Archive for April, 2009:
27 Apr
Majority of people will search a business online. They want to read reviews (honest reviews – not paid ones like Belkin) to see how the companies products/services really are.
So, last week I set up a basic coupon for a brick and mortar company to test it out. Here are the screen shots I came up as I went thru the procedure.
Where Is It Going
Google Coupon
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Before you get there you need to know how to get there and know what you might expect. Looking at the image you believe that when people search for your business they will be smacked in the face with a coupon. I mean honestly who doesn’t like coupons in today’s tough times? Right?
Would you rather do business with a company you could save 25% from or where you have to pay retail cost for the product/service?
DUH!
Okay, so we now know we want to set up a coupon for your business and the example I am using Dayton Chess Club, an actual brick and mortar business. Of course this type of business will be easier to do but nonetheless I have seen some creative coupons for internet business as well.
Moving forward after speaking with the owners of the Dayton Chess Club we came up with a simple coupon for the following month.
Setting Up The Coupon
Google Coupon Setup
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The steps are pretty easy and pretty self explanatory. The part that I kind of got tricked up in was that I have a few businesses that I manager in my local business center so please make sure you click on the correct location.
The last thing you want is to set up a coupon for 10% off window installation on a location that sells hot dogs…whaaat?!
Hey, it can happen.
Nonetheless fill out the information and try to emphasize exactly what you’re ‘giving’ away (from free coffee to a discount on a product/service).
When you have filled out all the necessary boxes then click update ans save it.
Wait…Wait…SEARCH!
Google Coupon Finished
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Ask my wife and when it comes to online business I want instant gratification. I want a response instantly. If I don’t get it I can become a bear to be around. I’ve gotten better but nonetheless after you’ve input all the information and you think the coupon will show up instantaneously – stop the expectations. While it might show as being approved and you’re all set Google still needs to go through and updates its servers.
So give it some time – if you need to do a coupon quickly then forget it. I’ve read thru the Google forums that it can take up to a week for a coupon to appear. I decided after searching all night for it to give it a rest and checked for thing this morning.
The Coupon Is There, Right?
Searching For The Coupon
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Don’t be like me and expect to see the coupon on the first result when your business comes up. That’s not the way it was set up.
In reality a future (possible) customer will be click on “More Information” to find out…well, more information on your business to see everything from what people are saying about you to what kind of products and or services you offer.
So, don’t automatically assume, as I did, first thing this morning when I searched for the business and didn’t see the coupon.
From when you click on “More Information” it is here that you will hopefully see the fruits of your labor.
My Coupon Is Alive
My Coupon!!!
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After you geek out and try to high five your computer screen (Hey! I know I’m not the only one…right?) examine how people are viewing the information.
Does it look right – does the headline capture your attention? The last thing you want to do is go back and delete the coupon and start all over.
That’s one of the good things about the set up of the coupon it gives you an actual read out of what the coupon will look like. Yet, if you are anything like me you might not believe that until it’s actually live and people are calling you up asking about the coupon (it does happen so be ready)
So, how does the coupon look when it’s all said and done?
Ah I’m so glad you asked because now all someone has to do is actually click on the coupon link and….
The Final Result
The Result of Hard Work
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Done – Done – Done!
Test it out for your own business and check out the results. I will be looking over the Dayton Chess Club to see how many people use the coupon before it expires.
Don’t forget to push the coupon out on your site as well – I’ll cover this in a future post later this week.
Let me know how it works for you and your business. I’m always eager to hear how well (or at all) works out in these tough times.
24 Apr
The days of just promoting your company are looooong gone. The easiest way to gain exposure is to show interest in those in the same market field and let them know that your noticing their movements. That can not only help cross promotion but can help build networks that were never possible years ago.
Companies tend to only want to focus on their product – THEIR service. It’s understandable and yet at the same time if its not done correctly it will come off as spam or junk mail coupons that the majority of folks through away.
If you’ve read any of my previous post I try to promote everything from good music (hiphopremix.com in its hey day) all the way to other SEO people/companies and marketer’s as well. Even though I’m IN that same field I think it would be beneficial to those around me to share certain items to let them know they are doing a great job.
In last week’s Week In Review post I mentioned my Google Shared Item’s address which again is:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/03343443835726413472
If you sign for this then you’ll see up-to-date info on all the interesting articles I find online in my reader which resemblesthe Google Profile page but with a break down of ‘shared’ items.
Sharing Is Fun
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The premise is quite simple – you share something you find (and include a post or two of yours as well) and you’ll be amazed how quickly you can build networks within your niche.
One thing that a lot of readers do is show how many people are subscribed to your ‘shared’ items as well which indicates your following. I haven’t really promoted my ‘shared’ items yet when I started writing this I found the following:
Building Networks Thru Shared Items
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One thing I plan on doing is promoting this a little more in the coming months and see how well it works.
While I might promote readers to subscribe to my site I need to promote readers to other sites as well. I don’t know everything in every niche so who know where a reader might find their inspiration for a business model/concept? If I can help then so be it.
In the end healthy compeitition is always a great thing…right?
23 Apr
Back in October I wrote a post on how to put your business on all the top mapping sites (google maps, yahoo, msn, mapquest) and since then I am amazed of how effective it has been. I did it for myself and the Dayton Chess Club (brick and morter business) and as you can see the results are ‘great‘ but could be better (I don’t like to settle).
Here is a quick screen shot of searching for the company.
Results with Maps
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This is excellent for brick and morter businesses. You can input the hours open and all the contact information you want.
Yet, why do it? The easiest response would be again, why not? Don’t you want people to get a hold your business? The first thing people are doing today is search your business and what happens when this is the first result? Great things!
Now onto the back end of things.
How well is it REALLY working?
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So, you took the time to put your company “on the map” and now you want to see the results. Well, here you go. You’re getting “good” impressions and minimal views but then again people could just be clicking directly on the url (www.daytonchessclub.com) instead of the “more info” related link. Which is fine but we want to encourage this though so we would look just below on the Google Local Business Center and what do we see?
Google Local Business Center Options
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From here you can create FREE coupons and FREE products/events on Google Base (which I’ll be covering later).
Now, if you have the dough then you could create an adword campaign but then again why pay first when you have all these FREE options?
23 Apr
If you haven’t created a profile for yourself on Google then I suggest you stop reading now and do so immediately. Seriously, this could be the one thing that shows you in the light that you WANT to be in.
Go to Google and search your name and see what the results are. A few years ago I would do that for myself and I think I found myself on page 5 from my Myspace page that I have no longer really maintain. Do it now and I’m in some way related to the top 10 results ranging from LinkedIn – Facebook – Twitter and most importantly my personal blog/main site.
The greatest thing though is setting up a profile WITH Google (mine can be seen at http://www.google.com/profiles/nathan.driver) which would show:
Get Your Google On
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So, why set up yet ANOTHER profile online? The question should be WHY NOT?! This is done thru the most popular search engine out there and they over specific profile names and links to your sites. Add in the effect of linking from your site (blog) back to the profile (such as I’m doing in this very article) and you have a back-linking. The correspondence will only enhance your rankings in the Google.
So, don’t ask WHY you should be doing this rather look at all the pro’s that you can benefit from utilizing it. It’s your decision on how you want Google to see you – I prefer to myself and my brand (company) in the good light.
I’ve actually had friends find me this way because they haven’t joined Facebook or LinkedIn just yet…I still don’t know why. Nonetheless the power behind it can be great if used properly so my question to you all: what do you want Google to say about you?
22 Apr
I work with salespeople day in and day out and in reality we are involved in sales. It can range from selling office supplies to selling yourself to a future employer. Regardless of the description I usually get put off by the talk as do many other people.
OJT: On-The-Job Training
I feel I am one of the hardest workers out there. I don’t JUST work for a company I work for myself. I build connections and learn tricks of the trade that I might be involved in. When I was in the military I was given several task at once and in my specific field our office would be the first ones in and the last ones to leave. I’d have it no other way. I learned A LOT when I was doing this and sometimes wish I was still apart of the military.
Yet, learning OJT can take you so far. At the time I had a supervisor who was constantly busy and was not around to show me various specific items. I don’t blame them one bit – it actually showed me that I was able to learn as I went along and take full responsibility of everything: good and bad.
Persistence Is Key
When I get a new duty or responsibility I try not to take it lightly. I weigh the options and the time that’s involved and its ROI (Return On Investment) of my time. I had to do this when I started managing an up-and-coming musician by the name of “Sky 7th”. A talented individual but with my schedule I had to be up front with a lot of things that could hold me back from being a full time manager. I did however show that I can do things that other “managers” could not: ranging from creating websites to doing public relations for him. The list goes on as did my persistence.
Would I have taken a “no”? Yes, but not for long. I would show exactly what I would do lay it out and show that I don’t make false promises. This same principle applies to my employee as well.
Don’t Lie – Be Upfront!
There is one thing I try my hardest to do and that is make my word bond. If I say I’m going to do something then I’m going to do it. If I can’t do something I don’t tell them I’m on it. I let them know the truth.
“This looks like it might take some time – I will put it down to review and get back to you next Wednesday with an estimated time-line”
See how that works? I’m going to dive into the request and let them know how long it could possible take. I don’t make promises I can’t deliver on PERIOD!
Follow Through
Tiger Woods – Michael Jordan – Larry Bird – add an athlete here. All have terrific follow thru’s. They swing / shoot and don’t stop their motion. We need to apply this to every day working habits. You call on someone to pay – they pay. Let them know you received it and appreciate it. Times are tough people need to hear these things. Don’t let what some may say the “little things” slip by you because in the end that could kill your business more than anything.
Don’t just talk about your plans – your dreams – your goals. Go out and do it. There is nothing that is stopping you BUT yourself.
21 Apr
If you haven’t seen it yet here you go Susan Boyle Singing. The amazing thing of this is not JUST the amazing voice that she has it was the frenzy of the media afterward. Every channel I flipped around to I found clips about this British women but what was the topic of it all? Well, I would’ve hoped it was the voice but that played second to ‘her looks’ – it was negative.
A very normal person (yes, she IS normal) person who can sing like an angel yet the media jumped on the change to gain more exposure for their network by being able to show just how ‘normal’ she is by calling her “frumby” and playing up the part where she’s “never been kissed”. Why is this making more noise than anything? It’s simple if we crave violence in our news then why look at the positivity of this particular event?
The bottom line is that if you have an amazing talent then be normal (at least looking) and then enhance that ‘normal look’ and watch out for the exposure. Who knows maybe you’ll be one of the top 10 searches on YouTube with millions of views.
Simple and to the point – thought you might enjoy that.
21 Apr
The web is a fecal place. The days of posting something from images, video and basic content then deleting it knowing no one will find it are looooong gone. Let’s all thank Google and their “cache” abilities. You might have posted a ‘tweet’ about a past employer only to find out that while looking for another job a future employer stumpled upon it. The principle is valid and honest – you need to research the web capabilities.
Google Yourself
Whether you know it or not you are on google, msn, yahoo, ask, etc – you might have joined myspace when it first got online only to have stopped two weeks later. Guess what, your content is there STILL! You need to make sure what ever you put up is going to be direct representation of you and your talents. There have been too many reports of college kids posting videos and images of them partying. Pretty harmless in nature but after they graduate what does that tell a future employee. Maybe that guy doing a keg stand is studying to become a kindergarden teacher? How about that young women making suggestive sexual gestures with other women looking to work in the marketing field?
Don’t forget to set up google alerts for different variations of your name as well.
Write About Yourself
That’s right – if you’re not online (your name or business) then make yourself known. Why? The basic reason is that one way or another you WILL be online but the question will be on whose terms? Start taking innovative put yourself in light that you want to be in. The last thing you’d want is to have someone write about you or tag you in an image that you don’t want to be tagged in.
Join Social Networks
It CAN be a chore if you make it but objective is simple. Just by writing about yourself is only half the equation. By joining these networks and having the same message across them then that will ensure that you or business will be first in search instead of anything negative. This will help boast you rating online quickly and easy.
Sync Those Networks
So you have a message you want to put “out there” and you’ve joined all these social networks – sync them. The last thing you’d want is to have all these networks under your umbrella and have no correlation between them. If you’re on myspace promote your twitter. If you’re on facebook then promote your blog. In the same sense make sure each and every network has the same name extension. If you search for “drivenmg” you’ll see my various networks I’ve been apart of from myspace to linkedin.
The bottom line is this: get your name – your brand out there before someone else does. If a blog is created every minute then how soon before someone writes about you or your brand? Get a head start and do it yourself but be smart and reasearch it before doing so. The last thing you want is to do all the work and not know how to utilize the content media networks.
20 Apr
When you tell a story you are representing the characters in that story. Real or fake there is representation going on. In marketing the same aspect is true – we try to tell a story about a product and/or service. That Coke commercial has to relay a story in less than 30 seconds – an ad copy has to grab a readers attention and convey a message.
That message is only the beginning. Where you go from there is entirely up to you.
I had a great week last week and ended it with a great weekend. This story though I’m striving on continuing this week as well as the next and the next – so on and so forth. To stop your own story only shows that you are limiting yourself. That is one of the things I truly detest. I have a 4 year old little boy and I hear the “can’t” a lot from him so I tell him that word is not true because 9 out of 10 times he CAN. He just needs the encouragement – that extra push. Once that happens his story continues.
That happens to all of us: we get in a slump and become non-productive. I like to relate to putting life on pause but in the sense the world is moving while we are standing still so in reality we might not be moving but we are going back.
Brand marketing has its up’s and down’s – the recent situation of the “two idiots” with Domino’s is a “down” but the way the company handled themselves put them back “up” and they got a lot of praise and respect for the way they planned it out.
My question to you is what is your story and how are you going to tell it today?
17 Apr
I forgot last week’s round due to be off work and hanging out with my son all day. Nonetheless I have some great finds this week that I wasn’t able to really write about. If you find the following as interesting as I do feel free to add me to your rss reader:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/03343443835726413472
Let’s get to it this morning people:
All of these site I HIGHLY suggest subscribing to their RSS feeds – they have some GREAT information. That’s all I have for now. I’ll have more later more than likely and please if you have a feed feel free to promote it!
16 Apr
I’ve been reviewing Google Adwords: Keyword Tool and while I brought it up before when reviewing the time frame for launching a campaign it’s time to get to specifics on keywords.
Putting up a site (for the example we’ll keep with the “chess” niche) and littering with nothing BUT top adwords in that particular category won’t sprint you to the top of the results. The game plan is to start small (specific) and work your way to the big time (general).
Get As Specific As Possible
In our example we are using a chess niche site. So, some great examples of specific targeted keywords would be:
hand carved wooden chess set pieces
wooden hand carved chess set pieces
wooden chess set pieces hand carved
now while the top ‘searches’ are for “wooden chess set” there are a few out there looking for the specifics and whose site comes up first? That’s right YOURS!
Lose A Word At A Time
Now, after a few weeks (heck I’d say 60 days) of allowing Google crawl your site and indexing your words start pinpointing the specific keywords. Go from the above mentioned to leaving out “hand“.
Do not remove the keywords you already have in-place. That last thing you want to do is possible be removed from that search string (what people are searching for) and your no longer there.
Do this each month and soon you’ll be down to “wooden chess set” and you’ll be ranking in no time.
Using Specific Keywords
In this image I made sure to bring up the ‘lowest’ (i.e. not enough data) for search volume.
What do that mean to you?
It means to Google that those specific keywords aren’t that important enough to be tracked by them…yet.
The first one is “youtube chess” – put in the search and you get 2.4 million results. Getting a little more specific like “youtube chess openings” and it drops down to 58,000. Getting a little MORE specific like “top youtube chess openings” it’s down to 45,800. Let’s try one more – “top 10 youtube chess openings” gives us 33,400
So, from 2.4 million to 33,400 – not bad uh?
Try your hand at it and let me know how it works out.
