Internet Marketing For Small Service Businesses
Things have changed.
People are no longer going to the yellow pages to find goods and services.
They are searching online and asking their friends and followers on social media for recommendations.
No longer is advertising in the local newspaper or magazines working for service businesses.
A friend of mine was running an ad for his landscaping business in the local paper.
He was getting calls from the ad, however, he needed to land two or three jobs just to pay for the advertisement.
This meant that he was always playing catch up to pay for the ad and then needed to get a few more calls to actually make a profit.
Often that did not happen.
Running advertisements in the newspaper will cost you money.
Attracting people to your business from the internet will cost you time.
Many service businesses have certain times of the year when they are slow.
This is the time to spend beefing up your internet presence.
Do a Google search on your business.
Are you listed? Will prospects find you when the search for you on the internet? Where is your competition ranking? What could you do to replace them in that spot? One of the first things you will need to do is develop a list of keywords that you will use when setting up your website, search engine listings and other online resources.
Don't just think of the generic keywords that are used in your industry.
Think about the types of jobs you like to do.
What are the jobs that bring you the most profit? What words would your clients be using when searching for this type of work? You want to use keywords that describe what you love to do and where you make the most money.
Next you will want to make sure you claim your listing on the most popular search engines.
Not sure where you are listed? Research GetListed.
org.
Any site does not have a check beside it you need to create a listing.
You will be able to accomplish this right from this website.
Once these listings are created, there is very little you will need to do to maintain your listing.
You could stop here and you would be a long way toward being found on the internet.
If you are serious about improving your rankings, you will want to create a schedule to follow each day.
I recommend that you set aside a minimum of 30 minutes a day for internet marketing.
You will want to create a business page on the popular social media sites and start interacting with your friends and connections.
Once the page is established, this will take approximately 15 minutes a day to maintain.
Have you considered a business blog? A business blog will help to establish you as the "expert" in your field.
Plan to spend thirty minutes per day for the first 30 days in setting up your blog.
Then allocate about one hour per week to maintaining the blog.
If you are serious about growing your service business over the coming year, you are going to need to embrace internet marketing.
Whether you are a landscaper, a pest control company or photographer - the internet is where local people are going to find and interact with you.
The question is - are you where your prospects are looking?
People are no longer going to the yellow pages to find goods and services.
They are searching online and asking their friends and followers on social media for recommendations.
No longer is advertising in the local newspaper or magazines working for service businesses.
A friend of mine was running an ad for his landscaping business in the local paper.
He was getting calls from the ad, however, he needed to land two or three jobs just to pay for the advertisement.
This meant that he was always playing catch up to pay for the ad and then needed to get a few more calls to actually make a profit.
Often that did not happen.
Running advertisements in the newspaper will cost you money.
Attracting people to your business from the internet will cost you time.
Many service businesses have certain times of the year when they are slow.
This is the time to spend beefing up your internet presence.
Do a Google search on your business.
Are you listed? Will prospects find you when the search for you on the internet? Where is your competition ranking? What could you do to replace them in that spot? One of the first things you will need to do is develop a list of keywords that you will use when setting up your website, search engine listings and other online resources.
Don't just think of the generic keywords that are used in your industry.
Think about the types of jobs you like to do.
What are the jobs that bring you the most profit? What words would your clients be using when searching for this type of work? You want to use keywords that describe what you love to do and where you make the most money.
Next you will want to make sure you claim your listing on the most popular search engines.
Not sure where you are listed? Research GetListed.
org.
Any site does not have a check beside it you need to create a listing.
You will be able to accomplish this right from this website.
Once these listings are created, there is very little you will need to do to maintain your listing.
You could stop here and you would be a long way toward being found on the internet.
If you are serious about improving your rankings, you will want to create a schedule to follow each day.
I recommend that you set aside a minimum of 30 minutes a day for internet marketing.
You will want to create a business page on the popular social media sites and start interacting with your friends and connections.
Once the page is established, this will take approximately 15 minutes a day to maintain.
Have you considered a business blog? A business blog will help to establish you as the "expert" in your field.
Plan to spend thirty minutes per day for the first 30 days in setting up your blog.
Then allocate about one hour per week to maintaining the blog.
If you are serious about growing your service business over the coming year, you are going to need to embrace internet marketing.
Whether you are a landscaper, a pest control company or photographer - the internet is where local people are going to find and interact with you.
The question is - are you where your prospects are looking?