Local Business Marketing VS. Affiliate Marketing

One of the hurdles we have to face when entering local business marketing is learning how to get over our fear of dealing with local business owners. We often say that one of the attractions of being an affiliate marketer is that we can make money “hiding” behind our computers. We don’t have to deal with people on a one-on-one basis.

Of course, this isn’t entirely true anymore either.

To be really successful as an affiliate marketer these days one has to brand themselves by “getting out there” in the public eye, conducting webinars, and being very transparent about themselves and their business. This builds that “Know, Like, and Trust” factor that is so important these days in developing that relationship with your potential customers. It’s what separates mediocre affiliates from really successful ones.

So gravitating to local business marketing should not be so tough of a transition IF you have been doing things the right way from the start.

A Local Business Marketing Tactic You Can Use

However, you do need a strategy when approaching local business owners with the services that your local business marketing company provides. How do you “break the ice”?

It can be a daunting task to get up the nerve to walk into a business and ask to see the owner, and then start delivering a sales pitch on what it is your company does, and how you can help them get more customers. There’s a reason why really good sales people make really good money. So, if you’re not one of those blessed individuals who has the “gift of gab”, how do you get your foot in the door?

The Lykd.it Facebook App provides you an opportunity to demonstrate to a local business owner exactly the kind of services you offer. But Lykd.it is MORE than just a Facebook App. It can take any url, whether it’s an affiliate link or not, and turn it into an attention getting web page called a Fan Gate. And that’s perfect for marketing to local businesses.

In this example, I have created a Lykt.it Fan Gate for a business called the Blue Ribbon Grill.

You’ve probably seen Fan Gates before. It’s simply a Facebook Page that asks you to click the “Like” button before the content it is offering to you is revealed. It’s a slick marketing method designed to get the number of “Likes” to your page increased.

The beauty of Lykd.it is that you can do the same thing with any web page, NOT JUST FACEBOOK PAGES!

So think of the potential of this.

You can create a Lykd.it Fan Gate Link for a business, and then send it to them in a brief email outlining the viral nature of Facebook, and how powerful Facebook is, and ask them to take a look at the link. When they click on the link, they will see their web site, blurred in the background, with a “Like” box asking them to click the “Like” button in order to receive some type of offer. This can be any offer that the business chooses, but in our example, we actually use an offer the business is promoting at the time (more on this in a minute).

At the top of the page is a message that explains that the average Facebook user has 130 friends, which means that each person who “Likes” the box will be showing that they like the business on their Facebook Wall to a potential 130 more people. And then if any of those people click on the link and “Like” the business, then it gets posted on their wall, and so on. Thus, the viral nature of Facebook. There is also a link inviting the business owner to sign up to create their own Fan Gates. If they do, then you would make 50% in commissions.

There are two types of Fan Gate links you can create, “Live and Demo”. “Live” would be if you want the link to be actively promoting the website and offer, for instance, if you wanted to promote an affiliate offer. “Demo” is what you will use if you are creating a Fan Gate to “demo” to a local business. The difference between the two is that the message mentioned above that displays at the top of the Fan Gate, offering the application for purchase, is not visible in the “Live” version.

And, you can also create coupons within the application, so that when the user clicks the “Like” button it takes them straight to the coupon offer.

Now let me ask you something.

Do you think a business owner would be impressed seeing their own web site with a “Like” box overlaid over the top, and would they see the power of  displaying their offer in this way? If the business is spending their advertising dollars another way, then you can explain that they can pay a LOT less by creating their own Fan Gates and coupons, and potentially reach 1000s of customers because of the viral nature of Facebook. Or, if they prefer, you can manage their campaign for them for a small monthly fee.

One other thing you might consider doing in your email to the business would be to close out by stating that you are a local business marketing company and that you have many services that you provide to help local businesses grow. Then just provide your contact information. This is what they call in the “sales game” as a “soft sell”. You’re not hitting the business owner over the head with a hard sales pitch. You’re simply displaying a tool that they can purchase if they so desire, and if they are interested in other services you might provide, they can check out your website, email you, or call your business number. The decision is up to them with no pressure.

Local Business Marketing 101

Does it sound good so far?

It gets even better.

Remember when I mentioned that I created the Blue Ribbon Grill Fan Gate above using an actual offer that the business was advertising? How did I find that offer to use? How did I find the company’s website? How did I get their contact information or email?

Have you ever heard of Valpak.com?

If you’re in the U.S. then perhaps you’ve received their packet of business coupons in the mail.

What Valpak does is they produce and distribute coupons from local businesses to homeowners in a particular geographical area. But they also have their website where they list the businesses and the offers they are providing. And many of these businesses have their website listed.

So now you have available the url and the business offer that you can use to create the Fan Gate.

You should then also go to the business website and see if their contact information is available. Usually you will find either an actual email address or a contact form that you can use. Then simply create your introductory message and send them the Fan Gate.

In the Lykd.it Facebook App Control Panel are statistics for each Fan Gate that you create named Visits, Skips, Likes, and Reached. These statistics will help you determine how successful your Fan Gates are doing.

“Visits” will show you how many times your Fan Gate has been viewed.

“Skips” will show you how many times the visitor bypassed the “Like” button.

“Likes” will show you how many times your visitors hit the “Like” button.

“Reached” will show you how many potential people will see the link (based on the average 130 Facebook friends per person).

If you are using the Fan Gates for local business marketing then checking the “Visits” statistics will give you an indication if the business actually read your communication and checked out the Fan Gate you created for them. If they purchased, then great! You might want to follow up with the business in a few weeks to see how the App is working for them and reminding them of the other local business marketing services that your company provides to help local businesses grow. If they didn’t, then you might follow up with them in a few days just to remind them about the power of Facebook and the Lydt.it Facebook App.

Remember, it usually takes someone a total of 7 times on average before they decide to purchase something. So don’t get discouraged if a business doesn’t respond right away. There could be a variety of reasons why they haven’t.

Just stay the course and work your marketing plan. Eventually, you will see positive results.

Gary Chappelle is an Internet and Network Marketer, and Trainer who owns and runs many websites, and is the President of Comsult Corporation, an internet marketing company in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He is also the Affiliate Manager at ACME People Search and ACME Phone Leads, affiliate business platforms owned by Tissa Godavitarne of Herndon, Virginia. Gary teaches others how to start a home-based business and earn money online. He is also considered by many as one of the leading SEO experts in the business and his expertise is often in demand. You can check out his blog at http://garychappelle.com.

Mobile Texting is HUGE!

Did you know…

• In the United States alone there are more than 219 million cell phone users.
• 97% of all text messages being sent are read.
• More than 80% of cell phone users keep their phone with them all day long!

And sales of smartphones are expected to explode around the world over the next few years.

The truth is that smartphones are basically mini-computers that can do a lot of the same functions as desktop or laptop computers. They can read email, surf the web, chat, and, of course, do texting. And because they are less expensive than home computers, more and more people from around the world are buying them. It IS the dominant way that people will communicate in the future.

So if you’re a business owner, or someone who does the marketing for a business, imagine being able to reach all of your customers through a text message whenever you want… Could be pretty powerful!

How Does Mobile texting Work?

As an example, imagine you have a local pizza shop as a client of your mobile texting service. And they decide to offer a “Buy One, Get One Free” offer the following day.

Using your mobile texting provider, you could send out a message to all of your client’s subscribers telling them about the deal.

Since most people read their text messages this is an extremely effective marketing method to get customers through the front door or to get them to call and order. And, it can be used over and over again to tell your client’s customers about the latest specials, events, or news pertaining to their business.

Add Mobile Texting to Your Marketing Arsenal

Mobile texting is just one more marketing tool you can offer to you clients.

To be an effective marketing business you need to be able to provide Web Design and Hosting, Facebook Page Design, Google Places Verification, SEO, Mobile Texting, and Phone Lead Generation. The more services you can offer, the more likely it is that you will be hired.

I use EZTexting as my mobile texting provider. They are inexpensive and extremely reliable. I would suggest you check them out.

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Sign up TODAY for your FREE ACME Phone Leads account.

There are 3 main reasons people fail at internet marketing today:

1. Competition
2. Time
3. Money

By helping local businesses grow you can basically eliminate the 3 reasons preventing YOU from succeeding online. A powerful tool to help in that regard is ACME Phone Leads!

Once you sign up for your FREE ACME Phone Leads account, you can download my FREE Report “How to Market to Local Businesses” that shows you how to FINALLY start building a legitimate business online helping local businesses grow. And you can build your list and earn commissions from ACME Phone Leads by giving away this FREE Report which is automatically embedded with your affiliate link.

But if you need further proof that going local is where affiliate marketing is headed then look no further than the search engine leader.

There is a reason Google is moving into the local marketplace. And it’s not out of the goodness of their hearts.

Google follows the money.

So in the last year Google has changed their search algorithms to favor local businesses in their search results. Google Places is a terrific feature that Google has added to its search engine which allows local businesses to easily get on Page 1 of the search results.

So if you want to ride the Google Train then you need to hop on board the future of affiliate marketing and join ACME Phone Leads.
 

Sign up TODAY for your FREE ACME Phone Leads account.

Gary Chappelle is an Internet and Network Marketer, and Trainer who owns and runs many websites, and is the President of Comsult Corporation, an internet marketing company in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He is also Tissa Godavitarne’s Affiliate Manager for ACME People Search and ACME Phone Leads, two affiliate business platforms based out of Herndon, Virginia. Gary teaches others how to start a home-based business and earn money online. He is also considered by many as one of the leading SEO experts in the business and his expertise is often in demand. You can learn more about local lead generation at ACME Phone Leads.