The current economic climate creates challenges that we have never seen before. Small businesses are struggling to get ahead and survival mode is an everyday practice. We’re forced to cut back, tighten up and hope that things improve. This survival instinct can work in the short term when the economy recovers quickly but our current conditions call for action and not reaction.
Internet marketing is largely FREE!
Have a good website. If it was built by a secondary school student or at least looks like it was, re-design your website. Modernise your website but keep it simple and clean.
Blog. Your website should have a blog. Write about the services/products you offer. Provide tips, tricks and information that your industry offers. Demonstrate that you are an authority and have the knowledge, products and service that someone is seeking.
Engage on a Facebook Business Page. Very few (if any) of your clients or potential clients are interested in what you had for breakfast last weekend so keep it business. Provide information about your products, services, tips, blog feed, twitter feed, photos, and more.
Create a Twitter Account. (It’s the most under-used internet marketing tool that small business ignore) Twitter is like a blog, it is a message board, and a sales and marketing tool. It has helped change the way people send and receive information. Use Twitter to broadcast all of you’re business activities, sales, events, and more. Link your twitter feed directly in your website if it suits your market. Your Twitter posts should contain relevant content that will be indexed by the search engines which will in-turn give you more exposure. And who knows, you might also pick up some work through it!
Start Marketing on YouTube. Video is good, very good! Provide product reviews, testimonials, history and more. Embed these videos in your website and you will market your business on a whole new level. Google “will it blend” and see how a blender manufacturer has is taking advantage of a video blog based around blending everyday items. Their Facebook page now has over 77,000 fans!
Create a Contest. Come up with a way online users can become engaged. Using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog and your website, create a way users can participate. Games, discounts, prizes and contests are excellent for creating awareness and exposure.
All of these Internet marketing suggestions are free! We suggest you spend just 2 hours a week marketing on the Internet. It’ll help spread the word about your company and in turn will bring more new business your way.