Comments by Debra Murphy Subscribe

On Lead Generation: What Works Today

Peter,

Thanks for your comment and I agree, this is not my normal post but is a recap of a presentation I did for a group of business brokers. If you look at my usual posts, they are much more in line with what you perceive is the right format for a blog post.

I’m sorry you felt I was just pitching my services in this post as that is totally contrary to why I posted this presentation with the script. I freely give information away to help small business owners better market their businesses. My intention of this post was to provide this information as food for thought on what may work for them. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know that there is a lot of information contained in other posts that would fill in the blanks.

I do disagree with your comment about “statistics show that people aren’t going to professional websites” as most of my business comes through my website and I have several clients whose website is the center of all their lead generation activities. Small businesses need to develop their web presence with a website that they own and control as the hub and social media profiles as additional properties to ensure you reach the widest audience. If your friend’s sun tanning business is not gaining anything from his professional website, then I believe that the website itself is the problem and is not developed as a marketing tool that encourages visitors to take action.

The challenge with small business marketing, as you say, is that not all activities work for all types of businesses. All the questions you ask are right on, but the answers will vary depending on the type of business. But everything we do on the web, via our website, blog, Facebook Page, LinkedIn or Twitter, adds up to visibility and develops your reputation. Remember social media is word of mouth marketing on the Internet, so whether you are a consultant, coach, plumber, remodeler or electrician, writing a recommendation for someone on LinkedIn subtly gives you visibility to that person’s network. If a plumber writes me a recommendation and someone in my network (locally of course) needs a plumber, they may ask me for a referral. I hope this explains the logic.

All the best,

Debra

On Lead Generation: What Works Today

Gautam,

Yes, many small business owners want quick results - but consistency does work and the rewards are awesome! Thanks for the kind words.

Robin - thank you!

On Small Business Marketing Review

Thanks Alora - I hope the series helps folks get ready for a great 2010!

On Small Business Marketing Plan

Danielle - small business owners usually have all the answers to these questions. They just don't always understand the importance of the information as they are too close to the business and take for granted what people find remarkable about them.

Marketing-made-simple.com - thanks, I try to make a lot of the concepts visual as most people can understand them a lot better.

Kayden - good point. We do have them, but I should add the KPI somewhere into the diagram to make sure they don't get lost.

Thanks for all your comments!

On Law of Attraction in Marketing

Thanks Ryan - appreciate your comment. If business owners are comfortable with themselves, their business model and what value they deliver, they will attract the ideal clients and enjoy themselves immensely. Cheers!