"If you don't do ______, then you're going to be out of business by this time next year."
This, or something like it, is what many businesses are told by a variety of companies peddling services every day. I've heard it from the yellow pages salesman, an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company, a direct-mail service—the list goes on and on. When I was in retail many years ago, nary a day went by when there wasn't someone telling us that we were doing it wrong, or weren't doing enough.
Unfortunately, as I sit here many years wiser—there is an ironic (for me, at least) ring of truth to some of it. Many businesses aren't doing enough. Sometimes it's due to lack of time or lack of resources—and believe me, I certainly get that. But I don't want it to be for lack of awareness. As such, I'm sharing several web tools below—some of which are free—that EVERY small business should be using to maximize their advantage in today's electronic marketplace.
- Claim Your Google Places Listing - Visit http://places.google.com or do a search for your business on http://maps.google.com. At the top of the page directly below the search box you'll see a link titled, "Business Owner?". Click that button and you'll claim your business in Google's version of the yellow pages. Select the button to edit your information, and click continue. This is where the magic begins. Check through the address and contact information listed to be sure that it's correct, then add your business website URL (if you have one), add a brief description of the company and validate the categories in which you'd like your business to appear (you get to pick up to 5 categories). Lastly, verify the hours that you're open, the payment types that you accept and the brands that you carry (if applicable). Hit the "Submit" button at the bottom. Lastly, Google will use an automated service to call the phone number listed for your business and provide a PIN number to verify the information. Once you get the call, return to Google Places, enter the PIN number and verify the listing. Now you're done! In less than five minutes, you now have a verified, accurate, searchable presence on the web!
- Use a Custom, Domain-Based Email Address - This is an important one, as the image that you present reflects on the brand. If you own a company named John's Widgets, but you're using an email address that reads rockinginthefreeworld@hotmail.com, it doesn't exactly reinforce your widget company when you publish your contact information or send your customers an email. Instead, consider buying the a custom domain (usually around $10-15) for your business and create a mail record for the domain. While it isn't quite as straight forward as claiming your Google Places listing, it's not hard, and there are a number of professionals that are willing to help you do it for less than you'd probably think (Ideavise offers this service). As a customer, getting an email from john@johnswidgets.com is far more professional than a seemingly random Hotmail address. It tells the customer that you're serious about your business and adds a little credibility as well.
- Set up Google Alerts - Google's search spiders crawl the web constantly, looking for new content to add to the myriads of data that is scoured during a Google search inquiry. And, if you know how, you can put those spiders to work for you. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts. If you have a gMail email address (if you don't, create one now, it's free and will be required to use the service) you can enter a name or phrase and have Google send you alerts any time a new instance of that name or phrase is found on the web. To revisit our friend John and his widget shop, if he entered John's Widgets into the search terms, Google would send him a notification any time his name appears in a new listing on the web. This includes social networking sites like Twitter as well, and allows John to keep up with what people are saying about his business or maybe do a little damage control if misinformation is being spread.
- Start Using Social Networking; Facebook, Twitter, Yelp - While they're important, I've put these lower on the list for a reason. They have many benefits, increased web presence, interacting with your customers where they are, getting involved with and staying abreast of news and changes within your industry. BUT, like any marketing avenue, it requires time and effort. It's called SOCIAL networking for a reason, and if you don't have the time to spend reading and interacting, you may be better off avoiding these avenues all together. I'd propose that a Facebook account with zero new posts for the last two years is more damaging than not having one at all. Not having an account gives the impression that you may just not have found Facebook yet, having a dormant account leaves one to wonder if you're still in business. A lot of people don't understand the purpose of Twitter. But whether you understand the purpose for it or not, Twitter has a great search feature and is great for keeping up with trends. We have our blog set up to autopost to our Twitter account as well, and have attracted followers based on what we post here. Lastly, Yelp is similar to Google Places in that it is a local business "yellow pages" type listing, but adds in the functionality of allowing users to rank and discuss the service that they've received. Despite some of the controversy surrounding Yelp over the past few years, it's still my go-to site for restaurant recommendations (among other things) when I'm traveling in an area that I don't know very well. I've found some REALLY good restaurants via Yelp that I never would have found on my own. Bonus: as a registered business owner, Yelp allows you to review and respond to customers publicly and privately using their service. This can be a helpful way to add to conversations with your patrons or correct misinformation about your products or services.
- Create an Inexpensive "Business-Card" Style Website - I've sat across the table from clients who's eyes get as big as dinner plates when they hear about the myriad of options involved in setting up a website. It can be an overwhelming process, but it doesn't have to be. If you're short on free time or finances (or both), sometimes a simple "business-card" style website will get you started. Let me be clear on this. Your clients ARE searching for you on the web. If they don't find anything, then they're probably moving on to the next company. If you've already taken the plunge in step #2 above and purchased a custom URL for your business email, then you're already part of the way there. When I refer to a "business-card" website, I'm talking about a single page website that has nothing more than basic information about your company name, your logo and how to contact you. For as little as a few hundred dollars, you can have a searchable presence on the web and a URL to add to your Google Places and Yelp listings. Is this ideal? No. This site isn't going to detail your products or services, tell you customers about your company or relay any glowing testimonials from past clients. BUT, if you're on a budget and short on time, it's a great place to start and it's better than nothing.
These are the recommendations that we use as a starting point with all of our new clients. I hope that you've found this list useful. Do you have questions about the information above. Are you unsure of where to start? As a full-service creative agency, we can help. And there's never a cost to ask questions. Drop us a line at info@ideavise.com or call (719) 355-3579.
Thanks for reading!
—Jason @ Ideavise
