Background

When a totally new business opens the doors for the first time it faces the major problem of getting noticed and attracting customers. Tony had owned a bicycle shop in another state but had never launched a new shop from scratch. This would be a daunting task as he soon found out.

The most common practice is to put together a Grand Opening. In the past this involved a media blitz across traditional advertising mediums using a combination of print, radio and TV. This is not only very expensive but also short lived. The business sees a brief spike and then a complete drop off in sales.

This is exactly what happened to Tony’s bike shop. In an effort to get the business going, Tony continued using print ads to bring in sales. He also hired a web designer to get a website online. However, sales growth was nearly stagnant. It was a struggle to say the least.

My First Encounter With Tony Was Accidental

In the process of helping a friend with a bicycle repair I was looking for the closest shop where parts would be available. Unfortunately a search on Google had the wrong location and directions on the map for Tony’s shop. Eventually I was able to locate the shop but it wasn’t easy.

Tony was very accommodating and offered a solution that saved me a lot of money. In the course of our conversation I pointed out how difficult it was to find the shop. Tony acknowledged the problem along with his frustration of how to fix it.

In reciprocation for his generosity I offered a “no strings attached” assistance for solutions to fix the problem and how he could use Internet Technology to drive sales.

It was a few weeks later, through an unexpected turn of events that Tony contacted me. His web designer decided to get out of the business and Tony turned to me to take over his website. Although I would have been perfectly happy to just help, the change in circumstances brought us together and I acquired a new client.

Day One

My sincere offer of “no strings attached” help, established a relationship of trust right from the beginning. It was because of that, Tony put all his faith in me to do whatever I felt was best. I proposed a marketing concept using a newly designed website along with Internet Technologies to jump start sales.

• Step 1 Fix the location and directions listed in the search engine. All that was needed here was to suggest a correction to Google on the map in the search results.
• Step 2 Setup an email opt-in form on the website with an incentive for visitors to submit their email so we could build a list for marketing on autopilot. Every month an automated email goes out to his list that brings in more business and more revenue
• Step 3 Start getting traffic to the website and shop by implementing a variety of Content and Inbound Marketing techniques. This is a process that involves getting his website listed on page one of the search engines for common key search terms along with strategic exposure on different social media sites.

Step 3 in the process usually takes from 3 to 6 months to kick in and see initial results. Over time, with continued effort this method builds a strong dominance in the local market. The search engines and social media sites recognizes the authority and pushes the business to the top of their listings.

The disadvantage of traditional media is the expense, it’s not targeted to the businesses market and the exposure goes away right after it’s distributed. In contrast to traditional marketing when content is published on your website and distributed out through the Internet it lives forever, constantly promoting the business and driving revenue.

First Year Results

After the first year Tony told me he added $50,000 in sales to his business. And each year since, sales have gone up significantly.

Recent Website Data

Although we started with zero traffic it has grown significantly each year. To validate the growth results Tony is getting at the time I wrote this Case Study I did a 10 month comparison of the current years traffic to the same period the previous year.

Here’s the traffic results using analytics provided by Google:

Tony has been experiencing exponential traffic to his site

Previous Year- 5,897 users had 7,081 sessions and 13,089 page views
Present Year – 22,297 users had 27,171 sessions and 57,379 page views

The marketing methods used to help Tony’s business were specific to his type of business. Each business is different and requires a different approach to their online marketing. Every new client we work with gets a tailored marketing plan that best fits their type of business and their business model.