March 2008
In This issue:
:: Website Marketing for Service Industries
:: 20 Great Ideas for Website Content
Thank you!
We wanted to say thank you to all our clients for the positive feedback, exclamation points, and pats on the back we got on our Entrepreneur Magazine mention. Your business means a lot to us, but to know that you agree with such an honor is more than we could ask for.
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Website Marketing for Service Industries
future-ink was recently called upon by the Financial/Insurance and Allies Affinity Group of the GSDBA to give a presentation on website marketing. Not just any kind of website marketing, but marketing for service industries like financial planners, tax preparers, and mortgage brokers.
If you are a franchise owner, and your parent corporation retains tight control of your website, this article will also help you. It is not uncommon for agents and franchisees to be given a one page "bio" which easily gets lost on the larger parent site. This is further complicated by the fact that the franchisee/agent is often unable to modify or even update the page. This makes the usual web techniques of link exchanges, keywords, and meta tags impossible. So, how did we answer their biggest question: "How can I increase traffic to my site?"
Getting Found
Being found is the single most important thing you can do to improve traffic to your site. This sounds basic, but is extremely difficult if you can’t employ the usual search engine bait to your site. The solution is to use all the resources on the internet to get your name indexed by the search engines. This includes utilizing many of the social networking sites, social shopping sites, blogs, pay-per-click advertising, and forums.
Banner Ads and Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Banner ads may prove useful to get traffic to the parent company site, but they probably won’t do much for the local agent hoping to get clients. For example, clicking on a banner for All State has a higher probability than clicking on a banner for Fred Jones, agent for All State. PPC campaigns may prove more useful because they can target a region or a specific service like "San Diego Senior Financial Advice".
If you are a service-type industry and are looking to get help with your online marketing, call us to see how we can help. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, here are some links to help you get started. Just remember, in the case of blogs, duplicate content is a no-no. Stay active so you don’t lose readers.
Internet Resources:
Social Networking: Myspace.com, Facebook.com, Linkedin.com
Social Shopping: Merchantcircle.com, Mojopages.com
Blogs: Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, Livejournal.com
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20 Great Ideas for Website Content
For many of our readers, coming up with copy for their website tapped their creativity levels for at least the next year, and made the stress-o-meter redline. Now that you have a website, you keep reading about how you should have a blog, write email articles, keep your website updated with new content! It’s often too much to ask when your busy schedule is full enough.
This article is for you; a brainstorm of ideas where you can find content and stimulate your inner copywriter. Remember, short is sweet. Your readers are just as busy as you are. Your newsletter is perfectly valid if it is only one article long. Making contact is your goal!
- Answer the last three questions you got from your clients.
- Pre-empt product issues with tutorials.
- Write about a new third party service or product that your readers will find useful.
- Let your readers know what accounts you’ve just landed.
- Educate your readers on trends in your industry.
- Segment your newsletter list into clients/vendors so that your information will hit its target. You might end up with two newsletters, but it will avoid confusion.
- Create a poll.
- Ask your staff members to write an article. Often they have ideas from talking to clients that you may never think of.
- Spotlight a service or product – let your readers know about your full product/service offerings one product at a time.
- Formed any new business alliances? What does it mean for your clients?
- Did you just solve a business dilemma that your other customers might have too?
- Free advice. Everyone loves free advice! (make sure it is professional) ;)
- True/False – Now is your chance to dissolve those nasty rumors!
- Giving a presentation? Let your readers know about it.
- Is your company involved with charity or any other cause? Tell us about it, and what you do to make the world a better place.
- Employee spotlight. So often in business communication people are just faceless voices or signatures. Narrow the gap, and let your customers see your human side.
- Did you recently implement something new with your marketing, sales, or customer service? How is it working? (Only good news please.)
- Seasonal tips. Spring is right around the corner, does your product need to be modified or cleaned? Consider the April tax deadline as a season too.
- Feature a guest newsletter writer. Is there a person in your network that has information that complements your business or can serve your customers?
- Tell your readers about your amazing web firm and how your newsletter, blog, or website would not be possible with out them!
Take a trip back to 1988 when the coolest cell phone was $4,300! It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come in only twenty years. It’s even harder to imagine where technology might take us in the next twenty.
By Becky Waring, PC World
1988: Tandy 1000 TL
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2008: HP Pavilion Elite m9100z series
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