 American small business owners, I have great news! According to a new Gallup poll, small business is the institution with the highest confidence rating, 68%, in the United States. There is a perception that because your business is small, the interactions will be more personal, more of a first-degree connection, and that they know who their dollars are benefiting. So, how can you capitalize on this?
Establishing trust between your business and the consumer is an essential business function. These days, brand loyalty relies on trust. You need the proper marketing, business practices, and strategy. What Do Consumers Value In a Business? Let's view statistics about how trust affects a company's success:
0 Comments
 Small business owners, don't waste your time on AI-generated marketing! So far, this new technology comes with many issues. Instead, turn to a marketing agency with real people who produce original content.
Significant Investments and Larger Disappointments According to Goldman Sachs’ report “Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit?” tech giants, utilities, and other companies will invest an estimated one trillion dollars throughout the next few years on AI infrastructure in various sectors. Unfortunately, at this point, there is little to show for it. Furthermore, Jim Cavello doesn't believe that AI is designed to solve the complex issues that investors are counting on. In all areas of the business world, tasks require mental work AND real-world interaction. AI is unable to improve the latter anytime soon materially. Sachs’ report states, “The human brain is 10,000 times more effective per unit of power in performing cognitive tasks vs. generative AI.” Writer Alex Roddie believes that if we exclusively depend on AI, content will become rigid without creativity or originality. Acemoglu senses that AI won't be able to translate open-ended tasks with more than one correct answer.  This was the year!
You took the bold step of making your side hustle your day job. You had a decent year; you may not want to live on the income you made for very long, but you made it. Pat yourself on the back, raise a glass—you are a bonafide entrepreneur. Welcome to the club! That was yesterday; then you filed your taxes. I remember this day well... "I have to pay what!?" If you have been an employee all your life, you likely have grown to expect a tax return, not to have to return your hard-earned money to the government. You may have even expected to pay a certain sum—after all, everyone has to pay taxes—but hoped that your other deductions would offset enough that it wouldn't hurt too much. We can't help it; not everything in our minds makes the switch from employee to business owner in one, or even a few years.  Attention small business owners: Your Google Business Profile websites sunsetted on March 5th, 2024. The websites will redirect to Google Business Profiles until June 10, 2024. So, you have until then to link to a new website, or your viewers will be sent to a 404 error page!
It's time to reap the benefits of a new, professional, and effective business website. Visibility Is Essential! You may already know that over 90% of the U.S. population is online, and as years go by, the benefits of having a website increase in value. Let's face it: your competitors probably have a website, so if you aren't online, they will interact with consumers first. While it's essential to have a business website, you should consider the professionalism of your options. For example, Google Business Profile sites were basic and generated by information on your Google Business Profile. Furthermore, Google Sites’ new AI model, Genie, may not have mastered SEO effectiveness yet. (This is just one of many examples of tech companies throwing out the baby with the bath water when it comes to fully embracing AI.) DIY platforms like Wix are wrought with internal coding issues that don’t perform well on search engines and render unreliable formatting.  As a serial entrepreneur and startup consultant to many successful businesses, I have observed cautionary business tales starting with "under the table." I'm here to tell you that even if money gets tight, you don't want to cut yourself off at the knees like them. What you need is a strategy that accommodates the big picture.
Why You Don't Want to Start and Run Your Business Under the Table The IRS states that if you make $400 or more from a side hustle, you must file a tax return. If your hustle is meant to be profitable, it isn't considered a hobby to the government, and if you have aspirations, I’m sure it’s not a hobby to you, either. Before we discuss the rewarding benefits of picking the legitimate path, let's take a look at why illegally running a business is a short-sighted approach with negative consequences:  I have to admit I have days where I feel imprisoned by social media. I have days where I am uninspired about my own brand, and I just draw a blank as to what I should post on my business social media pages... and I'm a social media marketer! I can only imagine how you must feel. If you are attacking your social media marketing with a day-to-day method, then it is easy to fall into this trap. We all get tired, burnt out, and just don't have the creative energy that each day may require to put your message out there.
So what do we do about that?  As a small business owner, you probably encounter plenty of ads about the complexity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing. They claim to do hours of work in seconds and create more relevant content, but let's look deeper.
Does AI have the same capabilities as personal marketing agencies? Walk away being able to make an informed decision about who should handle your marketing. Consider how personal marketing agencies contrast to those of AI. AI Certainly Has Limitations. Beware: AI has and will make SERIOUS mistakes. Even artificial intelligence requires learning, so when entrepreneurs entrust it, they need to be careful in the beginning. In fact, this month, Elon Musk and other tech leaders have asked for a 6-month global moratorium on further development because of the unknowns of what it is capable of and concerns over its harm. Here are some examples of past failures:
AI Lacks Emotional Intelligence, But WE Don't! Here are ways that AI marketing differs from personal agencies like us:
At STS, we strategize to direct action from the readers based on your goal(s). We consider what motivates the PEOPLE in your target audience. So, we focus on their needs and the emotions surrounding them. How do we do that? We mentally relive our own LIFE experiences and how we emotionally process them. Decide for yourself which marketing approach sounds more practical. No matter where you are, we can get your business results with the strategy, skill, and empathy that AI lacks. Contact STS for marketing consulting, content creation, social media marketing, strategic website design and any other services that your business needs to reach PEOPLE.  Does wondering about your competition keep you up at night?
Competition is not always a bad thing; in fact, it can be good for business! Not only does it motivate you to strive for excellence to stand out from the crowd, but a little investigation may reveal some opportunities like:
Embracing competition requires you to go out of your comfort zone and develop friendships instead of rivals. Finally, remember, there are many kinds of fish in the sea. Even if you offer exactly the same services as another company, you have different personalities and methods, which will resonate with contradistinct customers. Nobody is you!  What do you think? Does a new local service business need a website to get customers? Or can they rely only on social media for marketing? In our never-ending quest to bring small businesses real results as quickly as possible, we pull from our recent case studies to answer this question with five reasons you absolutely should build a website for your new local business.
 SEO is first driven by location, so it cannot be more important to be thorough about it when creating business listings on search engines. DO NOT FORGET to enter in ALL your service cities on your Google Business listing, not just the town your physical location is in. And if you have a website, make sure they are all indicated in your content there as well!
SCHEDULE A FREE SEO CONSULTATION In case you missed it, See Location Tip #1. |
RSS Feed
