There has been a lot going on with Google local search lately. Maybe you’ve heard the uproar all along Main Street USA, but if not, here’s a little background.
Local search is a rather new phenomenon to small business marketing. You may have heard it referred to as local search engine optimization or reputation management. No matter what the insiders call it, the bottom line is, it’s revolutionized small business marketing at the local search level and given a distinct advantage to Main Street.
It all began in November of 2010 when Google recognized that 30% of it’s users were forcing the algorithm to return local search results. Google wisely decided that if 30% of users had figured out how to game the system, then how many more users might want Google local search results rather than broader more global results.
That’s when another Google generated shift occurred that forever changed marketing at the local level. And until recently, that system which we called local search generically and Google Places at the behemoth level, put local small business locations on page one of the search results. This was done not just as a courtesy to you and I, but also so that Google could grow it’s virtual real estate.
Google gave every local business that you might find in every Yellow Pages in the nation and the world, a page on the Google website. (Hence the rapid demise of both Yellow Pages and Super Pages). It was GENIUS! But what was once just user centric embraced feedback and interaction has turned into a multi-billion and perhaps trillion dollar marketing opportunity.
It’s an interesting concept, The Girl Effect, how a small idea can have a big impact. If you’ve never heard of The Girl Effect, you’re in for a treat. Watch one of their videos like the one here, and you’ll see what I mean.
The concept got me thinking. The Girl Effect is like throwing a pebble in a calm pond and watching the concentric ripples spread across the water from the point of impact. The ripple effect, right? Same thing, small ideas big impact.
It seems to me, that small businesses with no budget should think of their marketing the same way. Rather than do nothing to promote the business, a series of small ideas can create a seriously big impact.
Take for example, the restaurant I’m working with. They are gearing up to open in another eight weeks from now. And wisely, they are beginning their marketing efforts now, before the doors even open. (Hint, hint to any other restaurants out their looking to open. Call me…)
For many people, business networking comes easily, naturally. It’s no different from any other social activity and they excel at it.
Me…not so much. At least on the inside. On the outside, anyone who’s met me at a business networking event assumes that I’m one of those people that takes to having conversations with complete strangers like a fish takes to water.
But the reality is, that the whole idea of talking to strangers makes me nervous. In fact, it takes a great deal of my energy and I’m usually drained by the time the event is over. (more…)
I often call this one, the Field of Dreams approach to marketing a small business online. You remember the highly popular movie with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones (where we got our first look at Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson)? No?
Well let me give you the tag line: If you build it, they will come.
Not just No, but Hell No!
This is exactly the wrong tactic when it comes to marketing a small business.
With all due respect to Hollywood, hearing voices in a cornfield isn’t a good way to make decisions about life or marketing for small business. (more…)
Let’s talk gamification. If a picture is worth 1000 words, what’s a video worth? Gamification
I’d venture to say it’s worth a trillion. A trillion words, a trillion dollars, a trillion visions of fun.
The Fun Theory is an initiative of the Volkswagen company, and they’ve hit the proverbial nail on the head. An interesting concept that proves gamification in marketing is the way to get customers/clients to do what you want them to do, even when it’s good for them.
This particular video really appeals to me because it’s such a great example. The concept is: can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do?
Watch the video and I’ll tell you why you need gamification in your marketing.
a social networking site was created by Dennis Crowley & Naveen Selvadurai, on Dennis’ kitchen table no less.
foursquare [fohr skwair] , noun, a location-based social networking website for mobile devices, such as smartphones.
Used in a sentence: “That was my most amazing foursquare check-in ever, I can’t believe I unlocked the Penn Station swarm!” or “Are you going to check in on foursquare and unlock that coupon for 20% off?”
So, what is foursquare and should you be worried about using it daily?
I’ve had discussions with friends and family about using this fun and innovative social networking app. Foursquare is a Geo-location based game that encourages users to check-in [noun] or check in [verb] but never checkin [grammatically wrong in every way], to the various businesses and sites in the world they visit daily. No big deal right? Well maybe yes, maybe no.
You see, like any good social networking platform, the emphasis is always on the social. Which means, you’re encouraged to invite friends, make friends, friend friends…you know the drill. But the difference with foursquare (which is stylized to always be spelled in lowercase, which I feel obligated to point out lest I offend any spelling champions or grammar Nazis) is the location-based aspect of the network.
Just me and my iPad… or Ode to All the Apple Products
Okay, I admit it…my iPad and I live an Apple Life.
Thank you Steve Jobs.
It starts out simply, this insidious indoctrination into the Apple lifestyle.
First you get an iPod. Mine was the iPod mini eons ago before they dreamed up color or images. It was fabulous and wonderful and all things new and noteworthy at the time.
Several generations later, I was using my kids’ old versions as they kept moving on to the latest model with color then touch. I was perfectly happy to get the hand-me-downs. It’s no different than finishing the food off their plate rather than order a meal for myself. Parents, you know what I’m talkin’ about.
In my consulting practice at ikalynn (shameless plug) the first service that we offer new clients is what we call a Local Search Campaign.
In a nutshell, a local search marketing campaign applies the concept behind the old telephone directory to the new online model of searching for a business. Fifteen years ago, customers always looked to a phone directory to find local businesses to engage. But a paradigm shift occurred in how we all search for information which has resulted in the death of the telephone book and many other print media types. We all know that new model is the internet.
However, the impact of the internet on the print media industry is not actually what this post is about. It’s merely background for the real story.
Lately I have found myself speaking at groups on the topic of online video marketing or YouTube marketing.
Now YouTube marketing is not the only venue where a savvy business person can utilize video marketing shorts but it is the big dog and here are a few reasons why.
YouTube is the #3 ranked website today. Google, the #1 website on the internet bought YouTube in 2006. A very good move on their part. You know that Google is a Search Engine, a website where people go to search for anything and everything. But what you may not realize is that YouTube is a search engine too.
There is no better way on earth of assuring your success than following the 80 20 rule
The 80 20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is an interesting and proven phenomenon that was discovered by an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who wrote about his discovery in 1895.
This principle should be a major and standard part of your time management strategy. Yet it amazes me how many people have never heard of the 80 20, or have but don’t bother to put it to use.
Author, entrepreneur and speaker, Brian Tracy, in his well known book, Eat That Frog! calls the 80 20 rule “…one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management.” And if Brian Tracy believes it, that’s good enough for me.
Last weekend we went to see the Academy Award nominated film, Black Swan.
I had heard it was maybe a little scary and disturbing so I was ready for just about anything and glad that I’d been given a heads up before hand.
The film catches you from the beginning with the relationship between a grown daughter (though you’re not sure at first how old she is) and doting mother that sets an important tone. The director, Darren Aronofsky, often shows Nina, played by Natalie Portman, from just behind the nape of her neck as she walks briskly from place to place in a nervous patter like a bird.
Without going into all the details, Black Swan is really an exercise in watching someone go insane. The viewer isn’t sure what’s real anymore by the end of the film which of course makes us think that much harder about what we’ve seen.
It’s a very clever, disturbing and sad story brought to life so visually by a well cast Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman. Ms. Portman is the absolute front runner for an Academy Award for this performance. She was stunning. You would know what’s happening to her character even if this had been a silent movie.
I had the good fortune to see The King’s Speech this afternoon. A 1:15 PM first showing of the day was very full with a mostly baby boomer audience who obviously wanted to see this Weinstein Company film that has received 4 Screen Actors Guild and 7 Golden Globe Nominations.
The film stars Colin Firth as the Duke of York and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth. King George V’s younger son suffers from a terrible stammer that becomes more severe when he has to make public speeches, a part of his life he simply cannot avoid.
His sympathetic wife looks for an expert to help him and finally stumbles upon Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush.
H.R. 4646 is bill introduced to the US House of Representatives by Rep. Chaka Fattah [D-PA2] on February23, 2010. It is called the Debt Free America Act.
A more insidious piece of legislation could not exist.
According to www.govtrack.us, Debt Free America Act – States as purposes of this Act the raising of sufficient revenue from a fee on transactions to eliminate the national debt within seven years and the phasing out of the individual income tax. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 1% fee, offset by a corresponding nonrefundable income tax credit, on transactions that use a payment instrument, including any check, cash, credit card, transfer of stock, bonds, or other financial instrument. Defines “transaction” to include retail and wholesale sales, purchases of intermediate goods, and financial and intangible transactions.
In plain speak, the US government wants to tax us on every monetary transaction we make including buying and selling items and withdrawing and depositing our money. (more…)
Community involvement starts with the people who actually live there. It warms my heart to see businesses within the community look for ways to aid through educational opportunities or strengthening neighborhoods. But if we the people don’t actively involve ourselves in our local communities, then shame on us.
In order for a community to remain vital, it must partner with business and stay actively willing to dialogue. But we must not fall for the same marketing tactics that cause us to become customers. It is easy to woo with free give a ways. Our communities are too important to allow human psychological triggers to color our major decisions.
Stay involved, stay focused and stay real. Most importantly, stay involved in your community.
I keep making the same mistake and have to ask myself why.
Now you may have been told that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Yet, how easy it becomes to stay in your rut because somehow that rut seems safer, familiar even comforting as compared to climbing out and continuing on your way.
A professor once told me that the thing people fear most is change. Well, change and public speaking. Blogs have made public speaking easy for anyone with a keyboard. But change is another animal all together.
The film, Twilight Eclipse is absolutely my favorite of the series so far!
I was lucky enough to get tickets on June 30th and went with my youngest son and my oldest son’s girlfriend. The theater was XD which must be like an Imax screen or something because the faces were huge. It felt like the actors were falling off the screen into our laps (which is not a criticism :))
The following Sunday, I saw Eclipse again with two of my sons and a girlfriend with her two sons, and was really able to take it all in. My first impression had been that the film didn’t stick to the book because things were definitely happening out of order.
But really, I was only aware of that fact because I’d just finished reading Eclipse again before seeing the movie. So the second time around, it was easier to see how smooth the screenplay was at weaving the whole story into 2 hours. (more…)
The long awaited sequel to Twilight is New Moon starring Rob Pattinson as Edward Cullen (go Team Edward), Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black had a killer weekend opening. Reports state that the second in the movie franchise collected $140.7 million this past opening weekend which puts it third on the all time list in the US.
My sons and I looked forward greatly to attending the film. I bought our tickets a week ahead of time for a Saturday afternoon showing. We sat in a packed theater, too close to the screen and endured screaming teenage girls throughout the entire movie.
Only one of my sons had read the book. I wasn’t certain if someone who hadn’t read the story would enjoy the movie but he absolutely did.
The story seemed to move slowly and yet contained all the necessary scenes and dialogue to capture the novel. New Moon was my least favorite of the books so I was reluctantly looking forward to the film. The production values have improved tremendously over Twilight and I for one appreciated the larger feel of the film. (more…)
My husband got me the greatest gift for my birthday last month…
An Amazon Kindle 2 Wireless Reading Device.
This gadget is by far one of, if not “the”, best gifts he’s ever given me. It’s quickly become my absolute favorite.
I have the 6″ screen version which can hold 1500 e books. It’s really light weight and easy to hold. I’m so spoiled now, that I hate holding onto standard books. (more…)
Bob Basso author of “Common Sense” plays the role of Thomas Paine to ignite the fire of change in America. Patriotism and Pride for America lead Thomas Paine to help take back America!
While I don’t want to get into a debate about the virtues of either being a stay at home mom vs. a working mom, I do find myself in a dilema.
I was a stay at home mom for 13 years beginning when my first child was around 18 months old. I didn’t originally choose to be a stay at home mom. I chose to continue working. Little did I know that being a working mom would equate to tremendous stress and guilt for me. I still remember crying and asking my husband if he would mind if I quit my job to stay home with our son. Asking, because it meant a loss of income that he would have to make up, which meant more stress for him. (more…)
My First Wireless Reading Device