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Differentiate your Business

Written by: Anne Moss Rogers

Article Overview: When it comes to the internet, crowded would be an understatement. So how do you stand out? How do you break through the clutter? And how do you do that on a tight budget? The first step is to define your differentiator. Just answer the question; “What makes my business different from my competitors?”

Differentiate your Business

Your clients highlight your differentiators Without knowing it, your customers and clients usually write what differentiates you from the rest. Just having testimonials in their own words published on iVouch is unlike most other small business owners on the internet. So that alone sets you apart.

One example is of a small business owner with an internet presence is Mike Kline, owner of Brookside Inspections in Canton, MI. He recently told us, “Got a job (a home inspection) because of the reviews the client saw on iVouch.com. She said it set my company apart from the rest of the local home inspectors! Thank you iVouch!”

Amplify the voices of your customers

Invite your best customers to write a review on the internet on iVouch.com. When I ask my clients, I tell them to include their own business name in the review so they have a mention that will appear on the web. This is good for you, good for them. (And a bit of incentive for them to follow through.)

Now, how do you amplify them? For starters, a business profile on iVouch will get indexed by Google, Yahoo, and the other search engines pretty quickly and it is pretty impressive to show up on a third party site with a review in a customer’s own words, unedited. In addition, there are easy opportunities to publish them elsewhere and make them work even harder for you.

You can post the reviews of your choice to your own website by pasting in a snippet of code. You can use the handy dandy “click here” to post them onto social media sites. Very viral. Very easy.

Use a single sentence on a post card, white reversed out of your branded color and you have a powerful, clutter free message to mail to prospects. You can mention your testimonial page in an eNewsletter and add a link. If you send out portfolios to potential clients or customers, add an iVouch review from a client in a related industry. The point is to make your marketing work by including the endorsement of others.

Over Eighty Five Percent go to the Internet before they buy anything

It’s a good bet someone checks you out before making a buying decision. If you’ve invited your best customers to submit reviews on iVouch, it’s likely they’ll run across these. It’s the kind of thing that will convert people from window shoppers to buyers.

And so how much is this tool?

Compared to a pay per click ad, a paltry sum. Less than a buck per day. You can gather unlimited reviews and vouches, and business members get the benefit of the many tools being added and developed.

You don’t have to be a marketing guru to understand the value of word of mouth advertising and how it can differentiate and promote your business. But you do have to follow through to make it happen.

Related Articles
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  What's the Measure of One Word?

Article Tags: differentiate, internet marketing, marketing ideas, marketing online, marketing plan, marketing strategy



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