Market Your Local, Small Business Online

Marketing a small business online can present many challenges for a local business owner. You're too busy with traditional marketing channels and have no time for online advertising. You don't know enough about social networking, blogs, podcasts or RSS feeds. Perhaps you're among the 30% of local, small businesses who don’t yet have a website or you have a site with no traffic.

Online marketing and advertising can be overwhelming for a small business owner. Everywhere you find "online experts" telling you what you need to do. Keep in mind that online advertising, just like offline advertising, varies by business. As a small business owner, your approach will most likely be different from strictly online companies. The information I provide for marketing a small business online is intended to be educational, so you can determine what is right for you.

For those making the transition from local to online marketing, you’ll find a page of online terms. I provide my suggestion for building your own website. It’s the solution I used for this site. I’ve also included information on incorporating online advertising with the rest of your marketing plan. Finally, I provide tips on driving more traffic to your website.

Before you delve into the world of marketing a small business online, here are some quick bits of advice:

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Five Quick Tips:

• Online marketing is NOT the same as offline marketing. Yes, it would be easier to just take the verbiage from your brochure, slap it on a web page and be done. Many businesses do that. But these companies don’t typically have effective online marketing. Take time to learn the basic differences between marketing a small business online and offline. Online consumers are looking for, and expect, helpful content. This content leads them to your site. Writing effective web content differs from writing traditional ad copy. Make sure to visit my writing web content page.
• Consider why you're marketing your small business online. You must know your intent and the audience you’re trying to reach, before you can decide where you need to be online. Are you a local business only selling services to local people? Will you realize a benefit by marketing your services to the world? If your answer is no, can you add to your product offerings to market beyond your local community? Consider the case of Judd Burdon, a local asphalt business owner who now successfully sells an "asphalt maintenance business in a box" from his website. Think creatively when considering what your business has to offer online.
• If you have a website (and you should), promote it every chance you get. Everything your company produces should carry your website address if space allows. That includes all ads, pens, t-shirts, on-hold messages, signage, letterhead, envelopes. EVERYTHING. Your website markets your business 24/7. It’s your chance to show how helpful your company can be with useful content. It’s your opportunity to tell a potential customer about your services and sell your company. Make it as easy as possible for them to find. It's a simple concept, but one many small business owners overlook.
• If you’re running an offline campaign, support it with your online marketing. When people hear or see your offline ads, they’ll often go to your website looking for the same promotion. They may have missed something in the radio spot. Or they might be looking for reinforcement of their decision to do business with you. Make sure you change your site regularly to provide the information they’re looking for.
• As with all marketing, track the results of any online advertising. Look at traffic reports for your website. In a previous position I held, we advertised on local TV station and newspaper websites. We monitored the monthly traffic flow from these sites, and found one was much more effective than the others. A closer look showed us why. Our ad placement on that site was much more prominent. Arm yourself with this same type of knowledge when deciding where to spend your marketing dollars. Don’t just place ads and ignore this important information.

When marketing a small business online, you’ve entered a new web world with so much information to cover. The volume of it, on top of all the traditional marketing, causes many local small business owners to shy away. They want to be online but continue operating only in the offline world. With 70% of U.S. citizens now using the Internet, these small businesses are missing many opportunities. If you’re among them, use the resources I provide to help you forge ahead in marketing your small business online.