gmarketing

[gmarketing]

Week 13 - Final Progress

What Worked - Exceeded sales revenue by at least 30%!  Successfully gained market intelligence on two new search engine ranking updates for the fall and have adjusted my algorithm accordingly. As a result, i have an increased competitive advantage (for now) on how search engines will be treating website content / rankings for the upcoming holiday season. This will be a great value add, even if comes at the end of the course.                                    What Didn’t Work - My laptop (have a new one on order) in terms of formatting or writing long documents. Utilising personal selling with coffee shop appointments has largely overcome this as the SEO Algorithm can create auto reports based on the package desired by the client.                                    Lessons Learned - Entrepreneurship is hard. It’s never the easy route or a ‘bird course’.   This course has reaffirmed all the moving parts necessary in order to work for yourself, and how necessary it is to stay up to date on rapidly changing business literature.  Being able to take all the business functions, apply my creatively and really see how long it takes for something to come to fruition is my greatest lesson of this class. Some things took much longer than expected to conduct, others much quicker. I have been surprised (but grateful) how generous some tech employees have been with their subject matter expertise on search marketing and willing to sit down for a socially distanced meeting that could easily 1-2 hours. Many of them have told me how fortunate they feel to be able to work from home, have a secure high paying job, and yet see many people and businesses struggle. I have found a new sense of altruism in the tech community. Many are not expected to go back to work in an office ever, or at least until there is a vaccine.  Many have also discussed the large gaps of inequality in big vs small tech, I feel some have been charitable of their time as they have felt guilty in their endeavours and wish to help level the playing field. I am grateful for their charitable advice/contributions. It is has been a great eye opener to see how search engine marketing  / optimisation has changed in the last 3 - 6 months , that would normally only change ever 2-3 years.                                                                                                                 I have also learned of demand for a longer term SEO consultation - whereby small and medium sized business (SME’s) are looking for something more in-between a quick/short SEO audit and a large, full service digital marketing package. Many of my prospects have said they would definitely be interested in SEO consulting , but wish to see my mico business become more established and to touch base in the new year.  Sales cycles even for micro businesses can still be long and has led me to develop a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to keep in touch with prospects that are interested, but not ready to buy.      Lastly, it’s been fun to read how my other fellow students have progressed throughout the course; their trials and tribulations and successes. It’s also been interesting  to read between the lines as tumblr is very much a public forum and being able to gauge their success by  their entrepreneurial signals.

[gmarketing]

Week 12 - Progress

What is Working - Securing another client after a successful personal selling / direct marketing utilising the AIDA method: Awareness (via personal referral), Interest (Coffee shop meetup)  Decision (after qualifying,  educating, and overcoming objections   )  Action (putting my SEO algorithm to work).                                                                                                                            What is Not Working - My laptop keyboard is becoming increasingly reliable, and after attempting to source a   new lap in my limited budget, I have been advised many are on back order due to covid. Therefore, I will have to put up with poor formatting (my enter/return key does not work properly among other things) for another month.                                                                                    Due to the massive amount of people in my area working from home, internet connection, uploads and speeds have been highly variable. This has made it difficult to work from home. However coffeeshop WiFi seems  less affected so have been able to mitigate this when working during the day.                                                 How do you feel the  Project is coming -  I feel the second wave of Covid has tampered interest for  discussion/meetups as many are looking to hunker down for the next 30-60 days. Or, at the very least put off any business decision making till the Holiday season.  This shouldn’t be a large issue given I was expecting this and accounted this. in terms of my sales/expense forecast    Lessons Learned -  have found interacting with clients/prospective clients in a verbal/interpersonal way which is conducive to personal selling / direct marketing.     It is far easier to explain to a client/prospect my value proposition, identify their pain points, overcome their objections, and  close the deal in person.  Writing / editing/ formatting via email or written reports take 3 times as long. 

[gmarketing]

Week 11 - Progress

What is working - Made my first sale! It has been said that your first sale (no matter how small) is the most memorable, as it is a real market validation of your offering.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             What is not working - Attending free digital marketing webinars, and my laptop’s formatting of Tumblr posts.                                                                                                                                                                                              Now that fall season is approaching, many small business groups/associations are hosting webinars on digital marketing practices (including SEO) that while free, are time consuming, and difficult to register.                                                                                                                                                                              They also provide a lot of outdated information and the educators seem to not have an authentic background in the educational content they are providing. It has shown a great weaknesses vulnerability of government / not for profit employers who are trying to jump on the digital marketing bandwagon, without being educated on the nuanced contexts they seek to teach.                                                                                                                                                            My laptop now longer likes tumblr formatting. Please forgive the spacing of the  headlines/text, while I try to find a solution.                                                                                                                                                                                How do you feel the project is coming? - Overall positive  see Above                                                                                                                                         Biggest Learn this week regarding the business and myself:                                                                                                                                          Learning to qualify prospective clients, while prioritizing time management, web development, SEO updates, and providing client service. Time management is an art and I have found that different business locations (e.g. coffee shops vs working from home) are better suited for productive business functions without wasting too much time.                                                              I always knew that time management is an enduring hurdle being self employed, but being able to identify, prioritize, and efficiently categorize  different business functions into predictable blocks of time/location.  Being able to condense 3 hours of work down to 1.5 hours, is liberating. This is a significant learning achievement, that should be celebrated.                                                                                                                                          

[gmarketing]

Week 10 - My Progress

What is working - Outdoor coffee shop meetups continue to yield dividends. I have been learning about various small business digital marketing problems. Gaining  a better understanding of how new business ventures are communicating/networking with each other in this pandemic.   Many have taken the summer off and are just now getting back into business.                                                                                                                                                    What is not working -  Dealing with prospective clients who are not a good fit and still seek free marketing information.  Some of the website builder apps are more time consuming to learn/build with that are no longer consistent with short term priorities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            How is the project is coming? - Very well, I have revised my SEO algorithm to appeal to new Local/Regional SEO practises that I have recently become aware thanks to  networking.  These new search  ranking due to Covid 19 (e.g. hours of online operation, review scoring, and business directory listings)  have been updated in my algorithim and A/B testing is continuing with trial participants                                                                                                                                                                                                                                What I’m Learning  - See see above                                                                       

[gmarketing]

Week 9 - My Progress

What is Working -  Coffee shop meetups. Got some great feedback on the minimum viable product (MVP) on my DIY SEO scoring system. and reporting format from industry insiders that work on major search engine platforms.                                                                                                                                        What Did Not Work - The online showcase recommended tools.  Many of those online design platforms have a freemium model (which is legitimate) however it is not clear in many cases, what services were offered gratis and what were chargeable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Some required a credit card to start a free trial. Others, it was not until the end of creating a showcase that one found they were severely restricted in terms of publishing options of the presentation. It was yet  another reminder, leading to unnecessary charges.                                                                                                                                                                                                          It is yet another reminder/lesson to really have a clear value proposition on  pricing structure. The learning curves were not efficient and many hours were used to just to gauge what presentation platforms were a good fit for such a short term deliverable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 How do you feel the project is coming? -   See above                                                                                                                                                                 What are you learning about running a business? - The need to prioritize between a must have vs. nice to have.   Narrowing the focus and avoiding scope creep (which is all to common with creative thinking) is critical to staying on a critical pathway to success.  Entrepreneurship, like marketing has some many functions one can easily know a little  but not a lot in any function that would impede success.                                                                                                                                                                                                   What are you learning about yourself? - The different learning curve for conducting new exercises and how difficult it can be to accurately forecast how long it will take to learn a new skill/knowledge.  Graphic design is who                                                                  

[gmarketing]

SOS SEO Online Showcase

Note the previous link (published on brightspace) has the showcase starting at slide 5.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This link starts the showcase at the beginning  https://my.visme.co/view/4d8jy089-sos-seo-online-showcase                                                                                                                                            Otherwise, you can just move the slide scroll  (at the bottom of the page) to slide 1 and begin the presentation from slide 1.  Please make sure to click 'yes' (at the top left hand corner) to allow the background music to allow for an enhanced effect!

[gmarketing]

My Progress - Week #8

What is Working?                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Continuing to work on the back-end of my eCommerce website, has lead to positive results for subsequent sales execution . Especially during the slow period of summer (last two weeks of August).                                                                                                                                                                                                   What is not Working?                                                                                                                                                                                                          This is a temporary problem:                                                                                                                                                           Outbound/direct marketing strategy has not been terribly  effective in the last two weeks of August, given many people are focused vacation mode and not seriously interested in conducting any business deals until after Labour day weekend.                                                                                                                                                                                                               This is not surprising at all, given the temporary issue, and being able to focus on other critical/productive tasks (i.e. website building).                                                                                                                                                                                                            How is the Project Coming?                                                                                                                                                                                            The what is / not working accurately sums  up my feelings of progress so far accurately.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Biggest Learning Outcome (this week)                                                                                                                                                                   Learning about the plethora of (free) apps/plug in functions that can assist with online exposure and shorten the sales cycle (sales conversions)  :                                                                                                                                                                              a) Payment processor apps (with competitive fees)                  b) Chatbot messenger systems                                                            c) Registrations across various industry databases                      d) Google/web analytics                                                                        e) Google Adwords                                                                                    f) Facebook Marketing                                                                              g) Blogging platforms - and how they can be integrated into external news feeds                                                                            h) Design  psychology - how different designs have different user experience effects, based on target audience and industry category.                                                                   

[gmarketing]

My Progress - Week #7

What is Working?                                                                                                                                                                                                                    -Learning the ins and outs of the website builder to provide a more flawless launch for: content marketing, pricing, payment processing, and website sales conversions                                                                                                                                -Being able to have a user friendly (with a short learning curve) website builder, is critical   to successfully launch an online micro enterprise in less than 14 weeks.                                                                                                                                                 What is not Working?                                                                                                                                                                                                          - Sub geographic target marketing in the Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor.  It will no longer be possible to provide tailored content marketing for each tech/startup/small business verticals (i.e. evergreen blogging content that appeals to  diverse sub markets, yet it is very time consuming to write/market.                                                                 - As a result, I will be focusing on   outbound/direct marketing to provide that customisation with more generic content marketing on my website as a followup to the sales call to remind the prospect of my value  and unique selling proposition.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  How is the Project Coming?                                                                                                                                                                                               The what is / not working paragraph summary sums my feelings of progress so far accurately.                                                                                                                                                                             I feel confident of  (targeted) success, so long as I keep focused on a narrow scope and utilise strict timelines.                                                                                                                                  This means focusing on critical success factors and identifying key decision makers in my outbound/direct marketing strategy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Biggest Learning Outcome So Far                                                                                                                                                                                  Time management for sure. It is very easy to come up with ideas, solutions, and different (sub) target markets that are quite fragmented. It is quite another thing, to forecast how much time it actually takes to execute.                                                                                                                                                         Planning, launching,and being cash-flow/revenue positive (in less than 14 weeks) means  simplifying, and prioritising one’s micro businesses on critical factors.  Fluff is a luxury.  

[gmarketing]

Do I Really Need the Extra Money?

One of the never ending problems with entrepreneurship is money, who has it, who wants it, and who, ultimately gets it.

Budgeting, estimating, and forecasting are all important in any small business, since a small scale organization likely can’t survive (for long) without positive cash flow.

People are often attracted to entrepreneurship because of the control they have over all the business functions, and how they choose to execute them. Introducing other people’s money changes this power dynamic; often times for the worst.

Recalling the CBC’s Dragon’s Den videos, one does not have to look very far where many of the dragons (and even the entrepreneurs) turn down support/financing, as they cannot (rightly so) come to agreement on the power dynamics, and ultimate control of the organization.

In product marketing, capital is required to manufacture your physical goods, bring them to market, and store excess inventory.  

Services marketing / Sass companies have changed this dynamic. Given the strict timelines and key success factor for this micro enterprise, it was a main reason why I chose a low cost / high value business that I could bankroll/bootstrap on my own, without having to rely on others.

Given this philosophy, the question becomes moot in terms of spending scarce resources researching/procuring unnecessary financial capital. 

The only critical juncture point that capital would be required would be under the following circumstance:

a) The micro enterprises is ultimately successfully for 1-3 years

b) I wish to scale beyond the micro enterprise

c) I wish to give up control to other people (i.e.. selling the business)

This would entail an shallow entrepreneurship philosophy (e.g. scale big, sell fast) that I am not looking to pursue. Deep entrepreneurship focuses on staying in control, living within your means, and staying authentic to your personal brand / offering.  

Nether philosophy is superior to the other.  Yet, it is important to have a proper situational analysis of what one wants to do. Especially in the year 1 to 3 mark.

You only need to watch a few episodes of Dragon’s Den to find entrepreneurs that have put their cart (offering) before the horse (funding), with little customer acquisition/revenue to show for, and grossly inflated valuations of their business to justify their ask.

Distracting one’s attention, and scarce resource, in seeking/thinking about funding before achieving revenue/traffic/minimum viable product (MVP) is not a wise move. It is the difference between ‘doing’ and ‘playing’ startup. 

Many small businesses don’t survive to see their 1st birthday because of this.

For all the reasons above, I’ll say no thanks to the extra money.

[gmarketing]

Business Operations Plan

Space and Equipment

As a software as a service company (SaaS) the capital requirements are relegated to a virtual space, with myself being able to secure an ecommerce website at an excellent offering. 

Being able to work from home or in coffee shops (or anywhere with a wifi connection) has allowed SOS SEO to keep its costs ultra low and thus price DIY SEO offerings at a very attractive price point (penetration pricing strategy)

The virtual store layout will consist of no more than 5 SEO optimised pages:

1. Homepage - with an appropriate value proposition, unique selling propositions (USP) and call to action linking the service package

2. About us / our story

3. Product Packages (including pricing)

4. Blog

5. Contact us 

Logistics

One of the benefits of a service business is not having any major capital requirements, leading to earlier market penetration and the potential for faster scaling.

Any supplies for any coffee shop meetups will easily be encased in a laptop bag (e.g.. laptop, stationary supplies etc) that are already readily on hand.

Since we will be using our proprietary algorithm to provide a DIY SEO Audit, no subcontracting is necessary or desired at this time. 

Being agile, efficient, with a fast turnaround time are critical success factors for any micro business.

Methods and Procedures (Value Chain)

1. Prospective Client is directed to the SOS SEO website via organic search or by word of mouth / direct marketing.

2. Prospective client can easily review the social proof / trust of SOS SEO’s offering with minimalist design, and limited web pages (max 5). This will lead to a effortless analysis of understanding SOS SEO’s value proposition and competitive advantage, and a friction-less user experience

3. Prospective Client will select an DIY SEO Audit package with price points attached, including terms/conditions, and the limitation of liability.

4. Once order is submitted and confirmed, a lead time quote will be sent to the client to let them know when they can expect their DIY SEO report.

5. SEO Consultant will review the client’s order, and will proceed to run their proprietary algorithm. Otherwise consultant will contact the client for a follow up of additional information required to process the order. 

If client cannot provide missing information required (e.g. technical website data), client’s purchased will be refunded back to their original payment method.

6. Based on service package chosen, consultant will generate a DIY SEO audit report, which may or may not included further support via email/phone channels. Turnaround time is expected to be less than 5 business days.

7 Consultant will followup with client 30 days after purchase, as well after 3 months to gauge client satisfaction. If client is satisfied with their purchase, they will be invited to provide a customer testimonial in exchange for a future discount or referral credit.

Systems:

See above

Organization:

Solo-preneur; get to argue with myself if/when any difficult decisions need to be made. 

Regulation

Saas online business are relatively unconstrained in Canada, and generally do not need a licence to operate online 

Biggest issue will is client liability, while will be covered by a liability waiver and explicit terms and conditions. 

Free local Slack entrepreneurial groups, will be utilised to help with direct marketing / outreach / targeted promotion. 

[gmarketing]

A Critical Analysis of Michael Cruz’s Sales Approach (Q4)

Like many solo-preneurs / small business owners, the reality of achieving results is much harder than dreaming / thinking / forecasting.

 Michael Cruz’s ‘fail to plan’ ‘plan to fail’ direct marketing approach is evident in terms of why many households no longer answer the door to salespeople.

Cruz’s sales approach was all about the features (what he could offer) vs benefits (what’s in it for the customer). Many people when startled/approached at the door always going to be cautious and suspicious about any intention for a hard sell or immediate close. Especially when dealing with something as personal/taste wise as painting / colour / and their real estate.

Cruz failed to do something many novice salespeople forget to do - build rapport, ask questions, and tailiors one’s messaging based on what the prospect is communicating (objection handling)

He also had a very simplistic, non targeted flyer that didn’t have a lot of trust in the price (most painters provide free customised quotes), using the word ‘cheap’ when real estate and it’s aesthetics are seen as an investment, over use of self centred words (here is my phone number vs. call me for a free quotes). 

Cruz could have also established a web presence to generate leads through a simple sign up form. This landing page could also showcase some of his previous work, along with his story, and how efficient his work is without compromising quality.

Had Cruz been more selective which houses he provided is flyers (or even had them with him) extolling the benefits of an economical paint job (no cheapness, no rushed time limit) combined with his own personal marketing story of why he got into painting and his qualifications, along with social proof (pictures of previous paint job).

Ultimately when doing 1 to 1 marketing, people often buy based on other emotive factors - trust, likeability,  lack of professionalism / sketchiness (no credit cards accepted), and the legitimate perception of doing business with someone in black economy (i.e. under the table).

Cruz needs to understand that most sales prospects will reject his offering and that his pricing / revenue needs to reflect that while still providing value.

Because of his brash approach, it is likely his neighbourhood will remember his tactics for quite some time. meaning he will have to market in new territories to establish a positive reputation, adding to his costs, and whether this side job is really worth based on his approach/personality traits.

If Cruz is unable/unwilling to change his ways, he is likely better off working for a painting company rather than starting his own.

[gmarketing]

Pin Your Dreams on a Good Night’s Sleep

More than half of all Canadians suffer from poor sleep.  Isn’t it time you closed the light on what’s really keeping you up?

[gmarketing]

The ‘Overwhelmed’ SME Persona

Overview

Newly established organization (less than 3 years) in the Toronto - Waterloo tech corridor who are struggling to establish their online presence.

They are between the ages of 25 - 70, and have started their small business (SME) as a side income supplement or have become involuntarily self employed due to Covid.  

Lower to Middle class household income (35 - 75k /year)

Completed Post Secondary Education (although likely out of date or irrelevant to their new venture). 

Lifelong learner, but as with age, it has become more difficult to learn new skills/knowledge that require high levels of fluid intelligence (fluid intelligence starts diminishing after age 30).

Thoughts and Feelings

Enthusiastic about their product/service offering. Understands the need for perseverance in a market full of adversity and poor social support.

Knows how to develop a website (i.e. website builder) and has little to novice web development skills

Being able to get their online presence up and running (within 90 days) to achieve lead generation or eCommerce conversions

Major preoccupations are the step learning curve that come with running a small business and don’t know where to begin or prioritise their time.

What Do they See?

Their environment is a chaotic one - they may be working from home, a coffee shop, or a co working space.   

They are likely juggling many personal and professional tasks, often working alone or with a small group of people (e.g. family members)

They have not seen their friends due to Covid, and the majority of their time has been spent developing their business. They are financially stressed, socially frustrated, and have gambled on their socio-economic future by starting a small business

Current market is offering pricing/solutions that are out of reach. Their marketing budget (if any) is in the hundreds of dollars, not thousands-tens of thousands of dollar.

What do they Hear?

Their friends are non supportive and distant - likely saying their project/small business is doomed to fail (e.g. sending email forwards on the perils of small business and bankruptcy stories under the guise of friendship)

They are their own boss right now. They do not like to be told what to do on a day to day basis (i.e. advice is welcome, orders are not). Power dynamics / self control is a well established motivator for one to seek entrepreneurship. 

Many influencers are promoting self employment in the ‘gig covid economy’ via social media channels (e.g. youtubers showing how much fame, success, money they have made). 

They are likely to buy into general influencer’ advice that is not situational/contextually appropriate for their business leading to delays in success/opportunity cost/financial problems.

What do they say and Do?

Outgoing personality in public, while still maintaining a Canadian practical / down to earth attitude

Pragmatic appearance - will buy into name brands if the price quality ratio is there. Is suspicious of conspicuous consumption and promotions that are too good to be true

Kindness and generosity towards others, which may leads to distracted goal setting / execution (multiple priorities) at the expense of their small business. They have difficulty saying no to others.

Pain

Want the digital marketing to take care of itself, can’t afford a full time digital marketer so have to adopt easy to understand, DIY solutions that have a high probability of success

Fears include personal bankruptcy, destroy relationship (i.e. divorce, long term relationships), not able to provide for oneself,  government income support payments ending - socially and financially bewildered.

Gain

They want to see light at the end of this new entrepreneurial channel

Want to be positive cash flow within 90 days. Financially independent withing 6 - 12 months

Are the ultimate consumer of the value equation paradox for marketers - the reluctant SME needs a solution that gives them more value than they have paid for. 

In return for the out sized value they receive (from the value-equation paradox), they will likely provide positive word of mouth marketing to qualified candidates in their network.

 They are also likely to conduct repeat purchases (at a higher price point) based on the sales reciprocity principle.

[gmarketing]

Local SEO Competition

As a Software as a service (Saas) business model, it is not necessary to have a local bricks and mortar location in order to compete effectively. Therefore the direct competition is quite limited (at this time), and the bundled services of a marketing agency detailed below are more indirect and non locals. 

Most SEO services are not offered as an un bundled fashion (hence the entrepreneurial opportunity of this gap).  This is because SEO is a very high margin business and can command high prices due to bundling and future value potential. 

However, since many B2B clients have difficulty justifying spending thousands to tens of thousands in subscription/consulting fees, digital marketing agencies provide additional marketing services as a value add to help justify their exorbitant pricing.  

As well,  the ‘local’ competition tends to target well capitalised small and medium sized businesses (SME). This leaves other cost conscious/novice SME’s without a proper SEO solution, and largely abandoned.

Toronto - Waterloo Tech Corridor 

Candybox Marketing - Mississauga

Established since 2008 - Website Experience / Market Positioning / Brand Equity / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

Claims to be Canada’s Leading SEO Shop - User generated reviews back up a strong local reputation, although national prescence is more doubtful (STRENGTH/WEAKNESS)

Specialised in demand and lead generations (critical factor in SEO) Website Experience / Market Positioning (STRENGTH)

Provides clear and actionable SEO strategies - Website Experience / Market Positioning (STRENGTH)

Proficient with most business marketing platforms - Very important with many online businesses utilising DIY / Accessible Software Subscriptions - Market positioning (STRENGTH)

Chatbot for approachable customer service and good user experience - Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Case studies on website - Social proof / market positioning / reviews (STRENGTH)

Accessible web client login - Web experience / Market Positioning (STRENGTH)

Only 10 google reviews for such an established digital marketing agency (WEAKNESS)

Bundled SEO Services with undoubtedly (unpublished) high pricing structure (WEAKNESS)

Small font size, difficult to read in different web browsers, and a more cluttered website than most digital marketing agencies for 2020 (WEAKNESS)

Evergreen content on their blog, however it’s not clear how often they update their content - an important indicator for any SEO agency to practice. (WEAKNESS)

Candybox Marketing - Mississauga

Established since 2008 - Brand Equity / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

Multiple awards from respectable Canadian business associations - Brand Equity / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

49 Google reviews with a 4.9 star rating - Brand Equity / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

Continously updated website during pandemic (e.g. Covid 19 info) - Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Desktop and Mobile friendly website with consistent view on multiple web browsers - Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Chatbot for approachable customer service and good user experience - Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Clear, concise page buttons making it easy to navigate and acquire the value and unique selling propositions - Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Bundled SEO services with obscure pricing - Market Positioning / Website Experience (WEAKNESS)

Evergreen blog content but appears no recent updates  - updated content marketing is critical for SEO and not practising what you preach weakens their authenticity - Market Positioning / Website Experience (WEAKNESS)

Social Media links on 3 core areas for B2B Digital Businesses - Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram (4.75/5 Facebook reviews) - Reviews / Social Media/ Market Positioning (STRENGTH)

Candy Themed Branding Colours - attractive to some if looking for a playful personality (e.g. startups/ mom and pop shops), but could be seen as unprofessional for larger enterprise organisations who are looking for a more professional relationship - Market Positioning / Website Experience  (STRENGTH / WEAKNESS)

TechWyse Internet Marketing - Mississauga

Established since 2000 - Market Position / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

143 Google Reviews with a 4.75 / 5 Rating - Market Position / Social Proof (STRENGTH)

145K Likes on Facebook - This is abnormally high for a B2B Business Social Media, and these likes could have been purchase, leading to unnecessary vanity metrics - Market Position / Reviews / Social Media (STRENGTH / WEAKNESS)

Excellent value proposition - Builds industry leading campaigns that dive relevant traffic to your website. This also means that the SEO services are bundled into marketing campaigns leading to a higher price structure to justify the value adds - Market Position / Pricing (STRENGTH / WEAKNESS)

Clear call to action button - “Book your 20 min strategy session” - This is also featured on their SEO page with a very effective tagline: “Guess what? SEO likely brought you here”  - Market Position / Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Fresh and updated blog content - Market Position / Website Experience (STRENGTH)

Good primer (with video) on the features and benefits of SEO - Market Position / Website Experience (STRENGTH)

BONUS: Apathy / Indifference

Many startups, tech small business have been educated at various levels of post secondary education and may feel that they know enough to get started / execute their marketing strategy.  

Therefore this hidden indirect competitive force may be the greatest force, a standalone DIY SEO audit service may face. Effective product knowledge, client education,objection handling and qualifying clients will be necessary to ensure a proper product market fit.

Additionally many website builders (e.g. WIX) offer basic SEO services to get started. Many potential clients who use website builders will have a very DIY attitude and could be resistant to purchasing additional services (outside of their website builder relationship) due to trust / budget / simplicity issues.  

Being  able to properly educated clients on a compare and contrasting aspect of basic vs. intermediate vs advanced SEO  and where they stand (situational analysis) vs their own competitive forces (i.e. the cost of doing no more) will be necessary to overcome  trust, budgetary, and complexity issues.

[gmarketing]

SOS SEO Mind Map

Standing Out With SEO (SOS)  Confidentiality    Secured Client Login (Cloud)  Value Proposition    Get Noticed Without the Costs (Slogan)      Tagline - "Drop the outdated digital marketing practices, that put you at a disadvantage in a      COVID world. Re-establish loyalty with an effective user experience"      DIY SEO Reports      Low Cost Reporting      Levelling the digital playing field for small business      Short / Medium term action plans  User Experience Reports    Content Marketing      Amount of content      Content Freshness      Keywords      Link Building      Heading / Page Titles    Images    Social Media Usage    Page Speed    Internal vs External links  Marketability Report    Internal vs External Links    Headings    Analytics    Page titles    Off Page SEO    Content Marketing      Amount of content      Freshness of content    Images / Alt text    Social Media  Website Architecture Reports    Server Behaviour    Meta Tags    Printability    Link building    Domain Age  Priority Recommendations    Balanced Scorecard    90 day action plan  Geographical Reports Strategy    Local (city)    Regional (province)    International (Global)    National  Accessibility Reports Strategy    Desktop vs Mobile website accessibilty

[gmarketing]

An Entrepreneur’s Strengths & Weaknesses

Financial Planning

Strengths - I have always kept track of my daily/monthly/yearly spending to budget appropriately, and forecast new expenses.  This provides a contextual situational analysis of my current financial situation, determining the ‘how’ (strategy) in achieving my future financial goals, and the probability of them coming true.

 Being able to understand, and identify key financial ratios makes it easier to do mental arithmetic on fixed/variable spending while still looking for opportunities.

Weaknesses - When travelling (or working remotely) it can be easy to lose track of expenditures and deviate from my disciplined financial approach. This is especially true as overspending can easily be realised when paying with plastic/digital payment methods.

To combat this, I have created budget expense ratios (quick rules of thumb) to lower stress/anxiety, and to forgive myself for expenses that would otherwise be avoidable at home. 

Luckily, Covid 19 has helped in keeping myself more stationary, and within a stricter budget.

Sales / Negotiation

Strengths - I have always been an extroverted person and can find common ground to talk about anything, build rapport, and overcome objections (number one indicator for being successful in sales). Being intellectually curious on a variety of interdisciplinary subjects allows me to communicate in creative ways instead of relying on talking points or a sales script.

Weakness - I talk better than I write. This was fine during pre-covid times, where interpersonal communications was more easily achieved/welcomed. however it can take me a long time to organize and write out my thoughts leading to frustration. 

To combat this, i have subscribed to the 5 minute rules. I will start writing for 5 minutes, and if I’m still bored/can’t focus, give myself permission to do something else. Exercise (including cleaning) helps in focusing the mind to come back and write in a motivated manner.

People Management

Strengths - I have always enjoyed leadership positions and surrounding my self with other intellectually curious individuals, bouncing off ideas with one another, and looking to create meaningful change in a non traditional setting.

Weakness - Being a life long learner causes one to experience curse of knowledge more often than they would like. This makes it more difficult to work in groups  who are not on the same page knowledge/motivational wise, including the traditional ‘9 to 5 jobs’. Working as an individual contributor on my own projects (where I can be much more selective in the users i interact with) has helped mitigate this issue.