Wouldn’t business be easier if twice as many customers arrived at your door with half of the effort? Modern technology has actually made this possible. And the timing couldn’t be better.

Let’s face facts. Today’s economy demands a streamlined, effective business operation to keep costs low while maintaining a high return. Is your company still using a new customer acquisition strategy from the 1800s? Yes, I mean the telephone.

Like it or not, today’s effective marketing plan must take into account that consumers typically aren’t interested in being interrupted anymore. And unexpected marketing phone calls are an interruption. However, because consumers are researching answers to their questions on search engines like Google and Yahoo in record numbers, we may now weave long tail keyword research into a corporate social media campaign, and any company may take advantage of the consumer’s tendency to use Google to find solutions to their problems. Since social media doesn’t cost anything to use, it’s obviously cost effective!

In other words, instead of “fly fishing” for new customers one at a time on the phone, create a net made out of useful online content and attract a bunch of fish who are looking for your “bait” right now. If you take the strategy a few steps further, you can create not only a net to capture new customers, but a series of steps to help your fish swim upstream, through all the noise and chatter online, and actually make it to your pond. By the time they call, they may have educated themselves through your excellent and informative content (your private stream), and hopefully they are prepared to do business.

Does it work that way all the time? No, of course not. But wouldn’t it be preferable to have interested customers calling you and asking questions about your product or service, rather than you call uninterested cold prospects who are annoyed that you have their number?