For years, local business owners have struggled with online marketing in their attempts to connect with local customers looking for their services.

The term local businesses are predominately small business, known as “Mom-n-Pop” businesses. Both “Mom” and “Pop” often wear many hats running their businesses. As such, the daunting task of learning how to market online and then mastering what they learn has evaded them for the most part.

Small, local businesses are the backbone of every community and most don’t have the staffing needed to do their marketing for them. Some owners have hunkered down, so to speak, and learned internet marketing but those are far and few between.

The good news is that now local business owners can “have their cake and eat it too” because the new Google Place Page gives them a local online presence and doesn’t require internet marketing skills to set up.

Any type of local business qualifies for a Google’s new mini-website format and Business Listing to boot. From restaurants to retailers, from service providers to medical and legal professionals, any type of business whose customers are in their local area can get a Place Page.

Each Place Page can be customized with pictures, photos, images, logos, certifications and even YouTube videos to create a unique look and feel for each business. Many details can be added such as business name, location, phone, website, email, hours of operation, types of products and services provided, types of payments accepted, directions, a map, a special invitation from the owner, discounts or coupons and a full description of all the services provided.

Many business owners across the country are already enjoying the benefits of making a good strong positive impression in their local community with their very own site from Google. Not overly difficult for the “do-it-yourself” business owner, Place Pages put a new face on your business.

The key to setting up your site is to be organized before you begin. You’ll want to develop your Business Profile and then build your Place Page site with the details from the profile. If you just go in and start adding information without an organized plan, your site runs the risk of looking haphazard.

Having your own Place Page from Google is a huge boost for any local business because it gives you the opportunity to give your customers all the information they need to know about your business in one place.

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There are many opportunities that come with owning a pest control business. For example, you can base your whole business around servicing apartment complexes. Or your could specialize in treating for one certain pest, such as bedbugs.

One of the most underutilized forms of a pest management business is partnering with other service businesses. Most pest businesses just put an ad in the yellow pages and wait for calls to come in. In this day in age, if that is your only marketing strategy, it won’t be long before you’re left behind by the competition.

Think about this… if someone is willing to pay for one service, such as getting their lawn mowed or getting their windows cleaned, chances are that they will also pay for a pest service.

With just a little creativity, you can find ways to capitalize on these customers with only a little bit of extra work. Consider contacting service companies in your area and coming up with an agreement where you pay them a fixed amount for each customer that they refer that signs a service agreement with you.

You could also form agreements with other service companies where you sell bundled packages to new customers. For example, instead of just getting their house sprayed for bugs each quarter, a lot of customers would love to have their windows washed each quarter as well.

Another idea is to offer to pay for fliers to be designed and printed for them, as long as you get to dedicate 25% of the flyer to promoting your service.

Once you start thinking of creative ways to market your services, you’ll find there are endless ideas and ways to get your message in front of targeted customers that will love your service.

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For businesses serving their local market, life has gotten easier. At least that’s the case for those savvy enough to take advantage of the huge marketing gift Google has offered them.

What’s remarkable is the fact that Google has created pages not just for those businesses who already have web sites, but for millions of businesses who don’t.

The trick though is to “Claim” them, and once claimed to get them to appear on the Google 7 pack within your local market place.

Claiming is easy, but to stay on top of the local market you need to take several additional steps. First you must fill out your information as completely as possible.

In addition, you will need to accumulate citations from other sources and get reviews if you are to maintain a top billing. In the near term, for most businesses, the initial challenge is to get their forms to the 100% complete criteria. Since less than 3% of all Google pages have been claimed so far, you can discover yourself on the first page of Google already, or if not, significantly increase your chances merely by claiming the site.

But as more and more businesses learn the ropes, it appears that those who do the best job of completing the form will be ranked higher than those who only do a partial job.

If you just do the basics, company name, street address, city town, state and zip, plus your main phone you will get credit for 40% of completion. Adding your website and email address will add another 15%. If you don’t have a web site, you can set up a Squidoo page or even a Facebook fan page and use that.

The website spot is worth 10% so it’s important to get a web address of some sort. It’s estimated that even today, as many as 50% of small businesses do not have a web site. That will soon change.

Putting in any type of description of your business will add 5%. But don’t just put in something to get the 5%. Let your prospective customers know what you can do for them. Remember we are doing this to attract customers.

Next be sure to add hours of operations. At first I didn’t because I am kind of a 24/7 operation, working from home as I do. Google allows you to not list any times, but you will get 5% for filling out your hours. And another 5% for toggling any of the payment options.

All of this is pretty straight forward, but what Google loves to see are pictures and videos. They have space for 10 pictures and they want you to use all ten slots to get full credit. So get out your digital camera and take pictures of your logo, your front door, yourself, your staff, your product, yourself at work, your cat or dog or what ever. Clearly the more business and value related these pics are the better they will sell your prospective customers.

Don’t think these need to be studio portraits done by a professional. But that said the better the image the better the impression. This rule is also true for the last big hurdle for many businesses which is the video. At this time it appears that you only need to put up one video to get full credit. This can be as simple as a quick video with you digital camera or phone to a power point presentation outlining the key reasons to do business with you.

Finally, there is a place for additional details. Putting in a one line statement here will add a final 6% to your completion score.

Your first objective is to claim the site. The second is to fill out the form completely, third is to go back and improve the quality of the content. Once done, you will have a Google Places Site that will show off you business properly.

Your Google Places listing is the new Yellow Pages, and you want your listing to be accurate and persuasive. In the near term, this may be all you need to benefit from a first page listing in your market niche in your community. In the future you will need to do more to hang on to that spot, but we will talk about that in future posts.

Now before I leave, let me share with you one more benefit you probably didn’t realize. By setting up a Google Places Page, you have leapfrogged many other competitors of yours who have web pages but are not set up for Mobile phones.

Half of internet traffic is likely to be from mobile devices in 2011 and not traditional computers. Your Google Places page is set up to show up properly on people cell phones, which will give you access to this rapidly growing class of customers. Most of your competitors, even those with big classy websites are probably not set up to be seen properly on cell phones. That’s a real advantage to those who are wise enough to take quick action and get themselves seen.

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When a small business plans on beginning to market their business over the Internet, it can be very difficult finding what is necessary to create an effective marketing campaign for their business. A variety of places on the Internet specialize in Internet local marketing for communities, but it can still be tough to find what is necessary to make the company successful.

Many small businesses assume that Internet local marketing is a simple process that takes little effort, which causes disappointment when their business fails during its launch online. Over the course of the last decade, a variety of different marketing ideas and tools have become available to small businesses, making it much easier for them to succeed in the virtual world.

There are a variety of Internet local marketing services that are available to most local businesses. One of the most popular marketing ideas is SEO or search engine optimization. This is still a rather new technique, but it is one that is beneficial to any size of business.

Finding providers who specialize in SEO can be difficult for some internet local marketing firms, but this is crucial to any website since the use of SEO determines the likelihood of one’s page being chosen by the search engines. This can be the difference between a site being successful and a site never being visited by a variety of clientele.

Yet another popular Internet marketing idea is the use of email marketing campaigns. Through the use of Internet local marketing firms, small businesses can create complete sales campaigns directed at their own individual client list. This marketing technique consists of the creation of newsletters and advertisements that are sent directly to the client’s emails.

In most cases, Internet local marketing can be done by sending these advertisements to already existing clients, but some companies use pre-existing email lists to reach a wider range of prospective clients. You will find that many internet local marketing firms use different approaches that persuade clients to sign up to a site’s newsletter, offering these new clients free products or the promise of new information that would be beneficial for the potential client.

One of the more popular marketing ideas that have appeared recently for small businesses is the use of Facebook and other social networks to promote their business. While using Facebook, small businesses can connect to a variety of different marketing situations by joining groups pertaining to their specific niche, as well as keeping up with current clients who can introduce the business to other potential clients.

Just like marketing offline, the best marketing practice is through word of mouth, so the more exposure a small business gives themselves in a social network, the more likely they will see new potential leads surface. With strong profiles and the creation of accounts on Facebook introducing their company, a small business can expect to find a wide range of different clientele on the social network. Using these different ideas faithfully, a small business can expect to see much success for their virtual endeavors.

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In 1953 the Department of Health, Education and Welfare became a cabinet level department in the United States. In 1979 the Department of Education Organization Act split HEW into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is responsible for the health, safety and well-being of residents of the United States. This mandate also extends internationally for cross-border health and safety issues.

HHS administers over 300 programs with a budget of over $737 billion. HHS mission includes a wide range of human issues, including substance abuse, Medicare and Medicaid, childrens health, health disparities, disease prevention and health promotion. It is the largest grant-making department within the Federal Government.

In 1979 the Department of Health and Human Services established the Office of Small and Disadvantaged business Utilization to develop and implement outreach to the small business community. The Office performs its mission through small business fairs, procurement conferences, trade group seminars, conventions and forums.

The Office of Small Business Development, also called OSDBU, is host to Vendor Outreach Sessions that happen twice monthly. The purpose of these sessions is to introduce and educate vendors on the small business program and to provide them information so that they can effectively market their products and services to HHS.

The Department of Health and Human Services is the only executive agency where Small Business Specialists report to the OSDBU Director. These Small Business Specialists are located within the eleven agencies of HHS.

Every day, these Specialists work with Contracting and Program Office staff, so as to determine the best acquisition strategy; they also work to make their approach unified so that when vendors deal with Health And Human Services, this unity will benefit them.

Currently, HHS does not provide grants or loans to help small businesses get going, but it is in fact the largest organization to make grants within the federal government. It has over 300 grant programs today, and it handles mission-specific topics, which are in turn delegated among the various HHS operating agencies. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance profiles all Federal grant programs; these provide financial assistance and include HHS programs. In addition, specific points of contact for obtaining applications or additional information are also provided.

Vendors who are interested in doing business with Health And Human Services do not have to have any special certification, but instead, the Small Business Administration provides certification to firms under the Business Development Program, the Historically Underutilized Business Zone Program, and the Small Disadvantaged Business Program. Businesses that are Women-Owned, Veteran Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or Small Businesses are generally managed with self-certification. Self-certification is not challenged unless or until an interested party or competitor provides protest to it. In addition, an HHS Contracting Officer may request that the SBA provide a size determination.

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The excitement of starting a new business and the grand expectations most new business owners have are often dampened by the reality that starting a new business requires a lot of marketing effort. The results-sales-are often slow to come in, and on many days, the new business owner might be reconsidering the whole business idea.

Marketing a new business takes time, focus, energy and perseverance. Luck, though desired, is seldom a reason for a new business to succeed in the long-term. The following three tips are based on the experience of helping tens of businesses get started, grow and prosper.

Make a Reasonable Marketing Budget

Many small businesses spend all their time and energy developing products and services, finding suitable work spaces and hiring employees and then realize they have no money left over for marketing.

Restaurants, for example, will often spend thousands of dollars planning their menu and interior decorations without a sizeable amount of their start up funds focused on actually getting people into their restaurants. The “build it and people will come” approach to business just leaves too much to chance. It’s clearly a recipe for failure.

A reasonable marketing budget will include expenditures for the following (at a minimum):

1. Effective Website: This should be the core of all businesses’ marketing these days.

2. Online Marketing: Pay-per-click and search engine marketing are essential to help people find you.

3. Flyers/Brochures: These are needed as handouts or for mailers.

4. Postcard Campaign: These are especially effective for a business-to-business company.

5. Newspaper Ad Buy: A small ad for three months is more effective than a big one-time ad.

6. Radio Spot Buys: Other than a grand opening campaign, spread your ads over time.

Hit the Streets

While it is generally not a good idea to stop by businesses unannounced and expect to get an immediate meeting with a decision-maker, it is generally acceptable to stop by small and medium-size businesses and drop off a brochure, menu or a few imprinted pens. If you do stop by a business unannounced, keep it very brief, but do try to get the name or a business card of someone you can make a follow-up call with at a later time.

Cold calling can work, but it takes a certain type of person to experience such high levels of rejection. Try it if you are so inclined, but be prepared for a 99% rejection rate.

Also part of the “hit the streets” advice is to make your business as visible as possible on the streets.

Vehicle magnets, signage, a temporary banner outside your office space, sponsoring an event or sports team-whatever you can do to get the name of your company visible to people can be a way to create business.

Network in Organizations

Never underestimate the value of a contact made through a shared interest group. Joining a sports team is one option, but the focus of these is often on competition-hardly an easy way to make good business contacts.

Most cities have an active chamber of commerce that holds regular business and networking events. These can be a great way to meet other businessmen and women.

Another less obvious way to make business contacts is to join civic-minded groups like Rotary or a Lion’s Cub. The focus of these groups is more about doing community good, but you will find the membership is mostly successful business people. Helping to build a park or run a fundraiser is a wonderful way to show other business owners that you are generous with your time and care about the community. Not surprisingly, people like to do business with those who share common interests.

The reality is that most new small businesses will failure within five years. Many of these failures are due to poor products or services, but a huge number of business failures can be attributed to poor marketing. Setting aside an adequate marketing budget, getting your message out and networking in organizations are all some of the elements that can help your new business become a success.

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Global advertising spending on newspapers continues to decrease quarter by quarter while Internet advertising expenditures continue to grow. In fact the Internet continues to be the fastest growing medium for advertising.

Statistics like that lend credibility to the often repeated assertion that the best location to start a new business is on-line. That is not true in every situation, but it is fair to say that no business should ignore that the largest revenue source for businesses overall over the next several years will come from online leads and sales.

Read on to learn five good reasons for getting your new or existing business online.

1. Frugality and simple living are public virtues during an economic downturn. That means among other things fewer trips to the mall to do casual shopping as a recreational activity. Consumers are more price conscious and will use the Internet first to get product information and to do comparison price shopping before committing to a purchase decision.

2. Generally, the cost of doing business on the Internet can be substantially less than the cost of doing business for a brick and mortar operation. These lower expenses may allow you to offer online pricing specials while still maintaining the same profit margin. Many so-called business consultants always recommend offering the lowest price. But, as you know, people do not buy price they buy value whether shopping online or off.

3. Perhaps the greatest advantage to doing business online is that you can maintain a connection with your customers through a newsletter or other regular e-mails. There are a few outstanding e-mail management companies on the net who can handle all the scheduling and delivery for very little cost.

4. An online business has the opportunity to get large amounts of traffic for very little or no hard costs through search engine optimization and the social media. Traffic does not happen automatically however. As with any other promotional method those with the specialized knowledge and the most efficient systems will become the leaders of the pack.

5. The interactivity and immediacy of the Internet allows you to test your advertising and your offers at lightning speed compared to every off-line method. The Internet savvy businesses that take advantage of this unique characteristic to constantly improve their returns will make out the best through economic booms or busts.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Boston