The Customer Factory

Although I started using and recommending Constant Contact from just about the time they opened their doors in 1995, I know why many people avoid marketing with email – or don’t do as much with it as they should.

And even though email marketing has the highest ROI of virtually any marketing channel (20x higher than direct mail), and is the best way to communicate with up to 500 of your closest friends for the impossibly low price of $15 per month, I understand your hesitation.

I know because I have gotten scores of clients up and running with email marketing over the years.

And Constant Contact knows because they’ve helped their customers face and overcome the same 3 hurdles tens of thousands of times.

The Three Biggest Obstacles Slowing You Down Are:

1. Gathering Your Contacts

2. Creating Your Email Template

3. Deciding What To Write & Finding The Time To Write It

But never fear. Because we have all these problems solved  and will show you what to do at a special educational seminar  at The Microsoft Store in Arlington next Monday morning February 18, 2013 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Getting Started with Email Marketing

In this fast-paced one-hour seminar you’ll learn how to quickly get up to speed with email marketing and begin making the most of this powerful marketing channel.

We’ll talk about seeding, growing and managing your list. You’ll learn how often to mail, what to say, how to get the most people to open, read and share your message, and how to read the reports when you’re done.

If you’ve been meaning to do a better job with email marketing (for years?) now is the time to learn how.

Is Your Business Invisible Online?

After we spend an hour learning how to grow your organization with email marketing, we’ll take a deep breath and then spend 60 minutes talking about how to get your information on the front page of Google – pronto!

Few things confuse entrepreneurs and non-profits more than the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Everyone has an opinion on what the most important factors are to ensure a good placement on Google search results. But no one would argue that this is not a critical factor in local business marketing today.

By the end of this seminar you will understand more about the topic than you may have thought possible.

And you’ll walk away with my DIY SEO handbook:

Three Weeks To Local Search Domination

So, join me, won’t you?

Getting Started with Email Marketing

PLUS

Is Your Business Invisible Online?

Monday February 18, 2013

8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The Microsoft Store

The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City

1100 South Hayes Street | Arlington, VA 22202

Admission is Free but Seating Is Limited!

Click This Link to Register Now

Ever wonder how to correctly size your profile pic on Facebook or how big you can size a photo on Google+?

What about Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube or LinkedIn?

Wondering how to size your graphics on those sites as well?

Well wonder no more because now you know where to find:

Is Your Business Invisible Online? Secrets of Local Internet Marketing That Can Put Your Company on Page One of Google This Week

Wondering how to start getting phone calls from new prospects via the Internet? In this 52-minute webinar Frank Felker explains it all.

Let’s face it, unless they already know your company’s name, local buyers of your product or service can’t possibly find you when they are searching for what you do online. Even if you have a web site.

This is a big problem because thousands of local buyers are searching for immediate solutions to their needs everyday on their computers, smartphones and tablet devices.

They’re not finding you so they’re buying from your competitors, costing you thousands in sales every month.

Learn how to stop being invisible and start becoming famous online in this informative video from Frank Felker, Founder and President of The Customer Factory.

Here’s what you will learn:

How search engines work.

What you’re actually seeing when looking at search results.

And how Google decides whether your site or your competitor’s site is going to appear on the first page.

Then Frank shows you the difference between what you see on a web page versus what Google sees and how that determines who ends up on page one.

Frank talks about the powerful opportunities available when you focus your search optimization efforts on local buyers.

And he does a number of live search demonstrations which prove his techniques work.

Customer Factory Client Dominates The First Two Pages of Google

Click The Graphic Above to Embiggen

I am often asked what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really means.

I try to explain that optimizing your web site means making it easy for your local clients and/or prospects to find you when they are running a search for your products or services on Google.

Does that mean anything to you?

If not, please allow me to present the graphic to the left, which shows the search engine results you will see if you type “rocco doors fairfax station” (without the quotes) into Google and hit GO.

In other words, let’s say you are a homeowner living in Fairfax Station, Virgina and you are searching Google for a new Rocco Door for your house.

<– This is what Google would tell you.

Click on the graphic to see it in full size and then follow along with me please.

Or, better yet, please type that search phrase into Google for yourself to see that I am not fudging the results.

What you will see is that, not only is my client Fred’s Best Windows, Doors & Siding #1 out of 310,000 results, they are actually Numbers 1-19!

That’s right, results for Fred’s Best search engine optimized web site created by The Customer Factory cover all of the Page One results and nine out of the first ten Page Two results.

That isn’t just Search Engine Optimization, that is Search Engine Domination!

Naysayers may note that “rocco doors fairfax station” doesn’t sound like a search phrase that is frequently entered into Google. To which I would make three responses:

1. It WAS entered into Google just a couple of days ago. That’s how I found it in Fred’s Best Google Analytics report.
2. Even if the searcher didn’t add “fairfax station” to their search phrase, Google would add it to the mix if the searcher’s computer’s IP address was in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Google knows!
3. When someone DOES enter a very specific search term like that THEY ARE READY TO BUY!

Locally-optimized, long-tail search terms are what The Customer Factory’s Search Engine Optimization services are all about. What your locally-focused company needs are local clients who are looking for a fast solution to their current problem.

If they type in their need instead of your name they are probably not going to find your site, unless you’re one of our clients.

Need more proof? Please type these search terms into Google for further validation:

• “high end fitness centers” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Synergy Health & Fitness
• “rides for seniors northern virginia” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Independent You
• “shared office space old town” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Connect113
• “horse boarding lucketts va” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client DeVaux Farms
• And “mobile marketing northern virginia” (without the quotes) will deliver you back to this web site

These are the kinds of real, everyday search phrases that purchase-ready local buyers enter into Google.

If you’d like to find out how we can produce the same results for your company, please give us a call at 703-348-7390.

How Free Can Mean Profitable in the Mobile Marketplace

Have you ever wondered why Google has put so much time, money and promotional effort into Android, the smart phone operating system that they give away for free?

Unlike Apple with its iPhone, Google doesn’t sell smart phone hardware, though they will, once their Motorola purchase closes. There is no way they can profit directly from the sale of Android-powered phones. So what’s all the fuss about?

The fuss has to do with the unique relationship we humans have with our smart phones. We love them. We interact with them constantly, texting, surfing, mailing, playing, paying, watching, listening and, occasionally, calling. When we’re not slobbering all over them we’re sure to always keep them close at hand – even when we’re asleep.

From a marketer’s perspective there has never been a medium like the smart phone to communicate your messages over.

Google wants you to have an Android phone so that you will connect all of your Google contacts, Gmail, Google+ friends and any other Google solution you use regularly. Once all of those connections have been made in your most treasured possession, Google has you right where they want you. They also now know where you are and a little bit about what you’re up to.

Combined with what they know about your search and surfing history, they are better able to deliver just the ads and offers you are most likely to respond to. That means more money for them and their advertisers.

So how does all this relate to you and your business? In short you need to follow Google’s lead and get on the mobile bandwagon.

The Mobile Marketplace
Your target market is on mobile. Some day in the next 3-6 months more Internet traffic will travel over mobile networks than over tethered ones. I could quote stat after stat about the rise of the mobile marketplace but just take my word for it: if you’re not accessible via mobile today you’re falling behind and if you’re still not there tomorrow you will be invisible.

Mobile offers you opportunities to connect and communicate with your target market in ways that have never been available before. You need to start learning all about it and creating promotional messages for your company that can easily be accessed and consumed via mobile.

For starters, there is over a 90% chance that your web site looks like crap on a smart phone. You need to get that fixed. Now.

Beyond that, having a mobile-optimized video brochure for your company is an absolute home run. It’s the equivalent of a 2:00 television commercial delivered directly to the nose of only the people most likely to buy from you, which they can watch whenever and as often as they like – and forward seamlessly to as many friends as they want.

SMS Marketing
Perhaps the stealth missile of the Mobile Marketplace is SMS or Text Message Marketing. Incentivizing prospects to text a keyword (like FREEFOOD) to a shortcode (like 72727) allows you to gather their telephone numbers, segment them into special interest groups, and then send them infrequent, short promotional messages related to that special interest going forward. I will devote an entire article to this concept soon but let me give you a couple of quick stats to support the power of this medium. Average broadcast email open rates are less than 20% over the course of 7-10 days. Average text open rates exceed 90% and generally occur in less than 30 minutes.

Why do you think American Idol has been using this technique for over 10 years?

Let me return to the bottom line: You need to get on the Mobile Marketing bandwagon sooner rather than later. Start learning and getting comfortable with the whole concept now so you’ll be prepared to act as soon as possible.

Give us a call at 703-348-7390 with any questions on how to implement a Mobile Marketing strategy for your company.

Web Sites Are Now Free For Virginia Businesses

If you still don’t have web site for your Virginia-based business, today is your lucky day.

Google and a variety of government agencies and trade groups have partnered to give you a free web site, free domain name and one year’s free site hosting.

According to Google…

“Virginia Get Your Business Online is a Google-led program dedicated to driving economic growth by providing Virginia businesses the tools and resources to get online and succeed.”

While it is true that getting more businesses on the web should help overall economic activity, Google’s motives are not entirely altruistic. The benefit to them is getting more AdWords advertisers onto their system.

Whatever their motives, this is a good deal for every local company that has been meaning to get their company on the web for years.

The Customer Factory Builds A Search Engine Optimized Web Site for DeVaux Farms in Leesburg.

We recently completed a project for DeVaux Farms in Loudoun County, Virginia that included creating a web site and blog to promote their riding school, boarding and training services and horse shows to the Northern Virginia horse community.

Just like any other Northern Virginia small business, DeVaux Farms is always on the lookout for new customers. And just like all buyers of local goods and services, DeVaux’ prospective clients are searching for riding lessons, stalls for rent, horse and pony training and upcoming horse shows on search engines.

This site has already brought in a number of new clients for DeVaux and consistently ranks very high on Google for all of their targeted key words and phrases. This site is also mobile optimized, meaning that, if you view it on a smart phone, you will not see the full-blown home page above but rather the phone optimized page below with instant buttons for “Call Us” and “Directions.”

The logo, color scheme and background images were all created by Shannon Yard, a very talented 15 year-old photographer and graphic designer who is also a DeVaux student.

If you’re looking for a great place to teach your child to ride, be sure to check out DeVaux Farms web site.

Ten Signs You're Working With The Wrong SEO Company

Or How to Choose Your New SEO Provider

I follow and learn from an Internet marketing consulting and education company called HubSpot. They offer a great deal of free information and I have found most of it to be “spot on.”

This morning I found an email from them offering a free eBook entitled How To Spot Bad SEO Services, which you can learn more about at this link (registration with HubSpot required).

Here’s a quote from the book’s introduction that sums up its entire message:

Many of these “professionals” and SEO experts are counting on clients’ SEO ignorance to get quick cash without delivering long-term, sustainable SEO improvements. Even worse, some of the practices used by SEO firms can actually hurt your business in the long run.

After reading the eBook I wanted to share their 10-item checklist on how to sniff-out bad SEO (Search Engine Optimization) providers and also share my thoughts on each of their points.

HubSpot’s 10 signs that your SEO firm isn’t worth the money

Sign #1: Making promises that are too good to be true. (more…)

Recording and slide show from a live webinar on Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most important online marketing tools small business owners have in their kit. Unfortunately, most never make full use of it and many never tap into it at all.

In this webinar, recorded July 6, 2011, Frank Felker of The Customer Factory explained the following to an online audience of small business owners.

• What Google Analytics is
• Why Google Analytics is so important
• How to get Google Analytics installed on your web site
• What Google Analytics will tell you about who’s visiting your web site
• How to use that information to increase web traffic and sales going forward

Use the Flash audio player below to listen to the recording while on this site. If you prefer, you can download the mp3 file for later listening.

We’ve also provided a link to the slides from the first half of the presentation. The second half of the presentation was a live demo of Google Analytics examining three small businesses from three completely different industries. Though there is no video recording, the audio portion is very informative.

Please take a look / give a listen to this program and then leave your comments regarding it below.

Flash Audio Player (click the > button to play)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Follow the slide show by clicking this link.

Download the mp3 recording of the audio portion by right-clicking on this link.