Something From Nothing (or very little)

I found an ad on my doorstep left by a tree service crew who were working on my street. The ad was short and to the point and well written. I went to the net and looked him up.
He wasn't there, no sign of his trees service, zilch!
So I called him and asked if he wanted exposure on the internet. He understood about the internet but had no website and was not sure how to get representation on it!
:-)
I told him what we could do for him and how inexpensive it would be. He realized immediately he would make back our charges on one small job. Anything over one job is pure profit. Talk about ROI, this is a thing of beauty.
Within a week he is in the rotation of the Yahoo Local sponsored spots, as well as the enhanced and basic listings. We took advantage of Yahoo's free webpage so technically he has a mini webpage now. We popped him into Topix Classified and Craigslist. He is on SuperPages basic listings and is in the queue for Google Local.
We have asked him to ask his valued customers to rate him on Yahoo Local and Yelp.
His free webpage is now saved to De.icio.us, Furl and Google Notebook.
Once he has been satisfied with the results of this limited local effort he will evaluate the potential of expanding further into a PPC campaign. If he feels the need he may have us develop a website to compliment his ads.

Like I said, it's a thing of beauty!

Someone's Trading On Your Name

(Open letter to anonymous business person)

Dear Business Person,

When I sent you the email pointing out how another firm was bidding on your trademarked business name and how they are stealing business daily off YOUR trademark you told me thanks and how you will inform your marketing guy.
Well it's been over five weeks since I brought this item to your attention and your marketing guy is still asleep at the wheel. By chance is he the same guy who allowed this travesty to occur in the first place?
I'm guessing your marketing guy is old school and is very good at selling your business on TV and radio and he probably does a great job getting you are represented in the Yellow Pages and local newspaper.
There's a whole new world of advertising out here and he's missing fully half of it.

We are here to help, always,
Mike and crew!
---------------------------
Running a local business in a highly competitive field is a hard enough. When someone bids on your trademarked name using pay per click advertising it's the same as if they went to your store and painted over your sign.

It's a nasty practice performed by marketers of questionable character. The search engines offer remedies for offended parties. In most cases filling out an online form can stop the practice.

My clients never have to worry about such thievery, we won't let that happen!

Sales Case Study

I spoke with the advertising contact for a local Mexican restaurant chain yesterday. I pointed out to her that with an inexpensive internet marketing campaign she could be listed ahead of her competition and could immediately boost her brand. Before I could get into any dialogue she shut me off and informed me that the internet offered nothing for her. She said her customers have informed her through informal polling that it's not necessary. I began to explain to her the basic benefits but was cut off bluntly, "We don't see how the internet can help us, thank you".

Ok, I hear you but how wrong you are madam I said to myself after she politely ended the call.

I really hate sales and the only reason I am doing this is because the product is a no-brainer. If you are a small business --any business-- you can benefit by using the internet.

If the local Fresno Mexican restaurant chain owner only knew what is out there she would change her mind. I'll explain.

For her category on Yahoo Local she could get one of the sponsored listing for under $30 per month. Since only 2 other Mexican restaurants in Fresno are claiming those (rotating) top spots she can can be assured top page visibility for every Yahoo search for "Fresno Mexican Restaurant".

Since Yahoo has a rating system she could invite some of her dedicated patrons to sign on to Yahoo and offer a good word about the food or service if they enjoyed the dining experience. Ratings are a growing trend and search engines, Yahoo especially is pushing the trend hard as they embrace the power of social search and user generated content.

Rating search "engines" like Insider Pages, Judy's Book and Yelp are also great places to have your small business listed and discussed. I have seen some ratings from these platforms organically ranked on Google and Yahoo. The point here is anywhere a good word about your company is written it will be seen somewhere forever on the internet.

Of course Yahoo is only one place to be advertising locally. Google which garners 50% plus or minus all search on the web offers multiple entry points for local business.
All of the internet advertising options I mentioned in the first post on this blog are easy to navigate. Anyone willing to take a few minutes to study the programs can fill in the blanks and get a web campaign started. The basis of our service is we know how to plug your business into all the platforms and how to surround your business with positive word of mouth buzz.
Send us an email or give us a call. At the very least we'll help you do it yourself!

Fresno, Clovis, Oakhurst

As we roll out our marketing service we are concentrating on local (our local) area. The services we provide can be provided without a formal meeting however if our local clients want to have a meeting that is great for us.

Advertise Your Local Business Online

Dear Business owner,

Advertising your local business on the internet is easier than you think. Listed below are options available to you. Some of the advertising platforms we've listed like Yahoo Local and Superpages do not require a website. Google Base does not require a website but it does require you have a Gmail account. Currently the only way to get a Google Gmail account is by invitation.
We have plenty of invitations to give and will gladly invite anyone who emails us.

Our business is placing small businesses on all the available local search databases. We evaluate what your local competition is doing and do our best to place you ahead of them in the search listings. Our (daily) analysis of your competition's online campaigns allows us to keep your business one step ahead of them.

For a price list and further details please email: Cecelia

Below is a list of advertising platforms your business needs to be in. Let us explain why you need to be listed and how to get listed!

Local Business Search includes:

Google Local/Maps
Yahoo Local
Local.com
Google Base
SuperPages.com
AreaGuides.net
TrueLocal.com
Kudzu
PremierGuide.com

User Review Sites:

Judy's Book is an Internet Yellow Pages based on user reviews and ratings. Users can search local businesses and provide feedback in a comment section and/or on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, while viewing how others have rated similar services.

Insider Pages is a local search engine built around the concept that the best way to find a local business is through a personal recommendation. Users can share reviews of local businesses with others in their network and find recommended businesses in their area.

Yelp



Paid search PPC (pay per click) options

Google AdWords
Yahoo Search Marketing
MSN Adcenter
ASK Sponsored Listings

Pay Per Call

Ingenio

Advanced options:
Channel Intelligence
Step up (for advanced product placement in Google)
ShopLocal

Suggested Alternate Listings;

Below is a list of popular social bookmarking websites. Yahoo, LookSmart, MSN, and Google and ASK are weighting "saved" or bookmarked urls. We will explain how these tools help spread the word about your service.

Furl
Yahoo's Delicious
Yahoo's MyWeb
Google Notebook
OnlyWire


Start a blog with Blogger , it's easy, free and vital, we will explain why.

Local Classifieds

Craigslist
Topix.net

Social Networks

MySpace.com (Don't laugh)

"Dozens of companies have established MySpace profiles since the Web site's launch in January 2004, hoping to create buzz for their products, cultivate customer loyalty and build brand awareness among the popular Web site's more than 83 million users.

"It's the electronic version of grass-roots marketing," said Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill, which launched its MySpace profile this month." AZCentral

Self Promote

Naymz.com

Online Coupons

Zixxo

Data Directories

WCities

InfoUSA