Find Local Business

What keeps you awake at night, indigestion boiling up your esophagus, eyes open, staring at the ceiling? What do you secretly, ardently most desire? Is your business growing to satisfy all of your needs? Is your local business getting enough phone calls? With the radical changes in the economy and people moving away from Yellow Pages, newspaper ads and other old school advertising media, your customers are looking on the Internet for you. They search the Internet, and then they go down the street and buy what they want and need. If they don't find your Local Business in their search, they are not buying from you. Times have changed, indeed. The Internet is still new; but, it is everywhere, and it is not going away anytime soon. The Internet has transformed our world, shrunk the whole world into a computer you hold in your hand, heretofore known as a cell phone. If you don't get your business in position to be seen on that small screen, your customers are going someplace else. WARNING: Your customers are looking for you online right now! If your Local Business is found on the Internet, you can sell. If... Perhaps, a few statistics will shed light on this mystery: Over 1 Billion local searches performed every month -- growing over 50% a year 80% American consumers are using the Internet [2009] 80% of people first search online before making a purchase 97% Internet users use the Internet to shop [NPD Group] 90% Internet searches result in offline brick & mortar purchases [Comscore] 82% Internet searches result in calls & contact with businesses [Comscore] 74% Internet users perform local searches [Kelsey Group] 73% Internet searches are related to local content [Google] 66% Internet users use Internet for local searches [Comscore / TMP] 25% Internet searches have purely local commercial focus [ Kelsey / Bizrate] Pepsi, FedEx pass on 2010 Super Bowl ads -- shift ad dollars to new marketing efforts mostly online. What are your customers looking for? Old school marketing is still King. Times have changed, and media change, too. None of us alive today remember the King's herald announcing news from the official scroll. Some of us recall barkers calling out theater or carnival sideshow attractions to passers-by. Most of us have bought something from a newspaper advertisement, or called to order something prompted by a Yellow Page spread. The Internet and computing devices are new media. Applying old school marketing principles to new media is a wise idea. That's exactly what we are about to show you here. Can your customers find your Local Business on the Internet? lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro Local Business Search Results Don't worry -- if you're a Fortune Multi-National Conglomerate, you don't need to appear in the Local Business Results. One of the best kept local Internet marketing secrets is the Google Local Business Center. Until your business is registered here, it cannot be found in the search results map. Google implemented this feature in early 2009, and it's been evolving ever since. For those buying locally, however, this is the first thing most searchers see... and probably the first links on which they will click. Once here, not only are you at the top of Page One -- look at that map! They now know where you are and how to get to you... If you've seen maps and GPS on cell phones, this is how your Local Business shows up on mobile devices. The Mobile Market is enormous and truly the wave of the future. Organic Search Results Additionally, you need to be at the top of the normal, Organic Search Results, the traditional results area on the left, mostly below the Local Business Results. When your web page link is in the top six Organic Search Results -- your Local Business has another clickable link on this first search page. Multiple clickable links on the first search page increases your odds that your customers will go to your web site... once there, we believe you can close them. Your Organic Search Results are a function of the quality & credibility of your Local Business presence on the Internet. You want all online roads leading back to you and your web site. There are virtually unlimited credible and respectable sources throughout the Internet, and from there nearly infinite routes back to your Local Business web site. Remember traditional referrals and testimonials from old school marketing? Referral links back to your web pages from everywhere on the Internet are testimonials to your Local Business relevance. The local business with the most links wins! Content Search Results Furthermore, your online content must also appear in the top search results! All content relevant to that search adds more links back to your Local Business on the first search page. You and your Local Business are going to be viewed as the top authority on all matters regarding this search. Google loves rich, relevant & rewarding online content!!! Online Videos (YouTube.com) Online Press Releases (PRweb.com) Online Articles (EzineArticles.com) Social Content Sites (Squidoo.com) Online Classifieds (Craigslist.org) Online Business Directories (MerchantCircle.com) Online Review Sites (Kudzu.com) But, wait, there's more! Pay-Per-Click (PPC) You want to be in the Pay-Per-Click and/or Sponsored Results up there in the top yellow box and down along the right side. Pay-Per-Click is Pay-As-You-Go -- your ad only shows up when somebody searches for your specific key words. Your ad is only shown to your best customers who are searching specifically for what you have to offer. You set how much you are willing to pay, and you only pay when somebody clicks on your ad -- the fully qualified buyer. So, the question is, How much is each fully qualified customer on your web site worth to you??? Geo-Targeting Your Ads Furthermore, you can also target your ads to local customers in your area. By focusing on local customers, your ad is only seen locally. Locally seen ads are more likely to attract local customers, are cheaper for you, and you do not compete with companies on the other side of the world. For example, a consumer searches, "I need a plumber." Google knows where the local plumbers are. When you only show your ad to people in your city for these "generic" keywords, you get cheaper clicks, targeted traffic and less competition. What if your web pages sit atop the search engine results?

Change is Inevitable

Without doubt we live in the most exciting business times since the Industrial Revolution. The Internet has created an unstoppable tide which will sweep across the business world transforming the way we live and work forever. For some of us who have been working on creating products and services that enable this revolution it is clear and irrefutable but for many business owners it is a minefield and a period of worry and concern. Most business owners will know the terms 'Cloud Computing' some will have heard 'Social Media', 'Digital Age' or even 'Digital marketing', but few traditional business owners will yet understand what they mean to their business. Not knowing what these terms relate to and how they can be applied will leave many vulnerable and behind in the race for competitiveness. Large businesses have the money to invest in Cloud technology projects and, begin dabbling with Social Media, but for Traditional SME's (Small Medium sized businesses) they have neither the money nor the time to invest like the 'big boys'. There are two types of SME business that we need to consider as the paths they follow over the coming years will probably be very different. The first is an existing Traditional SME business with offices, staff and IT infrastructure with existing systems, the second are Solopreneurs, small Micro Businesses and start ups who work collaboratively using a myriad of Online services such as Google Email and Apps, Web based CRM, Online project management tools, shared filing etc. Let us initially take a look at the Solopreneur or Micro Business start up. These in the main will be younger people with few financial resources behind them and where getting the job done for as little as possible will be the main objective. The Internet is ideal for low cost applications and services and so this arena suits their financial limitations. They will spend time (which they have), enthusiasm (Young and energetic) and the familiarity with Internet / Mobile technology to seek out and learn how to use web based services to achieve their goals. Being completely web savvy they will use Social Media platforms to find Customers, Suppliers (Collaboration partners globally) and spawn new JV (Joint Venture) businesses with like minded individuals they hook up with, wherever they happen to be (it doesn't really matter does it?)... For this group their entire businesses will be Web based, they will have no qualms over data location, security or trust, it is just the most sensible and cost effective method to get the results they need. There is in effect no limit to the size of business that can be created using these techniques, as a single person business might have 500 partners spread across the globe working together generating significant revenues. Now let us look at the existing Traditional SME business, how can they embrace the Digital Revolution with all the existing baggage that they have and compete against the overwhelming benefits available to the new wave of low overhead, Online Socially mobile, tech savvy entrepreneurs of the future? The first thing to avoid is panic... none of this will happen overnight, but it will happen over the coming years. The likelihood is that existing businesses will tackle the Digital Revolution in three main bites. These three changes will not all happen in parallel necessarily although combinations of them could. lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro lannaagro The first step is to embrace Cloud Computing. This will do three things, firstly reduce the costs to the business of IT, secondly it will provide the opportunity for more flexible working practices and thirdly it will open the door to collaboration and interacting with other cloud services. This step moves the business onto the Web and starts the process of overhead reductions which can be introduced later on. It is a move which stabilises the business and enables it to operate more efficiently, improving service to clients whilst reducing the cost of processing each Order. The second step is to build a Digital Marketing department. This requires a completely different strategy from traditional marketing and may under extreme circumstances be entirely outsourced. This step is about increasing the client base and generating higher revenues with much lower incremental costs, thus improving the profitability of the business. The third step is to look at the business and examine whether component parts of the business may be better delivered by external Suppliers (Outsourced). Digital Marketing above is one such example but with the business now managed on a 'Cloud platform' controlled access to run parts of the business can be externalised to 3rd parties without compromising the business... this could be for example the entire 'pick and pack' operation to a specialised business who could process each order at a lower cost than if performed internally. Having worked through the 3 steps above, the Traditional business has moved from the other end of the spectrum away from the conventional business model. Now the business could almost operate without an office and has converged into the same space occupied by the Solopreneur / Micro business. The ultimate destiny will be to have employees re-engaged as independent outsourced Suppliers. This would be the final stepping stone to the task orientated remuneration model of the future rather than the attendance model of the past 150 years. In conclusion and some final thoughts, in all of the above the message that comes across loud and clear is, move the work to the people not the people to the work... By its very nature this enables individuals to work more efficiently (working without travelling) and takes large numbers of vehicles off the road. By working smarter at least 10% of the traffic could be reduced which in most cases would mean far fewer queues and much quicker journeys for those that do have to travel. There would be the inevitable reduction in Carbon emissions but perhaps even more important a return to community and responsibility for where we live, work and play. Two simple strategies that many governments could commit to very easily is (1) Introduce Fibre Optic infrastruture that provides the necessary data demands for today and the future... (£1bn could be diverted from the road building programme to achieve this)... and (2) provide tax breaks to businesses, both those moving to this method of working, and for those helping them to achieve it! Chris Ogle is Managing Director of Internet Power Systems Ltd. and is author of his best selling book, In 2 The Clouds. Chris has lived in Watford, England for the majority of his life and is a keen Table Tennis player. In a career spanning 30 years in the computer industry Chris has worked with 000's of businesses from small Micro companies through to large multinationals such as Laing O'Rourke. With the exposure to such a diverse range of businesses and their operating processes coupled with his technical background Chris was well placed to design and create one of the first completely web based business platforms for SME's. Drawing on 7 years of providing Cloud computing solutions to the SME marketplace coupled with a detailed understanding of Internet Marketing has culminated in SME7 - 7 Steps to getting the Business that you really want - more Profit, more time and more Choices! Chris's book 'In 2 The Clouds' takes us through these 7 Steps and removes the mystery of escaping the rat race 'no time and no money' to the more desirable 'More money and more time to enjoy it'!.