The reason why is that it’s not a strategy. It’s merely one channel in a series of tactics you need to play with the big boys. 10 years ago that wasn’t true. Today, it’s part of a much larger conversation.

Don’t get me wrong, your site is critical to your overall success online, but you cannot think of just having a site in the same way as you think of having an actual strategy online. There are many potential touch points future and current customers have and so your over-arching strategy needs to meet them at those crossings.

Maybe your customer base is not very Facebook savvy…great! Where are they hanging out online then? Go play there. Dominate there.

Be online. Be strategic about where you go online. As a small business owner you don’t have the luxury of chasing shiny objects all because you sat through a lunch-n-learn or a webinar that scared you. If it works with your strategy, do it. If it doesn’t, don’t worry about it. Some other big, shiny thing will appear that you “have to do” and you’re off the hook of the last thing you didn’t do. Stay true to your business culture, your brand, and your customers.

Go where your current and future customers are and you will succeed online. Keep that focus and in the end you will win. The Internet is a fickle place and usually for not very good reasons. The beauty of internet marketing today is that you can look at real numbers and make real decisions that will directly affect the growth and success of your business online.

When it comes to thinking through the content on your website or what you want to call the main links in your navigation, you need to rewind your brain a bit. You have to think and write as if you have no idea what the “in” terms are, you are just trying to find a company who does X.

Try explaining what you do to someone entirely outside of your industry. What phrases do you use? How do you describe what you deliver?

Take a look at your analytics report. What are the phrases that people are using to find you currently? Beyond the branded stuff, look for keywords that someone actually entered to find you and maybe expand out some content around that. This is the beginning of understanding the buyer’s journey on your site.

Maybe the phrases that are being used to find you aren’t what you expect or aren’t the one’s you think are the “right” ones. That’s fine too! However, don’t neglect those who are coming to you from that route. Embrace them. Help them along the journey to turning into a lead.

A quick check every couple of weeks is all it takes to make sure you’re speaking to your audience in the way that is going to bring the most value to your business.

As a strategy, marketing automation is the process of thinking through a complete cycle of marketing activities that are automatically triggered based on action or selection. Sounds confusing, right?

Let me paint a picture as sometimes that helps make more sense of the concept. Let’s say you want to host a webinar. Beyond the technical elements that get set up, you also have to figure out how to market the event. So you come up with a drip campaign. You send an email to your current list. If someone opens the email, but they don’t register, you send them down a certain automated path. This path could be a reminder a week later.

On the other hand, if someone opens the email and clicks through to register, you then send them down a specific email path. The day before they get an email to remember to attend. After the event you send them an email thanking them for attending with a link to the recording and a special offer.

The options from there are limitless!

The true value of marketing automation is that you’ve taken the time to think through the user experience and guide them down a path that you want them to go. These efforts warm up your lead and directs them through your website or through your buying cycle to make sure they don’t lose momentum.

There are a ton of different marketing automation software platforms out there to choose from (Marketo, Hubspot and Eloqua to name a few). The move to actually automating your marketing activities is something that big business does really well, but small business can play just as well.

Doing business online doesn’t mean that everything is cheaper/free, but it does mean that there are some amazing tools at your disposal when you’re ready. You can grow your email list to reach thousands and extend your business for decades. You can be strategic in how your reach them. Maybe your email frequency will be less than a competitor, but with automation as part of your strategy your communications will be more thoughtful and more purposeful.

We need great content. We need people who know what they’re talking about to start including us in their art. The collective experience that you have and all those who work with/for you have needs to be broadcast and forever enshrined online. 

Many wonder how to succeed online. This is it: tell us what you know. Give it away. As you become the authority and people start flocking to your website to engage and discuss, to get inspired or be challenged, your value extends beyond your product, but your recommendation of your (or even other) products holds a lot more weight.

Pick 5 things you know that set you apart from the rest and just write some ideas down. There, you have content for your website (dare I say a blog?)

We need you.

And over time when all the flashy elements of the web have passed by, what will be left is people who have consistently delivered valuable information.

Let us know if you have any other questions about SEO either in the comments or contact us here.

Why I find it interesting is that it never fails that something being used socially turns such a quick corner into being scientific, monetized, “business tactic”, a you-must-do-this-or-you-will-fail necessity. It’s fear.

For instance, in this study, it is only really looking at 320 large brand twitter accounts. Those accounts are being used in such a different way than most actual people use twitter, and in my opinion, the way in which twitter was founded to use. So now there is a study saying we’re all doing it wrong. I disagree.

I don’t disagree because of the facts, who knows, maybe I am doing it wrong. But maybe I’m doing it wrong for different reasons. Maybe it has nothing to do with the findings of the study and more about the fact that maybe my potential clients aren’t as active (right now) socially or maybe they are still trying to figure out what twitter is!

The challenge for the small business owner is to stay the course. I’m not saying don’t venture into the social space or try anything new or get out there and take advantage of every internet marketing opportunity afforded you, but I am saying to be careful what you hear. Don’t react to the fear that is constantly thrown at you regarding social media. If you have something important to sell/say/give, guaranteed there is an audience out there eager to hear all about it.

And they won’t care if you did it “right” or not.

If they are hard to work with, it’s not our process or our system,
it’s them. If someone is demanding or one of ‘those clients’ it has
nothing to do with the holes they just shot in our sales process or
contracts or internal support system, right?

The motivation for this post came from a recent trip to get my oil
changed. I like the place I go to for one simple reason: they include
a free car wash. My standards are a bit low, I know, but who doesn’t
love a car wash? I hate the place I go to, however, because like any
oil change place, the up-sell game and fear-driven tactics nauseate
me. I quickly shut them down. Just the basic, please. A new guy asked
me to confirm my information on his CRM screen so I looked it over and
at the same time noticed a note on my record that said, ‘very cheap,
don’t waste your time.’ I was tempted to be hurt, but then I laughed.
To them, I’m cheap. To me, I just know what I want and don’t want to
play their games. So yes, I guess that makes me cheap.

Or, could it be that I don’t fit into your tiny box of how to do
sales? What if instead of having your set of options and up-sell
opportunities you find a better way of reaching my type of ‘cheap’
customer? Yes, I don’t buy into all the crap you try to throw at me,
but I am crazy consistent and ONLY get my oil changed here. You can
see from my record that I’ve been doing that for years and I do that
with multiple cars.

But to you I’m cheap. Really? That’s all you got? Is there another
angle you can take with me so I do feel more compelled to buy?

That’s the problem with labels. If you just want the quick win,
one-off deal, keep doing what you’re doing. If you want to build a
business that grows in trust and revenue from all types of buyers
(cheap and ignorant) then don’t just peg me so quickly. Work harder.
Sell better. Frame it differently.

As I write this I think of the potential lost sales we’ve experienced
by doing this same thing. It’s easy to label. It’s harder to grow.

The primary things that changed are:

• Wider page dimensions
• More dynamic features connecting the home page and portfolio sections as well as changing from a Flash-based intro to HTML5
• The blog is back to life!
• Expanded services section
• The entire site is built on the open-source CMS platform of WordPress, including the custom theme and functionality for the home page and portfolio section

Enjoy!

I believe yes.

Imagine what you want your business to look like in 3 years. Start there. How dominant do you want to be in your industry? Do you only think about that in terms of head count? What about online? Do you want people to search and find you, but when they find you be so motivated and so trusting that they are begging for what you have?

The discussion has to go beyond the hear and now. It is baffling to me to see companies throw away money month after month on tradeshows and direct mail pieces and quick wins (that do have some value, don’t get me wrong,) but then balk at any cost or effort to grow their online presence which could be a game-changer for the future of their business!

The game has changed and so the discussion has to change as well.

Here are a few different ways of thinking about your online marketing efforts:

• Is there a series you could create either as a set of articles or some videos or even webinars that are so specific to your industry and so valuable that people will find what you are serving up and it will change their impression of your company?
• Are there partners you could align with to have guest-post or guest-speak that will not only drive your audience to your site, but their’s as well?
• Without giving away “the secret sauce” of what you do, can you give away information on your website or Facebook page or through Twitter that will start to build trust and value to your industry, thus setting you apart from the competition in a unique way?
• Can you break down the next 12 months into bite-sized topics that then fuel all kinds of great activity online which then attracts tons of new visitors?

What are some others?

So take your time.

Before you launch that all-important website or new page, take the time to go through a check-list. Comb through each page. Verify each link. Divvy up the work if you have to, but take your time.

Before you on-board that new service, take your time. Make sure you know what you’re paying for and whay you are expecting to receive and that all parties agree.

Before you click “send” on that email that will interrupt the lives of new and prospective customers, test your email. Make sure the links work. Make sure it looks great in various email clients. More importantly, make sure it’s an email you would be inspired to open.

Many times there is a deadline that has been set (for good reason) and the crunch is on, but how hard is that date? Did you build in any lead time so you can go through and QA? If not, you’re in trouble.

Slow down.

As soon as you push send, it’s gone. As soon as you go-live, you have lost all control of it’s reach.

Many times the first impression is all you get.

Take your time.