A:  Paid Search – also known as Sponsored Search or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is online advertising that can guarantee “page one” rank on Google, Yahoo and Bing… at a price.  It is the fasted and most measurable way to generate inbound leads to your website.

B: Search Engine Organization (SEO) is the process of managing your website’s content, code and organization to improve your organic or natural ranking in the search engine results.  Done right, SEO provides the best long term results, but is highly competitive.

C: Google Places listings are the “Maps” section that Google produces in search when they determine the search is local in nature. After you create your Google Places listing, optimization helps get you to page one for your most important geographic, brand and industry terms.

Examples could be …

• Someone posts that they are enjoying a Reeses Cup… and the next time I am at a grocery store I get one
• You see a picture of a friend at a Summer Concert Series and you start going the very next week
• A friend shares their fantastic hair cut posted on their hair dressers Facebook page and you make an appointment

Are you starting to see it the picture?  Yet only about 25% of businesses have a Facebook page. Marketers are missing a huge opportunity to connect with potential customers.   Their company, products, brand and leaders are being talked about in social media.  If they don’t have a place for these discussions to lan

1. More than 500 million active users and growing
2. Provides a FREE mini website or profile
3. High organic visibility on search engines
4. Potential to increase traffic to your website
5. Provides an opportunity to help establish you as an expert in a niche market
6. Is super easy networking online
7. Get direct and indirect clients
8. Provide joint venture partner opportunities

“Facebook is like a coffee shop.  Everyone is there for his or her own reason, but it’s a great place to startup a conversation.”  

The reality is that if you step inside with the intent to make a friend, engage with a customer or stumble upon a potential investor… and you will.  However, if you just come in, order a cup of coffee and leave … you won’t get more than that. 

Research shows that people come to Facebook to express themselves and then to connect with others.  They really don’t come there looking to buy something, so you shouldn’t come in looking to sell them something.   What people like to do is to express themselves in a way that they show who they want to be perceived as.  The activities they participate in reflect this.  This is important for you to realize as you look at how you are going to use Facebook for your business.  You need to stop and think about how you become a part of the conversation your customers have and become a part of their identity.   If there is one thing I hope you take away from reading my posts on Facebook Marketing is that it is truly that you should embrace the Facebook as a social networking opportunity and not a direct response marketing opportunity.  I will explain this further.  But it really is important to succeeding in this space.

Google first launched Boost in the San Francisco, Houston and Chicago, a location-based ad product for local businesses back in October of 2010.  With the success of the Beta test, Google has begun to roll it to most US cities.

The ads can contain basic location information, such as the address, business name phone number, business description, as well as more consumer contributed snippets of information, including a star ratings, and the number of reviews.  The listing can link to your website or your Google Places page.

Business owners or their advertising representatives can easily create Boost ads from within their Google Places account. Initial setup is simple, and campaign management is automatic.  To get started all the business owner needs to do is set a budget, and Google’s advertising algorithm takes care of the details of placement and frequency.

Why this is important to participate in is that Google’s is able capture highly qualified, actively interested consumers. When you add Google Boost to your listing, you can advertise your business on Google and Google Maps (including mobile devices) and attract more visitors to your website or Place page.

Benefits of advertising online with Boost?

• Attract more local customers to your website or Place page.
• Pay only when people click on your ad.
• Create ads directly from your Places account within minutes.
• No ongoing management is needed after you sign up. Boost runs the ads for you.
• Measure the effectiveness of your ads in your Places dashboard.

So, should you Boost?  It’s worth a test.  I’ve had clients that it cuts their costs in half, while others who we shut down in less than a week because we thought Adwords was better.  Just depends on your situation.

However… getting reviews isn’t always easy.  You may have to ask for them.

Many small businesses that I talk with are a bit intimiated by asking for reviews.  I always tell them not to get stressed out about it.  I tell them to to start off by getting “warm” customers post reviews.  These include friend, family and long time customers.  Also, reviews can come from people in networking groups such as the Chamber of Commerce or BNI Group members. 

Here is a list of the top 10 ideas that you can use to generate new reviews.

1. Email. The best way to get customers to give you a review is while they are online. If you have a newsletter or a customer list, shoot an email to your list and ask politely for a customer review.
2. Ask your fans! If you have a Facebook page and have customers and/or partners who have become fans of your business, they are a perfect audience to ask for a review. They are already fans and they are more likely to be familiar with the review sites.
3. Ask your followers! If you have a Twitter page, post a message and request reviews for your business.  Be sure to include a link to the listings/sites that you want reviews.
4. Ask for reviews right on your website.  Also, publish your favorite endorsements right on your homepage and have a separate page listing all your endorsements.  This can help others to know how to write reviews as well.
5. Include links on your website to your listings on the most popular local search sites (Google, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, etc).
6. Include review requests in all offline customer touchpoints: (Back of business cards, thank you cards, invoices, receipts, etc.  Be sure to include links. Again, use a URL shortener, so it’s easier for your customers (and it looks much better than a long URL).
7. Ask satisfied customers if they have a smartphone (iPhone, Blackberry, etc),  if appropriate, to post a review before they leave your location.
8. Post a sign at your location as a reminder. “If you leave here happy, please let us and others know on Google, Yelp, Angie’s List, etc).
9. Run an employee contest: Those employees who get mentioned the most in reviews that month get a prize
10. Offer an incentive for reviews either through discounts, coupons, or other promotions (drawing).

VERY IMPORTANT … DO NOT make up your own reviews!  Customers get a sense of what is real and what is not… plus search engines like Google have ways of telling as well.  Its just not worth it.

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Focus on your business and trust your local program to the experts.  Contact DigitalOz Marketing to help customers find your business online today.

Here a 5 things you should do to improve rank and customer experience:

1. Add at least 5 jpg. photos. (You can add up to 10 pictures)  You can use a picture  of your business location, your logo, your staff, before and after pics, a brochure, slideshow, etc.  (Note: the first picture you load will be the one also displayed at the top of your listing)
2. Get many ”real” reviews. The more reviews the better.
3. Add a coupon and use Google Tags to highlight it.
4. Add at least 1 video. (You can add up to 5) I like to add TV commercials and demonstration videos. 
5. Build backlinks or citations from other websites to your Google Places listing. (This helps with SEO Link Building as well)

Here are some highlights of the survey:

• Local businesses have little time or budget to give to marketing
• Social media is moving to the top marketing strategy for local businesses
• Traditional online methods  like search still are more accepted verses new, unproven approaches
• Use of traditional offline marketing such as TV, Radio and Print continues to decline
• Online marketing services companies are aggressively targeting local businesses

If you want to learn more about the MerchantCircle survey, check out their blog post on the results.

So, let me ask you this, if you found yourself in an elevator with your dream customer or a wealthy investor could you deliver an amazing 60 second elevator pitch that would land you the deal?  I’ve asked myself and a couple of my customers that question.  Sadly, for myself the answer is no.  Today, I think I am missing the BIG WOW factor. So I decided to research the best practices for developing an “Elevator Pitch” and share them with you.  Plus, when I am done, I will share mine with you for your input.  And if you would like to share yours, please do so.

First, let’s outline what an “Elevator Pitch” is…

• A short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, idea or organization and its value proposition.
• Needs to be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately 30-120 seconds, but many credible sources say closer to 60 seconds is best
• Used to get your point across quickly
• May be presented in oral, written, and video formats
• Elevator pitches are also used in many other situations such as job interviewing, dating, etc.

What an elevator pitch is not:

Avoid the temptation… an Elevator Pitch is not your “sales pitch”.

A business elevator pitch should contain:

• Your Name
• Company name
• Product or service that you sell
• Target market
• Value proposition
• Experience and qualifications relevant to the business (you, your team or company)
• Competition and how do you differ

What else should your “Elevator Pitch “contain:

• A hook, something that grabs their interest to want to hear more
• Passion… people want energy and dedication from an entrepreneur
• A request, meaning at the end of your pitch, you must ask for something  (As for their business card, to schedule a full presentation or a referral)

So now that I’ve outlined this, I am off to write mine.  Stay tuned.  And please feel free to share yours as well.