Why is SEO So Important for Your Business?

July 28, 2010

It’s amazing that as long as the internet has been around that many companies are still asking “Do I really need to be concerned with SEO?”

The answer to that question is a resounding YES! Today more than ever, businesses need an online presence. This is a great way for a business to market their products and services to a whole new market regionally, statewide and even internationally. For the “newbies” who finally now have a website, marketing that site becomes a marketing priority. Having a website doesn’t mean you’re maximizing your businesses exposure. If you don’t market you business website then you are merely at a standstill and going nowhere.

Utilizing the power of SEO is as important as your traditional marketing efforts. While traditional marketing is excellent in it scope, it only works in a very specific area or region. Not to mention it’s expensive to market nationwide or even worldwide. Cost can be a huge factor with traditional marketing however with SEO it’s not only necessary but cheaper as well. Your ROI (Return on Investment) is also higher when utilizing SEO.

A website offers your customers so much information in one location. So with traditional marketing you may have a brochure for one thing, a postcard for another thing and a flyer for something else. With your website you have one main source for all the information your customers will need.

By utilizing the power of SEO, you can optimize your website and make it easier for search engines like Google to find you. SEO uses things like keywords, key phrases as well as meta tags to enhance how search engines find you. It allows your website to easily found by your target customers. In other words, your website is like a bicycle and SEO is the chain that moves it ahead.

B-to-B and B-to-C Marketing – How to Use Them to Increase Your Revenue

June 16, 2010

Being a business owner, you assume that you know the in’s and out’s of the business world. The term business to business marketing is not new. However, if you’re a new company or you simply don’t understand this concept, then let’s look closer at this business term. Business to Business or B-to-B marketing is the marketing of goods and services to another business. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Surprisingly, if you were to ask a handful of people what B-to-B marketing was, chances are you get all different answers. The same applies for B-to-C  (Business to Customer) marketing.

In marketing, no matter who you’re marketing to, it is always best to set a goal; a target. So if in 2009 you wanted to achieve $500,000 in sales then perhaps for 2010 you may want to raise the bar and achieve $700,000 in sales. While marketing is about business, you need to be able to come up with new and refreshing marketing strategies. A fairly new concept being used over the past few years is using paper and video tutorials (or informative pieces) on the website to increase business. This could be information on how to use a product that is being sold or if you’re offering a service it could be about how that service works or how to choose a provider for that service. While you’re wanting them to choose your company, by giving them more information, you are actually making yourself the expert in this area to this potential customer. This goes for businesses or customers.Of course, this needs to be a constant process. You will always need new and fresh content or tutorials to keep your potential and current customers coming back for more.

Do you know what ROI means? It stands for Return on Investment. The goal is to get a good return on your marketing investment. A great marketing specialist will adjust content and tone to fit the purpose. You can’t use the same piece to market to a business that you would use to market directly to an individual customer. Too often, companies try to use an all-in-one marketing piece. This is the end, is costing more money in the long run because your not marketing wisely and your ROI is going to be lower. In effective marketing tactics backfire in ways you don’t immediately see. However, when you look at the bottom line, the truth is always revealed.

Marketing for B-to-B and B-to-C isn’t a complicated process if you know what you’re doing. While it takes time, in the end when you greatly increase your ROI, you’ll see why the process is so valuable.

Client Retention – The More Time You Waste; The More You Lose

June 3, 2010

You get into business to make money. In order to make money, you have to have clients. However, “getting a client: and :retaining a client” are two totally different things. Clients are the life blood of any successful business. So it seems to make sense that you would want to build a relationship with your clients that will last for years to come.

If you look at it from a financial perspective, you spend a lot more money trying to obtain new clients then it would be for you to market your products and services to your existing clients. In these tough economic times, client retention is more important than ever. Why do clients stay with a company? Research has shown that clients remain with a company for the following reasons:

• Superior Products
• Superior Customer Service
• Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff

If you waste time in marketing to your existing client base, then you are playing Russian roulette with the success of your business. How can you work on client retention? Below are just a few things that you can do to insure that you retain your clients for the long haul:

• Market to Current Clients – Set a specific number of current clients to market to each week. Setting a goal will keep you focused and goal oriented. Your goal could be to market to 25 current clients this week with an additional goal of selling new products or services to 10 of those 25.
• Always Keep Your Word – Your word is what customers will hold you to. Never promise what you can’t deliver. You want to be seen as reliable and trustworthy. If a client knows they can rely on you then they are more likely to remain with you.
• Personalize Your Service – Get to know your clients. Who are they? What are their interests? What drives them? Knowing more about them will allow you to personalize your delivery to them.
• Longevity – Your customers want to know that you’ll be there long after the sale. There’s nothing worse than a company gaining your business and then dropping the ball after the sale. Clients are more apt to stay put if they know you’ll be around for them if they need you in the future.
• Get Comments – Your clients are the main source for gaining feedback on the positives and negatives of your business. The way to make your business better is to get feedback from your clients. They can assist you in areas that may need improvement or letting you know areas that exceed their expectations.

Positive client relationships equal long term clients. Remember the old saying “you get what you put in it”? Well this is true in business as well. Customers can make or a break a business. So the time you invest in them will insure that they are around for years to come. It’s never too late to work on client retention