Local Search Expert

Are you tired of Cold Calling?... and Cold Calling and Cold Calling

2011-01-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

You have a nice office will all the amenities. You have a SEO service that is second to none. You have put together a great sales team and a presentation that will show value to your prospective clients. You have gone over the goals and expectations with your sales team and they are ready to make some money.

Everyone starts to scour they Internet for possible leads to call but your room is as quite as the night before Christmas.

After a few hours and maybe a few days you notice that it is harder then you thought to find interested prospective clients who will take the time out of their day to listen to your sales presentation. What do you do?

The obvious short-cut is buying leads. These are small to large business prospects generated by professional marketing firms that have shown interest in SEO services. These are ready-to-call contacts. They work and I encourage you to try them. New sales teams and even well established organizations don’t have much time anymore to waste. Getting sales on the board and getting revenue flowing can make or break a sales team. The down-side if they’re really is one is it takes a small investment (usually at least $500.00) to get the faucet turned on. Then you’d had better be ready to call and close. The leads will flow almost immediately and you are paying per lead for perishable customer attention. You must be ready to call fast and follow-up often.

The Witch Doctor is in...

2010-09-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

The shadowy world of Search Engine Optimization needs to be navigated properly to achieve your desired results. Using a Search Engine Optimization Company to help you increase your rankings in searches for products or services you offer can pay big dividends. Maximizing your visibility on the internet can be achieved through the use of key word optimization and other processes your Search Engine Optimization Company can do economically for you.

Unless you are well versed in the process and have a great deal of experience in coding and web development you should look for a company that specializes in Search Engine Optimization. Many web marketing companies will offer you an array of services including RSS feeds, blogs for business, forums, news releases, social bookmarking and other ways to help increase your website traffic.

Spiders are little automated programs that search for particular words (key words) that a person is searching for. For example, if you are looking for Lexan water bottles, you could type in Lexan by itself and get a number of entries that may not get you what you want. If you type in the whole phrase (Lexan water bottle) you will get a more targeted result that would narrow the list even further.

A Search Engine Optimization Company will use their technology to make sure that your content is indexed by these spiders to move you up on the list of search results. Search engine optimization will move you ahead of your competition for certain listings. As you move up more people will access your site and more revenue will result. There are three levels of search engine optimization. The first is an automated system that submits to thousands of sites but actually returns few good results.

Another method is to use what are called doorway pages generate results. This can produce good results but the major search engines usually will cancel the rankings in a few months. The best way is the most costly way and it involves analyzing your site’s content to optimize it for search and to structure it to allow the use of specific key words. This along with forum, blog and article laced backlinks to your website will increase your search ranking. By doing this you’re Search Engine Optimization Company will easily pay for itself in increased traffic and sales. I hope this has been helpful and informative.

Have you taken advantage of what blogging can do for your business?

2010-09-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Blog For Business

There are many ways to blog or get the word out about your business, the services you provide or products you supply. Many businesses use blogs to keep people up to date on what is happening in as close to real time as the bloggers allow. The frequency that your readers expect will determine how often you need to create new blog entries to make sure that your followers are increasing and actually accessing the information. This is especially true if you blog for business.

You can hire a professional service to blog for your business or you can try to do it yourself. But let’s face who has time to blog on their own. If you do, then you need help. You should be providing clients with service or products, not writing. Most programs available to the individual are easy to use but the actual time necessary to create the blog is more than most people in business have to spend away from the daily efforts at keeping the business afloat and money coming in. A blog for business can be a lucrative way of attracting new customers and keeping existing customers on board. That’s why you need a professional.

Here are a couple of very important factors in using a blog for business to increase interest in your website. A blog is defined as a web page of short informative articles that are updated on a frequent basis. Blogs can be used for employee or customer communication to help share product or service knowledge. Hiring a web marketing company to handle your blog for business can be very cost effective and dramatically increase the number of customers and the amount they spend with your company.

If you have some original content that you want added to the blog you can have your web marketing company put it in for you and save you the time in learning the blogging software. Some other keys to blogs are links that will take the reader to other parts of your site that they might not normally access. By providing links you are adding value to the reader of the blog.

You can even have your web marketing company monitor what is being said about your company in other blogs on the web. This can help you create even more content to help satisfy your blog reading customers. Using a blog for business is a savvy way for today’s entrepreneurs to stay on the cutting edge of technology to take better advantage of what is available from web marketing companies. I hope this is helpful and educational to everyone.

How Article Marketing Services can benefit your business

2010-09-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Article Marketing Services

Article Marketing Services refers to using a third party to prepare the content for your website. It is extremely important to find a company that can offer you well written articles on the subjects that are important to helping drive traffic to your website. If you have a site that offers cleaning services you want a company that understands the difference between carpet and upholstery cleaning and the difference between maintenance cleaning and disaster recovery.

There are several key areas that need to be addressed and to keep in mind when deciding on a company to hire for article marketing services. You will need to ask them for samples in your particular content area or if they have not written much in your area of expertise, they should at least offer you samples of similar industries or complexity. A good article marketing service will have a multitude of free reprint articles for the end consumer to use as they see fit.

Providing fresh content to a website is an easy way to add value to the customer’s experience and keep them on your pages longer. If you have ever wanted to add a blog to your site, offer a newsletter or augment your product and service offerings hiring the services of an article marketing service is the best first step you can make. You can add articles as content directly to your website, as an addition to your blog or even in the form of a newsletter that you send out weekly or monthly with specials to bring your email subscribers back to the site to spend more money.

By adding additional content to your website with key words designed to help you get your website noticed you can move your site up in the rankings on all major search engines. Making sure that the content you are purchasing is original is a key to your success. Any articles you purchase should be able to pass through any of the plagiarism checking services online like Copyscape. Ask your article marketing service how their content is checked for originality.

Another consideration is originality and the style of writing. The writing style should be easy for the average reader to get through without a great deal of technical terms that need to be explained. Originality speaks to the plagiarism mentioned in the previous paragraph, but is also very important so that the articles do not sound the same every week.

I hope this information is helpful and educational in getting you results with your website. Feel free to contact me personally.

What is SEO?

2010-09-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

SEO can make the content of your web pages more relevant, more attractive, and easier for the search engines and their spiders or web crawlers to find your site for the keywords or phases you want your website to be found for.

What exactly does SEO do? It is the process of fine tuning an individual website, so that they can be discovered, analyzed, and then indexed by various search engines. The better the SEO techniques, that fit what the algorithms of a particular search engine is looking for, the better that website ranks.

Why would this be of great importance to you? Would it be important to you if customers were unable to find your telephone number or find the address of your business? I do not think that many businesses could survive for very long in this situation.

This situation could apply to your website. And it most likely does unless you have a professional SEO company helping you. Your everyday web guy or IT doesn’t have a chance in today’s world. Plus is it really worth paying some guy some huge amount to do it “In house”? The answer is “NO”

Can potential customers locate your current web site easily? Traffic to your website could be good under certain key words however are these click throughs’ converting into clients or are most of them Lookie Lou’s. Real potential customers might not even know that your site exists. Is your website on the first page and even better are you #1.

Remember, we are talking about the Natural & Organic section. This is where most people go. If you think that you are at the top of the search engine in a “Sponsored Link” or “Pay Per Click” you are really missing out on the big money. On the average the Natural/ Organic section gets 10 times and sometimes 50 to 100 times more click throughs then the sponsored links or pay per click.

Here’s how the traffic to the first page breaks down. Approx. 40% of all people do business or click to the website that is #1 natural /organically. #2 gets 20%, #3 gets 10% and the rest on page one get 3% to 5% Almost no one goes to the second page.

So how about those search engines that everyone uses? Potential customers will type a word or two into the box, hit ’Enter’, and immediately find a listing for your company’s web site. One more click and you have another visitor. Search engines sure are great, aren’t they?

Yes, they certainly are great, and the ’type-and-click’ scenario above does happen. More often than not, however, it doesn’t happen without a little work. Search Engine Optimization is that work.

SO YOU THINK YOU HAVE A FLASHY WEBSITE

2010-08-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

Words Speak Louder Than Animated Action

I'm sure you've heard the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Maybe that's true to a human being. But to a search engine, using current technology, a picture is useless for determining what the site is about.

Your home page is an extremely important page on your site. It should tell people what your site is all about. If your home page has nothing but a Flash splash screen with some fancy animation and or you use a "Enter Site" to get to your website you are only hurting your website.

Ask yourself what the search engines will index in such a case. Chances are that your home page will probably only rank for "enter site" and "flash intro page" since those are the only words on the page many search engines can pick up. In fact, since there are so many sites with those words, you may not even rank for them (not that you'll want to).

Text content that can be indexed is also vital. The search engine cannot know intuitively what your website is about if it doesn't have words to index. Embedding text inside Flash content and expecting search engines to be able to recognize them is a risky business - Google may be able to read some types of text, or it may not. The other search engines probably won't be able to even extract anything.

Get rid of the Flash splash screen for your home page if you have one, and replace it with a normal web page. Not only will your site rank better, it will also look more professional. Restrict your use of Flash to things that really need Flash, like interactive online games and videos, and not pages that you want indexed.

I hope this has been helpful in making changes to your website. I am more then happy to give all the readers a free targeted market analysis of their website and their competition. I believe in the facts and will show you statistics not some chance or guessing game. That’s why I guarantee my work. You have enough to do to run your business. You are a professional in your field. Leave the Search Engine Optimizing to a professional and reap the benefits. The R.O.I. for having your website found at the top of Google and the other Search Engines (which by the way there are hundreds) is rewarding. You just have to be able to get there.

Eric Dean

eric.dean@pepperbottletechnologies.com

949-228-4557

Getting Your Phone to Ring

2010-06-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

In todays market it is so important to make contact with a potential customer.

If you have a website or have done a "Pay Per Click" or Sponsored Link and seen then there are a lot of people going to your site or your getting charged for a lot of clicks however you are not getting potential customers calling you or coming into your shop.

With Clicks to Calls your business gets found in Natural/Organic Results on ALL the major Search Engines of Local Search. Hitwise reports that 76.7% of Google users use natural search results and not paid or sponsored links and that the top ten positions in Search Results receive 78% more traffic than those in positions 11 – 30.

When a customer clicks on your listing, they access a Business Profile that has detailed information about YOUR business, like hours of operation, specialties, payment methods. The page is designed for top ranking and provides lots of “Calls to Action” …for you that means calls.

When a customer locates your business and reads your profile, they already understand where your located and what type of services you provide. this gets them motivated and serious about doing business with you. They are all ready to do business with you, all it takes is a phone call.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to big budget, bid, or compete with other companies with a bigger advertising budget. Our new Performance Based Internet Marketing is a great way for businesses to compete in Internet Marketing or Online Advertising with little risk. Customers pay a small one time set up fee and then ONLY when the phone rings.

Each business receives a Call Tracking Number (with lots of great features) that sends calls directly to the business owner. No third party, no competition. The customer searches, clicks and then calls the business directly. All calls are tracked and recorded, allowing small businesses to review call volume, return missed or abandoned call and even listen to each call via our exclusive Quick Glance Dashboard.

I have found this service very beneficial to the business owners. Do yourself and your business a favor call today and find out how this Pay Per Call program can benefit your business.

I hope this has helped you and can benefit your business.

Pick up the phone and call today.

Eric Dean

951-972-8011

Why does local search engine optimization differ from the normal method of SEO?

2010-04-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

There is a huge difference between having a website and having an optimized website. I use the analogy; You can buy a beautiful chandelier however as long as that chandelier is in the box no one will ever see it. You need a professional to install it where it can be seen by all who come to your house.

Here is something else most business owners don’t understand. Each and every business has an Internet Business Profile (Customer Connection Page) on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. This is NOT your website and unless you or some Optimization Company has linked your website to your Internet Business Profile customers that find your profile won’t find your website.

If you are a local business then Local Search Engine Optimization is the best method of optimization for your business. Local SEO takes advantage of having information on your Internet Business Profile (Customer Connection Page) and linking that to your website. Making sure that it is found on the front page of these search engines in EACH city your service is the work of a professional.

Local Search Expert - Front Page Placement

2010-03-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

The most effective and affordable Internet Marketing Campaign designed to expand your reach. With a Multi-City Package businesses can reach out to customers searching for them in all the areas they service. Being your Local Search Expert showing small business owners how they can get found on the front page placement.

All three of the major search engines have reported that 95% of traffic came from first page results. That should make us all take notice. If you haven’t taken search seriously you better make time to do so. Don’t think you can do it yourself and get positive results because you think you know the internet. I do not paint my house or do window replacements myself. I leave it to the professionals. Vis Versa, the internet is a tricky character. Leave it to the professionals to get you found on the front pages of Google and other Search Engines.

The front page of Google and the other search Engines are prime real estate for every successful business today. Unfortunately it is first come first serve for most companies today. Are you sitting around waiting to see what happens? Not a smart move. There are very few companies that can actually put your business on the front page and keep your there. I have a very successful service that is very affordable in listing your business on the front page in each and every city that your business serves. Take the time to contact me and allow me to show you what I can do for your business today.

Eric Dean

Your Local Search Expert

951-972-8011

LOCAL SEARCH EXPERT on LOCAL SEO

2010-03-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

Local Search Expert on Local SEO

Today getting your business found on the Internet and more importantly where people look most, Google and other Search Engines is more important then ever. There are so many companies out there talking about Local SEO-Search Engine Optimization it can make your head spin. Then there are those that tell you, the business owner that you can do it yourself. Wow, where have I heard that before. You can do your own plumbing, electrical work, lay a concrete driveway or do your own dentistry. Let's face though it unless you do these things for a living you are probably going to mess it up and then have to get a professional to do it for you and most importantly do it right. So what is so different about Local SEO for your business. Leave it to the professionals.

Now if you don't have a website? What are you going to Local SEO?

There a few different options. There is your Business Profile or Local Listing this is located next to the map section. You should build yourself a Business Profile by going to http://Google.com/local/add If you don't have a Google account sign up for one. If you do have one, sign in and Click "Add New Business" follow the directions and make sure you add lots of content and services that you provide. It's easy and it's free. This will get your business listed next to the map in the city in which you are located.

Wait, I don't have a website and I work in multiple cities not just one.

What do I do then?

I am glad you asked this. I have worked for a company that specializes in just such a situation. We have the ability to use the power of our website to build you a Customer Connection Page that has all the information about your business, the services your business provides, phone numbers, locations served, types of payment accepted, they can e mail or text you and best of all we track all the calls and messages you receive. We put a pre-made video with your name and number on this page as well as we submit them to Youtube.com and Yahoo Video. All of this can be done rather inexpensively and with no contracts simply month to month.

So what are you waiting for?

Give your business the added boost it needs. Get Found where customers and clients look most today. Make your business grow in today's economy.

Your Local Search Expert,

Eric Dean
800-285-0484 x 7064
949-228-4557

Local Search Expert - Eric Dean

2010-02-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

Local Search Expert, Eric Dean. I have worked very hard and long hours since my return to work in January. For those of you who didn't know that I ended up in the hospital back in November. I had gone through a few bouts of the flu, not sure if it was the H1N1 however the end result was it shut down my pancreas causing me to become Diabetic. I went into Diabetic Ketoacidosis. My blood sugar level was 804. I was in a coma for a day and a half. I almost died. Here it is February 2010 and I am back at work for about a month. They told me it would be a million in one chance that I would ever be non-Diabetic or off all meds. I am completely off of Insulin and all medications. I am truly blessed and give all the glory to God.

Now I would like to talk about the importance of getting your business found on the front pages of Google and all the other Search Engines today. This is prime real estate. Very similar to what the phone book was 10 years ago. The business that had the first full page ad under the service you provide gets the most phone calls, period. Today people use the Internet and the search engines to find what they are looking for. Let's face it we have computers at home, work and even on our phones that track where we are and give us suggestions that are location specific. Internet Marketing of your small business could not be more important then right now. Small Business Marketing is the way of the future for your business.

I have been helping businesses that service a specific area or certain cities, getting them found and driving new customers to them even in this economy. People are still spending money especially on the necessities, like when the plumbing backs up or finding a Urgent Care Office in a unfamiliar area.

I have done all types of Internet Marketing, SEO of one's website, Pay Per Click Campaigns in the Sponsored Links, Local Maps and Natural/Organic Listings of the first page. The latter has been the most effective mainly because it gives more information then the rest and also allows me to build a Customer Connection Page for businesses without a website to get found. It also puts their business on the front pages of the most powerful search engines in the world in each and every city they service or do business in.

I would recommend that all businesses have a website and have it optimized, get a local listing on the map in the city they operate out of and get the maximum exposure by having there business listed in the Natural/Organic Section in each and every city you service.

I hope this will help you understand where your business needs to be to succeed today. Referrals are nice however you need to have the exposure that the Internet give you locally in your area. Until next time I am always available to discuss your individual business needs.

God Bless

Eric Dean

800.285.0484 x 7064

949.228.4557 cell

Add me to your Twitter: elocal_eric

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/localsearchexpert

Local Search

2009-11-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Ways of Marketing Your Business in Today's World

I have found out through the past few years of dealing with business owners, asking them what they know about marketing they're business online. Some of them told me they had a website and that was getting them found on the internet? Yes, if you type on the name of there business, not the service they provide and not in the cities the service. Or they have spent hundreds if not thousands on Adwords (Sponsored Links) to get the coverage (multiple cities) they desire. And the list goes on. These ways are somewhat effective in getting your business found on the internet, however they're more cost effective ways to get your business found online and more importantly the major search engines where more and more of your potential clients are looking today.

I am just like your potential customer when it comes to looking for a particular type of service. I had a ant problem this summer. I had ants coming out of the woodwork and plumbing all over my house. What did I do? I went to my home computer which, opens up to Google.com in the search bar I typed in "Pest Control" Google opened up to a page that had Pest Control companies located all over it. There were pest control companies listed next to the map, some on the right which are adwords or sponsored links (which to be honest with you I have never clicked or opened) and last but most importantly are the Organic or Natural section located right below the map section. This section is normally where through all accounts is where potential consumers look most often and where you would find your website listed if it has been optimized. It is also where you will find directory listings like Superpages, Yellowpages, Service Magic, Merchant Circle and many others that have great page rankings that put them on the first page of Google, Yahoo and many other search engines. The problem with these listings is they just take you to another list of companies. So why ever leave Google?

I like to check out most business before I choose one so I looked for a business in that natural/ organic section that wasn't in some directory like the one's I listed above. One that stood alone and there was one with the type of service I was looking for, the name of the company and there number. I clicked there listing and it opened into a customer consumer page. This page had the companies name and phone number first and foremost. Next I noticed a 150 to 250 word description about the company which explained the services and areas in which this business serviced. It also showed the businesses address and a link to there website. It also offered me the option to contact this company via text messaging which is key in today Social Media Marketing. There was a video commercial on this customer consumer page that was linked to YouTube.com it was a 18 to 30 second commercial that had a voice over that explain to me that this pest control company offers specialized services and the area that they covered.

I thought all this was ingenious. What company did this for them? How did they get them listed on the first page? The answer to this is very simple. eLocal Listing (http://elocallisting.com) Do not get them confused with many other companies that have "eLocal" in their name. This company is outstanding it's product, service and most importantly ROI for your business. If you would like more information on this product you can leave a comment here or contact me via e-mail or on any number of Social Media Networks.

LOCAL SEARCH EXPERT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

2009-10-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

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.

MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS IN TODAYS MARKET

2009-10-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

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

Online Video Commercials- What they can do for your business

2009-10-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

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

Your Businesses Online Presence And What Online Referrals Mean To You

2009-10-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

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

Say "No" to the Phone Book and "Yes" to Google

2009-10-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

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?

Getting your business found...

2009-09-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

Getting your business found on the front pages of the most powerful search engines in the world in each and every city you service or do business in.

Ever wonder where your competition is getting all there work?

Facts:

86% of all customers start with an online search. If your customers can not find you, online you are losing business to your competition.

Around 78 – 84% of all traffic comes from search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.

More than 93% of searchers don’t look at the second page of results in any search engine.

68 – 72% search engine users blindly believe in search engine results.

You want to know how to get your business found on the front pages of Google, Yahoo and all the major search engines?

Just Imagine Being Able To:

Move your business profile from invisible to the front page

Make more sales from listing your business on the first page

Get more customers from targeted traffic

Have customers call YOU directly

Crush the competition finally. Stop losing to your online competitors

Local Search is the fastest growing segment of the Internet. Your customers are not limited to one town, why should your Local Internet Marketing campaign. Now, it doesn’t have to.

Americans spend 80% of their income within 50 miles of their home … with a Found Fast Multi-City Package, they will spend that money with YOUR business.

Features Include:
• Yahoo!™ Local Listings and Google® Local Listing for your Primary Business Location
• Great Natural results Google® and Yahoo!™ for up to 20 Service Areas
• Optimized Profile Pages for ALL of the areas where you do business
• FFT Platform gets the fastest results
• Mobile voice listing through Google411

This new technology put out by a company called eLocal Listing

We are the nation's premier provider of affordable and effective local internet marketing solutions designed for small businesses like yours.

Are you tired of your business not being found on the front page of Google and Yahoo in all the cities you service?

Let’s face it, it’s all about location. If you’re not seen on the front page you’re missing out on customers who are looking for the services you provide.

We get your business found in local search in all the cities that you service.

We already help over 10,000 businesses gain an online presence and reach customers looking for products and services.

Make sure it is your business they find first!

Call me Eric Dean 800.285.0484 x7064