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Greetings, Valencia County! Today is the last day of summer 2022. Time to finish harvesting the bountiful farms, ranches, wineries, orchards and preparing for fall. Hopefully you had a prosperous bounty!
Now is a good time to ask ourselves, "is my business flourishing?" You are super busy and work hard. But do you have time to market yourself and your business?
Do you have to compete with Albuquerque businesses because people don't know you are right here in Valencia County?
Starting a business is a dream but can take everything you have; money, blood, sweat and tears to stay afloat and then to get noticed, especially after the last couple of years of economic pain and uncertainty in our lives.
There is an awesome spirit of entrepreneurship in our community. It is so great to know there continue to be new businesses starting here in Valencia County. It speaks to the richness of the talent and resourcefulness of Valencia County residents.
Once you do start your new business, how do your customers know you exist? Friends and family are always our greatest supporters. But getting seen by the whole community is hard.
I know. I work on it all the time and it's not an easy task. Like a garden, it takes time and tending.
I agree, there is nothing better than word of mouth for trustworthiness. You know. Your cousin's neighbor has a brother-in-law in the business, and he is the best, right? That is a great way to find someone who already has trust in your work. But, they are still going to get online to see if they can find you. Everyone wants to know if you are 'LEGIT' before they spend money with you.
So, the next level is advertising. Signage, business cards, brochures, menus are all important because we meet customers in so many different ways. But the one thing that still cannot be beat is 'ONLINE ADVERTISING'.
Many people think, If they can get on their phone -- search and find your business online, they feel that you are a bona fide supplier or service. You know what? This is actually true.
As Night Owl Websites, I create websites and other marketing products for small business people, but I haven't found one directory that ties it altogether. Having one website that is easy for any of us to find access is so super important for you and your current and future customers.
So what might be the best combination of "I know somebody" and online advertising?
A COMMUNITY WEBSITE!
This is why I created Valencia Business Directory
For all our businesses in Los Lunas, Bosque Farms, Rio Communities, Peralta, Tome-Adelino, Los Chavez, and Belen. We value you!
Most neighbors would rather use the services in their own neighborhood or town if possible. We don't have to go to Albuquerque for most of our products and services.
Oh, and If you don't have a store, a shop, an office with a sign up front on main street you will be even harder to find. So many of you have online only businesses that don't have or need a physical location. But you do need to be seen online.
Getting your listing in Valencia Business Directory will help!
9 Reasons to list your business with Valencia Business Directory:
1. Amplify Your Online Presence
Due to the fact that business listing sites tend to pull information from one another, getting listed in one directory can very likely mean getting listed in several more, allowing you to kill two (or more) birds with one stone.
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2. Improve Local Visibility
Do you prefer to shop locally? Most people do if they can find you. Valencia Business Directory deliberately focuses on our community population. Plus, being an online business directory, we have advanced filtering and suggesting capabilities, allowing you to become highly visible to our community and niche audiences.
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3. Attract New Customers
The typical online business directory allows users to search by specific criteria such as specialty, neighborhood, ratings, and more. By simply entering complete and accurate information in your listing, the directory will then connect your business to the people searching for it, even if they don’t search your business name explicitly.
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4. Increase Engagement
The easier it is for a potential customer to engage with your business—whether it’s to make a phone call, submit a contact form, or even go to your location—the more likely they are to do so. Business directories create a channel by which potential customers can engage directly with your business or easily get to your website to do so.
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5. Promote Word of Mouth
Word of mouth has always been a trusted source for consumers, and now predominantly takes the form of online reviews. With apps and mobile devices, customers can now publish reviews more quickly—even during their experience. Getting listed in online business directories equips happy customers to spread the word about your business.
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6. Strengthen Your Reputation
The fear of negative reviews prevents many businesses from getting listed online, but this shuts them off from getting positive reviews too, which are essential for a good reputation. As long as you know how to properly handle one, the cost of one negative review is outweighed by the benefits of many positive reviews. Plus, a mix of reviews can even strengthen your reputation, as it shows that you are a genuine company with nothing to hide.
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7. Increase Brand Awareness
When a user performs a search in an online business directory, it will display a list of relevant results, each with a brief snapshot so that you can decide which one to click on to learn more. This means that even if a user doesn’t click on your listing, they still see your business. Every encounter a person has with your business increases their awareness and familiarity with your brand, which makes them more receptive to future outreach.
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8. Improve SEO
Online business listings improve your SEO by sending signals to Google about your online presence and helping to validate your trustworthiness. Google wants to be trusted by its users, so the more information it can obtain about your business online, and the more consistent that information is, the higher you will rank.
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9. Show Up on the First Page of Google
It is possible to get on the first page of Google through SEO practices, but it can take a few months to start seeing results. Popular online business directory sites, on the other hand, have been around for a while, have high amounts of traffic, and are trusted by Google. This means that your profile page on, say, Yelp has a high chance of showing up on the first page of results for relevant searches.
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