Marketing to non-customers

No matter how many small businesses we meet with, not everyone will use our services. Some companies really just want the DIY Internet Marketing tools. Others want to hire us but really have a hard time expending any money whether it be marketing dollars or cash register receipt tape.

It’s these companies that we’ve decided to serve better.  We’re in the process of creating content for our newest venture http://onlinemarketingedge.com. OME, as we call it, will be a do it yourself site. The goal is to provide the tools to small businesses that they’ll need to turn the internet into a revenue center.

Since some companies are really DIY oriented, our products are going to be easy for them to navigate. For instance we just created a 30 page “how to dominate Google Places” report. It goes through everything from how to find out if a page already exists for your company to -once it is set-up- how to encourage customers to leave great reviews there.

Internet marketing is a whole new world to most small business owners. In fact, marketing for some of these small businesses is getting the fax from the Yellow Pages and initialing it for them to print it. That’s it. Sometimes you’ll find a company that regularly advertises in the local youth baseball stadium Program, or ValPak kit. But most just find everything in the internet world to be foreign and a bit scary.

But that brings us to the importance of what we’re doing, which is why we’re doing it. How many people come into your store, visit your website, call your 800 number, take a free sample, call and ask a question, or any other activity that doesn’t involve them buying something or “becoming a customer”?

And how many of those people do you ever see again?

The bottom line is this . . . those people have already raised their hand and have declared they’re interested in what you do. They might not be in the buying mood – but they’re interested. Some of them want what you’re offering but it just might be too expensive for their state of mind. Does that mean you should dismiss them?

We think not. Despite wanting to serve those customers in our traditional method, we’ve decided it better to be of service period, than nothing at all. So our DIY site is that. It’s our chance to be of service to those who just weren’t ready.

To some extent we do that now with Dan’s Notes, which you can subscribe to here. That’s a collection of internet marketing tips and ideas from my weekly meetings. But it’s not exactly a “how-to” guide. OME will be the how-to. It will be the step-by-step, screen shots, 1-2-3 how-to document that will get them from nothing to nothing less than famous.

In providing this kind of information, we hope the knowledge we provide our new DIY customers will be enough to move the nickel, someday. But if it isn’t – perhaps they’ll appreciate the help. Who doesn’t need prospective future clients who are already – appreciative? But most important of all – there’s no better way to get a prospective customer to come back than to give them what they need . . . now.

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How do you get customers to your website?

When I meet with potential clients for the first time, they often ask how to get customers to their website.  I’ve come to realize it’s just not common knowledge for business owners. When you’re thinking about how to get paying customers in the front door – sending them somewhere else just isn’t typical.

But it should be!

So, ask yourself this “why do you want to know?”. That’s the first question. And the answer is ‘because . . . “  Now, replace the elipsis with your reason. You want your customers to go to your website because. . . . what?   let’s brainstorm some ideas:

a. you want them to buy more products there

b. you think they’ll use you more if they read your bio

c. you want them to get on your e-mail list

d.  you paid money for a website and you want someone to see it.

This is the first step in figuring out how to get your customers to your website. Without a reason, a goal or a purpose in mind – what is your return going to be from that traffic? And without a reason that benefits the customer – who’s going to take the time?

The key from moving them from the chairs in your restaurant to the pages of your website lies entirely on the benefit they are going to receive by doing so.  So let’s brainstorm some good reasons why you want customers to your site:

a. they’ll save money when they receive discounts and special offers unavailable elsewhere

b. they’ll save time not waiting in line when they receive “inside information” about upcoming offers before the general public knows.

c. they’ll be able to win free somethings by partaking in the fun contests

d. they’ll get questions answered sooner because of the active forum of employees, customers and fans

e. their next visit will be more enjoyable because of the good response and implementation rate the “web suggestion box” gets.

This list is entirely different from the first list because these are some possible benefits your customers will receive when they get there. The first list, and the one I hear most, is really more about you – not them. Now that your thinking cap is spinning around because this opens up so many ideas, here’s the nitty gritty ways to get it done.

First you now have a message, correct? Let’s start getting the word out about our message. How about adding the language to the bottom of the cash register receipt?  Perhaps a business card fish bowl (virtual or real) so you can reply to them with the message? Table Tents? The back of your business card? Billboards? Printed on your check-out bags?

Now that you have a message, do you think it will be hard to interject that into conversation? Add it as your e-mail footer? Put it on your answering machine? Is this message simple enough to send it via postcard? Direct phone calls? On the invoice itself?

What we do with the traffic once it gets to the website – well, that’s another post.  And now that you have a message – what we do with the traffic has just become the most important question.

The question of “how do we get our customers to our website”. . . I hope you feel the same way I do – that’s for novices. With a good message your customers appreciate,  you’ll be hard-pressed to stop coming up with ideas.

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A Career in Internet Marketing?

You know what’s interesting about a career in internet marketing? I don’t know anyone who is doing it and is unemployed. Nope, not a single person.

You may have to answer this question for me, because I just don’t know the answer, but back in the late 1980′s were there any C++ programmers who didn’t have jobs? Fortran? Basic? Like internet marketing now, I think there were more jobs open than people looking.

I believe there will be a day when internet marketing is no longer a career, but something as fundamental as knowing how to use QuickBooks, or how to do payroll. It will eventually become a necessity of doing business, successfully.

Despite some notable celebrities declaring the internet to be dead, it’s in fact in its infancy. I believe the iPad is the first application that is taking the internet to a new level. Perhaps that could be said about the iPod – but that was just a new application for your phone.  If you know anyone with an iPad, they’ll tell you that they do use the internet differently now.

Some day the internet and your TV will be one thing. You’ll be able to click on Regis Philbin’s tie and buy it directly from the company website that made it. You’ll be able to download Rachel Ray’s recipes directly to your stove top computer. And you’ll be able to access your fridge from the grocery store to make sure you actually do need milk.

The part that really makes internet marketing a good career choice is its ability to create income when you’re not employed. Affiliate marketing, pay per click ads, electronic products and even physical product sales are always at your fingertips.

Since companies hire internet marketing gurus to help increase their sales, the end of those consulting contracts means you just have more time to dedicate to your own websites, products and direct income. It’s a marketable skill you can use for others or yourself.

I don’t think “doing just to do” is the best way to learn the trade however. You can spend a lot of time learning lessons many have learned before you. Teaching yourself how to write effective copy, install autoresponders, build squeeze pages, create affiliate links and read html is a bit daunting.  I’d recommend you take a course that teaches you how to do “everything” with one site, so that you can take those lessons and use it for any site.

The one I recommend is the e-Learning course SBI puts out. It does take a little focus and some time, but do you really think you’re going to absorb it all in 3 days anyway? The best part about the e-Learning course is that it includes:

  • The internet marketing course that is taught at Universities
  • A Wordtracker Pro Keyword research account
  • Keyword analysis tools
  • A domain name of your own
  • Hosting for your website
  • Newsletter software
  • Customer contact capture autoresponder software
  • Complete integration with Social Marketing tools like Facebook
  • Forums for in-depth question, case studies and learning
  • A complete series of how-to’s, like how to make money from your site
  • And more. . .all in video, audio and written format

It doesn’t get much better. So if you’re looking to make internet marketing a career, a second income or a way to escape your current job . . . PLEASE check out SBI’s e-Learning Course now by clicking this link:

SBI e-Learning Course

You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll learn more of what works in this short course than in two years training yourself.  If you’ve taken the course, please leave a comment and share your experience – otherwise, ask me about it and I’ll tell you more.

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