Service business owners often think they need to increase traffic to get more clients. So they explore ways to come up higher on search engines. They hope to be on "Page 1" of Google and Yahoo when someone types in keywords related to their service.
This strategy works well for many businesses. Bur if you are a service business owner or independent professional, many of your prospects won’t find you by typing a search term into Google, Yahoo or MSN search engines. In that case you need to stand out in front of traffic. Your strategy becomes, "You will find me, whether you’re looking or not."
Search engines work like telephone directories. Prospects look up business categories and choose a specific company. You may get more clients when you think of a billboard that prospects can’t miss as they drive by. Here are three ways put this idea in practice so you get in front of your target market.
First, get placed in directories where prospects look for help. Recently I was looking for a carpet cleaner. I typed "Carpet Cleaner Seattle" into a search engine. But I didn’t get a page of carpet cleaners. Instead, the first listings directed me to community sites where previous customers rated their carpet cleaners.
So Joe Carpet Cleaner doesn’t need SEO to attract my business. He needs to get listed with yelp or citysearch. If you serve customer from a single city or geographic area, you’ll need to be listed in directories like these too.
Second, make sure you list yourself in social media. If Mary decides to look for a Virtual Assistant, she won’t type "Virtual Assistant" into a search engine. She’ll ask her friends. She’ll tune in to social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.
Mary will find you if she comes across your name when she checks her Facebook inbox and notices you asked to follow her. If she wants more information, she will go to your website to see what you are about.
Third, Tom isn’t looking for a career coach at all. He’s looking for a book about career change. On Amazon, he sees a review by someone who seems to be a career coach. Out of idle curiosity, he looks up the career coach’s site. He’s intrigued by the articles and info so he makes a call. One of my sites focuses on career change and I’ve gotten many clients this way.
And now I’d like to invite you to learn more about using social media to attract clients. Visit Copy-Cat Copywriting Services.
Article Source: Service Professionals: Get Clients Even When They Aren't Looking For You