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If You Don’t Promote Your Summertime Services Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

Last Updated: May 21, 2019

Now that summer is only a month away, let’s talk about how you want to promote your summertime services.

We need to start looking at what you can do right now to boost your bookings this summer. Especially since your competitors probably aren’t planning ahead—which gives you an edge.

This post will arm you with some strategy ideas to help you book better jobs this season. Let’s jump in!

How to Book Better Jobs Than Your Competitors This Summer

The truth is, most people don’t plan ahead. They won’t remember to update their website or social media to highlight their seasonal offerings. And they certainly won’t think to campaign for a specific service months in advance.

Thankfully, you’re smarter than most people.

If you start advertising now, you’ll beat your competitors to the punch this summer. You’ll also put yourself in a strong position to cherry-pick your favorite jobs and book up your calendar through Labor Day.

Which Services Should You Promote?

Getting started is simple. Just think about the one or two jobs you would love to do all summer long, and advertise the heck out of them.

For example, here’s what some savvy businesses are doing to prepare for the season:

Landscapers are targeting homeowners who want to get their backyards and patios ready for summer.

Cleaners and junk haulers are pushing to help people with their big clean-out projects.

Home builders and remodelers are getting in front of people who put off their construction projects until it’s nicer outside.

HVAC technicians are marketing central air tune-ups in preparation for hotter temperatures.

Tax attorneys are marketing to people who are now in a panic about filing late or who had an issue with their returns.

Paving contractors are targeting homeowners and business owners who need new asphalt installation or resurfacing now that the weather is more cooperative.

Appliance repair technicians are seeking RV owners who need to service their special-sized appliances before taking their campers out on the road.

Mobile audio installers are marketing to boat and RV owners who want to optimize their stereo systems before the season officially begins.

Plumbers on the East Coast are promoting sump pump installation and backflow prevention ahead of hurricane season.

Basement waterproofers are also getting ahead of hurricane season by pushing drainage systems, sump pumps, and waterproofing panels.

What Promotional Strategies Should You Use?

Once you’ve chosen the summertime service(s) you want to promote, here are the next steps:

Dedicated web page. Make sure you have a corresponding page on your website for each service you wish to promote. Not only will this provide more information to interested site visitors, but it will also improve your credibility in Google’s view.

Pay-per-click (PPC). Get out in front of your competitors by starting a Google AdWords campaign for your specific service. This way, you’ll show up whenever someone in your area searches for that type of work.

Facebook Ads. Start a Facebook ad campaign and pop up in your target audience’s news feed! You’ll stay top of mind for that service they’ve been thinking about but haven’t pulled the trigger on yet.

Social media. Make adjustments to your social media profiles to showcase your summertime services. This way, when a potential customer visits your site or page, they’ll see it right away. You should also create posts and photos about these services to further boost your reach.

So… do you have a specific service you want to prioritize this summer?

Then get to work ASAP.

Or, if you need some guidance, give us a call or shoot us a message now. We’ll get you set up with a powerful campaign to boost your bookings this summer.

SEO: Start From the Bottom, Climb Your Way to the Top

Last Updated: January 18, 2018

Does SEO really take as long as all the marketing specialists say? A good number of people are out there promising much faster results, so there must be a loophole the marketers aren’t telling you, right?
We wish we had better news for you. However, the reality is that achieving a strong presence on Google and the rest of the web requires time, effort, and patience. Anyone who promises you instant results is just trying to sell you snake oil. Keep reading to find out why SEO takes time, contrary to what certain salespeople say.

Think of SEO Like Getting in Shape

When you do it right, SEO takes time. It’s a long, ongoing process. You’ll see gradual results bit by bit as your web presence grows stronger until finally, one day, you realize you’re getting tons of website traffic, Facebook likes, and customer calls and emails.
In this way, SEO is just like anything else in life that requires an investment of time and effort. For example, when you want to lose weight and get in shape long-term, you know you have to eat right and exercise over a period of several months. “Magic” diet pills and cleanses may promise overnight results, but they very rarely deliver. And if they do, the results certainly don’t last, and they don’t make you any healthier.
The same is true when optimizing your web presence: If you want vital, long-lasting results, you have to put in the time and effort for a minimum of 90 days. Any shady service promising you a silver bullet or page-1 rankings overnight isn’t going to help your business grow in a meaningful way.
After all, SEO is a means to an end—in other words, getting the top position for one of your services isn’t actually the end goal. Rather, as a small business, you’re embarking on an SEO campaign because you ultimately want to attract new customers and build your brand. So, in the same way that number on the scale doesn’t reflect your overall health, neither does your Google ranking for one search term reflect how well you’re appealing to local customers.
For increased visibility and an effective web presence, you need to think long-term.

Building a Web Presence Is a Slow Climb

…But the views from the top are worth it!

The graphic above illustrates the multiple steps involved in launching an SEO campaign and building your web presence from the ground up.

The Essentials

First, you should start small with local directories. You must represent your business’s information accurately on a variety of quality, credible directories. Doing so lends your business some authenticity in Google’s eyes.
Next, you create a Google My Business account and create a Google Maps listing. This is a requirement in order to appear in local searches on Google.
Then, you supplement your online listings with an attractive website and valuable, high-quality on-page content. This is how search engines learn the different types of services and/or products you offer. Essentially, it helps Google put your business into context so it can better represent you in search results. Plus, having plenty of well-written website content makes your business easier to find by voice search.
Once you’ve established your online credibility and have a website that draws visitors in, you can put your business on all of the major social media platforms (namely Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+). Doing so will further cement your authenticity for Google. Moreover, social media is yet another vehicle with which you can reach your local customers.
At this point, you could end your efforts and wait for your online visibility to ramp up. We typically advise our clients to give their campaigns at least 90 days to reach full strength. However, this waiting period can vary depending on how crowded your local market is. For example, if you’re located in a densely populated metro area like New York, Dallas, or Miami, you’ll have a lot of competition, and your campaign may take longer to rise to the top. Conversely, if you’re located in a sparsely populated area with few competitors, your campaign may take off sooner.

Paid Ads

However, if you really want to take your web presence as high as it can go, you can add a paid advertising campaign, too. Generally, you should try paid advertising, particularly pay-per-click (PPC), after you’ve completed all of the previous steps. This is for two reasons: 1) You’ll be able to keep costs down once your credibility has been established with SEO; 2) You will have a better chance at turning clicks into leads if the webpage your ad links to is attractive, informative, and persuasive.
At the same time, there are a few, highly specific situations in which PPC will be more effective than SEO for your immediate, short-term goals. These are situations in which demand is super high for a short period of time. For example, if you offer roof repair services and a major storm recently left a lot of people with damaged roofs, you’ll want to capitalize on this urgent demand and run PPC ads ASAP. Considering your customers will be highly motivated at the jump, your lack of depth on the web won’t be as much of a factor. Please keep in mind, though, that this kind of scenario is a rare exception to the rule. Generally speaking, you really ought to develop your web presence before running a PPC campaign.

Be Patient and Persistent

With enough time—and occasional tweaking, if necessary—your web presence will grow and expand. It’s inevitable. We speak for all SEO practitioners when we ask you to remain patient and trust the process. We know it’s difficult to wait, especially when you’ve made a financial investment in your campaign, but time is truly the most important factor when it comes to building a web presence. So, whatever you do, don’t fall for any snake oil that claims otherwise. SEO takes time, period.
Good luck!

Why You Need High-Quality Images on Social Media to Build Trust

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

It’s no secret you need photos and images to fill out your website. After all, who wants to look at a website that’s 100% text? This is one of the reasons we’re always asking our clients to send us pictures of their business. Whether they’re group shots of the whole staff, pictures of your storefront or office building, or photos of your company truck on various job sites, you need to populate your website with pictures so visitors are more likely to trust you.
However, pictures are equally important outside of your website. From Google Maps listings to Facebook pages, and all the business directories in-between, there are a whole host of places you need to display high-quality images of your business in order to attract customers.
You see, with the way local search operates these days, it’s not uncommon for people to find and call a local business without ever visiting their website. Often, they get all the information they need from Google, Facebook, or a directory like Yelp. Therefore, it’s critical to establish trust on all of these popular channels with an assortment of high-quality images.
So what kinds of images do you need on your directory listings and social media pages, and why? Keep reading to find out!

A Profile Picture Shows Customers You’re a Real Business

When someone does a local search and sees your company’s page or listing in the search results, one of the first things that jumps out is your profile picture. If you don’t have one, users are likely to look past your listing. Why? Because you won’t look as established or as credible as other businesses that have a professional-looking photo next to their names.
When people are searching the web for local businesses, they’re essentially searching for a company they feel they can trust. As we all know, the Internet has a scam or rip-off around every corner; people are rightfully wary. That’s why you need to prove your authenticity from the get-go with a recognizable profile picture (think: your logo, a company truck, a shot of your storefront, or a team picture). Right away, a profile picture helps you demonstrate that you are, in fact, a real business and not some fly-by-night operation.

A Logo Demonstrates Your Value and Professionalism

Ideally, you’ll have a logo to use as your profile picture. A logo acts as your company’s identity—a quick visual aid people will remember when they think about you. It also shows people you’re not some slapdash operation, but rather, a savvy business that took the time to think about its identity and presentation. As a result, customers will associate a higher value with your business.
So, if you have a logo for your business, use it for all of your profile pictures on listings and social media pages. Having it as your profile picture will demonstrate your value and authenticity right away. Plus, consistency across multiple channels will further establish your professionalism in customers’ minds.
If you don’t have a logo yet, have Prospect Genius’s talented graphic designer create one for you!

A Photo Gallery Makes You Stand Out From the Competition

Once users have actually clicked on your listing or social media page, they want to see what makes you uniquely qualified to meet their needs. This is where having an abundance of photos puts you above the competition. Show off previous jobs you’ve completed, share action shots of your team on the job, and “aww” us with adorable pets. In other words, highlight the unique personality of your company. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal.
As much as customers want to learn about your qualifications and service offerings, they also want to see the human side of your business. That’s what will distinguish you from other companies nearby that offer the same services.

A Cover Photo Acts as a Virtual Storefront

Lindsay Kolowich of Hubspot says, “Having a social media profile without a cover photo is like having a brick-and-mortar business without a store sign.”
The majority of social media pages and online directory listings now include cover photos. Cover photos take up a lot of space at the top of the page, so leaving this large section blank is not a good look. Instead, cover photos are a good opportunity to capture people’s attention and show off an important aspect of your business. Many times, a picture of your real-life storefront (if you have one) will work well here, because, again, it shows customers you’re a real place. However, you could also use this space to highlight your favorite service offering, a special discount, or a large group photo.
Bottom line: You need a high-quality image as your cover photo to captivate your audience and display more of your personality. Leaving it blank is not an option.

Photos Are All About Building Trust

Photos are especially crucial for local service providers like appliance repairmen, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and so on. In these types of trades, you travel to people’s homes and businesses to complete a job. This means people have to feel comfortable letting you into their building before they hire you. If your listing or social media page doesn’t prove to them you’re a real business, they’re not going to trust you. If they don’t trust you, they’re not going to call you for the job.
So, to recap, the ideal Google listing or Facebook page will have:

A professional logo as your profile picture
Quality photos of you and your team members on the job, as well as your completed work
A high-quality photo of your storefront
- Not a brick-and-mortar business? Use your company truck or van. It’s essentially your storefront on wheels.

Ready to submit more pictures for your website or off-page promotion? Need us to design a logo for you? Don’t hesitate to reach out! We want to set you up for the most success possible.

Three Tools to Vitalize Your Prospect Genius Campaign

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Want more add-on options for your Prospect Genius campaign? Looking for ways to get more bang for your buck? Then, keep reading—because we have some great options for you.
As you know, we’re committed to growing with our clients. We aren’t interested in quick fixes. Instead, we want long-term visibility and lead generation for you. That’s why we’re always evaluating our service offerings and updating them to fit our clients’ evolving needs.
As such, we’re excited to discuss three tools that can give your campaign a boost and take your business to the next level. Not all of them are new to our catalog of services, but they’re all increasingly relevant to today’s online marketing demands.
Ready to discover the new directions your online marketing campaign can take you? Let’s jump in!

1. Get More Jobs by Answering More Calls

Already seeing some success with incoming leads? Capture more of what’s already coming to you by taking advantage of our partnership with Professional Answering Service, Inc. Working with this business answering service will help you turn more of those leads into paying customers because it will significantly decrease the number of calls you miss.
As noted by an article in Forbes, close to 80% of callers won’t leave a voice mail if their call is missed, which likely means they’re giving up on that particular business and moving on to a competitor. The key is not to let your incoming calls go to voice mail. Professional Answering Service, Inc. will help you do this.
Prospect Genius recently announced a new partnership with Professional Answering Service, Inc. to help our clients win more customers. When you’re out on a job or you’re away from your desk for the weekend, the staff at Professional Answering Service, Inc. will be able to:

Answer calls on your behalf
Represent your business professionally
Take messages
Schedule appointments
Answer basic customer questions
And more!

Best of all, our partnership provides an exclusive discount for Prospect Genius clients! Professional Answering Service, Inc. will be reaching out to all of our clients soon to see if you’re interested in their help, so keep an eye out. And if you have any questions about their services, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to make it easier for you to land more jobs!

2. Increase Your Visibility by Thinking Outside the Search Box

What if we told you a substantial number of local business searches never even make it to Google? It’s true. People are increasingly crowdsourcing on social media before they ever turn to search engines. They’re asking their network of friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances for personal recommendations for everything from landscapers to hair salons to pediatricians. They’d rather choose a business based on a recommendation from someone they know than take a chance on a business they’ve never heard of.
This is where having an active social media presence is crucial for your business. If people are making recommendations for local businesses on Facebook, for example, they’ll want to tag you so their friend can see your page right away. It saves prospective customers a few extra steps in the search process and makes it easier for them to discover you. And anything that makes it easier for prospective customers to find you should always be at the top of your to-do list.
To help you with your social media outreach, Prospect Genius offers a few different options:

SocialStart—If you don’t have any social media pages at all, we’ll set them up for you and create attractive profiles that will impress prospective customers.
SocialStream—We create compelling and valuable blog content on your behalf and share it across your social media channels. As a result, prospective customers will see you’re engaged with your audience and knowledgeable about your industry.
SocialBuzz—We keep you active and engaged on social media by posting weekly updates on your behalf. These brief posts cover your hobbies, interests, local news, and other topics that highlight the personality behind your business.
Paid Facebook Ads—We’ll target your ads according to specific topics and interests. Then, Facebook will display your ads on the news feeds of matching users. In other words, your ads will be placed right in front of prospective customers!

Interested in expanding your visibility with the help of social media? Give us a call for more details.

3. Improve Your Reputation by Getting More Customer Reviews

As we mentioned above, people almost always look for recommendations from previous customers before they commit to a business. And if they can’t find personal recommendations from people they know in real life, they’ll turn to online reviews. A 2016 survey by BrightLocal supports this. According to its findings, 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends.
Needless to say, most people do their research before hiring a business. So if you don’t provide your prospective customers with adequate information about why they should hire you, you’ll miss out on lots of potential business.
That’s precisely why customer reviews are so crucial. On top of that, your local Google listing is directly affected by your customer reviews. How? Google now displays your business’s “average” star rating as soon as the first review is posted on your listing. You obviously don’t want your star rating determined by just one or two reviews, so it’s in your best interest to accumulate as many reviews as possible.
To achieve this, we recommend signing up with a company like Customer Lobby. Customer Lobby is a service that will contact past customers for reviews on your behalf, integrate those reviews with your website and social media, and even help you add them to your Google listing. We use Customer Lobby for our own marketing efforts, and we’ve had a great experience with the automated process. We barely have to lift a finger.

Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck!

Now that you’ve already invested in an online marketing campaign from Prospect Genius, why not get the most out of it that you can? By adding any of the above tools to your campaign, your business will take off in new and exciting ways.
Reach out to us today to find out more!

How You Can Use Word of Mouth to Edge Out the Competition

Last Updated: March 9, 2017

Does it feel like David vs. Goliath out there for your small business?
Big companies may be able to outspend you on ad campaigns and merchandising, but there are areas where ad spend has no power. One such area is word of mouth. Glowing reviews and personal referrals are just as good as—if not better than—any marketing money can buy. As long as you consistently deliver satisfying products and/or services, there will inevitably be some chatter about you. Your customers will mention you in conversation and may even give your name when asked for a referral.
In other words, big companies may have a leg up on spending, but no one has a monopoly on customer satisfaction.
Here’s how you can leverage word of mouth and give your small business the competitive edge it needs.

Online Reviews Are the New Word of Mouth

It’s easy to spread word of mouth through the digital grapevine. With the prominence of online communities like Facebook, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, and even Google Maps, word travels fast.
Online, word of mouth exists in the form of customer reviews. You can establish your brand reputation just by delivering a memorable experience that customers will want to write about.

READ: How to Get More Customer Reviews Just by Asking for Them

Whether they’re on your social media pages or your directory listings, customer reviews are like word of mouth from strangers. In fact, a recent study revealed that 84% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from their friends. So if you’re a small business owner, all you have to do is wow your customers and ask them to leave you reviews online. The reviews will speak for themselves, as long as you have enough of them.
Here are some tricks to help you get started on collecting enough customer reviews:

Use an on-page feedback form or button right on your website.
Ask the customer directly during your interactions, and mention which site (e.g. Facebook, Yelp, etc.) you prefer them to use.
Send reminders in follow-up e-mails and even invoices.
Offer incentives for leaving a review, like coupons or small freebies.

Old-Fashioned Word of Mouth Still Works, Too

While the dynamics of social media and online interactions change, people are still the same. They still want to hear from friends and family—people they trust—about their personal recommendations.
For instance, when looking for a team to install new windows, they’ll probably first turn to anyone they know who recently had a home renovation. Failing that, they’ll probably use Facebook, a virtual megaphone, to shout from the rooftop and ask for all of their online friends’ recommendations. Think about it: You’ve probably seen at least one friend on Facebook do that this week.
At the same time, people are often looking out for each other. If they recently had a positive experience with any business from a roofing contractor to a new restaurant in town, they’re likely to speak up if they think one of their friends or family members would appreciate it, too.
However, you can further encourage them to speak up by directly asking for referrals. Here are some of our suggestions:

Ask customers at the beginning of your working relationship so they unconsciously keep an eye out for things they like about you.
Offer referral bonuses and incentives, like giving customers a discount on their next purchase when they refer a friend.
Surprise customers with unexpected freebies and other perks that keep them happy and wanting to gush about you.
Make referrals easy by providing customers with a clear form to fill out. Minimizing guesswork or confusion will make them much more likely to follow through with a referral.

A Positive Experience Is Invaluable

Ultimately, leaving customers with a positive experience and a good impression is the best way to build your reputation.
Susan Ward of The Balance offers a simple guideline:

To get good word of mouth building about your small business, think about what makes up a pleasant customer experience in your case and make sure that all the elements that would contribute to such an experience are in their best shape.

When it comes to word of mouth, there’s no substitute for customer satisfaction. You’ll have the edge over the big guys by giving your customers the personal care, friendly service, and attention to detail only a small business can provide. Use this to your advantage! Give them an experience they’ll be raving about.

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