Your Sphere of Influence
Written by Randy
Lets start out by describing this sphere of influence. A companies sphere of influence is a circle around its location that is dark near the center and fades as it expands. Within the sphere, a business can expect to attract a customer, do business, and make a profit. As you move to the outside of the sphere, the profit margin decreases until it becomes unprofitable either for the business, or for the client to travel that far.
A sphere of influence is relatively small for a local business (a dry cleaner, a restaurant...) and and large for a specialty store (a patented device or a medical suply) Services that require travel can reduce your sphere of influence greatly unless you are top in your field.
Is what you offer a commodity? Are there lots of others doing a similar thing?
Is what you offer a good? Can it ship easily? Is it hard to find?
Is what you offer a service? Does offering it require that someone travels?
When it comes to search engine marketing, we have to remember that they are GLOBAL in scope. If you are a plumber, your chances of getting to the top rankings are basically zero. There are thousands of plumbers and almost as many plumbing self help sites.
However there is one option that most search engine experts don't talk about much. Why don't they? Because it is free, easy, effective, and very fast to get good rankings. This option is the "local search" that is available from both Google and Bing.
Local search allows a company with a physical address to be listed under specific categories, as well as under certain key words. You must list a physical address in each case, and Bing will verify that address by sending you mail with the activation key. However once registered, I have seen a local business jump to the number one position on local searches within as little as 10 days.
Take the time to examine these options and check back soon. In future articles we will discuss how to structure your entries in each of these local searches, and what you can do to jump to the top quickly and effectively.