In a 2008 Micro Business survey by Flying Solo, 44% of participants said the biggest challenge they faced was finding enough clients/customers. Wouldn’t it be good if that was made a little easier and less expensive?  Business people need marketing that gets results, and that is what I have been studying for years.

While 85% of respondents found clients through word-of-mouth, 31.9% found customers through their website, 32.8% through other business partnerships, and 27.4% through social networking and forums. Cold calling ranked way down at 15%…  eye-opening figures for sure. Perhaps we should not be afraid to try new marketing mediums, especially low cost ones.

Many advertising salespeople out there are getting desperate… because things are changing. Businesses of all sizes are taking some budget away from traditional print, radio, and TV, and focussing more online, with the aim of creating ‘touch-points’ with customers. This means the organisation is visible and even interacts with the customer where they are having fun, sharing and communicating – like in a virtual community or social network.

Most of us know how important it is to make our websites search engine optimised. Amazingly, only 18% of the 1411 participants had their website SEO working satisfactorily, with a large proportion having done no SEO at all. Search Engine Optimisation is one of those things that can be done with zero budget if you have the right knowledge, and I explain how in my new guide. It is befuddling to me that something that can attract customers naturally is not even being done by the majority. 

How hard is it to be exceptional on the internet in 2009? It’s not hard, if you have a roadmap.

In the Small Business/Entrepreneur’s Guide to Digital Marketing on a Shoestring, you will be given the knowledge to market and test it all yourself, or get the help should you need it, all online.

Tags: internet marketing, small business marketing, social networking