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Listed Locally: Needed Now More Than Ever

Monday, January 11th, 2010

If you’ve got a business that caters to a predominantly local market, and you aren’t active in your online strategy, you’re about to be left behind in a big way.

Late last week Google announced a new feature for their mobile search where you can find businesses near you.  This little feature, which rolled out to all iPhone and Droid users can have a huge impact on your local foot traffic.

In order to be listed in what we call the 7 pack, you’ve got to have your businesses listed in the Google Local Business Listings (LBL).  Even if your business doesn’t have a website, you can still list it in there.
Businessman looking at his smartphone
There are two main impacts by this simple change:

  • Those businesses that are listed in the LBL are going to see an increase in walk-in traffic.  Over time as the service is rolled out to more and more smartphones, it will only increase this walk-in traffic.  Since smartphones continue to get cheaper, more and more people are going to have them.  It won’t be long before most cell phones are smart/data run.
  • Not being listed in the LBL is only going to continue to hurt businesses that won’t get with the times.  It’s like ignoring the Yellow Pages 50 years ago.  It’s like saying the television fad will quietly pass.

Now, don’t forget that Google is already showing local/map results for generic queries.  That’s something they rolled out way back around March of 2009.  So it goes without saying that having a strong SEO presence in the search engines is becoming more and more mandatory.  Having your site verified in Google Webmaster tools is no longer an option.

Read other posts on Google Maps and local marketing

Oh – and once you’re listed, don’t forget to keep an eye on your listing.

Posted in Google Maps, local marketing, small business | No Responses »
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Interview with Russ Henneberry from Tiny & Mighty

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Russ HenneberryAs part of a new series, I’m going to be doing interviews with local (Saint Louis area) industry leaders that are using social media and other forms of SEM to increase their overall business revenue and objectives.  This week I’m interviewing Russ Henneberry, owner of Tiny Business, Mighty Profits.

Russ Henneberry writes and speaks about Content Marketing Strategy and how tiny businesses can make mighty profits using a personal computer, a little imagination and a few well-placed dollars.

  1. What first spurred you to get involved with social media for your business?
    I started a business in 2004 that was a massive failure. The most critical take-away from that failure was that I needed to be more connected to colleagues, customers, and prospects. I realized that going it alone was not a good strategy and that social media was a great way for me to grow my support network.
  2. Tell us about T&M’s online strategy. What online tools are you using now to grow your customer base?
    I use a Wordpress blog as a hub from which to consistently broadcast valuable and timely content that would be beneficial to my market. I use video sharing sites (YouTube, etc), Email Marketing through aWeber, and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

    3. Click to continue »

Posted in Marketing, Saint Louis, interviews, local marketing | 4 Responses »
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Upcoming Business Series Announcement

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

More and more businesses are getting online every day. Most of these businesses are doing so only because ‘everyone else is’.  This sense of urgency is good, but needs a foundation.  There’s nothing worse than a business that has a website simply because their competition does.  Online strategy should be learned, discussed and acted upon in order to succeed.

As many of you know, I’m the moving force behind Market Saint Louis, a twice-a-year business conference that focuses on teaching local St Louis businesses the ways of online optimization, advertising and more.  Speakers from around the country fly in to share their expertise on various subjects, from SEO to Pay per Click and Analytics.  2010 is going to be even bigger, with the conferences featuring two separate tracks – one for beginners and one for businesses that are already in the game to some level.

The event isn’t cheap (although the pre-agenda tickets aren’t very expensive) and some small businesses may have a hard time shelling out several hundred dollars in this economy just to learn how to spend more time and money on the Internet.  But it’s crucial for every business to be online now.

To help quell the fears of those business owners, I’ve partnered up with the Jefferson County Library to teach a series of free classes (yes, I said free) on Online Marketing, Social Media and more.  This series of classes will run January through March, and will be very limited both in amount as well as seating.

If you’re wondering just how your competition gets their website to the top of Google searches for items you sell, you’ll learn. If you know your business needs to be on Twitter or Facebook, but you don’t know how to use these tools, you’ll learn.  And if you want to grow your online sales, you’ll learn.

Scheduled Dates

Twitter Basics and Tips

Jan 14 – 9:30AM to Noon or March 4 – 6:00PM to 8:30PM
Learn how to set up a Twitter account and how to ‘tweet’.  You’ll learn about some great tools that will help you get more followers, find great information about your interests, and how to utilize some ‘behind the scenes’ tricks to get the most out of your new account.

Marketing Your Business Website

Feb 4 – 9:30 AM to Noon  or Mar 25 – 6:00PM to 8:30PM
Do you wonder why your website isn’t listed on Yahoo! or other search engines? Are you clueless about search marketing techniques that can draw customers to your site? We will cover topics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), online advertising tips and avenues, along with ways to increase your website traffic along with other offline marketing ideas.

Social Media for Business – Leverage Community to Build Your Brand

Feb 11 – 6:00PM to 8:30PM
Learn how to leverage blogging, video and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to grow your business.

Download the flyer / schedule

Sign Up Now

All classes have very limited seating and will be at the Arnold branch of the Jefferson County Library.  To sign up, call 636-296-5171.

These will be the only classes offered this Spring.  For more information on the upcoming Market Saint Louis conference (and to get the cheap ticket price) visit MarketSTL.com

Posted in Marketing, Saint Louis, conferences, free stuff, local marketing, small business, social media | 4 Responses »
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The Yellow Pages – Who Wants Those Things?

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Twice a year the Yellow Pages are dropped off at various businesses around every city in the US.  This used to be a momentous event, something that I remember a lot of people buzzing about.

“The new YellowPages are here!”

Offices would theme the event around recycling, and how great they were that they were doing their part for the environment.  “Bring your old YP so we can recycle it and you’ll get a new 1988 version” was the going phrase.

Then, around 1992 or so, a company called LitePages was born.  From what I remember, Litepages was an offshoot of Southwestern Bell.  As a webmaster for a federal govt agency at the time, I received a letter in the mail from them explaining that we could have one of their new CD White Pages in exchange for signing a letter stating that we’d order x percent less phone books the next go-round.   It was a win-win for both sides.
Click to continue »

Posted in Google Maps, local marketing, offline advertising, yellow pages | 6 Responses »
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