The MONDAY MINUTE: How Harvard can boost your business for free.

Every time you consider using a new service or product, there are three main questions:

1. What does it do for me?
2. How much time and effort does it require?
3. How much does it cost?

Traditional advertising and marketing

Getting more customers to build revenue is a standing business goal. Not at the expense of current customers, but it is necessary to grow business. And advertising is typically the place a business will turn. But there are several problems:

• It’s short-term and goes away after a time.
• It may take a lot of time and effort to figure out, create, then execute the marketing.
• It can be very expensive, whether online, mailers, or in trade publications.

Not to mention it could alienate current customers when they see the “new customer” special and feel like they got the short end of the stick.

SEO has been a mixed bag over the last couple of decades, blending art and science. There is no shortage of SEO “gurus” who will be glad to go to work for your business. A typical blend of website optimization, keyword selections, and other ways to try and ensure your site comes up first in searches. But Sharp Notions says that the typical SEO consultant or agency will run between $125 and $150 per hour and monthly retainers can run between $1,000 per month and $2,500.

Ouch!!!

What if there was a better way?

So, back to the three questions:

1. What does it do for me?
2. How much time and effort does it require?
3. How much does it cost?

What does it do for me?

Professor Michael Luca of the Harvard Business School showed how increasing average online reviews can increase revenue Reviews, Reputation and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com. How does increasing good reviews help?

1. You are seen. It dramatically increases the chance your business will be shown when users search your type of business.
2. You are chosen. It is a massive psychological reassurance for people to see a business has great reviews, especially if they have lot more than the competition.

According to an article in Forbes, Online Reviews And Their Impact On The Bottom Line, a business needs at least 40 reviews before consumers trust them and on top of that, half of the consumers needed to see fresh reviews within the last two weeks. Most customers will form an opinion or make the decision of buying the product by just reading the latest 10 reviews or less. On the other hand,

a negative review in the top 5 or 10 can make 60% of customers change their mind.

You really want those last 10 reviews to be good ones and the best way to do that is to get new good reviews.

Why is reputation so effective? Because we are human. People have always put more stock in word of mouth as opposed to advertising. Online reputation from reviews is just the digital word of mouth.

When you say you're great, it's marketing but when someone else says you're great, it's social proof!

How much time and effort does it require?

Almost none. You just need to ask customers. “Too easy” you say. “They won’t do it” you say. Right on both accounts. First yes, it is easy. Super easy. It just takes a few seconds to ask customers for a review. Just keep doing it. Make it part of your routine. Second, you’re right again. Some customers won’t do it. Even if they say they will, many won't. So what? Ask anyway. If it is just reflexive, you will get more reviews and a lot more reviews. When it starts to have an effect on your bottom line, you'll believe... Consistent and persistent always wins over half-hearted efforts every time.

How much does it cost?

Too easy again. Um… free? You don’t need to have a special review platform set up. In fact, Google is not only free to claim your business through but let’s be honest; Google is the 800 lb. gorilla when it comes to search. So, use it!

BONUS: MOZA can help get you more great reviews, faster!

Let’s check off the the third of our three points first: cost.

MOZA can help starting at less than $50 per month. Some can’t even swing even that right now because of how COVID has impacted business. No problem. That’s why we put actionable information in these articles so that anyone can work to build a great reputation and business on your own. But MOZA can help to get things rolling faster by:

1. Making the process even easier with multiple ways to get reviews
2. Helping to keep negative reviews from showing up online
3. Getting customers back on track to finish leaving good reviews (hey, life gets in the way of the best of intentions from time to time).

When you start being intentional about your digital reputation you will get more reviews and it will help build revenue. But making it as quick and easy as possible for customers (plus a friendly “tap on the shoulder” at times) can make a big difference to the bottom line!

No matter how you do it, get active in building and protecting your reputation and it will pay off in a big way for your business!

I love sharing how sound principles help business thrive, not just survive so please reach out!

Calendar: https://meetings.hubspot.com/mike1020 or visit https://mozadigital.com for more information.