When analyzing the options there are several important points to consider.

Factual statistics don’t lie, and the fact is that over 90% of today’s consumers are going to the Internet to look for the product or service they are in the market for. And it’s not just contained to the online buyer, it includes the customer that is searching for a local purchase as well.

Another great point is that online advertising can be much more efficient than offline advertising. The reason is that when you promote your product or service, and business online, the consumer who finds it is a highly targeted one.

Here’s what I mean by highly targeted…

If you place an ad in the Yellow Pages of your local phone directory you are paying for that ad to go to every consumer in your area. Many of them may never be in the market to buy what you are offering.The same goes for all the other offline advertising mediums such as radio, TV, and the newspaper.

Online advertising, on the other hand, offers the ability to put your message out there, but only pay when a consumer is looking for your product or service, and actually clicks on your specific ad.

Besides the fact that that person is targeted toward what you are marketing, they are also much farther along in the buying process. They are closer to actually making a purchase.

So, what do you do if you own a local small business and your advertising dollars are limited? Where can you plunk down your hard earned money to ensure the best return?

It’s simple…

If 90% of consumers are searching the web for local businesses who offer what they are looking to purchase, and they are far more likely to make that purchase sooner than later, Online advertising should be a no-brainer.

You are about to learn how my love for “Real Mashed Potatoes” helped me discover a small business marketing strategy that will have people standing in line, waiting to do business with you. It’s to the point, no fluff (pardon the pun).

As I was growing up I could pretty much predict what mom had on the dinner table long before I even sat down to eat. You see, we were a “Meat and Potatoes” family. Yes, nearly every dinner included potatoes!

So early on, I developed a love for “Real Mashed Potatoes.” No instant spuds, that would be a crime.

Nearly every Sunday we would venture out to a restaurant with Grandma and guess what I would order? You got it, meat and potatoes, mashed potatoes to be exact!

When deciding which restaurant we would visit, it usually came down to only a few choices. The reason was, because I wouldn’t settle for just any ole restaurant, they had to offer real mashed potatoes.

We would actually drive about 20 miles, and pass a dozen other restaurants, to get to the one with real mashed potatoes. Then we usually had to stand in line for an hour to wait for a seat (My father hated standing in line, he says he did that enough when he was in the military).

Why was there frequently a line of people waiting to eat at this particular restaurant?

I never did a scientific poll, but even if real mashed potatoes wasn’t the primary reason, it played a big part. You see, it was the real mashed potatoes that lead people to believe that all their other dishes were also made from scratch and of the same quality. And they were!

Whether you own a product or service type of business, you need to discover that one thing that makes YOUR BUSINESS STAND OUT over your competition. It’s a small business marketing strategy that works!

Do you want customers waiting in line at your business? If so, what’s your “Real Mashed Potatoes?”

Having trouble figuring out what it is?  Contact Us and we’ll help you!

Here is a short example of how the power of the internet, social media and viral marketing has created an overnight success story…

Ever hear of Rebecca Black? She published a song on YouTube and in no time had 30 million views. The amazing thing about this story is that, of those who rated her song and video, she was liked by less than 20%. That means 80% disliked her song.

You can now purchase the song on several music sites for .99 cents, and the ring-tone for $1.29. Sounds like pocket change, right? But think about this for a moment…what is the result of 20% of 30 million multiplied by .99 cents? A whole lot more than pocket change!!!

My point is, she used the power of the internet and social media as a method of promotion. Her video went viral to such a level that with only a 20% likability, she still stands to make millions! (UPDATE: As of April 12, 2011 this video now has 98 million views)

As a small business owner there is no better way to generate buzz about your business than the use of social marketing. With sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube and Yelp, it is only a matter of time that talk of your business is spreading like a virus.

Social Marketing is one sure way for YOUR BUSINESS to stand out against your competition!

It’s a fact that 97% of consumers go online when searching for a product or service in their local area. Statistics show that roughly 70% of them use Google when performing their search.

When Google search returns the results listings for the product or service the consumer is searching for, you’ll frequently see the Google Place listings are at the top of the organic(free) results. (Paid advertisements are first but receive less than 2% of the clicks)

Below is an illustration of the results for a Plumber in Carlisle, PA.
(Note: For a larger view simply click on the image)

As you can see, along with the listing of the business is their website URL and place page. The name of the business is the actual link to their website, but only if they’ve claimed their listing. If the listing not yet been claimed, the link goes to their place page where there is a link to claim it, and edit any information pertaining to their business.

The fact is that anyone who owns a business, and has not yet claimed their listing, is missing out on a lot of new customers.

It’s interesting to note, this is a free listing that can contain a great deal of information about your business. Besides a link to your website there are options to add contact information, hours of operation, payment types, categories, photo’s, and even video’s.

The most important section is the reviews customers write about your business. The more positive reviews you have, the higher your business will rank in these results. There are methods to encourage happy customers to write reviews, which you’ll learn in a later article.

In the meantime, if you own a local business, be sure to claim your listing on Google Places. It will be instrumental in helping your business get more new customers.

Here’s why…

When was the last time you used the yellow pages when you needed to find a product or service in your area? If you’re like most people, the answer is “I can’t even remember.”

The yellow pages is outdated and your potential customers aren’t using it either. Studies show that nearly 90% of consumers turn to the Internet to search for a business in their local area.

Every day, 10-100 people in your area are looking online for what you sell. You need to make sure they find you first, instead of your competitors.

Another study shows that 61 percent of the people who search online first, for local businesses, later purchased the product or service they searched for. Whether at the office, at home, or in their car, the major search engines are where consumers turn to find a local business when they need one.

It’s a fact that your competition will be using local search engine optimization for their business website, if they aren’t already. If you haven’t been optimizing your website for a local search listing you are falling behind, and fast. Businesses that are savvy enough to have jumped into local search are reaping huge benefits.

Once you face the fact that you need a local search program for your business, you need to decide if you will do it yourself or outsource the work.

Here are some advantages to using an outside company to handle your local SEO:

Time

You could commit large amounts of time learning how to set up a local search campaign, hire additional staff and implement an SEO plan. But, a lot of the work for SEO campaigns involves building back links, or citations, to help your website improve in search rankings. This part of the process alone is very time consuming.

An SEO company may use software to accomplish this task in a more time efficient manner. Thus, keeping your time free to handle the additional customer load is important.

Cost

Hiring staff to do the job can be very costly, especially when you factor in benefits and the other HR issues that commonly occur with employees. Outsourcing is generally cheaper than hiring employees to do the work.

SEO software tools can be very expensive as well. If your employees are not fully trained, there will be an additional cost for them to get training. Obviously, if you hire an SEO company they will already have the tools and the their staff will be trained.

Expertise

Staying up to date with the constant changes of the major search engines is a full time job in itself. Recently Google made major changes to their search algorithm that affected many top ten listings. One day you are in the elite top ten, then Google makes a change, and the next day you have fallen to a subsequent page. If you’re not ranked on the first page, you might as well not even exist online.

Additionally, if you are not fully aware of the intricacies of how the search engine’s work, there is the risk of making costly errors that could eliminate the possibility of ever attaining a visible web presence. The bottom line is, if you try to shortcut your SEO program by not doing every necessary step and completing it fully you are effectively wasting your time and money.

Economically speaking, you should let the experts handle job when it comes to small business marketing. Have a local SEO company do the hard work while you do what you do best, making more sales and more money!