By John Errigo, Ph.D.
So business marketing choices are complex. Just think about all the options there are. I have met with business owners who said they pay over $600 a month for an SEO team to drive traffic to their site, or a business owner who will spend $650 a month for a mailer. I think that is very expensive, and our services all in all if we break out a monthly cost is avg. about $50 a month (and our services would benefit their business more than any mailer and they will have solid SEO benefits) than having to pay over $600 a month to get strong traffic to a website. So, when I see all the options a business owner must choose from, I am honored when an LGBTQ+ friendly business owner wants to evaluate our value and to see if the services of our LGBTQ+ friendly directory would benefit them. A business owner has many choices for marketing and may not know the marketing benefits of a niche marketing platform vs. a generic less specialized platform -think general mailers or back of a newspaper ad). When we look at the various options of marketing a business, namely, TV commercials, Facebook (social media posts), Instagram (social media posts), mailers, SEO companies, delivery services, ad space in newspapers, (or my favorite) a linkage of your website to a reputable and thriving directory is also essential in your marketing mix. What surprises me the most when meeting with LGBTQ+ friendly ally business owners, most are not aware of the SEO benefits of their website linked to a website directory (that commands high traffic to their directory listing) like Pride Town Connect. Our website, www.pridetownconnect.com stats (within the time this article is written), our current website stats (as of October 2, 2024 at 12 PM EST) include over 294,000 users, 1.2 million page views, and 3.1 million event counts and that is JUST in the past 5 weeks (we did not start using Google Analytic tracking until Aug 18 so the numbers tracked before Aug 18 were zero), and this level of traffic is very robust and strong for a new website directory launched in Aug 1, 2024.
The main points I want to cover in this article include the value I want Pride Town Connect to bring to your LGBTQ+ friendly business. Bringing value to your business is very important to me. I will outline 3 main areas of how www.pridetownconnect.com will add value to your business and how our services might be a valuable marketing choice for your LGBTQ+ friendly business.
I find our LGBTQ+ Directory will help your business primarily in these 3 very important areas; Cities listed, LGBTQ+ Friendly business connected to LGBTQ+ community, and overall, SEO benefits
1. Our LGBTQ+ Directory will brand your business within multiple cities within your metro area or region:
So for example, in the regional metro area of Philadelphia, we have 1 major city (Philadelphia) and to get to market saturation, you would need to be listed in about 150 different cities that would comprise the immediate metro market of Philadelphia, (think of the surrounding cities in NJ, Delaware, and Bucks County, Montgomery County, and King of Prussia area, West Chester, etc.). So, your business will not only be listed in your immediate area, but ideally around 20-45 different cities outside of your major metropolitan area and your immediate city your business is located. (We don’t nickel and dime for each city or feature in each listing, it is all or nothing), the number of cities (1-185 cities) are added are included in the overall price of each plan ($299 for 4 months or $599.00 for 12 months) and it is not extra to have more than 1 city, (and you can have 185 cities and is the same price as 1 city, and again we don’t nickel and dime for each customization) for a directory listing. I will customize for each directory listing depending on the outbound-city reach I think is needed for each listing. I communicate the custom amount of various city reach I think is needed to the LGBTQ+ friendly business owner (e.g.,1 to 185 cities) and usually each listing averages around 33 cities. I will make any recommendations that may be needed at the time of listing to the business owner (and that can change, we can add or delete any city as the listing matures at anytime on the site). I have one listing for example that is in all 185 cities that is within our directory is marketing reach (total to date is 185 cities). However, if your business is not surrounded by a major metropolitan area, then realistically, about 12-15 different cities around your city would be ideal. That is a service that Pride Town Connect (www.pridetownconnect.com) can provide for your business immediately.
Why is this multi city reach an important feature? It is important to brand your business outside your immediate area. Why? Some business owners think that their business thrives within just their local area, and in some cases this is correct. However, did you ever think of the benefits of people who travel outside of their immediate city and may travel near the city of your business? Think visiting (in another city) a relative or a new dating partner? Obviously, you may be traveling outside your immediate city if those options present themselves. So that is why it is important to brand your business outside your immediate city. I can’t tell you on how many countless occasions Anthony and I will travel to a new city outside out hometown and would be upset that we did not know about a certain restaurant or business sooner and would have been a customer of that business sooner if I would have known about that business. It is nice to take a drive 20-30 minutes from home, and that drive we could be in about 5-10 different cities depending on if we are going to Central or South Jersey, or 30-40 minutes to Philly, or near Princeton, etc. So if you only brand your business in your city, that could be a major marketing limitation.
2. Connecting your LGBTQ+ friendly business to the LGBTQ+ community:
First, let me clear up a common misconception of things that I heard since 2016-2018 (when I first worked with digital marketing for the LGBTQ+ community and worked with a digital marketing website directory business at that time). Some business owners got the impression that if they marketed to the LGBTQ+ population that it meant the business owner was also gay, bi, or trans. You wish!!!! 🙂 Most LGBTQ+ community members are aware of most LGBTQ+ business owners in their communities so that is not the first thing that myself or others would think generally. I am always happy and feel safe when I see an LGBTQ+ business that has a pride flag, or sticker or advertises their business in a directory or use LGBTQ+ marketing methods. I never assume that business owner who is associated with the LGBTQ+ community through any marketing methods are gay, or bi, or trans, I assume these business owners are just an LGBTQ+ ally. Why do I bring this up? Well, some business owners who are truly an LGBTQ+ ally and LGBTQ+ friendly are sometimes afraid of branding their business as LGBTQ+ friendly for a variety of reasons, not because they are not LGBTQ+ friendly, (quite the contrary). This can be because of reasons that (I am not sure exactly the reasons, or have any definitive idea) but some may fear that their wife or husband or pastor, or cleric may think some type of way _____blank_____ about their specific business they own that (if they market to the LGBTQ+ community) and that business and business owner who is afraid to market to the LGBTQ+ for unknown reasons could be in fact an LGBTQ+ friendly business / LGBTQ+ friendly ally business owner, so the truth is not always easy to be found around (that fear factor of an LGBTQ+ friendly business owner of a niche marketing campaign to the LGBTQ+ community).
However, marketing a business in an LGBTQ+ directory in 2024 is as essential as ever to get others to know that your business is a safe and welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community. It is a relief for some members of the LGBTQ+ community and it will help attract new LGBTQ+ customers who are loyal to an LGBTQ+ friendly business and also allies of the LGBTQ+ community and will support broadly an LGBTQ+ friendly business that is supportive and safe. However, if a business engages in “rainbow washing” see more about this concept: https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/rainbow-washing and the LGBTQ+ community will definitely get the ‘hint’ at some point that a business is not authentically LGBTQ+ friendly.
Usually, an indicator of an authentic LGBTQ+ friendly businesses are LGBTQ+ business recommendations or referrals, or my own personal experience of an establishment. Why is this important? Because our business at Pride Town Connect takes this commitment to vetting out LGBTQ+ businesses very seriously and there is a generic business directory called YELP for those who are not necessarily branded as LGBTQ+ friendly, and at Pride Town Connect, we are not just a generic directory, we are an LGBTQ+ business friendly directory. That does not mean that every business owner who I meet with and that LGBTQ+ friendly business owner I meet with declines to work with us, and I would not think or would not say that they are not LGBTQ+ friendly, that would not be a fair or accurate assessment. I have met with countless LGBTQ+ friendly businesses and business owners over the years, and sometimes our marketing product or a business product is just not a match for both of us, and that is okay too. Some businesses have specialties that would not benefit from our services, or some in the community may not engage in a specialty or business service, (but I would argue that business would still get benefits with a major SEO boost to their websites) and the strong search engine traffic to their websites (as a result of having their website linked to our website here at Pride Town Connect). However, like any marketing decision to a business owner, their marketing decision is ultimately strategic and personal to that businesses’ brand, and I take no offense, and I understand if they do not wish to work with us or vice versa, but that business may still be LGBTQ+ friendly.
3. SEO Benefits:
What is unique about an SEO benefit, is that it may be one of the most hidden gems of our services at Pride Town Connect. And as CEO of this product and service at Pride Town Connect, it is the one that most frustrates me. Why? Because SEO benefits are not easy to quantify, but I know it is a benefit. And as a person who got their PhD because of statistics, I know the value of” if you cannot measure it, it does not count or have value,” but let me explain. I constantly do audits on keywords, directory listing placements, our ranking on search engines, optimization of key words and how it links to specific pages, etc., and I gauge what is effective and what is not. And I edit and I keep on auditing and editing constantly and I am fine tuning the website all the time for our directly listings and for our community to find them. For example. I was doing an audit on one of our newest directory listings, and I searched one of our newest listings: https://pridetownconnect.com/listing/lina-raja-insurance-agency-with-farmers-insurance/ and wanted to see where it ranked outside of Pride Town Connect. Lina Raja is our newest and LGBTQ+ friendly ally insurance agent in Philadelphia. She is also a Farmers Insurance agent. So, I did not count all the farmers insurance agent in Philadelphia, but when I put in the key words LGBTQ+ friendly farmers insurance agent Philadelphia PA, she trended at the second spot. That is pretty powerful. IT was not pridetownconnect.com that trended #1, it was the agent Lina and her website that trended to #1. So that is a huge benefit I cannot plan, measure or quantify, just in my audit findings. Our LGBTQ+ directory also just helps the business owner get more SEO benefits outside of pridetownconnect.com. Why? Because with our high amount of traffic that is 200,000 users per month, over 1.2 million website views, that will boost any other business website linked to our site at pridetownconnect.com. It will also help traffic to your website that is not gay, because businesses trend higher when you type in “restaurants” in City XYZ, and that means that those sites that have higher traffic will link higher, and being linked to our site will provide you this immediate SEO benefit in about 7 days. So that SEO benefit will help your businesses trend higher in search engines.
I am a marketing expert for the LGBTQ+ community, not a google doctor, however, I make sure that when you list with us in our LGBTQ+ directory as an LGBTQ+ friendly business, that you get customized key words that I study and audit and change and tweak to maximize your listing. Why? I strive to bring value to your business and will work very hard to make sure that value you invest in our services will be a value you will see year after year. I am interested in relationships that provide value to your LGBTQ+ friendly business, I am not interested in a shallow relationship or just a fly by night sales transaction. Pride Town Connect is a website directory that is value based and reasonably priced to benefit your business and is at the heart of what I do each day. It is a service I want to grow for the next few decades until I retire.
I want us to grow in business together and providing a no cost service to the LGBTQ+ community so our community finds awesome LGBTQ+ friendly businesses and we are treated with respect and fairness!
Thank you for being interested in a product I am proud to be a founder member with my fiancé Anthony!
Dr. John Errigo | Founder & CEO of Vanguard Advertising Agency, creator of the website and product Pride Town Connect
