The Online Hunt for New Business

Read this with interest…

“Many generalist companies actually copy your Web site within a frame on their site, so when customers do click on your ad, they go to the marketing company’s URL, not yours — so all the money you’re spending isn’t helping you move up in the free Google listings.”

...so what you’re saying is that you can buy your way to the top of the organic listings?

Interesting. I’m sure that Google would disagree.

While I find the article very interesting and informative, I completely disagree with the entire premise.

Clients who are willing or are going to spend big bucks on a system, DO NOT use the web or the Yellow Pages to find a competent dealer. They ask their other rich friends where they purchased their system from.

Of course there’s an exception to every rule… After 20 years of owning my own business, I did get a great client that resulted from our single line, ($15.00 per month), ad in the Yellow Pages. He called me because he had the same last name.

Go figure…

Bob, you are sure Google would disagree with what?  This part of the article is talking about hiring a 3rd party to help place you within Google searches better.  The point is simply that if you don’t select the vendor carefully, you might not get what you want.  i.e.  if you think you are paying for your domain name to rise up on the Google searches, many companies don’t do that, they simply get google searches referred to you by placing your information on their domain name and then pushing those clicks to you from there.

Dave, your point is taken.  However - all business history and certainly recent history tells us that if you look at ANY industry you can break up and look at the different methods for marketing.

You have lived on referrals.  That is one very important source of work.  Many integrators do the same thing, rely on referrals.  There are people in our market who COULD be your customer if you chose to sell to them.  It sounds like you aren’t interested.  That’s fine.  Your lack of interest in selling to this segment of the market does not invalidate the value of looking at spending money on advertising to them.

Chances are you will not find a $250,000 project from someone Googling “home theater installer” but what if you could land 10 x $25,000 jobs? or 100 x $2,500?

There is no single solution, not for our clients, not for our marketing needs.

My point seems clear enough.

Your original statement implied that clicking upon an ad somehow contributes to the improvement of your organic listings - PPC elements are refered to as ‘ads’, not search results elements.

Either the reasoning is flawed, or the terminology. Clicking on PPC Ads does not contribute to organic list ranking.

If you are indeed discussing SEO then I’m at a loss as to why you use ReachLocal & Yodel which seem entirely focused upon PPC.

For most everyone reading that isn’t into acronyms.

PPC = Pay Per Click
SEO = Search Engine Optimization

Bob - the point isn’t clear.  And I didn’t write the article, just jumped into the conversation.  You seem hung up on why the author chose to cover the topic the way she did.  I’m curious - what services would you have mentioned?  Since the readers of this article are likely to be business owners/ managers who are not as adept as you seem on how to wisely spend money on “Online Advertising” - whether PPC, SEO, CPM, CPA or other.

@TheTechSource
Though my convictions are very strong regarding a “referral only,” business model, I also took into account the past history of the author of this article.

Deborah Smith, “In My Opinion,” is a charlatan who makes a living by living off of the dues paid by dealers through and by creating/supporting such useless organizations as PARA, (Professional Audio Retailers Association).

Now, “In My Opinion,” she’s off on another self serving venture… same sales pitch, ideas, and marketing strategies as PARA with her name on it.

After my post, she personally wrote me on my private e-mail address last night, (which I resent the lack of privacy on CE Pro’s part), to again try to sell me, “In My Opinion,”  the snake oil of her new company. 

I can understand a new business being forced to advertise to get their own name out there. We all have to start somewhere. However, I stated in my personal response to Deborah that, “In My Opinion,” “any dealer that has at least a 5 year track record and chooses this path for sales leads is pathetic.”

Just as much as I resent sales reps that attempt
to strong arm new dealers into placing large opening orders, or being forced to take on other lines they don’t want from the same rep in order to get the line they were actually seeking, I see no ethical difference of another seasoned professional taking advantage of a newbie by luring them into a pipe dream of lucrative sales leads if they pay their, “Dues,” and learn the secret handshake. (Now that’s what I call a run-on sentence)

I’m sorry guys, but this nonsense has to stop!  IMO the only dues that should ever have to be paid for in this business is experience.

New businesses are NOT created by people who just woke up one morning and decided to be high end dealers, and new businesses don’t go out of business simply due to this economy.

The majority of people starting their own business, are people that have worked for other companies, know the players, know the brands, and hopefully learned from their past employers’ mistakes how to be successful on their own. Not to mention having the courage to begin to set up their own camp with extremely limited funds and much established existing competition.

The last thing this business/industry needs is another new dues collecting organization that wants to guide us how to keep our heads above water, remain profitable, and put a new logo sticker on our front doors.

However, for all those who have gone out of business, (or on the brink of doing so), due to unwisely spent countless dollars by either being forced to purchase unsalable merchandise, or lured into paying dues to these unscrupulous charlatans so they can continue to go out on golf outings, vacations, and enjoy expensive dinners on our dime, I’m going to start my own organization right here and now!

I call it, “FART,” Former Audio Retailers Team.

Organizational Goals: Leave a foul stench around anyone in print or in person, (manufacturer, sales rep, organization) who has taken advantage of any dealer in order to fulfill their own selfish & unethical goals/needs.   

Logo: There is none… just like everyone else, I’m selling hot air.

Monthly Dues: (1)12oz. Can Goya Re-Fried Beans, (low cal version not acceptable).

My name is Dave Stevens, this is strictly my opinion, and I approve of this message.

I don’t have a really solid understanding of the meta keywords and their SEO significance, but as I recall reading, the keywords, title, and description on a page should match up to the pages contentarticles submission...