficult and it’s also the most effective.

Looking at this chart, it’s clear that the most effective social marketing tactics are also the most difficult, and vice-versa. Blogger relations — the most effective tactic reported — is also the only tactic to break into the 70%-range in terms of marketers reporting it as “very” or “somewhat” difficult.

Doing Almost Anything is Somewhat Effective

Take a look at the scale on this chart’s Y-axis (level of effectiveness). Those listed percentages correspond to the number of marketers who reported a tactic as “very” effective. What they do not include are the marketers who reported a tactic as “somewhat effective.”

Here’s something you might not feel is important and could simply be a waste of your time – adding a social sharing button to your e-mails.   According to the chart, only 10% of social markers felt it was “very effective”.   However, 55% feel that it is “somewhat effective”.   That means that 65% of social marketers feel that there is some effectiveness to add these buttons.   If you will also notice, this strategy is one of the easiest to do and requires almost no time.

Also, since adding social sharing buttons bottoms-out the Y-axis here, every other tactic listed has more than 65% of social marketers reporting at least some effectiveness. Here are some examples:

  • Social sharing buttons on websites: 69% say at least “somewhat” effective
  • Advertising on social sites: 73%
  • Microblogging: 75%

So before you think that social media is a waste of time, look at the most effective and be prepared to work hard to get great results.   The good news is that even just a “little” work will give you “some” results.

For help with your social media and overall marketing, make sure to contact the marketing professionals at Discovering Profits.

Categories : Social Media Marketing
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