Small business owners are a unique group. We have an entrepreneurial instinct that drives us. Our business is our passion. Sometimes, we lose track of what is best for our clients and customers - especially in our advertising and marketing. Taking the mic today is Jeremy Cohen - President of More Leads and Sales. He helps small businesses get better results.
Courtesy of Trendhunter
The Problem with Your Small Business Advertising and Website
By Jeremy Cohen
Are you a successful small business owner stuck in the mud? Have you taken your idea and turned it into something profitable but now find yourself spinning your wheels to make both revenue and profits grow? If this scenario sounds familiar then rest assured, you don’t know how to market your small business for growth.
If you’ve been able to make ends meet and earn a living from your business you’ve clearly done something right. If you are like many small business owners you have been able to find your earliest success as an outgrowth of the existing professional relationships you had at the time you started your business.
However, your personal network is likely not large enough to sustain and grow your business for the long term. There are only so many hours in a day and only so many relationships you can reasonably manage. As a result you may pay for print ads or have a web site to help generate more interest in your business. These are good ideas. But are you really getting as much out of your investments as you could be? Probably not.
Far too many small business owners don’t have a clear strategy when it comes to writing and placing their ads and developing their website. Here are some common problems with both. If either of these red lights is glaring true for your ads or website they are standing in your way of enjoying even greater success.
Business Focused Advertising
If you’re proud of your entrepreneurial accomplishments that’s great, but they have no place in your advertisements. Your future clients only care about solving their problems: the ones you solve. Your fifteen years of experience and more than 2000 clients served are important for establishing your credibility, but the purpose of your advertisements is to get your business noticed and have your prospects contact you.
The best ways to achieve maximize the attention and business you generate with your small business advertisements are to employ a fantastic marketing message (the set of words that speaks directly to your clients needs and will get your business noticed every time, ahead of your competition’s) and a clear call to action. What’s your marketing message? What action do you want your clients to take after they read your ad? If you’re not sure, you’re missing opportunities to grow your business.
Websites that Are Nothing More than Fancy Business Cards
The Word Wide Web is the most cost effective way to engage prospective clients and develop the types of relationships that lead to sales. Unfortunately, instead of maximizing the value of the Internet’s interactivity, most small business websites are nothing more than expensive, electronic business cards, that, in most cases are guilty of multiple faults.
The most egregious fault of far too many small business websites is that they fail to trade useful information for contact information. The success of any business is predicated on its ability to consistently grow its list of prospects: all clients are prospects before they buy. Without a growing list of prospects how can you reasonably expect your business to grow? Do you routinely grow your list of prospects with your website? If not you are missing out on a remarkable opportunity to grow your business.
And of course, companies that make the mistake of focusing their advertisements on their company, products and services, almost inevitably make the same mistake with their website copy.
By correcting your advertising and website copy to focus on client problems you will attract more attention for your business and get more people to stay and browse your website. When you start grabbing their contact information you’ve put yourself in a position to better market your successful business for growth. What other areas of your small business marketing could use some help?
Professional service providers and small business owners work with Jeremy Cohen to increase profits with stronger leads and more lucrative sales. For more information, please download his free marketing guide, More Leads and Sales - Sensible Steps to More Profits, Clients and Success.
Technorati Tags: marketing, small business, advertising, websites, tips
