“What marketing advantages do I now have that I did not have when the week began?”

Throughout the past week of coursework in the business 1 class of the Ron Paul Curriculum, I have been introduced to several key tools of marketing.  This is an unusual advantage for a person at my age and experience level.  I have been assigned Ultimate guide to local business marketing by Perry Marshall and Talor Zamir.  I have also watched and taken notes on the daily lectures given by Dr. Gary North, as well as studied ads written by Bob Bly.  Over this past week I have acquired several advantages that I did not have when the week began.

For a local business website, a landing page is crucial.  Throughout this week’s work, I have been taught the basic guidelines of a good landing page.  The landing page is the place potential buyers should be directed after they click the Google AdWords ad.  For a landing page to be successful, the copy writer must list all the known benefits in a way that motivates the reader to take an action step.  If the copy writer is good, they should be able to generate excitement in the potential customer, and make them crave the lifestyle that this product or service will give them.  If only a few benefits are listed, the customer may not make the purchase when perhaps they would have had all the benefits been listed.  It is important in a landing page to give the reader every reason possible to make the purchase.

A landing page must be clear and functional.  People are lazy, they are not going to dig for information in an ad.  The action step must be clear.  It is crucial that the potential customer knows what it is that you want them to do.  Lay out the navigation system of your website, make it easy enough for a 5 year old to navigate it.  If the action step, and the website options are both clear then there is a much higher chance of the reader making a purchase.

Once an effective landing page has been developed for the business website, it needs to be advertised to the target audience.  Google AdWords is the most effective way to put your business before a thirsty crowd.  There were days when Yellow pages, or perhaps local newspapers were the best way to advertise local business, but those methods of advertising are becoming a thing of the past.  Among the new solutions, Google AdWords has proven to deliver the best results.  AdWords offers a package that allows business owners to create a target map, and select keywords to help deliver their product or service to potential buyers in that geographic circle.  Business owners have the option to choose whether they want to target a geographic area, or a group of specific people spread throughout the world, and they offer many options in between.  It gives business owners flexibility, but it also makes it easier for the customer to find the business they’re searching for.  AdWords is an effective tool, and business owners that ignore this will not gain full potential, and may end up failing in this fast moving world.

I have learned a lot of material this week that was taught by several different successful businessmen.  These businessmen have taught many basic principles, and advised me and other aspiring marketers in what needs to be done to implement these techniques into a marketing career.