Getting Started in Web Marketing in a Hurry
A new member pm'd me the other day for some tips on finding a PPC company. I couldn't help in that department as I do my own but I did a little background check on his business and found that he was starting from scratch so I went off-topic(what's new?) and gave him a to-do list of what I would do if I were starting from scratch and needed leads in a hurry. I thought I'd share it.
Names have been changed.
Hi Kailashchandra,
I read back on a few of your posts and saw that you don't really have a website right now That's a major factor in pay-per-click advertising(PPC, Adwords). I understand that you're looking to get leads NOW so I did a bit of poking around in your area of the internet to see what the competition is like. I don't use a PPC company as I do my own but I'm sure you can start a thread here and some of the guys will share who they use and what they pay. I know a few of them use it extensively.
Building a website is critical for your longer term plan but it's not going to help attract customers in the very short term. It WILL however help you convert a lead from another source into a customer. If I were in your shoes I would do the following:
1.Decide which projects you are going to focus on advertising. Accepting a variety of projects might fill your schedule but you can't effectively advertise lots of services at one time. You can advertise decks in the spring/summer and bathrooms/kitchens in the fall winter though.
2.Contract web developer with game plan for 6 and 12 month goals. First priority is to establish a domain/hosting and set up 2-3 compelling landing pages for your specific projects. The website will take a while and you need something to drive traffic to NOW.
3.Grab all your local search citations and fill them out as completely as you can. I'd shoot for at least 10, focus on the search engines and local associations(Chamber of Commerce if you have it) first. Go to Getlisted.org and do it all. This will take 4-6 hours if you grind at it.
4. Hire a PPC company to drive traffic to your new landing pages. I'd set up a different local number for each page so you know which ones are driving the highest percentage of conversions to clicks.
5. Go to every local networking group you can. I get most of my best customers from first or second-hand referrals from these groups but they can take a while to bear fruit. The reason I recommend them to you is because they are GREAT for forcing you to work on condensing your business into a soundbyte and developing your sales technique. It's better to practice on people that aren't calling in from paid marketing.
6. In addition to all of the above I would look at getting some door hangers and canvassing your area. You're in prime residential suburbs, from the look of it, so I'd develop a specific sales pitch and go around the nearest 5-6 blocks introducing yourself. Find a good pitch for a product that is good for your neighborhood. Most neighborhoods have things that all wear out at the same time, you can pick two but make sure that you are FOCUSED.
I hope this helps.
-James Bond, 007
Her Majesty's Secret Service
Names have been changed.
Hi Kailashchandra,
I read back on a few of your posts and saw that you don't really have a website right now That's a major factor in pay-per-click advertising(PPC, Adwords). I understand that you're looking to get leads NOW so I did a bit of poking around in your area of the internet to see what the competition is like. I don't use a PPC company as I do my own but I'm sure you can start a thread here and some of the guys will share who they use and what they pay. I know a few of them use it extensively.
Building a website is critical for your longer term plan but it's not going to help attract customers in the very short term. It WILL however help you convert a lead from another source into a customer. If I were in your shoes I would do the following:
1.Decide which projects you are going to focus on advertising. Accepting a variety of projects might fill your schedule but you can't effectively advertise lots of services at one time. You can advertise decks in the spring/summer and bathrooms/kitchens in the fall winter though.
2.Contract web developer with game plan for 6 and 12 month goals. First priority is to establish a domain/hosting and set up 2-3 compelling landing pages for your specific projects. The website will take a while and you need something to drive traffic to NOW.
3.Grab all your local search citations and fill them out as completely as you can. I'd shoot for at least 10, focus on the search engines and local associations(Chamber of Commerce if you have it) first. Go to Getlisted.org and do it all. This will take 4-6 hours if you grind at it.
4. Hire a PPC company to drive traffic to your new landing pages. I'd set up a different local number for each page so you know which ones are driving the highest percentage of conversions to clicks.
5. Go to every local networking group you can. I get most of my best customers from first or second-hand referrals from these groups but they can take a while to bear fruit. The reason I recommend them to you is because they are GREAT for forcing you to work on condensing your business into a soundbyte and developing your sales technique. It's better to practice on people that aren't calling in from paid marketing.
6. In addition to all of the above I would look at getting some door hangers and canvassing your area. You're in prime residential suburbs, from the look of it, so I'd develop a specific sales pitch and go around the nearest 5-6 blocks introducing yourself. Find a good pitch for a product that is good for your neighborhood. Most neighborhoods have things that all wear out at the same time, you can pick two but make sure that you are FOCUSED.
I hope this helps.
-James Bond, 007
Her Majesty's Secret Service
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I didn't even read this yet, but the name changes are hilarious... :laughing:
Just had to get that out of the way.
This is a great getting started list. I'd only mention that some of the less technically inclined may feel overwhelmed by it. So, I'll only add that, it IS a more expensive option (but then again, PPC isn't cheap either) but you can hire a marketing firm to handle a lot of this for you. Particularly a marketing firm that is also a web developer. They will get your domain hosted, build your site and any pages, SEO it well (if they're good), get you listed with everything locally, even jump start social media marketing for you and can probably help with the print marketing for those door hangers too.
Like I said, costs a bit more than doing some of those steps yourself, but cuts out the learning curve for you. It is all a matter of what budget you have to work with and what time you are willing to invest.
Like I said, costs a bit more than doing some of those steps yourself, but cuts out the learning curve for you. It is all a matter of what budget you have to work with and what time you are willing to invest.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
