This is part one of a multi-part series on how to increase the visibility, credibility, and profitability of your business. As the new kid on the block, you will try anything to help get your name out in your community. See if this list rings any bells:
- Logo on your truck, car, or van (including your phone number and website address)
- Yard signs
- Ads in the phone book
- Billboards
- Radio ads
- TV ads
- Newspaper ads
- Business card on every bulletin board you can find
- Posts on social media
How many of those are actually working? Sure you may be getting some visibility, but is it the right kind? Are these bringing in the right kinds of customers? How do you know what is working and what isn’t? The answer is for the most part you don’t! Sure you can be told we have X number of readers, or it goes to X number of households, but what are the chances that that person is looking for you when your ad is running.
One of the hardest things when you first start out is getting your name out there – actually, it doesn’t matter how long you have been in business staying top of mind is hard. You may have been in business for two months or 20 years and if you aren’t visible then, the leads dry up like water in the desert.
I have found there are several ways to increase your visibility, those being:
- Networking in person
- Content Marketing
- Social Media
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | January 21, 2020
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
If you're like most general contractors, HVAC, electricians, or plumbers, you probably rely reasonably heavily on word of mouth marketing to generate new leads. Why shouldn't you? You put in years honing your skills, and hopefully you have a good reputation! The problem is that those leads may start to dry up as people look online to find information and companies.
Also gone are the days of having ads in the phonebook and billboards to gain traction and win business. Having an online presence and using content marketing techniques is key to being found these days. In fact, a recent study by Pew Research Center reports that 77% of Americans are online daily!
Content marketing uses online channels to attract customers during various stages of the purchase funnel. With content marketing, customers start the conversation, and you can create targeted content that makes it easier for people to find you online.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | January 20, 2020
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
In the third quarter of 2019, we surveyed 100 respondents from various walks of life regarding their purchasing habits and how they determine from whom they will buy the products they need. What we learned is traditional marketing is dying, and the phone book is dead. Businesses using the television, newspaper, radio, billboards, and the phone book to advertise are often throwing their marketing money away. We also found that companies can make the most of their budgets by turning the majority of their resources to digital marketing.
In this article, we are going to share some of the key findings of our survey and how your business can benefit from the proven ROI of inbound marketing strategies and quality search engine optimization.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | December 06, 2019
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
Recession. That is not a word you want to hear around your office. Though it is part of the economic cycle, that makes it no less scary for business owners. It has been a little over a decade since The Great Recession, but many parts of the country are still feeling the effects. From rural towns and in North Carolina to metropolitan centers like Detroit, some businesses never and communities still have not recovered.
Are we approaching another recession? Economists believe there is a good chance the next one will come as soon as 2020, after the presidential election. One of the best practices to protect your business from an economic downturn or recession is effective content marketing. In this article, we will discuss four steps toward recession-proof content marketing:
Written By: Gary Buffaloe | November 07, 2019
Can you think about the last purchase you made, one that you did any research on?
Recently, I bought a new carry-on backpack. First, I knew I wanted a backpack, I also knew I wanted one that had good handles, one that I could carry like a briefcase, and it had to have shoulder straps. A waist belt would be a plus, and ultimately it would fit in an overhead bin as I didn't want anything I had to check on an airplane. I spoke with a friend of mine who recommended "this one." It sent me down the buyer's journey/research into the bag. I looked at the reviews, "best of" lists, and comparison videos talking about problems, pros, and cons, and I compared the costs.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | October 02, 2019
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
When you are just starting out or looking to redo your website there are a myriad of options out there, from the do it yourself (DIY) web builders, agencies who specialize in semi-custom sites with predetermined look and powered by a content management system (CMS), agencies that build custom looks on a CMS, or one that is a one off programmed and designed.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | September 30, 2019
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
Every day, thousands of people search for products and services in your area. They want to see how you compare to other similar businesses. Most will use search engines and social media to see what other people are saying about your business. The problem is, your happiest customers aren't always the ones sharing their opinion online.
Inconvenience and uncertainty are the top two reasons your customers don't leave reviews about their experience.
Change that cycle with a reputation management plan. Get reviews from your happy clients through text message or email. Point the happy customers to review online and steer the unhappy ones to leave you a message about his experience so you can make it right before he shares his experience online.
View your most recent reviews on each platform, be it Google Business, Facebook, Yellow Pages, Angie's List, or others and reply to each entry.
Adding a texting platform to your list of communication would allow customers to reach you in a way familiar to them without having to call or email.
Written By: Adam Bennett | March 31, 2019
Adam is the president and founder of Cube Creative Design and specializes in private school marketing. Since starting the business in 2005, he has created individual relationships with clients in Western North Carolina and across the United States. He places great value on the needs, expectations, and goals of the client.
Do you have a case of the Mondays? Looking for a bit of Monday Motivation? Do you need some inspiration to get through the daily grind? Check out these quotes to help get you up and going.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | January 14, 2019
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
At Cube Creative, we welcome establishing mutually beneficial partnerships with other businesses. Over the years, we have discovered a few insights that make our partnerships work better.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | October 19, 2018
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
For centuries people have looked for better ways to communicate and reduce friction. We have went from sending messages via a runner, to snail mail, telegrams to landline phones, mobile phones to texting, email to instant messaging. I could go on but the bottom line is we want to communicate with people as easily and and as quickly as possible.
Live chat has been around for a while and we at Cube Creative have experimented with it for a few clients and even on our own site a few years back. They are great for customer service, marketing and sales alike. The problem ensues when you don't have the staff to man it during business hours. Nothing is worse than getting the pop up of "Hi, Chatty Patty wants to help." You type out your issue then realize they are gone and you are directed to a contact from to "leave a message."
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | August 31, 2018
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
In the day and age where we use the internet, it is more important than ever to answer audience questions. As we rely more on the internet as a primary means of communicating with our audience, it is essential to address every possible question a reader may have. At Cube Creative Design, we advise our clients on pages that they should include on their website. Typically, these pages address some variation of the "Five Ws" - Who, What, When, Where and Why (and sometimes How). The "Five Ws" are used by a number of professions from journalist, scholarly researchers and police investigators. Why not put them to use on your website!
Written By: Adam Bennett | August 23, 2018
Adam is the president and founder of Cube Creative Design and specializes in private school marketing. Since starting the business in 2005, he has created individual relationships with clients in Western North Carolina and across the United States. He places great value on the needs, expectations, and goals of the client.
Do you have a case of the Mondays? Looking for a bit of Monday Motivation? Do you need some inspiration to get through the daily grind? Check out these quotes to help get you up and going.
Written By: Chad J. Treadway | August 20, 2018
Chad is our Chief Smarketing Officer. He will help you survey your small business needs, educating you on your options before suggesting any solution. Chad is passionate about rural marketing in the United States and North Carolina. He also has several certifications through HubSpot to better assist you with your internet and inbound marketing.
