Bringing Your Local Brick and Mortar Business Online
Written by ady on February 8, 2009 – 5:07 am -If you operate a small business with less than twelve employees that caters to mostly local customers, then you should have an online presence!
More and more, your potential customers are forsaking those outdated Yellow Pages paper books for Google and other online search engines. It is effortless and quick to research “Internet Marketing Service Charlottesville VA”. If you don’t discover the service you’re looking for in the city of Charlottesville, you can very easily extend your search to “Internet Marketing Services Waynesboro Virginia” or even “Internet Marketing Services Central Virginia”. (How much time and how many heavy telephone books would be required to do a wide regional search like that with the Yellow Pages?)
If your local business doesn’t utilize the web to advertise itself, keep in touch with its clients, extend its reach, and take your competitions clients, you can be sure that your competition will do it to you… and it will occur in the very near future.
For many local businesses, moving from conventional OFFline marketing to the ONline world is like pulling teeth. Many brick and mortar businesses hold on to “the way it’s always been” and turn away from internet promotion.
How do you move your business from “the way it’s always been done” to an web promotion mind set?
Moving Your OFFline Business ONline…
Internet promotion doesn’t, necessarily, require a web site. Email marketing alone can make a big difference.
For a small brick and mortar company to succeed with a marketing campaign on the web would most likely necessitate the commitment (and salary) of a full time employee. Creating a direct-response web site, acquiring a keyword rich domain name, search engine marketing, email marketing, article marketing, and other forms of internet promotion are major chores. After the web site or email opt-in page are created, Search Engine Marketing becomes the major job. However, unless it is continued on a regular basis, it may not produce the desired results.
A web site is dandy, but it’s easily forgotten unless it is promoted continuously and updated on a regular basis.
Hiring a qualified external internet marketing service is a smart answer for small businesses who would like to to add an internet presence to their marketing, but who don’t want the added work.
All in all, crossing the offline/online gap shouldn’t be considered a major problem. There are services — probably in your own town or area — that can assist. Here’s a thought… Why not Google “Internet Marketing Yourtown Yourstate” or “Market Your Business On The World Wide Web Yourtown Yourstate” and see what you come up with? It’s the way smart business is done now!
“When using blogs as part of your internet marketing strategy, how the hell do you keep them fed with fresh unique content day after day?”
That’s the question I get asked most of all but the answer is easy. I don’t, Syndicate Kahuna feeds them for me and it doesn’t cost a dime for the content!
If you use blogs (and if you don’t you should be) as part of your internet marketing strategy, you need to check out this FREE service from the guys at Portal Feeder. Click here and put your traffic building on auto pilot.
Tags: Central Virginia, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Internet Marketing, Market Your Business On The World Wide Web, Offline To Online, Online Marketing For Local Businesses, Search Engine Marketing, Staunton, VA, Virginia, Waynesboro
Posted in Search Engine Marketing |