“We can start by applying what I call ‘The Google Test.’ If you can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it.”

I’m not bringing this up to start a political debate. To be honest, I knew nothing of Pawlety until I read this article. The reason I did bring it up is to highlight the importance of being ranked in Google.

Considering politicians are usually way behind the curve on most issues, not just technology (ok, maybe I will take this opportunity to do a little political grandstanding) and you haven’t spent much time thinking about how to get your business ranked, you know you’re way past due for an online marketing overhaul!

As you are probably well aware, Google is the most searched site on the internet, which means all of your potential customers are using it. By making sure you rank well for many keywords related to your business, you exponentially increase your chances of having a potential customer come directly to you when they need your product or service.

For example, let’s say there are two roofing contractor based in Fairfax, Virginia, going hard after new business. One markets exclusively in the newspapers, while the other focuses on search engine optimization and getting ranked for specific keywords like “Fairfax roofing contractor,” or “best Northern Virginia roofers.” Which one is likely to get more customers? The one that uses a dying medium advertises to people who don’t immediately need their service, or the one that uses a continuously growing medium and is in front of people who are actively looking for the exact service they provide?

The answer’s pretty clear – even for a politician!

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But, thanks to the internet – and most importantly, social media – finding these sorts of people and getting their attention has become much, much easier. For example, I make it a habit of following other business owners on Twitter (shameless plug: you can follow me at @carrbc) so I can read their Tweets, send them questions, and pick their brains.

So far, I’ve been able to get in touch with all sorts of business owners, from people who are just starting out to others who are successfully running multi-million dollar a year businesses.  They’re all passionate about what they’re doing and they’re all action-packed full of outstanding advice for any business owner.

The other day, I threw up the following Tweet, expecting to get maybe one or two answers.  Instead, what I got absolutely blew me out of the water…

First, here’s what I asked: As a business owner, is there anything you would have done differently during the first three years of building your company?

Now, here are the responses, with credit given to the authors:

@PerfectNBranch: Affiliate yourself with a larger company and still enjoying the perks of small business while having the assets of big business!

@JustImagineTvl: consistency, research, and going with “gut feeling”

@KrisChapell: Keep brand consistent.

@marko_savic_: Learn by doing.

@EJPSocialMedia: Focus on building relationships.

Last but not least, my favorite…

@hankdevelde: Listen to the experts… then go your own way!

All of this is incredibly sound advice.  Makes me glad I found these people and am associating with them!  Now, if there success could just rub off on me a little bit!

Have any of you seen the movie “Funny People,” the one with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen?  It was kind of depressing and long, but that’s beside the point.  The reason I reference the movie is Jonah Hill’s character at one point says:

“If you put ‘cute kitten’ in the title of your YouTube video, you’re gonna get a million hits. And then I link that to my website and you can see my stand-up on my website. It’s genius.”

So, I thought I’d give his theory a try.  So, from this experiment came the following video entitled “Cute Kittens & SEO.”  Enjoy:

The area where I find small business owners getting the most frustrated is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  That’s because a lot of business owners think all they really have to do is slap together a website, “submit” it to Google, wait a few days, and then watch the customers and money come flying in.

Sadly — well, thankfully (for me) — it doesn’t work this way.  There’s a lot of things that go into creating a successful SEO campaign for a small business, some of which include:

• Keyword research
• On page optimization, including domain  name, title tags and descriptions, and actual copy on the page
• Off page optimization, including backlinking, directory submissions, article marketing, etc.

There’s a lot to be done, and it’s all very time consuming.  Since most business owners are focusing on the day-to-day operations of their business, they don’t have time to not only learn all the ins and outs of SEO, but to also fully implement their plan.

So, for all you business owners, reach out to a professional — preferably me! — to design and implement a search engine optimization solution for your business.  It’ll be well worth your time and money!

Click the giant “Contact Us” button above to send us an email.  We’ll get back to you within one business day.

Looking forward to being your online marketing partner!

YouTube – the main site that comes to mind when you think of online video – is the third most searched site on the internet behind Google and Facebook. So, if you want to get in front of your potential customers, getting on YouTube is a great place to start.

Even better, once you get your video up on YouTube you can harness the power of all three top searched sites by doing some search engine optimization (SEO) on your video title, descriptions, and keywords, not to mention the fact it’s easy to share your video on Facebook!

You can get even further reach by sharing your video via Twitter and social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, Fark, StumbleUpon, and Delicious, just to name a few.

On top of that, YouTube is something people spend tons of time on while they’re on their mobile phones. So, buy taking advantage of YouTube, you can get your message out easily and effectively, even if your potential customers are on the go!

Plus, you’ve got tons of other video sites aside from YouTube that get tons of hits! Just think of all the traffic you could have rolling in to your site!

Like I said, online video needs to be part of your marketing campaigns!

Finally, the best part about using online video is, you don’t need very expensive equipment to make it happen. You can create something with a Flip HD video camera, some screen capture software or by using a company like Carr Online Media, LLC to develop, publish, and share your video.

At the end of the day, online video is one of the most effective ways to get your message out and is something you need to do in order to grow your customer base and online presence.

Click the following link for more information on how Carr Online Media, LLC can help you and your company with online video, or send us an email by clicking the giant “Contact Us” button at the top of the page.

So, knowing this, what do you do if your small business doesn’t really have any real sex appeal?  Maybe you’re a pet shop or a locksmith – or an online marketing firm.  Nothing sexy about those things.

Or is there?

Check out this sexy video I made for Carr Online Media, LLC.  In general, it has gotten a lot more views than my normal “YouTube commercials.”  Wonder why that is…

Let me know what you think – and definitely pass on the video via Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, and your blog!

Anyway, here’s the first video I was able to produce through them.  It took me less than five minutes to put together.  Let me know what you think!

Unfortunately, just having a Google Places page up really isn’t enough.  Much like your website, you have to spend a little bit of time customizing and optimizing in order for your places page to really stand out, climb up the rankings, and start generating you a lot of business.

Don’t worry, it’s a very simple and not at all time consuming process.  In fact, here is a quick summary of things you can to do optimize your page in 10 minutes or less:

Business Description: I’ve found that picking two or three targeted keywords is the way to go here.  And, if you are a local business, throwing in specific areas is always a great way to go, too.  To give you an example, here’s what my Google Places page description states:

“We specialize in search engine optimization (SEO), social media management, and local online and mobile marketing for businesse in Northern Virginia, including Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington.”

I hit on my keywords and sprinkled in some targeted locations.  PERFECT!

Categories: Try to include yourself in five different categories, even if it means using one of your keywords as a category that doesn’t already exist.  Start off broad and then work  your way down into more granular categories.

List ALL the Areas You Serve: If you have a business where you go to your customers’ locations, instead of putting in your zip-code and a radius of the area you serve, I recommend listing out all of the specific cities in which you are willing to go visit your customers.  I’ve found this a better way of getting your business ranked in a bunch of different areas.

Upload Pictures and Videos: Google loves this sort of content.  They want to know you’re bringing value to the listing, and not just letting it sit there like a lump.  Include pictures of your business, merchandise, your company logo, etc.  Include informative videos about your business and business niche.

One word of caution: I would refrain from posting pictures of employees or customers.  I’m not a lawyer, but I would imagine you would need some sort of written consent in order to do so.  Just a thought.

GET REVIEWS: I can’t stress the importance of this enough.  If you have a mailing list, friends, family, favored customers, whatever, reach out to them and ask them to write a favorable review on your Google Places page.  Google takes reviews very seriously, and if you get a bunch of glowing reviews, you’re much more likely to out-rank your competitors.

I think if you take 10 minutes to implement these steps as well ask ask people for reviews, you’ll be pleasantly happy with the amount of new business your Google Places page sends your way.

Any questions?  Comments?  Please leave a note below.  And, if you liked this content, please share via Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media site you frequent!

One of the generally accepted rules of thumb for a business owner is you have to spend money (generally, on any form of advertising) in order to make money.  Now, rules of thumb wouldn’t have become rules if they weren’t generally correct, but, that doesn’t mean you should follow them blindly.

For example, why would you spend your hard-earned advertising dollars on zombie marketing, i.e. forms of marketing that have been dead for a while, but, for some reason won’t stay dead and simply want to eat your marketing budget without giving you anything in return.

(A bit of a stretch with the zombie metaphor?  Sorry!)

For example, let’s look at the following zombie marketing mediums:

• Newspaper Ads – Newspapers have had one foot in the grave (pun definitely intended) ever since people realized they didn’t have to pay for a newspaper since they could read everything online for free.  Newspaper readership is way down and is continuing to fall rapidly.  Why would you spend money advertising in a medium that fewer and fewer people are paying attention to?
• Phone Book - Seriously, when was the last time you used one of these things to find a business?  Guess what – your customers are the exact same way.  Why spend $10,000 or more on a full-page ad when it might net you one or two phone calls a year?  Your money is certainly better spend elsewhere.
• TV/Radio Commercials – Long story short, consumers have learned to tune these things out.  When a commercial comes on we either change the station or fast forward through it.  Commercials are invasive and, more often than not, come into our lives when we’re not even remotely interested in the product or service that’s being put in front of us.

The list goes on and on, including billboards, direct mail, and cold calling, just to name a few.

These kinds of advertising might have worked back in the day, but since you’re not trying to sell to consumers from 30 years ago, you might as well get with the times.  That, or expect little to no return on your marketing investment.

Now, if you focus on “the living” forms of advertising (sorry, had to tie it back to zombies), you can expect to grow your customer base, see higher revenues and profits, and sleep tight at night knowing you’re making a solid return on your advertising budget.

By focusing on search engine optimization (SEO), social media, online video, and mobile marketing, you will put yourself in a position to be in front of your customers at the EXACT moment they NEED the goods and services you provide.

For more information on how you can implement these news forms of marketing, click the “Contact Us” button above and send us a quick note.  Someone will be in contact with you within one business day.

Unfortunately, most business owners don’t know that just having a website isn’t enough anymore.  If you want to get new customers and grow your revenue base, you need to make sure you are driving quality traffic to your site through search engine optimization (SEO), social media, online videos, and mobile marketing.

Even worse, even more owners don’t know there is a way to actually DOUBLE your chances of getting on the first page of Google for traffic driving keywords.  This method is: optimizing your Google Places page for your business.

Thanks to recent algorithm change, any time there is a “local feel” to a search, Google will try to return one of their Google Places pages in addition to websites (hopefully, your website) that are optimized and back-linked for the particular keyword.

For example, I have a client that is a locksmith based out of Chantilly, Virginia.  When someone types in Chantilly locksmith,both his website and his optimized Google Places page show up on the first page of Google.  That’s 20% of the returns (and 50% of the top four returns) on the first page, which definitely means lots of traffic, new customers, and revenue for his business.

In case you’re interested in seeing a fully completed Google Places page, feel free to check out my page for Carr Online Media, LLC.

Anyway, if you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize you Google Places page for your business, please contact me for a free consultation!