Still others would say “awareness, or in other words, to get people to remember our name when they go to buy” Then there’s always the group that just says marketing’s job is to “make money.” And you know what, even though all of these answers are different, they’re all partially right. I wouldn’t say that any of them are wrong. But here’s what I would say: All of the answers I just mentioned are actually results of what happens when you run marketing and advertising that does what it’s REALLY supposed to do.

So, because the answer to this simple question is so vital to the rest of this series, and so vital to your RESULTS, I want to take just a few moments to solve this mystery and demystify this whole process a little bit. Here’s what marketing is supposed to do: Its purpose is actually three-fold:

Its first job is to capture the attention of your target market, and

second, to give them the hope that reading or listening to your marketing piece will give them enough information to–here’s the key word–facilitate…facilitate their making the best decision possible when buying whatever you sell. Or in other words, train and teach them how to make the best available decision.

Marketing’s third job then is to lower the risk of taking the next step in the buying process so you can further educate the prospect.

The result of effective marketing that accomplishes these three objectives is that it should cause your prospects and customers to draw the conclusion, “I would have to be an absolute fool to do business with anyone else but you… regardless of price.” Let’s take a closer look at these three things:

First, capturing your target market’s attention. This seems pretty obvious and pretty straight forward. But I can tell you this: there are right ways and wrong ways to do this, and I’ve got a specific formula that I’m going to give you later on that will ensure that you always do it the right way. It’s done the wrong way 99% of the time. We’ll get to that, but first let’s talk about marketing’s second objective, which is what I call “facilitating the prospect’s decision making process.” Do you understand that you’ve got prospects out there that need to buy what you sell, who are just starving and craving information? Because they’re not experts at what you do, they don’t know the parameters or the relevant issues surrounding the decision. They don’t know how to make the best decision, which leaves an opportunity for you to guide them through this process. Your job is “facilitator of information” to help them make the best decision possible. Now if the best decision possible happens to be buying from you–and it should be–then that’s all the better. You should think of yourself as the “fountain from whence all knowledge flows….” Or at least all of the knowledge germane to what you’re selling. I’ll show you how to accomplish that later on in this program. But here are the key principles right now:

See, regardless of what industry you’re in, all businesses, on a base level, want the exact same things… they want more new customers, and less competition. They want to keep their margins, have their marketing and advertising work better, attract and retain more loyal customers, increase the conversion ratios for their sales people…and ultimately, they all want to make more money. True enough?

Also realize that all prospects and customers all want the same things. They want to feel confident that their money has been well spent and their decision has been made to the best of their ability. They want the get the best deal, in terms of price and value. You never hear anybody say, “I shopped around to 8 car dealerships and negotiated the best deals possible in terms of how much car I got for my money, and finally decided to buy where I got the third best deal.” No! People intuitively want to make the best decision possible, and not feel like they’ve got to second guess themselves all the time.

So we have two sets of values: The business wants more customers and loyal customers and higher margins… and the customer wants to feel confident that he’s gotten the best possible deal, in terms of overall value. The process and principles that govern the matching of those two sets of values are exactly the same for every business. See, this is why we can work with thousands of companies a year in every imaginable industry, big or small. It’s real simple: all you have to do as the marketer is figure out what’s important to your prospects, educate them as to what constitutes the best deal in your industry, and then show him quantifiable proof that you actually provide that best deal, in terms of price and value, and communicate all of that to him in a way that he’ll pay attention to, believe, and take action on.

See, then the prospect gets what he wants from you: not just the best deal–in terms of price and value, but also the unshakable confidence that he’s actually made the best decision possible. The problem is, believe it or not, that most businesses come nowhere close to holding up their end of the bargain. Instead of using marketing to educate and facilitate the decision making process and build a case, most companies fill their marketing with self-serving hyperbole, fluff, and platitudes that are only a thinly veiled way to say “buy it from me because I want you to give your money to me instead of somebody else.” That’s why people become jaded and tend to resist marketing. They tend to either dismiss it or worse, become skeptical of it. But you don’t want to breed skepticism! You want your prospects to say that they’d have to be absolute fools to do business with anyone else but you, regardless of price!

So, after you’ve 1) gotten the target market’s attention, and 2) given them decision-facilitating information, then marketing’s third job is to give them a specific, low-risk, easy-to-take action that further facilitates their ability to make a good decision. What I’m saying here is you can’t cram everything that a person needs to know–you can’t completely facilitate that decision necessarily within the confines of an advertisement. There needs to be more information given–and we accomplish this via what we call marketing tools… which means putting things together for your prospects like reports, websites, audio CDs, cd ROMs, and so forth. I’ll talk at length in an upcoming article, but for now, let me give you an example to crystallize all this.

Have you bought a new home before? I mean a brand new home, from a builder? They have lots of different ways to advertise and promote, but one of the major places that builders advertise is in the Sunday Paper in the New Homes section. But if you look in that section of the newspaper, you’ll see that none of the ads there actually accomplishes what marketing is really supposed to do in the first place. By way of review, marketing is supposed to first, capture the attention of the target market, next, facilitate their decision making process by educating them about what they need to know, and finally, give them a low-risk way to become more educated and take the next step to further the buying process. But the ads you’ll find right now don’t do this. Instead, they feature beautiful happy smiling people, pictures of houses and floor plans, price ranges of homes, and maps to various neighborhoods. Here are some typical ads:

So take a look at the ads: None of them do what marketing is really supposed to do. None of them capture prospective buyer’s attention at all. At a glance, the ads all look virtually identical, contain the same kind of pictures and words, and from the prospect’s standpoint ARE the same. There’s nothing to get their attention, no acknowledgment of what the customers needs or problems might be. Then there’s nothing in any of the ads to educate the prospect. There’s nothing to facilitate their decision making processes. There’s nothing to show them what they need to know… or tell them what the relevant and important issues to consider are.

How many things do you need to know when buying a new home? Are you an expert on lumber, plumbing, masonry, electrical, insulation, flooring, framing, roofing, finish out, and the 613 other relevant, pertinent issues involved with building a home? Of course not. And you won’t be after reading all those ads, either. You won’t even know the relevant issues at stake. I’m not saying every buyer wants to know all that stuff; what I am saying is that all buyers would like to at least be aware of the relevant issues that are at stake.

With these ads, all you know is that smiling people supposedly live there and they all have floor plans and maps to neighborhoods. All of these ads dropped the ball big time, and let me tell you why: Because prospective buyers want and need to be educated–so they can feel confident when making their decision–and nobody’s providing it. First one who does, wins.

Then there’s no low-risk way for the prospect to take the next step in the buying process. The only option these ads give is to come into the model home. You say, that’s low enough risk. The heck it is! You tell me, if you’re just thinking about buying a new home, and the only offer is to come to a model home that’s 45 minutes from your current house, and you know good and well that it is going to be fully stocked with starving sales people who are going to do everything in their power to force you to buy that home on the spot, is that low risk?

You say I exaggerate. You ever met the sales person who has to sit at those models all weekend long? 10% of them are wonderful, and 90% of them are starving and took the job because it’s the only thing they could find that had a $2,000 a month draw and they look at you like a big thick juicy steak to be devoured, not a prospect who wants to make the best home buying decision possible. I mean come on, who else is going to take a job that requires you work every single Saturday and Sunday? Even car salespeople get one weekend day off. All of the ads fail miserably on this level; as a result, they all get lost in the shuffle of all the other ads. I’m here to tell you that there’s a better way to handle this situation.

Why do you think that businesses always feel forced into a price competitive situation? If you feel like that’s the case in your business, like you’re always competing on price, it’s your own fault, period. Your lack of marketing ability has led to a situation where there are no distinctions, there have been no other parameters or relevant issues introduced that you’ve educated your prospects on, no offers to lower the risk of taking the next step. If you feel like you’re always competing on price it’s because price is the ONLY relevant variable you’ve given your prospects to consider, and from the prospect’s perspective, all things ARE equal, so they’d be a fool NOT to demand a lower price.
© 2005 Rich Harshaw ∙ May Not Be Used Without Permission

Best WordPress Plugins Review Researching viable keywords can take up enormous amounts of time. This is the one chore internet marketers dislike the most due to the sheer amount of time it can take up. Yet, if you want to earn an income online with internet marketing, keyword research is such a vital aspect of your success. The creators of Best word plugins recognized this problem and made software to help make it all easier. It’s easy enough to find software that can look up keywords by popularity for you. Is Best word plugins just another one of these? We took the software for a test drive to check out what it can and can’t do. Best WordPress Plugins Review

Best word plugins has many interesting features (such as competitor research, keyword research, and marketing research) but it also allows you to see what sort of Clickbank success your competition is enjoying. The method you can use to find this information is to go into Best word plugins and then enter the merchant ID of the competitor you are interested in which will allow you to see what sorts of keyword combinations are working well for your closest of competitors. A lot of internet marketers use Clickbank to increase the sales of their profits through affiliate help. You are able to defeat your competitors at their own game if you are aware of what they are up to. Since you are an Internet marketer, you should already be aware of the importance of keywords in your efforts. Best word plugins is a great source that will allow you to analyze the performance of you keywords in the different search engines.

You will be able to see what sorts of results you are receiving from your keywords in terms for the page rankings they are generating. If the sites returned for the keyword are all low in rank you’ll want to think of a better one.

You can gather market intelligence on any domain name by inputting a URL, and Best word plugins will tell you if any ads are running, and what they are, in addition to keywords the site is optimized for. If properly used, this can be priceless information to know about your competitors. So it’s easy… all you have to do is take the keywords you find and use them in your own site.

As with any software of this type, the creators will believe theirs is the greatest and most valuable tool for all internet marketers. While it is helpful, you’re still required to put in some time and effort of your own. However, this doesn’t mean the software won’t be able to still help you in other ways. Best word plugins is capable of cutting down the time you spend on keyword research considerably. This sofware is highly recommended for anyone working on several niches at once or for those internet marketers only wanting to work part time on their online business. The sale price for this software is very fair, considering the amount of time you’re able to save on research alone.

for more information please visit  best word plugins

There are many logo designers out there and choosing the right one is a very critical stage. Here are a few tips in choosing the right logo designer:

1. The very first thing you should do is to find out first exactely how much they charge and if it fits your budget.

2. Try to look at the Web if there are sites that offer services on logo designing..

3. Is their portfolio sufficient enough?

4. Do they have a dynamic clientele? Were the logos they designed dyanamic enough in terms of style and color?

5. Do they have customer testimonials? Are these testimonials verified to be true?

6. Do they have help and FAQ sections?

The abovementioned are tips to guide you in selecting your designer. In the logo design process, there are a lot of aspects that you should be considering for it to be effective.

Your logo should identify your company including the products or services that you are offering. Its main purpose is to define a company and differentiate it it from the multiple number of other companies around the world. A small business logo design should communicate something about your products’ value and quality. Your logo can add value to your products or services if you offer quality products or services. If people will see your logo and are made to reflect on or think about its design, then that is also another way of knowing that your logo is a good one.

Do you know how important a logo design is? A logo design of a company is extremely important. Logo is part of branding. This helps you establish yourself. The entire business industry is huge. Despite that, there are still identical products or services being offered. This is where your logo can prove to be very useful. It is the mark that customers use to identify that a certain product is yours.

When a logo is designed, five elements should be followed by the designer. Logos should be:

1. Able to keep up with the changes in style and not become outdated.
2. Distinctive
3. Aesthetically pleasing
4. Ideal for the kind of business
5 A representation of your business

When it comes to branding, all organizations must have it regardless of how big or small they are. If you just started out your own home-based business, do not take it for granted that you won’t be needing a small business logo design. Of course, you and every other businessman out there do. Try to find a very good designer who can give you a logo for business that is going to be a true representation of what you stand for and what you offer. This will be an important step as you bring your products or services to your potential clients.

When it comes to branding, all businesses need it regardless of how big or small they are. If you just opened your own home-based business, do not take it for granted that you won’t be needing a small business logo design.

Of course, you and every other businessman out there do. Find a logo designer or a flash flash logo designer who can give you a logo for business that is going to be a true representation of what you stand for and what you offer. This will be an important step as you bring your products or services to your future clients.

Rosser Reeves, one of the great advertising minds of the mid 1900′s said it best when talking about many advertising copywriter’s fondness for writing flowery prose instead of straightforward copy that sells. Reeves gives this little analogy: “Let’s say you’ve got $1,000,000 tied up in your little company and suddenly, for reasons unknown to you, your advertising isn’t working and your sales are going down. And everything depends on it. Your future depends on it, your family’s future depends on it. Other people’s family’s futures depend on it. I walk into this office and sit down in this chair to write your advertising. Now, what do you want from me? Fine writing? Do you want masterpieces? Do you want glowing things that can be framed by copywriters? Or do you want to see the #!@%$*&#@! sales curve stop going down and start moving up?”  Do you want the dang sales curve to stop going down and start moving up? That’s the bottom line here. And in advertising, you’ve got to divorce yourself from the idea that was drilled into your head in high school English class about writing. Go against everything you learned and make your writing style simple and conversational.

To give you a better idea about writing in simple terms, let me take you on what might at first seem like a strange tangent, but you’ll soon find out will be very helpful in your learning to use plain talk. We are going to have a lesson in speaking Chinese. That’s right, Chinese. If you can speak this exotic language, people are impressed and think you must be really smart. After all, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world, right? Well, that’s right and wrong. It’s true that learning to read and write all those strange little Chinese characters is very difficult. But speaking Chinese…learning how to say the words and sentences, on the other hand, is actually surprisingly easy. What does that have to do with you advertising? The very elements of Chinese that make it easy to learn to speak–once you understand them–will help you become a better writer of English. If you could apply the Chinese way of talking to our own language, then without much effort you could form the habit of simple, clear, picturesque talk…and ultimately, your simple, Chinese-like writing will help you make more money.

I’m going to assume that right now all you know about Chinese is Kung Fu and Chow Mein, and you probably not too interested in adding to your Chinese vocabulary.  So we’re going to do the next best thing: we’re going to study Chinese from the outside, so to speak, and get a basic idea of how it’s put together.  That will then bring us a long way closer to plain English.  That may sound odd to you.  Chinese, to you, is an exotic language, written in weird Kanji characters and spoken in a sort of sing-song.  It’s true that the meaning of spoken Chinese words depends on musical “tones,” which does add one element of difficulty to learning spoken Chinese. Chinese is hard to approach; it has a sort of Chinese wall around it.

But if you looked a little closer, you’d find that Chinese is really simple.  Think of other languages, and what makes them difficult: conjugations, irregular verbs, subjunctives, genders–and a whole host of other nasty grammatical nightmares. If you’ve ever studied any language other than Chinese, then you know that it’s grammar that makes learning them hard.

That is the beauty of Chinese. It is known as a “grammarless” language.  The list of the things it does not have is unbelievable: it has no inflections, no cases, no persons, no genders, no numbers, no degrees, no tenses, no voices, no moods, no infinitives, no participles, no gerunds, no irregular verbs, and no articles.  There are no words of more than one syllable, every word has only one form, and all you have to learn is how to put these one-syllable words in their proper order.  To make it still easier for you, this proper order is the same as the usual order in English: subject, predicate, object.  You may wonder how it is possible to talk in such a language so that other people understand you; and maybe you think this must be the most primitive, uncivilized language of the world.  It would be a common error: up to about a hundred years ago all language experts agreed that Chinese is the “baby talk of mankind.” They were wrong: it is the most grown-up talk in the world.  It is the way people speak who started to simplify their language thousands of years ago and have kept at it ever since. 

For, thanks to research, we know now that thousands of years ago the Chinese language had case endings, verb forms, and a whole arsenal of unpleasant grammar.  It was a cumbersome, irregular, complicated mess, like most other languages–including English.  But the Chinese people, generation after generation, changed it into a streamlined, smooth-running machine for expressing ideas.  It’s just like the camera–remember the commercial? It’s so advanced, it’s simple. This isn’t just a figure of speech: the main principle of modern Chinese is exactly the same as that of modern machinery.  It consists of standardized, prefabricated, functionally designed parts. 

In other words, Chinese is an assembly-line language.  All the words are stripped to their essential meaning and purpose, and put together in a fixed order.  Word order is as all-important as the order of operations on the assembly line: if you line it up in any other way it doesn’t work.  If you wanted to say, “I am going to go home” in Chinese, you’d say “WO HWEI JYA” which literally means “I Go Home” That’s it. You wouldn’t even have to say “I” because it would be understood. You could just say “HWEI JYA” or  “Go Home.” And everyone would know exactly what you meant. See, there are no filler words. If you wanted to say, “I will be going home,” You’d still just say, “Wo Hwei Jya” which is again is literally “I go home.” If you wanted to say, “She has six books” You’d say “Ta you leo ge shu.” That literally translated means “She have six book” What’s more, the she doesn’t even mean she. In Chinese it could mean he or she or it. There’s only one word for all three of them. The meaning is determined by the context.

So in summary, what they’ve done in Chinese is strip all the words to their bare meaning and put them together in a simple, predetermined order. They’ve lost most of the filler words that don’t really mean anything. English: These words account for over 50% of all words; they don’t exist in Chinese.

Well, that’s enough Chinese lessons. So let’s see what we can learn from what you now know. You need to take the “It’s so advanced, it’s simple” Chinese philosophy and integrate it into your advertising writing. Why? Because when you’re talking to your prospects, you can’t bog them down with all the flowery jibber-jabber that just takes up time, makes them use extra brain power, and doesn’t add any additional meaning to what you’re saying. You’ve got to strip your words down and use plain talk to clearly, concisely, and quickly communicate your point. It is essential to powerful advertising communication that you “Say it well.”  Use plain talk and you’ll be well on your way to doing just that.

Shakespeare, who was one of our most prolific and enduring writers, used approximately 22,000 different words in his published works. Well-educated people today, use about 5,000 different words when speaking and about 10,000 in their writing. Most of us have a ‘working vocabulary’ of 2,000 (which means that there are over 788, 000 words that are gathering dust on the shelves of our minds). Of those 2,000 words, the most commonly used are: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, I, it.

“Those ten little words (and I do mean little), account for 25% of all speech.

“There are fifty words, which make up 60% of everything we say – and only two of these have more than one syllable … “

(If you want a list of 50 most commonly used English words, click here.)

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!

This article was written by Rich Harshaw.  May not be used in part or as a whole without prior consent.

Published by Cory Threlfall
________________________________________

With the rising concern of Spam Filters/Blockers, Blacklisting, Bounce Backs and CAN-SPAM Act laws, email is sadly becoming a VERY unreliable vehicle to deliver your marketing messages to your customers, therefore, resulting in “Time Wasted” and “Loss Of Profits”.
Is there a solution to this never-ending concern for Permission Email Marketers?

You bet there is. They are called… “RSS Autoresponders”.

You read right, RSS autoresponders. They’ve now taken the newest technology (RSS – Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication) that hit the net and turned it into a permission email marketers dream come true. And… the cool thing about RSS autoresponders is they work much like a traditional email autoresponders, just with a few different features and benefits.

Time is something I value dearly, as I’m sure you do as well, especially when you work so hard on an email to your subscribers, I would think you would want to make sure it reaches them.
So… for the rest of this article I’m going to give you the…

Top 10 Reasons WHY “RSS Autoresponders” Are Becoming a
Permission Email Marketers BEST Friend

… and WHY you should seriously consider the switch if your a Permission Email Marketer.
The Internet is changing, so we must change with it.

So, with that said, lets get down to business by going to the first and my MOST favorite reason.

Reason #1 100% delivery rate of your messages.
This is probably the single most BIGGEST benefit you’ll receive by using an RSS autoresponder is getting 100% of your marketing messages in front of your prospects and/or existing customers.

Reason #2 Blacklisting is the thing of the past.
Never worry about being Blacklisted again because of someone else using your shared server and sending SPAM emails through it and getting you Blacklisted as the end result.

Reason #3 Forget CAN-SPAM and Email Laws.
You can now forget about all the email laws and CAN-SPAM because now they no longer apply to you because you are no longer an email publisher, your a RSS publisher.
There’s a BIG difference.

Reason #4 Subscribers can Opt-In via web forms or links.
This is a critical feature to have with RSS autoresponders because it will allow an easy switch by simply replacing your email web forms with RSS web forms on your website(s). Plus, this will make sure there won’t be any confusion for your potential subscribers with some new Opt-In method.

Reason #5 Personalize your out-going messages.
That’s right, you can personalize your out-going messages with custom data fields of your choice, just like a traditional email, giving your marketing message a professional look and giving you more credibility as a professional marketer.

Reason #6 Write freely with all the forbidden email words.
Now you have the freedom to write using any Word or Phrase you wish without the worry of SPAM filters/blockers intercepting your messages and labeling it as “SPAM”, and still have your message achieve 100% delivery rate to your subscribers. Isn’t that great or what?

Reason #7 Unlimited message delivery.
Like I said earlier in the article, RSS autoresponders work just like traditional email autoresponders with the same functions. What I’m saying is, you are able to set-up unlimited timed sequential autoresponder messages that will automatically follow-up your leads for you at your desired time or dates. And, the real cool thing here is, you’ll be able to sleep knowing 100% of your messages are reaching your potential customers.

Reason #8 Broadcast as often as you like.
With RSS autoresponders, you are also able to broadcast to your subscribers as often as you like with your marketing messages and/or special offers just like traditional email autoresponders.
The only difference is, 100% of your marketing messages are reaching your subscribers, meaning, more profits in your pocket.

Reason #9 Many options for managing your subscribers.
Just like traditional email autoresponders, RSS autoresponders also give you many different options for managing and editing your subscriber lists. I won’t go into a lot of detail on this simply because it basically works the same as an email autoresponder list manager.

Reason #10 Ad tracking and report generation.
You can even track who, where, when, what week or month your subscriber subscribed and much more using RSS autoresponders, giving you valuable statistics and information about your subscribers and much more.

I think these 10 reasons I just outlined above are in my mind pretty beneficial to a Permission Email Marketer wouldn’t you think?

In conclusion, I would have to say that the BIGGEST benefit to RSS autoresponders is that they GUARANTEE 100% delivery on your marketing message to your subscribers, saving you valuable time and frustration, and giving you the edge you need in order for you to make the most Profit from your broadcast. The technology is here, so we must adapt.

This concludes the “Top 10 Reasons WHY “RSS Autoresponders” Are Becoming a Permission Email Marketers BEST Friend”.

The simple answer is–Web 2.0 really is the humanization of the Internet. It allows us to connect people together. Web2.0 enabled platforms depend on individual users to generate high quality content by contributing their unique skills and feedback while interacting with other members.

The basic principle behind these social websites is to encourage public feedback and contribution for the greater good of all. Socially interactive websites that focus on a specific theme have been flourishing in recent times and have captured the attention of Google and other search engines. The purpose of a search engines is to deliver quality relevant content based on keywords entered into the search box.

Web 2.0 marketing techniques are based on the premise that when you request your users to generate and add to your content bank, you will inevitably attract the attention of Google and other search engines, get ranked higher organically and thereby improve traffic to your website and subsequently sales.

Some of the frequently used Web 2.0 techniques are blogging, video marketing, social bookmarking, back linking, podcasts and RSS.

Video marketing can be the most important arsenal in a small business marketing plan. It allows the seller to describe his business in a way that connects with prospects. I can be produced easily-even inexpensively–and uploaded quickly to various internet video sites. Fact is, people like to do business with people they are familiar with. A video ad will facilitate this in addition to being awarded with high search engine ranking. Your own infomercial can give you visibility you would not otherwise enjoy.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) permits users to subscribe to a web page so that they can get new content as soon as the original page is modified.

These are just some of the ways by which you can attract traffic to your website and business. Once you have established your credibility, your audience will start believing that they can depend on you as their supplier for their needs.

It used to be that prospective buyers relied on sellers for product or service information. Back then, the seller had the power because he was in control of the sale situation.  Not so anymore. Now, when faced with making a purchase, we go on the Internet to research the product or service, find out the availability and misc. options and of course where we can get the best price before ever stepping foot into a store or order online.  Guess who has the power now?

Sadly, the shroud of mystery surrounding the principles of Web2.0 and the perceived notion that marketing on the Internet is very expensive has prohibited many small business owners from harnessing the power of exposing their business on the Net. No so anymore, now you can have a Web2.0 friendly website and a video ad for very little money, effort and time. If you do nothing else marketing-wise you would be well advised to consider Web 2.O – it’s here to stay.

Times have changed, and the way people get information has changed, too.  Radically.  Ten years ago, a local company could get by without a website.  Back then, the Internet was new, and not every family had a computer hooked up to the worldwide web.  And, for many of those people who were online, the Internet was sort of exotic – it was something of a hobby.  They would spend their online time in chat rooms talking to new friends all over the world, or looking for Beanie Babies on eBay, or downloading the latest cool game. 

But somewhere along the way, three things happened –

1. High Speed Internet Access got cheaper, and replaced dial up for the majority of users.
2. Almost every home in America is now connected to the Internet.
3. Google became THE dominant search engine

What does a High Speed Internet connection have to do with anything?  A lot.  Ten years ago, most people had dial up connections over a standard phone line.  That meant that most of the time they weren’t hooked up to the Internet, and connecting usually took several minutes. And surfing was slow.  In other words, if they needed to look up the phone number of a local company, it was much easier and faster to just grab the Yellow Pages.  Besides, back then, few local companies had their own website.  But these days, in most homes, there are several computers hooked up to the Internet 24/7, with a high speed DSL connection.  Tens of millions of people in America spend several hours a day in front of their computer, using the Internet.   Almost every home in America is now online, and the vast majority of them are using high speed Internet connections.  That’s the first two radical changes.

So what does Google have to do with anything?  Well, in a word, everything.  Ten years ago, there were lots of search engines – Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, Netscape, AOL, and scores of others.  And there still are dozens of search engines.  But hardly anyone uses them.  What more, hardly anyone uses print directories such as the Yellow Pages anymore, yet many small business owners still spend thousands of their hard earned cash on advertising that doesn’t produce revenue.  Want prove?  When last did you pick up the Yellow Pages?

Google came along around 1999, and they just completely took over the search engine business, practically overnight, because they were so much better than the others.  Probably 85-90 percent of all searches these days are Google searches.  And Google lists everything, including local businesses.

Are you starting to see the big picture?  Ten years ago, most people still weren’t on the Internet, and now they are.  And today, instead of being an expensive, slow moving toy, the Internet has become an integral part of their lives.  Now, with a click of their mouse and a few keystrokes, they can find any information they need in about 5 seconds.   Why get up, hunt down the Yellow Pages, dig through its hundreds of pages until they find “muffler shop”, when they can just type in “their city muffler shop” and have all the information they need without leaving their chair?

Well, most people won’t leave their chair.  They’ll just go to Google.  Which means that the Yellow Pages are yesterday’s news, and if you don’t have a website for your business online, you are missing out on huge numbers of leads and customers.

Any local business that doesn’t have a website has got two choices – get a website, and get one soon, or plan to eventually go out of business. It’s just that simple.  What’s next?  Check out part two of our report or visit www.thenewrulesofmarketing.com!

Or next post will discuss why having a “Google-friendly” website is of utmost importance, so be sure to check it out.