Esther C Kane

In today’s tough economy, more and more individuals are looking at earning income on their own.  In other words, starting a small business.  It doesn’t matter if the business is from the kitchen table or from an office, the number of small businesses are exploding.  It’s no surprise.  With fewer available jobs, it’s just a matter of survival!

But if you’re one of the millions who have gone down this path, you may be wondering how to begin or improve your marketing campaigns?  Now that you’ve got something to sell, how do you let others know that you’re here?

One of the (if not THE) cheapest marketing venues today is the Internet.  Now, when I say “cheap” I mean monetary.  Don’t think it’s completely free and easy.  The cost comes in time.  So, yes, it can be practically free to do most if not all of the Internet marketing yourself, but it takes time and quite a bit of it.  Just wanted you to know!

Anyway, back to Internet marketing for small businesses…

There are multiple ways that a small company can market their services and/or products on the Internet.  The key to remember in anything you do on the Internet is to KNOW WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE WANTS.  In other words, find out what they’re searching for and then give it to them.  Here’s an example:

Acom Communications provides business phone installation services as well as selling new and refurbished phone systems for offices of all sizes.  They do this in the Atlanta Georgia area.  So, one keyword phrase they would like to use is “business phone installers atlanta georgia“.  Okay, that’s good.  But is their audience looking for that?  Luckily, there are ways to find out what people are searching for on the Internet, and that’s what we did.  Here’s how.

1) We used tools like SEMRush.com and Wordtracker to find the keyword phrases people are using AND the keyword phrases the competition is using.
2) We used Google Adwords Keyword tool to find the keyword phrases companies are bidding on.

Come to find out lots of people were searching for “avaya phone installers” – so we created a page to market just that phrase.  Now, without this keyword research this company would have only marketed the main phrase for “phone installers” but the research gave us data that allowed us to narrow down the keywords to specific brands which the audience are already looking for.

Some Small Business Internet Marketing Tips You Can Start On Today

Okay, so now you know that the very first step you must take is getting the list of keyword phrases you’ll be marketing.  The second step is to WRITE.  Yes, I know, it’s horrible.  I mention this to some prospects and then I never hear from them again!  If you absolutely can’t write, find someone who can.  There’s no getting away from the fact that in order to market on the Internet, you actually have to write.  Personally, I just tell my prospects and clients that “…if you can talk, you can write…”

So, what to write about?

Well, you have your list of keyword phrases.  Take one phrase and write 3-4 paragraphs about it.  You can follow the old rules we all learned back in junior high.

Who, What, When, Where, How and Why

If you’re writing about Avaya Phone Installers then answer the questions…

1) Who are you (your company I mean)
2) What do you do exactly and more important, what can you do for ME?
3) When can you do your work?  Monday – Friday?  24/7?  When?
4) Where do you do your work?  I know you’re in Atlanta but will you come as far as Cummings?
5) How do you do your work?  Can I trust you?  Are you licensed?
6) Why should I buy from you?

Aim your content towards the customer.  What I mean is don’t write JUST about your company and who you are, etc.  Your content should be about how your service can benefit the reader.  It’s all about them.

I will recommend that you use the keyword phrase you’re marketing in the title of the article, in the body of the article 2-3 times.  This is the very least you can do to optimize the content for that keyword phrase.

My 3rd Internet Marketing Tip for Small Businesses

So, now you know that you need to have the list of keyword phrases and that you need to write 3-4 paragraphs about each keyword phrase.  What’s next?

Well, this content now needs to be put out on the Internet.  There are multiple ways to do this.  Here are some…

1) On a website page.
2) On a blog post.
3) On Squidoo.
4) On Facebook.
5) On articles which are then submitted to article directories like Geckoe.com

Doing any one of these can help you to market your business, doing all can help even more.  There’s alot you can do for your own Internet marketing campaign, but like I said at the beginning, the cost may not be in dollars but it will be in time.  So, just be prepared for that!  Good luck!