Offline small businesses coming to online marketing is a smart move. Many people are searching the net before they visit local businesses and if yours cannot be found, visitors may end up at another store front instead of yours.
Store front business owners are,
of course, quite diverse. First in types of businesses and then types of personalities between business owners, differences regionally, nationally. A diamond retailer is going to market his or her business quite differently than a local hardware store would. Of course it must, but in saying this opens up the possibilities to not only types of advertising, but the endless ways of using and tweaking these types of advertising to suit you and your business type.
Small business owners have built nations on repeat customers and the tips listed here are for the business owner who wants to spend time to gain some extra attention to their particular small business. By doing that "little extra", it will draw new customers and by focusing on your service or offering only the products you would also purchase and are excited about, you will acquire repeat customers.
For instance, my focus on the Internet has been "Blogs and Social Networks" and finding viable, doable, free advertising alternatives to market successfully online. Creating free websites to house this information and get the word out to others is that "little extra". Answering visitors questions to the best of my ability or referring them to someone who has the answers would then be the focus and excitement.
"Spend your time on your business and you will acquire a wealth of success". This saying is all about focus, goal setting and goal attaining, and your personal definition of success. "There is more then one definition?" of course. Success means many things to many people and at times during peoples lives. The meaning of success can change even for individuals. Success might mean becoming a millionaire, obtaining your dream boat, vehicle, or home, or it could be simply providing the best service and gaining happy customers which, in turn, will create a wealth of success.
With blogging and small business or free webs site building and small business marketing online, connecting with a "hub" site like your Chamber of Commerce or an individual small business site for your region or area will make a dramatic difference in your online visibility. Exchange links with that site by adding a link to it on your blog or free webs site and asking if they will also list your site on their page. Adding your business URL to the Yellow Pages online, Craigs List, blog submission sites (if you have a blog), and exchanging links with other small business owners who have sites in your area will also help in your online exposure.
If your small business does not yet have a separate blog site, give this some thought. A blog will offer you the opportunity to help your chosen keywords to rate higher and show up on the first search pages of Google searches for your keywords and terms. Linking your blog site to sites like Digg, Technorati, MyBlogLog, and other business style blog sites is not as time consuming as you may believe if you stay focused. A bit at a time, one step each day and you will be listed at your chosen spots. To maintain your blog, posting "before and after" photos of your work and How To snippets on topic. For instance, if you are a home builder, a how to on wallpaper application; if you are a lawn service business, photos and how to create a raised flower bed, types of grass, fertilizers; for restaurants, which spices to have in your home, specials of the day listings, how to sear beef, famous people who have eaten in your bistro, and photos of your featured dishes. Try to post something everyday but at least three times a week. Add a blog roll, news features pertaining to your topic, videos, or similar businesses in other countries or states. Feature your own web sites on a post every month or so and create a Hubpage or Squidoo lens after about twenty or so posts using your favorite five posts from your blog, photos, video, an RSS feed from your blog, news sources on topic, and how tos and then feature that new site on your blog. This is just another way to gain more exposure and attention to your business.
For more examples: if you have a home and property maintenance business try posting on how to fix a faucet or which tools every homeowner should have; a local convenience store owner might have a static post (a home page of sorts that upon arriving at the blog all come to) with a basic listing of what they have to offer with sub posts featuring individual items and why people would want to purchase them.
Gaining exposure and attention with one lone blog site does not take an inordinate amount of time out of your day. With a possible log of sorts for yourself on pages you deem private (unpublished). These pages can be created on Wordpress and FreeWebs just to name a few. Posting a picture blog with one or two sentences of explanation for each is an easy and interesting way to blog if text content seems a daunting task.
Using widgets that refresh automatically for news on topic (there are some for Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, and most of the major blog sites) will help with fresh content on your blog.
Everyone's heard about flyers and business cards but getting out and about at the local flea markets and farmers markets is a plus. Get business cards and actually hand them out if you are sure, excited and driven about your business. Tshirts with your URL on them also are a great conversation starter if your website URL is easy to remember and cannot readily be misspelled, not many forget GoDaddy or Google.
Signs are not always cheesy, they work. Vehicle magnets from sites like VistaPrint are a given and quite inexpensive. Corner signs (you know like garage signs) actually do bring in new customers who did not even know you were there.
Using these techniques will enhance your online exposure. Potential customers who use search engines like Google will begin to visit your blog or FreeWebs site and in turn find your local business. If you have a lot to post and say, would like a way for you customers to register at your site, or need many pages, try a wiki at Wetpaint, a Ning, or FreeWebs. This will also give you the opportunity to have your customers post testimonies, comments, and questions.
