How do I sync my Gmail contacts? How do I edit my website? How, how, how.
This post is for entrepreneurs like my mom, who are over 50 years old, aren’t especially computer savvy, but know that they need digital marketing for their businesses to thrive.
Here’s my top marketing tactics for people over 50.
LinkedIn
I can’t tell you how many times my mom talks about reconnecting with an old contact from 20+ years ago. It’s made me realize that the biggest asset people over 50 have is a lifetime of connections.
Enter LinkedIn. It’s like those old paper Rolodex things on steroids. And at the same time, LinkedIn is like your business card online.
Getting started on LinkedIn is fairly straightforward, but for people like my mom, may be a little challenging to get right. There are three steps to take.
First, sign up.
Second, fill out your profile completely.
Third, add your connections. Adding your connections can be the tricky part, but it’s also where you’ll get the most value out of LinkedIn. You can connect by clicking the connect button on a member’s profile page. You can also connect on the search results page to the right of the member’s information. But the best way to connect is through the “Grow Your Network” page.
This page enables you to search your email address book to find contacts. It’s the quickest way to grow your connections.
The benefit to do this is like sending out a mass mailing of your business card to the people you’ve had contact with over your lifetime. Of course, you can include or exclude anyone from an invite – but it’s definitely a valuable tactic to reconnect with your network.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the same concept as LinkedIn: send communication to people who know you to achieve a desired outcome (i.e. – inbound inquiry or referral).
Starting up email marketing seems intimidating, but like LinkedIn, it can be accomplished in three easy steps.
First, sign up for MailChimp. MailChimp is free for customers with less than 2,000 email addresses. And, MailChimp is typically one of the easier to use email platforms.
Second, upload your list of email addresses to MailChimp.
Finally, send out your message to your email contacts. The most simple email to send? “Hello from YOUR NAME.” Within that message, share what you’ve been up to – and what you’re currently doing – with an invitation to reconnect.
Email marketing usually has a quick response rate. If you do it consistently with valuable information, there’s a possibility that your services will be a great fit for someone within your network.
Google My Business
LinkedIn and Email Marketing are great outbound tactics, where you’re doing the outreach. What about inbound tactics, where people are contacting you?
Google My Business is designed just for you. When someone searches for your services online, Google will pull information from local businesses and display that information first in Google search results.
To appear in these results, sign up for a free business listing at the Google My Business page – https://www.google.com/business/
Yelp
Yelp follows the same concept as Google My Business: you want to appear where people are searching.
People search on Yelp. They also leave reviews, but don’t let that discourage you from getting on Yelp. You simply want visibility for your business at a place where people search online.
To appear in Yelp search results, sign up for Yelp for Business Owners at: https://biz.yelp.com/
Website
Your website is your online business card and portfolio. It’s the home base that you can send people to in order learn more about you and your business.
Luckily, launching and building a website today is much easier today than it was 10 or 20 years ago. First of all, you probably have someone in your family that can build a website – your nephew, daughter, etc. If you don’t have that someone in your family – or if they are too busy to help out – there’s a few different options on getting a website built for a reasonable cost.
1. Go to Google and search for WordPress website development companies. You may be able to find a company to do a site for $2,500.
2. Go to Wix.com or Squarespace.com and build the site yourself. These DIY website solutions are designed to help people build their own sites.
3. Utilize your hosting company, like GoDaddy, to build your site.
4. Upwork.com. You can find several freelancers on Upwork to build your site for a reasonable rate.
NOTE: Our Virtual Incubator business startup coaching program package includes a fully functional Word Press-based website design and full web copywriting.
That’s it! Those are the five tactics and areas that you can focus your digital marketing efforts in order to get online visibility for your business. Start with these steps, and if you have any hang-ups, do what I always tell my mom to do: Google your exact question, and you should be able to find an answer.
What are your tactics?