I never thought I would say or write these words but here I go, the WEB as we know it is DYING! You heard me right. We are about to go through a new era of information technology BIGGER than the World Wide Web movement. Imagine in the early 90’s when the internet was just reaching us. That is exactly what is about to happen again, except this time, it is even bigger!

Let’s start with WHY this may be the smartest marketing strategy small businesses can make.

Here are some very convincing statistics:

BEFORE THE INTERNET
Before the advent of the Internet, we had very limited resources for small businesses and of that, they often required substantial funds to even play in the game. Consider these old ways of marketing.

• Phone Books
• Newspaper
• TV
• Direct Mail
• Telemarketing
• Print Ads
• Word of Mouth

OK, so what – are those not still viable marketing solutions? NO!

• Phone BooksUm, where’s yours?
• NewspaperDeclining every day, many papers closing.
• TVDVRs allow folks to pass by those highly paid ads.
• Direct MailLess than 2% yield.
• TelemarketingDo not call list. Oh, and hang ups!
• Print AdsCosts are skyrocketing for print.
• Word of MouthEmail was once used but SPAM software did that in.

SO WHAT ABOUT THE WEB?
You still can use the web, there are many great resources for that avenue, so we are not going into that here. But, don’t ignore this old medium, think about this:

• 1 Trillion web pages on the WWW.
• 50% of small businesses don’t have a a website.
• 78% of households have two or more computers.
• 82% of local searches that result in offline action.
• 0 chance you connect with them without a web presence.

BUT HAVING A WEBSITE ISN’T ENOUGH!

• How do people find it?
• How you drive traffic to it?
• Are you happy with the presence you currently have?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies and getting listed at the top of Google, Bing and Yahoo is VERY PRICEY and out of reach for many small local businesses. Now don’t get me wrong, we do this type of service and it is VERY EFFECTIVE but it takes a ton of work and effort on our part, with very high competition for the same Top 10 spots on the Search Engines. This comes with a hefty price tag!

OK, SO THEN WHAT DOES A SMALL BUSINESS DO?

You are smart to ask that! We have just entered a new era. One of SOCIAL MEDIA and the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and FourSquare. Consumers are talking about and reviewing YOU already!

Let me say that again. YOUR business is most likely already being reviewed by consumers.

LOCAL SEARCH – A NEW ERA / OPPORTUNITY

• 71% of all American adults use the Internet.
• 91% of all Internet users use a search engine to find information.
• Over 50% of all purchases are preceded by an Internet search
• 30 percent of all search queries contain a city, state or zip code.
• There are 2.6 billion local searches a month
• What does this have to do with you?
• You don’t need a website! (Although having one helps)

Using Google, Bing and Yahoo’s new local/maps features, we can show you how to quickly get up and running and get that traffic already searching locally!

THERE’S MORE – MOBILE!

• There are 5 billion plus cell phone users vs. only 1.8 billion Internet users (almost 3x in market size.)
• Of these users, 51 Million use smart phones.
• There is a fundamental shift in how people are communicating.
• Text open up rates are 95%

DO YOU FORGET TO TAKE YOUR PHONE WITH YOU?

In the future, your phone or smart tablet will replace your computer! Mark my words. So NOW is the time to get into the Mobile and Local Marketing era. Do it before your competitors!

CONTACT PORTSIDE MARKETING TO LEARN WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS