"You're all over the Internet!"

This happened a while back, but I wanted to share it because as local business consultants we need to have an impressive online presence.

Back in 2005/2006, I lived in a different area and I had several moms groups, plus several business groups that I ran. I also had several websites ( nothing impressive, just free sites and blogs) that were about moms, work at home moms, etc.

I was at a gas station, and at that time I had a traditional home business (along the lines of Avon, Mary Kay, etc), and when a lady pulled up in the gas station behind me and saw the sign in the back of my car, she asked me for a brochure.

I handed her one, and when she looked at the name on it her eyes got wide and she said, "YOU'RE Shay! You're all over the Internet!"

Now....that isn't necessarily a good thng (Gosh darn those movies I made in college! ), so I asked her what she meant.

She said that if you did a search of moms groups, work at home moms groups, home biz groups, etc. - I was always at least 6 or 7 results of the top 10.

And all of those links had my bright smiling face next to it.

Here is the lesson I want you to take away from this -

I do not only have my websites out there. If you look for me in my local area, you will see that I have my local websites, plus I belong to several local business groups and I have links on their websites. I also belong to local writing groups, and other organizations.

I will also be starting my own group next month. There is a lot of credibility and some degree of prestige when you start your own group of business owners. You are the person in authority, and you are the one who is in charge. It also shows some level of initiative on your part.

I don't live in the same town that I used to. The town I moved from was a lot smaller than this one, so it was easier to become so highly ranked in the searches. However, I'm slowly gaining more virtual real estate - and mentions on other peoples virtual real estate.

I think that the fact that most of my clients are people who have some kind of level of celebrity - they are on local radio stations, politicians, etc. - so my name is starting to be circulated in some different circles.

But anyone can do what I did and what I'm working on doing again.

Don't just have one website and think that that's all you need - it's a start, but it's not the end of your efforts.

If you want to be noticed, you have to be "out there" - mingling, active in your community, and getting noticed.

Your potential clients may not be extremely Internet savvy, but you can guarantee that they know how to do a Google search.

Wouldn't it be nice if when they did a Google search for your name, they would come back with a plethora of results that showed you not only were a business consultant, but were also active in your community?

And here's another thought about having a business group - it can be an income stream in more ways than one.

The local business group that I belong to charges dues. You pay a monthly fee in order to belong to the group.

They (the group founders) also get business from members. They are a web development company, and they also deal with logo designs and other aspects of business.

Since they have a policy of only one member per industry, that means that they are the only web design business in that group.

So not only do they have a monthly income from the dues of the business owners that belong to the group, they also have a steady stream of potential clients joining the group. They also have their business highlighted if you do a search for business groups.

So if a business owner is new in town, and they are looking for a business group to join, not only do they see the business group with the business group organizers, but they also see someone that can help them update or redesign or develop their website - whether or not they decide to join the group.

Anyway....

The point of this post is to encourage you to develop a strong local presence on many fronts.

YOU want to be "all over the Internet."