Attention small business owners! I explain what you need to know to market your small business in today's online world. You NEED to know this to reach and connect with new customers. P.S. Do NOT share this with your competitors!

1. Maria Verven
• Entrepreneur and owner
of Verve P.R. and Vaping
Vamps
• 25 year career in P.R.,
former V.P. of Piper
Jaffray, Fleishman-Hillard
• Lecturer at the U of MN,
Teacher of New Rules of
Marketing & SEO classes
• Passionate about helping
small businesses get
found online

2. There’s been a massive shift from
traditional marketing to Internet (or
inbound) marketing
What happened?

3. The Big Picture
• Of the entire North America population (350
million), 275 million are online (80%)
• Of the world’s population (7 billion), 2.4 billion
are online (35%)
• There are 630 million websites (Jan 2013)
• Nearly 7 million publish blogs on a blogging
site; 11 million publish using social networks

4. Old School Marketing
Yellow Pages
Newspaper Advertising
Direct Mail
Telemarketing
Internet (Inbound) Marketing
SEO: Search-Optimized Website
PPC: Targeted Banner Ads
Social Media
Content Marketing, “New” P.R.

5. Why the Shift?
Because it shortens the sales
cycle in half or more
Customer
searches on
the web for
your products
& services

6. It’s a whole new world.
A new way of doing business.
A new way of communicating.
Don’t miss the BOAT!

7. What is Internet marketing and
how does it work

8. Change
Content
Channels
Credibility
4 C’s of
Inbound
Marketing

9. CHANGE
“Build it and they will come.” NOT!!
Your audience won’t find your site if it’s “low quality:”
• Page content (+title tag) doesn’t match keyword
search
• Stagnant site (no updates)
• Low amount of original content
• High bounce rate, low visit times, low returns
• Low number of inbound links and mentions in social
media and other sites

10. CONTENT
is King (& Queen)
Think multimedia!
• Articles, e-books, blogs, tweets
• Podcasts, screencasts, videos
Change is good
Quality + quantity
Keyword rich
Builds AUTHORITY

11. CHANNELS
So many to choose from. FOCUS!
Where’s your target audience?
Be consistent, use keywords
Don’t start without a follow-through plan

12. CREDIBILITY
or Building
TRUST
Clean, easy-to-navigate website
Plenty of good, up-to-date, keyword-rich content
No broken links, typos, old info., etc.
Inbound links from trusted sites
Blogs are the BEST!!

13. Like a Brick House
The House = SEO
on every page
The Chimney =
blog, social
media, etc.
The Smoke =
keyword-rich
updates

14. SEO = Search Engine Optimization
• “SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or
a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid
("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.”

15. Where would you hang a Picasso?
“When you build a
website but don’t
optimize it for
search, it’s like
hanging a Picasso in
your basement.”
Maria Verven

16. Paid Ads
Title Tag
Meta
Description
Google Places

17. Keywords – They’re KEY!
Words associated with your
product or service, usually
strung together into 2-4
keyword phrases
Goal: To have your site
come up on the front page
The sweet spot: Use keywords with high number of
searches, but low competition

18. Keyword Chart – One Example
Keyword Daily Search Vol. Competition

19. Where to use keywords
• Title and Meta Description
• Website headings and content on every page
• Title and alt tag on website images and videos
• Anchor text (text with a link to your website)
–Internal and external links

20. Build Links – Establish Authority!
• Ways to build links
– Online directories
– Get reviewed
– Guest post on influential blogs, online forums
– Links from sites with related products/services
– Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.)
– P.R. and Article Marketing
• Create remarkable content on your website
that others will want to share
– Include sharing mechanisms

21. Social Media for Local Merchants
Optimize your site for local search
Create consistent keyword-optimized profile
Get recommendations from happy customers
Join & hold MeetUps
Send releases to local media, bloggers

22. More Sage SEO Advice
• Build all website content from the outside looking in.
Optimize every page for search.
• Web content and link-building need to appear
natural and not spammy
• Experiment and examine the web stat’s. Forget
about the Google algorithm, focus on core strategies
• SEO = part art, part science. And it takes time.
Ranking can take months, so get on the right track

23. Your Chimney
What’s your
Content Strategy?
• Blogging
• Social Media
• P.R.
• Article Marketing

24. Blogging
Huge for SEO, search (think: keywords)
It should pass the “blink” test
Educate | Entertain | Engage | Enrich
Address your audience’s key concerns
Your blog is the HUB of all of your
communications

25. Blogging 101
• Anyone and any company can blog
• It’s a huge SEO play
• You need a blog strategy
• Four A’s of blogging:
– Attract & entertain. Think multi-media
– Alert your audience to news, deals, etc.
– Ameliorate their lives (how-to’s, tips)
– Attitude – really SAY something!

26. What is social media?

27. A Huge Shift
in Your
Audience
Millennials & Gen Y now outnumber Baby Boomers
They have $350 billion in direct spending power
96% join social networks

28. A Huge Shift in How to Build a Brand
78% of consumers trust peer
recommendations
Only 14% trust ads
Only 18% of traditional TV
campaigns generate a positive
ROI
34% post opinions about products on their blog
36% think more positively about companies that
have blogs

29. Social Media
Connect with customers, prospects
B2C: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
B2B: LinkedIn, Twitter, MerchantCircle
It’s about conversations, dialogue (don’t
preach, spam or be too salesy)
Give them a reason to connect
Good content (and a good blog) is the key
to driving traffic
If you’re not listening, you’re missing what people are
saying about you online!!

30. Put your referral business on steroids
Increase SEO
Respond to negative comments
Join conversations happening about your
brand in real time

31. Why Facebook
• 1.2 billion users (11% of entire world population)
• More than 70 billion pieces of content: links, blogs,
photos, videos, etc. are shared on FB every month
• 42 million business pages with 10 or more ‘likes’
• Average FB user is attached to 80 pages, groups, etc.
• Fastest growing segment on Facebook: 55 to 65 year-
old women

32. Facebook Do’s and Don’ts
Do:
• Give them a reason to “like” you
• Update your page frequently
• Take a clue from which posts engage your fans
• Respond to every comment on your page
• Engage with other business pages
Don’t:
• Ignore complaints
• Make all your updates all about you
• Sound like a robot
• Offer special FB discounts that you can get elsewhere
• Stop posting. Keep up a regular schedule

33. Why LinkedIn?
Connect with customers & their groups
See what questions they’re asking
Become an expert
The perfect place for B2B companies to be

34. LinkedIn How-To:
Step 1: Set up your profile for search
• Give them a reason to connect with you
• Choose a professional looking headshot
• Use all 2,000 characters (but make it easy to read)
• Get recommendations
Step 2: Network like crazy!
• Whom do you want to connect with? Be strategic.
• Join groups
Step 3: Engage (listen first, then participate)
• Answer questions, be genuinely helpful
• Be strategic in your answers

35. • 2nd largest search engine in the world
• 490 million users every month
• Google loves YouTube. Highly indexed
• 2 billion videos viewed every day
(almost double the prime time
audience of all 3 major U.S. networks
combined)
Why

36. Why Twitter
10 billion tweets. . . and counting
Connect with customers and prospects
Converse with them in real time
Listen and provide customer service
Drive traffic to your blog and website
Twitter is for both B2B and B2C businesses

37. B2B Companies: This means you, too!
Content engages prospects
Become a trusted resource
Blogs, ebooks, white papers, webinars
FAQ’s, competitive comparisons, case studies
What’s your call to action?

38. So how do we
get this done?
(Hint: it’s not
magic)
Social media is here to stay.
If you’re not doing it, your competitors are.

39. Skill set:
• Understand marketing strategy, messaging
• Excellent communicator, versatile writer
• Familiar with social media, webosphere, etc.
• Have time to dedicate to this every day
Just make
sure they
know what
they’re
doing

40. You have to put the ball in
someone’s court.
Someone has to be responsible for:
• Website updates and SEO
• Content strategy and updates
• Blog strategy and updates
• Social media strategy and updates
Three options:
1. Assign it to an existing staff member
2. Hire someone on staff
3. Hire a freelancer or agency

41. P.R. – It’s Good for SEO!
• Good P.R. is worth tons of link-building efforts
• Optimize the title, lead & 1st 250 words of
your news releases
• Use free pitch services
• “Deep link” to inside pages
• Article marketing, using keywords
– eZineArticles.com, etc.

42. The New Rules for
News Releases
• Keyword-rich news releases will be
found by reporters & customers
• Helps build credibility & visibility
• Incorporate links to your website
• Think multi-media
• Online newsroom a must-have

43. CTA = Call to Action
• Now that you got them to your site, what do
you want them to do?
• Your CTA should be simple but compelling
• Capture name and e-mail. They won’t want to
give you much more than that.
• Make it obvious from the front page what they
should do next
• Use this same CTA in your outreach efforts

44. Contact
Maria Verven
Verve P.R.
www.verve-pr.com
mverven@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/mariaverven