Small businesses service millions of people across the USA and around the world, injecting billions of bottom line dollars across many levels of business.
Without them (us) – the economy would collapse. That is one thing the political candidates agree on, whether it’s the republican or democratic side of the isle.
But here and now, YOU – as a business owner – a dentist, doctor, plastic surgeon, plumber, restaurant-owner, florist, web designer or Entrepreneur of too many niche markets to count, only care about a few things:
a) how to get more patients, customers, clients from phone calls, foot-traffic & web-traffic
b) how to convert these into quality leads and ongoing business relationships and referrals
c) how to create more profit and growth from your (local) business
If you are not making money, you might as well quit. So…
You need to become good at marketing and making money.
You need ensure that the systems you put in place are rock-solid, and can easily be monitored and adjusted if not working. This doesn’t mean that you send out a tweet, and see if it works. It doesn’t mean that you get some likes to see if it helps. It means that you have a plan and a marketing calendar that you and everybody embraces. Your team understands it, can follow it, and leverage every piece of it for maximum profit.
Marketing, and especially Online Marketing is likely a big departure from your years of schooling and fine college or graduate degrees. That’s ok, but you must learn where you can – and outsource if not productive use of your time.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there and getting the right information will be key. For example, every small business should have a website. Many don’t. But, I’m assuming you do for the sake of this post.
For example, if you are doing things that go against Google’s Terms of Service, your local business can be in great jeopardy. Listings can be pulled. And, if you are not listed in the first place, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Each query on Google Search, 1 in 5 has local intent. That means, somebody is searching for your business, products and services right now… in your local market.
So, for your local business – here are some things you need to address right now.
Start here to see how and if your business is listed in the local search engines:
1 – Make sure your business name+address+phone information is correctly set up across the top “local” search engines – Google, Yahoo, Bing.
2 – Make sure that the vertical search engine directories are configured to match the NAP (Name,Address,Phone) that you found in the search engines. Consistency here is key. See some of these in the graphic to your right. (click to expand)
3 – Start looking at how your business can generate more local reviews. Check out what your competition is doing. It’s good indicator of higher local ranking, but not the only one. Here are some tips from Google & Zagat today.
4 – If all this is too much manual labor, save yourself the time and visit Getlisted.org. It’s Free – and you can quickly find out if you are listed in the local directories and search engine “places”. The service helps automate the process for you, to get started quickly.
*5 – And, when you want more phone calls, revenue and profit and to help to plug the holes in your business – get the Small Business Local Analysis Blueprint and Custom Audit. Discover the fastest way to building your new local business game plan.
This is the beginning of a new path to success for your local business online.
*bonus from me
About jon rognerud
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Entrepreneur Magazine says Jon Rognerud is one of the most sought-after Digital Marketing Experts. His clients extend from high-end brands and middle-tier businesses in both B2B and B2C. His SEO website optimization book, "The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website" from Entrepreneur Press is in bookstores now.