I’ve been marketing our family owned garage door business for several years now.  I’ve learn how to knock it out of the park and then the really stupid things that you shouldn’t do!

As the owner or manager of a garage door company you are responsible for the success of your business, right? If the phone ain’t ring’n you or your employee’s ain’t eat’n. I learned this several years ago when the phone books started to lose their power for making that glorious phone ring. So I had to learn how to make it ring via other methods. One of those methods was through internet marketing. So imagine this…you have a guy who goes from turning a wrench to spending hours every night learning how to get “our name” out there more.

We’ve seen the business literally double and triple the last couple years. One thing that I’ve learned though studying marketing and the psychology of human behavior is that no matter what I MUST know what my client or potential client wants.

When you know what someone wants and you know what their problem is…all you have to do is deliver the solution.

Here’s the formula: your client has a problem + you know the solution + you know how to communicate that solution better than the competition = you’re making money and your business is growing.

This is the tip: Learn and know your client!

This is really true for any business.

How do you find out what your client’s problem’s are? You ask them, many of them. I’m serious.

When you can communicate that you know their fears (a huge subject) and you’re there to bring an honest solution to their problem just like you would do for your own grammy then you’ll win.

In a later post we’ll talk about how to communicate these things and destroy your competition!

Till then…

Chris

People have wondered for some time how social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter might affect their SEO or page rankings.  We know that in the last year Google has really been amping up the use of feeds via Twitter in trying to get real time information out to it’s user base. We’ll in this video Matt Cutts explains how Google is starting to utilize one’s Facebook or Twitter “Persona” in giving weight to their sites rankings. Interesting video you should take a look at.

If you are a small business owner, or you are an entrepreneur involved with a reputable network marketing company, you understand the importance of compiling quality lists filled with names of prospects and leads. The key to success in any industry is strategic marketing planning and developing a plan that is proven to work.

While some marketing managers prefer to invest nearly their entire marketing budget on lead generation and mailing lists, others are choosing to put more effort into their marketing initiative and generate lists on their own. If you are a budget-conscious marketing manager, consider testing list building secrets with a proven track record and experience increasingly interested and expanded lists.

While the quantity of names on your list certainly does matter, quality matters more so. Because of this many business owners and webmasters are shying away from unreliable lists generated from lead generation companies and creating a way to market their business online and generate more leads for less revenue.

One of the key list building secrets for businesses servicing any industry is to create a personalized webpage displaying your brand and the value you can offer visitors. The design of the page will matter, however the content will matter more. Be brief in description of services and focus more on the customer than you as a company.

Once you monitor an increased flow of traffic to your website, you will need to devise a plan that will allow you to capture the names of your visitors and turn them into leads who can be contacted during your various email and mail marketing campaigns. While there are a number of different ways to ask for contact information, most webmasters have achieved success by using opt-in subscription services.

These opt-in services will allow you to promote either special offers or newsletters pertaining to your business and will request the individual’s basic contact information for subscription. Because you are offering the person something of value they are more likely to release their information to you and give you permission for further contact.

Another method in list building secrets is creating a squeeze page. These pages can pop up when a visitor is directed to your site and require information prior to entering the special offer or webpage. If the visitor is enticed enough and wants to see what you have to offer they will provide accurate information.

This is a great way to build a quality list because those who are not genuinely interested will exit the page. There are a number of ways to build a profitable list without purchasing from third party vendors. Research popular online methods and start reaping the benefits.

Full article click here.

I just wanted to take a few minutes and post a new video on the power of blogging for small businesses. A lot of people still have the mindset that blogging is for would-be-drama-queens that wear their emotions on their sleeves and like to shout to the world their business. Well that just isn’t the case anymore.

Many businesses are starting to grasp the idea of “blogging for business” and it’s paying off – big time!

So, sit back, relax and hopefully you’ll learn something from this video that will help increase your business!

click here to see video FULL SIZE

The Revolution of Online Marketing is growing at light speed, well kind of. But seriously, when I had just started a service oriented business in 2006/2007 all I had to do is take out one of those fancy shmancy phone book ads and I was golden, baby!

Yea!  But then I started seeing a drop off in calls and business was going down the toilet, which of course really sucked!

So I decided I wouldn’t let the suckiness kick me down nor defeat me and thus began my journey, a journey into the almost magically enchanting world of internet marketing.  Yes, it is true that I joined the internet marketing revolution! I had to if I was going to survive as a fairly new small business.  Anyways…I started researching like a mad man on how to market my business online and I found tons of great sources, blogs and all kinds of websites (like this one, hehe) of people that had already ventured out into the ‘IM’ world.

I started learning terms like PPC (pay per click), SEO (search engine optimization), blogging, auto responders, website traffic and the list goes on and on.  It was very difficult in the beginning because there is sooo much information out there that you can easily get lost in a sea of ’stuff’ to read that would be enough to drive you crazy!  So what I’ve learned is that it’s very important to take ONE idea or thing and implement it.  If not you could easily be thrown off track and might have a hard time getting back on.  If you need a website then first learn about building a website, blogging, etc.  If you don’t have a website then don’t worry about ppc or seo or whatever.  Take one step at a time and before you know it you will have some great momentum built up!

If you are a small business you will have to join this internet marketing revolution wether you like it or not because if you don’t you will soon be left in the dust by your competition.  I’m seeing a common trend that business now, more than ever are scrambling to learn how to market online.  That means there is a race!  It’s like the old days when people would race to claim land.  The internet is the same way.  It’s real estate, too!  If you are too lazy or think you just “get to it” when you have time then you are sorely mistaken and I’m afraid you might regret it in the future.  So please leave a comment, ask questions, email…or whatever. Just do something!

THE END.

oh yea, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter list. I won’t spam you!! Promise!

concord seo services

Now you may have heard the term – Blog and it possibly just drums up thoughts that the only people that do this unbelievable time-waster are the tree hug’n, yuppie-hippie’s to express their feelings on the enviroment and all things injust to the universe…Ok, well maybe not that extreme.  But in the past a lot of people have considered blogging to be a waste of time.  But the truth is if you are in business then you MUST have an online presence.  One of the ways you do that is by having a blog. 

YOUR blog is the place where you can show the world how much of an expert you are.  Chances are if you have a service or product that you offer people are searching online for it.  How can they find you if you’re not there?  A blog provides you the platform to freely share on any specific topic that could be tremendously beneficial for your potential customer. 

Two immediate benefits to blogging:

1.  Benefit numero uno, a blog is the place to give value to buyers looking for your product.  This achieves something great for you! Trust with the buyer before you even talk to them.  Think about it, if you were searching for something like, how to replace a washing machine part – you search online for that term and find a website that has goobly gobs of information on that specific subject you subconciously think in your mind…these people know what they’re talking about.  In that blog that have a link to purchase the part you need and instructions what’s the likelyhood of someone purchasing that part there? HIGH!

2.  Another benefit to having a blog is for the purpose of SEO.  SEO stands for search engine optimzation.  SEO is covered in more detail on other parts of this blog.  More than any other time you’ve got to have some sort of seo campaign working for your business.  Because seo is the organic results shown in the search enginges when a person searches for a topic or product you can actually get your website at the top of those results by giving the search engines (mostly google) what they want.  What they want is content…think of google as the cookie monster, ok.  The unique content you create about your specific niche is like a delicious hot chocolate chip cookie.  Google L-O-V-E-S good, fresh content.

Hopefully these reason are good enough for you to be blogging for your business.

Chow!

Chris