Listed Locally: Needed Now More Than Ever

Written by Will on 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.

 

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Save $25 on the Market Saint Louis Conference

Written by Will on January 6th, 2010

I’m speaking on Local SEO at the upcoming MarketSTL Conference on April 1.  The full day event will feature some great speakers from the SEO/SEM industry.

If you were thinking about registering, use the code SAVE25 and save yourself $25 bucks off the registration.

http://www.MarketSTL.com/register/

 

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Interview: David Siteman Garland from The Rise to the Top

Written by Will on January 5th, 2010

David Siteman GarlandToday’s interview is with David Siteman Garland, CEO of The Rise to the Top.  David bills TRTTT as The #1 Non-Boring Resource for Marketing Like an Entreprenuer: Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.  His website is an awesome resource for anyone who is getting started or already in business.  He also hosts a weekly TV show on ABC.

I’ve spoken with David a few times via Twitter (@TheRiseToTheTop) and also met him at the November ‘edition’ of the St Louis Social Media Group.  He’s quite energetic and I enjoyed his presentation.

David, I know your business has been around for several years, what first spurred you to get involved with social media for your business?

Social media for me was a little bit of being in the right place at the right time. I was one of the first 5,000 members on Facebook because I happened to be in college at the time (back when it was called THE Facebook and only for college students) and my school, Washington University in St. Louis, was one of the first schools to be added to Facebook.

For me, it started as a way to communicate with my friends in school and quickly evolved to be encompass forming relationships with other, promoting my businesses and other people’s businesses.
Click to continue »

 

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Hotel Lumiere Review

Written by Will on January 4th, 2010

My wife loves to go to Lumiere and play the slots.  The little bit of money she makes during the week from babysitting usually ends up belonging to Lumiere on Saturday nights.  Unlike most people though, she’s pretty good at hitting jackpots.  Several times last year she turned $100 into $1000.  I don’t know how she does it, but she sure enjoys it.

Anyway, one of the recent promotions that she got was a hotel stay.  I’ve been wanting to check out the hotel and conference area for the upcoming Market Saint Louis Conference, so we decided to stay there last night and tour the conf area this morning.

Lobby, Atrium & Walkway

The lobby is small but gets the job done.  For those visiting for a conference, there’s a nice 40 inch flatscreen that tells of the days events, where they are being held, etc.

The atrium is awesome.  Plenty of tables and chairs, and even a nice area for a networking event.  There’s a bar called ‘Cascade’ which overlooks an indoor waterfall that’s about 4 stories tall.  Pretty cool.  If we end up choosing the Lumiere, it will be a great place for an after or night-before cocktail party.

The room was on the 4th floor, the same floor that hosts a walkway to the casino.  I have a feeling that Lumiere’s software automatically assigns the 4th floor first for that reason.  When I went to park the truck (it was about 66:30PM or so) I noticed that most all the fourth floor rooms had lights on, the other floors didn’t.

Room Overview

The room (called a suite on the sign, but they all said that) was pretty nice.  When you walk in there’s a nice 2-person table and chair set, and there is also a small couch, chair and flatscreen TV.  It’s a nice little room to chill in.

Walking a little further in you see the minibar (which costs if you touch it) and then a very small bathroom.

Beyond that is the bedroom through a doorway, which had a door you could close.  My wife liked that.  I’m not sure it really had a point, but it was kinda cool that our hotel room was actually two rooms.

The bed was uber comfortable and there was a larger flatscreen in there too.

Hotel/Room Cons

There were a few things we didn’t like about the room and policies.

  • No microwave
    We had dinner at Asia, their chinese-themed restaurant.  Carol had some rice and chicken left that I thought I could heat up later.  No such luck.
  • Small fridge area
    There was a fridge (aka minibar) but not much room to put anything in.  There was a small shelf that they left you for items, but it was too small for the leftover box from the restaurant.  It would have held a 20 oz. coke or something, that’s about it.
  • Pay for Parking
    Ok this is probably the biggest complaint of all.  They “allow” you to self park for only $10 a day.  Or, you can valet park for $20 per incident.  Seriously? What other hotel charges their patrons to park their own cars, especially on a Sunday evening when the casino isn’t really busy?  Not cool.
  • WiFi
    I’m not sure if the room came with free wifi or not.  I connected on my phone to a Lumiere unsecured router, but I could never get any pages to come up.  I have a feeling they probably charged for it, but I’m not 100% sure.  Since I wasn’t there to surf the ‘net, I didn’t really care.

Overall the stay was nice.  The rooms are comfy and the little sitting area is cozy if you’ve got a few friends to hang out with.  The atrium is gorgeous.

Have you stayed at the Lumiere Place? What did you think?

 

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