Your business was forced to change over the last few years and you may not even be aware of the change, but you’d better be.   What’s changed is how your customers find you, or fail to find you.

A large part of the advertising you’ve been paying for is no longer working for you.  Advertising is moving fast from print and broadcast to digital.   This is a major change, especially for small businesses.  Large corporations can still layout huge amounts of money for advertising, marketing campaigns, and public relations.   But even the big boys are spending more and getting less for their money.  Unless you have deep, deep pockets, you’re spending more and more and getting less and less.

Now here’s the good news!  The reality is that you can get better results for virtually no money.  All you need is a computer and Internet access.   And . . . a radical change in your approach to marketing.  You need to go digital.

The beauty of going digital, is that most business people still see digital channels of communications as a joke.  They simply don’t take it seriously, but it is serious.   It’s more than a time suck.  The time you spend getting your business visible online through the variety of channels available to you is like digging in a vain of pure gold.  And it’s free.

“The good news,” says Mitch Joel, author of Six Pixels of Separation, “is that the more people think like that, the wider the opportunity is for you to do your thing, make your own noise, and grow your online community and business while they look around wondering what’s happening to their market share.”

Your business is not what you do, it’s marketing what you do.  Now you can do more with less!

Marketing with blogging, email, and social media answers these two big questions:

1. How can I attract leads, prospects, and business opportunities without actively selling?

2. Is there a way to connect with and gain the trust of prospects and customers?

The answer is “yes,” but you must change the way you think, because these new ways of marketing seem counter to everything we know about sales and marketing.

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook can help you find and attract new audiences of prospects, partners, and suppliers.

Social media opens low-cost marketing opportunities by pulling prospects to you without overt sales and marketing messages which people are becoming more and more skilled at blocking and avoiding.

I recommend two excellent books to get you started in social media marketing:

The Tao of Twitter by Mark W. Schaefer and Launch: How To Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond The Competition by Michael A. Stelzner.  Both are available at Amazon.com.

Tweet

Inbound marketing attracts people to your business like a magnet. There are three things you can do to increase the magnetic power of your online marketing and make more sales. People now research, shop online. Therefore, businesses that get the most from their Website and online presence will attract the most shoppers, prospects, and customers.

1. Analyze your website and update it. Many websites are zombies, or at best outdated. They have outdated prices or information on them, and their content focuses on the business, not on the client. Polish your website words until they sparkle! Make it easy for people to find you. Make sure your content is written for a purpose-to fill your funnel with qualified traffic.

2. Write a blog. It is the best way to boost your credibility and establish you as an authority that can be trusted. Create a storehouse of articles that solve people’s problems and answer their most frequently asked questions. Make your articles a part of your website. If you don’t have time to write articles, enlist an employee, or hire a copywriter. The number one driver of website traffic is blogging.

3. Update and refresh your marketing material. Take a look at all of your business cards, flyers, profiles, and newsletters and work out what needs to be refreshed for maximum impact. Make sure your website URL and email address is on every piece of material (including invoices). Get professional photos made and organize professional profiles to be written.

Outbound marketing interrupts people.

Every business knows that traditional marketing methods don’t work as well anymore. Traditional marketing methods are interruptions, and people are getting better at avoiding interruptions thanks to technology:  Tivo, caller i.d., voice mail, satellite radio. People now search and shop online first, and they buy what and when they want to.

Pull marketing on the Internet, promoted with social media, makes it easy for them to find you.  Don’t interrupt them by blaring messages to them.  Attract them with information they’re looking for and make it easy for them to respond.