5 Internet Marketing Tips for Local Businesses

5 Internet Marketing Tips for Local Businesses

by Frederika Angus

Local business marketing online

As a local business you have a great opportunity using internet marketing and social media. Your small business is able to use the internet and social media to be found, strengthen your brand, connect with your current and potential patrons and also boost your SEO ranking. Establishing and expanding your reach online is important in today’s instant access to information, smartphone society. Online marketing keeps your brand’s name at the top of your customers’ mind when they need your products or services.

Here are 5 tips to help your local business get results and see the benefits from your online presence.

1. Use WordPress as your website platform to blog weekly. WordPress plays so beautifully with search engines such as Google. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), this helps to pull your website up on to the first page of results because it sees your consistent new blog info. There are also a couple really great SEO plugins that make adding your keywords so easy throughout the entire site.

2. Name the URL of your posts and pages with your local area city and one main keyword phrase. If you are an italian restaurant in Dallas, TX (using WordPress as your platform), you can easily add italian-restaurant-dallas-texas to the URL text. When customers are looking for a great italian dinner in Dallas, your website will begin to be shown to them. Simple boost to website traffic and eyes on your business!

3. Establish a Google+ page in the local category. Google is the top search engine used on daily basis. Users are able to discover the new Google+ Local pages in several ways: through a search on Google.com or Google Maps, in mobile apps or through a search on Google+.

4. Create and use Facebook and Twitter daily. For many, social media is the first thing they check in the morning when they awaken and the last thing they read at night. Be sure your local business has a dedicated Facebook like page (Read more on why you shouldn’t use a Facebook profile page) and Twitter page. Post updates regularly throughout the day to connect with you customers.

5. Share your brand visually. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Share behind the scenes photos in your office, marketing and promotional images, employees of the month, store front specials and decor. People will begin to feel like part of the culture of your business and this helps you build trust and credibility for your brand.

Have these tips helped you? Be sure to leave me a comment below!

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

Huge Key to Success With Your Direct Sales, Network Marketing Opportunities and Products As An Independent Consultant

Huge Key to Success With Your Direct Sales, Network Marketing

Opportunities and Products As An Independent Consultant

by Frederika Angus

 

success-key-direct-sales-networking-marketing copy

 

I use to hate network marketing companies.

Yes, I know hate is a strong word. I’m just being honest. My dad was involved in one (ahem several) as I was growing up. He was constantly at some sales training or networking mixer, hosting a business opportunity meeting at a random hotel ballroom or calling tons of people on the phone to convince them to buy into his product or service.

Before call waiting and waaaay before kids had cell phones, having my dad use the phone for hours just was not going to get rave reviews from me!

But even more than that, every time he started in one of these opportunities our family dynamic changed.

I grew up in a home where family was a top priority. My mom spent 8 years of her life dedicated to being home with me, and creating a comfortable home. She had dinner ready at 6 when my dad walked in and we ate together.

But when my dad had these extra events to go to because of his new business venture that would really bring in the bucks, part of our family fun around the dinner table was missing. And it seemed like he worked so hard but never saw the returns the business opportunity promised.

As I got older and grew in my own career with eCommerce and online marketing and even joined my own direct sales company, I realized what I did not like wasn’t those organizations or even the multi-level marketing (MLM) business model. It was not having my dad around in the name of working a business outside of his full-time job. It was how hard he had to work to see minimal returns.

I work everyday with some incredibly savvy entrepreneurs and business owners. Some of my clients are even in direct sales and networking marketing organizations.

The big key that I’ve seen to their success is instead of travelling all over telling others about their product or services, they’ve branded themselves and moved the relationship building online.

Yes, I know your upline sponsor told you once you got the business kit a standard website was also included. Yes, I understand your special web link that includes your 8 digits customer id tracks your sales for your bonuses.

So why on earth would you invest in an additional website?

People do business with people not products and services. People will remember your unique domain name. They won’t recall your customer ID, or worse yet, what if they mistype it and someone else gets the credit?

Those that have their own custom branded website around who they are and how they can help are seeing amazing results in their business. Bringing a blog along as a major part of the website allows clients and potential business partners to understand who you are, why you believe in your products, and how they work, show off the results that people are having in your organization, and how to get started.

No more reading a script to prospect people. No more having to beg every person you know to try a sample or host a party. No more spending two hours in a hotel conference room after a long day at work or on the weekends.

Branding yourself in direct sales and network marketing with your own website is a game changer.

The best part is your time is now freed up because your branded website can do some of the work for you! A skilled website designer can link your products and services to your specific company link from your branded website and you’ll still get the credit.

Investing in branding yourself on the web works for direct sales and networking marketing and is a huge key to success.

Have you seen results by branding yourself for your company? Do you have questions on what your next step should be?

Leave a comment below. I’d love to help.

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

 

Understanding Push and Pull Marketing Online for Brand Profitability

Understanding Push and Pull Marketing Online for Brand Profitability

by Frederika Angus

push-pull-marketing

Imagine your business as an open house. Your visual branding will cause your ideal customers to look and perhaps even stop out front. While branding causes people to look, the biggest question for business profitability is how do you get people in the door?

When it comes to marketing, in particular, digital marketing, two forms exist. Pull and push. Understanding the concept of push and pull marketing will help as you develop strategies to expand your brand’s products and services online.

Push Marketing

Push marketing is where the company is pushing messaging to create excitement or interest. The customer hasn’t asked about or for your services and products. In traditional advertising this is done in the form of commercials, and magazines or radio ads. Online, methods such as banner advertising, Pay-Per-Click ads and email marketing are used. This method allows your target market to know you exist and provide a solution they might need.

Pull marketing

Pull creates awareness and when done well, a demand. Pull marketing is about positioning your brand so that as your prospective customers are seeking information, you are who they find. Its intent is to attract ideal customers and is usually done more organically. Customers who are gathering information in your area of expertise are less likely to have their guard up as they would in an unsolicited sales pitch. Websites with blogs along with SEO (search engine optimization) and even your social media presence, allows customers to find you, develop relationship that can grow into profits for your business.

Both push and pull marketing help expand and elevate your brand and business online. The two types are not mutually exclusive, meaning; it’s not a decision to select either push or pull. Both push and pull marketing strategies should work together. Often times without the promotion of push, websites and blogs would never get off the ground.

Push and pull marketing works best in tandem to grow profits for your brand. It is important to find the balance of pushing on certain avenues such as email marketing and using social media. Especially because both are great ways to develop relationships that will result in long-term brand loyalty. Know where your prospective customers are looking for your products and services and position yourself to be the one they find.

Talk to you soon!