How to Get a Steady Stream of
Profitable Customers Through the
Internet
My Background
Don’t make the same mistakes I have……
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Techniques & Strategies
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More Techniques & Strategies
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There’s a Sad Truth “Experts”
Don’t Talk About
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Many of the techniques and strategies that
make billions for large corporations don’t
work for small businesses.
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Why?
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Reason #1
Large corporations have more time, money,
and resources to commit.
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Reason #2
Large corporations compete in markets
where they must invest in activities with low
or unpredictable ROI.
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The Pareto Principle
(aka the 80/20 rule)
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The Pareto principle
In any complex system, a minority of the
inputs produce the majority of the outputs.
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In many businesses:
 80% of sales revenue comes from 20%
of customers.
 80% of complaints and headaches
come from 20% of customers.
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Focus of this Presentation
How to put the Pareto principle to work in:
 Your Marketing
 The Services You Offer
 The Customers You Do Business With
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7 Stats that Drive Profit
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Track these every month:
1. Number of Visitors
2. % of Visitors that become
Leads
3. Number of Leads
4. % of Leads that become
Customers
5. Number of Customers
6. $ from Online Customers
7. Profit from Online
Customers
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Reputation Marketing
The Foundation of Your Online Success
is Your Reputation
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Basic Truths of Reputation Marketing
The better and bigger your reputation, the
less you have to spend on customer
acquisition.
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Basic Truths of Reputation Marketing
The worse and/or smaller your reputation,
the more you have to spend on customer
acquisition.
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Basic Truths of Reputation Marketing
The less you spend on customer acquisition, the
more opportunity you have to make a profit.
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The Ultimate Goals of
Reputation Marketing:
To spend little to no money on
marketing.
To have so many leads that you can
pick and choose your customers and
the services you provide.
Reputation Marketing in 3 Steps
Not getting customers from the internet?
You haven’t effectively established:
1. Who you are
2. What you do
3. How well you do it
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How to Fish for Customers
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How Many Fish are in the Sea?
Internet Users in US – 2014
 Total Population - 322,583,006
 279,834,232 Internet Users
 % of Population with Internet - 86.75%
Source: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/
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80% of Customers Shop Online

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86% of survey participants have used the Internet to
find a local business and 72% prefer to find
information on local merchants via search.
(WebVisible)
70% of U.S. households now use the Internet when
shopping locally for products and services (The
Kelsey Group; ConStat).
89% of US internet users search online before they
make a purchase, even when the purchase is
ultimately made at a local business (HubSpot)
Who are you?
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Who Are You?
Be consistent. Always use the same NAP:
 Name
 Address
 Phone Number
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Common mistakes made with the Name:
 Adding or removing portions of the
name (e.g. LLC or Inc).
 Changing to a new or similar business
name after establishing another name
for the same location.
 Using a name that is already
established within the local market.
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How to Format Your Address:

Start by looking how it appears on Google Maps and
on USPS.com.

Abbreviate the Street Address correctly (e.g. N
instead of North, Rd instead of Road).

Eliminate unnecessary punctuation. Only use it to
separate Address 1 and 2, and City and State.

Use the 5 digit zip code.
Ex. 8155 SE Deer Creek Ln, Ste B
Milwaukie, OR 97222
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Best practices for phone:
1. Use your main office line.
2. Be very careful using a tracking phone
number on your site. I wouldn’t do it.
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What Makes You Unique and Trustworthy?
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Trust Signals
Trust signals establish credibility and create connections.

Who owns the business (family owned, former military)?

Are you Licensed, Bonded, and Insured?

# of Years your Company has been in Business

# of Years your Company has served the Local Community

# of Years your Employees have been in the Industry (individually and as a
group)

# of Customers You’ve Served

# of Completed Jobs

Industry Schooling and Training

Associations (Professional, Fraternal, Alumni, Religious)

Awards

Reviews (Google, Yelp, Houzz, Angie’s List, BBB)
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How do you serve your community?

Other reasons you should be trusted
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What services do you provide?
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What are you fishing for?
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Knowing your customers allows you to:
 Simplify your efforts and lower your
marketing costs.
 Speak directly to your target customer.
 Plan for profit.
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Who is Your Dream Customer?
Who is Your Dream Customer?

The products and services they purchase.

The cities their properties are in.

Property type (e.g. residential, commercial, HOA, golf
course).

What are their challenges/pain points? What do you
help them solve?

What do they value most? What are their goals?

How much do they purchase?

Can they turn into a repeat customer? If yes, what is
their Lifetime Value?
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Your Bread & Butter Customers
Who are your Bread & Butter Customers?

The products and services they purchase.

The cities their properties are in.

Property type (e.g. residential, commercial, HOA, golf
course).

What are their challenges/pain points? What do you
help them solve?

What do they value most? What are their goals?

How much do they purchase?

Can they turn into a repeat customer? If yes, what is
their Lifetime Value?
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Your Least Desirable Customers
Who are your Least Desirable Customers?

The products and services they purchase.

The cities their properties are in.

Property type (residential, commercial).

What makes them undesirable?

At what point can you throw them back in the water?

How do you get rid of them in a non-confrontational
way?

How do you keep similar customers away without
tarnishing your reputation?
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Where are the Fish Biting?
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We’re going to focus on 5 channels
where you can find customers.
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As we review each channel, ask yourself:
 Is this channel a good fit for your
business?
 How much time and money are you
willing to commit to this channel on a
monthly basis?
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The Buying Cycle
3 Steps in the Online Buying Cycle:
1. Research
2. Compare
3. Purchase
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Channel #1: Direct Traffic
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Channel #1: Direct Traffic
What is it?
Visitors who manually enter your website to
go directly your site.
How did they hear of your company?
Through word of mouth, other sites, and
marketing pieces (business card, door
hangers, postcards, flyers).
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Channel #1: Direct Traffic
What are they doing?
 Finding out more about your company,
services, and pricing.
 Determining if they can trust you.
 Deciding whether or not to contact you.
Where are they in the buying cycle?
Step 2 – Compare & Step 3 - Purchasing.
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The Cost = Site Costs + Cost to Create
and Distribute Marketing Pieces
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Channel #1: Direct Traffic
Is it a fit for your business?
Absolutely.
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Channel #2: Social Media
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Channel #2: Social Media
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What are they doing?
 Socializing
 Learning
 Networking
Where are they within the buying cycle?
Step #1 - Researching
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3 Myths of Customer Engagement
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The Corporate Executive Board conducted a
study of more than 7000 consumers to determine
the best ways to engage customers online.
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/05/three-myths-aboutcustomer-eng/
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Myth #1: Most consumers want to have
relationships with your brand.
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Only 23% of consumers said they have a
relationship with a brand.
Relationships are reserved for friends, family
and colleagues.
What consumers really want when they
interact with brands online is to get discounts.
Myth #2: Interactions build relationships.
 Of the consumers who said they have a
brand relationship, 64% cited shared
values as the primary reason.
 Only 13% cited frequent interactions
with the brand as a reason for having a
relationship.
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A shared value is a belief that you and your
consumer have about a higher purpose or
philosophy.
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Finding a Cause
Choose a cause:

You truly care about.

You can commit to for the long term.

That’s relevant to who you are and the services you
provide (Don’t be the creepy guy at the party!).
Examples for the Green Industry:

Green living / water conservation

Pet safety

Jobs for vets
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Myth #3: The more interaction the better.
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No correlation between the number of
interactions and the likelihood that they
will make a purchase or recommend
you to others.
Thought leaders promote thoughtfully. They
share:
 Expert advice (from colleagues and
their own)
 Current news
 Success stories
 Occasional coupon or discount
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The Cost = Your Time + Cost of Creative
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Is Social Media a Fit for Your Business?
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Channel #3: Referrals
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Key Stats
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83% of buyers no longer trust advertising but most
trust recommendations from users online (Formstack)
72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as
personal recommendations from real people –
Search Engine Land, 2012
Restaurants with 3.5 stars on Yelp are 63% more
likely to be full then those with just 3 stars – a half
star difference! (UK Guardian 2012)
Local Search Results
Landscaping San Rafael CA
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#1 – 4 - Yelp.com
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#6 - 7 – Houzz.com
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#8 – BBB.org
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#9 – YellowPages.com
Landscaping Concord CA
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#1 - #3 – Yelp.com
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#4 – YellowPages.com
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#6 – AngieList.com
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#7 – HomeAdvisor.com
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#8 – BBB.org
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#9 – Superpages.com
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#10 – Thumbtack.com
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Landscaping San Francisco CA

#1 and 2 – Yelp
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#3 – Thumbtack
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#6 – Houzz
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#7 – Yellowpages.com
Casting a Wide Net
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Casting a Wide Net
There are many places you can go to get citations
and listings. These listings:
 Drive traffic and customers.
 Contribute to your reputation
 Convince customers you are the company to
work with.
 Make you more visible in search engines.
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A citation is a mention of your business
name with another piece of business
information (phone number, address,
website).
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Check, Fix, Add
Follow this quick three step process CHECK, FIX, ADD.
1. Check to see if the listing is there
2. If the listing is there, claim it and fix the
NAP if it’s not 100% accurate.
3. If the listing does not exist, create it.
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Set these profiles up first:
 Google My Business
 Google+
 Facebook
 LinkedIn
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Google My Business
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Google Places
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There are four primary data providers:
 Infogroup http://www.expressupdate.com/search
 Acxiom http://www.databyacxiom.com/smallbusinesses.html
 Localeze - http://www.neustarlocaleze.biz
 Factual http://developer.factual.com/contribute-orcorrect-data/
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Building Citations/Links
Maps:
 Yahoo! Local - http://local.yahoo.com
 Bing Maps https://www.bingplaces.com/
 AOL Local Search http://yellowpages.aol.com
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Top Citation Sources for Lawn Services:
1. YellowPages.com
2. ServiceMagic.com (known as HomeAdvisor.com now)
3. SuperPages.com
4. Manta.com
5. BBB.org
6. Thumbtack.com
7. Yelp.com
8. Local.Yahoo.com
9. Angieslist.com
10. DexKnows.com
Source: http://moz.com/learn/local/citations-by-category
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Top Citation Sources for Contractors
1. Servicemagic.com (known as HomeAdvisor.com now)
2. Yellowpages.com
3. BBB.org
4. Dexknows.com
5. Angielist.com
6. Superpages.com
7. Manta.com
8. Local.yahoo.com
9. Thumbtack.com
10. Facebook.com
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Top Citation Sources in San Francisco, CA
1. Yelp
2. Citysearch
3. Yahoo Local
4. Facebook
5. SF Gate
6. YouTube
7. Superpages
8. Service Magic (known as HomeAdvisor.com now)
9. BBB
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Your Customers Can Destroy Your Nets
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Best practices for referrals:
 Set up as many listings and citations as you
can. Most are free or have free options!
 Ask for reviews from trusted customers. Build
them slowly over time with customers that are
already engaged in that community.
 Monitor your reviews and respond publicly to
negative ones. Review sites will notify you
when you’ve been reviewed.
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Channel #4: Search Engines
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Referrals and search engines can produce a high volume
of quality traffic, but getting the best spots won't happen
overnight.
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Reputation Marketing
How long it takes to succeed depends
on:
1. How established your competition is
2. How wide you cast your net
3. How much effort you put into building
your reputation
4. How often you upset the fish
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What are keywords?
Keywords are the phrases that customers
use to research and select a product or
service.
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Key to Success
Pay attention to the terminology (aka keywords)
customers use as they search online.
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Short vs Long Tail Keywords
The keywords phrases you want to rank for
are:
 Reflect who you are or what you do.
 2-5 words long.
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Choosing Your Keywords
Step 1: Write Down The Services You Provide
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Choosing Your Keywords
Step 2: Use the Google Adwords Keyword
Planner to find keyword phrases that
customers use.
https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
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Choosing Your Keywords
Step 3: Choose keywords for each
service.
 Does it accurately reflect who you are
or a service you provide?
 How many people are looking for it?
 Are there any similar keyword phrases
that are for the same service? How
many people are looking for it?
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Step 4: Use these keywords on your site.
The more time you invest in keyword
research, the wider you can cast your net.
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Channel #5: Paid Advertising
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Common types:
 PPC (Pay Per Click)
 Graphic
 Social Media Advertising (Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter)
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Getting Your Money’s Worth Out of Pay
Per Click:
 Start with Google Adwords
 Focus on keywords that are for your
most profitable services
 Keep an eye on how much it costs per
Lead? Per Customer?
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Avoid advertising that makes you pay
for impressions:
 The average click-through rate of
display ads is 0.1%. (Source:
DoubleClick)
 Only 8% of internet users account for
85% of clicks on display ads (and some
of them aren't even humans!). (Source:
comScore)
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Which Channels are a Fit for Your Business?
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The only services I would pay for:
 Professional design
 Activities that generate Leads (mainly
PPC)
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Most of what I’ve shown you here is free if
you’re willing to put in some time.
How much time?
 12-25 hours up front.
 15-60 minutes a month.
 More for social and content marketing.
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Building a Site that Converts
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Your site has .2 - 5 seconds to answer
these customer questions:
 Can I trust you?
 Will I waste my money?
 Are you easy to do business with?
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What’s wrong with this picture?
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Keep it Simple!
Your Site Exists to Convert Visitors into Leads.
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Building an SEO friendly site:
 Identify the keywords that reflect who
you are and what you do.
 Create one page for each service.
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Do:
 Titles: 55 characters
 Description: 115 characters
 Company name and main keyword on
homepage
 Appeal to both search engines and
target customers.
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Don’t:
 Skimp on design
 Don’t overdesign
 Duplicate text (from other sites, within
your site)
 Steal images
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Site Checklist
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Your phone number (60% of local business websites don’t have
their phone number on them! – BIA Kelsey 2012)
Contact form above the fold
The areas that you serve
Associations/BBB credentials
Testimonials
Consumer ratings/reviews
Promos/online discounts
The services you provide (create one page for each service and
link to it from the homepage)
Before & after pictures of jobs
Pictures of staff (About Us page)
Get Your Net in the Water!
Track these every month:
1. Number of Visitors
2. % of Visitors that become
Leads
3. Number of Leads
4. % of Leads that become
Customers
5. Number of Customers
6. $ from Online Customers
7. Profit from Online
Customers
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Recommended Resources
Marketing
Conversion

http://www.thesaleslion.com/

http://conversionxl.com/

http://blog.hubspot.com/
Search Engine Optimization

http://moz.com/blog

http://searchengineland.com/
Persuasion

http://socialtriggers.com/
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Social

http://www.socialmediaexa
miner.com/
Internet Marketing Toolkit
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Questions, Need Help, Want this
Presentation?
Email me:
Ryan.moore@horizononline.com
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