This week, I had a great experience, but I’d be willing to have it again, refer folks to do the same, purchase from a distance and more… if only the store’s branding had included their domain name or web site address. Here’s what I mean…

I love to sell, I love to network, and I love the relationship side of business. But today, I saw the sales cycle for a small business in Texas work like a charm – without the pre-sale relationship building part of the equation.

Driving I-20 East, just outside of Dallas, Texas you’ll see a lot of things. Mostly a lot of grass and trees. But in one brief oasis, we saw a billboard for FRIED PIES.

My traveling companions were instantly alert and waiting for the exit to arrive. We stopped at the Fried Pie Shoppe (an outpost of the original in Davis, Oklahoma), and our noses were treated to a couple of delightful smells. Barbecue and fried pies.

I can be a sucker for a fried pie. I was impressed even more by their great menu and their total grasp on their concept. Really good food, well displayed but nothing fancy. Their signage and experience were a home run.

I walked out with a couple of happy companions and a sack full of fried pies.

I’d probably have to say the one thing they missed with me was a domain name in their branding. I’d love to be able to remember their business name a little better than I do, and I’d love to be able to easily link back to their business. I didn’t get to taste that barbecue, but it sure did smell great. If it had been a little closer to dinner, I’d probably have had to try it. But now, it’s going to be difficult for me to stay in touch, to send customers their way or even order their proprietary products (which they had, sitting on top of their buffet line – bottled sauces and such) on-line. The missing domain name or web site address on their signage, bags, branded 20 oz. cups, menus, point of sale, receipts, etc. left money on the table – my money – and certainly that of many other happy customers.

How can you extend your experience after every sale and after the customer has “moved on down the interstate”? Probably using that URL with your logo (as part of your overall branding) on EVERYTHING would be a decent start. ALWAYS get that domain out there, extend your business past your front door and onto the web.

This week, I spoke to a lot of downtown redevelopment types at the National Main Streets Conference in Oklahoma City. We talked about how to tell your story in this modern world (whether community, business district or small business). Social media plays a big part in that. But it’s not the central element…

In my presentation, I pointed out that to tell your story well, you must play by four basic rules. Without repeating my speech here, I do want to share the first rule and most important rule with you, because strategically, everything else will crumble if this rule isn’t followed:

Rule #1: You Must Have a Strong Home Base for Your Business or Community

That home base should most likely be your web site. In nearly all marketing models, it works for the web site to be the epicenter of the marketing universe. (It doesn’t HAVE to be that way, and I’m more than open to creative thinking on this subject depending on goals and budgets. But in most cases, it works for it to be the web site.)

Is your web site working as the epicenter? Are all roads leading back to your domain name…to your web site?

How can you make your HOMEBASE stronger?

1. Make sure it’s easy and quick to update. If you can’t update your own web site, you’ve got a big problem in today’s fast paced world. We love the WordPress platform because it takes me moments to make major updates to my own web site. It’s as simple as sending an e-mail.

2. If it’s easy to update…are you updating it? Are you adding new and interesting photos, educational content, employee and owner profiles, product and vendor information, demonstration videos and how-to lists… Are you making your web site and interesting and valuable resource for your customers and prospects?

3. Is your domain name appearing everywhere, even if your logo can’t? This includes audio communications (like radio, word of mouth, etc.), store signage (yes, including the front door and front window of your store), shopping bags (you never can tell where those bags will go), t-shirts, postcards, advertisements of every sort and at every opportunity.

4. Are you actively seeking to create traffic TO your web site through interesting posts on social media, links from vendor or organizational web sites, etc.? Remember that valuable content you created? Now it’s time to tell folks about it through Facebook wall posts, encouraging folks to share that information on Facebook, Facebook advertising, Twitter posts, LinkedIn posts, e-mail marketing and many more new media traffic drivers.

5. How does your site appear on search engine results? Does it even appear at all? Keep an eye on this, and ask your web guy for help if necessary.

6. Do you have Google Analytics and other robust web site analytics packages installed on your web site that are set to send you daily or weekly reports? Are those reports summarizing how much web traffic you are getting and from where (both geographically and by keyword topics)? Do you know who and why your customers are visiting your web site (keywords, inbound links, etc.)? Are they finding what they’re looking for – and so much more (bounce rate, number of actions per visit, time per visit). You might be surprised at what you learn, but you certainly need to know. And you need to correct course with the web site if it’s not delivering the desired results.

P.S. Interestingly enough, on my trip home, I was catching up on some reading and found that Chris Brogan had an interesting post on this same subject. His post has cool screen shots demonstrating how confusing it can be to customers if you do NOT have a strong home base. I hope you’ll enjoy his post as well.

Also, if you’re also just home from the National Main Streets Conference, you might enjoy our conference wrap-up of conference tweeters to follow and other good resources.

What say you? What results is your home base providing for your business?

When thinking about every single aspect of your small business marketing, make sure that your “brand” never disappears or is weakened through the loss of one or more elements. Make sure that every single marketing piece – whether signage, business cards, advertisements or your Facebook Page – sticks to your brand:

1. Logo. (Use in the same ratio and clear resolution, no matter what.)
2. Color Scheme. (Make sure you know the exact Pantone color or process color formula for your exact brand color or colors. If you don’t know what this means, sound off in the comments, and we’ll be happy to collectively answer your questions!)
3. Domain Name. This is your URL or www.mycompanyname.com. Yes, every single business needs a web site because 63% of ALL consumers across all demographics visit a web site before making a brick and mortar buying decision (USA Today/Neilson study, April 2009). This is not optional. Neither is the inclusion of your domain name of every single communication or brand presence that you make public. Put your URL EVERYWHERE.

Use all three of these elements consistently and constantly. You will be surprised at the improved effectiveness of your marketing overall when you take care of this seemingly small and sideline piece of your overall marketing puzzle.