Because Google Places’ directory listings often show up first before the top ten web pages, it is an important opportunity for every local small business to participate.   In our last lesson we discussed the importance of making sure that you fill your Google Places profile out completely and carefully, so that you get the maximum advantage from your most productive keywords.

One aspect of Google Places that every business owner needs to be aware of is that consumers are encouraged to share their reviews of the businesses that are listed.  That means that if a customer has an exceptionally good experience at your business, they will have the opportunity write a review.  That review will show up in your actual Google Places listing.

However, the opposite is also true.  When customers have a bad experience, they will be empowered to leave a review about your site on the Google Places page.  This scenario is now amplified because Google has now tied their social network to their business directory.  Therefore, the customer who reviews your business will be potentially sharing that review with their personal or professional network.

The nature of reviews online is such that most of the people who respond tend to do so when they have a bad experience.  Those who have the experience that they were expecting or that they feel they paid for are unlikely to respond.  Therefore, you will need to make sure to either have a staff person monitor your Google Places listing, or you will need to make it part of something you do personally if you don’t have a staff.  One bad review on your Google Places listing could be enough to discourage a prospect from trying out your product or service.

When you do get a negative review there is no need to panic.  Google Places gives you the opportunity to answer the person who left the review.  Additionally, Google is taking steps to make sure that the review that is left is authentic by connecting the permission to write a review to their social network.

In our next lesson, we will discuss what you can do when you have negative information that appears in the other business directory listings as well as in the top ten search results.  Call us today if you have already noticed negative listings near your keywords or in your Google Places reviews. We will share the best practices of other companies like yours when they too have received negative reviews.

The post Lesson 19 – Google Places – Online Customer Reviews appeared first on wLw.

That means that if business owners are willing to take the time to create some content in a book, then they can expand their customer base to those who download books from kindle.  They are very likely to reach a significant number of new prospects in that way as people are interested in finding solutions to things that confuse them.

It is for that reason that businesses can and should think about how to incorporate a “how-to” part to their business.  In other words, they should take the portion of their business that solves problems for their customers and people like them and further educate them.  There are several ways a company can do this:

1)      Do a free talk in your community about the problem your product solves (not the product though!)

2)      Do a web seminar (webinar) for people online solving the problems that your products and services speak to.

3)      Create a multi-media online course on how to do something that is commonly a problem.

In all three cases, businesses have the option of selling the information or giving it away.  When giving away the information, a business can provide the education in exchange for the prospect’s contact information.  In this way, the business owner will be able to market to the people who decided to get the information.

Additionally, this marketing will be targeted.  Since the business owner knows what the subject of the talk was, they will be able to direct the right kind of offers to the prospects.  Of course, since the prospects are available in the business’s database the business will have the option(s) of selling products and services and selling more how to information to them.

In our next lesson we will discuss an additional source of income for those who decide to publish or those who decide to create education.  Call us today so that we can help you to create educational programs that will make you more profitable.

The post Lesson 10 – Establishing Your Expert Position through Education appeared first on wLw.

The most expensive advertising by far is doing a television commercial.  This is due to two primary factors: 1) a television commercial, properly targeted has a considerable amount of reach, and 2) the power of video to create a personal connection with people is significant.  When advertisers have a well structured commercial, they are able to get their message to stick in the minds of their prospects due to the kind of impression that a video leaves.

Business owners who do not have the capital to invest in a television campaign can still use the power of video to connect with potential prospects and customers.  It is estimated the raw number of online video viewers will reach just under 170 million people in 2012, according to internet marketing analyst Hubspot.com.  Also according to Hubspot, 53.5% of the population and 71% of internet users will watch some form of online video.

This is significant because the statistics refer to the potential reach of online video.  Businesses that commit to having their content seen in video can level the playing field to some degree, even if they don’t necessarily have an established presence in the marketplace.  Many small companies have perfected a strategy of using YouTube.com, the no-cost video platform of Google.Com as their video marketing platform.

The fact that this video sharing site is owned by Google.com means that YouTube videos often rank in the search results for certain keywords.  Those businesses that can create compelling video and upload it to YouTube.com have a very good chance of being found in the search engines when people are actually searching.

This brings the power of video to your business.  Call us today so that we can explore with you what video can do in your business.

The post Lesson 32 – Introduction to Video Marketing (Bonus Lesson) appeared first on wLw.