Straight Answers with Carrie Rockenstein | Questions Business Owners Ask Me All the Time

If You Had One Hour to Improve a Local Business's Online Visibility, What Would You Do?

Business owners ask me marketing questions all the time! Some own auto repair shops. Some run salons, restaurants, medical offices, boutiques, and service companies throughout Horry County. The questions are usually different, but the concerns are often the same:

"Why isn't my website generating leads?"

"Do I need more followers?"

"Is social media even worth it?"

"How do I show up higher on Google?"

Instead of writing another generic marketing article filled with buzzwords and vague advice, I thought I would answer some of the questions I hear most often. At lunch the other day dear friend of mine and I were talking about a podcast she was schedule to do and she wanted to bounce some ideas around. Then it hit me, what if we did this for our blogs as well? So we did. We each took a few minutes, came up with some questions and then interviewed each other. Here are her questions and my answers.

If I only had one hour to improve a business's online visibility, I'd start with its Google Business Profile. It's one of the most powerful free marketing tools available, yet it's also one of the most neglected.

If a local business owner gave you one hour and asked you to improve their online visibility, where would you start?

Oh, that is easy! I would make sure their Google Business Profile is 100% updated.

I see this all the time. People set it up and then leave it alone as if it is some sort of store display.

What people hate hearing is simple. It is the most important free directory listing you will ever use.

At the very least, you should be inside that profile once a week. You need to give people searching for your business every reason to believe you are the best fit for what they need.

I am guilty of this myself. Sometimes I get so busy working on client accounts that I do not get into my own profile often enough. When that happens, I can see the difference in website traffic.

Your Google Business Profile is not a set-it-and-forget-it tool. It is one of the most powerful assets your business owns.

Before you spend a dollar on marketing, figure out who you're talking to. The right message to the wrong audience is still the wrong message. 

What's the biggest mistake you see local business owners making when it comes to marketing?

Not knowing their demographic.

If you do not know who you are trying to reach, how do you know what content to create or where to market it?

For example, if you own a quilting store with a physical location, you probably are not going to build your marketing strategy around TikTok trends. You need to understand who your ideal customer is, where they spend time, and what they care about.

Without that information, you waste time, energy, and money. Here's the problem.

You can have the best idea for a business. It can be your passion. You can pour $50,000 into it, register it with the state, order business cards, and make custom keychains. But if you do not know how to tell people, "Hey, I'm over here and this is what I do," you may not be around long enough to become successful.

Nobody buys from your business because your Instagram grid is pretty. They buy because your message connected with them, solved a problem, or answered a question. Focus on attention first, aesthetics second.

What is one thing most business owners think matters that actually doesn't?

People hate hearing this one, nobody cares about your aesthetic. I am all for continuity and branding, but your content needs to catch the attention of the viewer.

Too many businesses become obsessed with creating the perfect look and completely forget the purpose of marketing. The goal is not to impress other marketers.

The goal is to get customers.

If your content is not connecting with the people you want to reach, it does not matter how beautiful the design is.

This goes right back to knowing your demographic. The best marketing speaks directly to the people you want to serve.

Your customers are constantly telling you what they love, what frustrates them, and what they wish you offered. Smart business owners pay attention. Reviews are one of the most valuable sources of feedback a business can receive, and they're completely free.

What is one thing most business owners ignore that has a much bigger impact than they realize?

Reviews. Asking for reviews. Responding to reviews. Learning from reviews.

Good reviews, bad reviews, terrible reviews. You need all of them. As a business owner, reviews are free feedback. They tell you what customers love. They tell you where you can improve. They tell you what people wish you offered.

For example,Let's say you own a bakery and you hate blueberry muffins, so you never bake them. Meanwhile, a few customers mentioned they came in for a blueberry muffin, but you had none because you do not sell them. There it is!

At some point, your customers are literally telling you how to make more money.

Make the blueberry muffins, then tell everyone about them. Post about them on social media, add a photo on your Google Business Profile. Put a sign outside, maybe make mini blueberry muffins and even blueberry muffin bundt cakes.

Then go back and respond to the reviews that inspired the change and invite that customer back, let them know about the blueberry muffins.

That is how businesses build loyalty. That is how businesses grow. And in June, during blueberry season in Horry County, that strategy becomes even more powerful.

Business owners often focus on what they want customers to see. Customers focus on something much simpler: What do other people think? Can I find the information I need? Are they open? The businesses that answer those questions quickly usually earn more calls and more customers.

What are the first three things you check when looking at a business online?

Reviews. Website. Business hours. In that order.

We have been trained by Google over the last twenty years to look at reviews first.

I want to know what customers experienced and whether the business owner acknowledged that experience.

Then I visit the website. Your website is a permanent commercial sitting there for everyone and anyone to see at any time.

Finally, I check business hours. You would be surprised how many businesses lose customers because their hours are outdated or inconsistent across platforms.

Coming next week:

Follower counts are easy to see. Engagement is what actually matters. The businesses seeing the best results on social media aren't always the ones with the most followers. They're the ones creating content that reaches the right audience and motivates people to take action.

Followers Don't Pay Bills: Why Engagement Matters More Than Follower Count...

One of the most common questions I hear from business owners is whether they need more social media followers. My answer usually surprises them. See you next week for the second part.

Carrie Rockenstein is the Founder and CEO of The Rockenstein Agency. Known for her direct, no-nonsense approach to marketing, she helps local businesses cut through the noise, improve their online presence, and focus on strategies that produce measurable results.