Pest Management Professional, March 2010

Make Your Net Work For You Broaden the scope of your network through the Internet luncheon and appearances at holiday parades once the primary relationship and building tools of the owner manager now act as a significant complement to much more comprehensive and sophisticated communication strategies in a much more tech savvy business environment While old fashioned boots on the ground networking programs included in person customer contact strategies such as telephone calls involvement in civic associations and community organizations among others today much more is required to stay competitive Broadband cable FIOS HD and digital TV once looked upon as unlikely communication interlopers have become integrated into everyday use by the vast number of consumers Search engine optimization SEO Pay Per Click PPC social networking sites and blogs create bridges to unprecedented customer access Heres what you can do to complement and enhance your existing networking program Step 1 Develop a Unique Website Invest in an interesting functional easy to navigate attractive website that calls new consumers to action and provides an informational platform for your existing customers Having your site professionally designed and updated is fundamental and key to enhancing your communication with customers both future and current Step 2 Hire a Company to Do SEO There are two major ways to ways to attract customers to your website The first is naturally or organically This is referred to as SEO Search Engine Optimization If your website is designed or revamped to include keywords that attract search engines to notice you in your market then you will be listed in a primary position on the first page when a potential continued on next page Marketing By Harvey F Goldglantz Contributor I like to use puns to demonstrate a point and this article is no exception So what network am I talking about in the headline above Perhaps Im going to tell you how to use the Internet is bringing in more business for your company Maybe Ill be suggesting that you evaluate your safety net to prevent customer attrition I might be suggesting that you commit an amount of net dollars to reinvest in your business Or maybe I am asking about the net youre casting to attract new customers When customer touches increase through networking by expanding customer communication and contacts all of the points above will work for you In other words your net will expand Lets begin by defining the non hyphenated term networking as I intend to use it A business network is an ever expanding universe of communication used to enhance and broaden its customer base through increasing interpersonal relationships Many companies have been slow to broaden the scope of their network by expanding marketing and communication programs that are readily available on the web So I ask you Are you casting a wide enough web to catch the potential that exists in your market I remember when times were much simpler when things were exactly what they appeared to be A phone was a phone not a cell phone or an I phone a record player actually played records tapes CDs and then I Pods eventually prevailed and networking simply involved increasing your contacts by making telephone calls and expanding the number of personal associations The telephone call handshake occasional community www mypmp net MARCH 2010 PEST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL 41