Local Internet Marketing - Local Search

Now I realize that GrandCentral is nothing new (at least for me) but since I haven’t really talked about how valuable it could be to a local business, I figured I might as well jump all over the possibilities.

Now I’m only talking about GrandCentral from a business use standpoint and I realize that wasn’t it’s main purpose.  It is the “number for life” solution for anyone and I’ve enjoyed playing with it.  But for businesses, the nice tools and free price point make it a wonderful option for seeing who’s calling and personalizing your business messages to clients.  Imagine calling your contractor about a problem or with a question and the message you hear isn’t “Leave a message” it’s “Hey Mr. Shelton, I hope all is well.  I’m really sorry you didn’t get a hold of me but leave a message and I’ll call you right back”. 

Imagine a car or truck sales person with a nice message that says, “Hi Mr. Smith, it was great talking with you on Thursday. I’m working with another client right now but please leave me a short message and I’ll call you back in just a minute.” instead of “You’ve reached the personal voicemail box of Jack Salesman.  Please leave a message”.  It’s a little touch that personalizes the small business relationship and guess what, Google bought it and GrandCentral could be a great, free solution to that extra sauce called “I CARE ABOUT MY CUSTOMERS“.

 Now from the internet marketing standpoint of tracking what kind of business your website is generating when you are a service business.  Just put the GrandCentral number on your website and no where else.  Direct it to your main line and you can log in any time to see the call volume generated by your site.  Did I mention it’s free.

Of course it won’t work for every business but it should be a great improvement for a lot.  Realtors, Financial Consultants, Consultants, Life Coach, and any other business that is really trying to serve a client.  GrandCentral only offers local numbers so it’s currently not a toll-free solution but for most localized businesses the local number is the best way to go.  It is in Beta right now but there are lots of people with plenty of invites (just like the beginning of gmail) so ask and you will be invited. 

Here’s the use at your own risk section: This is just an idea and, with a lot of things, you DO get what you pay for but the web interface is great and you can get your voicemails emailed all over the place AND have your number ring your home, office, cell, friends cell etc.  Slick, Free and very useful.  Beware: This is just a thought

Now the reason every business owner wants their add in the yellow pages is simple…Every Business Owner needs more business (some just want more but the majority NEED more).  Whether you are a roofer in South Dakota or a swimming pool installer in California, the need for the yellow pages is inevitable.

Why the yellowpages? Customers can call to get questions answered, schedule a job, get a quote and the business owners can close deals.  The power of the phone call cannot be replaced by a website.  It can however, be enhanced by the web. BusinessWeek did a great story last week about Pay-Per-Call.  The ability for a small business owner to pay for people in their area searching for their service to call them and they only pay when calls happen.  Not bad.  Seems like a no brainer BUT it can be expensive.  Why not just add your phone number to your Google AdWords?  Why not make your phone number highly visible on your website.  Encourage people to call and only pay for the clicks (especially if it’s less expensive than the pay-per-call scenario).

 The story in BusinessWeek describes a company that was paying $25 per call for Roofing.  The lady interviewed said she’d gladly pay twice that for the leads she’s getting.  My answer….your wish will come true. She’s making great money but could she do better by adding a stronger internet marketing strategy to her business? of course.

Local Internet Marketing isn’t just getting a website and selling stuff online. It’s about making your business shine online AND offline.  Don’t replace your offline marketing, enhance it with paid listings, Search Engine Optimization, pay per call and anything else that will validate and grow your business. 

One day every small business owner will understand and use the internet but until then I’ll keep blogging and venting