#phoenix local

Getting Local Phoenix Customers Is Hard Work – Phoenix, AZ

“For the past couple of months I’ve been testing a new targeted local online advertising product as part of my fellowship project at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The test has essentially been to sell the product to regional businesses within a given market.

The pilot market was Orlando, Fla., and we used an outside sales team to sell to businesses that we knew were already spending money on marketing (for example, running TV, radio, newspaper, online, or billboard campaigns). Because the average order size was going to be about $2,000 a month, we didn’t want to sell over the phone. We did the math to understand how many meetings a sales rep would need to set a week and what his or her close ratio would have to be to make the venture profitable, using formulas from other organizations we’ve been a part of that have sold locally.

So we hit the streets, and it turned out that our close ratio was great: When we could get a meeting, we could close the deal. The problem was we just couldn’t get enough meetings. I had two different sales executives with backgrounds in selling local online campaigns for large media companies review our sales process and make changes. It helped, but not enough. And at the end of our two-month trial, after calling on more than 150 businesses multiple times, I came to a conclusion: Selling local sucks.

Now this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t sell local or that this product won’t work. But I do think that if you are going to try to sell local, you will need to have one or more of the following:

A Phoenix Locally Recognizable Brand I’ve always said the most valuable thing newspapers have are their brands. (Local TV stations already understand this.) This concept was reinforced when I was cold-calling SMBs without a recognizable brand behind me. It was easy to identify the decision maker, but getting past the gatekeepers or being able to arrange a meeting proved next to impossible. One small business owner told me I was the fourth person to call her that day and it wasn’t worth her time. Even if you are an independent hyperlocal news site, it only matters if the person you are calling has heard of your site before. Bottom line: No one cared what I was able to do for him — only that he didn’t know who I was.

A Low Entry Point For Phoenix With an Inside Sales Team When I did get ahold of the decision makers, I had quite a few who flat out said (although some just alluded to it) that if what I was offering cost $250 a month, they’d try it. With an entry point that low, you can’t really justify an outside salesperson, but having an inside salesperson makes sense. This is what DataSphere does for local TV stations (oh, and by partnering with the TV station, it meets my first criteria as well).

Why You Should Hire a Professional to Landscape Your Yard

“One of the best ways to increase your enjoyment of life is to have the option of coming home to a beautiful paradise after a long day. The best way to accomplish this is hire a professional to landscape your yard, as he or she has the experience and expertise necessary to provide you with a masterfully designed centerpiece for your lawn. Landscaping your yard offers many benefits. It enables you to relax after a long day at work, increases the value of your home, and even increases the beauty of your neighborhood. To obtain the best landscape possible, however, it is necessary for you to hire a professional landscaper, as he or she can identify the best plants to place together and ensure they thrive. There are several reasons why hiring a professional to landscape your yard is the best method to go about landscaping, and it can be helpful to keep these in mind when deciding whether to landscape your lawn.

A Professional Can Develop a Plan to Landscape Your Yard

Local Directory – Phoenix Local

“What are local directory listings?

Local directory listings are online informational sources that contain basic information about businesses, such as their business name, phone number, address, hours of operation, photos, and sometimes reviews or ratings. Many local listings, like Google+Local and Bing Local are factored into search results in organic and maps searches.

Is local directory listing a must for your business?

The answer to that questions is an emphatic YES! Your accurate and updated local listing plays an integral role in local seo. Search engines like Google and Bing populates these sites at the top of their organic search results when a user is searching with a local intent. But if you haven’t claimed your local directory listing, then there is a good chance that it has inaccurate or missing information about your business. This signals to search engines that they all belong to your business, which can increase the visibility of your listings (and your website) in the search results.

What’s even more important, many local consumers use search engines like Google and Bing, as well as Yelp directly on their phone, tablet, and PCs to find local businesses in their area. No matter how consumers are finding your listings, you need to make sure they provide the most accurate, compelling information possible to turn those searchers into leads.

Where should you list your business?

When Should You Hire A Landscaper? – Phoenix, AZ

We get asked this question all of the time. While there is no clear cut answer here, it all depends on your level of comfort with landscape projects. Do you like digging, planting, laying pavers and installing irrigation? If not, then you may want to hire a landscaper.

“The main reason why people hesitate to take advantage of the service of a professional is the budget. Some homeowners find success by hiring a pro to do the more skilled labor and doing the rest of the work themselves. One of the most obvious reasons to hire a pro is their skill level and expertise. They can draw upon years of work in similar situations and show you before and after shots of previous projects.

Using Local Directories To Promote Your Business – Phoenix, AZ Landscape Directory

Did you know that most people search for things near them? When you search for a auto mechanic or a sprinkler repair guy, do you just type “sprinkler repair guy?” NO, we always type “sprinkler repair guy phoenix” or “landscaper mesa.”

This is exactly why you need to use local directories to promote your business. People look for services and local directories near them to use.

“Did you know that 20% of searches on Google contain a local place name and 70% of people looking for a business offline will look it up online first? If you want more customers to find your business, why not list yourself on local business directories?

Even if you don’t want the upkeep or expense of a website, local business pages give you a presence on the web. Getting listed on these, along with Google Places and Yahoo! Local, is a great way of letting search engines that you exist. Plus, they are quick and easy to set up – and they’re usually free! Which directories? There are plenty of online directories out there.

Here is a fantastic article on why you should use local business directories.

“Advertising Your Business

Advertising your business to area specific has many advantages. For local businessmen, it is an opportunity of brand building and enhancing business to the next level. There are several types of ways to advertise your business locally and one of the most effective ways is advertising through a local online directory. The advertising service is effective. It is more important for your occupation when you have no such online presence or you are listed in a top online local directory. Here are some must-to-know advantages of listing your business to a local online business directory.

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