You Can Help
Owning and running a business is hard work. Ask any small to medium size business owner. That’s small to medium size business, not small to medium size owner.
Most business owners I work with and get to know are working many, many hours and not looking for ONE MORE THING to do. They usually will donate time and resources to community building events and they’ll always have time for you, their customer, but bringing business in the door is not something they relish spending time on.
Why not?
They are expert in the focus of their business. Marketing is not usually packaged in their skill set. That’s why magazine and newspaper ads were always so great. Pay the paper, get your ad in there, then wait for people to come in the door and the phone to ring.
Along comes social media. It is time intensive and for most business owners, new territory requiring learning time.
Here’s where you come in. Review sites. Some businesses will guide you there but most don’t. If you have had a great experience in a shop or restaurant, take a few minutes and jot down a sentence or two online about it! Sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and UrbanSpoon are easy to use.
If your experience was less than good, drop a note to the owners rather than raking them publicly online. Why? Well, Google Search likes your online reviews and takes note. A positive review can really help with exposure online for the business. Conversely, a negative review stays online just as long and the business suffers for a long time with that review ‘out there’ when a personal note may have encouraged improvement on your issue at that business without causing collateral marketing damage.
When reviewing a business, provide information that you would have found helpful if you were a prospective first time visitor to that business. Be objective, enthusiastic, informative and identify yourself if you like. It adds credibility to your comments.
If you are a business owner, find the appropriate review sites and list your business. Encourage reviewers to visit the site with their thoughts and be sure to interact with your reviewers on the review sites. Participating in social media in this rudimentary way can make the difference to being seen or not being seen online.
