Online Marketing is the great opportunity today for your business. It let’s you find new prospects 24/7 and turn them into customers practically automatically. Compared to other advertising platforms like newspapers, billboards, direct mail, or TV and radio, Online Marketing offers an opportunity to target and track your marketing dollars like no other marketing medium ever.
And whether you have an offline business or an online business, Online Marketing will let you begin new relationships and also build those relationships into customers for a lifetime — all with little involvement by you.
If all sounds too good to be true there’s a good reason. Many of us have heard stories of websites that never get traffic and often fail to deliver new customers, let alone those lifetime customers that are essential to sustaining most businesses. That’s often because Online Marketing is still confusing to many people. There was an assumption that “if you build it, they will come.” Just put up a website and overnight new customers would be knocking at your door.
But sadly many business owners realized there was more to this Online Marketing thing than just throwing up a website. New customers did not arrive automatically. There was hard work involved. And there were all these terms that didn’t make sense like SEO, and Social Media, and HTML, and autoresponders.
Yes a business owner often had to learn a new language, and certainly a new skill set, to be able to manage and truly take advantage of this new opportunity. But the benefits of using Online Marketing are too powerful to ignore. So what’s a business owner to do?
That’s where we come in.
With experience in all aspects of Online Marketing since 2003, Rick Hart and his team want to help. He offers consulting services and web development. He can help you to, not only drive targeted prospects to your business, but to turn those visitors into customers.
Yes you must reach out and meet your prospects “where they are now” and bring them back to your website — but then you have to move them through your Sales Cycle and get them to take action and buy your product or service. It’s a process. And Rick and his team understand that process.
The Internet Is Here To Stay
No one disagrees about the power of the Internet. Everyone is touched by it now. And having a web presence is critical in today’s marketplace — whether your marketplace is global, or just in your own neighborhood.
But the Internet has gotten more complex.
It used to be that you could do some Search Engine Optimization and get ranked on the first page of Google if you knew what you are doing. Now SEO is more complex and more heavily tied to social signals from Social Media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Now your Online Marketing campaigns must include these Social Media platforms along with having a website that really delivers the goods, and can turn those visitors into customers.
And your site must be mobile ready now too. More and more, computers are being replaced by smart phones and tablets, so your online marketing must take this into account. If your website does not work well on these new devices, you’re missing out on many potential new customers.
Search Engine and Social Media Marketing
And there’s really two main types of Internet Marketing — Search Engine Marketing. Each is very different in how you meet and how you talk to prospects in each “location.” Understanding the differences is important.
Search Engine Marketing
When someone searches on Google they are usually actively trying to solve a problem. If you offer a solution to that problem then this is a powerful place to meet them. They are in buying mode so you can be in selling mode.
In fact, the keywords they use to search often if great indicator of the problem they have and how anxious they are to solve that problem.
Search Engines are a bit like the old Yellow Pages. When people picked up that book, they were ready to buy. So advertising there was a no-brainer.
Having a presence in the Search Engines is just as important and powerful. When people can find you easily when they search you have a great chance to earn a new customer.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media is a bit different. When someone goes to Facebook they seldom are there to solve a problem. In fact, they might be there to avoid problems.
So you must use Social Media differently. No selling!
Think of Social Media marketing as Networking. You’re there to meet a “suspect,” learn about them, and perhaps share helpful information. If they begin to like and trust you, you may entice them to click on your link and go to your website, where they can join your Sales Funnel, if they are so inclined. If you get too pushy they will stop paying attention and avoid you like the plague — and then tell all their friends to do the same.
So Social Media requires a gentle touch with networking being the goal.
The Primer
As a business owner, it’s important to understand how your business works. You know what needs to be done. You know how to provide your product or service. You know how to collect payment for that solution. And you probably know how advertise and merchandise your business.
Online Marketing is just a new part of your business. To fully take advantage of it, you will need to learn some things. Things like…
- How Search Engines Work
- What are the various Social Media Platforms
- How keywords work
- How to create content for your site
We’ve developed a serious of videos we call a Primer that explains much of what you need to know in simple terms. Visit this page to begin.
Our Services
We also want to help. If this all seems a little overwhelming we understand. We’ve been there ourselves.
And this Online Marketing thing is constantly changing. Five short years ago there was no such thing as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or smart phones or tablets. There will always be something new to learn. That’s just the way it is.
So consider our services as your lifeline to the answers you need. We make it our job to keep up with the latest trends and the best new tools. Join our club by signing up for our email list and we’ll keep you informed of every important new development along the way. And we’ll only send you information that you can use. We promise not to make your day any noisier or more stressful. We want to give you just helpful information.
