HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS USING SOCIAL MEDIA
What is Social Media? And Why does my business need it?
Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to communicate, transfer knowledge and information. It allows everyday people to go from receivers of information to transmitters of information. They are also able to do this to mass quantities of family, friends, colleagues or co-workers and other people who work in or have the same interests that they do.
Your business can use all the help it can get in this economy. Let's face it, almost everyone today is using some sort of social media to let their world know what they are doing or what they are looking for. By putting your company information out to the social media networks, the products and services you provide become more readily available to potential customers. you can also gain new knowledge from other businesses similar to yours or in your local area as to how to better serve your customer or new and improved products.
There are simple ways to get your business name out to the masses who use such Social Media's as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the list goes on. You want to set up accounts in each and every one of these listed social media's. You will want to link your website to theses accounts. You also want to link each one of these accounts to each other. All this will help you and your business get more recognition. You will then need to find family, friends, neighbors (this can people you know or people you don't know who that live within your service area) There are groups that you will want to join. They can help you connect with other businesses and help put you in the cities, counties or states that you service or within a particular group of businesses that are looking for your services. I suggests that you explore.
I am a Personal Internet Marketing Consultant for small to medium sized businesses and my market area is the United States. I work with all types of businesses from Construction Companies to Chiropractors. I have to put my name out their in different groups of small business owners and professionals letting them know who I am and what I can do for them. I have been very successful with social media. I generated new business for myself and my company within the first month of setting up my social media accounts. This is why I am sharing it with you.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS IN TODAYS MARKET
What Are You Doing As A Business Owner To Get New Customers?
Today more than ever you as a business owner have to be able, and ready to move with today's market. The potential customer is turning to the Internet today more then ever. They have a computer at home, at work, even our cars and cell phones that provide a quick and accurate list of businesses. These local list of businesses are not ranked based off of a companies website or how well it is optimized. In fact, these lists are complied of business profiles.
What is a business profile you ask? This a your businesses digital business card online. Almost every business has one. It has your business name, address, phone number and a link to your website if you have one. It also opens up to a business profile page. This has all the info listed above and more. It tells a customer what you do and the areas you service. It also gives customers a place to write a review about your business and the service you provided. I wrote about customer reviews in my previous blog.
As for websites, many of today's small and medium businesses do not have websites or need them for that matter. Or the old adage is that "I have a website I am on the Internet" doesn't mean you are found in local search. No Sir/Ma'am, we have to think outside the box or the belief of what we had been told in the past about the Internet. Today's search engines take a whole new approach to getting found. Remember when we had to name our business "AAAA Plumbing" to get put at the top or the first page of the phone books. Well let me tell what the search engines look for. It is best to have the type of service you provide in the name of your business. i.e. Plumber- Joe's Plumbing, HVAC - Joe's Heating and Air Conditioning. Get the idea? Next, if you have a website does website match you name. i.e. Joe's Plumbing - www.joesplumbing.com Last and most importantly and this is were my company and I come to help is: How many inbound and outbound links do you have to your business profile?
If your business is on the front page of Google you have a good chance of getting contacted by the potential customers who looking for the services or products you provide. I can tell you this if your business name and number are not there on the front page the likelihood of you getting a call are slim to none. You may say well I am on front page or have been on the front page before and I didn't get any calls. My question to you is: How long ago was it that you were on the front page? What Category were you listed under? What "key phrases" or "key words" were you found for? And what cities were you found in? Typically most businesses are ranked in the city in which they are located in. This is good however, You and I both know we travel long distances, sometimes 50 miles radius or more to get a job. There may be 10, 15 or 20 different cities in that radius. You need a good company to take care of your listing while you take care of answering the phone and servicing your new customers. This is where I can help.
Let's face it your customers, I mean your potential customers are looking elsewhere today. The old idea of mailers, fliers on cars and homeowners front doors and those expensive full or half page ads in the yellow pages are gone for good. I don't even own a phone book any more and when we were visiting the grandparents, my father asked my youngest son if he knew where the yellow pages was he looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language or thought it was some sort of coloring book. Then I said son where would you find a pizza place near grandpa's house he immediately bolted for the computer and Googled "Pizza" immediately a page came up and in the local map section there a list of pizza places. It showed where they were located in relation to Grandpa's house. It gave him the name and phone number. He showed Grandpa and they called the pizza place together to order dinner.
So what are you doing to get those potential customers today who are out there looking for the services you provide? Do you want them to call your competition? Are you ready to make the change? If so, let me show you what can be done. I would be more then happy to go over your business profile, give you an accurate account of where and where your not being found today and how I can place your business where it so deserves. Take the time today to call me. I will give you the facts.
Local Search Expert
by Eric Dean
800.285.0484 x 7064 office
949.228.4557 cell
Be sure to look me up:
Linked in:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/localsearchexpert
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/eLocal_Eric
Today more than ever you as a business owner have to be able, and ready to move with today's market. The potential customer is turning to the Internet today more then ever. They have a computer at home, at work, even our cars and cell phones that provide a quick and accurate list of businesses. These local list of businesses are not ranked based off of a companies website or how well it is optimized. In fact, these lists are complied of business profiles.
What is a business profile you ask? This a your businesses digital business card online. Almost every business has one. It has your business name, address, phone number and a link to your website if you have one. It also opens up to a business profile page. This has all the info listed above and more. It tells a customer what you do and the areas you service. It also gives customers a place to write a review about your business and the service you provided. I wrote about customer reviews in my previous blog.
As for websites, many of today's small and medium businesses do not have websites or need them for that matter. Or the old adage is that "I have a website I am on the Internet" doesn't mean you are found in local search. No Sir/Ma'am, we have to think outside the box or the belief of what we had been told in the past about the Internet. Today's search engines take a whole new approach to getting found. Remember when we had to name our business "AAAA Plumbing" to get put at the top or the first page of the phone books. Well let me tell what the search engines look for. It is best to have the type of service you provide in the name of your business. i.e. Plumber- Joe's Plumbing, HVAC - Joe's Heating and Air Conditioning. Get the idea? Next, if you have a website does website match you name. i.e. Joe's Plumbing - www.joesplumbing.com Last and most importantly and this is were my company and I come to help is: How many inbound and outbound links do you have to your business profile?
If your business is on the front page of Google you have a good chance of getting contacted by the potential customers who looking for the services or products you provide. I can tell you this if your business name and number are not there on the front page the likelihood of you getting a call are slim to none. You may say well I am on front page or have been on the front page before and I didn't get any calls. My question to you is: How long ago was it that you were on the front page? What Category were you listed under? What "key phrases" or "key words" were you found for? And what cities were you found in? Typically most businesses are ranked in the city in which they are located in. This is good however, You and I both know we travel long distances, sometimes 50 miles radius or more to get a job. There may be 10, 15 or 20 different cities in that radius. You need a good company to take care of your listing while you take care of answering the phone and servicing your new customers. This is where I can help.
Let's face it your customers, I mean your potential customers are looking elsewhere today. The old idea of mailers, fliers on cars and homeowners front doors and those expensive full or half page ads in the yellow pages are gone for good. I don't even own a phone book any more and when we were visiting the grandparents, my father asked my youngest son if he knew where the yellow pages was he looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language or thought it was some sort of coloring book. Then I said son where would you find a pizza place near grandpa's house he immediately bolted for the computer and Googled "Pizza" immediately a page came up and in the local map section there a list of pizza places. It showed where they were located in relation to Grandpa's house. It gave him the name and phone number. He showed Grandpa and they called the pizza place together to order dinner.
So what are you doing to get those potential customers today who are out there looking for the services you provide? Do you want them to call your competition? Are you ready to make the change? If so, let me show you what can be done. I would be more then happy to go over your business profile, give you an accurate account of where and where your not being found today and how I can place your business where it so deserves. Take the time today to call me. I will give you the facts.
Local Search Expert
by Eric Dean
800.285.0484 x 7064 office
949.228.4557 cell
Be sure to look me up:
Linked in:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/localsearchexpert
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/eLocal_Eric
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Online Video Commercials- What they can do for your business
What is an Online Video Commercial?
It is a 15 to 30 second ad that a viewer can watch, be educated or gain understanding of a product or service that your business provides.
The fact is Americans like to watch videos. To capture this new found audience we as business owners need to make adjustments. The old way of getting our business name and services out to the public has changed considerably. No longer do flier's, door hangers or phone books cut the mustard. Lets face it the population uses the internet to find just about anything. I haven't had a phone book in my house or at the office in years. I throw away whatever it is that hanging on my door blocking the lock without even looking at it and a flier's on my car or truck gets the same demise.
Video Commercials are not new to marketing businesses. In fact Commercials are kind of a nuisance on our televisions. We try to avoid them like the plague, recording T.V. shows and sports with our DVR's so that we can skip over the commercials and watch our shows at our own leisure and skip those annoying commercials. Just the opposite is true for us computer users.
Today we have Online Video Commercials which have put a new spin on marketing a business. Besides the cost of making a video which can be relatively inexpensive. There is no cost to post these videos on most public websites, where potential clients can view your online video commercial. There are websites that will charge you a fee to put your online video commercial before or after another video that a viewer has chosen to watch. i.e. news feeds, movie trailers and other things of interest. It is like having a captive audience because they have chosen to watch something and the only way to view it is to watch the advertisement before it will play for them.
With these public websites they allow us to upload just about anything. It is usually uploaded to any number of video websites. i.e. Youtube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video and many other venues to choose from. So why not get your business it's exposure it so deserves and more importantly the potential of gaining a new client or customer to your business. They can also be embedded in a business profile pages or other forms of advertisements.
By clicking the title of this blog you will be taken to my companies website, eLocal Listing with a ever growing list of online video commercials. These online commercial videos are professionally made by a company called Pixelfish. These online commercial videos are part of what my company does to promote the businesses that have hired us to market their business in Local Search on the front pages of Google, Yahoo, Youtube and 25 other search engines and directories. These online commercial videos has voice overs and shoutouts to promote your business and to make sure your business is found on the search engines and in all the cities you service.
Ask yourself this: Can my business handle new customers?
Do I know where my potential customers are looking?
Is my business located on the front pages of the major search engines?
Does my business have a online video commercial?
Take the time to allow me to demonstrate the power of an online presence for your business.
Eric Dean
Local Search Expert
eLocal Listing
800.285.0484 x 7064
It is a 15 to 30 second ad that a viewer can watch, be educated or gain understanding of a product or service that your business provides.
The fact is Americans like to watch videos. To capture this new found audience we as business owners need to make adjustments. The old way of getting our business name and services out to the public has changed considerably. No longer do flier's, door hangers or phone books cut the mustard. Lets face it the population uses the internet to find just about anything. I haven't had a phone book in my house or at the office in years. I throw away whatever it is that hanging on my door blocking the lock without even looking at it and a flier's on my car or truck gets the same demise.
Video Commercials are not new to marketing businesses. In fact Commercials are kind of a nuisance on our televisions. We try to avoid them like the plague, recording T.V. shows and sports with our DVR's so that we can skip over the commercials and watch our shows at our own leisure and skip those annoying commercials. Just the opposite is true for us computer users.
Today we have Online Video Commercials which have put a new spin on marketing a business. Besides the cost of making a video which can be relatively inexpensive. There is no cost to post these videos on most public websites, where potential clients can view your online video commercial. There are websites that will charge you a fee to put your online video commercial before or after another video that a viewer has chosen to watch. i.e. news feeds, movie trailers and other things of interest. It is like having a captive audience because they have chosen to watch something and the only way to view it is to watch the advertisement before it will play for them.
With these public websites they allow us to upload just about anything. It is usually uploaded to any number of video websites. i.e. Youtube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video and many other venues to choose from. So why not get your business it's exposure it so deserves and more importantly the potential of gaining a new client or customer to your business. They can also be embedded in a business profile pages or other forms of advertisements.
By clicking the title of this blog you will be taken to my companies website, eLocal Listing with a ever growing list of online video commercials. These online commercial videos are professionally made by a company called Pixelfish. These online commercial videos are part of what my company does to promote the businesses that have hired us to market their business in Local Search on the front pages of Google, Yahoo, Youtube and 25 other search engines and directories. These online commercial videos has voice overs and shoutouts to promote your business and to make sure your business is found on the search engines and in all the cities you service.
Ask yourself this: Can my business handle new customers?
Do I know where my potential customers are looking?
Is my business located on the front pages of the major search engines?
Does my business have a online video commercial?
Take the time to allow me to demonstrate the power of an online presence for your business.
Eric Dean
Local Search Expert
eLocal Listing
800.285.0484 x 7064
Monday, October 5, 2009
Your Businesses Online Presence And What Online Referrals Mean To You
With online marketing comes a online reputation. We all know what that can do for your business. What someone says about a business can make it or break it. Let's face it we all like to get new work from referrals. You did a great job for someone and they told their friends or associates what a good job you did. Here we will discuss the importance of being found on the front pages of search engines and what someone can write about your business -- a concept called SEO (search engine optimization)and "online reputation" or what I like to call a unknown reference or unknown referral.
What are others saying about your business?
Do you know what others are saying about your business? I don't mean what they are saying to their neighbors and friends, although that is important. I'm referring to the relatively new concept of writing a review on Google, Yahoo or one of the many other search engines out there. Let's face it 80% of the population uses these types of search engines today to find just about anything. Today more then ever we are more dependent on our computers and cell phones to give us the info we need. At the same time we are more likely to write a review or give reference to a business that did some work for us that we found on these search engines.
Let's say you are looking for a plumber in Anaheim. You could open the phone book (but who carries one or even has one anymore) or Google "plumber in Anaheim CA" If you choose the later, a Google search page will open with a map in the top left hand of the page, indicating where each of the top 10 plumbers are located. Those plumbers will be listed to the right of the map. Under each listing will be a link: reviews, directions, hours and more. By clicking on reviews you can read what others are saying about their experience with that business. Local review sites such as Google, Yelp, Citysearch and Yahoo! Local are rapidly becoming the "go-to" place for an ever more discriminating consumer population.
Don't ignore review sites
If you serve the local public and ignore these sites, you do so at your own peril. The purpose for all marketing is to give your target market a reason to engage or move forward with contacting your business. With the growing number of local review sites, you could very likely be the winner or the unaware of this new age called online marketing.
Reviews from happy customers can be one of your best new business sources. Negative reviews can devastate your business. This is why it is important to do good work and have those customers write a good review.
By now you might be thinking: "With everything that I now have on my plate, how do I have the time and how do I acquire the skills to manage this?" I suggest the following:
· Become aware: Monitor your reputation by periodically going to the various local review sites and read what others are saying about you. This is valuable data for improving your customer experience, which is the sole reason they do business with you and not your competition. Sign up for Google alerts which can automatically alert you when your business is mentioned in a review, blog, or online document.
· Manage the reviews: Make sure you are showing up on local search sites (contact me directly I will show you how to do this in a cost effective manner). Then respond to the reviews, using as much of the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" tact that you can muster. Do not let uncomplimentary reviews raise your blood pressure no matter how scurrilous. Remember, you are involved in customer relations.
Respond to every negative review
You don't have to respond to every review. However, I highly suggest that you respond to every negative review, otherwise you send the message that you don't care, which only legitimizes the negative reviews and worsens your reputation. Thank the reviewer for calling this to your attention and explain how you intend to correct the problem. Never argue with a customer who posts a negative review.
I recently was looking for a shop to take my car:
I had just moved to the area and was not sure where the best place to take my car for a simple brake job and tune-up. I went online did a little research and found there were two or three different shops in my area that had reviews written about them. Some good, some bad and even some mixed reviews. I took the time to read over them and made a decision based on those reviews. I got my car fixed and I know have a new car mechanic. I also took the time to write my own review about them.
Some tips:
· Never post false reviews on your site or on competitors' sites. At the very least you can suffer embarrassment -- and worse, heavy civil penalties.
· Create automatic alerts to notify you.
· Make sure you are listed on the local search sites and that your profile is complete.
· Study and learn from your reviewers.
Proverbs 22:1 states: "A {good} name is to be more desired than great wealth,"
Do you know your online reputation?
Eric Dean is your local search expert. I have worked with thousands of business owners showing them different ways to get their business found in all the cities they serve. Forward your business questions to 800-285-0484 x 7064 or eric.dean@elocallisting.com
What are others saying about your business?
Do you know what others are saying about your business? I don't mean what they are saying to their neighbors and friends, although that is important. I'm referring to the relatively new concept of writing a review on Google, Yahoo or one of the many other search engines out there. Let's face it 80% of the population uses these types of search engines today to find just about anything. Today more then ever we are more dependent on our computers and cell phones to give us the info we need. At the same time we are more likely to write a review or give reference to a business that did some work for us that we found on these search engines.
Let's say you are looking for a plumber in Anaheim. You could open the phone book (but who carries one or even has one anymore) or Google "plumber in Anaheim CA" If you choose the later, a Google search page will open with a map in the top left hand of the page, indicating where each of the top 10 plumbers are located. Those plumbers will be listed to the right of the map. Under each listing will be a link: reviews, directions, hours and more. By clicking on reviews you can read what others are saying about their experience with that business. Local review sites such as Google, Yelp, Citysearch and Yahoo! Local are rapidly becoming the "go-to" place for an ever more discriminating consumer population.
Don't ignore review sites
If you serve the local public and ignore these sites, you do so at your own peril. The purpose for all marketing is to give your target market a reason to engage or move forward with contacting your business. With the growing number of local review sites, you could very likely be the winner or the unaware of this new age called online marketing.
Reviews from happy customers can be one of your best new business sources. Negative reviews can devastate your business. This is why it is important to do good work and have those customers write a good review.
By now you might be thinking: "With everything that I now have on my plate, how do I have the time and how do I acquire the skills to manage this?" I suggest the following:
· Become aware: Monitor your reputation by periodically going to the various local review sites and read what others are saying about you. This is valuable data for improving your customer experience, which is the sole reason they do business with you and not your competition. Sign up for Google alerts which can automatically alert you when your business is mentioned in a review, blog, or online document.
· Manage the reviews: Make sure you are showing up on local search sites (contact me directly I will show you how to do this in a cost effective manner). Then respond to the reviews, using as much of the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" tact that you can muster. Do not let uncomplimentary reviews raise your blood pressure no matter how scurrilous. Remember, you are involved in customer relations.
Respond to every negative review
You don't have to respond to every review. However, I highly suggest that you respond to every negative review, otherwise you send the message that you don't care, which only legitimizes the negative reviews and worsens your reputation. Thank the reviewer for calling this to your attention and explain how you intend to correct the problem. Never argue with a customer who posts a negative review.
I recently was looking for a shop to take my car:
I had just moved to the area and was not sure where the best place to take my car for a simple brake job and tune-up. I went online did a little research and found there were two or three different shops in my area that had reviews written about them. Some good, some bad and even some mixed reviews. I took the time to read over them and made a decision based on those reviews. I got my car fixed and I know have a new car mechanic. I also took the time to write my own review about them.
Some tips:
· Never post false reviews on your site or on competitors' sites. At the very least you can suffer embarrassment -- and worse, heavy civil penalties.
· Create automatic alerts to notify you.
· Make sure you are listed on the local search sites and that your profile is complete.
· Study and learn from your reviewers.
Proverbs 22:1 states: "A {good} name is to be more desired than great wealth,"
Do you know your online reputation?
Eric Dean is your local search expert. I have worked with thousands of business owners showing them different ways to get their business found in all the cities they serve. Forward your business questions to 800-285-0484 x 7064 or eric.dean@elocallisting.com
Friday, October 2, 2009
Say "No" to the Phone Book and "Yes" to Google
When 80 % of the population in America is looking online using Google, Yahoo and Bing.com to find products and services. If your not on the front page of these most powerful search engines in ALL the cities you service then your missing out on hundreds if not thousands of dollars that are being spent this very day from those front pages. Let's get down to facts: Everything comes down to location. If your not on those front pages your not going to get the call, period!
I know you've been promised the world every time you've spoke to someone about your business profile and how their company will put your business on the front page or even promise you that your business will be in the #1 or "A" position. No one can promise you this and not lie to you. Also most cant get you found in any other city then the city your business is located in. I have a program called the Multi-City Program that can put you in the Local One Box in the city you are actually located in and great ranking in the Natural/ Organic section for each and every city you want to be found in or service. That is the facts.
I spend more time looking at different businesses every day. I talk to business owners who tell me they are on the first page of Google when in reality there not there or they are there under key phrases or keywords that few people would ever look under. I also ask them them to type in a key phrase in another city they service and they are no where to be found. And you know what that means? No business for them. I hope this has given some of my readers some insight. Have a great day and know they're are customers out there looking for you. Are you there where they're looking?
I know you've been promised the world every time you've spoke to someone about your business profile and how their company will put your business on the front page or even promise you that your business will be in the #1 or "A" position. No one can promise you this and not lie to you. Also most cant get you found in any other city then the city your business is located in. I have a program called the Multi-City Program that can put you in the Local One Box in the city you are actually located in and great ranking in the Natural/ Organic section for each and every city you want to be found in or service. That is the facts.
I spend more time looking at different businesses every day. I talk to business owners who tell me they are on the first page of Google when in reality there not there or they are there under key phrases or keywords that few people would ever look under. I also ask them them to type in a key phrase in another city they service and they are no where to be found. And you know what that means? No business for them. I hope this has given some of my readers some insight. Have a great day and know they're are customers out there looking for you. Are you there where they're looking?
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