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Disclaimer

The content of this Ebook is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be

construed as professional advice. The information, and analysis included herein are

based on sources believed to be reliable and provided in good faith.

VideoSellsBetter.com makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, as to

the accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information, opinions and

recommendations contained herein and therefore maintains no liabilities for any actions

taken by its readers.

VideoSellsBetter.com assesses the products and services offered by service providers

linked to this publication and believes that these products and services are valuable to

their local business customers. VideoSellsBetter.com, however, does not guarantee any

products or services offered by these service providers. Service providers are solely

responsible for any claims made by their respective organizations, and customers should

look to said service providers for any guarantee of performance or the suitability of

services provided by them.

The only advice we give you is that you should not take or omit to take any action based

solely on this publication’s information. We provide you this information simply as a

service and to inform you about certain issues of interest to Local Businesses.

All information contained is copyrighted © by VideoSellsBetter.com 2016.

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Table of Contents

Disclaimer .......................................................................................................... 1

No Laughing Matter ........................................................................................... 3

Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4

1. Branding Your Business and Logos ................................................................ 5

2. Video Promotion (with or without a website) ................................................ 6

3. Local Business Search Engines ...................................................................... 8

4. Local Business Directory Postings ................................................................. 9

5. New and Existing Client List Development ................................................... 12

6. Email Marketing ........................................................................................... 14

7. Inexpensive Postcard Mailings .................................................................... 16

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Visit VideoSellsBetter.com to see how video and animation can assist in your

Local Business Marketing Strategy. With or without a website.

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No Laughing Matter

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Introduction

Marketing your Local Business is no laughing matter, indeed.

Marketing your local business to the appropriate target audience doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive… but it must be intentional. You need to make a plan. Execute that plan. And stick with your plan, making adjustments as necessary. It’s not rocket science. But it does have the potential to either “blow up in your face”… or “take off and soar”. Brand your business. What is it you want your potential customers to

remember about you and what do you offer as a service that is better than your competition? What makes you different, and more importantly, what problems do your potential customers have that your differentiation can help solve?

Then you need to make those potential customers aware of who you are

and what you have to offer to them. Remember, it’s all about them (the

customer) not about you, and how you can make their life (or life’s

experience) better.

So let’s take a quick look at 7 strategies that can help to make your

customers think first of YOUR service, ahead of your competitors, and

consequently, make your local business a success…

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1. Branding Your Business and Logos

Branding is a major part of your marketing plan. The purpose is to make it

easier for the customers to relate your brand to the particular product or

service that you are to offer them. Similarly your company name, logo and

brand are not just mere symbols but the picture that comes to the

customers’ mind when they require the service or product you offer. It

engages their attention

Brands enable customers to remember your product or service, and that is

where logo and branding work together.

Brands build customer loyalty and lead to repeat purchases. It resides

within the hearts and minds of the customers, clients, and prospects. It is

the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can

influence, and some that you cannot. You need to understand the

underlying needs and wants of your customers and prospects.

Logos are intended to be the "face" of a company. They are graphic displays of a company's unique identity and provide essential

information about a company that allows customers to identify with the company's core brand. Additionally, a logo is the starting point for the development of any animated video you may wish to

develop for your company (more about that later). Every successful company needs to have their own, custom logo, developed specifically for them. If you do not have a logo, or are unhappy with the one you have, we can help you.

Click Here For More Information >>>

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2. Video Promotion (with or without a website)

”Customers are anywhere from 64% - 85% more likely to purchase

your services after watching a video…”

If you own a website, then it is imperative that your site contain video, as it

is well documented to dramatically increase sales volume. However, if you

do not have a website, then it is even more crucial to be creating videos for

your business, as you will be able to post these videos on YouTube®, and

dozens of other video hosting sites absolutely for FREE, publishing the site

address in business listings, emails or inexpensive postcard mailing

campaigns, directing

customers to these sites to

promote and increase the

image of your business.

Whether you choose a

short Intro Video, Outro

Video, Full Story Video

or Animated Whiteboard

Explainer Video, any or

all can be listed on

numerous Video Hosting sites, some of which receive over 1 Billion visits

EACH MONTH!

According to the Online Publishers Association, 80 percent of Internet users

recall watching a video ad on a website they visited in the past 30 days. It

gets even better. Of that 80%, 46% took some action after viewing the ad.

In fact:

26% looked for more information about the subject of the video

22% visited the website named in the ad

15% visited the company represented in the video ad

12% purchased the specific product featured in the ad

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Takeaway: Your local business needs to be utilizing video in your

marketing strategy.

Here are the top 15 FREE Video Hosting sites where you can post your

video(s) and receive an internet link that you can promote in your Local

Business Search Engine postings, Local Business Directory listings, Email

advertising and Postcard mailings, or link back to your own website…

1. http://www.youtube.com 2. http://www.dailymotion.com

3. http://www.veoh.com 4. http://www.vimeo.com

5. http://www.myspace.com/ 6. http://www.metacafe.com

7. http://www.tinypic.com 8. http://www.liveleak.com

9. http://www.ebaumsworld.com 10. http://www.flixya.com

11. http://www.dropshots.com 12. http://www.vidipedia.org

13. Photobucket.com 14. Flickr.com 15. Break.com

Looking for professional videos that will increase your sales and build a

stronger image with your customers? Click below for more information…

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3. Local Business Search Engines

Once you have either your own website or a Video hosting site web address, you now need to start letting your customers and potential customers know where you can be found. Google, Yahoo and Bing all have special local business search engine sites that link business names with addresses and maps to help customers in specific geographic locations locate local businesses. All these sites give you a place to enter your website (or video) URL

address. If you have a website, be certain that you have listed the primary keywords and geographic name listings in the keyword portion of your website, along with an accurate description of the services you offer in the description portion of your website. The 3 top local business search engines

are:

Google My Business (Previously “Google Places for Business”)

Yahoo! Local

Bing Places for Business

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4. Local Business Directory Postings

Another way local businesses can get found is through inclusion in online directories. Adding a listing to these online directories is easy, but if you

only list in a few, you're really missing a huge opportunity to get found by online searchers.

Every individual directory that you submit to is another chance to get found online, so it's important to make sure you're listed in every directory possible. I have compiled a list of many popular local directories available on the internet. And in addition to

posting your web address in these directories, it is also important to link on your website (or even in the notes section for your video posting) a connection back to one or two major directories that also act as customer review sites (Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook, Foursquare). In today’s world, many of your potential customers are looking to these sites for positive reviews before making a buying decision. Below we list more than 50 directories, most free and almost all with locations to add a web address or video site address.

1. Yelp

2. Facebook

3. Better Business Bureau

4. Angie's List

5. Merchant Circle

6. LinkedIn

7. YP.com

8. Whitepages

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9. Superpages.com

10. Yellowbook

11. CitySearch

12. MapQuest/Yext

13. Local.com

14. Foursquare

15. CitySlick

16. USDirectory.com

17. Dex Media

18. BizJournals.com

19. TeleAtlas

20. Discover Our Town

21. EZ Local

22. Kudzu

23. CityVoter

24. Manta

25. UsCity

26. Local Site Submit

27. InfoUSA

28. Infignos

29. Get Fave

30. My HuckleberryYellowee

31. MojoPages

32. Brownbook

33. Magic Yellow

34. CitySquares

35. Map Creator

36. Judy's Book

37. Thumbtack

38. YellowPagesGoesGreen.org

39. Home Advisor

40. ShowMeLocal

41. ChamberofCommerce.com

42. Yellowbot

43. Hotfrog

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44. Brownbook

45. InsiderPages

46. Yippie

47. Localpages

48. Yellow.com

49. Open List

50. Yellow USA 51. Switchboard

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5. New And Existing Client List Development

Now, as we move on to the more proactive portion of our marketing plan (rather than waiting for people to view our listings and videos on the web) we come to the point where we will be needing to develop listings of potential customers to target for our services. There are several ways we can do this. If you have a website, for instance, you can develop or purchase informational material pertaining to the service you provide, and offer it free on your website, collecting names and emails of potential customers who access this material. This is can be a rather slow process, however, and works best for email collection. Another method, particularly if you wish to send postcards or mailers to the home addresses of these potential customers, is to purchase a mailing list of individuals residing in your targeted geographic area. We have located a vendor that can provide these address lists, by geographic area (city, state, county or zip code) and can offer them for a reasonable cost. And the best thing about these lists, unlike many of their competitors, is that they will provide them in an Excel spreadsheet file format, so you are not limited to using them just once, but can use them time and time again. This will

become infinitely valuable as we discuss inexpensive postcard mailings to new as well as existing customers later on. One thing, however, is that this vendor markets these lists as email address lists (which additionally come with names and physical addresses). We recommend these lists ONLY for the names and physical addresses, as sending unsolicited emails to any consumer is considered SPAM and have strict laws and regulations pertaining to their use. However, for mailing lists, you can purchase both residential lists by geographic area as well as business lists by SIC

(Standard Industry Code) and as stated previously, for very reasonable rates. The vendor is called Emarketing Solutions and can be reached HERE. Once you have the addresses in an Excel spreadsheet format, you can convert them into email lists and labels for mailings, which we will discuss later.

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6. Email Marketing

Email marketing is an important part of any local business marketing plan, not only because practically all potential customers have email today, but also because it is an economical way to increase the number of “reminders” and “touches” that you can make with these individuals and businesses. Not only is it a valuable resource for getting your message in front of new, potential customers (only with Opt-In recipients who have

agreed to receive emails, otherwise it is SPAM), but many local businesses find it imperative as the primary means to communicate with existing customers with new offers and updated information regarding their company. Here is where it is valuable to have a website address, or even simply a web link to an “Intro” or “Explainer” video where potential customers can click-through and learn more about your business, building

an ever more professional impression of your company in their minds.

Email marketing must, however, remain compliant with laws and regulations designed to eliminate SPAM. It needs to remain relevant and current to your audience, as well. Design a small newsletter, updating current information in your industry. Or use it to offer special “in-house” discount offers to your client base. As a local business you will likely use email in multiple ways. First, possibly to reach out to prospective new clients, ONLY through vendors who can offer verified Opt-In consumer lists, in conjunction with those email addresses you may have acquired from opt-

in responses on your own website. You obtain these addresses as people give you their email in return for access to an Ebook or information offered on your own website. These lists are best purchased and sent out by firms such as Email-List.com, who verifies their consumer lists to be Opt-In and Can-Spam compliant.

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The second list should be your existing customer list, the one you periodically contact with offers and pertinent industry and company news, primarily to keep your name in front of them so it is top of mind when they think of using services you offer.

You also need to decide if you will manage email distribution yourself, or through an outside (fee-based) email marketing consultant. As stated previously, you need to realize that most email hosting services place strict restrictions on the sending of unsolicited emails to avoid the appearance of SPAM. That is why it’s imperative to use firms such as Email-List.com to send new prospect lists. In addition, when you wish to contact larger groups of “opted-in” people or businesses (such as a growing existing customer base list) it is valuable to have a third party email marketing company handle distribution. One of the better and more reasonable companies in this business is called “Aweber” and can be reached HERE.

However you choose to handle your email distribution, it is extremely important to recognize the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003—a law that set the standards for commercial

email usage— which dictates that it must be easy for subscribers to opt out of receiving emails, and those opt-out requests must be honored in a timely fashion. One such “opt-out” message might look like this:

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7. Inexpensive Postcard Mailings

There are many advantages to marketing to both potential as well as existing customers with postcard mailings. First, it’s a relatively inexpensive means to introduce your business to potential new customers, making certain to, similarly to your emails, have a website address, or even simply a web link to an “Intro” or “Explainer”

video where potential customers can click-through and learn more about your business.

Secondly, postcards are an excellent way, again, similarly and in conjunction with emails, to keep your name in front of your existing customer base so, again, it is top of mind when they think of using services you offer.

And thirdly, unlike enveloped postage, if properly designed, postcards tell your story almost the instant they are handled by your customer. Whether or not they decide to open the envelope and read an enclosed letter or note, a postcard “screams” your message the moment they pick it up.

If you choose to design your postcards in-house, they can be produced

quite inexpensively through discount printers, such as this one (ie. 5 1/2” X

8 1/2” full color, both sides. 1000 copies for less than $0.07

each): Bargain Basement Printing. This

vendor, along with many other discount

printers, require your image file to be

converted into a .pdf file. A Free .pdf print

conversion program may be found HERE.

Once you have your design, and your postcards are printed, you will need to produce sheets of labels derived from your Excel file customer list. This is easily accomplished with help from MS Word, and instructions on how to achieve this can be found HERE.

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You may, however, not be so inclined to design, develop and mail postcards to new and existing clients yourself. In which case, there is an organization who charges reasonable fees to provide these services. You can even supply your own lists. This company is called ExpressCopy.com and can be found HERE.

Whatever method you decide, postcard mailings are a valuable addition to your overall local business marketing strategy and can assist you with both new customer campaigns, as well as existing customer contacts.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Seven inexpensive, but profitable methods to help to grow your local business. Use it as you will. No Charge.

But, remember the words of that famous author and motivational speaker, Jeffrey Gitomer, “Listening, followed by doing, leads to mastery”.