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Episode 7: Free Web Marketing Tools for Your Business

Episode Air Date: April 3, 2009

Episode Summary

Last week we talked about Social Networking Sites and how you can use them for your personal profiles. This week we're talking about some of the same things, but geared towards your business. Read on to find out about how you can increase your walk-in and website traffic for FREE—by using some easy online tools.

Key Business Factoids

  1. Your business's success depends on your customers' ability to find you.

    If people don't know Who you are, What you do, and Where to find you, your business will dwindle.

  2. More people are turning to the internet to find business information.

    Goodbye, phonebook—a Google search is much easier and more effective!

  3. Local search and social networking gives you more than a phone book listing ever could, for FREE.

    It only costs you a little of your time to list your location, hours, links to your website, and more; and you'll reap huge benefits.


Social Networking—Set Up Your Business's Profile

Last week you heard about the huge numbers these sites receive in visitor traffic; why not take advantage of that and leverage your business with a profile on each one for some serious exposure?

You can easily set up a FREE business profile on the following sites, and here's how:

  • Facebook
    1.) Go to Facebook.com and click to set up a business profile. 2.) Follow the easy steps—they'll walk you right through it, and you're done!
    Note that you do need to set up a user account, but
  • MySpace
    1.) Go to MySpace.com and click the Sign Up tab
    2.) Enter your information and walk through the sign-up process—you'll be required to verify your email address.
    3.) Upload your company logo, add its information and get on board!
  • LinkedIn
    1.) Go to LinkedIn.com and first, create your personal profile.
    2.) Email your Company Name, Website URL, and Description to Mario Sundar
    3.) Be patient! The company profiles are still in beta development; companies are added on an approval basis
    This works though—check out the IDEaS Computers Company Profile on LinkedIn!

Local Search—Get Listed in High Traffic Directories

The more links you have to your website from Local Search Directories, the better. Try out these key Local Search providers and see what kind of difference it makes on both your website and walk-in traffic!

Key Benefits & Features:

  • Users can get all your business information: Location, phone numbers, email/web links, hours of operation, business categories and more
  • Image upload feature: upload your company logo, and a photo of your location!
  • Integration with Google Maps is priceless—your users can get driving/walking directions in 1 click
  • Other users can review your business and write about their experiences

Our Recommendations

While there are literally hundreds of Local Search Directories available for you to list your business, both for free and paid; these are our top 4 recommendations:

  • Google Local Business Center - Help Customers Find You on Google Maps
    You'll need a Google account, but you'll have a listing set up in 30 minutes or less, when it's all said and done!
    Click Here to sign up
  • Yahoo! Local
    Click Here to add your business listing
  • MerchantCircle
    Click here to find your business, then modify it's listing
  • Local.com
    Click here to find/create your business listing, and then modify it where necessary

TechDish Do's & Don'ts

Negative Reviews: Don't be scared!

A lot of businesses are concerned about the potentially disastrous review of an upset customer. Did you know, reviews—both good and bad—can help improve your business? Read on!

Do:

  • Respond to bad reviews in a timely manner. Waiting too long can make you look lazy, or unconcerned
  • Be truthful and transparent. Respond to negative reviews to share how the situation with the customer was resolved
  • Be apologetic, but firm. If you screwed up, you gotta face the music and be willing to admit that. If the customer isn't being factual, calmly state what really happened
  • Learn from your mistakes. If a negative review is based on facts that really happened, use this as a learning tool for improving your business's customer service

Don't:

  • Take reviews personally. Develop some thick skin! Too many people allow their day to be ruined by a negative review or comment
  • Respond in anger or spite. Allow yourself time to cool down and think things through before you write your calm, collected response. Remember, other potential customers will read your response and make their own judgement to how you handled the situation!
  • Ignore them. Negative reviews are negative for a reason—the writer thinks they were wronged in the deal. Ignoring and blowing off negative reviews could cause real problems in your business to be ignored.

TechDish Hot Tip

TechDish Hot Tip

Get Blogging, FREE!

Become your own News Authority. Self-publish company news, information and industry speculation and more on a blog! If you don't want to invest money in it quite yet, you can start out for free and always "move up" if you find that you like it. For a free blog account packed with features, TechDish recommends WordPress.

Twitter: What is It?

Twitter is MicroBlogging, which is literally, a micro blog (posts are limited to 140 characters). This ideal for quick thoughts, notes and announcements. You can Twitter from a computer, cell phone, and other wireless devices; allowing you to Twitter from anywhere! A Twitter account is FREE, but fees may apply from cell phones and other devices—see your provider for details on this.

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