On this stormy Wisconsin afternoon, I’m thankful that our house is built on a strong foundation. Although parts of Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Neenah experienced flash floods and wet basements, we watched the storms from the comfort of our home knowing we could escape to the basement if one of the threatened twisters became a reality in our neighborhood.
Now think for a moment … what happens to a home built without benefit of a foundation? What holds it up when the storms come? What keeps it stable when frost heaves the ground? Would it make any sense to carefully erect the walls, add a strong roof, decorate the interior – without first laying the foundation?
Advertising Wasted?
When a small business begins advertising “hit or miss” style, spending money to be sure the graphics and printing look great or the radio ad sounds appealing, but skip the important step of setting a foundation, those carefully constructed marketing pillars have nothing to stand on. It’s like building a house without a foundation.
In this day and age, I believe that foundation is an effective, local search engine optimized web site. Today’s consumer looks first online. We don’t even necessarily need our computers to do so. Mobile search (via cell phone) is growing in popularity. Our new cell phones came with a rebate larger than the price of online services. In effect, they paid us to try “Easy Edge,” which includes local search capabilities.
I don’t advocate putting all your eggs in one basket – totally relying on online marketing to promote your local business. But consider it a foundation to build upon. Have you laid a strong foundation to support your small business marketing efforts?
Photo Credit: nicdafis on Flickr
