What did Google Ads ever do to help me?
You had a brilliant business idea and went through with it, so now you just need clients? But people don’t seem to find your product or service. Do you have a website that only family members visit, and only when you ask them to? You send yourself e-mails on your business account, to check if the e-mail even works, because so far no one sent anything to it.. not even spam?
This might be a good time to consider paying for Google Ads.
You may think: If I pay for Google Ads, I am cutting my expenses elsewhere, and I am in no position to do so. Is it worth giving 50 euros from my small income stream, even if that could mean I will cut down on my salary?
Or you are bothered by this: How can it be useful to give away 50 euros for ads, when the competition is way stronger and has an enormous ad budget? The competition is just too strong for my miserable 50 euros and small business, is it?
To answer this questions, we might need to quote an unknown man (whom we all know) to get the message through:
JUST DO IT!
Ok, I’ll take it down a notch.
So, first things first. You are starting your business. Trying to build something you are passionate about, or just trying to escape the big boss, and work without someone looking over your shoulder. But you are hitting a brick wall when it comes to customers and clients. Well, thankfully there is an easy fix for this. Paying ads on Search Engines.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Google is not a miracle worker, who gets you clients for just a small fee of 50 euros. No, no, no… Google just puts your website in front of people. It is your job, to make the landing page as engaging and saleworthy as possible. So get back to work, and learn the basics of Search Engine Optimization. In my opinion, every business owner should have a working knowledge of SEO.
So, go learn your SEO, boss.
After you polish your landing page, you can let Google make your business visible. To do so, you don’t need a 6 month Coursera course on Google Ads and you most certainly don’t need to pay an expert. I mean, the expert certainly helps, if you have too much money on your hands and need to write off some expenses. But you, my dear broke small business owner, you just need the basic recommended settings from Google Ads. Put some money into your account, get your location, write a few captions, import an image and you are good to go.
It will not be even close to perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. Seriously, it doesn’t. It just needs to work. And if it works for me, an accountant with a history degree, who self sabotages their own business, because finances came from Lucifer himself, and are a terrible career choice, it will work for you.
So, is it worth it, to put your money into Google Ads, even though you are unable to pay yourself a full paycheck? Yes, it is.
Imagine having two clients, who pay around 200 euros for your monthly services. This barely covers any expenses, right? So why would it be a good idea to invest in ads? Because, if you run your monthly ads for 50 euros, you increase your chances of getting clients every day. And eventually, there will be this one client, who will be willing to pay 200 euros monthly. And with every new client, you can increase your budget even more. It is more likely than not, this 50 euros will bring you a new client every month.
Oh, and for all you millennials out there, Google Ads also gives the phone number of your business to potential clients. So if there is an unknown number (which at this point of your business venture is every number) pick up the phone. 9 out of 10 people will probably call instead of using that great form on your website, so be sure to pick up your phone, when it’s ringing.
What about the competition you may ask.
Yes, today’s standard dictates that every business has an ad budget, and the more profit you have the more money for ads you have. So how can a small business, that is barely starting to work, get through to its audience, when there are too many big players around?
NICHE UP! Get as specific as possible with your ad, and see how it works. And if it doesn’t, change it until you find the perfect fit. Also, narrow your location as precisely as you can. Although it sounds counterproductive, it will get your products and services in front of an audience, which is more likely to click on your ads and ultimately buy what you’re selling.
PRO TIP
Try paying Microsoft Ads as well. Let me tell you why. Some people use Bing. Yes, I know, shocking. But true. Just remember all the older computer users, who get their Microsoft installed for them, with the Edge Search Engine on it. Do they use it without questioning it? Yes, they do. So there is a whole world of potential clients right there. Because let’s be honest. Not a lot of businesses prioritize Microsoft Ads. So it might even work.
