Inbound Marketing For Australian SMBs

This week’s article follows on from last week’s 3 Ways To Help Small Business Get Leads From Social Media. So now you have your leads, the next step is to nurture them to get them sales ready.

Small-business owners’ expectations for the next 12 months are now the most positive they have been since July 2008, based on the Future Expectations Dimension – as reported on Marketing Charts this week. With retail spending also on the increase, all indicators are pointing to good year in 2011.

Recently I was asked on a Linked Group: “Where would you recommend someone start? How much time do you recommend spending working the social media?”

I recently discovered the Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael A Stelzer. 880 business owners, employees and sole proprietors were surveyed in an attempt to uncover the who, what, where, when and why of Social Media Marketing. There are a lot of interesting findings in this report, however, I've pulled out just a few results that I believe would be the most valuable to SMBs. If you're interested in reading the entire report you can download it for FREE at: Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

The business results you have today are based on what you did in the past. Consequently, what you do today to market your business, will impact your business tomorrow. So the question is... 

This is a quick guide to help small businesses, with little to no marketing budget, market their business on the internet. 

As a small business owner I get excited about the opportunity Social Media provides as marketing tool to better understand my audience.  I am surprised when I talk to other business owners who are reluctant to learn more about the benefits of social media for their business. One stand out benefit is the low to no cost of social media, giving small business the chance to compete on a level playing field with larger companies with deeper pockets.  My goal in writing this blog is to help small business owners understand the benefit social media can bring to their business and how to get value out of your online communities.

Blogging is a key component of SEO and Social Media Marketing to that should be implemented in every inbound marketing plan. Below are my quick takeaways from today's session that may help other small business owners to write effective blogs for their business.

A friend of mine sent me an email that she had received from an SEO firm seeking her business, several months ago. The email started with something like, "we tried to search for your business on line and couldn't find it, which means your prospects can't find you either."  It went on to say that they could guarantee top search rankings (for a monthly fee). It was quite a lengthy sales pitch but basically what they were promising was top search rankings for my friend's company, for what they (the SEO firm) perceived where the relevant keywords.  My friend thought this sounded great, so she presented it to her management team. After all isn't that what we all want, to be at the top of the search results and drive more traffic to our site?

The business world is no different from the wild, in the wild it's all about survival! Those that survive are strong, fit or clever. The clever species adapt (evolve, change) to their surroundings to survive.  In order for small business to survive the recession they must be clever. They must be prepared to adapt and evolve to their surroundings, the change in market conditions and the changing consumer.