Christopher Mee Lead Marketing Strategist Advertising Educators

When consumers want to find out about you, the first place they usually go is the web. No matter how large or small your business is, you will have some unhappy customers. While prevention is key, the role you play in your online presence may be the difference between whether a few unhappy customers are a speed bump in your business plan, or a nail in your coffin.

You cannot eliminate all sources of negative information about your business, but you can ensure that much of the information that will be found is positive. Start with what you can control. You can determine much of what is on Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube that pertains to your business. If you don't use these forms of media, you are missing out on an opportunity to communicate with your potential customers. Posting information on these sites will also cause your business to be found in search engine results. Not only can you help your business to become known to more people, you can control much of what is known about your business.

Helping Others Will Bring You Business
Sales are slow for most retailers right now. The typical reaction is to assume that more advertising is needed to bring in more business, or that current advertising is not working. Both of these things are possible, but advertising is far from the only way to control your sales volume. You are in charge of your marketing message. Do you want to be known for loud ads that scream at the customer about price, price, price, or do you want to be known as a business that genuinely cares about others in the community. In the Phoenix market, locally owned businesses such as Bashas' and Sleep America have successful persuaded many consumers that all other things being similar, the good they do for the community is reason enough to shop with them. A consumer who shops with you for reasons of price alone may leave you for less than a dollar, but someone who cares about the causes you serve may still shop with you even if you charge significantly more than your competitors. How consumers perceive you is one of the factors that determines how much money they will hand you.