MDS Resource — Digital Ad Agency

Tag: your local business

  • 10 Internet Marketing For Small Business Ways To Attract Local Customers

    Easy Ways To Attract Local Customers

    The Facts About Consumer Internet Usage

    This trend continues to rise and Internet Marketing for small business must get on board with this — or perish.

    • Most Consumers search online for local products and services.
    • Approximately 35% of all Internet searches are for local things.
    • There are more than 250 Million searches on Google alone every single day!
    • Online marketing is predicted to be at least 15% of all media ad spending in 2013.

    Internet technology is GREAT … But, it has caused Problems for Some Local Businesses! Here’s why:

    1. Consumers are using online search instead of yellow pages and newspapers when looking for local products and services.
    2. Some businesses still spend thousands of dollars on ineffective traditional advertising methods.
    3. And, some businesses are not yet investing in online advertising and marketing. Are you?

    As a Result …

    • Business expenses continue to rise while profits decline.
    • Local Businesses are struggling to get new and repeat customers.
    • Great customers are buying from Local Businesses well placed online.

    Here Are 10 Ways Your Local Business Can Connect With Your Local Consumers

    1. Connect With Search Engine Visibility

      • You must work hard to gain better search engine positioning and rankings.
      • You must search engine optimize your website using on-the-page factors, making certain that your money phrases are in your content.
      • You must search engine optimize your website using off-the-page factors, persuading other sites to link back to you.
      • Claim, verify and optimize your Google Places listing
    2. Connect With Your Professional Website

      • All Effective Websites MUST Have:

        1. An organized and easily navigable layout
        2. Fresh, relevant and compelling content everywhere
        3. A strong Call-To-Action on every page
        4. An integrated lead capture system
    3. Connect With Email Marketing

      • Local Internet Marketing Money Is In Your LIST!

        1. Email marketing is cost-effective, automated and easy to deliver.
        2. Email marketing helps you build trust and credibility.
        3. Email marketing allows you to generate business on auto-pilot 24/7.
        4. Email marketing statistics are simple to track.
    4. Connect With Mobile Marketing

      • There are approximately 4 BILLION Mobile users worldwide!
      • By 2014, Mobile Internet usage is expected to exceed Desktop Internet usage!
      • Business websites must be Mobile optimized to accommodate Mobile Internet on-the-go users too rushed to squint, zoom and scroll.
      • Text message marketing promotes and connects with local audiences on the go.
    5. Connect With Social Media

      • Search engine optimization (SEO) is NOT enough! Hang Out With Your Customers and Prospects Online …

        1. Consumers spend many hours on social media sites every single day.
        2. Building relationships on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube is necessary for business.
        3. Social media markets are so big, Facebook is the 3rd largest country in the world!

          1. China
          2. India
          3. Facebook
          4. United States
    6. Connect With Video Marketing

      • Online Videos are HOT … Perhaps, Too HOT To Handle!

        1. Videos increase your visibility in search results and positioning.
        2. Online videos help you develop trust and expert status.
        3. Videos increase conversion rates, website traffic and are the single most powerfl small business advertising!
          cVideos run on auto-pilot and set you apart from your competitors
    7. Connect With Publish Online Content

      • The Internet Revolves Around CONTENT! Effective Website Optimization Multi-Purposes Content Everywhere

        1. Publish keyword rich articles and blog posts related to your industry.
        2. Publish keyword optimized press releases to attract media attention.
        3. Publish content to online directories to drive traffic back to your website.
    8. Connect With Reputation Management

      • Do You Know What People Say About Your Business Online? Local Search Optimization Relies On The Social Proof Of Reviews & Testimonials!

        1. Pay attention to what is being said about your business online.
        2. Promote positive online reviews & testimonials about your business.
        3. A bad online reputation can negatively impact your business.
        4. Respond promptly and handle all negative remarks quickly.
    9. Connect With Online Classified Ads

      • Effective Marketing Local Business Is All About Promoting Your Business Everywhere Local Customers Hang Out

        • Online Classified Ad sites are free or are very low cost.
        • Craigslist is one of the most popular online classified ad sites.
        • Optimize your ads with effective keywords to show up in search results.
        • Images in your ads make them more attractive to consumers.
    10. Connect With Paid Online Advertising

      • Successful Internet Marketing For Small Business Quickly Learns Its Best Market From Paid Advertising!

        1. Paid online advertising is effective at gaining more exposure quickly.
        2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is one of the most popular paid advertising methods.
        3. Google’s paid advertising platform is called AdWords.
        4. Facebook also has paid advertising to get in front of your best prospects.

Call Now
Answer Questions: 612-235-6060

  • WARNING: Minneapolis Local Business Wants To Be Found By Enough Of The Right People

    What's In The Minneapolis Local Business Forum for YOU?
    What's In The Minneapolis Local Business Forum for YOU?

    The Minneapolis Local Business Forum is the brainchild of a local entrepreneurs who want to promote business growth in the greater Twin Cities metro area. Introducing business owners to each other and to local residents, we hope to kick start our local economy. The Forum is totally free and without obligation. Unlike other recent initiatives, we want you to remember that free bit. This is our commitment to you. That and, in exchange for your participation, we promise to deliver to you value that you are not likely to get elsewhere regardless of price. This community has given us so much and we are giving back to you, our community, with this mastermind group.

    The Minneapolis Local Business Forum is About Free Exposure and Prosperity

    Minneapolis Local Business Forum focuses on providing ideas, strategies and tactics to grow your business. There is no free lunch; but, by banding together, we can act together today to promote and grow our businesses. Our forum is an opportunity for free exposure, valuable contacts and invaluable promotion for every business owner who decides to participate. This endeavor can only work for all of us when all of us contribute. In addition to solving your most difficult problem, others will benefit from the problems you have already solved. Participation in Minneapolis Local Business Forum can hook you up with other local business owners who could:

    • Complement your own skills
    • Provide contacts
    • Possibly use your services

    How can you help us get the word out to your local business neighbors?

    Although our goal is to jumpstart business throughout the Twin Cities, we are focusing on our own backyard now: Golden Valley, New Hope and Plymouth. Your credibility in this community is extremely valuable to us. Your help in promoting the forum helps your own business growth. Please, help.

    What’s In The Minneapolis Local Business Forum for YOU?

    Of course, you want to know, What’s in it for you? There are no guarantees. However, it’s widely known that “two heads are better than one!” Who knows? You and your business could:

    1. Make new friends and strategic partnerships.
    2. Identify possible vendors and clients.
    3. Solve problems with like minded professionals.
    4. Be recognized for your expertise.
    5. Showcase your business to eager buyers.

    Some Minneapolis Local Business Forum Tangible Benefits

    Yes, we want to grow our businesses, too. We are local entrepreneurs, just like you and everybody we are inviting to this group. In exchange for meeting you and sharing ideas, following are some of what we offer to you:

    1. Free exposure for your business.
    2. Free membership in the Minneapolis Local Business Forum.
    3. Free listing on the Minneapolis Local Business Forum website.
    4. Free video commercial about your business on your listing.
    5. Free Minneapolis Local Business Forum Facebook promotion.
    6. Free Minneapolis Local Business Forum Twitter promotion.
    7. Free access to our Minneapolis Local Business Forum LinkedIn group.

    The Minneapolis Local Business Forum is Opportunity Knocking On YOUR Door

    But, you MUST participate. The Mayors of Golden Valley and New Hope have expressed their support for our forum and are actively recruiting local businesses. All business owners in our community are cordially invited to attend our inaugural meeting which will be:

    Tuesday, September 13, 2011

    6 to 7 PM (5-6 PM videos)

    Master Communications Group

    3410 Winnetka Avenue

    Back Entrance (East)

    New Hope, MN 55427

    The Minneapolis Local Business Forum Website Is All About YOU

    At that meeting we are unveiling our website. Listings are free of charge for local business owners and include a complementary video clip about each business and business owner shot by local videographer Master Communications Group. Come early (5:00pm) to our first meeting and we will walk you through their free video at that time.

    Please, Join Us At The Minneapolis Local Business Forum Inaugural Meeting

    We would love to see you, too, on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 5:00-7PM. We very much look forward to meeting you so we can exchange ideas, share experiences and generally support one another in a proactive and relaxed fashion. Thank you, for your esteemed participation.

    Call Now

    Answer Minneapolis Local Business Questions: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • If You Are Marketing Local Business You Can Double Your Best Sales In Ninety Days Or Less

    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business
    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business

    How does your business survive without local buyers shopping for what you offer? Marketing local business may seem daunting, that you’re at a big disadvantage to the big boys. You probably don’t have an online shopping cart and you create great customers eyeball-to-eyeball. Unlike international behemoths like Amazon and Target, you have a service area issue. Although, you’ll service buyers who travel hundreds of miles to you, your ideal customer lives within a 10 or 50 mile radius. Is this your business?

    You’ll be excited to hear that you’re not limited in the ways you can market yourself locally. Yes, I know, most business owners don’t specialize in marketing. This whole advertising thing has become a sinkhole for money you’d rather reinvest back into the business. After placing a few ads all over town, putting your company listing in the yellow pages and networking with your Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club, you’ve probably run out of advertising ideas. Times are tough, traditional advertising is more expensive and, near as you can tell, your return on advertising budget approaches zero. On top of everything else, Dorothy the yellow pages rep and Toto the local SEO geek are pestering you to get online, saying all you need is to be numero uno on Google and a million website visitors. That’s it — nothing more — right?

    Not.

    It’s true, as we learn to search and find what we want on the Internet – when we want it – we respond less and less to offline media. As consumers, we have definitely changed the ways we shop and buy. We no longer sit around waiting to be told what to buy and what’s available for purchase. Million dollar Super Bowl commercials are mere entertainment now, so why spend wheelbarrows of money on traditional and ineffective advertising? Get with the times, marketing local business benefits greatly from the following tips:

    Marketing Local Business Online

    Anticipate eager buyers shopping for you online and everywhere they look you are there. Remember yellow pages? Similarly on the Internet, there are directories that catalog local companies by location, by advertising and by customer reviews. These local online directories are quickly becoming popular resources for buyers to find local companies. Little to no cash gets your company listed in these directories. Advertise your company in as many locations as practical to gain maximum exposure. Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Bing Local, MerchantCircle and Yelp are but a smattering. There are also industry, thematic and cultural directories, too.

    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business

    It’s always vital to announce your business organization, activities and events to your community on a regular basis. This is more than simply telling everybody that you’re still in business. Survival and success are NOT the same thing. New products and services demonstrate that you’re interested in and responding to your customers’ evolving needs and desires. Your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MerchantCircle and even LinkedIn are great places to post your news. Press releases, news releases and media announcements are easier and cheaper done now than ever before. There are many sites online catering to your PR needs. When eager buyers see that you not only have what they’re searching for, but you also have an even newer model, they’ll likely tell their friends about you.

    Marketing Local Business Customers Love Coupons

    Consider the fact that people love to save money — don’t you, too? — coupons can create great customers. You don’t have to worry about complicated sales pitches, just offer them a discount for trying you out. Instead of direct mail or printing fliers, save yourself the distribution expense and publish coupons on the Internet. With billions of searches on the Internet every month, be creative and put your promotion everywhere your eager buyers are looking. Try mentioning a coupon in your blog post, experiment with QR codes people will scan with their smart phones and consider social media. Internet sites like Groupon, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and MerchantCircle are only the tip of the iceberg. Get them in the door and you have the opportunity to create another great customer!

    Can your business survive with local buyers? Yes and marketing your local business online is easy and fun! You’re not limited in the ways you can market locally. By marketing local business effectively you can double your best sales in ninety days or less.

    Call Now
    Answer Your Marketing Local Business Question: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • Secrets Of Local Small Business Marketing – Funnel Eager Buyers Through Your Sales Funnel In Droves

    Diversify Local Small Business Marketing
    Diversify Local Small Business Marketing

    Local Small Business Marketing Thinks Big

    The first secret of local small business marketing is to not think like a small business. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your brick and mortar business made you money even if none of your employees showed up for work and your door never even opened? Do you sometimes have nightmares of your company shutting down because your referral system dried up and blew away? If you answer yes to either of these questions, then you must consider the benefits of building an inbound marketing system to anticipate eager buyers shopping for what you offer and everywhere they look you are there. Instead of tossing and turning at night, with these cutting edge methods of marketing your local business you’ll sleep like a baby and your company will thrive. If the old saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” applies to you, you may want to consider a total overhaul. Changing your marketing strategy can mean the difference between reaching new record sales highs or shutting down and filing for bankruptcy.

    Imagine for a moment marketing in a way that targets your best customer in her natural environment. Offer her valuable information that she’s already seeking for free. Imagine she’s so delighted by what you’ve given her that she returns time and again to pay you for what you do best. Sounds like a dream does it? Unfortunately for many businesses stuck in their ways, that is all successful business will ever be — a dream. Let’s face it, the profits of traditional marketing tactics — yellow pages, newspaper ads, telemarketing, etc. — are drying up and blowing away. Where did all of the customers go? Yes, the economy is dragging; but, we all know, consumers are still consuming. So, where did they go?

    Local Small Business Marketing Prospers Online

    The second secret of local small business marketing is to stake your claim on the Internet. Why the Internet you may be wondering? The Internet is where consumers gather to search, to buy and to share their experiences with other consumers. Web searchers are becoming more sophisticated everyday. Everyday, more and more people search the Internet to find and buy more and more. As we learn to search and find what we want on the Internet — when we want it — we respond less and less to offline media. Literally, billions of searches are conducted every singe month by eager buyers looking to purchase locally. More to the point, when was the last time you flipped through your yellow pages?

    Diversify Local Small Business Marketing

    The third secret of local small business marketing is to diversify your online promotional portfolio. Ten years ago, it was extraordinary simply to publish your online business card. Woo-hoo! You were on the Internet and everybody was so proud and excited and everybody told everybody that your business is on the Internet! Today, your online business card is a fossil. Nobody cares about your company, except you. What have you done for me lately?

    Promote your company on interactive social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. It’s no longer enough to trumpet your features and advantages to the world. As we learn to search and find what we want on the Internet we respond less and less to intrusive messages. I am a consumer and when I’m in the market for a new thing I will search for it. What’s in it for me? When I find your interesting product or service, I’m going to ask my online brothers and sisters about you. I’m going to check you out on LinkedIn; and then I’m going to do the same for your company. I’m likely to watch your and your competitors’s videos and read all of the articles I can find published online. How many fans Like your fan pages and Like your blog posts?

    Local Marketing Is Effective

    Are you still thinking like a small business? What if none of your employees showed up for work and your door never even opened? What if your nightmares came true and your business dried up and blew away? Inbound marketing anticipates eager buyers shopping for what you offer. Changing your marketing strategy can mean the difference between reaching new record sales highs or shutting down and filing for bankruptcy. Local small business marketing is effective online because it funnels eager buyers through your sales funnel in droves.

    Call Now
    Answer Local Small Business Marketing Question: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • Give Me Local Small Business Marketing And I’ll Whip My Dreams Into Profitable Business Over Night

    Dream Local Small Business Marketing Profits
    Dream Local Small Business Marketing Profits

    If local small business marketing is unfamiliar to you, look at it this way. The target of every business is to get the word out to the maximum number of people to maximize marketplace exposure. In business, market exposure correlates with sales.

    Go Online With Local Small Business Marketing

    Today in our cyber era, having an effective online presence is of utmost importance. As people spend more and more time in front of the computer, chances are better and better that they will search online for the products and services that they will buy. The Internet allows small business owners to display your expertise directly to eager buyers. Unlike traditional media like billboards, television advertising and Yellow Pages, with online media local small business marketing no longer requires huge amounts of money.

    Local Small Business Marketing Is Affordable

    It’s true! There are some really cool ways to promote your local business, many of which are free, to attract the targeted leads you desire. Here are some of the methods:

    • Create web pages that feature keywords specific to your particular products and services. What do we mean by “keyword?” Anticipate what eager buyers type into the search engine box before they click [Search]. Savvy buyers are getting savvier. With local small business marketing you want to attract local customers.
    • Make sure to choose terms that people will look for to find local products and services. For example, if you own a Detroit furniture business, you don’t want to target phrase “furniture.” It’s too generic. Google it yourself and see 257 MILLION web pages containing that word. Instead, Detroit buyers will type the phrase “detroit office furniture” and search. Now I find 700 thousand competitive web pages and also that local map featuring local furniture merchants.
    • Build a blog and they will come. Your blog is the ideal way to tell your story and interact with an interested audience. You know? I know you’re great telling your story and persuading prospects sitting across the table from you. Write each blog post that way, as if you’re eyeball-to-eyeball with the largest possible audience. And they will hear your story today, tomorrow and next year — when they’re ready to hear it. Once you’re done writing your post, bookmark it in social book marking sites like Digg.com and StumbleUpon.com to promote even more traffic.
    • Last but not least, don’t forget a Facebook fan page. Now that Facebook is the third largest country in the world (China, India, Facebook, United States …) your Fan page facilitates keeping up with your customers regardless where they are. Local small business marketing benefits from Facebook patrons Like-ing your page and telling the world how great you are. Local patrons frequenting Facebook are more likely to pay attention to your local business when privy to your popularity. Additionally, Facebook facilitates instant communication with your audience whenever you do something noteworthy, like a special event or a special promotion.

    Dream Big With Local Small Business Marketing

    As local business marketing becomes easier and more familiar to you, eager buyers will notice. To maximize marketplace exposure your local business must be found. In business, market exposure correlates with sales. What do you have to lose by dreaming big and making local small business marketing an overnight sensation?

  • Are You Pitifully Marketing Local Business? Lessons To Turnaround Local Business Marketing

    Marketing Local Business Turnaround Lessons
    Marketing Local Business Turnaround Lessons

    Marketing Local Business Effectively Succeeds

    All small businesses catering to the real world ought to get started by focusing within a local area on a small niche market. There is a continuous demand around the world for effective strategies for marketing local business to the community. Regardless of this large number of businesses searching for ways to market within their local area, most end up failing. Why is this happening? How is it that so many well intentioned business people fail marketing their local business?

    Are these indications that local business marketing is not effective? Is it because business people, although qualified professionals, are not capable of carrying out local marketing tasks successfully? Local marketing is really about establishing your business presence within a specific area, getting eager buyers shopping for what you offer to recognize and respect your brand. Traditionally, there have been numerous ways to market locally, such as radio and TV advertising, telemarketing and print advertising including magazines, newspapers and Yellow Pages. With the advent of the Internet, however, traditional marketing is waning in effectiveness because consumers no longer respond to intrusive advertising.

    Even though all of these methods continue to be effective to a smaller degree, we have found it much more affordable and effective to advertise our local business online. Marketing local business online is a broad topic comprised of different strategies. Yes, everybody today has a website. Regardless how pretty your website looks, the true tests of effectiveness are the number and quality of the leads your website produces. How many eager buyers shopping for what you offer contacted you last month because of your website?

    Start Marketing Local Business To Nurture Prospects

    For starters, not every visitor to your website is immediately prepared to buy. Email marketing targeted at local businesses is a good way for people to continue learning about your business. Social media marketing is also powerful at promoting your brand in your community. Individuals more closely relate to businesses within their community than from dissimilar geographical locations. Additionally, we are a very visual culture and video is a fantastic way to tell your local business story to a local audience. Becoming familiar with these facts helps you to take advantage of and use the strength of marketing local business online.

    Search engine marketing is also readily directed at specific geographic areas and regions. Considering the simplicity of this strategy, in addition to effectiveness and affordability, it is the first I recommend that you consider implementing these days. Pay-Per-Click advertising is also readily directed geographically, but due to cost you need to allocate additional marketing budget. Last but not least, increase your website traffic with effective search engine optimization and basic back-linking techniques. SEO is really about publishing the rich, relevant and rewarding content search engine users seek. Back links are testimonials elsewhere on the Internet endorsing your local business by putting a link to your website on their website.

    Many people question the effectiveness of search engine optimization for local business marketing. Basically, anticipating the key words and phrases that eager buyers type into the search engines allows you to be found wherever they look. Google facilitates this through Local Business Results and Google Places. Yahoo! and Bing are also eager to provide local business results because all search engines recognize that millions of eager buyers are searching to buy locally.

    Marketing Local Business Speaks To Your Community

    Marketing your local business is essential if you want any new business from your community. When you fully understand and implement some of these techniques, then your local business will profit from local customers. Every business is different and one size never fits all. Try these techniques marketing local business online and determine which combination best profits your business. Besides that, understanding the strategies and options available enable you to plan effective local marketing that best benefits your local business.

  • How Local Small Business Marketing Drove My Sales Through The Roof In The Dreariest Of Economies

    Local Small Business Marketing Drives Sales
    Local Small Business Marketing Drives Sales

    Is Local Small Business Marketing Right For You?

    The Internet has changed the way that the world does business. It really has changed everything. People no longer stop what they are doing to reach for the Yellow Pages when they need a service or product. They reach for their computer and this has changed everything.

    Has Local Small Business Slowed?

    Where once you might have succeeded advertising your local business in the local newspaper, now you need to get your business online with local small business marketing My business targets my local community — most of my customers come from a five mile radius. Year on year it’s been getting harder and harder to hit my sales targets. It seems like each year there are fewer good customers out there. Can you relate to my story?

    The reason for my struggles is likely the same as your struggles — I was not making the most of marketing my local small business online. It’s less about traditional offline media and all about the Internet now. How has the Internet has transformed local small business marketing? That is where eager buyers are looking for my products and services.

    Local Small Business Marketing Is On The Internet

    Since I started taking seriously what the Internet offers in terms of local small business marketing, my sales have literally shot through the roof. Where once I was struggling to make ends meet, now I’m struggling to cope with the avalanche of work I have coming in every single day — I need to add staff soon. There is no doubt in my mind that the Internet and its facility to put my local small business directly in front of eager buyers has changed my local small business for the better forever!

    Marketing To Local Buyers Grows Small Business

    I was taken completely by surprise that my business keeps growing, even throughout these current economic challenges. Not even this global recession has stopped my business from growing. My success is undoubtedly our change from traditional marketing methods to local small business marketing online.

    Local Business Profits From Eager Local Buyers

    I know that it might seem counter intuitive to use the Internet to connect with customers who are perhaps just a few miles from your door; but, look at the facts: The Internet is everywhere — in our phones, in our ipads and ipods, in our computers and in our cars and TV’s. More than 80% of Americans use the Internet regularly and more than 1 billion people each month search to buy locally.

    Get Onboard Local Small Business Marketing

    This Internet thing has changed the game of business by moving the goal posts closer for local small business. If you have a local business and you want to grow profitably in 2011 and beyond, wake up to these changes and get onboard. Local small business marketing is what you need to do right now.

  • WARNING: Marketing Local Business Is The Best Way To Appeal To Impatient Buyers In Your Neighborhood

    Marketing Local Business Appeals To Eager Buyers
    Marketing Local Business Appeals To Eager Buyers

    In case you have just become a business owner, you should know that it is vitally important to find the best opportunities available for marketing local business. Doing all that it takes to get and keep consumers interested in spending money to benefit from your service will be your key to generate a lucrative profit.

    Marketing Local Business Appeals To Eager Buyers

    Local advertising campaigns have proven to be crucial for every business, whether you are a professional doctor or lawyer with some years in your field, or a roofing contractor starting out. It is always best to advertise locally even if your business is already established, because local buyers will be the first to invest their money in your products and services. Marketing local business is the best way to appeal to buyers in your neighborhood and for you to cultivate a successful business.

    In many cases this exposure can expand from local to international with simple, positive word of mouth reviews. By using a marketing strategy that leverages testimonials, this will enable your business to thrive. When you are prepared with the best way to market your local business, you will not spend an enormous sum of money — not even in the beginning.

    Marketing Local Business Requires Expertise

    The most effective way to market local business and boost revenue is to enlist the expertise of a local marketing company. Once the majority of your community knows about you and also what you have to offer, then you should move on to other effective advertising strategies. Advertisements in the local newspapers, tabloids and magazines in order attract more customers used to be the only way. Those traditional methods may not be as effective today. All of your advertising must prominently display your business logo. It is a major visual component to your brand and can be seen everywhere. Your logo can look great on signs and billboards in close proximity to your business.

    Marketing Local Business Exceeds Expectations

    After you capitalize on these basic marketing techniques and your profit looks good, then you can continue to the next phase. Going beyond the traditional approach of creating brochures, pamphlets, leaflets and flyers to be distributed all over your local area, continue promoting your local business wherever eager buyers are shopping for what you offer. At all times you want to ensure that you are using all advertising options to your advantage. Striving to make earnings exceed expectations, you will find nothing more essential than effective marketing. You will discover that this is one of the best decisions you will ever make for your business.

    Marketing Local Business Fulfills Dreams

    Now is really the time to get aggressive with local marketing. Ensure that your local business continues to grow to the level you desire. Dream big! Always remember that the opportunities for marketing local business were never this easy. The sky is the limit if you are serious about success and you keep your finger on the pulse of your best customers. Marketing local business brings results.

  • What is a Search Engine?

    Why does the Search Engine matter to you and your Local Business?

    Welcome to the Brilliant Ideas About Internet and Money Frequently Asked Questions Series, Part 4: What is a Search Engine?


    Search Engine Marketing Is Marketing Local Business Online

    Previously, we discussed What Is Inbound Marketing? quoting Seth Godin:

    “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.”

    Marketing Local Business online demands a rigorous understanding of how best to be found when people search the Internet for what you offer.  To best understand HOW people search for what you offer, it is necessary to understand the tools they are using.  As I write this, Web Search Engines stand head-and-shoulders above other search tools; and Google dominates all Search Engines with more than 80% Search Engine marketshare.

    Before we can understand Search Engine Marketing (SEM,) we must have a working relationship with Search Engine mechanics.  Effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is predicated on creating content that people want to find in a way that the Search Engines will notice and catalog and make readily findable by those hungry seekers.

    What is a Search Engine?

    A search engine is a tool used to find interesting information in a database.  In recent times, such search tools are computerized.  In its simplest form, the electronic card catalog at your public library is a search engine.

    Although search engine is a general class of computer programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Google, Yahoo! and Bing that enable users to search online media, the World Wide Web and Usenet newsgroups.

    What is a Web Search Engine?

    A Web Search Engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web.  Web Search Engines work by storing information from billions of web pages, which they gather from the web page code.

    Web page contents are gathered by a Web crawler, or spider — an automated Web browser that reads every line of code in every web page, and follows every link on each page.  Contents of each page are analyzed to determine how to index it for later retrieval.  The index allows information to be found quickly.

    Three essential features of Search Engines are:

    • crawling,
    • indexing, and
    • searching.

    Search Engines evolved from Internet Directories

    • Archie [1990], “archive” without the “v,” was the first tool searching the Internet.  Archie downloaded directory listings, not contents, of all files located on public FTP sites.
    • Gopher [1991] combined document hierarchies with collections of services and gateways to other information systems.
    • W3Catalog [1993] was the first primitive Search Engine, periodically mirroring numerous specialized catalogues.
    • World Wide Web Wanderer [1993] was the first web robot and generated an index called ‘Wandex’.
    • Aliweb [1993] was manually notified by web site administrators of an index file at each site.
    • JumpStation [1993] used a web robot to find and index web pages, and used a web form interface as its query program.
    • WebCrawler [1994] allowed users to search for any word in any web page, which is now the Search Engine standard.
    • Lycos [1994] was one of the first Search Engines with a for-profit business model, followed closely by: Magellan, Excite, Infoseek, Inktomi, Northern Light and AltaVista.
    • Yahoo! [1994] founders David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University, started their guide as a way to track their personal interests on the Internet.
    • Google [1996] began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, at Stanford working on the Stanford Digital Library Project (SDLP).  Google’s first funding was secured in August 1998 in the form of a $100,000 USD contribution given to a corporation which did not yet exist.
    • Microsoft [2004] began a transition to its own search technology, powered by its own web crawler (called msnbot).  Microsoft’s rebranded search engine, Bing, was launched on June 1, 2009.
    • On July 29, 2009, Yahoo! and Microsoft finalized a deal in which Yahoo! Search would be powered by Microsoft Bing technology.

    How do Search Engines make money?

    In 1996, Netscape sought a single featured search engine for their innovative web browser.  Five Search Engines paid $5 million each to be in a rotation on the Netscape search engine page: Yahoo!, Magellan, Lycos, Infoseek, and Excite.  Today, most Search Engines are commercial ventures supported by advertising revenue.

    Some Search Engines allow advertisers to pay money to have their listings ranked higher in search results.

    Other Search Engines seek to categorize and prioritize web pages by measures of intrinsic value and make money by running search related ads alongside regular search engine results.  Such Search Engines make money every time someone clicks on one of these ads (Pay-Per-Click.)

    How do Search Engines differ from Directories?

    Historically, Yahoo! was among the most popular ways for people to find web pages of interest, but it operated on its web directory, contents of which were submitted by web site administrators.  Web directories are databases of human-compiled results, also known as human-powered search engines.

    Unlike web directories maintained by human editors, Search Engines operate on algorithms, or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input.  Search Engines automatically create web page listings by using spiders that “crawl” web pages, index their information, and follow each page’s links to other web pages.

    Spiders return to previously crawled sites on a regular basis to update web page changes.  Everything that these spiders gather is entered into the Search Engine database.

    How do I use a Search Engine?

    Major Search Engines include a simple dialog box into which you type a word or phrase, and a Search submit button to begin the search.

    A Keyword is this word or phrase of words in this simplest sense.

    Most Search Engines support using Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT to further refine search queries.  Boolean searching on the Internet may manifest in three ways:

    1. Full Boolean logic with the use of the logical operators (rare)
    2. Implied Boolean logic with keyword searching (typed symbols)
    3. Boolean logic using search form terminology (multiple form entries)

    When a user submits a query, the Search Engine compares it to its index and returns a listing of web page information, usually with a short summary containing page title and part of its content.  Some Search Engines support natural language queries that allow the user to type a question in the same form you would ask it of a human.

    What is a Search Engine Result Page?

    A Search Engine results page (SERP), is the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query.  The SERP typically lists web pages with titles, a link to the page, and a short description showing where the keywords have matched content within the page.

    SERP’s of the major Search Engines may include different types of listings: contextual, algorithmic or organic search listings, sponsored listings (PPC,) images, maps, definitions, videos and suggested search refinements.  Major Search Engines visually differentiate specific content types, such as images, news, blogs and sponsored links.

    Each SERP also includes navigation to subsequent and/or previous SERP’s, possible search suggestions or refinements, suggested similar searches, and back to begin a new search.

    How do Search Engines sequence results?

    Initially, web site administrators manually submitted their web site information to be included in Web directories, often for a fee.  Often as part of their business model, these “search engines” featured these sponsoring web sites according to the amount of fees collected.

    By 2000, the Google Search Engine was gaining popularity among searchers because it achieved more relevant results with an innovation called PageRank.  Google developed an algorithm to rank web pages based on the number, trust and authority of other web pages that link back to them.  Google’s premise is that good and desirable web pages are linked back to more than less desirable web pages.

    Now, major Search Engines operate similarly.

    How each Search Engine decides which pages match best and in what order varies widely from one engine to another.  The methods also change over time as Internet usage changes and new techniques evolve.

    What is an algorithm?

    An ‘algorithm’ is an effective method for solving a problem expressed as a finite sequence of instructions.  Each algorithm is a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task.  In computer science, a search algorithm is an algorithm for finding an item with specified properties among a collection of items.

    There are also many algorithms designed specifically for retrieval in very large databases, such as bank account records, electronic documents, product catalogs, fingerprint and image databases, and so on.

    Each Search Engine uses a proprietary algorithm to index and return only meaningful results for each search query.  The index is built from the information stored with the data and the method by which the information is indexed.

    While millions of web pages may include a particular keyword, some pages are more relevant, popular, and authoritative than others.  Search Engine usefulness depends on the relevance of the results it returns on each search query.

    Who are Search Engine customers?

    Major Search Engine business models are for-profit.

    Each SERP has a clearly defined topic and targeted theme.  Money comes from paid advertisements strategically placed on each SERP.  Each ad includes a Web link to the advertiser’s web page.  Advertisers pay for these ads to attract people searching for particular keywords.

    No search engine has control over the content of the universe of web pages.  The better a Search Engine responds to each search, the more money that Search Engine is likely to make.

    These Web searchers are becoming more sophisticated everyday.  Everyday, more and more people search the Internet to find and buy more and more.

    It stands to reason that Search Engines will continuously hone their search algorithms to continuously improve profitability.

    What is a Search Engine?  Perhaps, it is the key to your Local Business prosperity …

    It’s no longer enough to sit back and wait for new customers to come to your Local Business.  Fact is, in these times, your customers are more sophisticated than ever.  Barraged with thousands of Buy-Me messages everyday, they are determined to find for themselves true value.  They are not waiting around for your message; but, they are seeking what they want to buy on the Internet.

    Therefore, Marketing Local Business online is your new imperative.  Now that you understand Search Engines, how they work and who uses them for what, it is time for you to seize the day.  Use the Search Engines to market your Local Business.  Put yourself in front of your customers.  Take the initiative.


    Be found!

    Eager customers are looking for you in the Search Engine …

  • What is Inbound Marketing?

    Why does Inbound Marketing matter to you and your Local Business?

    Welcome to the Brilliant Ideas About Internet and Money Frequently Asked Questions Series, Part 3: What is Inbound Marketing?


    Marketing Local Business Online Is Inbound Marketing

    Previously, we discussed What Is Internet Marketing? itself:


    “… a Marketing Relationship is a specific conversation between Business and a market.  Therefore, Internet and Online Marketing are relationships between Business and customers and prospects that take place in the New Media of today, and New Media of the future.”

    How have new customers found you in recent months?

    Today, people find out about your Local Business in two main ways:

    • Passing Word-of-Mouth recommendations, or
    • Finding you on a search engine results page

    Word-of-Mouth depends on the good will of existing customers.  How would you like people publishing Word-of-Mouth recommendations online?  Why not spend zero dollars marketing your Local Business?

    What is Outbound Marketing?

    In traditional outbound marketing companies focus on finding customers through:

    • Building brand awareness,
    • Advertising, and
    • Promotion

    Outbound Marketing includes:

    • Focus on your product / service (advertising & promotions),
    • Focus on your transaction (sales),
    • Focus on your business (public & media relations),
    • Focus on your post-sales support (customer service), and
    • Focus on your customer after-the-fact (customer satisfaction)

    Everyday, a typical consumer is overwhelmed with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions!

    They have become quite creative in blocking these interruptions, including:

    • Caller id,
    • Spam filtering,
    • Tivo, and
    • Satellite radio

    Customers need to find a very good reason to visit your Local Business.

    Marketing Local Business online is quite a challenge!

    What is Permission Marketing?

    Alternatives to intrusive and increasingly ineffective outbound marketing are based on what Seth Godin calls Permission Marketing:

    “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them …”

    “It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.”

    For the business to engage the prospect, the prospective customer must grant either:

    • Explicit Permission (e.g., request email or catalog), or
    • Implicit Permission (e.g., follow a search engine result link)

    Furthermore, Godin says:

    “In order to get permission, you make a promise. You say, ‘I will do x, y and z, I hope you will give me permission by listening.’ And then, this is the hard part, that’s all you do. You don’t assume you can do more.”

    What is Inbound Marketing?

    Google reports more than 1 Billion searches each month for local products and local services.

    Fully qualified prospects are already looking for products and services in your industry.  Inbound Marketing is when customers call you to:

    • Make appointments,
    • Purchase products, or
    • Gain information

    When customers find you and like you, you can get business from them, from their friends and from their family.

    “Home delivery is the milkman’s revenge… it’s the essence of permission,”

    Godin says.

    Online Marketing is starting to make more sense …

    What comprises Inbound Marketing?


    Rick Burnes     suggested an intertwined relationship between three main components of Inbound Marketing:

    Hubspot: Inbound Marketing

    1. Inbound Marketing Content

      • Content is the substance of Inbound Marketing.
      • Content is the information that attracts prospects to your Local Business.
      • Content includes the Call To Action that converts prospects into customers.

    2. Inbound Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

      • If people don’t know you exist, how are you going to do business?
      • SEO makes it possible for potential customers to find your content.

      3. Marketing Local Business online must include both Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and SEO if you want your Local Business found.

    3. Inbound Marketing Social Media

      • Social Media amplifies the impact of your content.
      • Widely distributed content will be discussed.
      • Socialized content taken seriously becomes authentic.
      • There is more trust when a person has a choice.

    Social Media have two sides:

    • What you say about your business
    • What others say about your business

    Why Inbound Marketing?

    1. Inbound Marketing has high Value

      • Cost less than buying ads, PPC, mailing lists, print, etc.
      • Blogs and Twitter accounts are free to start
      • Higher Return on Investment (ROI)

    2. Inbound Marketing is Effective

      • Targeting specific markets is easier
      • Prospects qualify themselves
      • Pre-sold customers search, find you and ask to buy

    3. Inbound Marketing has great Timing

      • Prospects search for you
      • Searching prospects are considering a purchase now
      • Prospects considering a purchase are more receptive to your message

    Godin remarks,

    “One of the key drivers of permission marketing, in addition to the scarcity of attention, is the extraordinarily low cost of dripping to people who want to hear from you.”

    What are Prerequisites to Inbound Marketing?

    You need to do your homework and fully understand those looking to buy what your Local Business offers.

    Your Market analysis includes:

    • What groups of customers exist? (markets)
    • Which customer groups do you prefer to serve? (target markets)
    • What do they need?
    • How do their needs change? (market trends)
    • How do they use these products and services?
    • What price are they willing to pay?
    • How do they want to receive what they buy? (distribution)
    • What do you offer that meets those needs?
    • Who are your competitors?
    • What are your competitors doing about your target market?

    Exactly how are your customers searching for what you offer?  It’s not enough to know how you describe your offering.  What matters most are the exact words prospects use to search for it.

    Simply make it easy for potential customers to find your Local Business.

    “The Internet means you can treat different people differently, and it demands that you figure out how to let your permission base choose what they hear and in what format,”

    instructs Godin.

    How is Inbound Marketing Done?

    Setup your web site to attract visitors naturally through:

    • Search Engines,
    • the Blogosphere, and
    • Social Media sites

    Don’t forget your Call To Action to convert visitors once they arrive on your web page!

    The Inbound Marketing process is straightforward:

    • You provide content of interest to people wanting to learn or know something.
    • You share similar content from other people who do the same.
    • Interested readers come to see you as an authority in your field.
    • When somebody considers a purchase related to your expertise, they will come to you.

    Inbound Marketing is like Word-of-Mouth with people passing recommendations online.

    Seth Godin sums it up like this:

    “Real permission works like this: if you stop showing up, people complain, they ask where you went.”

    Marketing Local Business Online Is Inbound Marketing