Google Places: Why It’s Important to Small Business

admin    Google Optimization     business, Google, Important, It's, Places, Small

Google Places: Why It’s Important to Small Business

Map search is the new local Yellow Pages and it’s a place where small businesses can shine. Together, Google Places and Google Maps represent the most exciting opportunity for small businesses ever.

Your small business probably already has a Google Place page: If you own a small business, whether you like it or not, Google has probably already mapped it in Google Maps and created a Google Places web page about it. Most of these Google Place pages have been populated with information harvested from all over the internet – often small businesses don’t realize that their customers have been talking about them on the web.

The Yellow Pages is dead:

At the same time that Google Places has been improving in functionality and data richness, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Yellow Pages. Some businesses have responded to this by reviewing their web sites in the hope their customers will find them using a standard Google Search. However, unless a customer’s search term is highly focused, businesses are unlikely to rank highly in Google search results. Google estimates that three-in-four people click on one of the top three search results and then search no further. This means that unless your business ranks in the top three search results then its unlikely to be clicked on.

Map search is the new local Yellow Pages and it’s a place where small businesses can shine: The good news can be found in another Google statistic – the one that says that one in five Google searches have local intent. This statistic makes Google Places very important to small business because the search competition is much lower for a Google Map search than it is for a Google Web search. For example, although a standard Google search for “cafe” will deliver results that at best will relate to the whole of the city the searcher is in, a Google Maps search for “cafe” will return results only for the map that’s currently on-screen, or on the basis of a location specified by the searcher (eg. café in Edithvale).

This means that the likelihood of your small business being found by your customers is much greater in Google Places. So, if you’re a cafe, you no longer need to compete with cafés on the whole of your city, just other cafés in your local area. Hence the relevance of an old saying that goes “when a lion is chasing you, you don’t need to be the fastest runner in the world, just faster than the person running next to you”!

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Google Sniper 2 Review: Why It’s Better Than Ever

admin    Google Optimization     better, Ever, Google, It's, Review, Sniper, Than

Google Sniper 2 Review: Why It’s Better Than Ever

What’s new with Google Sniper 2? This review will tell you exactly what to expect from George Brown’s latest internet marketing course.

Since October 2009 a lot of people have been raking in thousands of dollars in profits from affiliate marketing and internet sales using the original Google Sniper. In February 2011 expect the new, updated Google Sniper 2.0 to hit the market. This new course is designed to meet the demands of the changing times and make it easier to build sniper sites with higher conversion rates.

The New Empire Module

Google Sniper 2 does everything the original course does, plus more. It comes with the brand new Empire Module that will teach you how to create not just one single website but an entire network of sniper websites guaranteed to bring in thousands of dollars in revenues. You can even outsource the process of building your websites, and Google Sniper 2.0 will show you how.

The new module includes product creation and tips on business development. This will help you earn more money than ever.

Simple and Automated

Creating websites the traditional way requires many hours of work, not to mention testing and optimizing your websites. Google Sniper 2 simplifies and automates the process so that you can have a fully functional website in as few as two hours.

Tips, tricks and advice are featured, along with updated videos, information and guidelines that comply with new FTC regulations.

High conversion Pre-sell pages

Affiliate and internet marketers know the best way to drive traffic to their site: rank high in search engine results. If your site lands on page one for keyword searches, you won’t have to spend time and money driving traffic to your site. This program teaches important SEO techniques and how to choose keywords that sell.

Websites are created on a WordPress platform. This cuts work time in half, and it ensures that your site ranks high in keyword searches. Sniper websites aim to create pre-sell pages that work. Effective pre-sell pages convert visitors into customers, and that’s where the money is.

Great for novices and experienced marketers

The course comes with detailed instructions that are easy to follow. Users can implement the different strategies immediately. It can be used by newbies and experienced marketers alike. It has everything you need to start marketing online.

The system is cost effective and you don’t have to manually drive traffic to your site. Reviews of the original Google Sniper show that it generates income on autopilot. There’s every reason to believe that the new version will do the same, only much better.

It’s not just for kids and geeks – Twitter is good for Business too!

admin    Twitter     business, geeks, Good, It's, just, kids, Twitter

5 types of business that should be using Twitter

They’re all talking about it – the online phenomenon for 2009. Forget Google, forget Facebook and don’t even mention Yell.com – Twitter is where it’s at this year!

Founded in 2006 as a way to let fellow members know “what you are doing”, Twitter has expanded way beyond its founders wildest dreams.

2009 is the year Twitter has become more “mainstream”. This has been helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher and Jonathan Ross espousing its virtues but also by the number of businesses out there realising the marketing and promotional capabilities of Twitter.

However it’s usually when I talk to potential clients about using Twitter as part of their social media marketing, I hear:

“It’s just for kids and geeks”

“Only IT and Marketing bods make money from it”

and other such comments.

With this in mind, here are a random 5 industries, each with 5 ways they could use Twitter to promote their business:

1) HOTELS

Twitter is fast paced, instant communication, ideal for the hotel & hospitality industry.

Hotels could:

- Communicate last minute offers – Use Twitpic to show pictures of rooms – Post customer testimonials – Request feedback from guests

DM Bonus – If your guests have Twitter, why not DM them a special Twitter code if they eat dinner in the hotel?

2) PHOTOGRAPHERS

While Twitter is seen mainly as a textual medium, it can be visual too.

Photographers, why not:

- Use Twitpic to post a “picture of the day” – Tweet about the photo shoot you’re doing today, so people get a feel for your scope – Post links to your blog/website – Use TwTQpon to offer free studio time (specify purchase of X photos) – Ask satisfied customers to retweet the link to their pic(s) in your portfolio

DM Bonus – If your customers are on Twitter, DM them the link to thier pictures on your password protected server, or private group on Flickr/Facebook etc.

3)ASTROLOGIST

It’s not always easy to get people to sign up to a mailing list on a website if you’re in a very niche industry, but it’s a lot easier to get followers on Twitter.

- Use Hootsuite to run 12 daily horoscope accounts – one for each star sign – Post details of astrologically important days/dates/events – Offer a free reading for every 50th follower – ask people to retweet – Post testimonials from satisfied clients – Post celebrity horoscopes on a weekly basis

DM Bonus – Offer free 140 character descriptions of each star sign – have them ready to cut and paste. Offer them by DM only. (People have to follow you to get DM’s)

4) HOLIDAY RESORT/GUESTHOUSE

If SEO is too competitive and too costly, try Twitter – the only cost is your time, and even that can be minimal!

- Use 12 second TV to post short video testimonials filmed on an iPhone or similar – Use Twitpic to post pictures of your resort – Post about local traditions/holidays/etc – Tweet last minute special offers/prices – Use TwtQpon to offer money off local/on site restaurants/bars

DM Bonus – Guests on Twitter? DM them to let them know they can check in.

5) SPEAKERS

It might be written communication, but I know a few speakers doing very well from Twitter, so if you’re a speaker, why not:

- Post links to audio files of you speaking – Autofeed your calender/blog into your Twitter account so people know where you’re speaking – Post a “tip of the day” each day, related to your speciality – Use 12 second TV to post short clips of you speaking then link to the longer version on youtube/your website – Use Twitter search to find people talking about your speciality/niche – ask them if they can introduce you to people wanting speakers

DM Bonus – Offer a free ebook / whitepaper / mention on your website by DM only. The only way to get it is to follow you so you can DM them.

So there you have it – 5 types of business that should be using Twitter, and 5 things they can use it for.

Nikki Pilkington is author of TweetMentor from NikkiPilkington.com, a 100 day hand holding support system to help you through the Twitter maze.

It’s not just for kids and geeks – Twitter is good for Business too!

admin    Twitter     business, geeks, Good, It's, just, kids, Twitter

5 types of business that should be using Twitter

They’re all talking about it – the online phenomenon for 2009. Forget Google, forget Facebook and don’t even mention Yell.com – Twitter is where it’s at this year!

Founded in 2006 as a way to let fellow members know “what you are doing”, Twitter has expanded way beyond its founders wildest dreams.

2009 is the year Twitter has become more “mainstream”. This has been helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher and Jonathan Ross espousing its virtues but also by the number of businesses out there realising the marketing and promotional capabilities of Twitter.

However it’s usually when I talk to potential clients about using Twitter as part of their social media marketing, I hear:

“It’s just for kids and geeks”

“Only IT and Marketing bods make money from it”

and other such comments.

With this in mind, here are a random 5 industries, each with 5 ways they could use Twitter to promote their business:

1) HOTELS

Twitter is fast paced, instant communication, ideal for the hotel & hospitality industry.

Hotels could:

- Communicate last minute offers – Use Twitpic to show pictures of rooms – Post customer testimonials – Request feedback from guests

DM Bonus – If your guests have Twitter, why not DM them a special Twitter code if they eat dinner in the hotel?

2) PHOTOGRAPHERS

While Twitter is seen mainly as a textual medium, it can be visual too.

Photographers, why not:

- Use Twitpic to post a “picture of the day” – Tweet about the photo shoot you’re doing today, so people get a feel for your scope – Post links to your blog/website – Use TwTQpon to offer free studio time (specify purchase of X photos) – Ask satisfied customers to retweet the link to their pic(s) in your portfolio

DM Bonus – If your customers are on Twitter, DM them the link to thier pictures on your password protected server, or private group on Flickr/Facebook etc.

3)ASTROLOGIST

It’s not always easy to get people to sign up to a mailing list on a website if you’re in a very niche industry, but it’s a lot easier to get followers on Twitter.

- Use Hootsuite to run 12 daily horoscope accounts – one for each star sign – Post details of astrologically important days/dates/events – Offer a free reading for every 50th follower – ask people to retweet – Post testimonials from satisfied clients – Post celebrity horoscopes on a weekly basis

DM Bonus – Offer free 140 character descriptions of each star sign – have them ready to cut and paste. Offer them by DM only. (People have to follow you to get DM’s)

4) HOLIDAY RESORT/GUESTHOUSE

If SEO is too competitive and too costly, try Twitter – the only cost is your time, and even that can be minimal!

- Use 12 second TV to post short video testimonials filmed on an iPhone or similar – Use Twitpic to post pictures of your resort – Post about local traditions/holidays/etc – Tweet last minute special offers/prices – Use TwtQpon to offer money off local/on site restaurants/bars

DM Bonus – Guests on Twitter? DM them to let them know they can check in.

5) SPEAKERS

It might be written communication, but I know a few speakers doing very well from Twitter, so if you’re a speaker, why not:

- Post links to audio files of you speaking – Autofeed your calender/blog into your Twitter account so people know where you’re speaking – Post a “tip of the day” each day, related to your speciality – Use 12 second TV to post short clips of you speaking then link to the longer version on youtube/your website – Use Twitter search to find people talking about your speciality/niche – ask them if they can introduce you to people wanting speakers

DM Bonus – Offer a free ebook / whitepaper / mention on your website by DM only. The only way to get it is to follow you so you can DM them.

So there you have it – 5 types of business that should be using Twitter, and 5 things they can use it for.

Nikki Pilkington is author of TweetMentor from NikkiPilkington.com, a 100 day hand holding support system to help you through the Twitter maze.