A small business can greatly benefit from advertising online. Entrepreneurs should explore all possible means to promote their business and extend their reach through the online market. Using free online tools can be an effective way to advertise and help your business grow. What are some of these online tools?
Facebook Pages
Facebook allows its users to create business or fan pages. Through these pages, a business can be promoted for free, and people can learn about any available products and/or services. Information like contact numbers and the business address can be provided on the page. Photos and specials from the business can also be posted online.
Google Places
Similar to Yellow Pages, business owners get to have a listing on Google which will turn up when potential customers search for specific services online. Post information like contact numbers, address, opening and closing hours are listed. Customers will also see directions to the place because Google will provide a map listing of the business.
Blog pages
Entrepreneurs can make use of blogging platforms to promote their business online. They can write search engine optimized articles which can drive traffic to their website. Basic information about their business can be posted along with pictures of their facilities or services. Customers can also interact with the entrepreneur through the comments box when they have inquiries.
Banners
Collaborating with other small business owners won’t hurt. Have custom banners made which feature the name and website of the business. Better yet, make them have click-through links to lead customers straight to the business’ home page. Exchange links and post their banners on the business’ blog page as well. This way, both businesses will benefit from each other.
e-Bay
Posting products for sale online is also a great way to let people know about a business. Give the potential customers information on product quality to entice them to purchase it. Upload quality pictures to give them a clear representation of the products they are about to buy.
Multiply
This photo sharing website has become a popular online market. For businesses which sell various products, this is a great place to post pictures of their merchandise. Customers can also communicate with the business owner through direct messages or photo comments.
Above are just some of the tools which small business owners can use to help promote their business online. What are the benefits of these online tools?
- They are free and take less than a few minutes to sign up or create.
- They require only little effort. A few hours a day is enough to take care of these accounts.
- Online pages need no extra manpower; the business owner can manage these pages alone.
- They make the business visible to a wider range of customers from all over the world.
A small business can grow faster if properly managed and advertised. With the help of these easy to use internet tools, entrepreneurs can make their business expand at little to no cost at all!
on
Use Invoiceberry (www.invoiceberry.com) to promote your business in a professional way by creating customized invoices.
on
I have had a small business for over 31 years. On March 5, 2012 Google Places deleted my business listing based on a report from “anonymous” that we had gone out of business. Almost 2 months later, I am still struggling with Google Places to get our listing back. Over 40 emails, 4 faxes, 2 priority mail letters, and Google is still messing with my company. We have been hurt seriously by this and once it is straightened out, it will take us a year or more to fix the financial damage.
In struggling with Google Places about this, I have found that hundreds of businesses are having the same problem with Google and it does not seem to care.
I would warn any company that depends on Google Places to (1) get listed on every business site they can find, (2) get good lisings on every search engine, (3) check their Google Places listing every single day so they can react quickly if Google Places deletes them. They should also immediately have a good web page designed and work to get it well situated on the internet. It takes months for web crawlers to pickup on your listings but it can help if Google Places decides to push a few buttons and close your listings.
I think that eventually Google will run into legal problems because of its poor handling of small businesses, but until then, every company that depends on Google needs to strengthen itself in the event Google comes after them
Google had my business phone number, email address, and my business address but made no effort to find out if we were still in business. One report from “anonymous” and we were gone.
on
I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience with this issue. As Steve mentions, this is a known issue and it can be difficult to get some things resolved in the ways that you’ve mentioned. However, the best and simplest option may be to re-claim and re-verify your listing. This will require you to verify it by phone or by postcard, as you likely did when you first set up the listing. If you can provide us with the link to your Places listing or your business details I’ll be happy to investigate further and provide you with better insight and advice.
on
Thanks for sharing your story, that very unfortunate. We’re very sorry to hear that. It seems like Google’s for Places support is less than stellar; it’s something we’ve written about before: https://www.techwyse.com/blog/internet-marketing/highlighting-google-places-known-issues/
My best advice is to keep your places listing active by adding and swapping out media and also do citation building i.e. creating instances of your address elsewhere on the web so that Google can find your address elsewhere, this lends authority to your listing.
Best of luck with your issue and keep us updated if there are any developments, we’re very interested to hear them.