First I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday to this wonderful country we call home. Too often, we take the blessings we have been born into or chose by immigration for granted. Take a few moments today to express some gratitude (silent or otherwise) for the gift of freedom.
What does “independence” mean on a personal level to you? When asked that question in a survey done some years ago, the overwhelming answer was to make enough money to do what I want and the time to enjoy it.
Tall order. And it’s gotten taller in recent years as we’ve all tried to squeeze more from less.
For my own business, Orange Cat Productions, we have captured the #1, #1b, #2 and #3 positions
on page 1 for this keyword. What is not showing is that we also have #7.
An often overused (some might say clichéd) expression is “work smarter, not harder.” I recently read a thread in a forum where a member was complaining that the phrase is often used with no explanation of what the user means, making matters worse instead of better.
Taking that complaint to heart, I am going to explain what I mean when using the cliché “work smarter, not harder.”
Even before the Great Recession, many of us were working harder. Many of us were approaching the limits of endurance. This helps to increase production and generate wealth, but leaves us with precious little time to enjoy it.
And when you are working as hard as you possibly can (the ‘work harder’ part), how do you produce more leads and more sales, especially those working in the retailing and community sectors of the industry?
Within three (3) days of launching this completely new website and domain,
Premier Limousine had the #3 position on page 1 for their keyword.
One answer is take advantage of available technologies (the ‘work smarter’ part).
What is the lifetime value of a customer to your business?
Most businesses don’t think of this when it comes to acquiring and retaining new business, but it is very important when budgeting the cost of acquiring leads.
Figuring the lifetime value of a new customer (or patient in the case of medical practitioners), is a fairly straightforward task. What is your average sale? How times per week or month does the average customer make that purchase? How many years can you reasonably expect them to continue.
People are creatures of habit. Get them coming in and they tend to keep coming in if your price and service meet their expectations.
How much of a difference in your annual bottom line would adding new customers per month make? For most retailers, a huge difference! For chiropractors, dentists and the like, even greater!
Now what can you do to make that happen, where you are now and starting with the tools you have right now?
We’ve all heard (probably repeatedly) the fact that 82% of all consumer searches for a new place to live originates on the Internet. That fact alone should convince any retailer or community owner who doesn’t have a website to get one – IMMEDIATELY! (we can help)
If you already have a website, congratulations. You have the first part of the puzzle in place.
But do you have any idea how important it is to have your website appear on page 1 of search engine results pages (SERPs) for your keywords?
The Twisted Sifter’s blog holds the #1 and #2 positions on page 1, and the website is #4. Rounding that out is a directory service entry holding #3 for a clean sweep of the top four positions on page 1 for this keyword.
Even in a small market, it can be the difference between getting those two extra sales per month and not getting them.
How do you get your website onto page 1 of the SERPs?
Either through hard work or working smarter. And the working smarter part involved in attaining a page 1 listing will generate secondary sources of leads and can even compound your success rate. Sensing a theme here?
Moving your website from wherever it is now in your local search rankings to page 1 is a time-consuming and laborious process – but carries with it great rewards. And this is one of those tasks that brings to mind the quote from Red Adair that appears in my signature every time I send an email, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur!”
The more competitive the local market, the costlier in time and money gaining a page 1 position will be. But the greater the reward of success.
Making the wrong choice here will cost you money – a LOT of money. But far more important, it will cost you a lot of that irreplaceable resource – time. Time where you could be earning, but are still struggling.
Sometimes a keyword can be very competitive in a locale. A properly configured
Google Local Business listing can then help fill the gap until SEO can help claim a page 1 position.
For those of you who are inclined to take on this type of project yourself, I will be creating a product to help you ‘work harder’. I’ll be announcing it here in this blog – watch for it.
For those of you who choose the ‘work smarter’ option, help is just a phone call (859.544.9005) or email away.
Independence of this sort is a choice. Make your choice today.
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