Unless my client runs out of $$$ and hits Skid Row!!
It takes time to build a buzz.
Let’s talk about “buzz”…
What exactly is that?
How do you create it?
And how do you know when you have it?
Sounds like the client is doing some good things to promote his site and his business.
My client is new to the area and really doesn’t have much of a network.
He is an accountant by profession and trying to expand and help people with financial planning (e.g. estates, trusts, real estate, tax planning, etc.)
Like lots of people in the U.S., it sounds like he’s one paycheck away from real financial trouble.
I helped him build a modest website that promotes his new business venture. It talks about how most people need more than just an “H&R Block” or accountant once a year. (Being financially successful requires someone who sticks with you over life changes.)
The plan was to have content that gets people thinking about things like: College-Savings Plans, Estate Plans, Wills, Living Trusts, Refinancing Your Home, etc. and then come to his office to get financial advice and help. (I think he would also like to do workshops.)
He has some articles posted on his website, a listing of common “Financial Myths” and “Financial No-No’s”, Cases Studies, Office Hours, and even dates for “Financial Planning Workshops”…
You’d think people would LEAP for free tips on such things, but the response has been abysmal!! (Maybe it is since people distrust Wall Street or because he is new in town…)
Does he have the money for advertising? Local radio ads are often dirt cheap, and very productive; newspaper ads cost more, but are good, also. Posting flyers in local stores can help. Trying for link swaps with other local sites, perhaps. Putting his kid on a sidewalk in a sandwich board, even.
All good ideas, but I think he’s broke…
What I don’t get is why people aren’t at least visiting his website…
It sounds like he has been talking to people in the community (i.e. at the store, getting gas, in the park, approaching local groups, etc) and they seem interested at the time, but apparently they aren’t using his business cards and flyers when they get home to visit his site?!
(My client is a younger guy, seems really smart, and looks very professional in his demeanor. I’ve met his wife and they have the sweetest little girl, too. He seems like definite “Financial Planner Material” to me, at least?!)
I feel really guilty because I went and inflated how I could build a super website that would attract lots of new clients and catch him up with the 21st century.
Looks like I don’t know squat?! (And I thought CSS was hard…)
In 1996, you could have poorly written HTML and any content, and you had a “buzz”.
To be successful today, do you have to be Amazon.com or Yahoo! or TMZ or BBC News before people will notice you?!
Sincerely,
Debbie