Why You Won’t Find Me In A Google Search
By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter
From the “know your target market/ideal client”
file
This past week I got a cold call from a marketing group offering to make me the #1 search result on Google. My reply was "No thanks, I already am." (Have been for years and I didn't pay one dime for SEO.)
You won’t find me if you search on "Marketing consultants" or
“Marketing consultants Albuquerque.” For two good reasons:
1. There are thousands of large firms who have “marketing
consultants” key words plastered all over their sites (and many have
also spent $$ on sponsored links.)
2. I don’t want to be lost in the crowd of marketing consultants who
do “color” marketing (brochures, ads, trade show exhibits, logos, etc.)
I do “black & white” marketing – focusing on such things as
product development and launch, go-to-market plans, pricing strategies,
competitive positioning, and channel development. I also advise on
tactical marketing which includes all that fun color stuff, so people
can spend their budget wisely. (You may well not ever need a
brochure…and don’t go to a trade show without a:
pre-qualifying/verifying the attendees [all trade shows claim "decision
makers" but you may well get there and find Joe Bob, the help desk tech,
out on his one big fun trip of the year]; b. a follow-up plan for the
leads you do get.)
You will, however, immediately find me if you search on “Mary
Schmidt,” “Marketing Troubleshooter” or “Marketing Troubleshooter
Albuquerque.” I’m also the first result for marketing troubleshooting, one hour business plan
(for a simple one-page PDF), Entrepreneur Sanity Check, Friday Martini
Time, Tooni Musing.
You’re thinking, “But, Mary…would people look for you
with those words?” Well, the ones I want to find me will (and
do). I get just about all of my biz through referrals (via past clients
and blog links) and personal contacts. People invariably comment on
the term “Marketing Troubleshooter” on my biz card (”Wow, you must be
busy…”), so it has some mental retention factor. And, I talk up the
one-hour biz plan PDF as well as my blogging topics such as entrepreneur
sanity check and – yes – Friday Martini Time. People look for those.
(You also won’t find me if you search for “marketing experts” – since
I loathe the “e” word, particularly as applied to marketing. Way,
way too many self-anointed experts out there selling snake oil of
all flavors.)
Note, however, that this works for sole proprietor, hired brain me. And, if you want to sell a lot of product or services via the Web, you'll need to practice both the art and science of SEO. But, do your own research first before hiring a group that promises you "#1" results. (If you don't know what SEO is, that's a good place to start.;-)
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