Today I went into a local guitar shop because my brother needed some new strings. I chose to go to that store because the shop actually ranked # 1 for the phrase “guitar city”. Of course the city is the actual town but I don’t want to give away the guys exact keyword phrase. Anyway, I told the owner that I chose his store because he ranked for the #1 spot. He smiled and said, “that’s cool”. So, being an SEO geek I had to ask. “Did you do anything to do that or what?” His answer: “No, I guess it just happened. But that’s cool though.” It was at that moment I re-realized (is that even a word) that local business owners really have NO CLUE how much help they need when it comes to the internet. And I mean that with all due respect. Over the last few months I’ve been getting more involved in helping small business owners in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. And there are 3 signs I’ve seen that prove they need a lot of help in marketing their business online.
Sign # 1: Small Business Owners Are Busy – Always Every time I try to schedule a meeting with a local business owner, they talk about how busy they are. And they are busy. They usually run the whole show and wear many hats. But it’s this business they need help with. There is a huge difference between being busy and being productive. And I don’t say that with any malcontent. I used to own 2 small businesses, both cell phone stores. I remember being so caught up in doing a million things I barely spent time on the really important stuff. Which brings us to point 2…
Small Businesses Need To Focus On Marketing It’s no secret, but sadly most small businesses don’t focus on what is REALLY important. Marketing. Jay Abraham always talks about how marketing is the EASIEST and FASTEST Way to increase profits. But when you’re too caught up dealing with payroll, scheduling, customer service, ordering, and paying the bills it’s really easy to forgot to focus on marketing. And that’s a real tragedy because marketing, especially internet marketing can produce amazing results. The reality of the situation is that EVERY small business owner is doing marketing. It’s only a matter of how much and what kind. From my experience, the usual marketing I see being done is approving an ad for a local shopper. If you’re a small business you need a marketing plan. I actually asked the owner of the guitar shop if he had a marketing plan and he literally laughed. “No man, we have a YouTube account now, but we don’t have a marketing plan.” Exact quote. Which brings us to the final point…
Small Business Owners Might THINK They Know How To Do Internet Marketing This is the # 1 sign that your local small business needs help. And this is one I see WAY too often. After a few minutes talking with a small business owner they try to convince me they are doing a lot of internet marketing. They even have a website. Oh, and YouTube. And even a Facebook! So that must mean they’re all good right? WRONG. Once I look at what they are actually doing I sometimes struggle with keeping a straight face. Again, I’m not trying to be mean, but it’s just that I’ve seen so many good people tricked and goaded into a website with zero SEO, zero interactivity, and honestly zero appeal. It’s unfair because many small business owners just don’t know any better. They are trusting these “experts” who come in and tell them what to do. And sometimes they charge literally thousands of dollars to build a static webpage that is nothing more than a glorified brochure. And let’s just pretend the page is somehow great. I’ve NEVER seen a small business owner with a website collecting leads. NEVER. And I’ve seen a few hundred by now.
Small Business Marketing Guide If you’re reading this the odds are you are either a small business owner or an internet marketer. If you’re a small business owner I implore you to study up on internet marketing. Learn how marketing works and how you can make money using the internet. Don’t be afraid to create a plan. I am working on putting together a great course, but it’s not done yet. It will probably take a while as I am also working with clients. If you’re an internet marketer, get out there and offer your help. Small Businesses are willing and able to pay for marketing services provided you give them a result. Always make that your promise. How much would you pay me per month if I could double your business in the next 6 months? Can you always double their business? No, but if you do your homework and study up on local keywords and keyword competition you can get a pretty good idea of what you can actually do for them. Whenever I bring up keyword research for my clients their eyes light up. When I show them EXACTLY how many people are searching for them everyday they can’t believe it. As a internet marketer our job is just to help those people find our clients. And that’s what we should be doing.