You need some extra cash this holiday season? Who doesn’t? What with gifts to buy and bonuses to hand out, Lord knows a little extra green stuff would come in handy right now. That being the case, why don’t you go shake your own personal money tree to get the extra you need? What, you don’t have a money tree you say? Truth is, if you have been in business for any length of time you sure do have a money tree – It’s called your list.

I am amazed at the amount of business owners that I run into who do not market to their own customers. Without getting into specifics, it costs a hell of a lot more money to acquire new clients than it does to sell to your existing ones. Also, existing customers are something like 75 or 80% more likely to buy from you than strangers are. So I ask you, are you actively marketing to your current client base? Are you shaking the money tree that is growing right under your nose? It is so easy to do. All you need is an email program to do it. This isn’t the only way, but I know many of you are reluctant to pick up the phone or send out actual mail.

But, having said all this, I wouldn’t turn your hard earned customers into financial punching bags either. What I mean is do hit them with an endless onslaught of marketing gibberish that will only make them resent you. The key is to be in touch on a regular basis offering nothing more than helpful information. This gives you the right to then send them real offers (that have value) intermittently. And you know what, if you have been a good citizen and kept in touch all along, they wont resent you for it.

So while you are spending gobs of money trying to get new customers, take some time to invest in the ones you have already. You can pump your profits up 20%, 30% or more by doing this, and you can do it for practically nothing.

If You Want To Know The Two Biggest Problems Facing Your Small Business Today And How You Can Solve Them, Then Read On.

If you’re happy and satisfied with your sales and profits, and feel that you are earning enough money, then stop right here and read no further.
From: Paul Romanacci

RE: The Troubled State Of Small Business In America Today And How You Can Make It Better.

Dear Fellow Business Owner,

There are two main issues facing small and local businesses today, and here they are:

Problem #1 Yellow Pages And Newspaper Ads No Longer Generate Sales Like Before, And Businesses That Rely On Them To Bring In Customers Are Failing At An Alarming Rate.

Problem #2 Simply Getting Yourself A Website And Putting It Up On The Internet Will NOT Solve Problem #1

You probably thought I was going to say something like “we can’t compete with cheap labor from China” – or – “The cost of health care is making it impossible to continue.”

That may all be true. But the reality of the situation is this: As small, local businesses what we need are more sales. We need more customers. And we need more profits at the end of the day if we want to keep the doors open.

When business is flowing, when sales are increasing, most other issues are easily addressed. But when the phone is not ringing and the bells on the door are silent, we are doomed.

New Studies Show That Americans Are Abandoning Their Phone books In Record Numbers As They Turn To The Internet For Local Business Search.

Everyday, more and more phone books are left piling up on people’s doorsteps, collecting dust — They’re never even taken out of the plastic bags they come in.

Is your ad in one of those plastic bags? Mine was!

Those phone books are chock full of broken promises paid for with yours and mine hard earned money. Promises like “A bigger ad will generate more business.” or “Just add color, it will work wonders.”

Our hard earned money has also been wasted on things like “Branding Campaigns” You ever been sold one of those?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t sell branding, I sell products. The Goodyear Blimp, that’s a branding campaign. An ad in the Hobunk Times is — Well, it’s pretty much a waste of money.

I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on yellow page and newspaper ads for my business and what do I have to show for it?

Bupkis! Nada! Zilch! Zippo!

The cold, hard truth is that as a small business owner you can no longer ignore the fact that most people turn to Google and other search engines to find what they are looking for.

Ask yourself, is my phone ringing more or less? Is my current advertising costing me money or making me money?

Only you know the answer to those questions, but I can make a pretty accurate and educated assumption…

Your phone is probably ringing less if you are relying on yellow page and newspaper ads.

And the only answer your advertising sales rep has is to get a bigger ad or add more color. As if that will change anything.

I can tell you, that none of that will work.

The reality of our economy today is that people have changed the way they shop for products and services.

A recently released study by Comscore revealed that internet search has surpassed yellow page search and the trend continues to grow.

It is a fact. More people use the internet than turn to yellow pages and newspapers when the begin to shop.

And the internet is bringing in competition from competitors nationwide in every industry imaginable.

There is no doubt that these competitors are taking food out of your mouth.

No matter what business you are in, you are under assault.

Look up anything from dry cleaners, to attorneys to plumbers to wine sales.

You name it and there are tons of national competitors that are chipping away at your local sales. Take a look at this search for ‘pool supplies”

Because what the big boys know that you may not is that spending money on newspaper and phone book ads is a waste of money.

In the last 12 months, how many sales has your business made as a direct result of your advertising efforts?

Was it worth it?

Successful marketer’s understand that your best prospects, the ones that are ready to buy now will go online to find what they are looking for before they do anything else.

If you are not dominating the search results in your local market, then you are missing out on most of your potential customers.

And even if you think you have a local business, you don’t.

I should know. My own company was suffering for months and months.

Until I one day, that all changed.

I used to sit in my office wondering why my phone wasn’t ringing. I knew I had a great product. And yet, my business sat there, floundering as I slowly watched my bank account get smaller and smaller and smaller.

My Yellow Pages rep had walked in with a big smile on his face knowing that he would close a sale with me that day. It was the cut off day, so I had to sign — or so he thought.

“Here are our specials” he said. Quarter page this — half page that. Two color, three color yada, yada, yada.

“But, I never get calls from the yellow pages” I told him. “Look at my call tracking.”

He went on to tell me that the reason for the low response rate was because my ad wasn’t prominent enough. I needed to “stand out more” he said. Of course that would be more money out of my pocket.

You should have seen how quickly the smile disappeared from his face when he realized that on this day, he would not get a sale out of me.

Because I knew in my heart of hearts that if I was going to survive, If I was not going to end up another failed business statistic, then I would have to make a radical change.

So I started to study.

I was never much of a student when I was in school. Maybe it was because I didn’t care about what we were learning. But this was different.

My livelihood depended on it — hell, my manhood depended on it.

I knew, that if I was going to be a successful business person, then I would have to learn how to bring business in, and bring it in consistently.

I got my hands on all the material I could to learn about the internet, it’s inner workings, and what it would take to get my business to the top of the search engines.

I devoured marketing literature and courses. Learning the secrets of successful business men and women.

After months and months of study and application, business finally started to turn around.

Was it easy?

No.

Was it worth it? Hell yeah it was worth it!

When my company finally landed on page one of Google for several “money” keywords, my business took off.

The search term is “Italian Gift Baskets”. My company, CiaoPaolo.com has first page rankings for that as well as several other “money” keywords.

I call them “money keywords” because when someone types them into a search box, they are looking to buy — And buy they do.

My new search engine status along with optimized sales copy literally transformed my business from a near failure, to a raging success.

You may be thinking how this applies to you because you have a small business or a local business.

My answer is that it applies to all businesses. Weather you are a plumber, a dry cleaner, a restaurant owner, a realtor, a gardener, you name it.

If you own a business and you need clients, then you must learn to market your business in the 21st century.

And a big part of 21st century marketing, is search engine marketing. It is not enough to simply have a website.

You must have a website that is optimized for search and the site must have strong sales presentations with effective calls to action.

Without this, your website is nothing more than a glorified business card. You need to do serious SEO and Search Engine Optimization work on your website if you want to achieve any success.

Search engine technology has changed where it now includes local search results along side national listings.

The Good News Is That You Can Win This Game

When you have the right sales message and calls to action, plus top Google rankings, your business will be transformed.

It’s a wonderful process. Before you know it, the phone begins to ring again with clients on the other end. More and more customers begin to visit your store, shop or office.

Your prospects will come to you having already been pre-sold. They will know you and your business and they will be ready to buy.

Not only will they have found you online, but the hard job of selling will have already been done before they ever contact you. Your strong content and sales message will have you positioned as the “expert” in your field.

It is a wonderful thing when clients or customers see you as the expert. When this happens, price is no longer an issue.

You are able to charge more for your goods and services, and customers who appreciate your expertise will be happy to pay it.

I know this is true because it has happened in my own business. I charge premium prices for my goods and services. Never do I or will I compete on price any longer.

And you can achieve the same life changing business building results too.

That is why I created the Meteoric Marketing System®. I want to deliver the same astonishing results that my business achieved to your business.

We are a marketing, SEO and search engine optimization company located in CT. And we are driven to help you achieve Explosive Growth in your business.

Within weeks, you can have your business dominating the local search results. You can actually own several top ten positions on the first page of Google.

And when people land on your site, your copy, your content will crackle. It will be powerful. You will be the star of your domain. They will see you as an expert in your field.

Now let me make this perfectly clear….

I am not selling websites.

That is what graphic designers do. I am not going to say to you “Get a website with pretty pictures and music and your business will increase.” Only a hack would say such a thing.

In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Most websites are put up and never visited by anyone at all. Most websites stink. And most websites never make even one red cent for their owners at all.

Websites don’t sell. They never have and they never will. People sell. Without you, a website is nothing. Without being seen, your website is nothing.

This is about marketing. This is about SEO. This is about dominating. This is about looking opportunity square in the eye and grabbing it with both hands.

I promise you, if you listen to what I have to say –

You will have an edge over your competition and you will WIN more business.

Now is not the time to sit back and procrastinate.

Your competition is already on the move. Weather it’s the guy across the street or across the country, competitors are circling the wagons.

The longer you wait to take over, the harder it will be. You must have the mindset that you will dominate.

Let me show you how you can take over your niche in your market.
Don’t wait for someone else to take it over instead.