Why Content is the Life Blood of Your Business

The internet is the answer.

The internet has now become, hands down, the go-to resource for people looking for answers.

Online visitors, your future clients or customers, are looking for quality information that’s going to solve their problem.

Your product or service can probably do it. Are you telling people about it? Online? If not, you’re missing out on a HUGE amount of business.

Here’s Why

Content provides the answers. This can be in the form of blog posts, videos, articles, white papers, photos, podcasts, and more.

By producing content that addresses the main concerns of your visitors, you’re proving you know your stuff.

The result?

You’re going to be the one getting the phone calls.

What About Google?

Let’s not forget the mighty search engine (and those other less-used search engines too).

By producing quality content that answers real-life problems, you’re not only going to be discovered by your future clients but also Google too.

In fact, it’s kind of an upward spiral. The more you get found in Google, the more people see you and the more people see you the more Google ranks you higher and so on.

When you’re producing content, you’re really doing it for two groups. One, the people you’re trying to help with your business. And two, the robots at Google who are scanning your stuff.

Without Content, Your Business will Die

That’s a bold statement. But it’s true.

Online visitors, your future clients or customers, are looking for quality information that’s going to solve their problem. If it’s not on your website, they’ll quickly bounce off to your competitor’s website.

Without content, the end result is that your website does little more than to act as sort of a digital business card.

Sure, it provides your hours of operation and business address, but is it providing the content that your visitors are looking for?

And don’t forget Google. If you’re not supplying content that Google can find, your website will get buried!

Being that over 90% of consumers in the U.S. are now looking online for their next service or product, this is kind of a big deal.

The conclusion then is if you’re not marketing online through good quality content, you’re not going to be in business very long.

Start producing content. Start sharing your knowledge. Create a blog. Do videos. Start a podcast. Your business and your pocketbook will thank you!

Naturally, if you need help with content or anything online, we can help!

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Premier Home Repairs House Green Logo by Social Rocketship

Online: The competitive world of being contacted to be contracted!

Social Rocketship adds Premier Home Repairs Inc. as a new client in Woodinville, Washington.

Ever heard of Premier Home Repairs? Not yet, but you will!  Premier Home Repairs was like thousands of other businesses out there who have had no web exposure or presence.  They were feeling a squeeze in their lead flow and came to us, Social Rocketship, to lighten the economic grip.

First thing first!  “What’s your website look like?” we asked.

“We don’t have a site.” They replied.

Believe it or not this is STILL very typical in today’s market nationwide.   Seattle is a city ahead of the curve in many regards.  Boeing, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, for example, drive the market towards technology.  Most residents looking for work, especially home repairs, will find the information to make the right choice online.

{If a company isn’t online that company will miss countless opportunities.}

In the old days information would be gathered from the town square because that’s where the people were.  Today the internet is the town square.

In the past, Premier Home Repairs consciously tried to stay out of the technology scene.  What they were doing was working.  BUT, it was working less and less as more and more people chose the internet as their primary way to find information about home repairs.

“It was time to make a change,” said Derrin Watson, owner of Premier Home Repairs.  “We were tired of missing out on leads, and we were tired of giving a proposal and then never hearing from the homeowner again.”

This is actually quite common in the home repair industry.  A homeowner will ask for a bid on a selected project.  The contractor will provide a bid and leave the scene feeling like he has got a real shot at landing the job.  What happens next is a vicious cycle all contractors want to avoid.  The homeowner then looks online and there is no information about the contractor, or even worse, bad information.

Is the above mentioned cycle better then not getting the call in the first place?  You decide.  On one hand the contractor has no chance at EVER getting contacted because he’s not online.  No gas burned, no time invested, no money in or out of his pocket.

The second scenario is if a contractor got a lead (let’s say a referral from a friend) and left with a good feeling because of the word of mouth connection.  BUT, then as the homeowner does his own research, he sees another contractor, who also bid the project, with great reviews online everywhere!  In this hypothetical scenario the other contractor has 26 good reviews online, on sites such as Google places, Yelp, and Angie’s List.

Who gets the bid? Is it the word of MOUTH contractor or the word of MOUSE contractor? Think about it.  Which is better; the strong reference from a friend or the endorsement of an entire online community?  It’s 26 vs. 1!

Social Rocketship has now built a website for Premier Home Repairs.  This is the first part of our service.  As soon as the “home base” is established we built online profiles such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and more.  Then we set up a content marketing campaign for Premier Home Repairs.  Now they are off and running!

Never heard of Premier Home Repairs before?  Just wait, you will!

~Social Rocketship

8 Reasons Why Content Marketing Works

Let’s say you want to remodel your house starting with your kitchen. Now let’s say you had the chance to line up two contractors side by side almost as if it were a presidential debate. You pose a question like, “What’s the best type of tile for my kitchen?”

You’re going to then listen to their answers and whoever has the best reply will probably win your business. But let’s go even further. Let’s say that when you ask the question, one of the contractors simply holds up a sign that reads, “Kitchen Experts-Free Estimate-Call Us Today” but doesn’t actually say anything.

Crazy right? Well this is exactly what’s happening in the world on online marketing. Businesses who are using content marketing, like a well written blog post or a step-by-step video, are dominating the businesses who do nothing more than pay for a 15 word ad only visible in the pay-per-click section of your browser.

People go to the internet to find solutions to their problems. Maybe they want a new kitchen for example. The person or business that successfully provides that solution is going to get the business every time.

This is the world of content marketing and it’s rising in popularity. In fact, many marketing firms are using content marketing more and more as a way to generate new business.

Content marketing consists mainly of blog posts, articles, white papers, videos (my personal favorite), powerpoint slides, photos, podcasts, online radio programs, and more. It’s any content that’s created by your company with the end goal of capturing more leads and sales.

Here are 8 really good reasons that illustrate why content marketing is one of the best ways to grow your business:

  1. Demonstrates Your Expertise – nothing could be more convincing to a potential customer than actually showing them you know the solution to their problem! Maybe they need a new roof, or to get their dog to stop peeing on the carpet, or to learn Spanish. By actually demonstrating your knowledge through sharing your content, you’re going to land the deal every time.
  2. Know, Like, and Trust – we all know we do business with people we know, like, and trust. By sharing your content, it gives potential customers a chance to get to know you. Through giving away your knowledge, it almost makes them feel indebted to you. You certainly become top of mind when it comes time to make a purchasing decision.
  3. Cost Effective – most people know marketing online is a much more inexpensive than marketing through traditional channels like TV, radio, and print. But with content marketing, most of the time you don’t even have to pay! This results in huge advertising savings for you.
  4. Always Working – once your content is up, it’s up for as long as the internet sticks around. In fact, many businesses have reported getting new customers from content they published even years prior. Contrast that to a paid ad that comes and goes depleting your ad budget and leaving sales reps wondering where their leads are.
  5. Search Engine Optimization – no matter how many times the major search engines change things around, good content will always reign supreme. Keyword rich content helps your website rank better in the search engines because it’s doing what people are going online to do – find a solution. This is also empowering savvy businesses who do more than throw an ad up and hope the phone rings.
  6. Quality Content Gets Shared – people like helping each other out and referring them to where they can find answers. By creating and distributing content that solves problems (the reason you’re in business) it has a very good chance of getting seen by huge numbers of people. In some cases it even has the chance of going viral. This may not lead to direct, immediate sales but it leads to brand awareness.
  7. Leadership Role – you obviously know what you’re talking about when you share content because, well, you’re talking about it! Do your competitors know just as much as you do? Probably. But are they demonstrating that fact through targeted content marketing? By marketing your content, you have the chance to demonstrate your leadership role in your industry and beat out your competition.
  8. Get Quality Leads – the most important job of any marketing activity is to generate leads for your business. Through sharing your quality content, you’ll be able to reach your exact target market. Not only that, by attracting customers through your content, they’re already lining up with your methodologies and it serves as a qualification process for you. This results in only the highest quality leads for you making your sales job much easier.

So, think about your customer. Are they going to choose your simple banner ad or PPC advertising? Or are they going to choose your article or video that exactly answers what they were looking for? It’s a no-brainer.

Put content marketing to work today and watch your business take off.

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