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Three Local Search Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Business Online

Small business owners are leaving good money on the table. It is because many of them are still unaware of the enormous growth that their local small businesses could get if they implement online local search marketing. Many small businesses are missing the benefits of local search marketing.

There’s a change going on in the consumer’s market today, so small businesses must catch up to take advantage of the search marketing paradigm shift. Still a lot of local small businesses don’t know how to take advantage of the power tools that local search engine marketing has to offer. Local search marketing online does not only deliver increased revenue to your business, but it is also cost effective compared to offline methods. Small business local search marketing is so easy to implement because of the technology now available on the Internet. Let’s take a look at some online local search marketing ideas to get started:

Local Search Engine Marketing. Every search engine is trying to develop algorithms that cater to searches locally. Many of the searches are mostly for local information. If you have a restaurant business, you can put your business name to a local Google map. You can also do an online business card. These search engine tactics will make your business name appear in the local search results online every time a person within your community will query for restaurants around your city. Google map will show your restaurant’s name, where it’s located, and how to get there. On the other hand, your online business card will show all your contact details.

Take advantage of the online Yellow Pages. Yellowpages.com.au and white pages.com.au is the two most popular websites in Australia to get your business listed in. There are also local directory websites that offer enlisting services, some are free and some are paid. To keep expenses low, you can easily take advantage of free listing but if you have some cash to spare, you can take advantage of paid listings to get prominent positions in the list. This will boost your visibility and help your local online marketing succeed.

Social media websites are growing fast. By connecting to people, they will likely to recognise your business better. Go where the crowd is. However when doing social media marketing, you must avoid spamming. It’s like being noisy in a room full of people and eventually they will get annoyed with you. You have to interact with would-be customers because people don’t like impersonal queries in general. Be personal in presenting your products and services.

These are just a few local search marketing techniques and ideas in the Internet. If this is done properly and systematically, you will experience dramatic growth in your business.

Local Small Business Advertising Ideas – Where to Get Them

Local small business owners spend a great deal of money on advertising. Most of us never know if the advertising is paying off. Most never know if their advertising or marketing is any good at all. The problem is, we ask the wrong people their opinion. We ask our co-workers if an advertisement looks good. The CEO asks the treasurer what she thinks. The problem is that most of us are not experts in advertising. At most, we know what we like in graphic design.

So, where do we get great advertising ideas? Most of us never look outside our doors for advertising or marketing ideas. The smarter small business owners look outside their doors to other, more successful, business owners…in the same business. That a smart way to look for ideas. Copy what works. It’s the franchise method. Test an idea, copy it, and deploy it to the vendors.

Te problem with his idea is that everyone in your business has access to these ideas. They aren’t new. Soon you are copying the copier. You are playing “follow the follower”. My mentor Dan Kennedy calls this “Marketing Incest”.

Most tested and proven small business advertising and marketing ideas are found completely outside of your core business. These ideas can then be tested and translated into any business you like. For example, I own a retail store and sell vacuum cleaners. But of the 42 separate marketing and advertising methods I employ, only one idea came from the retail industry. One out of forty two. In fact, the most profitable ideas I use come from the restaurant, medical, and insurance fields.

The idea is simple. Find businesses that are actually owned by someone. Not major corporation, but businesses that have a leader calling the shots. Most successful companies have articles written about them and their CEO. In fact, there are hundreds of books out there on Amazon.com that hold all the marketing and advertising secrets these leaders used to grow their company. These ideas are plentiful, easy to find, and books are cheap.

You can read a book about an entrepreneur, and I see what made them successful. Then you just have to imagine how that idea, at least the core of it, could be applied to your business. Most great advertising and marketing ideas are similar or even identical across all industries. A few tweeks is all it usually takers to generate a profitable new idea for your business.

You can go to the library and take a day doing this; Look up magazines where there are direct mail ads running. Direct mail meaning that you can actually buy something from the ad, or at least request information. These are not brand building ads. Now find the same magazine from a year ago. Look at the ads. Which ads are the same from a year ago? Those ads are profitable. These are the ads to study. What do they have in common? A few hours of studying these ads will show you a pattern that great ads use. Now look at the ads that are there a year ago, but are not there now. What do they have in common? These are unsuccessful ads. What are the differences between a dozen of these unsuccessful ads, and the ones that are repeated for at least a year?

Now imagine that these successful repeated ads were used to sell your product (or at least get a request for information). A few simple changes are all that’s needed for most ads.

I know this is boring work. I know it isn’t exciting, and won’t make for a great story when you tell your friends about it. But if you want to know the most profitable way to get advertising and marketing ideas for your local small business or retail store, this is it.

Some Ideas for Local Small Business Advertising

Local small business advertising, although local and meant for a small business, is still advertising at its very best which on proper implementation can reap rich rewards but if neglected could push the fledgling concern into the deep schism of oblivion. According to the principles of business management, a small business must invest only 5% of its total resources in local advertising and this would reap a rich harvest only when judiciously allocated and channeled as per the advertising fundamentals.

Even now in the contemporary age of technological advancement, the best recommendation for local small business advertising is by word of mouth. However, it is a method which wins publicity at a snail’s pace and hence an entrepreneur who is desirous of fast results feels compelled to use other methods to make his firm and product well known.

One of the most popular mediums for local companies to publicize themselves is by listing themselves in the Yellow Pages. Visibility is the prime factor here and a prominently displayed ad is likely to draw not only inquiries but potential customers as well. Apart from Yellow Pages, advertising in the newspaper and local magazine also helps since these are directly delivered to the target audience and segments of population existing in the area.

An attractive business card could well serve as the vehicle for local small business advertising as it simply needs to be handed over to the prospective client. Another way of effectively distributing business cards would be include these as a part of the direct mail which is sent within the geographical area surrounding the business and is much more personal in tone as compared to telemarketing or emails.

May be acquiring a slot during one of the popular national events on television for airing one’s advertisement might be difficult or even impossible but the same is well within reach if aimed at the Cable television. Cable TV is meant for the local city dwellers and an ad flashed in it would not only pique people’s curiosity but would attract a lot of local interest as well.

Having a vehicle with one’s company logo splashed across the sides is a method of local small business advertising which deserves more than just a thought. A colorful display or a magnetic quad sitting on the roof of one’s vehicle is a perfect way to catch the eye of the passers by and in case affordability is an issue then investing in a simple magnetic sign would also achieve the desired result.

In towns and cities, people depend on buses for transportation due to which a prominent hoarding at the bus stop or sponsoring benches bearing the company’s logo for people to sit on is a good method of creating awareness. This would undoubtedly attract a mass audience but is dependent on permission being granted by the local transit authority.

Trade shows, big and small, form an integral part of city life and participation in them is likely to earn one popularity as well as revenue. However, this opportunity needs to be capitalized upon in a proper manner in order to translate into profits and aiming for trade fairs which focus on particular industries is economical as well as result oriented for a small local business.