Did you know that fewer than half of all small businesses advertise online? That’s what Nielsen Online reports. Surprising, huh? Well, maybe not… if you’re a small business owner who finds Internet advertising confusing, complex, and cluttered (we sure do!)

But the fact is that most consumers now search the Web for local products and services like yours. And if your competitors aren’t already on the Internet they will be soon. So like it or not… it’s time to jump online.

Seriously, how else are you going to become comfortable with Internet marketing if you don’t begin doing it? (Tough love, I know.)

Here’s the good news: There are lots of services now available to help you market your business online. From making it easy and affordable to build a website; to getting a listing with the Internet Yellow Pages; to helping you manage search advertising with Google.

Not sure where to start? Read on…

1.  What if you don’t even have a website?

Our recent post: Does Your Business Need a Website? lays it out for you… including the must-have pages that every local website needs. And here’s our list of the Best Free and Affordable Website Builders. You’ll be seriously amazed at how easy it is to build a great looking website. Best of all… no technical degree required!

2.  Want to have your business found on the Internet?

Listing with the Internet Yellow Pages and other online directories is really important. Here’s our list of the Best Local Directories for Your Online Advertising. With these directories, it’s mostly free to create a listing for your business… and if you’re willing to pay ($25 to $50 monthly) you can also add photos, special offers, user reviews, and more!

3.   What if you’d like to find more prospects online?

Using a service to help you with search engine marketing may be the way to go. Check out Yodle and ReachLocal to see if they meet your needs. Both specialize in helping small business owners advertise on Google and other search engines to find prospects looking for local products and services.

4.  Still trying to get a handle on this online advertising stuff?

We understand. As a matter of fact, we’ve written a few blog posts on this very topic:

Why Advertise Online? Here are 7 Important Reasons

Getting Started with Local Online Advertising?

Your Local Online Advertising Options

And remember… when you’re ready we’re here to help too!

In case you’re wondering… you’re not alone. I know you’re trying to figure out how to use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to grow your business. Or maybe you just want to understand what social media marketing is… and if it can help you generate leads and sales. Rest assured. Lots of other small business marketers are wondering too… just like you!

According to the “Third Annual FedEx Office Signs of the Times Small Business Survey” from FedEx Office and Ketchum, almost two in five small-business owners reported they would be growing their businesses with social media sites. That was up from less than one-quarter who planned to up their game with social in 2009 and made social media the only tactic to increase in importance since last year.

So where to start?

Here are a few blog posts on why marketers and business owners are buzzing about social media… and how to get started:

http://www.doshdosh.com/the-importance-of-social-media-marketing/

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/getting-started/

http://www.inc.com/ss/get-started-social-media#0

Oh, and I almost forgot. If Twitter is on your mind (it should be) then read our recent post: Time to Get Started On Twitter.

Remember, you’re not alone… since we’re here to help too!

C’mon you’ve heard it before (with infomercial voice-over in your head?) “You too can build a business on the Internet, work from home, and watch the cash roll-in!” Sorry. Not true. Building a business online takes a lot of work and commitment. Don’t trust anyone that tells you differently. But if you’re serious about bringing your business online (or starting one) then…

It all starts with your website.

Having a professional looking website is as essential as a listing in the Yellow Pages used to be (yes, used to be). I mean your new Internet prospects need a place to find you right? And nothing says, “Open for business!” like an engaging and friendly website. The good news: creating a website is well within reach of even the smallest upstarts (we have one!)

But I don’t know anything about building my own website!

No worries. Thanks to some of the great website builders out there, it’s now easy to create a professional website with just a few clicks of the mouse. And you don’t need a degree in computer science either! Check out Yola, Moogo, and SnapPages to see what we mean. They offer a wide range of templates, tutorials, pictures, and graphics to get you started quickly. Did I mention that they’re free to use? Yes, free.

Most website builders will also help you get set up with your own domain name (e.g. www.yourbizname.com), which you can add to your business cards, letterhead, and other marketing materials. Pretty cool, huh?

As you build your website, keep in mind that most business-oriented websites have the following pages:

• Home Page: This is the first page most of your visitors will see, so don’t be coy – provide all the key information here. Your logo, business name, phone number, address, and business hours are the most important things. Bottom line: make it easy for them to contact you!

• Products or Services: This could be products you sell, services you offer, your menu, or your class schedule (you get the idea). Be sure to include pricing (unless your prices change frequently) and a few attractive, high quality photos to remind customers why they like your stuff the best!

• Contact Us: Make it easy for people to get in touch with you for questions, to make an appointment, or share a story. Provide multiple ways to contact you – email address, phone number, and a simple web form they can fill out.  If you’re into social media, invite prospects to follow you on Twitter or “Like” you on Facebook.

• About Us:  Is your business family owned and operated? Do you specialize in organic products or local suppliers? Offer a money back guarantee? Tell your story in your own words – it builds trust with your prospects, and, after all, people buy from people they like!

• Testimonials: Already have customers? Then ask them for testimonials for your website. Remember: nothing convinces prospects more than happy customers. You can’t afford NOT to start asking your customers to share their experiences. Use comment cards, email, or better yet, your Contact Us form!

Here’s our complete list of the Best Free and Affordable Website Builders from our blog: Best Online Advertising Stuff. You’ll do well using any of the website providers on this list… so take your time and find one that works best for you.

That’s it. You’re ready to jump in and start building your very own website. Remember, there’s no better way to get started than… getting started!

Let us know once your website is up. We’ll want to check it out too!

One of our favorite places to visit this time of year is Los Angeles. Why? Because it’s got that perfect combination of beaches, movies stars, and Disneyland (for the kids of course!)

L.A. is also one of the biggest metropolitan markets in the country… with almost 18 million consumers ready to spend on your products and services.

Wondering how best to reach them with your online marketing message? Then check out our list of the 21 best websites for advertising to L.A. consumers.

For example, this “best of” list features websites for major print and television news outlets including the Los Angeles Times and KTTV Fox 11, sites geared towards specific regions or neighborhoods, such as Yo! Venice, Daily Breeze and Blogdowntown, along with lifestyle and event sites including LAist, Green LA Girl, and LA Moms Blog.

The complete list of the Best Websites for Advertising to L.A. Consumers can be found on our Leadtail blog – Best Online Advertising Stuff.

Have a great L.A. website that you’d like to nominate for next time? Just let us know…

We’ll see you at the beach this summer!

What? I’m being charged $6.65 per click! I don’t understand what happened (I really didn’t) with my search marketing program. I only knew that my credit card showed I’d been charged $665 for a marketing program that I thought would cost me $150. Yikes!

So what happened here? First some background…

When advertising on search engines (yes, there are more choices than Google) you’ll be buying advertising space on a “pay-for-performance” basis. This means you only pay if someone clicks on your ad when it shows up in search results you care about. Pay per click. Sounds pretty good right?

Totally is… but buyers beware! You need to know what you’re doing AND keep a close eye on your advertising campaign as things can move really fast. Why? Because you’re competing against many other advertisers that also want their ads to show up in those same search results.

So what you pay for those clicks can be pretty volatile (translation: get expensive fast!) And the best way to manage your ad campaign pricing is to first decide on the key elements of your bidding strategy:

• Maximum bid price: What’s the most you’re willing to pay (or bid) to have your ad show up when someone types in your target keyword phrase? The higher your maximum bid the more often your ad will show up in relevant search results. But the more you’ll pay per click!

• Average bid range: What are others (your competitors) bidding? Most search engines will show you the average range that other advertisers are willing to pay. This gives you a sense of how expensive those clicks are going to be.

• Daily cap: This is the most you want (or are able) to spend on a daily basis for advertising. If you set your daily cap at, say, $50, then your ad will keep showing until you’ve generated $50 of clicks for that day. No more.

Now back to our story…

I’d set my maximum bid price at $6.65 even though the average bid range was $0.73 to $1.54. I figured this assured me the top positions for my target keywords (resulting in lots of clicks) and would only be hit if pricing was really bid up. But I wasn’t too worried about that since the average bid range was much lower.

To protect my pocketbook, I set my daily cap at $25 so there was no way I could accidentally pay for more than $25 worth of clicks on any given day.

And then I got really busy… with clients, life, cool and fun stuff. You name it and I was busy doing it. Plus I was happy seeing lots of quality clicks coming from my search marketing campaign. Two weeks later I decided to check my credit card and… well you already know the rest of the story. = (

What mistakes did I make with my search engine marketing program?

• Setting the maximum bid (way) too high. You should set your maximum bid at the most you’d truly be okay paying. In this case, I should have set my max bid at $1.50 given the number and quality of clicks I was looking for.

• Assuming the average click range reflected the highest bids. Remember that the average bid range is just that… average! There will be lots of advertisers that are willing to pay (much) more than the average to get their ads seen the most.

• Not keeping a close eye on the search campaign. You need to check back often (daily or multiple times a day for new campaigns) to see how your ad campaign is doing and make adjustments accordingly. You can always increase your maximum bid if you need more clicks or if the quality of the clicks is better than expected.

• Having a daily cap that was too high. You should set a low daily cap to begin with and then increase it over time as you get a sense of the trade-off between the number of clicks and the price per click (PPC). But always use a daily (or weekly) cap as things can change quickly… and trust me, my surprise would have been much worse if I didn’t have a $25 daily cap in place!

• Not first testing and learning what works best. Sometimes it’s best to start with a low maximum bid and then move up as you better understand the quality and volume of clicks you’re getting. In other cases, it may make sense to start with a high maximum bid to get in front of lots of prospects to see if your ad performs well. You can then lower your max bid over time. The important lesson? Test, test, and test!

Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes… so that my “out of pocket” investment ends up being your marketing gain.

Stay tuned as I’m sure I’ll be making plenty more mistakes that you can learn from… = )