» Do You Have A Small Business Marketing Question? Portland and Vancouver Small Business Blog: Marketing Help for Small Business

Do You Have A Small Business Marketing Question?

Published in June 23rd, 2008

I would like to offer a free marketing service. In the interests of transparency my goal is to use this service to build more content for the blog/website and to make sure the content is relevant.

What I am offering is each week to answer a few marketing questions that you may have about marketing your business. All you have to do is leave your question in a comment to this post and within a couple of days I will post an answer.

If there is any interest, I may also offer a free weekly teleconference for further discussion. It is a also a good way for us to get to know each other.

So, if you have an issue you are facing in your business, post your question by clicking on the headline to this post then scroll down to the comment section.

5 users responded in " Do You Have A Small Business Marketing Question? "

MarketingTwins-Randy said, in June 24th, 2008 at 10:20 am

Hey Michael - this is a great service to offer!

Here’s a coach-to-coach question I get asked alot from small business owners wanting to launch a new website (or redesign an old one) but they don’t feel like they are getting traffic.

What are some things a small business can do to drive traffic to their website? For this post, my example would be a local automotive repair shop just launching a site, but because of the plethora of auto repair facilities in the area, they want people to know their site more than the others. They want people to Google the need they have (brakes, transmission, oil change) and the general vicinity: how can they “guarantee” they will shop up on top of the search engine rankings? Without having to pay for ads.

Can you list the top 3-5 ways to increase traffic?

Michael said, in June 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Hi Randy,

Great question. I guess my first comment would be that no one can guarantee that they will show up at the top of the rankings. There are many strategies that a company can use that will increase the probability that they will move higher over time but it can take time.

Here are my top 5:

1) Make sure you have relevant and keyword rich content. Since they probably operate in a particular geography, they should make sure one of those keywords is the name of the local area

2) Their keywords should be in a number of meta tags including the “title” and “description” tags. The “title” tag is what shows at the top of the browser window and the “description” tag is what shows up when Google or Yahoo displays the search results.

3) Consider creating subsites for each of the major service areas. That will allow the firm to have a good concentration of keyword rich content for each service area

4) Work on getting in-bound links. This might mean creating useful content that can be used by others on their sites/blogs in exchange for links. Nothing like good content to encourage links. Could also participate in blog conversations (like this one) that allow you to post your links.

5) Make sure you have frequent fresh content so that you become an expert in an area. Blogs and Podcasts are good for that. And again, encourage others sites to use the content.

I’m sure there are other good ideas out there. Do you have some others?

tkaboris said, in July 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Michael,

I am opening mobile document scanning service business that is focused on converting homeoffices, small businesses and simply on demand scanning service in Portland Oregon.

One great benefit of my company called YesScan http://www.yesscan.com is that it is completly mobile. I have converted van to an office. You need that document scanned call us and i give you a cd on the spot at your home.

Currently all the scanning/imaging companies are focused on businesses and dont believe that there is any demand in households.

How would you approach people with this concept and where would you market it?

Thanks
Boris
http://www.yesscan.com

Michael said, in July 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm

hi Boris,

It sounds like you might have a natural linkage with professional organizers. These are people who help people rescue their homes (or offices) from clutter and mess.

I myself am working with an organizer and they are great. Try contacting the local chapter of National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Their website is http://www.napo.net. It may even be worth your while to join.

Michael

tkaboris said, in July 8th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

Michael,

Thanks for such a great idea. Now i am getting in touch with OrganizersNW to discuss the business. I have heard good about you from other people now. Keep me in mind for scanning.

Thanks again.
Boris http://www.yesscan.com

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Do You Have A Small Business Marketing Question?

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