- Your small business needs to be on multiple internet marketing properties (Online Business Listings).
- There are about a dozen websites that are important for any business but especially critical for a local business with foot traffic.
- When launching a new business (or one lacking content) start by opening each website in browser tabs and create the content (listings) on each with what is currently on your clipboard.
- Internet marketing is a constant ongoing process that never ends and can take years or even a decade to fully reap its harvest, so keep building, especially as new opportunities evolve.
When it Comes to all Those Listings of Your Small Business, Missing Content is Not King. Facebook, Bing, Foursquare, YouTube, Google Maps/Local, Yelp, Trip Advisor, YellowPages, the list goes on and on. There are at least a dozen important properties for any business. They are all absolutely crucial for a local business with foot traffic. One way that I have found that works for getting a business online correctly is to make a list of all the places that need to be created, updated or improved. It is a daunting task for sure but if it is taken in bite-size chunks it is manageable. I start by opening each website in browser tabs on multiple screens and sign in to any accounts we already have created. I start creating the content (listings) on each screen/tab with what is currently on my clipboard, such as the business name, by pasting it into the appropriate box on each website. Your punch list will shrink as you close browser tabs on completed listings. But some seem to stay on the punch list for quite a while as it can be difficult to get them complete. They may be difficult to claim, requiring postcard verification through the mail (which my client sometimes throws away) or there is a robo caller that gets lost in my clients auto attendant phone system. But there is always a way to get the job done, even if you have to call Bing, etc. and explain the trouble.
All the web properties need to be monitored or even posted on and even have reviews responded to like on foursquare. But each one has to be dealt with individually and meticulously because all of them are so important and they each have their intricacies where they have to be analyzed and fixed and improved, pictures uploaded, text copied and pasted, etc.
The information about your business and your products or services is the most valuable asset you have to drive traffic and new customers to your business. Once you have all the website properties created you can make copies of all your business information (in various paragraph sizes) and save it on multiple devices. You can even save it in a notepad document, Google tasks, Google Drive, emails and any other digital place that you can quickly get to, so you can copy and paste it into more webpages, documents, emails, social media etc.
A quick paste into some kind of Internet property can be done in seconds, such as your phone number, website address, address, description of products, pictures or videos. So grab a cup of coffee, sign in and and have your browser save all passwords and start the copy paste process. I am a big proponent of using multiple monitors and think that one or two just isn’t enough. I am convinced that you really need to have three or four or more to get high-speed work like this done. Something I really love about Microsoft Windows is that it supports multiple monitors very very well. You can have them all on video cards especially with a workstation, but it also can can be done much cheaper with a USB Multi-Display Adapter. DVI and VGA are available so you can use any old 17 inch flat-panel it has the same resolution as a 19 inch monitor and requires less space, especially when mounted on a multi-monitor arm. You can run up to five extra monitors even from a laptop.
With such a vast undertaking on so many websites, the goal is to create and maintain a lot of quality content quickly and to actually complete all your listings! It simply must be done, and the reward is seeing your business live on these websites and the increase in sales!
Written by Terry Beasecker, B.B.A., M.B.A.
Terry Beasecker is an Internet Marketing Professional with an M.B.A. in Marketing. In 1994 he was one of the pioneers in identifying the upheaval that would happen to marketing due to the internet. Owner of JustPromote Marketing Company, (justpromote.biz) follow him on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/terrybeasecker) and Twitter (twitter.com/Terry_Beasecker).
When you’re starting a business one of the first tasks is often creating your digital content especially your website. It may not be published yet, but typically it is because that helps in testing and gaining inbound links.
