One of my home toilets needed fixing this week. It had started to leak all over the toilet floor. It was the kid’s toilet, but I still thought I owed it to them to help them from getting their feet wet. So I needed a plumber. I hopped on Google and typed in plumbers Gold Coast.

Well the plumber was smart. I found him in the HotFrog directory because it was listed on page 1. I then looked through the list. I didn’t pick number one on the page. I picked the guy that wrote in his ad ‘Mention this advertisement and pay NO CALL OUT FEE on your plumbing work.’ I took a quick look at his website. He had a Blog. I was impressed, and the fact of the no call out fee, it addressed my fear of him charging for just walking through the door.

I just discovered a python in my roof too at the same time. Again I hopped on Google and typed in snake removalist Gold Coast.

The snake handler – well it didn’t appear that he had his own website (but in fact he did), but was listed with a whole bunch of other snake men and was the guy with my local area listing. No fear here. The snake had already planted enough fear in me to just get the man for the job.

So what did I learn from this experience?

1. Page One Position On Google Is Vital – without it you are going to lose business to the other smart guy.

2. You Can Still Gain Online Business If You Don’t Have Your Own Website – get listed in directories or with groupings of others who are located in other areas.

3. Create A Point Of Difference & Back It Up With Great Service – when people get to your website make sure that you are different. My plumber friend stood out from the rest of the plumbers by not charging a call out fee if I mentioned the ad. It removed my fear of a hefty charge. He also had a blog that gave handy tips. When he arrived he was dressed professionally and spoke professionally. He had a good vehicle with clear signage. His work was impeccable.

So small business owners – pay attention. There are customers like me out there who want to do business with you. Apply just these three things to your business today and start beating your competition to the door.