When I started my consulting firm, my first order of business was to go to the bank and set up my business bank account.  The bank officer I was speaking with asked me if I had already arranged for merchant services.  I was too embarrassed to say that I hadn’t even started looking into it yet and being that I wasn’t an informed consumer it was pretty easy for her to sway me into setting up my merchant account with the bank.  I didn’t know there were differences between merchant accounts and I didn’t know merchant services providers charged different percentage and transaction fees.

Once the merchant account services people got my name as a new business owner, they began bombarding me with offers.  I was more confused that ever and I thought it was just easier to stick with what I already had.  That was a mistake but I didn’t really know how to evaluate what was a good merchant account from a bad one back then!   Hundreds of dollars in fees later, I finally took the time to learn what I needed to know.

What YOU may not know:

• Not all merchant accounts are created equally.
• All merchant accounts charge you transaction fees.
• These transaction fees are in addition to the percentage rate that they quote you.
• Transaction fees & costs can sometimes be hidden as things called statement fees, batch fees, transaction fees, or other fees they aren’t telling you about up front.
• Many merchant account service providers actually charge you to use the equipment you need to swipe a credit card.

What you NEED to know:

• You can get paid back a percentage of your transaction fees no matter what they are called. 
• You have choices.
• It doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to take credit cards.
• Match Rate Plus is the ONLY merchant services provider that offers you a cash rebate every month.
• Match Rate Plus offers you a “lowest rate guarantee”.
• You can get all the necessary state-of-the-art equipment you need for credit card processing for FREE.
• Qualified merchants can receive reimbursement for cancellation fees from current provider.
• It’s easy to get started!  A 7 minute application/approval process is all it takes to get started.
• North American Bancard:

• Has over 125,000 active merchant accout customers
• Provides $12+ Billion in Annual Payment Transactions
• Offers Customer and technical support services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• Has obtained an A+ rating accreditation from the BBB.

Have you noticed how people seem to have a special and unique relationship with their mobile devices & cell phones?  We are addicted to them!  If our  mobile phones aren’t in our hands, they are almost always within reach.  Even while we sleep!

As a business owner, this is great news for you but we’ll go into that more later.

First, you need to think about your own website.  Have you looked at it on a mobile phone?   The fact is that if your website is not easily viewed and navigated on mobile phones, then you’re going to lose business to your competers who have established  a mobile-friendly website.

It’s true.  It’s no longer enough to have a just a website.  You MUST now have a mobile-friendly website as well.

On average, currently 1 in 7 Google searches are coming from a mobile device.

Can you afford to miss out on those potential new customers?

mobile website mockup

Mobile friendly websites make it super simple and fast for someone searching on their mobile phone to find the information they need about your business.

Imagine this…

You are in your car and you are hungry.  You pick up your phone and search for “lunch specials”.

What do you find?

More than likely, you find a bunch of websites that you can’t even read on your phone, let alone navigate the website!

What you want in a situation like this is the address, phone number, menu, and maybe even a coupon so you can get to the restaurant and eat!

How to get a mobile friendly website

You’ve got a couple of options.

Option #1: You can build it yourself.  With a little knowledge about design, html, and search engine optimization, you can build your own mobile friendly website.

Option #2: You can get someone else to do it and we would love to take care of that for you!  The good news is that we can get your mobile friendly, seo optimized website up fast! If you are ready to get started or you want to know more, call us today for a free consultation.

To your marketing success!

P.S. Ask me about our mobile website marketing package or visit our mobile site for more details.

If you aren’t yet using Foursquare for your business, you are missing very valuable exposure!  It’s a new way to spread word of mouth advertising and it can help your business in a big way!

Foursquare, is  a location based mobile application. The developers that created Foursquare describe it as “a friend-finder, a social city-guide, and a game that encourages users to explore their neighborhoods and rewards them for doing so,”

Foursquare is a mobile application that users use on their mobile phones and is designed to allow people to “check in,” or, indicate their whereabouts to their friends or others.

People “check in” at a variety of different types of places, including their homes, parks, offices, restaurants, bars, cafés, and various other businesses that participate in Foursquare.

The idea is to allow friends to share their favorite spots in any new places that they may discover. In this way, Foursquare is very much so an application that can be monumental to your businesses viral marketing and it can be used to create word-of-mouth advertising via participation by your customers; here’s how:

Customer Loyalty:  Foursquare should be used to offer customer loyalty promotions, such as offering something complimentary to any customer that checks in three times within a one week period or writes a positive review. Foursquare makes offering these types of promotions “Foursquare specials” easy for business owners by providing free tools to allow businesses automatically fulfill or unlock the Foursquare special (e.g. Foursquare says you have been here 3 times this week! That’s a free appetizer or  Foursquare users get 20% off their order every 10th check in!).

Points: Foursquare is almost like a game where users can get points for actions like: checking in, adding a new venue, repeat visits, etc. The points are assessed by venue, as well as a whole. Businesses can encourage customers to check in by providing value for the number of points accrued,  such as offering to donate a nickel per point to a charity or allowing users to earn discounts in relation to the number of points they have.

Mayors: Another great reason for users to check in at your businesses as well as the other businesses that they frequent is that the user who has the most points for a specific venue is designated as the “mayor” of that venue.  A good Foursquare marketing strategy will include your business offering something of a larger value to the Foursquare member who becomes the mayor of your venue.  It can be something like a gift certificate or complimentary coffee for the month. Many Foursquare users are very competitive over the “mayor” status and this “battle” can translate into increased exposure and profits, for your business.

To Do Lists: As a business user, you can create a “to-do” list for Foursquare users. A Foursquare to-do list operates very much like a contest or scavenger hunt. You just create a to-do list based on aspects of your business you would like to promote.  Promotions could include anything you wish.  Things such as a new beer or cocktail, a new fitness class, or a new line of clothing, etc.  When a user completes the to-do list, you could award him much the way you would award the “mayor” – by providing a complimentary item or service.

Everyone’s a winner: If you can,  consider making everyone a winner by offering a free upgrade to anyone who checks in (and shows they did to the cashier).  Another example might be to offer a 10% discount to everyone in the store when the analytics show that 100 people have checked in at your venue.

Without a doubt, participating in sites like FourSquare  can be a key part of growing your business presence in the eyes of  internet dependent local consumers.  To learn more, click here for more about using Foursquare for business, and be sure to watch the video below.

Remember, a first rate online marketing strategy includes being findable in multiple places and on multiple formats when local consumers are looking for your product or service.  Mobile marketing is a platform that is growing at an astounding rate and it should  not be overlooked or underestimated as the powerful marketing tool that it is.

P.S. Our local Internet Marketing consultants at e-Edge Marketing can help you strategize and implement your online marketing plan, including opportunities like FourSquare.  For more information, get your free copy of “The Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing” by submitting the form on the right side of this page or contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.

Business owners agreed that Local Business Marketing just didn’t seem like it could get any easier than when we shared what’s new in mobile marketing strategies with our local Charleston and Buffalo markets!  Over the last few weeks we’ve been sharing with  local clients why they should be making mobile marketing a priority in their local business marketing plans and helping them develop strategies that will help them attract new customers and even more importantly keep the ones they’ve already got coming back for more.

Unlike any other marketing method we’ve previously seen, mobile marketing is unique in many ways however one of the top reasons is that it’s almost instant.  You can get your advertising out to targeted customers almost instantly.  Studies are showing that about 95% of them will see your message within about 4 minutes!

Think about this…

What if:

• You could come up with an idea (an offer) that would attract customers into your business AND it would start working today?  Even in just moments from now!  Would you want to hear about it?

What if:

• You could get your offer in front of your targeted customer’s eyes at exactly the time you wanted them to see it?  When they are hungry, need a haircut, their dog needs shots, their kids need lessons, the house needs painting, the car needs service, etc, etc, etc.  (Just thinking about the power in the ability to market like that gets me all excited!)  Would you want to know more about it?

What if:

• You could get your message in front of your targeted customers for pennies but got a return in dollars?  Would that be interesting to you?

Looking forward to speaking you to personally!

I’m hearing people here in Charleston SC say that text marketing is said to be the latest “trend” in advertising your business.

Trend?  I must ask, does anyone saying that really think that text messages coming and going to mobile phones is going to come to a screeching halt any time soon?  From our perspective, text marketing is here to stay and will continue to advance in what kind of text message you’ll be able to send with it.

Here are some interesting facts to consider:

• As of December 2010, 96% of the US Population owns a mobile device.

• 98% of all mobile phones can send and receive text messages and 72% use text messaging daily.  That is more than the percentage of people who watch TV daily.

• 82% of people do not leave home without their mobile phones.  As a matter of fact, I’ll turn around and go back for mine.  Do you?

• 98% of text messages are opened.  The majority of those messages are opened within 3 minutes of receiving the message.

• The average message stays on the mobile device for 12 days.  In what other type of advertising can you get that many additional exposures per ad spend?

• 67% of people want to recieve messages and alerts from companies they do business with.

• 59% said they are willing to trade their mobile number for coupons.  Almost everyone likes to save money.

• Digital coupons on mobile devices have a 20 times greater rate of redemption.  It’s so easy, no cutting out coupons and then remembering to bring it with you.

It should be clear from the above statistics just how powerful text marketing can be.  Advertising Age says: “It’s clear that retailers that don’t embrace mobile phone technology in the coming year will be left behind, much as those retailers who sat on the sidelines in the early days of digital or social media are now playing catch up.”

Furthermore, the strength of an individual’s relationship with their mobile phone is unique.  This puts local businesses in a unique position in which to interact with their customers.  Learn more about that from our article on mobile marketing.

Call us today at 843-647-0489 or toll free 866-945-9707 and let us show you how text marketing can work for you and your business.

We look forward to meeting with you.

P.S.  Get a free copy of  ”The Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing”.  Just submit the form in the right column and learn what text marketing can mean to your business.

I read an article written by American Express today that reminded me of something potential clients ask from time to time regarding their web development.  The business owner needs an affordable small business website and their question goes something like this…”Why can’t we just build our website on one of the “free” or low cost platforms that we see advertised all over the place?”  Well, quite frankly, you can.  But you shouldn’t!

While it’s true that Amex’s article was targeted at small businesses that don’t have much of a budget for developing a their presence on the internet in order for them to get found by the people who are looking for their products and/or services.  The article lists 5 websites that they recommend as alternatives to having your own website and I couldn’t disagree more that these are good alternatives.  As a matter of fact, putting your business on these sites may actually cost you money in the long run.  It’s not that I don’t like the sites they recommended.  I am familiar with some of them and I have never heard of a couple of the others.  It makes no difference and I’ll tell you why.  You are putting your business on someone else’s property!  It’s kind of like physically building your house on your neighbor’s property.  You would never consider that would you?  There could end up being serious and, not so pleasant, consequences if you choose to do this!  Think of putting your website on the internet just like putting a virtual business on  virtual real estate.  If you don’t own the property, (the domain) it doesn’t make sense to build something on it no matter how small your budget.  I would go so far as to say that if your business can’t afford to have a website, you’d be better off using social media as your platform until you can allow a budget for your website.  You can see the Amex article here.  There are some uses for some of the sites listed in the Amex article that we can discuss later but under no circumstances should you build your business on any one of these or any place else not owned by YOU!  You just got the short version of my virtual real estate lessons speech. lol

However there is an easy way around all these issues with a very small budget.  Here’s what you will need.

A Domain Name. I like Name.com  The cost is under $10.00 per year for most .coms and they take good care of their customers. (DO not get anything other than a .com extension.  You’ll thank me later for that advice.)

Hosting.  I use and recommend Hostgator for all hosting. This is where your website will reside.  Unless you are doing e-commerce, all you need is their “baby plan” at $7.95 a month.  You can get the first month for  just $0.001, that’s just one single cent by using the coupon code “HostU1cent” without the quotation marks.  You can sign up for hosting here and don’t forget the coupon code!

WordPress.  This is the platform for your website.  This is free!  You can download WordPress here.

A WordPress Theme.  There are lots of free themes available for WordPress.  You can learn more about themes here.

The WordPress for Dummies Book.  Really, I’m not kidding.  You can easily learn everything you need to know to put up a really great website by reading this easy to understand book.  I recommend it to all of my own clients and even refer to my own copy of the book from time to time.  You can get the WordPress for Dummies book here.

It’s really about as simple as that!  You may want to add other elements to your website such as a premium theme, analytics (free from Google), a lead generation system (free from MailChimp), or a shopping cart but for now, those things can wait.  You can learn more about where to find those elements and more here when the time is right.

You really can figure this out on your own.  Even if it takes a little effort on your part putting your business website on your own virtual real estate makes much more sense than using someone else’s property to build the foundation of the internet aspect of your business.

You can learn more by watching this website and many others out there on the web.  If you have any specific questions you can’t find answers to, contact us for a consultation.  We’re ready to help you.  Just give us a call.

All the Best!

P.S. Some of the links in this article are affiliate links.  That means that if you click on one of them and you make a purchase, I’ll make a commission.  This is no way has influenced my recommendations.  These are the companies I personally use and recommend because of the customer support I receive there.

Over at one of the networking sites I belong to I found a question from Kevin asking about how to best market his business.  Kevin is in the Health and Life Insurance business.  Here is his question along with my reply.

I would like to know what regular families, self-employed and small business look for when they start their quest for health insurance. I am a “no pressure” type of sales guy that respects people and their decisions. How should I set up my website or maketing to attract folks, or let them know, I am not going to shove an insurance plan down their throat. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and I will implement it. My current website is www.insuremekevin.com

Hey Kevin,

I took a look at your website and it is my professional opinion that you must first deal with your website before you can begin marketing your health and life insurance company website.  The website you have now, is static and not very user or web 2.0 friendly.

The first thing I noticed was that your website isn’t at all interactive.  Your site should be interactive so that you can interact with your website visitors.  Especially since you describe yourself as a “no pressure kind of guy” casual interaction on your website is perfect for you.  Personal relationships are the best source of sales in the insurance field and networking both on and offline is important because the consumer has so many choices in insurance options.  Most people would like to do business with someone who they know, like, and trust and personal interaction from you especially without making your website visitors feel pressured will build trust and let them get to know you a little better.  You can also integrate social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to your site if you are using them.  Of the three, you should at least be using a Facebook business page if your market is individual insurance and LinkedIn if your market is business insurance.

Another thing to consider is the kind of content that you decide to provide on the site.  The copy that you have on the site now seems a bit like a sales pitch to me.  Articles you’ve written with titles like “How to Find Affordable Health Insurance in California” might seem more appealing to the 192 people per day who are searching “affordable health insurance in california”. This is where a little SEO comes in handy. It appears to me that very little or no SEO (search engine optimization) has been done so I have to wonder if you are getting any action to your website at all from the search engines?

It’s also important to think about whether the content on the homepage of your site is what the consumer will be expecting to see.  It’s not clear to me either through your copy or through any images that I am in the right place or that I will be able to find what I am looking for.

Finally, I don’t see a “call to action”.  What do you want your website visitor to do?  Call you?  Read something?  Request a Quote?  How about Get A Free Report?  This would help you build a list of prospects that you have permission to market to over time (relationship building) either by email or mobile texting depending on the information you collect.  You might offer something like a free ebook that you’ve written entitled  ”What Health & Life Insurance Agents Won’t Tell You!”  in exchange for your website visitor’s information (name, email, or Mobile number)  Then, you can market to them over time in a more personal way.

Here’s what’s important Kevin.

1.  You must identify who your target market really is. The easiest way I know how to do that is by looking at the demographics of your current customer base.  Are they business owners or individuals?  Each group has it’s own unique set of needs and the content you’ll want to provide each of these groups is different. It’s natural to want it all however from a marketing perspective, for now it would be wise to choose one or the other and become successful in that market before moving on to the next.

2.  You must get into the mindset of your target market. What words are YOUR target market using to search the internet for the information they want to find on your website?  For example, WordTracker shows me that there are 5,926 searches per day for the term “health insurance” however there’s no way to know what the intention of the person who is searching that term is.  We don’t know whether they are looking for insurance or selling it.  On the other hand, the 138 people who are searching “california health and medical insurance quote“ are people who have probably already done their homework, know they are looking for, and may already have their credit cards in hand and are ready to buy.  There is more to SEO than this but it is a good start to find out what YOUR TARGET MARKET is searching for and provide content on those topics so that you can rank in the search engines for it and they can find you.

3.  You must set up a website that people will stay on and not hit the back button as soon as they get there.  When a customer gets to your site, they must be able to identify almost immediately be able to tell what your website is about. Visitors want to know right away that your website has the health and life insurance info that they are interested in and seeking.  You will achieve this best by using a combination of text and images.

4.  You must have a call to action. Believe it or not, in most cases, people will do nothing if they aren’t told what to do next.

A WordPress website might be just what you need as it is so flexible and you can easily integrate social media, email marketing, and video marketing, which are all wonderful strategies for personal relationship building.  WordPress is also SEO friendly and RSS enabled.

I know that this is a lot to take in all at once and the truth is that there is much more involved than in just the things I mentioned here.  If you would like to learn more or if you decide that you need some help in getting this all set up, give me a call for a free consultation.  My number is in the header of this website.

Wishing you success in all you do.

Kindest regards,

Welcome Business Owners:

We are so excited to share with you what we know mobile marketing can do for your business and offer you a free copy of “The Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing“.

Mobile Marketing is more that just another trendy, high tech, sexy, savvy, sophisticated, and cool way to advertise your business.

It’s the ability to reach out and send a message (or advertisement) to your customer … to wherever they are!… right now!…with something they already have, right there within their reach.  Their mobile device!

Mobile Marketing is different from any other type of marketing business owners have ever experienced.

To really grasp the concept of what it can do for you, you must first understand the unique relationship that people have with their mobile phone and the power in that alone.

Think about cell phone use.  Where is your own mobile phone right now?  It’s not surprising that it’s probably within your reach right now.  How about at night?  Where is your mobile phone at night while you are in bed?  If you are like the other millions of Americans who keep their mobile phones on their night stand or even under your pillow, you are not along.  Most mobile phone users keep their devices close at all times and never leave home without them.  Their phones are constantly within reach, this is especially true for smartphone users. No other form of marketing is within your target market’s reach quite like their mobile devices.

In addition, text messaging is HOT!  Text messaging is fast becoming the preferred method of communication by your customers.  Every demographic is text messaging.  It is a fast and convenient way to stay in touch and 78% of mobile phone users said they would like to receive news, offers, and reminders from the companies they do business with by text message.

Consider these facts:

• 98% of cell phones can send and receive text messages.
• 95% of all text messages are read.
• 96% of text message are read within 3 minutes of receipt.

With the right strategies, mobile advertising will help you increase your customer acquisition & retention rates along with providing you with a greater ROI than traditional advertising methods alone & it’s able to integrate seamlessly with what you are already doing.  Even better, it’s trackable, so you’ll be able to see the results and measure the return on your investment.  What more could you ask for in any marketing strategy?

The move to mobile is unmistakable & undeniable! Mobile Marketing strategies are the newest and most wildly successful marketing tool that most businesses have, or ever will experience. It’s exciting and it’s powerful! Your customers are mobile and your business needs to be as well.

We can help you reach your customers with what most of them never leave home without! Your advertising medium is already in their hands. We can show you how to make it work for you!

To learn more…

Leigha Baer, President, e-Edge Marketing

P.S.  Get your free copy of the Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing by submitting the form below.  We’ll send it out to you right away and from time to time, we’ll also send you valuable information such as mobile marketing strategies, case studies, and more about how mobile marketing can help your business.

Get Your Copy of The Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing

 

Name:

Email:

Mobile number for updates

We respect your email privacy

Facebook features and changes seem to be changing almost daily recently!  Quite honestly, I’m finding it a little hard to keep up.  Since it’s my business to keep up, I’m doing everything I can to keep current and bring the information on those changes to my clients as fast as I can.

Depending on how much you like to share about yourself, many of the new Facebook features aren’t being well received due to privacy policies and depending on how often you check your privacy settings some have reported the defaults being changed for each new change.  In any event, it’s smart to check your privacy settings on a regular basis to see what you are sharing.

On another note, remember, you should always treat what ever you decide to post like the whole world will see it.  If it is not acceptable for the whole world to see, reconsider posting it all together and be on the safe side.

Today, I’m sharing with you a Facebook feature that will allow you to comment from your Facebook account on websites throughout the internet and also post to your wall at the same time.

To see this in action and see how this will work watch the video below.