How do i get businesses to use my site?

[Southern_Lenders]

Thanks for the reply. Ok, that makes more sense. I think your main challenge will be trying to get people to forget about their emails..at least ones from customers. That may be hard to do.

1. People fear change
2. People tend to stick to what works
3. People like things that are free like email...how does your site make money?
4. People want and need something they know is reliable. ....they dont want to wake up one day and find that your site is down, and all their conversations are lost!!.... you will have an angry mob after you, lol.... WHAT I WOULD DO, is submit to a cloud computing service, like MOZY Pro. Upload all those conversations to Mozy..in the event that something happens, customer data isnt lost.

You should also advertise that as a feature on your site to help people be more comfortable joining you. Say something like " We guarentee that all your data is stored safely!"

[Southern_Lenders]

I also like your logo. Who designed it?

[Southern_Lenders]

I noticed that if im not logged in, I cant send messages..even when i am logged in, it wont let me. I did a search for bizpals when I was logged in, and it shows me your contact info, but there is no way to send a message to you, or if there is, its not obvious.. I also saw that you posted your email, and I had to kinda laugh for a second, because couldnt you use bizpals to answer any questions we have?..you should probably take it down. After all, your trying to convince others to ditch their emails too.

[BizPals]

Yes, that is something we are working on right now. Customers can message us using the site and it is what we prefer, but we have not changed it yet to allow businesses to use it to message us. We are doing that right now, but its going to take sometime. I got the logo from 99 designs, a freelancer submitted it.

Thanks for your input,

[louiecorp]

Go to the website, use who is and call their number. Introduce yourself and your business. It should give you the best ROI.

Cheers
- NicheSuccessAcademy.com

[SKyleD]

I agree with Stone & generationy.
Offer value, show what you can do for their business and work on your SEO.
I feel your pain, I have developed a marketing strategy that can easily rival that of any PPC advertising available at a fraction of the cost, short term as it is a short term design, but trying to get companies to take notice is difficult sometimes. I hired an SEO specialist and things are starting to work out there, I also look at my online business like that of any other business, develop a strategy, a business plan, and most importantly stick to it. Very seldom do things happen overnight but if you stick to it, it may pay off in the long run.
To Your Success!
SKyleD

[Kyzer]

One thing I would do is get a new design, as your current one is dull and doesn't show of what your business is very well.

Secondly, I'd do some research on what kind of businesses would need your services, for example, a website design company.
From the research, go ahead and find small businesses linked to who would benefit from it, phone them up or email them and discuss what you have for them, let them know how it can benefit them and there business, it should work.

[veikoh]

If you are local business seeking local business customers the best is to register it in Google as local business. Those are appearing in top when somebody seeks a business in your area.

[ibsys2562]

Thanks guys, I really do need to work on my SEO. My marketing budget is next to nothing, probably about $500, and I am not sure what keywords i should focus on. The keywords that i believe would be best for my site are the major ones, such as "communication" which i dont think i can compete with the major players that use that key word. My target audience is small businesses, such as mechanic shops, physiothearpy clinics, landscaping companies, etc. businesses that have professionals that customers would want to ask questions and keep a record of transactions they have had with them. Any advice would be great Roger.

First off forget communication as it does not have commercial intent... that means that people who are searching it are not looking to buy anything. You'll get people doing research.

So I visited your site BizPals: and the first thing I have to say is I don't know what you are selling. This needs to be fixed before you do anything else. If you can tell me what you are selling I can help you with your keywords. Selecting your keywords will be the second step. Lets take this one at a time.

[BizPals]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, I will definitely benefit from the input given. First i will follow ibsys2562's advice and clearly demonstrate what my site offers.

Thanks again everyone