This is a guest post by Susan Fleming of Electronic Marketing Success. Image courtesy of Flickr

Did you know that research shows an increasing use of the Internet by people who are in the market to make a purchase? No surprise there, but the actual statistic might make you sit up and take notice.

• 80% of all offline purchases are preceded by an online search!

It doesn’t matter whether you are selling a service or a product, people are looking on the Internet to see who is selling before they buy. And not only are they checking to find who is there, but also to see what others are saying.

Do this: Go to Google.com and type in your industry and your city and state.  Like this:

* ice cream winter haven fl
* plumbing pittsburgh pa
* insurance atlanta ga
* general contractor omaha ne

In addition to the paid listings on the right and at the top, and in addition to the organic listings that usually show up, most of the time a Google map will show up with a list of up to 10 local businesses that fit that description. That’s the “Google 10 Pack.” Are you listed?

If you aren’t there, you probably can be within a month. And if you aren’t there, you are probably losing money. If you are interested in finding out more, I can help, just get in touch and we can talk about it.
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Susan Fleming rescues coaches who are being held hostage by the demands of their online marketing efforts. As a Certified Internet Marketing VA, teacher, corporate trainer, writer, public speaker and technophile, Susan has a unique skill set that helps her breathe new life and encouragement into flagging marketing efforts. If Google Analytics, keyword research, HTML and meta tags give you a headache, relief is just a click away at Electronic Marketing Success.