But how can you apply it to yourself and your business in this extremely tough economic climate?

Start by using every low and no-cost method available to promote your business!

Craig’s List offers free ads, local bulletin boards offer space for your card, service groups and the Chamber of Commerce offer opportunities to speak and share your expertise. Local non-profits offer volunteer opportunities to expand your sphere of influence.

And then there are the social sites – which offer great opportunities to show your expertise in your field while you create links back to your website – which helps your search engine optimization.

But… before you start working on getting people to visit your site, work on the site!

Go there – and read your copy as if it didn’t belong to you.

Does it clearly show what you can do for your visitors? Or, like so many sites, does it just talk about you?

In a time when so many are tightening their belts, you have to make yourself stand out as THE choice. And the way to do that is to appeal to the emotions that will cause a visitor to your site to believe that he or she doesn’t just want what you offer – he needs it.

It sounds awful and selfish, and many people will claim that it isn’t true in their case – but the truth is every person is tuned into station WIFM – “What’s in it for me?” Your website’s job is to answer that question – clearly.

One quick way to determine if your site is doing it’s job is to count the number of times you say “I” or “we” or some variation of that. Then count the number of times you say “You” or “Your.” If the you’s don’t far outweigh the I’s, you need to get to work fixing your copy.

A second failing that I see – primarily on real estate websites – is a tendency to hide, and to promote the location instead of the agent.

I call them Chamber of Commerce sites – and on some of them it is nearly impossible to find the agent’s name – and even harder to find any contact information for that agent. My question always is “What’s the point?”

Someone searching for an agent in your town already knows they want to move there – they don’t need a glowing description of Colorado mountains or Florida sunsets. What they need – and want – is to find an agent who knows their way around and can make the home buying process easier for them.

Home sellers also don’t need to know how wonderful their town is. They need to know that an agent has the experience and expertise to market their home well.

So… why do the majority of real estate agents promote their town instead of their services? I haven’t figured that out, but if you have, please tell me, because it makes no sense!

If you’re promoting your town instead of your services, re-think your position. And if you want to increase the number of closings you attend this year, re-write your landing page. And if you need assistance, get in touch.

Meanwhile – if you are in real estate – or in any business that draws customers from a local base, take a look at the e-book I wrote just for you: It’s called How to Promote a Local Business, and it offers a system that will not only create loyalty among your current clients, but cause them to bring you referrals. It costs less than lunch at the local fast-food joint… but could easily double or triple your business over the next few months.

One thing is certain: Some people will make money in the months to come. And you should be one of them.