They are dropping their high-priced phone book ads, stopping their expensive newspaper ads and wondering; What's left that works?
You understand that if you ignore your marketing, you will pay the price, right? And yet, there's no way to justify spending more money on something if it's not producing positive results.
Where to turn
If you have a cell phone, near you, even if it's a plain one like mine, take it out right now, and experience this first-hand for yourself. Press the menu button and scroll down to where you see something that is described with "web" in the title. It may show an icon of a globe.
Select it and what you will see next is what I refer to as the "new phone book." You'll likely see a familiar name on your screen; "Google." And, there will be a box to enter what you're searching for.
What's interesting is that you don't have to already know what kind of store sells what you want, or what it's called specifically. You can search for a solution to your problem and Google will provide you with some options. Possibly some you would not have even thought of yourself!
Try this ...
If you are not familiar with this, it may be a little cumbersome to do this next part, so be persistent, OK? Key in what you sell and the city you're in, or the city you're wanting to draw customers from. For example, if you sell bicycles and you are in Modesto, simply put bicycles modesto in the search box and select "search".
You'll see the search results in a moment, with 10 listings per page. If you see your website listed on the first page, congratulations, you're doing better than average. If it's nowhere to be found ... you could use some serious help. In other words, it IS broke and you DO need to fix it.
What if you don't have a website
If you don't have a website, you may see your business listed in some online directories. These listings will usually have your business name, address and phone number. Sometimes though, there are errors.
They may have your business' name, with a competitor's address and phone. That's not something you want to ignore, is it? They might list your business' name with a competitor's website. You, or your online marketing specialist will want to claim these listings and make sure that they are accurate.
When you do get your website going, you can add it to these existing directory listings to help get more people visiting your website.
This is the new way
You've just experienced the new phone book! It's easy to see why it's become so popular. Almost everyone has one, it's small and it's convenient. Plus, it's easier to find what you are looking for because you don't have to know what it's classified under or what kind of store sells it.
When you think about what your experience has been, with what happens to a business that's not "listed" yet, I'm sure it involved struggling and rough times. Not the kind of thing you would knowingly bring upon yourself, is it?
If you feel like it's time to bring your marketing into the 21st Century, take advantage of my FREE 15 minute consultation.
