Small Business Mavericks Release Exclusive New Report for Small Business Owners

March 2, 2007; 01:59 AM

Small Business Mavericks, the experts in local small business internet marketing, today released their exclusive new report, “10 Things You Must Do to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Local Small Business Website.”

“The question my clients in my consulting practice ask most about marketing their small businesses online is, ‘how do I get people to find my website?’” says Caroline Melberg, founder and president of Small Business Mavericks and author of the report.

“Generating website traffic is simple – but it’s not easy,” continues Melberg. “I wrote this report to provide my clients, and small businesses everywhere, with an easy-to-use checklist that they can follow to increase visitors to their websites and grow their businesses.”

Included in the “10 Things You Must Do to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Local Small Business Website” Report are the following tips:

# 1 List Your Website with Search Engines & Directories

Google alone attracts more than 250 million searchers every day. 3,000 people PER SECOND type something into the search box and visit someone’s website. And that’s just Google – it doesn’t include all the searching done on Yahoo!, MSN, Ask and all the other smaller search engines. It only makes sense with this many people searching on the web, that you would want to list your website where the people are looking for what you sell.

Get your website listed in all the top search engines, including Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. Research directories on the web with listings for products and services your customers would be interested in. Some directories offer free listings, others require a fee; I’ve found paying the nominal fee that they charge is worth it, as your listing will get posted faster and more reliably than with the free directories.

# 2 Use Article Marketing to Your Advantage

This has been one of the most successful ways of driving traffic to my website that I’ve found – and the good news is, it’s free! Don’t worry – you don’t have to be the world’s best writer to put together useful, readable articles that your potential customers will read. Whatever your industry, there are thousands of electronic newsletters (or e-zines) that are hungry for articles they can use to publish to their subscribers. There are also hundreds of directories where you can publish your articles – some of them are extremely popular and will result in your article being seen by hundreds or thousands of potential customers.

Unlike advertising, which people tend to be skeptical of, articles are more like “news,” which people tend to trust.

When your prospects read your article, they will also see your bio, which will include your website address. If they like what you have to say in your article, chances are they will click on your website link and purchase from your website.

# 3 Publish Your Own E-Zine

This is another way that I’ve found to be hugely successful in driving new prospects to my website. By publishing my own e-zine, I can stay in touch with my current customers easily (and cheaply!), and market my new products and services to them. A secret to using your e-zine to drive traffic to your site is to always be adding new content that your customers want to see. Things like free articles and reports, discount offers on your products or services or special “subscriber-only” promotions are great ways to use your e-zine to drive visitors to your site.

Probably the best thing about publishing your own e-zine is that you will be able to reach new customers you never would have found. When your subscribers read your newsletter and find your content helpful, they will send it to people that they know (but you don’t). When those people like your content, they will subscribe, giving you access to an entire pool of new prospects that you would never have access to otherwise.

These are just 3 of the techniques recommended by Caroline in her new Report.

“While there are multiple tactics that you can – and should – use to make people aware of your website and to encourage them to visit,” Melberg says, “you’ll want to start out slowly and not try to do everything at once. These tactics have a cumulative effect. Each one builds upon the other, helping to raise your ranking with the search engines, establishing you as THE “go-to” expert in your field, and raising awareness with your potential customers so they come flooding to your website to buy your products and services.”

To learn the other 7 tactics recommended in the Report,“10 Things You MUST Do to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Local Small Business Website,” visit Small Business Mavericks online and download the free report, available exclusively at: www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com/report.htm.

About Small Business Mavericks

Headquartered in Wayzata, Minnesota, Small Business Mavericks is the leader in Local Internet Marketing. They teach small business owners and managers how to market their businesses on the Internet, think creatively to find new local customers and increase sales. Contact Small Business Mavericks today by calling 952-473-1007, writing Caroline@SmallBusinessMavericks.com or visiting the company’s web site at www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com.