Joseph Madden

You might think that the Net, more specifically your own Web site, offers few opportunities for businesses with a customer base clustered in a small geographic area. After all, the Web is “world wide”… a “global medium.”

And you would have been fairly correct, ten years ago… But matters are changing rapidly. Sure, some potential clients still use the Yellow Pages™. But more and more are using Google™ and other Search Engines. It’s easy and fast to do a search. Say you type in “lawn care Montpelier.” Don’t find a business in the town of Montpelier? Widen the search to “lawn care Vermont.” Try widening your search that conveniently with your local 5-pound business directory!

And it’s not just the clients. Faster and faster, local businesses are coming online. They are using the Net to…
Build trust and deepen relationships with existing local customers by providing friendly,
personal information about the business, great content (ex., valuable “do-it-yourself” articles),
“Web site only” specials, etc.
Raise their local profile and position their products and services
Promote locally and take customers from competitors
Continue to stay “top-of-mind” and deepen customer relationships through an e-zine, an electronic newsletter (and build sales, too — ex., “It’s spring, which means it’s time for
aerating and fertilizing your lawn.”)

Build targeted traffic (local and global) to find new customers, even add entirely new income streams (ex., as a chimney sweep, your articles on fire safety not only endear you to local customers, but will attract global ones too — you can monetize this traffic through Google™ ads and affiliate programs, as we will see below)

Leverage their local expertise and knowledge for global clients, selling their goods online, even through online auctions.

It’s time. Develop a solid Web presence, generate targeted traffic, build loyalty through a newsletter for customers, get the edge on local competition, and add new income streams. I’ll take you by the hand to accomplish all that. Just pick an employee, or do it yourself, or contract my services. But stay in charge by following this advice carefully.

No matter what… get started. Because you do need a Web site… now. One that WORKS.
Think of a Web site as a super-Yellow Pages™ ad… with 100 times the results… at 1/10 of the price. People are searching less and less by the offline FINGER™ and more by the online CLICK…

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As the subject subject states..

Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.

What does this mean. ? Quite simply, it is more cost effective to have the viewers of your ads and promotional goods (specials, coupons, announcements etc…) to want to know about them . Many business people have asked over the years ….

How do you make the customer want to see your advertising?

For starters . Ask your clientèle,.
Yes, simply ask them if they would like to receive promotional discounts from you. Quite often when you directly ask a customer, if they would like to be put on a list to receive your promotions, they will say yes. Many customers really do want to know about specials from businesses they trust.

Now sometimes that is all it takes to get them to opt-in for your advertising / marketing material. But to make it so they look forward to the advertising/ promotional offers it must be something that they are going to want.

(I will write more on this VERY important subject: Opt-in advertising)

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