The main reason small businesses stay small is because the owners maintain a small business mindset. For some people, being small works, it is what they want. But others dream big and want to accomplish their bigger goals, even though they continue to struggle to make it there. They can’t ever seem to get over that small-time hump.
If you want to be more than a small business, then it’s time to stop thinking like the small business you are and start thinking like the bigger business you want to be.
The first place to start is with your online marketing campaigns.
There are a few exceptions, but search engine marketing has leveled the playing field significantly for small businesses. However, as more companies make online marketing more of a priority – the playing field is becoming slanted again. More recognizable brands and companies with larger budgets, and a larger team of people to manage multiple online search engine marketing campaigns are gaining an advantage. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for small businesses to make headway into competitive fields against this rush for a greater online presence.
All that being said, it can be done. There are still plenty of opportunities for small businesses to succeed, even against well-financed competitors. But to do so it requires some clever thinking and swift moving – two things which big businesses are generally not great at.
Be smarter than a big business
Online Marketing and SEO success is not always about achieving number one rankings. It’s easy to determine which of those businesses that come to SEO House are serious about their success. Those who “want to be #1″ are looking for a quick fix. Those that want to build visibility and improve conversions and sales are looking at the bigger picture. Rankings are a means to an end, not the end itself.
Is a #1 ranking still possible? Of course. Is it always the best idea? It depends. It depends on the phrase, the targeted traffic it draws, the conversion rates it achieves, and the amount of time and money it takes to get it there. There are a lot of great #1 rankings that can be achieved that can do great things for your company, yet many business owners focus on getting #1 rankings for specific keywords that don’t give them a good return on their investment. What’s the point?
Even if you already own the top positions, as long as you still have the small business mindset you’re going to find yourself disappointed. You can only hang on to the tops spots so long with a budget of a few thousand a year, when some upstart comes along and throws tens of thousands of dollars a month at their online marketing campaigns. Enjoy the success while you can, but don’t expect to hold onto that forever. Rankings change.
Success, like everything else is relative. A small business does not have to spend $10,000, $7,500 or even $2,500 per month in order to do well online. Most small businesses (even if they had such a budget) are not set up to handle the same kind of success as large businesses. You have to grow into that. But every small business owner investing in online marketing needs to keep their expectations in line with what can be done and what kind of success they can handle. Budget doesn’t always make or break success, but it does play a role in it. The key is to find the areas where your budget will see the most return.
Organizing Time
Whether you are a big or small business owner, obviously it is important to determine how your own time is best spent. Do you have time to do it all yourself or can you hand that responsibility to someone else? Delegating responsibility is one of the biggest differences between big and small businesses.
Most small businesses hire help as needed but when it comes to their online marketing they want to cut costs by doing it on their own. Why is the SEO marketing any different from the other jobs you hire for? Would you try to do everything yourself? And if you did, would you be able to grow your business as you want? The answer is likely “no.”
Part of thinking like a bigger business is being willing to put responsibilities into the hands of those who can handle it. Letting skilled people do the jobs they are good allows you to focus on the job you’re good at.
Move more swiftly than a big business
While small businesses can’t always hire everybody for every job, they do have one advantage over the big business that can work in their favor. That advantage is being able to adapt. Big businesses usually move too slow, but as a small business you have the luxury of being able to adapt and move fast.
You can have a big business mindset but take advantage of your small business position. Moving quickly into new areas of marketing brings huge rewards as you invest in areas your competition is overspending as well as under-performing, without having to go through layers of approval and red tape.
This is where outside consulting can come in handy. Having someone take a strategic look at your online marketing efforts and help you identify your own and your competitor’s weaknesses can really open up your eyes to new opportunities. Of course, you then have to be willing to do what it takes to invest in those opportunities.
Small businesses have to stop letting the small business mindset keep them from performing big. You don’t have to be a big business to win in the online marketing game, but you do need to get out of the “mom and pop rut.”
Be willing to take risks, but do so wisely and well-informed. And like big businesses – be willing to fail a little here and there if it teaches you how to succeed bigger later. You don’t have to spend like a big business, but you won’t go far so long as you keep thinking like a small business.
Tags: Search Engine Marketing, Search engine marketing campaigns