Business and marketing are changing, and it’s not just for the big guys. Today, local businesses are finding it harder and harder to get the word out about their products and services because of a number of factors:
- Nobody uses the phone books anymore. More and more, people are going to the Internet to find information and contacts for local businesses. If you’re like me, you haven’t picked up a phone directory or looked in those yellow pages in years. Google and other search engines are just too easy, and offer a number of advantages, such as testimonials and reviews.
- Newspapers are going the way of the telegraph and cassette tapes. Have you noticed that your local newspaper is losing pages and offering less and less real news? That’s because budgets have been slashed and staff has been cut. And, your very expensive newspaper ad goes away as soon as someone tosses the paper in the trash (if they even see it to begin with).
- Television and radio are ineffective and expensive. The days of just three major networks are long since gone. Now, there are 100s of different cable stations, all vying for the attention of viewers. Add in the draw of online entertainment, and it’s tough to get enough eyeballs to make it worthwhile to advertise on TV. And with iPods, satellite radio, and bad programming, radio is tough as well.
- Word of mouth cuts both ways. If you’re providing top-notch customer service, word of mouth can drive new business your way. But, if you have even one unhappy customer – whether it’s your fault or theirs – it can keep potential customers away in droves. With email, Facebook, and mobile phones, consumers can tell their friends about good – or bad – experiences in an instant.
- New technologies are complex and intimidating. When you start to think about starting up a web site, sending emails, online advertising, pay-per-click campaigns, search engine optimization, and blogging, it can get a little overwhelming. All of these new marketing channels have been around for less than a decade, and the pace is only increasing. It’s mind boggling.
When you take all of these factors into account, along with the activity you need to do to run your day-do-day business, keeping pace with marketing in today’s information age can be downright scary. Especially when you have people calling you up trying to sell you web sites or search engine rankings.
I started Life Is Local to help local businesses make sense of all the new marketing opportunities available out there, and to provide a resource to keep up-to-date with the latest news, info, and success stories for local businesses just like yours. And because of the economics of the Internet and my own personal philosophies about marketing, a lot of what you can do to promote your local business won’t cost you a lot or may even be free.
Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be developing the site and working on a voice. I’m not sure exactly how this will work out over the long term, but any input, advice, suggestions, or criticisms are helpful and encouraged. Let me know what you think, what you would like to learn about, and how I’m doing so I can make Life Is Local a valuable resource for you and your business.
Best of luck and let’s start marketing,
Chuck Smith
Chris Brogan Talks About What Small Businesses Should Do Online
