Hot Metro Finds Ted Cantu Looks At Failed Michigan Businesses in Metro Detroit

The 2014 Fall months have not been kind to a number of failed businesses in Metro Detroit. This is due to a lack of patrons. Some of the owners blame the economy and others suffer because of lack of branding and marketing knowledge. There are three in particular that will be the focus on a new branding series for Michigan based businesses.

One of these businesses had a truly outstanding product. It was a sub like sandwich with superior ingredients and many of them were locally found. But they lacked the initiative to market it properly and to get the word out. Despite the use of Yelp, Facebook and they mostly relied on word of mouth. I drove by this place today and found it to be completely empty. I was unsure if the city had confiscated all of the kitchen equipment like they so often do. If that is the case this is most unfortunate.



There was another business just two doors down in this Wixom shopping plaza that sold fish and chicken. The reviews on this place were never really good and some of them hint that the product was from freezer to table. I walked into this place a couple of times and was not impressed. The service was mixed. When they weren't busy they would wait on you. The second time when I went into this place they were very busy and people were standing out in the lobby. There was maybe 10 people waiting while the radio blared on some metal station.



The last example for the series focuses on a women's clothing company. This one example in particular is an interesting one since the owner was reluctant on how to brand it. There was never any clear cut audience demographic outlined for the store so marketing it to any particular group proved difficult. There was also a problem with how to market this kind of company on the web and through social media with no demographic. The idea was that the clothes were basically for anyone who wanted to wear them.

The idea here was that it would appeal to anyone who found their taste in clothing, "Fun and Fantastic!". The age group was never defined because the owners thought it would alienate any potential sales and they didn't want to be offensive.

Unfortunately something else happened along the way. The woman that ran the place used to crank up the radio very loud and was usually in the back on the phone talking and ignoring who ever walked in. This sort of thing turned people away and also became part of the brand. The idea was not only are we fun and fantastic but we couldn't care less if you walked in or not. This place closed after just 14 months.

THE POWER BRAND SERIES
Ted Cantu of Hot Metro Finds will be looking at what makes a retail store front work and what makes a business tick in these troubled times. Each one of these businesses could have been saved regardless of a perceived recession or the state of the economy. In each case of these businesses could have been saved.

A lot of this comes back to the owners and their willingness to take a failing business and to apply some basic principles. This gets right down to the following areas:

1. Who Is The Audience?

2. What Are They Buying?

3. Identifying Price Point

4. Addressing The Needs Of Your Demographic


And a whole lot more....

Being number one on the search engines is not necessarily going to get your business. It will only amplify your business and get more exposure. Things like addressing your audience, identifying your customer and building rapport with them, (social media) still needs to be taken under consideration.

For more information on the series and how it can apply to your business:

Contact: Ted Cantu   248-277-6141
Oakland County, MI

Look us up on http://www.TedCantu.com
http://www.HotMetroFinds.com

UPDATE - IM BACK ON THE SCENE ----

Here is what I am up to with Kawasaki in Michigan !!! Great stuff

Kawasaki ATV Parts Featured at Open House on Hot Metro Finds

Looking for the right Kawasaki ATV part can be a daunting task. You may have to go through several used parts dealers before you find the right part you are looking for. The other dramas you will face no doubt will come in the form of gas, expense and time. At the end of the day you will be looking at an extensive amount of effort and you may have very little to show for it. This is what it is like when you are looking for motorcycle OEM parts for top brands including Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Honda.

That’s why you need to grab opportunities when you can. Powers Motor Sports, located in Fremont Michigan, has another solution for you. Getting the word out is becoming the top priority for Michigan based businesses including Kawasaki dealerships. Using tools like YouTube.Com, and Google Video is becoming a prominent force in online marketing.

“We wanted to cover the entire Open House at Powers Edge and give the people at home a preview of the new 2010 Kawasaki ATV models. We shot several insightful clips in the showroom and are showing online viewers what is available. This is an extremely valuable way for Michigan based businesses to get the word out about their goods and services.” Says online marketing gurus, Ted Cantu.
“We showcased the new motorcycles of the season or when new models come out for top lines such as Ski Doo and Sea Doo. You are able to walk through the showroom with us, cameras rolling and check out the vast number of products and ask questions from a reliable resource in person.” Commented online marketing expert, Tracey Vitkay.

Powers Motor Sports also features Kawasaki motorcycle parts on their web site these parts span through a number of decades going back all the way to the mid-eighties. These parts are able to be located online through the OEM number and also with detailed microfiche for each product part. These exact parts are created to fit the Yamaha motorcycle brand. You will also find Kawasaki OEM parts online and Honda OEM parts for their extensive lines of ATV’s and motorcycles.

“The idea to showcase the showroom on video and then make viral clips out of them was a natural” adds online marketer, Ted Cantu, “People want to see what is available in your store by coming into your shop or even purchasing online from your website. Online video is a great way to allow online searchers a way to take a peek into your inventory.” The videos have been featured on a new media based website called, Hot Metro Finds which showcases Michigan based businesses.

Ted Cantu works for Bonacure Michigan in Michigan of all places..... at a little company called Windsor Beauty, one of 50 clients.

Online Stock Trading Insight

Ted Cantu runs iMobile Media, (http://www.1seomichigan.com )and works out of NYC, Chicago, and Detroit, Michigan. He has the number 12 podcast show on www.podomatic.com you can listen to it here… http://911copywriter.podomatic.com

Wealth Secrets - Marketing Database for Ecommerce Site Owners

Creating your online wealth knowledge can be tricky. When it comes to making money online you got two choices. You can either do it. Or you can find someone whos already done it. I like the later option myself. The learning curve to do this right can be extensive and costly.

More than the cost factor you can also add on endless frustration, confusion and stress. It is a horrible thing to go through if you do not know what you are doing. There are way too many scam artists out there, programming hopefuls and expenses that can rack up.

To help you through this digital circus we put together a simple directory with hard hitting articles in it. You can find these online marketing articles here.....

http://1seomichigan.com/articles.html

More on this a little later....

Posted by Ted Cantu from i-Mobile Media posted on Feb 18 on 12:15 AM

COPYWRITING - WHEN YOU NEED IT !!

"Exciting New Step-by-Step Copywriting Skills... LIVE ONLINE!"

Here is an exciting clip of our online copywriting seminar..... Its an intimate look -
one on one.. showing you the secrets of how to write dynamic sales copy.

Heres where to get the entire series......
Copywriting Workshop.....

Posted by Cantu on Sept. 15, 2007 at 7:23 PM

THE BOUNCE UP - EXPLAINED

How do you tackle the giants in the hotel industry? Seriously? Especially when they are mobbing up all the top spots in Yahoo? Its amazing when every hotel business in the Tallahassee market seems to pull this stunt.....

Example: TALLAHASSEE HOTEL, Florida Suites, HOTELS IN TALLAHASSEE, DOUBLETREE - Double Tree Hotel in Florida

That is the title for one of the pages we were trying to conquer. That is pretty much a surefire way to get your site blacklisted once and for all. Many of these types of businesses have paid their way to the top ensuring that they get to the top AND STAY THERE. Getting locked out of the top spots is daunting, troubling and at best -- nerve wrecking.

How do you topple the giants?

You do it with persistance.

Now look at this.....

tallahassee hotel - Yahoo! Search Results

Note: My client for the Govenors Inn holds the 118 spot on Yahoo, ( www.thegovinn.com) and we didn't pay for any sponsored listings or dump a small fortune into pay per click. That is how you beat the big guys.

There are smart guts in these pages and on the server. The best part about this project is that we are just getting started. Please note that we only used the keywords sparringly. We didn't have to jam them multiple times into the title. That is nice.

THE KEY TO THE BOUNCE UP

Even if this site bombs as we build it things will turn out alright. You are bound to inch your way to the top. A lot of site owners will try unethical things along the way. Some are not built for optimum efficiency and others do not have their pages tuned up to 100%.

Our pages are built for the long haul. There are many key critical factors the create this overall effect. Note that if you ran a meta checker on the first front end pages they rate fairly low. But the real meat of the other pages who contribute to this site do some of the real popularity "pulling". As you can imagine t would be difficult to run a 40 page sales letter on the first page of a hotel web site.... no matter where it is located.

It is that very infrastructure that is going to be KEY in forcing our pages to slide up the rankings. Even when new sites emerge and push us down we have the tendency to move back up again. The beauty of this also lies in the following crucial areas.

* Understanding Yahoos relationship to certain blogs
* Placing RSS feeds where readers will grab them
* Creating a network of blogs, podcasts, and web pages

What you need to understand is that a web site is not a stand alone item. There are many contributing factors to making this run right. Also consider that making an online infrastructure work half way decent you are going to need more than "five pages".

This is where web site resellers get it wrong. This is where web sales people, (PPC and others) get it wrong and this is how the company who buys into this sort of arrangement loses out.

Oh, and by the way. Because this site is listed and ranked the way it is it is going to keep inching its way to the very top. If you don't believe me check out this site for SEO Search Quest.

Currently, we hold the number 4 spot on Yahoo. Now that could change with the dynamics of the online world. Occassionally we get bumped back down to number 34, which is not bad. You have to accept this type of thing when you get into the thick of things. But what is most notable is that we bounce back up again to the very top. We have held the number 3 spot in the past and have climbed all the way back to number 2.

Cantu posted this on Aug. 14 2007 at 8:46 PM and is the creator of SEO Search Quest, Podcast University and works out of Chicago and Metro Detroit

New Online Business Profiles

"Get Your Business Onto IPODS, IPHONES and Blackjacks!"

Ted Cantu showcases his new program on how you can get your business into Ipods, and Iphones. This is for a new product kick off and the best part is that it is backed by a real SEO program to boost the pages. Simply said this is going to help bring customized traffic to your web pages.

Posted by Cantu, JULY 30, 2007

The Entrepreneur Network of Michigan - Cybercast # 2

"Spreading The Word on IPOD Marketing"

Cantu and Ike Engelbaum are at it once again. Here in this clip we reveal some interesting ways that you can market your product or service using IPOD media. This is some good information.

NOTE: On a comedic level Cantu is obscured by a mic stand. This blocks out his face during this interview. But the information is quite good.

** This is another installment of our cybercast series.

Posted by Cantu on July 28, 2007 at 6:02 PM

Ted Cantu Spills His Guts - SEO Secrets Exposed

Fresh off the set from the IKE ENGLEBAUM, ENTREPRENEUR RADIO SHOW in Southfield, MI -- SEO Search Quest threw together a simple presentation that spells out what they do.

This online presentation spills its guts and crosses the line! For the first time you can get an upclose and personal look at how we get clients and get top search engine results. This is something that can work out for your company.

Less than the price of display ads and a few rounds of direct mail you can get real popularity. Everytime this presentation has been shown business owners throughout Metro Detroit are literally flabergasted with the business potential this can create.

It has real proof and results.
This is worth checking out.....
http://1seomichigan.com/3.html

Cantu posted this on July 8, 2007 at 12:58 am.

CANTU - IPHONE MARKETING

Click here to get your own player.



"Here Is A Coming Attraction For The New IPHONE - Marketing Ops"

You knew this was coming sooner or later. But the question is does your market have the IMAGINATION for this type of marketing. The Michigan SEO - Podcasting market is a real one that you can really sink your teeth into. This one is for the big bucks....

Listen up as Cantu tells you how you can profit from this incredible resource.

Posted by Cantu on July 5, 2007 at 6:17 pm

Michigan Homegrown Powerhouse Hits The Airwaves

"Ike Engelbaum Challenging The Face of Michigan Marketing"

Ted Cantu and Ike Engelbaum take to the airwaves on 1260 AM and discuss new forms of marketing for Michigan Businesses.

There is more to this story.... Check out the full page on what Rebel Marketing is all about....

”Some of Michigan’s Best Real Estate, Mortage andLegal Have Been Ignored Online And Just Need A Little Help”

INFORMERCIALS ARE EXPENSIVEBut consider for a moment the high cost of commercial broadcast advertising. If you want to feature your product or service on late night television it costs 15k just to get started. After you cut a demo of what your product can do you will have to shell out an additional 115k just to get your infomercial pilot off the ground and into syndication……You can do the same type of syndication with your online IPOD ready video.

For pennies on the dollar you can have your own informercial quality videos created and syndicated through our SEO IPOD network. Now Michigan businesses are at a significant advantage.

But that’s not the most SHOCKING part --- You see, roughly 80% of these infomercials flop on the airwaves and fail to pull any sort of profit. All this money you invest in getting results like thisis not effective.

Most companies DON’T WANT a huge practice with staff, and overhead

Source: http://www.1seomichigan.com/rebel.html

*** The face of marketing as we know it is changing. There are many things that are really falling fast all around us. Things that used to work are now just getting nominal results. Just last week EBAY mentioned that it was going to start selling radio airtime ONLINE as part of its bidding services.

Stay tuned for more.....

Ted Cantu posted this on June 19, 2007 at 9:29