I get the chance to personally meet with hundreds of small business owners as part of my job.  I am always interested in what kind of marketing they are doing to grow their small businesses.  Today’s economy means businesses are having a hard time keeping the lights on, and marketing is the last thing on their minds.  As small business owners we have to ask ourselves this question: what’s more important, lights or customers?

The only way to get new customers is to let the local marketplace know you are out there, but with so many ways to market your business, sometimes it hard to know where to start.  On the traditional side we have the yellow pages, newspapers, radio, TV, direct mail, and the list goes on.  Maybe going online is little less confusing because Google is the only option, right? If only things could be that simple!  There is pay-per-click, banner ads, organic search, directories, email, and again, the list goes on.

What is Better, Traditional or Online Marketing?

Traditional and online marketing are very different, and depending on your objectives, they can produce very different results.  Many business owners I have talked with are still doing what they did in the past; the results are not the same, but they keep hoping that things will change.  The newspaper, yellow page ad, or direct mail piece that produced great results 10 years ago, in many cases is not as effective today.  For other businesses, running a pay-per-click campaign may not be as effective as you would like.  I think there are some good parallels between the story of Sniff and Scurry, and Hem and Haw in Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.  If what you are doing today is not working, try something different.  Don’t assume that marketing across the board is not going to work for your business.  All businesses, both large and small, have to market themselves if they want to keep the lights on.

It’s time to do something. Anything is better than just hoping things will change.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Get a website if you don’t already have one.

Please do not scan your company brochure and place it online.  Have a professional create a website that is designed to drive phone calls or customers to your business; it does not have to be expensive, but you must have a website.

Place your website address on all of your traditional marketing materials

This means business cards, yellow page ad, newspaper ad, etc.

Track the results of all your online and offline marketing efforts.

If you are a business that relies on phone calls, place separate call tracking numbers on all of your ads.  I know you probably have a really cool vanity number, but you may need to decide what is more important for your business: placing that cool vanity number everywhere, and not being able to track where your customers are coming from, or tracking every call and growing your business.

Ask for help

Just because you are a great plumber, dentist, or lawyer, does not mean you are a great marketing professional.  That’s ok–I am not the best plumber, dentist, or lawyer, but I do know when to ask for help.

By the way, I use the internet or my mobile phone exclusively when looking for local products or services.  I hope I can find you.