Internet Marketing: How to Become an Authority In Your Line of Work

As a business owner, we have had one of the toughest periods in business history. You and I have experienced a deep recession, layoffs, and reductions in business revenue. All while this turmoil was happening, technology kept moving ahead and so did your customers. You see, today many of the people looking for your products and services are looking on the internet.

So how do you attract new customers in 2010 and beyond?

You need to become the “Internet Authority Marketing” in your line of business.

Now, more than ever, the small business owner can compete and take the authoritative position from much larger companies. Why? The internet, web tools, and technology have allowed for this and your customers and prospects demand it. Customers and prospects on the internet today want connection and interaction to businesses that deliver the products and services they purchase. This is evident in the advent of social networking, web 2.0, and such powerhouses as FaceBook, LinkedIn, and MySpace.

So how do you become the Authority marketing?

There are two key components to becoming an Authority marketing. First, you need to be found on the internet which means showing up on page 1 of the search engines when people are looking for the type of products and services that you offer. Second, you need to create content that demonstrates your skills, experience, and ability to deliver the products and services you offer. This type of content also helps build a connection to your customers. The Authority marketing strategy is to show up in three places on page 1 of Google and position yourself, through your content, as The Authoritative Figure in your line of work. What results is both customer education and a powerful connection with the customer.

Why is your content so important in today’s online marketing?

All customers, including you and me, go through the same buying behavior. That is, when we need a product or service, we search, evaluate, and decide. The understanding of this three step buying psychology is crucial in your ability to turn prospects into customers. So let’s discuss these three steps and how it applies to online marketing and becoming an Authority marketing.

Search. Customer prospects looking online search on two primary search platforms - Google and Yahoo!. And by far, the giant of all search engines is Google, so you want to show up on Google. But the trick is to get on page 1 of Google. The reason? Most people do not search past page 1 to find the product or service they desire.

Page 1 of Google is segmented into three parts.

Paid advertising. The top and right of Google page 1 are the paid ads. Industry jargon for this area is “pay-per-click”. To show up in this section, you will need to set up a Google Adwords campaign and understand keyword research. So, unless you are an experienced internet marketing pro, this task is best outsourced. We have recommendations on our blog; www.belocalonline.com or you can go to Google and type in Search Engine Marketing and your city location to find companies that can help you with setting up an ad campaign.

Google Maps. Underneath the paid ads is Google Maps. The powerful part of the maps is there are only 7 businesses shown on page 1. You can get the name of your company listed with your phone number and link to your website. Getting and staying on the maps; however, is becoming more competitive. You can certainly try to get your company listed on the maps. To do this, go to Google and type “Google Places” into the search and it will take you to the Google page where you can build your map listing. There are no guarantees you will get on the maps and sometimes you will need to understand optimization techniques in order to get your company listed and remove another company from the maps. If you need help in getting this done, contact us at our blog.

Google Organics. Underneath the maps is the organic section. This is where your Authoritative Marketing content will appear. A page 1 organic listing is achieved when your content closely matches the key word that was put in as a search term by the customer. Google calls this relevancy. If your content is highly relevant to the customer search terms, then you have a higher chance to show up on page 1. For example, an estate planning attorney working to become an Authority marketing in their area may write articles, do blog posts, and create webinars about estate planning. This body of content will have a high organic ranking in the organic section of page 1 of Google when customer search terms are for estate planning - especially when this content has been submitted to other sites on the internet that are highly valued and have high page rankings.

That covers the basics on Search. It gets you noticed by your prospective customer. However, getting noticed is only part of the equation. All customers go through an Evaluation process rating you and your competitors to find the best fit for their particular need. To be the “best fit” requires demonstrating your skills and ability and having the prospective customer get to know you through your content. Getting to know you builds trust. Trust builds confidence. And confidence will typically win the sale. This is where you can shine as the Authority.

Creating content that matters to your prospective customers and a place where they can visit to find content, is critical during the Evaluation step in turning prospects into customers.

Prospects will be more attracted and inclined to do business with you instead of your competition as you are demonstrating your ability to inform and educate through your authoritative position.

Customers will stay with you due to your authoritative status. Customers appreciate the educational content you create. You become their trusted source for the types of products and services you offer. Most importantly, you turn many of these customers into evangelists by being there to help them. In return, they spread positive word of mouth about you, provide referrals, and hand out your offline advertising to people they know - becoming an extension to your sales force.

What kind of content will make you the Authoritative Rock Star?

· Article Marketing
· Audio Marketing
· Webinar Marketing
· Video Marketing

Let’s discuss each Authority marketing marketing activity.

Article Marketing

Write 400-700 word articles (about 1 page) related to your business and your expertise. You want to share your knowledge. By sharing, prospects become interested and follow you. If you don’t like to write, you can do the following (1) compile information from searches on the internet; (2) record yourself talking about a subject and get it transcribed; or (3) outsource the article writing. Got to my blog at and click on the Resources Tab for a description of outsourcing resources.

Audio Marketing

As an Authoritative Marketer, the interview format is a powerful way to educate and interact with your prospective customers. The ideal podcast should be about 3 - 6 minutes in length and should stick to a highly targeted piece of content. To create a podcast do the following: (1) choose a specific narrowly focused topic; (2) decide if you will be interviewed or you want to interview; (3) if you want to interview someone else, contact the person to request an online interview; (4) create 4 to 6 questions; (5) use an online teleseminars tool to schedule the audio interview; (6) conduct the audio interview; (7) produce the recording in different formats such as mp3 and podcast formats; (8) post the audio on an Audio section on your blog and to other outside source locations. Got to my blog at and click on the Resources Tab for a description of audio posting locations and audio recording resources.

Webinar Marketing

Webinars are a more powerful way to interact with your audience as you are presenting content in a video format. The typical webinar format is creating a presentation and recording your voice presenting the material. This method of marketing allows your prospective customers to learn while they watch and listen. Webinars are more interactive than articles and thus more powerful in building trust. To find out more about how to create webinars, go to my blog at and click on the Resources Tab for a description of outsourcing resources and tools to create your own webinars.

Video Marketing

Video marketing is the most interactive marketing. You are presenting content in a live video format, being recorded in front of a camera. It is the most difficult as you have to be at your best with speaking and body language since all of it will appear in the video. If you are comfortable speaking in front of a camera and can do so without a lot of mistakes, it is recommended. If you are new to Authority Marketing, I suggest you first start with Webinar Marketing.

That covers the basics on Evaluation. So far your customer has found you through Search and Evaluated you through the educational content creating your Authority position. The final step is Decision. How do we get prospective customers to choose us? The answer is simple. Make it easy for them to make the connection. The hard work is already done. You are present in Search. You have built your credibility and trust through educational content during Evaluation. Make it easy to Decide on you. You can do this by asking for the sale - also known as a “call to action”. Make sure you always ask and then make it easy for the customer to contact you. Offer many different ways to connect. This includes phone, email, online chat, blog posts, and online service requests. Have your contact information present on every page of your website and your blog.

In business, you must be either first or best. Be the first in your line of work to become The Authority marketing. The longer you wait, the more chance your competitor’s will beat you to that Authoritative position.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.mk

Pete’s 12+ years experience in small business and entrepreneurialism has provided him the opportunity to create business startups from publishing, seminars, recruiting, construction, network marketing, and internet-related products and services. Lisoskie understands business owners need to move to the internet and has done so in his own businesses. Please visit his blog at www.belocalonline.com/blog for tools and information to help you get leads, web visits and more revenue for your business. Or contact Pete at petelisoskie@opriusmail.com

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