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Gary Vaynerchuk is one the smartest entrepreneur’s who use social media correctly. The reason I like him so much is he runs real business using social media as one of his major marketing methods, so he walks his talk.  Not the case with most folks who teach social media marketing.

My thoughts on whether social media marketing is for everyone really varies from company to company and product to product.  I don’t believe social media marketing is for everyone.  The big reason, is because it takes a ton of time and commitment and I haven’t met many (small) businesses willing to pour the money nor resources necessary to really use social media as a real marketing strategy.

If you are passionate like Gary Vaynerchuk (above) and willing to participate every day, every hour, every minute in social media activities then sure maybe this channel of marketing is for you.  But if your not, don’t waste you time nor money on social media marketing.

Now you can use social media sites as a SEO tactic (hint, hint – borrow authority to get secondary rankings in the Search Engine Results Pages) which is how I use it for most of my clients.  However, don’t register a Twitter account and tweek once a week thinking it’s going to produces sales, awareness, etc about your company.  Just not going to happen.

Client expectations are changing and it’s worth while looking at how you can integrate social media activities for your local business and be able to met this new client expectation that are forming.  If you do decide you want your business to become more active socially online then I suggest maybe start with one medium and really commit to that medium and then maybe re-purpose that content back out to the other social sites.  Pick from Facebook, Twitter, and/or YouTube – those are the 800 pound gorillas in the room.  My personal suggestion is choose video whenever possible.  It’s much more affordable then folks think.

That’s my 2 cents for today.  Share your comments below on your thoughts about social media and small business and client expectations of today’s marketplace.

With Google Maps showing up in the organic search engines, it’s ever so important that businesses that provide services locally actively pursue getting positive reviews on their Google Maps listings.

By doing this, it accomplishes two things:

1. Better Rankings within the 7-Pack
2. A Good Social Profile (which improves calls & clicks)

The Challenge

Often small businesses have a hard time soliciting reviews from their customers online.  Typically that’s because it’s not always obvious on how to post a review. Google certainly hasn’t made it easy for people to post reviews for people who are not necessary internet savvy.  There are 4-5 steps one has to take to get to the spot where they can leave a review (this includes having to register an account with Google).  It’s very easy for your customer to start trying to leave you a review, but they’ll quickly give-up once they get stuck.

The Solution

I have found that when you ask your customers for a review that if you include a “how to video” like the one above you can often increase your chances of getting that review.

It also helps if you use a ethical bribe too.  Like 5% or 10% off their next order, etc.  I am sure you can come up with some creative ideas to reward your customers for leaving reviews on your Google Maps.

If you have had success getting your customers to leave you reviews let us know your strategies below in the comment section.

BTW, next time you ask a customer to leave you a review, include a link to the “how to leave a review on Google Maps” video.  You might just score yourself a nice review!

Social Media Can Benefit An SEO Campaign.

To begin, I would like to thank Matthew Hunt for enabling me to contribute this article to his blog. As a keen SEO content writer and social media user I have learned just how important it is to network with others in the industry, a sentiment that Matthew clearly shares.

I first noticed Matthew’s company, Small Business Online Coach, whilst browsing my Twitter profile, so I thought it only fitting that the subject of the post should focus on the hot topic of the moment, social media.

If you are new to social media you may think that sites such as, Twitter and Facebook are dominated by celebrities and teenagers and not a viable platform for a professional business. In fact, after taking a closer look it is clear to see that individuals from a variety of industries use these websites to market their company and network with customers, stakeholders and others in the industry.

Whilst social media is often not classed as a direct SEO technique, it is a closely linked practice that provides a means for businesses to boost their online presence. So I guess the first question is, how can social media be used by businesses for this purpose?

Networking – This is arguably the most important reason to use social media. Part of achieving a presence online, is connecting with other internet users, this could be customers or others in the industry.

Networking is the basis of all social media activity; once a business has started to follow relevant social media users they can then share information, communicate and ultimately start to become an authority in their industry.

Twitter and Facebook offer a means of contacting internet users that are relevant to a business, its products and services. What’s more there are a number of online directories such as, Listorious and WeFollow that can be used to find other Twitter users based upon detailed specifications.

Link Building – Taking a quick look at any Twitter or Facebook feed, it is clear that one of the most prevalent types of comments are those with links to external resources.

Article and press release writing are two techniques that SEO consultants regularly use to market websites. Social media sites offer the chance for consultants to point other users to these resources, increasing the chance that their clients’ websites are viewed by relevant consumers/industry figures.

In most cases other users will appreciate the opportunity to keep updated, as the next point explains.

Keep Up to Date – As well as communicating with other users, social media websites can be used to simply observe what people within the industry are writing about and to pick up the very latest tips and tricks of the trade.

As an example, Twitter users often tweet about their latest blog posts, articles, press releases and other information related to their industry. This offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to learn from others, again enhancing the importance of following relevant users.

Real Time Search – One of the most influential changes in Google is the introduction of real-time Twitter updates to their search listings. If a Twitter user tweets about a subject and includes a searchable phrase, say ‘SEO,’ when this is searched for the tweet will show up in the ‘Updates’ listings.

This is just another way that businesses can achieve a presence in the search engines for their key phrases.

Of course, it is always worth taking a look at how others are using social media. Below are just a few of the things that I have observed whilst using Twitter and Facebook.

Research Social Media – Before starting out in social media it is crucial to research the ways that it is used, by whom and how often. Whilst some social media sites may be perfect for a business, not all are. For example, there may be a high prevalence of companies in a specific industry on Twitter but only a handful on Facebook. Choosing the best social media route for you can be the difference between success and failure.

Also, business owners should look at how others are using social media, what they are posting, how often they are posting and with whom they are communicating.

Post Relevant Information – Some of the most successful social media users post information that is relevant to their followers/fans/friends.

In order to keep these users engaged it is important to regularly post significant information, tweeting about your dinner or that you are bored is one way to lose friends fast.

Designate Time – Above all it is vital that business owners do not underestimate the amount of time it will take to manage social media, in some cases it could call for an employee to dedicate every day to this type of marketing.

In order to keep the interest of Twitter and Facebook users, businesses should post on a regular basis. As mentioned previously in the post, the real-time function is a real advantage, posting relevant topics on a regular basis will ensure that the business dominates not only the organic listings but the ‘updates’ list too.

Of course this is just a starting point for any business that is thinking of venturing into the world of social media. There are vast resources online that discuss the best ways to use these websites, but as with anything, practice certainly makes perfect. It would be great to hear if you have any tips for using social media effectively for a business!

The Author of this guest post was Danii Ingram. Danii is one of the Content Writers at Creare and often writes on subject matters involving Social Media, e-marketing and SEO Content Marketing for the Creare blog.

Back in the day, a lot of technology was sold using the F.U.D. principle. Business owners are pretty sharp, but when pressed for time they cannot always dig deeply and research every new thing that comes along. So tech sales agents would exploit this situation and tell them just enough to close a sale based on fear, uncertainty and doubt–otherwise know as FUD.

Sales by FUD was a dirty trick, but the funny thing is there usually was a legitimate issue that the business owner really did need to know about.

Today, iPhones have changed the way people shop in a big way.  Call me a fudster if you must, but retailers and services businesses across Canada will be left behind in the dirt if they don’t embrace a location-based marketing strategy involving social media and the Mobile Internet.

There is too much to say for one blog post, but here are some quick facts to support that claim:

• 26% of mobile phones in Canada are iPhones or other smartphones.
• 95% of mobile phones in Canada will be smartphones by 2013
• Google searches on smartphones bring up local merchants first.
• Merchants can do things to improve where they show up in searches.
• People can stand in your store and check competitive prices and specials online.
• 20% of Twitter traffic is questions or comments about products or merchants.
• One social media comment from a stranger has the same brand impact as 100 views of a TV commercial.
• Most regular web sites look horrible on a smartphone.
• People can see how other people voted for your store compared to all your nearby competitors.
• Paperless smartphone coupons are taking hold in a big, permanent way.
• Worldwide scavenger hunt games have started where people win by “checking in” at designated places, including businesses.

Ignoring the smartphone-driven changes in shopping behavior is like leaving the bulbs burned out in your signage or having an unlisted phone number.

Don’t succumb to FUD, but you should know that it is time to figure out what to do.  If your primary business is done face to face with your customers, then you need some kind of Mobile Internet presence.

Here are some good places to start digging:

• Background: Location Based Media, Social Media Magic University
• Mobile directories with consumer voting: Yelp, Urban Spoon
• Google Local Search: Google Map Optimization Course
• Mobile coupons: Clip Mobile
• Scavenger games: Gowalla, Foursquare

Guest Post By:

Chris Atkinson is a lifelong computer geek and serial entrepreneur who enjoys connecting the dots between strategic business problems and emergent technologies.  His past endeavours include co-founding one of Canada’s leading GEO-spatial software firms where he invented numerous successful techniques to boost clients’ sales. More recently he lead the enterprise re-engineering efforts for a long-respected firm in the Canadian market research industry.    He is currently interested in creating practical innovations to boost walk-in traffic for small retailers by using the mobile Internet, location-aware technologies and social media.  Connect with Chris Atkinson on LinkedIn here.

Google Maps can be a mess.  Often it can produce duplicate listings for business(s) which can cause many issues when you are trying to get your Google Map Listing to rank well (ideally within the 7-Pack).

Sometimes its Google Map’s fault and other times it’s Merchant’s fault for  not understanding how Google Maps works.  Regardless of how you ended up with a duplicate listings, its never a good thing.

When you have a duplicate listing it causes inconsistencies which can result in unwanted merges, division of reviews and/or citations and a myriad of other unwanted actions.

If you find yourself with double listings on your business, here is how to merge properly them according to Google:

I follow these exact instructions often and it works like a charm.

Out every 10 clients I have, I find 30-40% of them have some sort of duplicate listing issues.  This is typical and a fairly easy fix.

Now this only works if your duplicate listing is “not claimed”.  If you find your listing is “claimed” and you do not have logins for it then it could be hijacked.  In this case you need to go to the Google Map Help Forum and begin a thread, and pray the Google Gods that an G-Map employee will read your thread and investigate it.  This is one reason to make sure you have claimed your listing(s), just for security sake.  I can’t tell you how many listings in Google, Yahoo, & Bing are unclaimed – Crazy!

Let us know if you have any questions about merging Google Maps in the comment section below.

This totally blew my mind!  Talk about Star Trek technology emerging before our eyes.

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop”.

I thought smart phone technology was a game changer, but this is totally wild!  I wonder how far before technology like this is a reality for the everyday user…?

How to you think this will change how we interact with computers…? How do you think this will change how a Small Business will market themselves?  Do think this will enhance social sites…?

Love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

This is really cool.  Not sure when Google LBC released this new feature, I haven’t heard anyone speak about it yet. I was in tweaking a couple of things with a fairly new client’s account and I noticed a new feature called “Post to Your Place Page”.  It looks like this:

And then when it goes live it looks like this:

This new feature is really, really cool. I hope they are not just testing and to only watch it disappear in few weeks. I think this new feature can be used in so many interesting ways. 

You can see here (in the example image above) that I am testing with my client as a daily call to action.  I am going to take a few clients and write a daily call-to action on their Google Maps Listing and see if it pulls in some extra sales fro them. 

It’s a great way to get small businesses to login and interact with their Google LBC more, creating a habit of using G-Maps.  Which I am sure Google wants.  The more interaction they can get with SMB’s the more ways they can then eventually monetize it.

This call-out reminds me of Twitter a little.  It’s a micro message meant to be daily.  It looks like whatever you write will expire in 30 days so they are pushing SMB’s to keep the call outs current.

Has anyone else seen this yet…? Tell me what your thoughts are about this new feature in the comment section below.  How do you think a small  business owner can use this new feature to increase sales & conversions…?

I noticed there was quite a few people who were having trouble understanding how to edit and/or delete their Google Maps Coupons on the G-Maps Forum.  It looks like some of merchants where dealing with a bug, but some people just didn’t know how to navigate around on the Local Business Center.   This video tutorial is for the ladder.    Let me know if it helps…?

To Upload, Or Not To Upload, That Is The Question:

This has become a current question I have had to ask and consider with one of my more recent clients.  This client has several hundred locations via a franchise and they want to monitor & optimize their Google Maps listings.  The question we had been pondering is… would it better to bulk upload or hand submit each location’s listing…?

My thoughts are, it depends on whether you care to have full control over your Google Maps listing or not.  Here is what Google says about bulk uploads:

However, this means that a listing submitted in a bulk uploaded isn’t trusted the same way an individual listing is. The information you submit in a bulk listing may be combined with other, third-party information and the best result displayed. Your listings will therefore look a little different than a single, verified listing on Google Maps, and can still be edited by the community. Bulk listings will take up to 2 weeks to appear in Google Maps. If you want to submit ten or more listings and verify them, you’ll have to submit each one as an individual listing.

A listing added as part of a bulk feed will look much the same as one added individually, with a few key differences: you won’t see the phrase “Provided by the business owner.” Source

With that lack of control it looks like  we most likely hand submit for this client, even though it will take forever. I personally like to have our clients be able to control as much of the data possible.  I’m a control freak and I think most business owners are too.

I know that Google created a “Whitelist” Google Maps bulk upload, but I have never used it and don’t know anyone who has yet (love to hear from someone, if you have used it).  The “Whitelist” form is here, should you need it.  What I like to know is if you get “Whitelisted” do gain back full control of your G-Maps listing(s)…?  If anyone knows the answer, please let us know below in the comment section or email direct.

At this time, while not having full control over your listing I would opt to hand submit each listing. If Google Maps changes their rules to bulk uploads and gives the Merchants more control then I would of course opt to do bulk upload on an account this large.  Maybe someone can shed some light on the “Whitelisting” process and that’ll possibly change my mind.

What would you have done if you had set-up 100’s of Google Maps profiles…?  Would you hand submit or do bulk upload…? Let us know in the comment section below.

Great tip here from Austin Lau on how to target Gmail PPC ads in the Adwords content network.  Remember to not to mix this in with the rest of your content ads nor your search campaigns, run it as a separate Adwords campaign to allow proper tracking.

Another important tip to make sure you are leverage this with the right mind set. Remember your prospects are in their email.

Example

Here is a real example of an email I sent my wife and lets look at what shows up in the Gmail Adword’s Ad.  For those, that can’t see the image below, the email says, “call a carpet cleaner before the holidays – thx!”

What if the ‘Funbox’ ad said this instead…?

Carpet Cleaners [your city] – CarpetCleaningXXX.com – 10% OFF if you mention “Gmail Ad”.  Call Now 416 XXX XXX to save!

It might get the attention of my wife a little more and it gives her a call to action based on her Gmail.  The point I am trying to make is to make sure you are writing Ads that are specific to Gmail users and remember people are reading their email, so you have to grab their attention from that.

Think of keywords that will be listed in people’s emails that would be relevant to your local business and write ads that will stand out and still be related to what their email might be about.

You also might want to write ads that can steal business from the competition too. So a long list of your competitions products and services would be handy, you can make Ads that make counter offers to your competitors products and services.

If you are creative with PPC you can find tons of low hanging fruit. Let us know if you have done any testing with PPC in Gmail in the comment section below, love to hear your experiences.