Use Internet Advertising to Attract New Customers 24/7/365

Every day, more and more people are turning to internet search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing), for the products and services they buy, leaving behind their Yellow Pages, newspaper flyers, catalogs and brochures. This represents a fundamental shift in power from the marketer to the consumer. TiVo and DVRs have allowed us to block out TV advertising and satellite radio is almost commercial-free. Nearly five million Americans are walking around with Apple i-Pods, able to control their music and other forms of content. Another 64 million signed up for the Do-Not-Call Registry. In other words, your prospect is gaining more control over the way they shop!

So how do you market your product or service in this changing environment? Make it easier for your prospects to find you on the internet!

If you want your prospects to find your website when they use search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing, there are two ways you can make that happen. The first way is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and the other is called PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising. The listings down the left side of a search results page are called "organic" or "natural" listings and the way you get your website listed is by performing SEO. Listings in the shaded areas on the top and down the right side of the page are called "ads" and the way you get your website listed there is by having a PPC advertising campaign, using a program such as Google AdWords or Microsoft adCenter.

 If you are interested in SEO, I'm afraid I can't help you. However, if you are interested in PPC, I can definitely help. To understand the differences between SEO and PPC, see my article on SEO versus PPC.

PPC is simply another form of advertising and it comes at a cost. In this case, the costs are incurred each time someone clicks on your ad and is delivered to your website. Then there are the fees I charge to build and maintain the campaign. I charge $100/hr and you pay for my services in advance in blocks of ten hours ($1,000). Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will have a positive return on your investment because there are just too many variables which I have no control over, most notably, your website. Have you ever heard the phrase "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink"? Well, I lead the horse to water, but your website is what makes them drink!

Most of my clients have already tried creating their own Google AdWords campaign and discovered it was deceptively simple, yet devilishly complex. It required a lot more time than they realized and it was costing a lot more money in click charges than they thought it should. But they were determined to keep trying because this was a market "channel" they needed to be in. When they considered the time I saved them and the increased efficiency of their campaign, they found it easy to justify my fee. If you would like some additional insight, check out the page titled Are we a good fit?

If you are the kind of person who likes to do it yourself, please help yourself to the information on my website, especially the articles you see in the footer section on every web page. I created these articles based on years of interaction with AdWords users just like you.

However, if you don't want to spend the time and expense of learning PPC on your own, give me a call or fill out the form on my Contact page. All I ask is that you have an active AdWords account and are serious about hiring a professional.