3 (Really Good) Reasons to Update Your Website Regularly

A website is never DONE. Until your business is DONE, your website should never be done. Your website is (or should be) an excellent employee who represents and works for you every day. Like any employee, your website should be an asset, not an expense. In this article, learn why it’s important to care for your website as you would a valuable employee.

Your Website Has a Job To Do. Take Care Of It Well.

Actually, your website has a MANY jobs to do, more than most of your other employees (and almost as many as you do). Some of the jobs your website can do are among the most important and most valuable aspects of your business. In this article, I’ll list the top 3:

1. New Customer Acquisition

Business owners rely on word-of-mouth, advertising, lettering on their vehicle(s), signage, coupons, Facebook, Instagram (and the list goes on) to create awareness and attract new customers. In the 21st Century, before most of us make a decision to visit a store, a restaurant, or call a service company of any kind, we visit the company website to learn more.

For emphasis: MOST PEOPLE VISIT A COMPANY WEBSITE BEFORE THEY MAKE A DECISION TO BUY. 

Your website has a BIG JOB to do indeed. It’s called Customer Acquisition. Your website can compel visitors to buy or take some sort of action (such as call you, email you, fill out a form, print a menu, request a quote, make an appointment) or it can repel visitors.

Your website’s #1 job is to acquire customers, and this is a very good reason to update your website regularly. 

• Action Step #1: Have several outsiders give you feedback on your website. Don’t choose employees or relatives, they won’t be objective. They don’t want to make you feel bad. You could probably talk to a marketing firm and tell them you’re thinking about a website makeover. Tell them you don’t think the website is doing a good job at converting visitors into customers and ask them what they think you should do. (Or you can ask me.)
• Action Step #2 Create a CTA: Call To Action. Offer a discount coupon or a Buyer’s Guide, or some other piece of value which the visitor must request on your website. Any of these is a value-add and brings your relationship with the customer a bit closer to you.

2. Serve Your Customers

The #2 thing your website should do is answer the questions to which people are looking to have answered. No matter what your business, people are looking for answers to a question or problem they’re trying to solve. Give them everything you can possibly give them in words and, if possible, with pictures. Your website is often the first communication you make with a potential customer. You can make it pleasant and easy (like a pretty, friendly, smiling hostess in a classy restaurant), distasteful like a salesman in a used car lot, or like a Flea Market on a gravel parking lot.

I’m not saying you need the most beautiful website in your industry, I’m saying it should be clean, easy to read, organized, and useful. The following action steps serve your customers well, and they also serve you at the same time.

• Action Step #1: Create a Frequently-Asked Questions page on your website. Pose the questions people ask you and then answer them. Have you noticed that sometimes customers don’t ask the right questions? You can include the questions people SHOULD ask in the FAQ section. These can be very helpful to people and also help to steer people in the right direction like no other information can.
• Action Step #2: Add a page for every category of items or services you sell. After you get that done, start making a page for every individual service or item you sell. Include pictures. This is a great investment. It makes your website a selling machine now and it keeps working for you forever. It also makes your website super-friendly to the search engines because they know ALL ABOUT everything you sell and your website will rise to the top of the search results. These website improvements serve both you and your customer. I can’t over-emphasize this strategy.
• Action Step #3: Make your website easy to read and east to navigate. Black background with white text is difficult to read. Black background with ANY OTHER color is even worse. Go with dark text on a white background for the best readability. Make sure you look at your own website on mobile devices and desktop computers to make sure it’s easy to read and navigate. More than half of local business searches are done on a mobile device.

****The advice in Action Step #2 will also improve your chances of being included on Voice Search. I’m talking about being among the search results when people are searching for answers by asking Siri (on iphone), Alexa, and Google Assistant.

3. You Can Repurpose All This Work

This work will involve time, effort, and probably expense. But it’s really NOT an expense-it’s an investment because it will convert more website visitors into customers. Just as adding an addition to your building or your home increases its value, building a powerful website and customer base adds value to your business. In my opinion, adding value to your business makes all other investments pale in comparison. Your customers are your greatest asset and your website is your customer acquisition machine.

• Action Step: All the work done on your website, all the images you add, the details of the products or services, and even the frequently-asked questions can be used in other areas of your marketing.  repurposed on your social media accounts and printed material. We call it repurposing. Repurposing your content is cheap and easy and it’s also effective in amplifying your message and your business.

These activities take time and planning. They’re especially effective when done by a marketing expert with knowledge on how to optimize the content to be friendly to the search engines. Search Engine Optimization is how you get the search engines to show YOUR website when people are looking for a business, a product, or a service like yours, even if they don’t already know you exist.

One more important thing to add here. In the title of this post, the last word is REGULARLY. Updating your website never ends. 

Need help? That’s what we’re here for. Call 1-866-799-2825 if you’re interested in talking about improving your website so it can become the customer acquisition machine it can and should be. 

Marketing Ideas Calendar for April, 2019

April 2019 Holidays

Use your imagination to put together fun and interesting marketing messages for your Social Media Posts, Emails, and In-Store Promotions

To receive an email every month with a Marketing Ideas Calendar like this one, SUBSCRIBE.

Monthly Holidays

English Language Month

National Month of Hope

National Canine Fitness Month

National Internship Awareness Month

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

National Child Abuse Awareness Month

National Donate Life Awareness Month

National Cannabis Awareness Month

Month of the Military Child

International Guitar Month

Keep America Beautiful Month

Lawn and Garden Month

National Autism Awareness Month

National Couple Appreciation Month

National Decorating Month

National Fresh Celery Month

National Garden Month

National Humor Month

National Jazz Appreciation Month

National Soft Pretzel Month

National Soy Foods Month

National Straw Hat Month

National Parkinson’s Awareness Month

National Poetry Month

National Pecan Month

National Volunteer Month

National Welding Month

Occupational Therapy Month

Records and Information Management Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month

National Safe Digging Month

To receive an email every month with a Marketing Ideas Calendar like this one, SUBSCRIBE.

Who’s Birthday is in April

4/3       Cat Cora, Iron Chef
4/19    Bryan Voltaggio, Chef and Competitor on Top Chef
4/28    Bobby Deen, Chef

Weekly Holidays

April 1 -7
National Window Safety Week
Paws International Pooper Scooper Week

 

April 7-13
National Library Week
National Student Employment Week
National Volunteers Week

 

April 14 – 20
Boys and Girls Club Week
Coin Week

 

April 21 – 28
Administrative Professionals Week
National Princess Week
Every Kid Healthy Week

To receive an email every month with a Marketing Ideas Calendar like this one, SUBSCRIBE.

April Daily Holidays

 

4/1/2019        National One Cent Day / April Fools Day

4/2/2019        National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

4/3/2019        National Chocolate Mousse Day / National Walking Day

4/4/2019        National School Librarian Day / National Burrito Day

4/5/2019        National Deep Dish Pizza / National Caramel Day

4/6/2019        National Caramel Popcorn Day

4/7/2019        National Beer Day / National Coffee Cake Day

4/8/2019        National Empanada Day / National Zoo Lovers Day

4/9/2019        National Name Yourself Day

4/10/2019      National Siblings Day / National Cinnamon Crescent Day

4/11/2019      National Cheese Fondue Day

4/12/2019      National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day / National Day of Silence

4/13/2019      National Make Lunch Count Day / National Scrabble Day

4/14/2019      National Pecan Day / National Dolphin Day

4/15/2019      National Tax Day

4/16/2019      National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day / National Eggs Benedict Day

4/17/2019      National Ellis Island Family History Day

4/18/2019      National Animal Crackers Day / Get to Know Your Customers Day

4/19/2019      National Hanging Out Day / Good Friday

4/20/2019      National Cheddar Fries Day

4/21/2019      National Kindergarten Day / Easter

4/22/2019      National Earth Day / National Jelly Bean Day

4/23/2019      National Picnic Day

4/24/2019      National Administrative Professionals Day / National Pigs in a Blanket Day

4/25/2019      National Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day

4/26/2019      National Pretzel Day

4/27/2019      National Devil Dog Day

4/28/2019      National Superhero Day / National Blueberry Pie Day

4/29/2019      National Shrimp Scampi Day

4/30/2019      National Military Brats Day / National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day / National Oatmeal Cookie Day

———–

Marketing Ideas For Restaurants!

Do you own a restaurant? We send have a Restaurant-Specific Newsletter we send every month. To subscribe email me at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org.  Leave your name, restaurant name, and mailing address. 

4/2/2019        National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

Create a special dessert that resembles a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

 

4/4/2019        National School Librarian Day / National Burrito Day

Create a special “burrito”.  It does not have to be Mexican, add your own flavor profile.

 

4/7/2019        National Beer Day

If you have a bar, have a special price on beer.  Make an event of the day, by having Beer Tastings.

 

4/12/2019      National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day / National Day of Silence

Add a new item to the menu. Make the grilled cheese special by adding meat or veggies.

 

4/15/2019      National Tax Day

Give a “tax break”!

 

4/24/2019      National Administrative Professionals Day

Give a discount for office party trays.

 

4/25/2019      National Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day

Bring your son or daughter to lunch and get a free kids meal.

 

4/26/2019      National Pretzel Day

Use pretzels to create a new item – Fried Chicken with Pretzel Breading

 

4/28/2019      National Superhero Day

Dress as your favorite superhero, get a free Dessert or App

Email Automation for Predictable Cash Flow and Asset Creation

Keeping in touch with your customers is good business. This is especially true when they have requested it. This article will explain why building a customer contact list and keeping in touch is so important and so valuable to your business now, and in the future.

Build Your Business with Permission-Based Marketing

Permission-based marketing is when people have given you permission to send them your offers. If people have had a good experience in your restaurant, they’ll often give you permission to keep in touch, especially if you have a special offer for them. Keeping in touch is easy and cheap with email marketing automation. It’s also really valuable.

Keeping in Touch With Customers-Why it’s So Important

It’s not your customer’s job to remember you, it’s YOUR job to remind them you exist. When people give you their email contact information, they’re ASKING you to REMIND them. This is a gift.

You want to be remembered when the question arises: “Where do you want to go out to eat (or order take-out)?” Among ALL the choices there are (and new ones popping up constantly), it’s a lot easier to be remembered when YOUR restaurant shows up in their email inbox once a week.

Even when the customers on your list don’t open your email, they will usually SEE your name and subject line which reminds them of you.

Why do customer stop coming to a place? It’s SO important to keep in touch!

According to Dan Kennedy’s research (a well known marketing guru), we lose customers for the following reasons:

• 1% die
• 3% move
• 14% are influenced by a friend’s or relative’s advice and switch to their brand
• 9%leave because of a better price or product
• 14% switch due to product or service dissatisfaction
• 68% leave because they felt the sales person and company were indifferent to their needs. They feel taken for granted.

Of course, there’s nothing you can do about those who die or about those who move out of the area. But if you have permission to keep in touch with people, you can continue to keep in touch with a friendly message and an offer. Done with class, this will help you retain more customers, even win some back.

Email Marketing Automation

When someone fills out a signup form like the one pictured above, the information will need to be manually entered into an email database. This is about the only part that’s not automatic, but it’s not difficult.

A page on your website should be setup with a similar form or coupons. These can be setup to capture your customers’ contact information and automatically add them to your email database.

Then what?

Email marketing technology allows us to setup emails in advance. Your email messages can be planned ahead to be sent on a schedule of your choosing-once per week, every other week, or once each month.

“But I don’t want to burden customers with emails.” 

NONSENSE! Remember, this is a permission-based list. They have given you permission-they have asked you to send them your stuff. You’re practically under obligation! Besides, everyone on your list can opt-out which automatically removes them from the list.

When someone fills out a sign-up form Like the one above) after they’ve eaten your food, they’re telling you, “Yes. I’m satisfied with your food and my experience. I’ll be back, especially if you keep in touch with your specials, coupons, and news.”

Think about the possible lifetime value of this customer. Do the math: if you can get just 50 customers (with a party of 4) to come back in just 3 more times per year by keeping in touch, how much more revenue will you generate?

Advertise to Build Your List

When you advertise with Groupon or in print (coupon mailers or local magazines), people will visit your website to take a closer look. If you have a page on your website called Specials and Coupons, people will opt-in to your contact list. Now, every time you advertise, you’ll not only get a bump in sales, you’ll also be building your list.

Building an Asset Which Makes Your Business More Valuable

When you send out emails, you’ll see a bump in revenue. You’ll be on a mission to grow your list bigger and faster. Not only will you generate more revenue, you’ll also be creating a new asset: YOUR LIST. Your huge list of customers (fans), is property-property which makes your business more valuable to you NOW and makes your business more valuable and attractive to a potential buyer.

ADVERTISING GETS PEOPLE TO MY WEBSITE > PEOPLE ON MY WEBSITE GETS PEOPLE TO SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL > PEOPLE IN MY RESTAURANT GETS PEOPLE TO SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL > SENDING EMAIL KEEPS PEOPLE COMING BACK MORE OFTEN > PEOPLE COMING BACK MORE OFTEN GENERATES MORE REVENUE AND HIGHER LIFETIME CUSTOMER VALUE > A BIG CUSTOMER CONTACT LIST INCREASES THE VALUE OF MY BUSINESS NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.

May 2018 Marketing Ideas Calendar

As a service to small business owners, we give you over 50 marketing idea-starters every month. If you’re not already getting this resource in your email each month, SUBSCRIBE! 

Monthly Holidays for May, 2018

National English Language Month

National Month of Hope

National Canine Fitness Month

National Internship Awareness Month

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

National Child Abuse Awareness Month

National Donate Life Awareness Month

National Cannabis Awareness Month

Month of the Military Child

International Guitar Month

Keep America Beautiful Month

National Autism Awareness Month

National Couple Appreciation Month

National Decorating Month

National Humor Month

National Landscape Architecture Month

National Inventor’s Month

National Jazz Appreciation Month

National Soft Pretzel Month

National Poetry Month

National Volunteer Month

Occupational Therapy Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month

 

Famous Birthdays in May

5/2       Dwayne Johnson (The Rock)

5/2       Donatella Versace

5/5       Lysie Snyder (Heiress of In-N-Out Burger)

5/14    Mark Zuckerberg

5/21    Al Franken

5/27    Jamie Oliver

 

Weekly Holidays

 

April 29-May5

Small Business Week

 

May 6-12

National Pet Week

National Nurses Week

Public Service Recognition Week

National Teacher Appreciation Week

 

May 13-19

National Etiquette Week

National Salvation Army Week

Police Week

 

May 20-26

Public Works Week

National Emergency Medical Services Week

Get this FREE RESOURCE EVERY MONTH, SUBSCRIBE!

Daily Holidays in May, 2018

 

5/1/2018              May Day / National Foster Care Day

5/2/2018              National Truffle Day

5/3/2018              National Day of Reason / World Password Day

5/4/2018              National Star Wars Day

5/5/2018              National Cartoonists Day / Free Comic Book Day / Cinco de Mayo

5/6/2018              National Nurses Day

5/7/2018              National Melanoma Monday

5/8/2018              National Teacher Appreciation Day

5/9/2018              National Bike to School Day

5/10/2018            National Shrimp Day / National Clean Up Your Room Day

5/11/2018            National Military Spouse Appreciation Day

5/12/2018            National Archery Day / National Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day

5/13/2018            Mother’s Day / National Apple Pie Day

5/14/2018            National Dance Like a Chicken Day

5/15/2018            National Chocolate Chip Day

5/16/2018            National Sea Monkey Day

5/17/2018            National Graduation Tassel Day

5/18/2018            National Visit Your Relatives Day / Nascar Day

5/19/2018            National Learn to Swim Day / National Armed Forces Day

5/20/2018            National Be a Millionaire Day / National Pick Strawberries Day

5/21/2018            National American Red Cross Founders Day

5/22/2018            National Buy a Musical Instrument Day

5/23/2018            National Lucky Penny Day

5/24/2018            National Scavenger Hunt Day

5/25/2018            National Missing Children’s Day / National Wine Day

5/26/2018            National Blueberry Cheesecake Day

5/27/2018            National Grape Popsicle Day

5/28/2018            Memorial Day / National Hamburger Day

5/29/2018            National Paperclip Day

5/30/2018            National Senior Health and Fitness Day / National Creativity Day

5/31/2018            National Speak in Sentences Day

https://forms.aweber.com/form/45/490866645.htm

Small Business Marketing Ideas for 2018-April

Looking for ideas or themes for your emails, social media, videos, or in-store promotions? Small Business U. provides this FREE RESOURCE every month to help you prime the pump so you can create interesting, fun and engaging content to help your marketing and message stand out from your competition. Never miss an issue: SUBSCRIBE!

April 2018 Marketing Ideas Calendar

Monthly Holidays in April, 2018

National English Language Month

National Month of Hope

National Canine Fitness Month

National Internship Awareness Month

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

National Child Abuse Awareness Month

National Donate Life Awareness Month

National Cannabis Awareness Month

National Fair Housing Month

Month of the Military Child

International Guitar Month

Keep America Beautiful Month

National Autism Awareness Month

National Couple Appreciation Month

National Decorating Month

National Humor Month

National Landscape Architecture Month

National Inventor’s Month

National Jazz Appreciation Month

National Soft Pretzel Month

National Straw Hat Month

National Poetry Month

National Pecan Month

National Volunteer Month

Occupational Therapy Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month

National Safe Digging Month

SUBSCRIBE and get this FREE RESOURCE every month.

Famous February Birthdays

4/9/2018         Hugh Hefner

4/13/2018      Thomas Jefferson

4/23/2018      William Shakespeare

4/26/2018      Carol Burnett

4/26/2018      Melania Trump

4/27/2018      Erik Schmidt (Former CEO of Google)

Weekly Holidays in April

April 2-8

National Public Health Week

National Window Safety Week

 

April 8-14

National Work Zone Awareness Week

Animal Control Officer Awareness Week

Crime Victims’ Rights Week

National Library Week

 

April 10-14

Cancer Registrars Week

 

April 15-21

Boys and Girls Club Week

National Pet ID Week

National Volunteer Week

 

April 22-28

National Princess Week

Sky Awareness Week

Every Healthy Kid Week

SUBSCRIBE and get this FREE RESOURCE every month.

Daily Holidays in April, 2018

4/1/2018              April Fools Day / Easter

4/2/2018              National Ferret Day

4/3/2018              National Find a Rainbow Day

4/4/2018              National School Librarian Day / National Walking Day

4/5/2018              National Deep Dish Pizza Day / National Read a Road Map Day

4/6/2018              National Student Athlete Day

4/7/2018              National Handmade Day / National Love Our Children Day

4/8/2018              National Zoo Lovers Day

4/9/2018              National Name Yourself Day / National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day

4/10/2018            National Siblings Day / National Equal Pay Day

4/11/2018            National Bookmobile Day / National Barber Shop Quartet Day

4/12/2018            National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

4/13/2018            Natinal Scrabble Day / National Thomas Jefferson Day

4/14/2018            National Reach As High As You Can Day

4/15/2018            National Tax Day / National Take A Wild Guess Day

4/16/2018            National Bean Counter Day

4/17/2018            National Ellis Island Family History Day

4/18/2018            National Animal Cracker’s Day

4/19/2018            National Hanging Out Day

4/20/2018            National Look Alike Day

4/21/2018            National Kindegarten Day / National Aucioneers Day

4/22/2018            National Earth Day

4/23/2018            National Picnic Day

4/24/2018            National Teach Children To Save Day

4/25/2018            National DNA Day / National Administrative Assistants Day

4/26/2018            National Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day

4/27/2018            National Arbor Day / National Day of Silence

4/28/2018            National Pool Opening Day

4/29/2018            National Shrimp Scampi Day

4/30/2018            National Military Brats Day

SUBSCRIBE and get this FREE RESOURCE every month.

Use Facebook “Events” to Generate Sales and New Customers

In this article, you’re going to learn how get your business in front of 1000’s of local and potential customers FREE with Facebook Events.

The 2 examples are restaurant-related but Facebook Events can be used in any type of local business. You just need a theme ans a little imagination.

You don’t have to put on a party, a parade, or hang banners or posters in order to have an “event.”

If you like this post, Subscribe.

Your Event Can Be Anything You Want It To Be

An event can be a one-day affair or it can last all month long! Your event can revolve around a single item or a theme.  It just takes a little imagination and a topic. The best way I can explain is with a couple of examples. Let’s pull an idea off of our March Marketing Ideas Calendar:

 

March 6th is National Oreo Cook Day. Take advantage of the popularity of this American favorite and create an Oreo Cookie Day Event!

If you’re in the restaurant business, you can promote Oreo Cookie milkshakes, Oreo cheesecakes, Oreo cupcakes, Oreo ice cream cake. Do you think there are some people around town who would be intrigued by the idea of an Oreo-inspired dessert selection? Of course, especially if it were a limited-time event.

But wait, National Oreo Cookie Day is just a 1-day holiday and maybe it’s not worth the trouble or risk of preparing all these Oreo-related desserts. No problem! Make your event last all week! Who’s stopping you? Here’s all you do: Announce how your restaurant is celebrating National Oreo Cookie Day by featuring Oreo Cookie-related treats all week (or all month, of you want) long!

Subscribe to The One Good Idea Newsletter to get our Monthly Marketing Ideas Calendar delivered every month.

Here’s another idea: The month of March is Caffeine Awareness Month. Create an event on topic of coffee.

Your coffee vendor will be happy to provide free samples and personnel to entertain your customers with taste tests. You could market this event every day of the month OR just on weekends or just on Saturdays…whatever you want! Facebook lets YOU make the rules and they’ll keep marketing your event for as long as it lasts.

Use events to capture customers’ contact information so you can add them directly to your marketing list for future promotions/invitations.

You can even sell tickets to events by linking to a site like Eventbrite or a page on your own site which can sell tickets can collect money.

Facebook Markets Your Events For You

Facebook has created a smart phone app which millions of people have already downloaded. This app informs people of events going on nearby. People who don’t have the app still have the ability to see events in their news feed.

If you like this post, Subscribe.

Fewer and fewer people actually see your Facebook fan page posts due to recent changes on Facebook’s move to sponsored (paid) posts. However, events will appear in your Facebook fans’ Notifications. When someone clicks on an event notification, here’s an example of what they might see:

 

When someone clicks on Interested or Going, many of their Facebook friends will see this in their Notifications. Some people will want to share this information because, let’s face it, we want to share good times with our friends. Another added bonus is the ability to sell tickets to an event and the Find Tickets button allows you to bring ticket buyers to your website or to another destination, such as Eventbrite (another place to market your event whether you’re selling tickets or not).

If you like this post, Subscribe.

So when a Facebook Friend clicks Going to an event, this is what appears in her friends’ Notifications. This acts as social proof and starts the whole cycle again of possibly reaching more and more people who may otherwise never have known your business exists, so maybe they’ll end up as customers.

Events for a Cause

Supporting a cause will popularize and endear you and your business to a section of the population who feels affinity toward the cause. This locally-owned liquor store is running an event featuring food, wine and spirits and is donating proceeds to The Ronald McDonald House. I feel fairly certain the liquor and wine vendors will be supporting the store by sponsoring some food, drink, personnel, and maybe even some money for the event, all the while, driving customers to the store who will be obliged to support the cause by making a purchase.

Never run out of ideas for your events, promotions, social media posts, or email marketing ideas, Subscribe to The One Good Idea Newsletter to get our Monthly Marketing Ideas Calendar delivered every month.

Need some help with ideas on how you can leverage Event Marketing on Facebook? All you need to do is ask, CLICK HERE.