we could talk about how to make his business shine over theirs and from this let me say this, I cannot get over the amount of businesses that still do not have their own website! And I found trade businesses to be the worst culprits of all at committing this marketing health sin! I found most of his competitors had nothing more than a Yellow Pages or business directory listing when it came to their online presence and some of his competitors that he mentioned didn’t exist online at all! So by our findings, as a new business, my client was already one up on the majority of his competitors in the online stakes and the amount of business he’s been receiving has been huge for someone who’s just started up! Which is not surprising as I know for myself if I need a plumber, electrician, landscaper or any kind of tradesman or any kind of business for that matter, I am going to go straight to my computer or phone and do an internet search to find one.
Let me spell it out to you in layman’s terms, having your own website for your business is today’s version of having your business listed in the Yellow Pages back in the 90’s. If it is not there, you do not exist to your potential clients.
Marketing Rule #1: Remember, just because you may not need to use a computer as part of your businesses core activity, doesn’t mean you don’t need a website. Think about your potential clients and customers here, generally speaking they don’t work in the same field as yourself and more and more jobs involve the use of a computer if we like it or not and most of us have mobile phones with internet capabilities. Your potential clients and customers are going to search for your business with what’s closest at hand and that means by either computer or phone..
on the internet!
March - April 2012 Franchise Magazine | 41