During each calendar month, there are more than 10 billion searches conducted online, using a multitude of search resources and search engines. Of those 10 billion searches, it is estimated that 4 billion of them have a “local intent”, in other words, people are searching for products and services they can buy from local businesses. From the 4 billion local searches made each month, it is also estimated that 3.2 billion of those searches are handled exclusively by Google.

That means that if you as a business owner would desire to tap into the online advertising resources for offline, brick-and-mortar businesses, then you should seek to attain a top local ranking in the Google search results.

With every search, Google is running algorithms (software-driven calculations) to determine if a particular search has “local intent”. For example, anyone looking to find a barber shop in Google is clearly looking to find someone to cut his or her hair, and a hair cut is one of those things that can never be purchased online.

When Google sees a search of this type, it queries its local IP Tracking database to see where the searcher is located in the world. Every computer that accesses the Internet across the globe has an identifying IP address connected to its Internet connection. Each IP address is licensed to a particular Internet Service Provider (ISP), therefore, Google only needs to query its database to determine which ISP you and I are using to access the Internet. With rare exception, a computer programmer can query an IP Address and determine the city from which a request is being made.

Once Google knows where you are in the world, they are able to present you local search results for your local search query.

Unless you actually type into Google some geo-modifiers, such as city / state, when you make your request to Google for information, Google will present local listings below the 4th search result. If you do type into Google the geo-modifiers, then Google will present the local listings at the top of its search results.

Google’s local search results are presented in what is called the Google 7-Pack, which includes the names and websites of 7 local businesses, a map of the local area, and balloons to indicate where the local business is located on the map.

When Google presents the name of the local business, the name of the business appears as a link that you can click to learn more about that business. Directly below the name of the local business and the link, it presents the actual Domain URL they are going to send you to, to help you learn more about that business.

If a small business location has its own website, then Google will link to the small business’ actual website. If the small business is part of a national chain and does not have its own local office website, then Google will present the link pointing to the national chain’s corporate website. If the small business has neither the local office website or the corporate website, then Google will point its users to maps.google.com.

Herein lies the missed opportunity that I speak of…

If your small business does not have its own website, and your parent corporation does not have a website, then Google is going to point its users to your local business listing within Google’s search results, as shown in the video below.

If Google points its users to your business listing inside of maps.google.com, then Google will show its users your business name, address, city, state, zip, and phone number. Google will also show the location of your business on the map and a picture of the building where they think your business is located. They will also present Customer Reviews of your business that they have found online. AND to your dismay, they will show your competitor’s information on YOUR Google page…

When Google’s users find your business on Google, wouldn’t it be better if your prospective customers only learned about your business, instead of your business AND your competitors too?

Fortunately, it is in your control as to whether Google shows your competitors on your sales page or not… If you would employ a website design specialist to build a website for your small business, then your Local Business Listing in Google could point to your website, instead of Google’s review of your small business.

To find someone to help you build a website for your small business, we recommend Chris McElroy at SEO Service Provider. Chris can be reached by phone at: 1-786-317-8774 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, EST.

We can help you to improve your placement in Google’s Local Search 7-Pack…

If you have a website for your Main Street Business, then your Google Local Search 7-Pack can put more prospects into your website…

One of the most important numbers we need to always be mindful of is the “Cost of a New Customer” or “Cost of Customer Acquisition“.

If you are unfamiliar with this concept, let me give you a quick tutorial on this advertising metric.

Suppose you run an advertisement in your local newspaper. Suppose for the sake of this example that you paid $1000 for your display ad in the newspaper.

Now, suppose your advertising brought 4 new customers into your store, who bought from you. Suppose also that the average spend for each customer was $1500.

With the example I am drawing, your $1000 display advertisement in the newspaper brought in 4 customers who spent a total of $6000 in your store.

I am going to keep this example simple, so that more people can keep up with the numbers.

On the basic premise of our original example, you generated 4 customers after an outlay of $1000 in advertising. So your basic Cost Of Customer Acquisition was $250 per customer.

If your business received fewer customers, from your outlay of $1000 in advertising, then your Cost Of Customer Acquisition is more expensive.

But, if your business earned more customers who spent money, then your Cost Of Customer Acquisition would be much smaller.

In its simplest form, the Cost Of Customer Acquisition is the money spent to get the customer to your store divided by the number of new customers acquired. We will look at this in more detail, later in this article.

Entrepreneur Magazine in a 1999 article reflected on the Cost Of Customer Acquisition in the dot com world. The article suggested, “the cost of new customer acquisition is one of the best ways to measure sales and marketing performance.”

In 1999, the Cost Of Customer Acquisition for the following companies were:

• BarnesAndNoble.com – $42
• Amazon.com – $27.60
• Priceline – $32.30
• Beyond.com – $29.30

On the surface, these numbers may seem small. But, Amazon’s Average Sale is in the $17-range! This makes the challenge that Amazon and other major retailers face fairly transparent. If these retailers could only count on one purchase from the newly acquired customer, then these businesses would be losing money by the truckload.

Fortunately, Amazon continues to perform well in Repeat Business from a single customer. The following calculations reflect additional numbers that we business people should also factor into our Cost Of Acquisition metrics.

Amazon’s first-sale may only be $17, but in 1999, Amazon’s Average Sales Per Customer was $116, up $10 from the previous year. Unfortunately, Amazon isn’t very forthcoming with these numbers, so after two hours research, I was unable to come up with more up-to-date numbers for you to consider.

The point of mentioning this is that it is important for business owners and managers to recognize that the Value Of A Customer is not how much sales revenue is derived from the initial purchase, but more importantly, from the Lifetime Value Of A Customer.

If we looked at Amazon’s Cost Of Customer Acquisition only in terms of that first sale, then they will be losing money hand-over-fist. With a Cost Of Acquisition of $27.60 and the first sales’ value of $17, Amazon could not stay in business long if they were continuously producing numbers at that level. However, once you factor in the Lifetime Value Of A Customer, then Amazon is spending $27.60 to acquire a customer that is worth $116 in sales for them. Therefore, by measuring the Lifetime Value of a Customer, Amazon is spending only 24% of their revenue in order to acquire one customer.

Few businesses invest 24% of their revenue in advertising, but Amazon hopes that the Lifetime Value of a Customer will eventually exceed the $116 value, known to have existed in FY2000.

As the Lifetime Value of a Customer increases, the overall Cost of Customer Acquisition will fall, as an overall percentage value of Cost Of Acquisition divided by the Lifetime Value of the customer.

If you have a hair-cutting salon and your advertising budget for one month is $1000, and you get 30 new customers through the door, who will spend an average of $20 for a hair cut, then your basic Cost of Customer Acquisition is roughly $33.34 to gain $20 in new sales.

But if only half of your 30 new customers become regular clients, then you can anticipate 15 of those customers coming to your hair salon at least once a month for the remainder of the year. Therefore, 15 customers will be worth $20 each, and 15 other customers will be worth $240 each for one year ($20 x 12 months). All told, your first 15 customers will put $300 in your cash register, and the next 15 customers will put another $3600 in your cash register.

Thus, in the hair salon example, your $1000 in advertising could generate new customers that will generate $3900 in new sales. Once you start to consider the Lifetime Value of a Customer, within the Cost of Customer Acquisition, then you will realize that the Cost of Customer Acquisition – although it might be higher than the initial sale – holds out the possibility and promise reducing itself as the Lifetime Value of a Customer increases over time.

As the end of the year winds down, you will be able to see that a $1000 expenditure was turned into $3900 in new revenue. In essence, for every dollar you spent on advertising that month, your return value was $3.90 over the course of one year.

In the second year, if only half of the original 15 regular customers or roughly 8 people stay with you for the full course of the second year, then the $1920 in revenue (8 people X $20 each X 12 months) you can expect from those customers could almost be considered free money. Of course, you will still have service fulfillment costs, but that second year will give you nearly $2000 in revenue that you will not have to chase.

Even if half of the customers drop off during the calendar year, then a 50% customer attrition rate will allow you to have customers that could stay with you up to five years. Calculated against a 50% decrease in customers over each calendar year, your $1000 investment in advertising may translate into $7500 in revenues over five years ($3900 + $1920 + $960 + $480 + $240 = $7500), from the initial investment of $1000 in advertising.

The interesting thing about this scenario is that it is based on an advertising budget of $1000 one-time. But, most businesses will continue the advertising process every month in every year. Therefore, the above example should compound month-after-month. Every month should bring the same or similar results to your business for the month and year.

Advertising Is A Process, Not An Event

Many small business owners have a dire misunderstanding of the nature of advertising and the value to be received from the advertising.

When business owners or managers fail to track and measure the new business generated from the advertising, then the business owners and managers will fail to see that advertising is an expense that can return huge dividends to the business.

When businesses fail to track and measure advertising successes, people tend to only see the money leaving the business without every seeing the reward coming back into the business. As a result, many business managers will employ advertising for a short time, then cancel the advertising, under the false belief that the advertising was not returning value to the business.

When businesses fail to understand the Lifetime Value Of A Customer, it is hard to appreciate any advertising method that fails to pay for itself in its first cycle. If Amazon was to only look at the initial sale generated by a new customer, they would quickly cancel all of their advertising efforts. Fortunately for Amazon, its management understands that the initial $17 sale is not the measure to use to determine the value of Amazon’s advertising efforts. Amazon’s management understands that the true Cost of Customer Acquisition should not be measured by the initial sale, but by the Lifetime Value of a Customer. In doing so, Amazon has ensured that it will continue to be one of the largest and most successful retail outlets on the planet.

When business managers fail to understand the Lifetime Value of a Customer, it is hard for them to appreciate and understand the compounding nature of the revenue stream for a business. It is hard for them to understand that money invested into advertising today, can deliver huge rewards over the next several years.

A Wake Up Call For Small Business Owners

According to Scott Shane, author of “Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By“, only 29-in-100 businesses will remain in business after ten years. That means that a full 71% of businesses started in any calendar year will be out of business in only ten years.

It is sad to say, but the reason most businesses fail is that business owners and managers fail to understand the nature of advertising, the importance of tracking and measuring advertising results, the Lifetime Value of a Customer, and the compounding nature of the revenue stream.

I don’t want to see your business on the trash heap of yesteryear. So, it is my hope that you will take this article as a wake-up call, as to the importance of advertising and its potential to lift your business into profits.

Through our services, we can help you to achieve the growth that you seek for your business, by providing advertising in the online and offline channels that could prove profitable for your business.

Please review our services to see how we can help you.

You may also find our Cost of Customer Acquisition Calculator helpful to you.

When you need your teeth fixed, who do you go to? A dentist?

When you need your electricity fixed, who do you go to? An electrician?

It is amazing how many people get online and read a few articles about this and that, then convince themselves that they know enough about how to market a product or service online, in order to be able to do it without any help from expert professionals.

In my other business, I am an expert in my field, looked up to by tens of thousands of people, who seek out my expertise. I have more experience in the field, than all of my competitors. Others came before me, but none have survived longer than I have in my specialized niche. That makes me one of the premier experts in that field.

Yet, it is amazing how many people come to me asking for my best service, then proceeding to tell me to shut my mouth and mind my own business, if I make suggestions to them for the purpose of helping them to get better results from their marketing.

I am the expert in my field, recognized by many of my peers as the expert worth considering, yet these folks have convinced themselves that they know better than I do.

You know, we are all entitled to our own opinions.

If someone does not want my help, then I don’t want to give them the help they don’t want or need from me. I am a humble guy, and I eat my humble pie everyday.

If you are one of those people who feel that you have got it all figured out, then you don’t need my service at all. It is as simple as that.

But if you are seeking an expert with a proven track record to help you find new customers for your business, then you should be willing to at least consider my offerings.

I can help you accomplish what you need to accomplish. You need warm-bodies in your place of business, with their wallets full of cash, itching to spend money in your establishment. I can help you with that.

I have been providing online marketing services to my online clients since 2000. My support staff also has experience with online marketing, helping customers to achive measurable success as well. My team is well-qualified to help me to help you to get real-live customers into your place of business – even though those customers will be found on the Internet.

Did you know that 80% of all people turn to the Internet to find addresses and phone numbers of local businesses? Did you know that most consumers have not picked up a phone book, since they realized that they can get the answers they want and need on the search engines?

If the search engines are the first place that people turn to find local suppliers of products and services, wouldn’t it make sense to be one of the first companies that they are able to find online?

This is where we come in.

• We will help you get a website… Not a cheap do-it-yourself website, but one that looks nice and is focused on turning a prospect into a customer.
• We will help get your website seen online through the many online resources designed to help small businesses get noticed.
• We will take steps designed to help your website rank well in the search engine company’s local search results.
• We will take steps to ensure that when your customer visits your establishment, then they will notify you that they found you online.

To learn more, review our pricing plans on this website. We would love to help you get more customers for your business. In this day and age, we simply cannot afford to be throwing away any customer who might be interested in our business.

We have been helping small business owners promote themselves online since early 2000, and now it is time for us to put our experience to work for you.

It is not enough to simply throw up a website. It is not enough to learn a little bit about online marketing and the search engines. There is far more to the puzzle of getting customers through the front door of your Main Street USA business, than what you might learn in a few days, weeks or months.

Our program has been designed for people like you, people who need real customers walking through the front door of their businesses, people with cash in their wallets, ready to buy what you are selling. We will use our experience – nearly a full decade of experience – to guide online shoppers to your online storefront and to your place of business.

We know how to build websites that get the attention of the shopping public. We know how to get your website ranked in the major search engines, so that your website will be found by those people who live in your town – those people who are looking to buy what you sell. We also know how to get your newly-acquired customers to let you know that they found you ONLINE, on your website – this enables you to see your Return-on-Investment, up close and personal.

We hope you will stick around to learn more about how we can create and promote your online presence, driving to the point of putting real shoppers in your place of business, buying what you sell.

We look forward to helping you grow your business to the next level, using the Internet to market your local business.