Most of us here at WebStar Multimedia, spend our long days and nights either copywriting, building links, working on PPC campaigns, designing or any other form of marketing in front of the computer. Every now and again, one of our representatives will have the pleasure of getting out after work and going to a function that does not involve marketing or sales.  But in ‘our SEO world’ - there is always an opportunity to build links or in layman’s terms: ‘relationships’.

One of our head marketing consultants had the privilege of attending the Winter Bash event last week with celebrity blogger Zack Taylor (www.ZackTaylor.ca).  Needless to say, he had an amazing time meeting celebrities, and promoting WebStar Multimedia.

You never know who you might meet at a social gathering, even at a trendy club / bar.  People you meet on the street, might choose to write about you (give you a one way link), refer you to someone else, or even hire you for their own project.  This is what I like to call ‘Social Search Engine Optimiation’ or simply, Social SEO.

As our economy begins to head in to a potential recession, many of us are becoming more conscious of how and where we spend our hard earned dollars. If you are a small business owner, you’re probably wondering how you should allocate your advertising budget. One of the biggest mistakes we could make as entrepreneurs, would be to decrease our marketing budget significantly.

As business becomes more scarce in your industry, you need to fight for all the business that is available. This means, that not only should you not decrease you marketing budget, but in some cases, you need to increase your marketing efforts. You must establish a strong presence if you wish to have a legitimate chance of gaining more business and not loosing out to your competitors.

You can survive in a tough economy and budget your advertising dollars by optimizing your marketing campaigns. Try to eliminate unnecessary spending by dropping marketing programs that have not been producing a satisfactory ROI, and by allocating more money in to more successful projects.

The right combination of online and offline marketing is necessary for most businesses to succeed. Some ideas to consider when allocating a marketing budget during a recession include:

1. Avoiding expensive print advertising and focusing on a more cost efficient online marketing campaign.
2. Do as much free advertising as possible on social sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.); attend networking meetings; do a lot of word-of-mouth advertising; go door-to-door, etc.
3. Build relationships with affiliates, and create valuable partnerships which can help your business grow.

So don’t concentrate on reducing or eliminating your marketing efforts. Focus on optimizing your advertising expenditure so that your ROI is continuously improving. Analyze your results, and keep tweaking your marketing campaigns.

With so many phone books out there, it can be hard to choose which ones are worth being listed in. These days, most of them not only have a print version of their book, but also have an online presence. This also gives the advertisers more options, such as having a video clip attached to their online listing page. Today I will review the top 3 on my list: YellowPages, Canpages, and Goldbook.
Yellow Pages

Probably the largest, most recognized and therefore most expensive directory out there for both print and online advertising. They now have Canada 411 and other directories which enhances their presence. Even though they are a valuable directory to be in, I wouldn’t go ahead and dump all my advertising dollars in this one. Only if your budget is big enough, they might be a viable option.

Alexa Ranking for www.yellowpages.ca is approximately: 5,500

Canpages

Their print portion is growing quite rapidly across the nation. Their online portion is quite unique. You can get a free online link throughout Canpages, without paying for an online listing. This is the only one of the 3 that gives you a free online link when you get your business in their online directory…so in terms of getting stuff for free, Canpages ranks number 1. They do offer a sponsored listing, which may or may not be worth it. I found that in some categories, the competition is so slim, that a regular free listing will do, especially if your company’s name is closer to the start of the alphabet.

Alexa Ranking for www.canpages.ca is approximately: 12,000

Goldbook

Probably weaker than Canpages in terms of their print distribution, but stronger in terms of their local online presence in southern Ontario. They were purchased by The Toronto Star, and are affiliated with many other local newspapers and search sites. You will find their search bar on www.thestar.com and many other local sites, which helps attract many users. Goldbook charges $25 for a listing, and $5 for every additional link. They create a content page for your business, which seems to be more search engine friendly compared to the short abbreviated listings in other directories.

Alexa Ranking for www.goldbook.ca is approximately: 65,000

Don’t rely on just one of theses directories. Ideally, if you can be in all 3, than you’ll be way ahead of the game. If you can’t afford that - start with the smallest package from one or two directories, and work your way to larger ads. Test the directory first, before you dump your whole advertising budget with one vendor.