Yesterday at the fitness center I encountered the beautiful people. You know who I’m talking about, it’s the women that put on the makeup before they go to the gym, they wear the most trendy workout clothes and they stand around most the time talking to their friends — well wait, I may have seen them workout (walking on the treadmill for 5 minutes). I love the beautiful people and maybe one day I’ll join their pact, but for now I go to the gym for a purpose other than socialization, to get sweaty, mess up my hair and make painful looking faces while lifting a 25lb dumbbell.

My point is that every business has segments of people that visit them for different reasons. Are you marketing to them? For example at the gym I noticed three segments of consumers. We have:

People like me — we go there for no other reason than to workout and put that checkmark by that daily goal. (Group 1)
The beautiful people — I described them earlier in this post. (Group 2)
Elderly couples — I love to watch them, so sweet to see people growing older in age, but still taking care of their bodies. (Group 3)

Each of the groups above could be effectively reached using a specific marketing message.

Group 1 — Marketing message regarding variety of equipment and classes without the need for vanity.
Group 2 - Socialization, child care and group activities.
Group 3 — Programs for active seniors that want a community center that cares about their health needs.

When we segment we are able to reach our target more effectively and draw in consumers from different groups by showing them how we can meet their specific needs.

If you haven’t done market segmentation in your business, I suggest you give it a try; you’ll be please with the results.

Times are changing. I read another article today that by the end of the year The New York Times will cut 100 newsroom positions. I write for About.com, which is a company owned by The New York Times, so this news saddened me.

I’m fortunate that I started in the online industry in 1997. As such, I’ve always adopted new media easily, but I think it’s because that’s where I began my career.

I’ve met with general managers of newspapers, editors and writers — our discussions always end up around the lack of adoption of new media when it was introduced by traditional newspapers. Unfortunately, those same newspapers are feeling the pinch during this time.

I’m not saying that traditional media is a dead-end, but let’s think about it. When was the last time you went out into the driveway to pick up your daily newspaper? When was the last time you pulled out the yellow pages to look up a telephone number?

We all knew that the Internet would change our daily lives — some of us slow to adopt, but now we can’t imagine living without it. There are many people who could handle a cable outage easier than an Internet outage. Need proof? Turn off your computer for 24 hours — cut off your access to the Internet. Did you just have a panic attack thinking about it? I did.

I find it amazing that companies still often depend upon the traditional means of marketing and look at the new media options as alternatives. They will pay more for a one time advertisement in a magazine than they will on their website design. They will seek out a radio spot before measuring the impact social media could have on their business. Do you see my point?

Put your business into check.

• How is your website? Does it reflect your business accurately? What message does it reflect when it comes to professionalism?
• Are you writing a blog and interacting with potential customers or is your website static and dull?
• Are you doing search engine marketing? How are you ranking when customers type in keywords? Are you showing up?
• What about social media? Have you dipped your toe in the water? If for no other reason than to monitor your online reputation and protect your brand?

Don’t abandon the traditional vehicles of marketing, but be sure to integrate it with online marketing and new media options; otherwise you may end up struggling like the newspapers are today.

Why is search engine optimization and search marketing important?

I Can Give You 134 Million Reasons.

Why should you care if you are listed in the search engines? There are 134 million reasons. That is how many people use the web each month. Over 85 percent of those people use search engines. Search Engines serve as an information clearinghouse to large majority of Internet users.

Search engine optimization is often referred to as internet public relations. High rankings in major search engines enhance the credibility and the brand awareness of your company, but this is not the only reason search engine optimization is important.

Major search engines have a job to do and it is to provide the most relevant information on terms searched for. In order to perform their jobs accurately they are programmed to take the path of least resistance when it comes to exact terms that users ask for.

There are two common ways to get listed in search engines. One is to use a pay-per-click search engine. The other is organic or natural search engine results. Utilizing both options are considered Search Engine Marketing.

Why is Search Engine Optimization Important?

When you consider that even the largest search engine index only contains 20% of the three billion web pages that reside on the Internet, it’s easier to understand how search engine optimization increases your chances of being found by your target audience. Without search engine optimization and proper search engine marketing your site will be as difficult to find to your prospective customers and clients as a needle in a haystack.

Build it and they will Come: Can you really afford to take that risk?

While professional search engine marketing is not cheap, it’s important to understand it’s one of the most vital marketing weapons available to those who wish to use the Internet as a vehicle to create and increase their business. It’s a myth to think that just because you build a website the visitors will just show up. It takes work, consider investing in search engine optimization in order to draw the traffic into you rather than your competitors.

I’m always amazed at how many companies spend money marketing, but don’t measure the results. When you don’t measure and analyze the results, you might as well throw money out the door. The measurement of marketing efforts will help you in seeing what messages attract new consumers to purchase your products. It allows you to see what methods in marketing work and which ones don’t.

My famous line to businesses is “If you aren’t measuring, you are not marketing.” It really is that simple. Monitoring your marketing spend does not have to be difficult. For example consider the following options:

Marketing online? Use website analytics that show you what traffic is visiting your website and where they are coming from. This will show you what search terms they are searching for and finding you. You can also use this information to gauge whether or not you need to write more information on a specific topic, service or product. Online analytics provide you with real-time data — this is invaluable to any business that is spending money to market using the internet.

Marketing using television commercials? The first thing you must identify is your call to action. Are you driving them to a website url or are you asking them to call you? Perhaps it’s both. If you are driving them to a url, make sure you use a designated url that has analytics installed. This will help you gauge the online response of your commercial. If you are asking them to call you, use a specific telephone number so you can gauge how many telephone inquiries you get and how many of those inquiries result in a sale.

Marketing using a radio spot? This is a little more difficult, first of all if you are driving them to a url again make sure it is a designated url specific to the radio promotion. The same is true if you are asking them to call. You again want to make sure that you are using a designated telephone number that you can use to measure incoming calls.

These are just some of the examples and methods you can use to measure your marketing efforts. By understanding what marketing is working you can allocate more money to those methods and diminsh the money you are spending on methods that are not working for you.

Are you confused by all the jargon words that are used when it comes to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Helzberg Entrepreneur Mentor Program otherwise known as HEMP.  Their discussion was focused on social media.

The panel was informative, but there were so many points that were missed, not that it’s easy to explain social media and how to use it in two hours.  Truth is social media marketing takes work and commitment. You also have to make a decision on whether or not it is right for you business.

You also must consider that it’s not going to be the “quick-fix” for more sales in this economy, social media marketing takes time and often you see non-financial impacts before financial impacts.

One question that was asked that stayed on my mind was “what demographic is using social media?”  Answer,  all demographics are using or at least have potential in using social media in the future.  Social media is no longer just for the college student.  The fastest growing sector in social media, especially Facebook is women over 55.

My point is if you are looking to learn more about social media and you are feeling overwhelmed, take my 7 day social media crash course that I put together at About.com. It’s free and I will answer your questions throughout the course. I promise that by the 7th day you will have a deep and clear understanding of how social media can be used and you will be able to make the decision on whether social media is right for your business.

Shelly Kramer and I will be presenting on the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Social Media Marketing Panel next week, on October 8th. Come join us. We will answer your questions and hopefully provide you with even more clarity.