Uncover the missing formula in your web design and marketing | exceler8 the web

There may be a new kind of small business internet ad coming to Google that will offer you a low cost means to advertise online – the Google Enhanced Listing. For now Google is testing the service in Houston and San Jose but most agree we’ll see the Google Enhanced Listing offered in all markets later this year.

At only $25, the Google Enhanced Listing is designed to highlight a part of your business (a coupon, video or just your home page) on the Google search results pages. A small yellow flag appears next to your business listing on the Google Maps 7-pack and also on the map itself.

Here’s an example of a local skateboard shop that was recently featured in the New York Times article These Battle Lines are Drawn in Yellow.

Click to enlarge: Example of Google Enhanced Business Listing

As a small business owner you’re acutely aware of how expensive and ineffective local advertising can be.

When paid search ads (pay-per-click ads) were new on Google and other search engines they were initially dirt cheap and highly effective. As the market became competitive and bid prices rose, the price to win a ‘click’ skyrocketed to the point where small business owners like you and I found ourselves in all too familiar territory – being spent out of the market. The same experience we’ve had with online banner advertising and before that print Yellow Pages, Newspaper, Direct Mail, Coupons and the PennySaver. The NYT article I cited earlier provides a great example.

“But one of his sure-fire ways to drive Web visitors and foot traffic — buying search ads on Google — got to be pretty expensive. Mr. Cowie, whose shop is just 1,000 square feet, found himself bidding for placement against deep-pocketed national chains, and having to spend $1,500 to $2,000 a month just to keep up.” - New York Times article These Battle Lines Are Drawn in Yellow

This experience is why we still use and champion organic search engine optimization, social media and web marketing. These methods have no associated advertising costs and the money invested in effective web design, marketing ideas and organic Local SEO are largely one-time costs that are quickly recovered, unlike ads that you have to keep paying for indefinitely with dubious effect.

The best part of Google’s Enhanced Business Listing is that it’s s flat fee. For now it’s also very affordable at $25 a month. We’ll have to wait and see how effective it is. In the early days early adopters will likely see a big impact but after the product saturates the Google maps listings expect results to dwindle sharply. Then we’ll be back where we started – finding unique ideas and marketing methods to make our business stand out and creating web designs, video and copy that converts shoppers into buyers.

Your marketing work isn't getting done, neither is mine, we need anoter plan.

The Problem

Small business owners usually agree that marketing is the toughest and most critical part of their business. After all, the number one reason businesses fail is lack of sales. Even as a seasoned marketer with over twenty years of marketing  and online experience I have to say that this small business owner agrees.

Early in my career I called on thousands of small business owners as a Yellow Pages advertising rep. Today I work with the same kinds of small and medium sized businesses on web design and internet marketing but the major challenges remain. Here’s what I used to hear in 1988 and what I still hear today when I talk with business owners.

• Advertising cost too much
• Advertising doesn’t work
• Marketing is a mysterious, confounding practice with little real feedback
• I don’t have time for this
• I want to work on my business, not marketing and advertising

As a small business owner myself I have to say that today I feel your pain. While I’ve been busy raising my two youngest kids and building my practice LOCAL Na8ion, I’ve had a hell of a time taking my own advice. While I appreciate the irony in this I don’t like that I’m not walking-the-talk. I’ve been like the landscapers who I used to call on who had a dirt front lawn – always too busy making their customer’s gardens lush and paying the bills to work on their own.

The Solution

So let’s talk about solutions. Here they are (and yes, I’m taking my own advice):

• Use tools & technology that save time and reduce complexity
• Build your marketing tasks into your daily routine
• ‘Microsize’ your marketing workflow until it actually gets done and then slowly raise the bar
• Leverage, leverage, leverage – anyone, anything, anytime. Remember to say thanks
• Find any way to take action today
• The more you do it – the easier it gets

I’m going to talk more about two items on my list: Microsize your marketing workflow until it actually gets done and The more you do it – the easier it gets. If I bit off any more this post won’t get written and I won’t move forward.

Microsize your marketing workflow until it actually gets done

Here’s the first clue if you’ve made your task small enough (microsize) to get the job done. Did you produce something that you can call DONE? Can you check off the task? Until you actually produce a result or a task you can check off you’re biting off more than you can chew. Break the task down into chunks, making it smaller so you can complete it.

I encourage you to make it small in a silly way – get really micro and creative! This kind of technique is about overcoming the mental hurdle in non-starters. Once you get something done, you feel accomplishment, you build mental kudos and success and with enough repetition – momentum! As you move forward keep doing the small stuff – it all adds up. Be wary of piling on. Recognize now that you will do this. Rather than letting that pattern seep back in to your practice go after it the very next day with a smaller task – microsize.

The more you do it – the easier it gets

I was trying to record a video blog post yesterday and it’s been ages since I’ve done one. It was rough, felt useless and originally felt like a waste of time. But here’s the thing – it wasn’t. I got some practice and that’s important because I’m way out of practice. The last video lesson or vlog post I put up was September 24th! Right now I’m slow, inefficient and rough around the edges. How’s that going to improve? Practice.

It’s no different than getting my two youngest kids to practice their violin. If they don’t practice for a few days, the next time they do it’s hell on them. So it might take me three more tries to get that vlog post done but the practice will make it sharper and easier to do the next time.

I know what you’re thinking. If I had microsized my work I wouldn’t have felt like I failed. You’re right. I DID fail in my original task which was to shoot, edit and post a new vlog post. That would have been OK if I was in a flow state, but I was far from it. What I needed to put on my task list yesterday was to practice a vlog post. That would have changed everything.

So, today I did something that is easier for me. I wrote a blog post. And this task is almost checked off. Which is good because in looking at my task list I see I’ve got three client projects to juggle, five loads of laundry to fold, a shopping trip, kids to take to violin, school, feed and look after and much much more. And if that goes well I might (just might) practice vlogging a bit more later tonight. If I do, that’s great but if it doesn’t happen I’ll have already produced a result.

Are there any practices that you use to get the job done? If so, please share them.

Are you using WordPress for your small business website and trying to improve your search engine rankings? If so, read on.

I’ve been working recently on a website design for a new client WestchesterInternetMarketing.com in Westchester New York. If you’re in their area and need help with local internet marketing, please look them up.

Westchester Internet Marketing turned me on to a great WordPress plugin to boost your search engine results and I wanted to pay-it-forward by letting you in on their tip.

I’m excited about this plugin because it will save me time in helping clients with their Local SEO and it will also help you, even if you don’t know much about SEO or achieving better search engine rankings.

It’s called SEO Automatic and it’s made by Scott Hendison over at Search Commander. As a web designer and marketer who specializes in WordPress I can say with confidence that Scott’s claims for the plugin are bang on.

“If you “already know SEO”, this tool shows you everything you can possibly think of, saving you untold time and energy depending on your skill and efficiency level.

If you don’t “already know SEO”, then I’ll not only show you “what’s wrong?” with a given URL, but I’ll give you and your team all of the necessary details needed to do things “right for SEO”.

Download the SEO Automatic Core Tweaks plugin here.

Julian Seery Gude, ed LOCALNa8ion.com