Making your Business famous…
Is your business famous yet? It is important to understand how to really build buzz locally, and drive more traffic to your business organically.
We are all well aware of the importance of the web in consumer’s buying patterns. Consumers use the web to research, explore, and 78% make buying decisions prior to ever visiting your club (or business).
Web 2.0 is a term given to the new, interactive nature of the web, focusing on Social Networking, blogging, and consumer reviews.
Not only is it important for your business to have a great, clear website, but it is equally important to compliment a website with local business presence, and consumer reviews.
The more (positive) consumer feedback you have on your business, the more credible the business becomes, and the more confident a consumer will be in making a decision to join on her first visit.
A great way to quickly enhance the visibility of your business is to “partner” with top consumer review websites. I recommend to our franchisees to to focus on one of the internet’s top Consumer Review websites, www.kudzu.com. Kudzu, names after the voraciously fast-spreading vines the grow in the south, is a great way to describe the effects of consumer reviews.
Having your business listed on sites such as Kudzu will increase your
exposure locally. By following our guidance on how to properly setup the
listing, consumers who type keywords (to use a health club example) such
as “Atlanta fitness, local gym Atlanta, great fitness club, etc…” will
be able to quickly locate your club, and ad.
The more times your club is mentioned, the higher your listing will be,
and the greater the chances of being prominently displayed.
To begin, build you free listing on Kudzu. Next, choose one of their
Annual Optimization packages. In a smaller market, I believe an enhanced
profile is fine. If you are in a more competitive market, or larger
urban area, you might want to consider investing into a “preferred
profile”
Be sure to upload photos, videos, and other items which will create a
more complete listing.
After your listing is complete, you will want to print and distribute
the attached form to prospects and customers, asking them to rate their
experience. You will want to diligently check your reviews, and
personally comment on any which may need to be better explained.
Ask loyal customers and staff members to periodically review and comment
to help support the listing, and your optimization (placement) levels.
Both Kudzu and yahoo require a business to have a physical location
prior to being advertised. We recommend building the listings AS SOON AS
you have a signed lease. There are many ways to begin consumer reviews,
building prospect lists, and selling to consumers prior to opening,
which we can address in a later column.
Chris Palumbo, Founder, elements diet | fitness | lifestyle
- Making your Business Famous
August 26th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Nice Site layout for your blog. I am looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Humes