One of the greatest challenges of search marketing isn't creating and executing an effective online marketing campaign (although this is challenging, attention-to-detail oriented work), but rather educating (read: convincing) business owners that their marketing dollars are better spent online than through mainstream media.

This isn't to say that I don't understand the reluctance by some business owners. For years they have run successful "spray and pray" marketing campaigns on television, radio, newspapers and yellow pages (not to mention, billboards, buses, and matchbook covers). This style of marketing has traditionally lead to an increase in sales and the growth of their business, and with this kind of history, trying to move a business owner into the unknown is not always easy.

Forget that fact that currently 8 out of every 10 customers start their buying process online. Forget that unlike the carpet bombing approach of traditional marketing, online advertising is incredibly targeted and provides a much higher return on ad spend, often at a significant reduction in advertising dollars. Instead, let's look at traditional marketing formats - while we still can.

My first indication that something was amiss happened a few years ago at the gym. Grabbing a copy of Newsweek to read on the treadmill, I immediately noticed how thin the magazine was. The content within was barely enough to sustain forty-five minutes on the treadmill. While the statement I'm about to make seems uselessly obvious, I feel that I should remind you that I live in an online world, so yes this was a bit of a surprise.

This "discovery" about Newsweek made me more aware of similar happenings. The frequent solicitations by my favorite radio stations for sales professionals took on new meaning, and online stories about television and newspaper revenue woes were worth reading. Recently US News and World Report announced that they would be transforming to a strictly online format and just the other day, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled "Extinction Threatens Yellow-Pages Publishers". Here is a quote from the article. "The yellow-pages industry is running out of lifelines. In recent years, as its customers migrated to the Web -- flocking to sites like Google -- the telephone-directory business followed, hoping the Internet would be its salvation. But that strategy hasn't panned out."

I know what you're thinking, "You're an online marketing company, yet you're telling me that online marketing doesn't work."

No, that is not what I'm trying to tell you. What I am trying to say is that the customers are online, that many mainstream publishers are losing a ton of revenue to online marketing, and that without qualified search marketing, even directory based ad platforms like Yellow Pages are ineffective at bringing customers to your business.

If you are still uncertain about creating and marketing to an internet presence for your business, it's time to get off the fence, before it collapses from beneath you.