This is the final post in a four part expert series about marketing your small business online in 2012. In this post Cheryl Lawson answers the following question:

What Online Marketing Activities Should Small Business Owners Focus on in 2012? 

#1 Google Plus - Most of us are using Google products like Gmail, Picasa, Calendar, Youtube, Google+ and the +1 project will have the power of Google behind it.

Personal Google+ pages will be like places for people.  The one stop shop for everything you.  Set up your profile if you do nothing else.

Business pages have come to Google+. For more details, see this video:

If you believe search will be important in 2012, your business should begin creating a strategy for Google+.

#2  Is there an App for that?  Is there some part of your business that would work as a mobile app?  WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) mobile app creators are more available and more affordable than ever.  Get in the mobile business.

#3 Get social - You have a Facebook page and that’s great. Facebook has changed the way people see content so you might see your engagement going down.  Find ways to engage your fans, friends, and followers in other ways. Find your most active community members and give them other ways to connect with you. Take the relationship to another level. Facebook groups, Twitter chats, Meetup.com, Google+ Hangouts are just a few ways to do that online.

About Cheryl Lawson

Cheryl Lawson is the owner and founder of event planning and marketing firm, Party Aficionado. Cheryl is also the mastermind behind Social Media Tulsa.  

Resources:

Official video explains Google+ Hangouts here:

Want to learn more? Register for the Social Media Tulsa Conference 2012

On March 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM  local and global social media, tech, mobile, PR, and internet marketing thought leaders will share their knowledge. Get inspired by our speakers. Meet the people behind the tweets, blogs, posts, and comments. Whether you are a small business looking to get started with a social media marketing plan, or a corporate marketing manager needing tips for taking your online marketing strategies to a new level, the Social Media Tulsa Conference is for you.  Find out more, here ›

Read the Rest of the Series on What Small Business Should Focus on in 2012

• Attitude, Video and Going where your customers are by Becky McCray 
• Taking Action and What’s Next by Allen Gibson
• Facebook Changes in 2012 by Melanie Nelson

This is the 3rd post in a four part expert series about marketing your small business online in 2012. In today’s post Melanie Nelson, author of Facebook All-In-One for Dummies and of the popular blog Blogging Basics 101, talks about the Facebook activities you should focus on for maximum growth in 2012.

What Activities Should Small Business Owners Focus On?

It really depends on what the business is because individual goals play a huge part in how you approach social media platforms. Since I’m writing Facebook All-In-One for Dummies right now, I’m hyperfocused on Facebook. The new Facebook changes outlined at the developer conference in September are going to have a big impact on how online and social media marketing evolve over the next 10 years. Back in 1995-96 web browsers brought the internet mainstream and changed how companies reached new audiences and advertised products. The Facebook changes coming over the next year will likely have the same impact.

Three Things Business Owners Should Look for this Year:

1. Facebook commerce will be an important part of how people use social media in 2012.

EDITOR NOTE: A good place to find out more about using Facebook Commerce is here, The Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Commerce

2. Overall, local businesses have been slow to adopt things like Facebook Deals or Foursquare check-in deals. Those that have adopted them don’t publicize them or work to promote them. If that changes, local businesses will find they have a goldmine.

3. Add the “Like/Share/Own/whatever” verb button to your product pages. When people click these buttons, it will show up in their friends’ Ticker. Since Facebook is “verbing” things over the next few months, this can be a great way to market your products. Users aren’t limited to Liking, Sending, or Sharing a product. They’ll be able to be more descriptive.

The New Timeline

Oh, and with Timeline finally being rolled out worldwide, you know it will be available for fan pages soon. That means you’ll be able to create customized campaigns on your fan pages that integrate images, text, video, and music in one place (not like the Wall is now, it’s much more usable). It will truly change the way companies market and create social media campaigns.

Additional Resources

Read more about Melanie’s thoughts on Facebook’s new Timeline here, Facebook’s Timeline Changes Everything

NEXT: 3 Most Important Online Marketing Activities for Growth in 2012

Next up in this series, find out what Cheryl Lawson recommends small business owners focus on for maximum growth in 2012. Read more ›

This is the second post in a four part series about marketing your small business online. We asked several marketing experts about what activities business owners should focus on in 2012 for maximum growth in their business. Today we’re spotlighting Allen Gibson‘s answers.

What Marketing Activities Should Small Business Owners Focus On?

Good question! And, of course, there’s no simple answer that will apply to everyone. Where to focus has to be a product of what am I trying to achieve, which needs to be broken down in to specific “what do I want them to do next” activities.

What Action Do You Want People to Take Next?

I tell my clients that generally, the most you can hope for from an ad is that the viewer takes ONE action; be that a click on a link, a like, a phone call, etc. And if that one action leads to a roadblock­ a dead link, a failed connection, a busy signal, then Sphhffft, your marketing just died.

Of course, that’s an extreme position to take. But I believe in today’s overcrowded, oversold, over-marketed world it’s a necessary position. So, if you are a reasonably successful company, with an established website and Facebook presence, the thing I would recommend you focus on in 2012 is this:

HOW DO WE MAKE THE CUSTOMER’S PATH TO PURCHASE EASIER, FASTER, MORE FUN, MORE EFFICIENT. BETTER?

Can we complete the sale with fewer clicks? Automate our quote process? Make saying “Yes” easier? How about offering an electronic signature process? Live customer service? Free gift with purchase?

Make Sure it’s Straight-Forward and Easy to Understand

I don’t know about you, but I find that if online shopping isn’t very straight-forward, simple to understand, and easy to complete the transaction, I go away! If I have to work to understand your path to purchase…I get annoyed.

And your marketing just died.

About Allen Gibson

Allen Gibson owns StarMedia Services, a marketing communications agency in Southern Alberta, Canada. You can also find Allen on Twitter @starmediaguy

NEXT: Facebook Expert Explains What’s New in 2012 and What Business Owners Should Focus On

Facebook will reach 143.4 million US users in 2012, up 8.2% from 132.5 million in 2011 according to HubSpot. Melanie Nelson, author of Facebook All-In-One for Dummies, answers what small business owners should focus on. Read more ›

This is the first in a four part series about marketing your small business online. We asked several experts about what activities business owners should focus on in 2012 for maximum growth in their business. Today we’re spotlighting Becky McCray’s answers.

1. Change your attitude. Talk less about you and more about them.

No matter what tools you’re using, no matter what you are doing with them, the best way to achieve growth is through better serving more people. And to serve people you need to talk about them: their needs, their accomplishments, their success stories. Found out what your customers find interesting, and talk more about it. Sounds easy enough, but if we looked at the last 20 things you put out online, how many would be about your business, and how many would be about your customers?

2. Do video. From the field. With your product in use, or with your people doing something.

You can put the video on any platform: your own website, your blog, your Facebook page, or YouTube. What matters is that you don’t do video of just you talking. Get your video camera out and shoot the action. Show your customers using your product. Teach them something. Heather Thomas shares 21 more ideas here: 21 Ways To Use Video For Your Small Business  Hint: none of them include you sitting in front of your computer talking to your webcam.

3. Go where the customers are.

Don’t trust me to tell you which networks to add, and don’t trust any other expert or guru. Before you add any new tool or platform, make sure it’s the one where your customers are. How do you find out? Ask them. No, really. Ask them what networks they use, where they spend their time online. For a bit more perspective, you can take your customer list (and their emails) to Gist.com. It will let you browse and see their other public profiles. That will help you get a better perspective.

About Becky McCray

Becky McCray has been featured in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Entrepreneur Magazine. She publishes the popular website, Small Biz Survival. She and Chicago entrepreneur, Barry Moltz, are writing the upcoming book, Small Town Rules. 

NEXT: Getting Potential Customers to Take Action

Next up in this series, find out about online marketing activities that get action from Allen Gibson. When prospective clients take action, you’re on your way to success. Read more ›

Are you a small business owner looking for a plan to dominate your niche online next year? Here are twelve actions you can take for online success:

1. Define your prospects or online audience well. Create a persona. Then make sure all your online communications are created with your ideal clients in mind.
2. Create your online elevator speech. Tighten your online message so people can quickly catch your business promise. Put it on your website, blog and social media accounts
3. Start a company blog
4. Set-up social media accounts
5. Brainstorm at least 48 articles or blog post topics. Publish at least 4 per month to your blog in 2012
6. Add an email newsletter if you don’t already have one. Build your email subscriber list
7. Connect with local reporters on Twitter. Build a relationship with them
8. Plan at least one live local event with a portion of sales going to charity. Send online press releases. Promote through social media accounts and blog posts
9. Connect your website and blog to automatically post updates to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms
10. Create regularly scheduled social media activities
11. Plan and implement a social media contest to grow Facebook friends and Twitter followers
12. Promote local charities, local bloggers and causes in your community through social media

With all of the options available to market your business online today, small business owners can become overwhelmed. That’s why this list is important. Print it out. Use it as the groundwork for your online marketing plan.

Back when I sold IBM equipment, I used to pick the top sales guy’s brain all the time. The best advice he ever gave me was, “Plan your work. Work your plan.” The above list is a great place to start. But you have to work it.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart
“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys”

If You Like this Article, You Might Also Like:

• Converting Your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Connections to Customers with Face-to-Face Events
• Blogging for Your Business: An Interview with Ann Handley 
• Website Redesign Checklist for Attracting New Business

Listen to this interview with Cheryl Lawson, an event planner and social media consultant, and you’ll find out how small business owners can create events to meet Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter contacts face-to-face.

Key points you’ll learn:

• How to use events and social media for better lead generation
• How to use events to reach large corporate prospects
• How to get your company seen as a larger player in your community
• Converting Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn connections to customers
• Inexpensive ways to create powerful events for your business

Click on the arrow below to listen:

Or to download the interview to your computer, click here >

ABOUT CHERYL LAWSON:

Cheryl Lawson is the owner and founder of an event planning and marketing firm, Party Aficionado. Party Aficionado helps companies develop social marketing strategies both online and Face to Face, using full event coordinating capabilities, and coaching to help companies cultivate their audience before, during, and after events.

I met Cheryl through the Tulsa, Oklahoma Social Media meetups. I encourage anyone in the Tulsa area interested in social media to attend one of our events. You’re able to find out more here, http://www.meetup.com/Social-Media-Tulsa

RESOURCES

Website and Blog:

• http://www.partyaficionado.com/
• http://partyaficionado.blogspot.com/

Facebook and Twitter:

• http://www.facebook.com/PartyAficionado
• http://twitter.com/partyaficionado

Did you like this interview? Tell us. Have questions about creating events for your small business? Ask. We want to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

More Interviews on How to Dominate Your Space on the Web:

• Blogging for Your Business: An Interview with Ann Handley
• Printer Uses Blog to Generate More Leads for His Business: Interview with Blase Ciabaton
• Professional Photographer Grows Business with Blog and No Budget. Find Out How
• Interview with Troy Vossoller: Example of a Small Business Using Twitter Right
• How a NY Trailer Dealer’s Website Grew from 300 Visitors per Day to 1,096 Daily Visitors Last Month

Large businesses build brands through repetition and consistency. Commercials are repeated. Stores look the same. Packages look like the “brand.” People know what they’ll get with a brand. People trust the brand. On the other hand small businesses are built on personal relationships and word of mouth.

Small business owners take notice -

Regus, a provider of workplace solutions with over 1,100 business centers in 85 countries, recently published a study that explored the role of social media in customer acquisition. Based on input from senior managers and business owners around the world, the study found that almost one-half of small businesses are successfully connecting with prospects through social networks. On the other side of the spectrum, only 28% of large firms reported finding new customers in social networks. Medium-sized businesses landed appropriately in the middle at 36%. – From “Almost Half of Small Businesses Find Customers in Social Networks” by Brian Solis

Small business owners are using the power of local people to grow their business. People in your community are promoting locally owned businesses online. Here’s how .  . .

“For where two or three are gathered together”

On Facebook I’m “friends” with a large number of people from my hometown. My friends share photos of their favorite foods and restaurants where we grew up. We also share links to Facebook business pages owned by family and friends. 

My Facebook friends promote hometown businesses without being asked. They don’t get a financial reward for promoting local businesses. But they share a since of pride about where we grew up. They want to preserve and promote what they loved growing up in our hometown. Promoting the people and places in our hometown is part of our Facebook culture.

People want to support family businesses. People want to support hometown businesses. Social media helps people support the small business owners of the world. Social media is a revolution for you, the small business owner. But you have to dive into the water.

Developing a personal bond with prospects

Every good salesperson develops a personal bond with their clients. They care for them. Clients know when a salesperson really cares for them. Clients do business with those who care for them. They trust them. Social media helps you show more people that you truly care.  

As a small business owner now is your chance. Now is the time for you to publish information to a wide audience for almost nothing. Now is the time to build relationships by sharing of yourself. Let people know what you’re about.

Once people get to know you and trust you, they will do business with you. But you have to give of yourself first. You have to be brave and put your personal life under the spotlight so people can get to know you as a person. That’s what Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels do well. They magnify your personal life and personality.

If you are brave enough – - If you put yourself out there. You will be rewarded.  Remember, “Fortune favors the brave.”

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

Related articles

• How Facebook Changes Marketing And Sales (forbes.com)
• Why you need a social media strategy, not a Facebook strategy(econsultancy.com)
• Why Are You Scared To Be Outspoken?(outspokenmedia.com)

Have you gone to a restaurant or a business because of a Facebook friend’s recommendation? What was your experience? Share it with us. We want to hear about your experiences.

Listen to this interview and you’ll find out how small town businesses are growing using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Key points you’ll learn:

• How a linen rental service is using YouTube to grow their business
• Find out about a trade show promotion that drove booth visitors to the company website
• How to use video to promote your business online

Click on the arrow below to listen:

Or to download the interview to your computer, click here >

ABOUT BECKY MCCRAY:

Becky McCray says that small businesses and small towns matter. She is a small town business owner, with a retail store and a cattle ranch in Woods County, Oklahoma. Through her consulting firm she helps small town governments, and promotes entrepreneurship and tourism in small towns. Her blog is smallbizsurvival.com

She’s been featured in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is also the author of 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns and Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns. Her home is in the thriving metropolis known as Hopeton, Oklahoma, a community of fewer than 30 people.

RESOURCES

Find out about QR codes:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code
• http://www.google.com/help/maps/favoriteplaces/business/barcode.html

United Linen’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages:

• http://www.youtube.com/user/unitedlinen
• http://www.facebook.com/unitedlinen
• http://twitter.com/unitedlinen

Becky McCray’s blog about small town business and ebooks:

• http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/
• http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2009/05/shop-local-campaigns-for-small-towns.html
• http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2008/05/small-business-ideas-for-small-towns.html
• http://www.twitter.com/BeckyMcCray

Did you like this interview? Tell us. Have questions about promoting your small town business? Ask. We want to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

More Interviews on How to Dominate Your Space on the Web:

• Professional Photographer Grows Business with Blog and No Budget. Find Out How
• Interview with Troy Vossoller: Example of a Small Business Using Twitter Right
• How a NY Trailer Dealer’s Website Grew from 300 Visitors per Day to 1,096 Daily Visitors Last Month

In this interview you’ll find out how Mandy Vavrinak, a PR professional, helps small businesses get press coverage.

Key points you’ll learn:

• How to get reporters to listen to you
• How a start-up grew to the point that their subscriber base was so large that a news station acquired them within 2 years 
• How an author successfully marketed their book with no advertising budget

Click on the arrow below to listen:

Or to download the interview to your computer, click here >

ABOUT MANDY VAVRINAK:

Mandy Vavrinak is a PR professional based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mandy has spoken or hosted panel discussions at several local Get Social conferences. She is also the owner of Crossroads Communication. She blogs for the Journal Record and http://www.mandyvavrinak.com.

Did you like this interview? Tell us. Have questions about PR and social media? Ask. We want to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

More Interviews on How to Dominate Your Space on the Web:

• Professional Photographer Grows Business with Blog and No Budget. Find Out How
• Interview with Troy Vossoller: Example of a Small Business Using Twitter Right
• How a NY Trailer Dealer’s Website Grew from 300 Visitors per Day to 1,096 Daily Visitors Last Month
• Holiday Facebook Ad Doubles Traffic to Website. Listen to the Interview Here

One of my clients runs four paint stores in the Dallas area. Friday he sent me this e-mail:

You probably know that I like things simple and easy to work with when it comes to our website. 

Lord knows I’ve been using the same Frontpage website software since the 90′s. 

Well, it’s time to make a change. Our website has been neglected for way too long. I’m ready to start all over! Our Company is on Facebook and Twitter, and we want to capitalize on those connections, as well as to point more people to our shopping cart as well, and for our customers to have more online access to us. 

I got your email regarding the “Website Redesign Checklist” and I’ve found it to be very helpful — Thank you for that. I tried to look at WordPress and the others, and it overwhelmed me with the need for information that I just don’t know where to find.

Keep reading. Answers below.

Getting your website set-up with WordPress

WordPress offers two ways to use their software. One option is to set- up everything with a web address like, http://yourname.wordpress.com. This is extremely easy and it’s free. But it has limited functionality. This isn’t a good choice for most businesses.

The best option  for businesses is to set-up WordPress software on your own domain name. You’re able to download their software free at http://wordpress.org. Many web hosting companies already have the software on their servers with easy ways to install on your own domain. My company can do this for you too.

After installing WordPress on your domain name, hire a web designer to create a custom theme for you or have them customize a pre-built theme for you. There are several places where you’re able to get professionally designed WordPress themes. At DSC Web Services we use Thesis and WooThemes for most clients. 

WordPress gives you the ability to manage your basic website pages (an about us page, products/services page, etc).  It also gives you the ability to add a blog to your website.

Use a blog to push your announcements and news to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Once you’ve set-up your website on WordPress, you’re able to automatically post your upcoming events, news and other blog posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter automatically. 

Here’s how you get started. Go to the networked blogs Facebook application and follow their directions. It takes a couple of minutes and you’re up-and-running.

Next, set-up your LinkedIn page (if you don’t already have one). Then use the WordPress application to automatically share your blog posts with your LinkedIn contacts.

Create a contest that drives Facebook fans to your website or shopping cart

One easy way to get Facebook fans to your shopping cart is with an online treasure hunt or scavenger hunt contest. Offer the winner a prize for their efforts.

Post clues on your Facebook fan page. Fans have to find the items on your website. Then post a link to the shopping cart page or web page with the item on your Facebook page. Winners get gift certificates or other prizes.

Here are a couple of other articles on creating contests that drive traffic:

• Small Business Owners: Two Real Life Examples of Using Twitter Contests to Grow Your List
• A Jewelry Store’s Best Promotion in 10 Years & How You Can use the Technique Today
• E-Commerce Websites Use Facebook Fan Pages to Increase Sales

Add ways to share your website content on Twitter and Facebook

WordPress makes it easy for people to share your web pages with their friends using plugins. If you’ve seen a “Tweet this” or “share this” button on a website, you’ve seen plugins you can use on WordPress.

Most plugins are extremely easy to install with a couple of mouse clicks. For a list of 10 plugins I recommend, click here.

Create live events and share photos of customers on Facebook

Facebook and Twitter are great ways to get people to a “live” event. After your event, post photos on Facebook. People will share your photos with their friends – - spreading the news about your business with their friends.

Here are a couple of other articles about events and Facebook or Twitter:

• CHALLENGE: Attract a Crowd to Your Small Business Using Twitter and Facebook. Heres how . . .
• Arrooooh. “Let the wild rumpus start!” Where are the wild things in your business?

Promoting your website and shopping cart doesn’t have to be complicated. Yeah, it takes work. But the tools are easier to use than they’ve ever been before. The tools are cheaper than they’ve been before too.  Why not get started today?

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you know that I also write for The Bloggers’ Bulletin. The other day I wrote 10 Traffic Building Plugins for WordPress. If you’re a small business owner and you’ve started blogging, this article will help you.   

There are so many WordPress plugins available, it can get overwhelming to new bloggers. That’s why I made this list. It will save you several hours of searching for the right ones that work.

Here’s the list:

1. SexyBookmarks Plugin
2. Disqus Comment System Plugin
3. Facebook Like Button Plugin
4. TweetMeme Retweet Button
5. WP Greet Box
6. Google XML Sitemaps
7. Scribe
8. Smart 404
9. WordPress.com Stats
10. WP Google Analytics

You’ll find links to the plugins, screenshots and also the reasons why you should use these plugins here:

10 Traffic Building Plugins for WordPress

Blogging can drive more business to you. But people have to find your blog posts first. Install these plugins on your blog. Let us know how it helped you. Then share your story with us. We want to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

PS – If you have a blogging tip you would like to share, let us know. We’ll credit you with the tip and provide a link back to your blog.

After reading, What Small Business Owners Need to Grow their Business in Today’s World, Site Tech asked:

“Wow! Where to start. I actually have three segments of my business that all tie together in my grand plan of things. The problem is I don’t know exactly where to start. I have checked and rechecked and rechecked and everything and everyone (customers, friends, family, strangers and competitors) see that I have a very good competivive advantage. The problem is, how do I get the message out”

Here’s your answer . . .

First, define exactly who your potential customers are. Think about a real person that would be your ideal client. What do they read? What do they do online? Are there forums or online communities where they ask each other questions and share experiences?

For a lot of people LinkedIn is a great start. For you, I think there are several others that would be better. Online forums have been around for a long time. I’m sure there is one that is perfect for your prospective clients.

Pick only one community to start. Join the community. Answer questions. Ask questions. Get known in that community as someone others can trust.  Make sure your profile has a link to your website. If you can include a signature with your post, include a tag line or slogan and a link to your website. People will start checking out your website and things about you AFTER they start trusting you in their community. Hope that helps.

SIDE NOTE: If you can’t find a community online for your prospective clients, then create one. Create one on Facebook or LinkedIn. That’s what the tools are for.

What’s Next?

Next, start a blog. You’ll find more info about starting a business blog here, How to Blog Effectively for Your Business. One of the great things about a blog is that you can publish a post on your blog and automatically share your blog post on Facebook, LinkedIn and  several other places.

One whole section of this website is devoted to blogging for business. In the next few days, I’ll be sharing more info about growing your business with your blog. So stay tuned.

Thanks again Site Tech for asking your question in the comments. Your questions and comments are one of the reasons blogs are powerful. They start conversations and help others learn more from each other. If you’ve thought about asking a question or commenting on this blog before, don’t be shy. Just do it. You’ll help others and yourself by sharing your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

Related articles:

• What a Successful Blogger Looks Like: Interview with Stagetecture (writtenbysumer.com)
• 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage LinkedIn’s New Features (mashable.com)

Yesterday I met with Mandy Vavrinak. Mandy owns Crossroads Communications. The reason for our meeting? We wanted to find out if our two companies could help each other grow.  Both of our businesses help small business owners grow their business.

Mandy is very active in social media. She Tweets. She’s on Facebook.  She blogs. She’s a PR professional in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is well connected in the community.

We talked about small business owners and how the internet is changing. We talked about how many don’t have websites yet. Or they have websites someone built for them a few years ago that are stale and out-of-date. The person who built the website doesn’t work for the business anymore or the website “designer” disappeared. Or a relative built a website for them and it just didn’t take off.

What Business Owners Really Need to Market Their Business Online

We also talked about how the internet has changed since many business owners built their website. We talked about what small business owners really need . . . and 99.99% don’t know it yet. We also talked about how great the need is for websites that are easy for small businesses to update and promote themselves. We also talked about how small business owners “need” to move in this direction. They need to learn how to promote themselves on the web “in house.” But most small business owners are light years from making this kind of change.  They know they need to do a better job on the internet to survive. They don’t realize that the tools and the training are ready for them now.

Why A Few Small Businesses Are Successful Online Now

Last week I talked to a manufacturers’ representative about their customers. They work with small business owners too. One of their customers is having incredible success right now. While other customers are barely keeping their doors open.

The reason? This small business is promoting their business well online. They are getting professional advice. They are getting featured in national magazines. They’re featured on the local news. Other small businesses from nearby towns are calling them and asking for advice. Other businesses are “stealing” their web materials. But these other businesses aren’t duplicating their success. Why? Because they aren’t hiring professional help.

Maybe they don’t think they can afford professional advice. Maybe they think they can get the expertise and help by spending a few hours copying what the winners are doing. They don’t realize that “the winners” have been working their internet strategy for 5-10 years now. They don’t realize that “the winners” may be doing a lot of the work themselves, but they hired professionals to guide them and help them plan their success.  “The winners” also invested in software and training. “The winners” made smart investments in their future and continue to invest in their future success.

If You’ve Been Burned, Don’t Give Up

I know many business owners were burned by fly-by-night internet firms. They spent a lot of money and got little or nothing in return. Now they don’t want to make the same mistake again. I understand.

That’s exactly why business owners need to take control of their internet materials and their online marketing plans. They need to bring it “in-house.” Stay tuned to this blog, because I’m on a mission to help small business owners dominate their space on the web. I want you to control your own online marketing destiny. Stay tuned. More solutions to follow.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

Related articles

• Find out what Jack Welch would tell you if he was your personal business coach
• SBF: 6 Ways To Get People To Believe You Online (rohitbhargava.com)

Photograph by Erin Conrad

Find out how Erin Conrad, a professional photographer, grows her business armed with only a blog and no budget. 

Key points you’ll learn from this interview:

• How Erin gets new clients without worrying about competitors’ prices
• How Erin gets repeat business
• Why Erin doesn’t have to use traditional selling tactics to “close” the sale

Click on the arrow below to listen:

Or to download the interview to your computer, click here >

RESOURCES:

Erin’s blog:

http://www.erinconrad.com

Get started blogging:

• http://www.blogger.com
• http://www.wordpress.com
• http://www.typepad.com

Did you like this interview? Tell us. Have questions about starting your own blog? Ask. We want to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

More Interviews on How to Dominate Your Space on the Web:

• Interview with Troy Vossoller: Example of a Small Business Using Twitter Right
• How a NY Trailer Dealer’s Website Grew from 300 Visitors per Day to 1,096 Daily Visitors Last Month
• Holiday Facebook Ad Doubles Traffic to Website. Listen to the Interview Here

Important comments about getting in Google Real-Time or Live Search results:

1 – Google’s real-time search features regional/local Twitter users

2 – Some Twitter users featured in Google’s live search had less than 100 followers

3 – Twitter user’s featured actively tweeted. They usually had over 200 tweets

Leave a comment if you found this video helpful or if you have questions about Google’s Live search.

Sincerely,

Doug Stewart

“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys!”

Related articles

• Three Designs for Presenting Tweets in Search Results (cloudave.com)
• Are Your Youtube Video Embeds Missing The Full Screen Button? Here Is How To Fix It (beerpla.net)
• Web Searches With a View (online.wsj.com)