Getting you Noticed

Good-bye Google Places…

Dave — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:09:54 +0000

Hello, Google+ for Local

Google should be pretty syonamous with the idea of change. They are ever-changing and if you think you got step on them think again. Well, this week was no different, and in a big way.

With over 80 million Google Places pages were pushed over into Google Plus.

So, Google Places is dead, but that does not mean you should stop thinking about Local SEO.

the getUnoticed place page

So, what should you be doing with your Google+ page?

Just as you updated and engage on your Facebook business page and Twitter feed make sure you are hitting your Plus page as well. Remember you do not need to beat it to death, just a little dab will do you. If you add some throughout the day will be and should be sufficient.

Thinking Algorithmically

the good news not so much is going to change in Google’s local algorithm. Well, never say never. The Penguin update was a move towards Google being more social than anything else. Remember this if you forget about this article within 5-minutes of reading it. The person that just complained on some social platform about your company whether it be about service or whatever. In most cases, they just want to know is that they have been heard.

Reach out to your fans in your database with a gmail account and ask them to follow you on Plus and leave you a positive review. You can always them a freebie, a special coupon or enter them into some drawing.

In the past, you needed at least 5 reviews to get a “score”, but now it seems to be 10 or more.

A Strategy

Local SEO, as a strategy, is still very much in its early stages and you if you are not paying attention and being proactive. You are certainly flirting with disaster. You will be playing some serious catch up, it is never fun to be playing catch up.

If you are looking for an unfair local marketing advantage, then give us a call

Dave

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How to Nurture Leads

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:21:20 +0000

How to Nurture Leads

When I talk to local business about local lead generation I am learning that many do not understand how best to nurture the leads they generate online. Yes, many may buy on first contact, but others may take a little longer to go from “maybe” to “Yes”.

In a previous article, I wrote about how to “follow-up on a lead” from your online lead generation sources, and some best practices when creating an online contact form. Studies have showed that the least amount of information you ask for, the more likely you are to get that information.

1. Call first… if you can

If you are lucky enough to get their correct phone number call them ASAP. This may be real obvious to you. But the longer you wait to make the call; the less chance you have to make the connection and even less to convert. I say it is obvious, but some people really do wait. It seems like they have no faith in themselves or their leads.

TIP: I call as soon as I can as that lead more than likely equals cash in the bank.

2. Data, as in database.

If you do not have a database, and you would be surprised who does not have one. You really need to start one… immediately. My suggestions for database programs are Gmail (yes, you can), ACT by Sage, create an Excel database and there are many other options.

3. Snail Mail

post this

I fail at this on a regular basis, but at least I admit it. I am getting better at it. A great way to set yourself apart from the crowd is to mail them a handwritten note. I personally use a note card that I created with my logo upfront and an image and QR code on back. I know when I do mail them out, I get a great response. I wonder why I don’t do it more. Oh yeah, I get lazy.

4. Email Them

By now, you should have spoken to your new lead. You got their name, phone, email and address. You should set them in an email schedule. The real trick is knowing how much to email them. If you do it too much, they’ll ignore, and if you do it to little they will forget about you. All I can really say here is if you promised to do something by email, well, you better bloody well do it, and stick to your schedule.

5. Stay Visible

Since your leads came from online, you want to make sure you stay visible online. Keep adding content, however you do it. If you are like me and do a podcast, keep doing them. Whatever your flavor be – keep doing it. Action precedes motivation.

If you stay busy online, you stay very visible; you will generate more leads.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, but a growing, improving site gathers more and more leads. These are just some simple ways to nurture your leads and grow your database.

Dave

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Online Lead Follow-up Best Practices

Dave — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:55:38 +0000

Online Lead Follow-up Best PracticesI did an article last year on a study that a university performed that showed how likely a salesperson was to make contact with a call in relation to the time that a lead left their contact info on the company website.Most sales people do not respect the leads that they they get from an online source, but the amount of time and manpower that goes into creating the site and generating content can be expensive as running a Sunday ad. The good news the website will last nearly forever versus the fly by night nature of the Sunday paper. The response time is the largest factor when it comes to turning a lead into a sale. A sales person is more like to make contact with an online lead in the first 60 minutes.

They are 60% more likely to convert that lead into a sale. So, time is truly of the essence. Our world suffers from attention deficit disorder. Also, we are a people that wants it now.

So, what are some of the best practices to convert your hard-earned online leads.

1. Call Them

Let us assume they give you a real phone number. That really means they want you to call. Avoid taking the easy way out, call them do not email them.

This could be a whole separate point, but ask for the least amount information required.Simply put:

name and phone
Contact by Phone or Email

name and email

My real preference is all three, name, email and phone. But only require name and phone.

So, do yourself a favor if they give you their email and phone number. Call them and by doing so, you make it personal. You sell yourself so much better on the phone than you ever will by email.

One major tip here… Avoid canned responses. Just take a few minutes and type up a personal email.

2. Add Value

When the lead on the phone or establish a contact, take the time to learn about them and their needs. When you get to know them it will be easier identify their needs, wants and expectations, When you identify those areas of need and wants. You should be available to provide them the value only you and your company can offer. You will be able to help them with their problem and earn their trust. Remember they contacted you for no other reason than you to provide them with a solution.

You should always be adding value.

3. Follow-up Consistently

Depending on your business, you will need to “nurture” the lead and drip on the on the contact. Schedule touch points whether it be by voice mail, email or snail mail. Remind them you are out there providing a solution and adding value to them. You should always be letting them know you are in their corner.

Always remember this: consistency is key and when you break the chain of contact, you may very well lose them.

4. Ask – Go ahead, Ask for it.

Go ahead you have earned it! Ask for the appointment or the sale. Do you know why most sales people never get the sale? They never ask for it. The same goes for the appointment.

Let us refresh here for a moment:

They found your site
They clicked on your site
They gave you their info
They took your call/email
You provided them with value
You consistently follow-up

Guess what – they want to buy from you or at the very least, they want to meet with you. All you need to do is ask. So, ask for the appointment!

We all know that you won’t get in contact with every lead, and you won’t close every deal. However, if you don’t even try or even try consistently, then don’t even bother getting out of bed. Just stay in bed.

Always remember, you miss every pitch that you don’t swing at. So, take the bat off of your shoulders and swing away my friend.

Dave

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Why Local

dave — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:18:00 +0000

Why Local?

Local SEO has easily become one of the hot buzzwords all over the internet or as some would call it the “interwebs”. So much so, it seems like every other day I’m getting calls to show companies how to do it and/or sell it. Every once in a while, my former mortgage company will get a call to buy it. So, what does local SEO really entail? Why is it so important?

Nearly 1/3 of all searches involve some local identifying term

Zip Code
City
State

You really could break it down even more by adding streets, school names and so on. This strategy is particularly important to real estate agents, but what can it do for you or your local business?

As old media slowly dies, local SEO or geo-location marketing. It will allow to get your message out there to a wider audience than any of the “old” media combined. “Wait,” you tell me. “The newspaper has a subscription of 12000,” but I remind you that not everyone reading the local paper needs your service. Yellow Pages. You pay hundreds a month for the chance someone will pick your name out of a hat. Radio and TV, you ever hear of an iPod. Yeah, so has the rest of America.

I’m really not trying to be a smart aleck. I am being completely serious as I now listen to podcasts everyday and even more when I am in the car.

So, what are some of the best tips to get found locally in South Bend or Michigan City local directories, a good way to get to the top of Google or Bing. Sadly, some people won’t hit on a business website as some are just looking for information. There are some other strategies that you can enact that will get you placed well on Google and found as a local expert.

A great local place to get found and I’ll really go into this in a future post/video. Is Google Places. I’ve done this for a client and we’ve seen a real spike in business by a properly completed Places page.

Some of the Keys to Success are your

Keywords
Areas of Expertise
Areas that you do business
Photos
Videos - These are perhaps 2 of the most important.
Local Phone # – Yeah, you may have a toll free number, but use your local.

While over 30% of Google users use maps to find local businesses, less than 3% have claimed their listing. So, go out and claim your local listing and before you know it, you’ll be driving more local leads to your business.

Dave

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What is your story?

Dave — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:31:06 +0000

We all got one. What is yours? Really, why are you where you are?

Don’t be afraid to tell yours? Whether you are a business to business or business to consumer. We all do business with people we know, we like and can relate to in some way.

Dae

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Just finish it

Dave — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:52:14 +0000

You ever start a project or projects and never finish them. I mean when you started you had high hopes for the outcome and then the world got in the way.

Well, it is time to finish it, or just one.

Dave

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Park it, Market

Dave — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:08:56 +0000

The Daily GUN Show…you got time to do it
If you got time to park it, you got time to market

Dave

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Message to Market – Market your Message

Dave — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:53:17 +0000

I am sorry but I was under the weather and just wiped out most of the day yesterday. So, I pulled a video out of the archives. I think you will like it

Dave

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Are you getting noticed

Dave — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:32:09 +0000

This is an older video I did over a year ago, but the message has not grown stale. Does your message get my attention?

Dave

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How to Market Using YouTube

Dave — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:20:27 +0000

Have a great weekend everybody

Dave

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