Effective Tips for Small Business Marketing Online : Business ...

Effective Tips for Small Business Marketing Online

Hey TROVA Business Entrepreneurs, its Dawn Billings, CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Women?s Network and creator of the Primary Colors Personality Test and I am going to share with you an important small business marketing secret so read carefully, ?In recent years, business has shifted to being conducted in a large part online.?

If you do not understand this, or are not taking this fact seriously let me help you. TAKE THIS FACT SERIOUSLY. Most small business professionals are not paying attention. Why? Because they think that with the millions of results on the large search engines, it will be basically impossible for them to BE FOUND. WRONG. With millions of consumers using the web, there are vast opportunities for small businesses to make a mark on the web. You simply have to learn what works and what doesn?t. Many small business professionals are using strategies such as local online marketing and advertising campaigns, search engine optimization, etc. (the same tactics used by large businesses) and yet not seeing the results they would like. I am here to explain how your local business can become visible to thousands searching the Internet every day.

First, the things to avoid when marketing your small business:

1. Not creating a website, or having a website that is outdated, or not optimized:

In today?s market, a website is your business entry to the online world. Without a website, your company is virtually non-existent in an online sense. Moreover, if you have a website that was was built even four years ago, chances are, the site is highly out of date in terms of current industry standards and search engine optimization. Small businesses must maintain up to date websites. It is not only imperative in order for you to hope to be found on search engines, but once you are found an updated website creates a more trusted reputable brand image.

2. Spending too large a portion of marketing budget on direct mail:

Since the introduction of the Internet, consumers browse and shop at their own leisure. Direct mail has become a fairly outdated marketing resource. While for some businesses, direct mail campaigns can still be an important part of your overall marketing mix, more of your focus should be put into web marketing.

3. Throwing money at PPC:

While PPC, or pay per click advertising, can be a viable component to an online marketing strategy, it certainly should not be your entire online strategy. PPC, when used correctly, can drive traffic to your updated website and lead to conversion and lead generation. However, if your web presence is ?in the weeds? traffic via PPC will not produce effective results in terms of ROI. If there are ways to create more organic results for your business that are equal the cost of PPC, you should definitely look into these more organic solutions. Once a business establishes a reputable brand image online, then PPC becomes an investment strategy and not just another expense on the balance sheet.

4. Spamming

There are many that believe large quantity blasts are a great way to reach consumers, whether it be direct mail, email, web forum spam, or any number of other tactics. While this may reach a large audience, and even 5% conversion of that number might be huge, this may leave a bad taste in the mouth of the rest. So while you may gain some business from that five percent, you?ve effectively alienated yourself from not only the rest of your target audience, but all those in their extended networks. This draws on the idea of promoting a quality brand image and reputability.

5. Not tracking campaigns and results

I would venture to say a large portion of business owners, while dedicated a portion of their budget towards marketing, have no idea what it?s doing or if it is even working. Without the ability to track campaigns, you can?t develop a quality strategy and know which areas to pursue.

Second, the things to DO when marketing your small business online:

1. Get Powerful, Effective and Inexpensive Search Engine Optimized Exposure:

This is not as difficult as it sounds, nor does it require a great deal of money. In fact, you can accomplish this for pennies a day. Now you can create an optimized, one page mini-website with galleries of photos, videos, links and all kinds of important information about your business that will show up on the major search engines. TROVA Business Directory and TROVA Women Business Directory offer these optimized one page mini-websites for pennies a day.

2. Give to charity while you are being advertised online:

Through Heart to Heart Media you can be a showcased industry-specific professional on a website like www.goodhealth-products.com if you are a health professionals, or if you are a beauty or skin care small business professional, you can be showcased on an industry-specific website like www.bestskincare-beautyproducts.com. Heart to Heart Media has 100?s of industry-specific websites for professionals in most industries to shine and offers a wide variety of sponsorships for just pennies a day, but the best news is that they have a ?give back? advertising package where all proceeds go to Charitable Heart.Org, a non-profit organization that benefits women and children?s charities, so now all money small business professionals spend on marketing themselves and their businesses online, benefits women and children everywhere.

As is the case with many small businesses, putting time and resources into developing a quality marketing strategy can feel like a daunting task. Without the proper knowledge and outlets, you could be spending more time and money than is necessary, or not enough. Fortunately, there are companies like TROVA Business Directory and TROVA Women Business Directory and Heart to Heart Media, dedicated to providing small business professional with powerful, cost effective marketing strategies.

Source: http://www.business-businessnetworking.com/blog/?p=1337

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