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Across Michigan and the nation, small townsare on the chopping block.

Small downtowns with mom-and-pop shops must do or die, say retail experts, or they'll be swamped by arising tide of internet sales, along with killing competition from flashy malls, Big Box stores and superstores like Walmart.

Except that one burg is defying the death knell:South Lyon, a town of about 12,000 people in southwest Oakland County.Since the Great Recession of 2008-12, South Lyon has made a come-back and then some.

On Tuesday, Mayor John Galeas Jr. and City Manager Lynne Ladner didnt just cut a ribbon for one or two new stores. They scissored through a blue ribbonstretched right across their downtowns main artery, Lake Street, blocking traffic just long enough to mark what they called a grand opening for, well, the whole quaint little downtown.

"We've had 17 businesses either open or expand significantly in the last year," Ladner said.

And South Lyon isn't alone. Selected olderdowntownsin many locations are bouncing back, reinventing themselveswhile some of the nation's most familiar retail names like Kmart, Sports Authority andBorders Books have either gone bankrupt or seem headed that way.

"It's very nice to see the pendulum swinging our way," said Jerry Dettloff, executive director of the Michigan Downtown Association,a statewide group that promotes traditional shopping districts from Allen Park to Zeeland.

"If you look at age groups, the millennials are looking for places to hang out, and the slightly older people with families want the experience of being together," Dettloff said.Since the Great Recession waned, new businesses as well as apartments and condos have popped up in numerous small downtowns -- from some of Detroit's close-in suburbs toex-urban spots reaching north and west as far asMichigan's summer colonies, he said.

"But it doesn't just happen. You need somebody -- a person, a group, an organization -- that supports your existing businesses and recruits the right kind of new ones, the kind that will do well," Dettloff said.

In Macomb county, "we're seeing this happening in quite a few locations," said Jon Paul Rea, Macomb County Director of Planning and Economic Development.

Private investment in Utica, boosted by state-issued brownfield tax credits, turned an old landfill into a $15-million minor league ball field, unleashing a small storm of new bars, restaurants and ice cream spots; and, closer to Detroit, St. Clair Shores continues to leverage its nautical theme with plans to increase public access to its waterfront while incentivizing new restaurants and condominium construction tied to the business district's lakefront location, Rea said.

In Wayne County, a big success story is Grosse Pointe Park's linear downtown on Kercheval, where empty storefronts, a vacant gas station and nearly defunct church have become a bakery, chic restaurant and microbrewery -- respectively.

ForSouth Lyon, it was no easy task to take on theswarm of Big Box stores beckoning a quick freeway spin west in Brighton, andNovis glittering 12 Oaks Mall 15miles to the east, not to mention the siren call of internet marketers from every computer screen and smart phone, South LyonCity Councilwoman Maggie Kurtzweil said.

"I'll tell you, three years ago this downtown was a dust bowl. Our vacancy rate was high," Kurtzweil said. Reviving the shopping district fell toBob Donohue, the city's economic development director, who also heads themerchant-driven Downtown Development Authority.

Donohue --on the job for just a year and in a new position for the city, after two decades overseeingdowntown redevelopment for Oakland County --said South Lyon's downtown has grabbed onto"the three key ingredients for success -- place, products and personal service."

Those elements can work in any commercialdistrict, but they especially allow an aging onetoleverageits assets. That means restoring vintage buildings and creating a pedestrian-friendly setting for a special feeling of small-town "place"; encouraging a mix of unique retailers and services, with few or no chain outlets, to offer unusual products and brands that can't be found at, say, a mall or Big Box;and providing training forentrepreneurs about giving "absolutely unmatched, over-the-top customer service," Donohue said.

Oh, and by the way, it doesn't hurt to haveconvenient parking --which in South Lyon, is free, right on the street. A big part of the evolution of downtowns is acknowledging that Americans do have many options for shopping but they can't eat out or try new cocktails on the internet. That's led numerous downtowns of all sizes to welcome bars, restaurants and nightclubs -- to excess, Donohue said.

"I think some communities are beginning to see it's a mistake to overload on bars and restaurants" because doing that drives up lease rates and can make a downtown nothing but a pricey dining destination, vulnerable to economic downturns, he said.

"A well-managed downtown should have a mix" of dining, bars, retailers and services, "but that said, we need one or two upscale restaurants here in South Lyon --and I'm looking," Donohue said with a chuckle. A boutique-sized eaterycould tuck nicely into any one of South Lyon's beautifully restored, circa-1900 storefronts.

After this week's ribbon cutting, Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner craned his neck at the downtown's movie-set aura and couldn't help but cheer lead.

"You certainly can't experience this feeling on Amazon," Meisner said.

Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com

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Think small: older downtown areas in small communities urged to steer development toward smaller retail stores - Detroit Free Press

Storytelling is now an essential part of internet marketing. Internet marketing campaigns no longer focus on pop-up ads and hard-sell content. Today, internet marketing is more about building relationships with an audience. One of the most effective ways of doing this is through stories, especially stories that the public can relate to on a personal level.

Why you need to start blogging

As the founder and CEO of your business, you have plenty of first-hand stories to share. The products youre offering customers today started life as a simple idea. The journey towards turning those ideas into the products customers can touch and interact with is worth telling.

Blogging as a CEO also personifies the brand. Larger companies are already doing this as part of their marketing campaigns. We instantly think of Steve Jobs (and now Tim Cook) whenever we read news about Apple. Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and other top names in tech are all associated with their businesses, and vice versa.

The more people know about the face behind the brand, the easier it will be for them to connect with the brand. The experiences you share are capable of creating stronger bonds and attracting more potential customers. Converting that audience into customers will be so much easier when you already have a strong relationship.

Its easy to get started

Starting a blog as a CEO or founder of a business is easier than you think. Your business already has a website or even a blog section where you share valuable content the audience love to read so all you have to do is write your stories.

You don't even have to do the writing yourself. Some services can help you produce great, compelling blog posts based on your experiences. You still have to provide an outline and other details about the post, but the actual writing is done by professionals with years of experience.

Taking it a step further

Posting stories is just one part of the equation. For this internet marketing approach to work beautifully, you need to invest a bit more time into connecting with your audience. Social media, another great internet marketing instrument to use, is perfect for this purpose.

You can also invest in SEO. You want your stories to reach the right audience, and search engines are where most users find information. Programs such as the OMG Machines SEO program will help you get up to speed in no time at all.

Last but not least, you need to invest in consistency. Content marketing and storytelling and of course internet marketing in general is never a one-time thing. You can't build relationships overnight. Keep sharing your insights, engage your audience through social media, and take advantage of other internet marketing tools to actually develop a strong image, both for the brand and yourself as the founder.

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Blogging as a business owner: How to get started - Bizcommunity.com

Forbes

17 Online Marketing Influencers To Keep Your Eyes On In 2017 Forbes An increasing number of consumers now use social media and Google to conduct preliminary product and price research before making purchasing decisions. Hence, most businesses today use online marketing to build trust with prospects and customers, ...

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17 Online Marketing Influencers To Keep Your Eyes On In 2017 - Forbes

When it comes to online marketing versus offline marketing to promote your website hands down online marketing is better. There are so many benefits to promoting yourself online that when you stop to think about it, it just makes perfect sense. This is something that you should seriously take into consideration if you want to have an internet business that is constantly thriving and being successful.

But no matter what method you choose (online marketing or offline marketing), the psychology of consumer buying behavior remains the same. Everybody wants value at a great price, with no risk whatever. So what does this mean for you? It means that if you want to get the jumpstart on new sales and profits for your internet business, you need to know how and why people buy.

Did you know that people will actually click on your "order now" button just to see if it looks legit or not? Some people take this very seriously, and have crafted very elaborate order forms that convince their reader to buy. Now wherever you do this or not it's up to you. Leading a lot of traffic to your sales letter page and to your custom or plain order form will still get you sales. But having a custom order form will definitely increase your conversion rates.

But before you can start taking orders, you have to understand the way people buy. You can kind of imagine that prospects go through "stages" of the marketing process, and you have to give them exactly what they're looking for at each stage. This is a pivotal concept to understand because it can make sales a lot easier online especially if you're someone who works extremely hard in your business.

The best way to find out what your prospects are thinking and what you should be offering to them is to do your homework. There are many places online that you can find people who have a specific that your product or service to solve. One of the best places that you can go to is a forum in your niche.

In the forum that you go to, present yourself as a helpful guest. Do not join a forum and start promoting your website link all over the place trying to disguise the fact that you're just looking to increase your sales by spamming your website link through the forum. In fact, this is the fastest way to get your forum account banned. Some forums will even block your IP address.

These are things that you have to consider if you want to get the full benefit of getting more sales and profits for your business. Keep these things in mind if you want to have success, and if you want to tap into the core regions of your prospects' brain in order to further enhance the probability of getting a sale.

Do not sleep on these ideas because you never know what might be the thing that puts you over the top.

Good luck with using these tips to have success in your internet business.

Source by Randall A Magwood

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Internet Marketing Understanding Your Prospects Behavior - JOSIC - Digital Intelligence

After finishing my first reading of Mike Filsaime's report, "The Death of Internet Marketing", I must confess that I consider it to be good and certainly worth reading. In the report, Mike shows us the aspect of Internet marketing that we find most difficult to see, as most things that are obvious. The tone of the report may not go well with every reader but that can not be helped. I suggest you focus on the content rather than the tone in which it is conveyed to you.

There are at least three benefits of reading Mike's report, which incidentally, is available for free.

To begin with, every reader who has got any experience with Internet marketing, and especially those who have been burned at the hands of so-called Internet Marketing Experts (they liked to be called gurus), will get that warm feeling deep inside as their Opinions about these gurus are vindicated. The book will reinforce the image of these gurus that many people already identify with. An image of cold, uncaring, callous, and wholly immersed in self interest kind of people who will do anything to take your money and leave you with nothing in return. Mike himself is a thought of as one of the gurus and what he clarifies in this report is that the JV launch was a major mess through the very people launching the product.

The second benefit is getting an insight into what the Internet marketing industry in general is planning to unleash on the public. The new strategies, possessing colorful names like Late Semantic Indexing (sometimes misspelled as "symantic"), Folksonomy or Social Network Tagging, Silo Structures (also known as Themeing), and so on, are about to be implemented on a large scale. For those who know anything about these strategies it must be clear that this development too will bring problems with its advantages. The advantage is that the present gurus who have mastered techniques that are often labeled Black Hat due to their exploitive properties will have to change their tactics to survive under these new marketing methodologies. The problem is that like previous methodologies, the time to live for this new one will not be much longer. Once the content of this report and its implications become widespread, there will be a collectively move to adopt the new marketing techniques and pretty soon we will be in the same mess that we are now.

Also included in the report is a reinforcement of the impact of vision and self-improvement on everything one does. While everyone may or may not agree with Mike's personal vision of what he perceives as success and the means he has adopted to achieve it, the personalized message is still worth the time spent reading it. I must admit that whether one grants any merit to his vision or not it has to be observed that it has worked well, for him at least even if fails to achieve a similar success for all those who choose to implement it in their own endeavors.

Of course, you have to remember that the whole report is one big and bold paradigm because one of the well-recognized gurus of marketing is trying to tell the world how his own field of work has expired. What is more is that the book offers to offers a glimpse into other aspects related to the future of Internet marketing and the current trends like Google AdSense which are also, apparently, doomed to the same failure as Internet marketing in general.

About the e-book

For those who are already familiar with the whole Internet marketing industry and its recent trends, the e-book might also seem like reading material already included in your thought patterns. After all, things have been pretty much obvious for a while now and Mike comes across as saying this.

However, as I mentioned in the beginning, the obvious is often the most difficult thing to see and reading about it along with explanations of why it happened is a good experience.

The title is a bit misleading because marketing will continue as long as the Internet exists. What it really means is that the current popular methods and trends of marketing are either dead or will die soon. The e-book offers a decent explanation of what is happening with Internet marketing and a good idea of what we can expect.

Source by Lo Benedict

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The Death of Internet Marketing Confession - JOSIC - Digital Intelligence