A whole lot of small businesses took a hit during the past few years. Many suspended their marketing all together. Some cut way back, but continued to do what they’d been doing for years on a smaller scale.
Now that the economy is improving, those old ways just aren’t working! Yellow pages, newspaper ads – that’s just not how people find you any more. Local people find their local business online through Google (we know this, don’t we?). And that means professional services, trades, restaurants, retail, health and beauty services – you name it. The Internet is the future, but I keep meeting small businesses and nonprofits who are just not “there” in the ways they should be.
In a recent teleseminar I took with the business coaching and online marketing guy Kevin Wilke, I learned the astounding statistics that:
• $2.6 billion per month in sales results from local online searches for local businesses
• 83% of shoppers research a local business online before visiting the business
• 98% of shoppers choose a business that comes up on a Google search (I mean, really, when’s the last time you even made it to page 3?).
Chances are, you are already paying for marketing that’s not working as you would like it to.
And that’s where we can help. We can provide a whole lot of content and strategy that can put you “top of mind” online.
What does this have to do with HISTORY?
Back to my title.
Healthy Local Small Businesses = Healthy Local History
• The more money you make, the more you are able to be generous in your community.
• Most of the small business owners I know are “from here,” and they love their local history. If they are “from away,” they’ve chosen to locate in a historical community for a reason.
• As part of an online strategy, an involvement with local history can get you media attention through a PR campaign (all online), a more strategic website, lots of content, a special event, an appearance at an event – the list goes on. On-line, and off-line – but everything that’s off-line IS online.
As a small business owner or nonprofit director, you do not, and you should not do this stuff yourself – and that’s what stops most people. They think they do, they don’t have the time, or it’s too much to learn right now. I understand!
But how much business are you missing out on by NOT being easily findable through Google searches?
How much is your local community missing out on by not knowing about you, and by not enjoying your success and generosity? Harrison Bennett, the President and CEO of History Smiths, is an expert on using history in new and innovative ways. She is a marketing, PR, event planning, and cultural tourism professional who also happens to be a respected historian (especially women’s history), author, and public speaker.
