Grow Your Business Online
Why I Love Consulting
"There is nothing more rewarding to me than sitting down, getting to know a small business owner (AND their business) – then helping them grow"
To me - it’s like giving back. (and sometimes I even get paid for it :)
To me - it’s being an integral part of our Free Enterprise System that I love so much.
My tenure at Ace Hardware centered around business consulting (my title was “Retail Consultant”) – where I helped hundreds of Ace franchisees grow their businesses - all over the great state of Texas. The store owners and I worked on all aspects of their business – utilizing a week long business plan process including – Employee Training – Advertising – Marketing - Merchandising – and Financial Management.
Growing up in the family Ace Hardware stores in Houston, Texas helped open many doors in my Ace career. I owe it all to my mentor and the “Ultimate” retailer – my Dad.
Today – I am offering readers my consulting services. Drawing on my 33 years on the “front line” and in the trenches of small business – I can take a holistic view of your business and help you strategize for your online growth.
I can only consult with folks who have read the book and made their notes on the blank lines at the end of each chapter. I usually tell folks “We can be 100 times more effective – if you have read the book and made your notes before our initial conference.
So – what makes me unique from all of the other “Gurus” out there preaching Search Engine Optimization - Two things:
Advance Praise for
Get Top Ranking on Google & Other Search Engines
“ I think a book like that is much needed in the small business community. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've had to rescue a website from being held hostage by an unscrupulous web designer....all because the business owner didn't know what questions to ask.”
Paige Eissinger , Web Designer – Podcast Host www.2smartchix.com
www.viewsfromthecoop.com
"This book needs to be read by every Independent Retailer who has any web presence whatsoever. It is a simple to follow, easy to understand book on how to make changes to your current site so that more customers can find you. I have read many search engine optimization articles and I thought that I was pretty good at optimizing my web site, but Greg taught me quite a few very valuable methods to help my visibility. Get this book, read it and then do it!"
James E. Dion , Internationally Renown Retail Consultant – Keynote Speaker www.dionco.com
“I really enjoyed reading your book…wow, I learned a lot! Your book reads somewhere between a ‘SEO for idiots’ and a typical how to; this is good. Easy to read and relate to in the first person….seemed like we were having coffee and talking. Great job Greg.”
Sonia St. James , Consultant to Creative Minds, Author. www.accelerprocess.com
“ Greg I am impressed with your book. For sure you've captured your market if I am any indication. I know a lot about small business and almost nothing about the world wide web and optimizing my business through my website. As of now my site is still unfinished. I knew I was going to make rather drastic changes to it (we've changed our approach to the new cookie mixes and added new components that are now unrepresented on the site) but with the info I've learned through your book I'll be making changes that strategically optimize my chances of people finding me.”
Penny McConnell , Bakery Owner – Small Business Advocate www.pennyspastries.com
"Greg has written his SEO book with down-to-earth language that everyone can understand. I found it incredibly relevant, useful, and even entertaining. My company will get a lot of use out of this book. As we are an online company, it is imperative that we have access to tools of this caliber. Greg has nailed it with this one."
Jeffrey Lorien , President/CEO – zhitea.com Austin , TX
“Greg thanks to your book I'm excited about my website again. I was reading it and suddenly I was making some changes on my web catalog, calling to the host company and taking notes. The term Search Engine Optimization intimidates some small business owners like me but after what I learned through your book I feel confident – for your own good get this book.”
Julieta Alcantara, Mexican Masterpieces, LLC
www.mexicanmasterpieces.net
This book not only teaches business owners how to get high visibility on the internet, it teaches them what to do once visitors land on their websites to convert those visitors into paying customers, phone calls, or walk-in traffic. Written in plain, easy terms, these tips are so simple and effective it's amazing that more websites (even the corporate giants) do not implement them.
There are 22 million Mom and Pop businesses (micro businesses) in the United States and Canada, 20 million in Europe, and untold millions throughout the world. These business owners need to know the basics of getting their websites found on the internet through SEO (Search Engine Optimization). They don't need to wade through a ton of technical jargon to get those basics.
Simply having a website is not enough. Your website is useless if customers can't find it. 99.9% of new customers will find your website through a search engine--not your advertisements, yellow pages, or signage. The best news? Natural search engine ranking is more effective than advertisements and, better yet, free.
Business owners can use this book to take charge of their website designs themselves. Web designers can use it as a tool to facilitate feedback and input from the business owner, making the website design a true collaboration.
Greg Bright started his entrepreneurial journey at an early age, under the leadership of his father. After selling the two family-owned Ace Hardware stores, he spent ten years consulting hundreds of other Ace franchises in all aspects of growing their businesses. He spent the next six years employed at a major telephone company, consulting business owners on their internet advertising programs and website design. Applying his 33 years of experience with small businesses, website design, and Search Engine Optimization, Bright has achieved numerous #1 ranking web pages on GOOGLE and other search engines since 1997. Bright has a BA in Business Marketing.
Copyright © 2008 - 2009 Greg Bright
Get Top Ranking on Google & Other Search Engines is an independent publication and is not affiliated with, nor has it been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Google.
Many web designs fail because the business owner did not lead the website designer properly. Both business owners and website designers can improve their websites by collaborating on the website design.
Proper Search Engine Optimization applied to your website will improve your chances of high ranking and being “found” on the natural search results from Google, or another internet search engine.
Business owners know their businesses best and need to guide their website designers in creating websites that rank well. Web designers in turn, should ask lots of questions from their client to find out as much as they can about the client’s business, encouraging the business owner to participate in the process.Many business owners get frustrated with the whole process and end up paying someone to design, optimize and maintain their websites for search engines and customer service – sight unseen. Having a web designer build a site on blind faith would be no different than handing over the front door keys of your business to a stranger the day before your grand opening sale, and then leaving town for a two week vacation.
This scenario is absurd, but many business owners do just that when handing over the keys to their internet doorway. The doorway in which more and more new customers are entering their businesses.
Just like most other areas of your business, the results you get are in direct correlation to the efforts you apply. The best web designer on the planet can’t do your business justice without your input.
The reason many businesses take this “blind faith” route is that most information on Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing is written by techies for techies, in daunting technical jargon. Business owners need easy to understand tips which they can implement immediately, without having to spend a huge amount of time on it. They need an up-to-date, non-technical approach to get motivated in their internet marketing.
A website is useless if it can’t be found. The vast majority of new customers will find your website through a search engine. Furthermore, simply having high ranking is not enough. The searching public has to actually pick you from the ten “natural” search results returned to them – on the first page from Google or another search engine.
Then once they pick your website, you need to provide excellent customer service to get them to “stick” around, buy something, call you on the phone, or stop by for a visit at your “brick and mortar” location.
You don’t have to be a programmer to understand the basic strategy of Search
Engine Optimization. Hire a programmer (website designer) - then guide them well.
The best news? Natural search engine ranking is more effective than advertisements and, better yet, free.
Some might think the internet opportunity has peaked, but this is far from true. We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Bill Gates spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show a couple of years ago about being surrounded by the internet. It’s starting to happen. Laptops are proliferating at an unexpected rate (the sales numbers were revised up three times in 2008) because laptop prices are falling. Even cell phones display a pretty good image of web pages. Surrounded by the internet means access to your business 24/7. Will you be found?The author’s patented laptop stand has ranked in the top 10 for the Google search of “Laptop Stand” for over 48 months and has been number one 95% of the time for the past 24 months - www.keynamics.com. In another business he has ranked number one and number two for the search of “Concrete Countertops Austin” for 20 months in a row - www.ancient-art-concrete-countertops.com
