About the Book - A Message From the Author

I've worked in a variety of Internet marketing roles for a number of years now, and there is one lesson I've learned above all else. When it comes to business competition, the Internet is the Great Equalizer.

In fact, that's the entire premise and title of this book. In this book, I will show you how to use the Internet to take your small business to the next level, closing in on your larger competitors in the process.

With effective Internet marketing strategies and a healthy dose of enthusiasm, small businesses can easily keep up with (and often surpass) their larger competitors online. I see it happen all the time, and it usually goes something like this:

The "little guy" approaches the Internet with enthusiasm and focus, using effective web-marketing strategies he or she picked up through research and experimentation. In contrast, the overly confident "big guy" keeps doing business as usual. Next thing you know, the smaller company starts pulling ahead of their larger competitor, in terms of website traffic, search engine rankings, and web-driven sales. In other words, David beats Goliath by being smarter online!

Like I said, I see it all the time. That's why I refer to the Internet as the Great Equalizer from a business standpoint. It's also why I've entitled this book "Online Equalizer."

Let me share a quick story with you.

I once worked as a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist for an Internet marketing company in the Austin, Texas area. It was my job to improve the search engine rankings for our clients' websites, through keyword research, content development, link building, networking, and other SEO techniques.

One day, I was sitting in on a meeting with a custom home builder who was also a client of ours. I had only recently begun working on his website SEO program, so he felt the need to share certain frustrations with me (a common occurrence). By my client's estimation, his website should have enjoyed better search engine rankings than a particular competitor of his, who was currently outranking my client in all of the major search engines. My client expected better rankings and traffic levels because, as he put it, "we build a helluva lot more houses than that guy does."

You probably see where I'm going with this. I explained to my client that search engines do not "care" about things like sales volume or staff size. Search engines rank and reward websites based on the relevance of their content, the number of websites linking to them, the frequency of updates, and other factors deemed important for search engine ranking.

Here was yet another case of a smaller competitor outsmarting the larger competitor online, and capturing more website traffic and web-driven business as a result. It was another case of David beating Goliath, as the old story goes. It was another case of the Internet -- the Great Equalizer -- rewarding the "little guy" who was more active online than the "big guy."

Some companies think that, because of their size and age, they can simply put up a website and capture the lion's share of web traffic. These companies base their assumptions on a mixture of pride and ignorance.

Don't get me wrong. An older, well-established company has certain advantages online. Brand awareness is one of them. But a smaller company that is more active online, and more savvy with their Internet marketing, can easily outperform a larger competitor.

Here's what it all boils down to. These days, the Internet can make or break a company -- especially a small- to medium-sized business. Good search engine rankings alone can easily triple a company's sales. That's how powerful the Internet can be for your small business.

Online, it does not matter how large your budget is, or how long you've been in business. It only matters how effectively you drive traffic to your website, and how well you capitalize on that traffic.

These are the things I will teach you in this book.