John Bronson, former NFL football player for the Arizona Cardinals, turned business owner, has started a personal mission to help small business owners, A.K.A “brick and mortar” businesses, cut through all the confusion and falsehoods of marketing a successful business.
According to Fundera, 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 30% of small businesses fail in their second year and 50% of small businesses fail after five years in business. Finally, only 30% of small business owners will survive their 10th year in business.
And if that isn’t bad enough, large companies like Radio Shack, Payless ShoeSource, & Toys R Us, just to name a few, have all filed for bankruptcy in 2017. And now we see Toys R Us closing all 800 of their US stores in 2018.
Since 2010, Sears has gone from more than 3,500 physical stores down to 695 US stores according to Wikipedia.
“Seeing the Sears store I used to shop at close down in Redmond, WA really made me sad,” John said, “and right behind them is Toys R Us. As a young kid, going to either of those stores with my parents was a real treat, fun and exciting. A lot more exciting than clicking a mouse on a website to make a purchase. But alas, this is the way of commerce and we all have to get used to it!”
Pewinternet.org recently reported that 77% of all Americans now own a smartphone & Forbes reports that 51% of Americans prefer to shop online and e-commerce is growing 23% year over year. People are now embracing the power of “voice search” with 40% of millennials using voice assistants to make purchases.
This means for the typical small business in America, you must be able to be found online and provide the user with a good experience.
John says, “You have to change the way you think about how your business delivers its product or service and what the ‘buyer’s journey’ looks like for your new customers. Hanging an open sign outside your store is no longer going to cut it!!”
He went on to say, “Can you offer your product as an online purchase? If yes, then make sure it is easy and safe for consumers to order online. If you provide a service, can people book an appointment or ask questions without having to wait hours for a response? This is where chatbots and chat software comes into play. We are now an ‘on demand’ society and we hate waiting.”
The number one most important thing small business owners need to get right is setting up their “online foundation” correctly.
“There are 3 simple foundational steps to follow,” notes John, “Step #1 make sure you claim your ‘Google My Business’ listing and that all of your business information, name, address and phone (NAP), is the same there as it is on your website. Suite & Ste are different in the eyes of search engines, so is Rd and Road. Make sure you keep your NAP 100% consistent!”
“Step #2 is to make sure you claim or create all the relevant directory sites with your business information. Directory sites are websites like Yelp, Merchant Circle, Insider Pages, etc. The average number of these high authority websites your business should be listed on is 45. Additionally, niche specific directory sites can take that number past 100.”
John went on and said, “step #3 is to have a system in place so you get online reviews from your customers on a weekly basis. 5 or 10 dusty old reviews from last year won’t cut it. You need fresh reviews coming in every month or people could think something is wrong with your business.”
John’s company ‘John Bronson Marketing’ has set up a free service so that you can generate a report and see how your business fares with the online directories.
Please visit https://johnbronson.co/articles/directory-report/ to learn more.
Lastly, John said; “Make sure you are running inexpensive ads on Facebook to your local audience of customers. You want to stay top of mind and show relevant offers to keep the smartphone users coming into your business. Look, e-commerce won’t replace all businesses. People still like to go out and shop in stores and visit malls. You need to make sure that people are saying good things about you and that you are in front of the eyeballs when people are ready to shop and buy. Helping small business owners set up a solid foundation has become my mission.”
To learn more about John Bronson Marketing, please visit: https://johnbronson.co/
Location Info:
John Bronson Marketing
2030 W Baseline Rd #182, Phoenix, AZ 85041
(480) 712-4810