Selling Through the Web7 very simple things that you can do to gain more visibility, credibility, and trust online.

Business has changed

• Marketing has really changed, and the businesses who take the time to understand these changes, and then go on to actually use these new tools to their advantage will increase their market share, while others will simply miss out entirely.

Okay, that was a little scary.

• Just relax and get ready to take it slow and easy as we do one thing at a time.

• You may want to take a few notes and remember there will be a test so please pay attention !

• Just Kidding ! No test just lots of info.

Here are the 7 simple things

• What is your offer or keyword (s) and does your domain name mention it ?

• Website, Blog to tell your story online.• SEO, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing.• Free Local listings, directories and such.• Positioning yourself for better visibility.• Interaction with your growing fan club.• Permission based marketing systems.

Before you get a headache …

• It doesn’t have to overwhelm you• There are some no cost or low cost

tools• Pick and choose what’s right for you

Where do you start ?

•The First thing to do. One of the best ways to begin the process of gaining visibility on the internet, is to put yourself in your potential customers shoes and think …

Hmmm ????

• “If I we’re looking for the solution that my products and services solve, what would I look for, and where would I look for it ?” Once you’ve answered that question, you can begin to put yourself in the places that people are already looking for you.

Here’s where you spell out what you do for the people seeking you out.

• Your potential customers have questions, How will you answer them? First you have to know what the questions are, Right? So, dig down and be your customer for a minute and pin down how exactly you help them solve a problem and put it out there on your “web presence of choice” for them to see it easily.

Once you determine your solution

• You’ll need to have a way to show people what you have available for them, and a simple way for them to find it. Here’s a very effective model that uses a squeeze page, a sales letter, and an auto-responder to automatically increase the contact with your website visitors.

Getting a Domain name …

• You should align your domain name with your primary product or service.

• One of the more popular places to get a domain name is Go-Daddy.com.

• Getting your geographic information included in it can be good too. Example … BuffaloBisonBurger.com

• A domain name costs around ten dollars a year, and the longer you own it for, the more favorably search engines rank you.

Here’s an example of a search …

• If you wanted to look up “mortgage brokers” here’s what you would typically find.

A few quick points

• Listings on the top are paid listings• Listings on the right are paid listings • Listings in the center are what’s called

“Organic listings” and this is where you want to be found if at all possible.

• A very key point here is to watch the local listings on this next search result.

Instead of just Mortgage Brokers

• Why not get a little more specialized with your solution like say … “Mortgage Brokers Boise Idaho”

• At first glance some business people might say “But wont that get me fewer people?” and the short answer is yes.

• The longer answer is Yes, but they’ll be a lot more likely to need what you have for them, and you will have helped them find you more easily!

Look at the difference …

Why this is important to you …

• This is a “Google eye chart” that shows what people look at on the results page when they search for what they are looking to buy. Showing up here is what you should try to do with your website or blog.

Look at the difference …

Here’s something really cool …

• The most visible spot in the search results was NOT a paid ad, it was a LOCAL map that jumped right into the sweet spot for the search and it was there because someone took a few minutes and plugged in some information at ZERO cost to let the search engines know that they were in business in the Boise Idaho area. SWEEEET !!!!!

Want a few more goodies like that?

• Google local and Google maps lets you list your business too. You can even put a link to your website address if you have one and even if you don’t, list your business anyway so more people can find out about you simply because you took a few minutes to put your information into the search engines local sections.

Is that cool or what ?

• The fact is that there are low cost and no cost ways all around us to help us promote ourselves. The key is to open your mind to the possibilities that exist and move on those opportunities.

Here are a few more …

• MSN has a way to do this too and Yahoo had one but it’s going away soon. Basically if you search in your area you’ll see the other directories and local hubs to add your information.

• There are a bunch of directory type of websites that let you put a free listing on them as well. A good way to find them is to type in a search in your area and see what comes up. Then get listed in it.

Definitely use the Social sites

• Facebook, Stumbleupon, Twitter, Yahoo Answers, LinkedIn, digg, del.icio.us, Furl, Technorati, Bebo can all be used to expand your contacts and widen your influence and your market. Social media is exactly what it says it is, a way for people to get to know each other. Keep in mind that business is done person to person in spite of technology.

Here are just a few to check out

Just add your solution and your contact information anywhere that you can so people can find you.

• An excellent way to get seen is to make a short video (20 seconds to 1 minute or so) on your digital camera and post it on your account (free) at Youtube.com then list your contact information in the resource box.

• You can also post your video on a bunch of other websites like dailymotion, tubemogul, veoh, google video.

Social, not pitch fest …

• No matter which social media site fits you best, it’s important to get involved not with an eye toward using it for sales pitches and spam; no one likes that. The idea is to connect with people (especially locally) and give of yourself freely, just be yourself, be helpful, and try not to alienate them.

Offer help and guidance …

• Focus on what you can give to the communities that you join, in an effort to help them understand what you do in the ways that only you can, not on what you can get. That’s the best recipe for local-social success.

A BIG mistake that businesses make

• Most typical businesses spend ALL of their marketing dollars on getting a customer to walk in the door for the first time. They do this …

• Even though it costs six times more to attract a new customer than it does to get a repeat customer to buy from them again. This is a proven statistic but often overlooked by many businesses.

So they spend money and …

• What happens if the potential customer walks out without having spent any money?

Zip, Nada, Zilch, Nuttin Honey, …

• Usually nothing, but, if you could offer them a free gift just for giving you their name and email address, you virtually get permission to continue marketing to them until they get to know, trust, and respect you and become a paying customer which is exactly what they want, and why you advertised in the first place.

Connect all the dots together

• Tie everything that you do together, so each effort connects with another and as a result your business presence becomes bigger and more beneficial for you, your business, and your customers.

Let’s assume that you have …

• A website with the right keywords for your solution, a site map, an about you page, a home page, and a few other informative pages that define you.

• A blog that let’s you say what’s on your mind, a few comments, and a way that allows your potential and existing customers to share what’s on their mind.

Even better, let’s say you have …

• An article or press release written about your specific solutions and services.

• A few links through your comments to other websites, blogs, and forums that help you position yourself as an “in the know” leader in your particular market.

• And hopefully even a short video to inform and lure people to your website and dazzle them with your brilliance.

In a perfect world it looks like this

Most will only do a few things …

But it isn’t very well connected …

It’s best to map out “your” plan

• Set up a Blog• Create a short video• Find similar sites• Comment and link• Find Joint Ventures• Create an e-book• Meet other leaders • Put on a Tele-seminar• Attend Live Events

Now it’s time to review

• What is your offer or keyword (s)? Later on you’ll use these in creating your web pages, blog pages, articles, and blog posts to get more visitors. “Gingerbread House Kits”

What, Who, Why, Where,

• Keyword (your solution) driven Website, Blog to tell your story. People want to know what you offer, who you are, and why they should pick you.

• Search Engine Optimization getting found on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing.

• Free Local listings directories and such.

It’s relatively simple …

• But it won’t happen without some work, it definitely won’t happen overnight, and you’ll have to measure, test, and tweak things as you keep moving forward towards what you want to create for your business.

Focus on using systems

• Try and spend your time on setting up and adjusting the things that run without you. You’ll reduce having to show up so often and then you can spend more of your time doing what you want to do and you won’t get bogged down in managing a bunch of little details.

These additions stay out there …

• Many of the “old media” methods that businesses used was gone and forgotten once it showed up, but many of the types of things we talked about will stay out there and keep working for you once they’re put into place.

Any questions and then …

• Intermission for 10 or 15 minutes … If you think

of anything over the break, we’ll review when we get back and answer any questions you might have.

Positioning yourself

• Let’s say you want to find a contractor to remodel one of your bathrooms, and let’s say that you live in Citrus Hills, Florida. What will you most likely type into the search engine? Probably something like Citrus Hills Bathroom Contractor. Here’s what you would get.

Only one has bathroom mentioned

• Notice the alphabetical “D” listing on local results and check out the web address.

• It’s a free blog ! Now does this guy (or his brilliant Internet marketing person) know what’s going on or what ?

Here’s a web presence that …

• Has excellent positioning. • Is right in the mix with the best sites.• Has very high ranking in his category. • Stands out above the paid listings• Is using a free Wordpress blog format.• Is working to generate interest for a

man who doesn’t have a clue about the internet, but just happens to know a brilliant web marketing guy.

Nice site dude !

Go to Wordpress.com

• Set up a FREE Blog and start telling the world around you all about you and your fantastic solutions. Remember to do it in friendly informative way and help people understand what it is that YOU do, and WHY you do it the way that only you can. Once you’ve set up your no Cost Blog start telling anyone and everyone that you can think of to go and make comments on it.

Here’s another local (free) blog

This is just to help you clarify things

• You can make yourself known on the internet and if you get very specific there’s a good chance you can dominate the particular “Niche Market” that you choose to market to.

• The real trick is to be specific about what you offer, and to make sure that there’s a market full of hungry buyers looking for your stuff.

Some businesses avoid change

• What they’re really doing is missing huge opportunities to grow into the kinds of businesses that many have only dreamt of and a select few will ever achieve.

What will you share ?

• I’ll bet you’ve heard of social networking and websites like Facebook and Twitter and Myspace, but are you using any of them to let people get to know you better ? That’s what people want to do.

Soap Operas have endured

• My Grandmother watched “General Hospital” when I was a kid and it’s still on (I think)!

Your story matters

• Now more than ever before, people want to get to know who they’re dealing with, They want a connection to you, and Social Media allows that to happen more easily than the old fashioned style of schmoozing did.

If you haven’t begun yet …

• Start a Facebook account, tell people who you are and a little about you.

• Then maybe a Twitter account• Look for groups that resonate with your

message and connect with the people you tend to be able to help solve problems for. By doing that, you’ll become better known in the circles that you have knowledge in.

Use the free sites and get seen

Connect more widely …

• Search for your topic and add the word forums to it and you’ll be able to see what’s going on out there and then you can make comments on the areas that interest you, as you do these relatively cost free (other than the time involved) things, you’ll increase your presence and create a larger pool of potential clients as time goes on.

There are other ways too …

• Look for a “blog search software” and use it to locate high ranking websites and blogs on your topic that you can make comments on and generate links back to your site with your signature.

Here’s what mine looks likeRick Falls Internet Marketing Consultantwww.1stpagelocal.com

May I help you please ?

• When you offer assistance and help for the people who need what you have you create good will. By giving before you receive, the process of asking someone to buy becomes almost invisible and seamless.

There are some great tools …

• You’re going to need to commit to some tools that you’ll have to pay for. Some of the things you’ll need are at a minimum a basic website, there’s a free program to help you build pages if you choose to build your own called NVU, a blog (a web log), wordpress has the most user friendly and SEO friendly format, you’ll need hosting for your website, hostgator.com has a good reputation, but mostly you need

An auto-responder system

• One of the keys to the whole picture is the ability to continue the conversation with your new contacts until they become your customers and even better, your raving lunatic fans.

A company that I’ve used is A-weber.com, it costs around twenty dollars a month. When you use a system like that you will help people get to know trust and respect you which will lead to . . .

More of everything good …

• Contact• Better

Communication• Customers• Profits• Feedback • Opportunities• Word of mouth• Community

involvement

A summary of the second half

• Position yourself to be seen where people are looking for you and get recognized as an expert in your field of choice.

• Allow, and better yet, encourage feedback from your people so they know you care about them.

The most important element

• Capture the names and email addresses of interested people by rewarding them with something that they’ll find useful like a free report “3 ways to grow bigger roses” and you will gain permission to continue marketing, as you inform them until they buy from you and become loyal fans of you and your growing enterprise.

One last crucial thing … You can do it alone, but you can’t do it by yourself

We’re done for today !

• I am very grateful for your time and I truly hope I’ve helped you.

• Are there any other questions before we wrap it up?

Thanks to all of the sponsors …

• S.C.O.R.E. for being counselors and skillfully guiding our efforts in business.

• C.F.C.C. for letting us use their excellent campus facilities and equipment.

• Citrus County Chronicle for caring about the community, having a bigger vision and being so generous in helping us.

I am proud to be a part of such a great community and I thank you all !