Business is slow. Business is slow. Business is slow………………………..
I constantly hear this from business owners.
Next I ask, “what are you doing about it?” Typical response is, “I’m online”, but that is very vague. These businesses I talk to say having a website is being online….
WRONG!
Having a website can actually be a waste of money at times. You can have the most glorious website ever and be paying at upwards of $2000 a month for it, but have no traffic. You need to be proactive about marketing . I myself used to solely use my in person interactions with people for my consulting, but I have since been on line as I would always help them grow their presence. I figured I might as well put my knowledge to work for me (it’s hot in Las Vegas and being in 110 degree heat kind of sucks……)
The internet is very organic now. Social media populates the internet a lot in various platforms. There are typically 3 main things I recommend to businesses that are not “hip” as to what to do
1. Facebook religiously. If you have a store or office of some sort, put a lot of pictures of it online. Promotions, items you carry, silly pictures, whatever. These are the things that generate the most Likes online. If you didn’t know, the Likes serve almost as an imbedded ad in someone’s page and moves you up on the list of searches compared to a similar business with no Likes. Every one that Likes you will see your page show up in their news feed. FREE SUBLIMINAL MARKETING!!! Don’t forget to be a friend to people though. Respond to their comments and give helpful tips to people. Don’t just be a salesman all the time.
2. Twitter a little more than Facebooking (funny verb). Twitter provides a great short commercial. The shelf life of a tweet can be very short, but if you tailor it properly and set up some sort of automatic posting of it (Buffer, HootSuite, etc) then you’re likely to generate some sales. Remember, 91% of the internet used on smartphones is used socializing. Grab some of that market, FOR FREE!!
3. The new guy Google+ is very important. If you hadn’t noticed, you can’t leave anonymous reviews on Google anymore. You have to have a Google account. On the flip side, businesses need to have a Google account to give people a place to effectively see who they are. You’d be surprised how many people have an unclaimed business on Google. CLAIM IT!! It’s a representation of you. If someone wants to leave you a positive review, they might not do it if your page has no photos or info about you. Have some pride and own your page. Again, IT’S FREE MARKETING! Put up pictures here as well and products you carry.
Since the web is organic, don’t forget to link all of these platforms together. All of these things grant you exposure. The more exposure you have, the more customers you have. It’s been that way since men sold furs in village squares! There are still other places to go (YouTube, Pinterest, FourSquare, etc), but I deem these ones the most important for any consumer based business.
Don’t kill yourself doing all of this manually. Get some kind of software to help you automate this for God’s sake.
PS – I hope these tips help you to not be slow!
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