One of the biggest mistakes we can make is not having a schedule for marketing. If you were to do one small thing each day, something you schedule on an electronic calendar so you don't forget, you will reach more customers.

What can that "one thing" be? Perhaps a cold call to a commercial prospect, or maybe a cool but informative Facebook post that would appeal to your ideal client type. A couple of post card reminders wouldn't hurt as well.

Yes... this is a familiar scene. The Yellow Page book wrapped in plastic before being tossed somewhere near the front porch of a house that has occupants that will probably just recycle it. If you are a business owner, you need to take advantage of the "new" Yellow Pages - your website. There is an upcoming event in Atlanta, May 2-3, called the Internet Strategies Training Camp. This training camp is about you doing all your own online marketing.

Take a look: Website and SEO marketing seminar.

Here's a really cool way of looking at a business building principle... I got this from one of the eCleanAdvisor.com tips sent out every Friday.  

Beware The Dollar Store Syndrome!
by Lee Pemberton - the Educational Marketing Guy

The Dollar Store Syndrome will crush you when you are a service provider like
we are in the cleaning industry! Lower prices are not going to build your
customer base.

Dollar stores sell commodities, and price is key for commodity sales. So when
selling commodities,unless you're the 900-pound gorilla in a commodity market,
(like WalMart and Target, or the Dollar Stores), you get splattered!

But you can't sell your cleaning services like that. Being a premium-priced
service guy in your town is actually a good thing. Not only does it mean decent
profit margins; it also means more respect for you.

If you are under the impression that low price is a virtue in your business,
it's time to ditch that concept.

 Here's the real deal:

Instead of asking yourself: "How low do we have to go to get customers to
buy?"

Here's the real question you should ask:

"How can I add enough VALUE to what I already sell so that people will pay
what it is really worth?"

 That's exactly what businesses like Whole Foods and your local convenience
stores have done. 

However, these stores are great marketers, and they educate you to their
value and its benefit for you. And they do it constantantly. 

There's always a way to charge more. And there are always people willing to
pay a fair price for value received.

When sitting in a seminar recently and listening to a group of website and SEO folks discuss ways to take advantage of all the search engines, one gentleman said if you "make it work with Google" it will work with all the others as well.

Makes sense. If you optimize your site with the "big dog" then the others will see you as well.

Here's a quick tip for optimizing your carpet cleaning website or optimizing your water damage restoration website:

Build lists of bulletin points that can honesty repeat strong keywords. You do not want to engage in "keyword stuffing". But there is a way to repeat strong keywords that won't get you in trouble. For instance, like this:

#1 Carpet cleaning tip for Columbus OH homeowners: (write a sentence or two here with a "do it yourself" tip
#2 Carpet cleaning tip for Columbus OH homeowners: (same thing... write another tip...)

With a list of 5 or so that has strong content, you are able to repeat some strong keywords.

Well, I'm back on an airplane after a couple of days at Connections in Las Vegas.

Did my very brief presentation on how to combine your social media and website campaigns, with one suggestion that everyone have a blog on their website, link it to your Facebook page, and let the two platforms work together to get more traffic to websites.

One thing I added is to my presentation that I've neglected to include in the past is how you should "ping" the search engines occasionally to let them "know" you have fresh content. For instance, after I post this blog comment, I'll use http://www.pingomatic.com/ to inform the search engines that I have fresh content. It's a free, simple way to do a little bit more to get more traffic to your website.

For local marketing purposes, which is what you work at as a carpet cleaning or disaster restoration business owner, "pinging" like this is quick and easy and may help you get more website traffic.

So if you are engaged in carpet cleaning marketing, water damage marketing or really any type of website optimization, give it a shot. Can't hurt.

I've posted this before on Facebook, but at a recent TBU seminar when I talked about the competition, some attendees were really flustered with not only rental machines but also those foamy sprays and powders some consumers use on their carpet.

My recommendation is the same. Have a page on your website with cleaning tips, really good advice for your customers to consider when they want to clean their own carpet. After laying it all out there, with a nice introductory special for your company to do the work, you will get jobs.

You have to think why they clean their own carpet. It's not always about the money. It could be another reason, such as not sure who to hire and so they just do it themselves.

Yep, I created a new website for my TBU workshops but after the Internet Strategies session, haven't done much with it. I have to say that Gary Arndts, the SEO expert I work with, does keep everyone moving forward with suggestions.

It's important that all business owners (or those designated by them) keep their website development fresh and progressive. Eventually I won't be guilty of procrastination. I figure that day will come... soon.

Don't miss the next carpet cleaning marketing or disaster restoration marketing workshop coming soon to an area near you.

I'm at the Totally Booked University Internet Strategies training camp and I'm testing linking my new "Hot Marketing Tips" blog to my Facebook page. If you are seeing this... that is why :)

This Hot Marketing Tips blog page will be my portal to sharing ideas and strategies for finding more customers for your carpet cleaning or restoration business. Stuff I've learned or stuff I've heard about. It's all about learning something new every day.

I'm sitting here at the Totally Booked University "Internet Strategies" in Columbus, OH - at the Cleanserv Interlink Supply classroom. Gary Arndts is the instructor and I have to say, there are so many things you can do with your website to get more traffic and customers that you can sit at your computer all day long, every day, and never really be done. But that's OK. If you do a little bit every day (or have someone else do it) you will be way ahead of the game. Your carpet cleaning and restoration marketing plan should include doing something every day.