You Can Become a Tampa Bay Business Expert
Branding yourself as the local business expert in Tampa Bay or any other town you live in can be one of the most rewarding and profitable undertakings you can pursue. If you are very visible and actively work to provide value added services to your community as it pertains to your profession, you will be viewed as a trusted business leader that many people will turn to first when they are looking for the types of products or services you offer.
Becoming a Tampa Bay business expert is not something that happens overnight, but with consistent effort it can significantly add to your bottom line for a relatively low cost when compared to many other types of online marketing. Many people don’t think they have what it takes to be that type of recognized business leader, however there are many simple and cost-effective tactics that can be employed by most if not all small business owners.
I have to mention that the underlying purpose of this strategy is to provide truly relevant and quality information that your visitors and prospects will find useful. It is certainly acceptable to provide a link to your website or phone number to call, however that should be more of an afterthought. If the overall flavor of the campaign seems to be too self-promotional, it will not be nearly as effective.
Here are some low cost but effective marketing strategies for branding yourself as the local business expert.
These are in no particular order.
- Offer to write guest posts for other blogs or discussion forums within your industry. Even if you spend as little as 30 minutes per week, you can begin to see results in a relatively short period of time. The key is consistency.
- Leverage yourself by contacting other complementary businesses in your community and offer to co-op with them on advertising or promotions. For example, if you are in the automotive detailing business, you can contact someone in the automotive repair business or someone that sells automotive sound systems. Maybe you have a limousine service so you could co-op with somebody who has a catering business or event planning service.
- The customers of both businesses would be provided with value added services with the benefit of reduced marketing costs to the business owners. It can be a win-win situation for everybody.
- If you use postcards or any other type of direct mail pieces, both businesses could split the cost of the promotion. Because of the similar demographics, the prospects would be likely to purchase from either or both businesses.
- Since you are already an expert in your field, you could create a free course or simply a top 10 tips list on something related to your business. For example, if you are in the lawncare business you could provide lawncare tips especially suited for the geographic area you are in. Someone in the auto repair business could provide a list of tips to keep customers from getting ripped off on their next repair job. These do not have to be elaborate publications. They can be simple one-page documents that list the top 10 or 12 tips. You can post this on your own website or favorite social media outlet. This would also be something of value that you could offer to complementary businesses that would help you brand yourself.
- If you have a blog or some other part of your website that allows people to submit questions or comments, encourage them to do so. You could even make a contest out of it to encourage participation. For example you could have a weekly drawing for the best/most interesting or relevant question and give that person a gift certificate or special discount towards their next purchase. You would then post the answer that question on your blog for all to see.
These are just a few of the many low-cost marketing ideas you could implement for your small business. These are sure to work for any business in the Tampa Bay area and probably just about any other part of the country. Most of these do not take much time or money and can provide significant long-term benefits to your business’s image and profitability.
Your Marketing Crew would like the opportunity to work with local Tampa Bay businesses in cities such as Clearwater, Tampa, Dunedin, Oldsmar, St. Petersburg, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Largo and many other surrounding communities. Give us a call today if you would like to increase your online presence and profitability.
