Marketing a small business is a matter of common sense, it really is. But to paraphrase that famous Voltaire quote, ‘The trouble with common sense is that not many people have it’. This is perhaps never better demonstrated than when applied to how small business owners approach the Herculean task of promoting their business.

Being Good at What You do Doesn’t Mean You Know How to Market it

The issue at the crux of this matter is pretty straight forward: most business owners are NOT trained marketers. This isn’t a slight on small business owners. Far from it. We are all of us a hardy breed with entrepreneurial blood flowing through our veins. But most people who go into business for themselves, do so because they are experts at what they do. And therefore conclude (mistakenly) that their future business success is predicated on that particular skill-set. Maybe they’re a plumber, or someone who installs solar panels, or perhaps they’re an interior designer or an architect or a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. Whatever their profession, how good they actually are at it, has little or nothing to do with knowing how to market that skill to the world.

​​A Small Business Owner Has to Be a Jack of All Trades

Small business owners, by necessity, have to be a jack of all trades. But as the old saying goes, to be a jack of all trades is to be a master of none. And when it comes to succeeding in business, you need to work out very early on, what you can successfully do yourself (to save money), and what you need to outsource. With the rule of thumb being: “If it isn’t core business or within your own personal skill-set: outsource it to an expert.”

​Where to Invest Your Advertising Dollars for Maximum Returns

There are lots of ways to spend your hard earned money when it comes to marketing and advertising.  And the traditional ones are discussed here in this article on Print Advertising versus Online Advertising. But ultimately the best place to spend your money, is wherever you can get the maximum return for the minimum spend. And in 2016, the vast majority of people search online via the Google search engine.

​Hiring an Online Marketing Expert is an Investment NOT an Expense

I mentioned at the start of this article that marketing a small business is a matter of common sense. Because if 99% of all people looking for what you do and where you do it, search on the internet (and they do). And the vast majority of those search using Google. Then it isn’t rocket science to work out where the bulk of your marketing dollars should go. Or why. But just having a website and being online doesn’t cut it. You can spend a fortune getting your small business website designed and online. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be found in Google search. Far from it in fact. The competition in every industry vertical (that’s worth being in), is fierce. And given that 92% of people don’t go past the first page of their Google search, how to get your small business website on page one of Google becomes the single most important marketing question you’ll ever have to answer.

​A Little Knowledge Can be a Dangerous Thing 

Of course even if you are fortunate enough to be trained in marketing (and thus understand the fundamentals of how marketing works across multiple channels), that doesn’t mean you are equipped to run your own SEO campaign. With over 200 ranking signals and over 10,000 sub-ranking signals powering Google search, and 500-600 algorithmic updates every year; understanding how Google search functions is a full time job (and then some!).

Having a marketing background is a real leg-up when it comes to growing a successful small business because you’ll innately ‘get’ what needs doing and why. But having a working knowledge of how (for an analogy) your BMW’s engine works is one thing. But would you really expect to be the one to service the engine before you drive you family across the Nullarbor in the dead of winter? Or do you think you’d be better served leaving your car in the hands of a trained mechanic?

Hiring a trained SEO professional is much the same thing. 

​Partner With a SEO Company You Can Trust

If getting on the first page of Google is a necessity for growing your small business in 2016 (and it is), then the only question small business owners need to ask themselves is: ‘Who can I trust to get my website on the first page?’.
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And that’s where a company like SEO North Sydney & Web Design comes in. With a SEO Consultant with 16 years’ experience at it’s helm, SEO North Sydney & Web Design have an unparalleled understanding of the constantly evolving search landscape, we are the perfect online partner to grow your small business or SME. At SEO North Sydney we don’t sweat the small stuff. We sweat the outcomes. And given we guarantee those outcomes in the contract, you can rest assured that your business growth is in good hands.