tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23441225491133989482024-02-20T21:34:00.835-08:00How to Optimize Google My Business and Google MapsYour local business needs to be listed, claimed, and optimized on Google My Business and Google Maps. This site is intended to do what Google isn't doing...give you all the information you need to optimize your listing on Google PlacesRandy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-66611610167070917022021-08-28T13:52:00.012-07:002021-09-02T08:03:30.510-07:00Hear the Haunting Cry of the Ghost Bird - Check Out Their Amazing Camouflage <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h1><b> <span style="font-size: large;">The Common Potoo Bird (Ghost Bird) Wins the Prize as the Craziest Living Creature of All </span></b></h1><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Nature is amazing, there is not denying that. I offer you my choice for the weirdest living creature on the planet. Here is my argument for bestowing that honor to Nyctibius griseus (commonly called potoo or ghost bird.)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The aptly name ghost bird (actual name potoo) in the light of day looks like something dreamed up by Steven Spielberg. The first time I saw this creature, I stared at it for several minutes trying to discern if it was a sock puppet, a CG, or an actual living creation. Of course, I've spoiled it for you, but even knowing it is real, it is almost hard to believe. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> <br /></b></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqh6qyuAIrH2RHK6lW4OVpr57rmkR1vLS3Zl5HZ2WXrvKMjgJ2NGTpM-48cMz4k4YBPSJH2yU5ik1sqm6ngYesOdGAjxxBZ-pKsw-HpJuNXRkguKLyZHlYoLGbcRkUNOkDv1RCk0n56EC/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="520" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqh6qyuAIrH2RHK6lW4OVpr57rmkR1vLS3Zl5HZ2WXrvKMjgJ2NGTpM-48cMz4k4YBPSJH2yU5ik1sqm6ngYesOdGAjxxBZ-pKsw-HpJuNXRkguKLyZHlYoLGbcRkUNOkDv1RCk0n56EC/" width="258" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ghost bird looks like a puppet<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The potoo eats flying bugs and the occasional small bat that it catches when perched as above or when flying at night. The ghost bird certainly takes on the appearance of a sinister creature more likely to be part of a Stephen King mystery when flying about at night. <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIkC8F6zBvWV9jzocf7WXMTTUVUR5AUKlI8FX9VzWF4y5DMVRgIbBDwV4X07aFtG-Ir9rNHiWHYRagPfubqJUmXwJ5aI6xwywgHz63FipwInXDZ9yvs7snI75QGldQ0B3Z8mZUlvIM775/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="863" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIkC8F6zBvWV9jzocf7WXMTTUVUR5AUKlI8FX9VzWF4y5DMVRgIbBDwV4X07aFtG-Ir9rNHiWHYRagPfubqJUmXwJ5aI6xwywgHz63FipwInXDZ9yvs7snI75QGldQ0B3Z8mZUlvIM775/" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghost bird, potoo bird in flight looks very eerie<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>My award is based on the above two weirdnesses, but the potoo is not done yet. During the day, the bird has learned to camouflage itself by appearing to be the extension of a broken tree limb. It points its weird beak up towards the sky and hold this position most of the day. <br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2N2hVD69CE4fw2qLafR0FBKB2fFdOXlYucqihboZPuimQoqamwp-MgbAbUpcbIjAov13qBbPP2TZMghEqI_Ya8Ywwqzd3n1K2ppVcs-2BVa0ManT62ve1MZFxUngk3kTzgq3Xlm80l7X0/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="649" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2N2hVD69CE4fw2qLafR0FBKB2fFdOXlYucqihboZPuimQoqamwp-MgbAbUpcbIjAov13qBbPP2TZMghEqI_Ya8Ywwqzd3n1K2ppVcs-2BVa0ManT62ve1MZFxUngk3kTzgq3Xlm80l7X0/" width="199" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camouflage for potoo is amazing</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_c496QPmKpDOxSBP4pqXlN_ajs2B7HL8sUYxRX4ogYkfm8cL8WaGyz6UJTBiNA6yt9-pAVBnDBf6LGmml6WjQhoHVUqCVq-1fV7xxS-8qeTqA8Fut5AO0mXWcnHtb457XmNTq7qYlTqd/s572/Screen+Shot+2021-08-28+at+10.44.11+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_c496QPmKpDOxSBP4pqXlN_ajs2B7HL8sUYxRX4ogYkfm8cL8WaGyz6UJTBiNA6yt9-pAVBnDBf6LGmml6WjQhoHVUqCVq-1fV7xxS-8qeTqA8Fut5AO0mXWcnHtb457XmNTq7qYlTqd/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-08-28+at+10.44.11+AM.png" width="204" /></a></div><br /><p>Now, let's turn to potoo eyes. The huge yellow eyes help it to see well at night, but a second eyelid covering allows it to close the eyes to a small slit, but still see. They do this when camouflaged, as the yellow eyes would give them away. Since they can still see, the often allow predators to get very close before they fly away. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DD91TTYvlHpJgjv3VyGGBUkcnRvcXmp2He_-x4MpoEgWXEaR2VfRBCDS86T7sv2z2KHHVN5qAMELY40KFKDygId70og7kCU3GOkzXOLlXLJ5_liZRtOTtdz3m8I0yughnOflxuUj_boz/s620/Screen+Shot+2021-08-28+at+10.40.49+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="620" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DD91TTYvlHpJgjv3VyGGBUkcnRvcXmp2He_-x4MpoEgWXEaR2VfRBCDS86T7sv2z2KHHVN5qAMELY40KFKDygId70og7kCU3GOkzXOLlXLJ5_liZRtOTtdz3m8I0yughnOflxuUj_boz/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-08-28+at+10.40.49+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who is this potoo looking at?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>The potoo's final attribute that gives it game-set-match is its haunting call. Watch this video. The entire video is quite cool, but if you just want the call, go to <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtjFG16ADZQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZtjFG16ADZQ"></iframe></div> <p></p><p>Do you have a better choice for weirdest living creature. Let me know in the comments. </p><p>This article is sponsored by Bill Rayman of Homeowners First Mortgage. If you are looking for solid direction and advice regarding your mortgage, whether for a new property or a refinance in California, you should call Bill. He has mortgage products, especially for Jumbo loans, that few other lenders offer. Call now:<span style="color: #444444;"> <b><span style="color: red;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.05em;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">(310) 453-4016</span></span></span></b></span></p><p> Created by RandyKirk & Associates - See our website at http://FreeBusinessHelpNow.com <br /></p><p></p>Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-56027632735780586802014-06-18T18:48:00.000-07:002014-06-18T18:48:02.272-07:004000+ Page Views per Month on Your Blog - Every Time<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizE1hVLfNES7Dc1YtAXC8qtnbzXFi-qgEBEGsZu_qNu4H5fC0ZBAxi6YoMCI496BlYdz87Rn7vwi7b6MdQJPb3qHa2QNgxicsANV5PCpwAAMafj4MZOrZvSwGoAXTm1880mK8GCtoSI5Ng/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-18+at+6.30.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizE1hVLfNES7Dc1YtAXC8qtnbzXFi-qgEBEGsZu_qNu4H5fC0ZBAxi6YoMCI496BlYdz87Rn7vwi7b6MdQJPb3qHa2QNgxicsANV5PCpwAAMafj4MZOrZvSwGoAXTm1880mK8GCtoSI5Ng/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-18+at+6.30.52+PM.png" height="142" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">We Can Do This and More for Less than You Can Imagine</span></h2>
We have developed a perfectly legal, white hat method for dramatically increasing traffic to your blog, and or starting a blog and building it to 4000 or more page views per month in a short period of time. Moreover, the blog we create or add to for your benefit will be building up a huge number of posts that will continue to create visibility for your company, product, or organization for years into the future.<br />
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Our approach will utilize creation of high quality blog posts by our staff of professional writers along with social media activity that will generate visibility over and above the 4000 or more page views on your blog. The blog posts, the high activity on the blog, and the massive social media effort will also help your website and other media to get better online rankings. <br />
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We will be more than happy to show you example after example of blogs that are already hitting 4000 or more page views per month or as above, far, far, more. <br />
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Marketing experts are very clear on the huge benefits of blogs, but a blog that is getting 10 page views or so per day is not going to be much help. But 48,000 or 100,000 page views per year will clearly add to your bottom line.<br />
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Give us a call and we can discuss your business opportunities in a free 30 minute consultation. Ask for Randy at 310-910-1848.<br />
<br />Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-59419440586680360182014-06-11T14:39:00.000-07:002014-06-11T14:39:32.876-07:00Google Places Changes Name to Google My Business - See New Blog, Too!<h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyw_V1B7CM6EtQKR0qLWzM5rsTNYvvBpjjHtsbgmRqWBSxiUFR_n3RzfuZq8e9FPH5nTtcxM21Md6Nl_DkbgmSd9epOBAD-D4N-A_idWyZ_LapCTauQ7f77xfPWIEWCdJnp55eELggJPy/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-11+at+11.41.58+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyw_V1B7CM6EtQKR0qLWzM5rsTNYvvBpjjHtsbgmRqWBSxiUFR_n3RzfuZq8e9FPH5nTtcxM21Md6Nl_DkbgmSd9epOBAD-D4N-A_idWyZ_LapCTauQ7f77xfPWIEWCdJnp55eELggJPy/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-11+at+11.41.58+AM.png" height="194" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://googlemybusinesshelp.blogspot.com/">Google My Business</a> is a really good name. </span></h2>
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And the new dashboard that Google is offering with the new branding is better by a lot than their earlier offerings. So, I have decided that it makes no sense to continue to use this blog to advise you on how to optimize the Google local business directory when the brand of this blog is two names out of date. The content here is very much still correct for use at Google My Business. So you will still want to get lots of citations, use the same NAP everywhere, and fill out the profile completely and within the guidelines.<br />
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You will still want to generate great and lots of reviews. And there are still techniques for getting your business to show up highly ranked. Over the next few weeks, I will rewrite the posts found here on http://GoogleMyBusinessHelp.blogspot.com that are relevant, and update them with more current information.<br />
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The new blog will also give you massive amounts of additional resources to check out. I will list any and all of the various top gurus who I have come to trust.<br />
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Thanks to you who have subscribed here and made this site successful. May I recommend that you join me again at the new place. You might also enjoy following others of my writing at these blogs:<br />
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http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com<br />
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http://ideaplace.blogspot.com<br />
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http://7Christians.blogspot.com <br />
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<br />Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-9899821778114906642014-02-20T15:01:00.000-08:002014-02-20T15:01:38.302-08:00Google Places Changes the Game with One Descriptor Word in Name or Title ALLOWED!<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">What does this really mean to millions of small businesses on Google Places?!?</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have been largely missing from my own blog for the last six months or more. That is basically because Google has been in so much flux with Google Place, Maps, Plus, algo changes, and even changes to providing tracking on keyword success, that I felt anything I said on one day might be wrong the next day. In point of fact, most of what is on this blog right now is still the best practice. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now Google has changed a major aspect of the way that you Name your business. The Title of your Page, which is the same as the Name of your business, has, until now, had a requiarement that it be the exact name of your business. It should be the name on your corporate charter, your dba, your business card, your sign outside. You will find many places on this blog where I have recommended that you go ahead and add one additional word to your name if your name was not descriptive. So, if your name is Joe's, go ahead and add Restaurant or Pizza or Seattle. But my advice was, only add one word. Moreover, I had suggested that it would be better to change the name of the business legally, and that way you could be Joe's Seattle Pizza Restaurant. It was my analysis that Google was never going to catch you or ban you for one extra word. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Moreover, I stated in several places that this Name or Title with the extra word should be the same everywhere on the internet. You need the NAP (Name address and Phone) to be consistent anywhere it is found on directories, blogs, websites, etc.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Google has now announced a change in their Title policy allowing that extra word. Maybe they read my blog. You can add the word without chaning your name legally. The fact this has gone from tacitly to specifically legal may result in some issue of spam. However, I think the decision is correct. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Be sure that if you change your name on Google Places, Maps, or Plus, that you change it everywhere. You still need that consistency throughout the web. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">My consulting business on these issues has the maximum number of clients that we will handle, but if you need help and don't mind being on a waiting list, please contact me at 310-910-1848. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span>Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-43837815338451013262013-06-29T11:00:00.000-07:002013-06-29T11:00:15.271-07:00New at Linkedin! Find Out Who Viewed Your Linkedin Profile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWVRtPPh5Y4QMOeT11FQcm9aXllJhsqfiiQDKdw-tiDtZiemuqpfT5-mCYOdhjTWNNnMmPMuRyEACSI0FjpJr3R38UFnYIzeLgKYp5cg_diLDJ2NY6i1H8y6y1lcQTc3_65ZEu-RVhhZG/s321/Screen+Shot+2013-06-29+at+10.47.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWVRtPPh5Y4QMOeT11FQcm9aXllJhsqfiiQDKdw-tiDtZiemuqpfT5-mCYOdhjTWNNnMmPMuRyEACSI0FjpJr3R38UFnYIzeLgKYp5cg_diLDJ2NY6i1H8y6y1lcQTc3_65ZEu-RVhhZG/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-06-29+at+10.47.07+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Find Out Who Is Checking You Out. Might Be a Potential Customer, Employee, or Supplier</span></h2>
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So, a hat tip to one of my favorite online resources, <a href="http://socialmedicaexaminar.com/">SocialMediaExaminar.com</a> . They posted that Linkedin has added a free feature to their tools to help you make more money. You are now able to see the details of who has been looking at your profile. <br />
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I immediately jumped on this. You kind of feel like a spy. So right away I see that a competitor of one of my new clients was checking me out. Not sure how he knew I was now doing marketing consultation work for a <a href="http://brightstarcare.com/jupiter">home care service in Jupiter, FL</a>, just know that he checked out my credentials. <br />
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It was nice to see that a couple of potential clients were also reviewing me. I had sent out an email to 2400 bike shops around the US. This is my primary vertical with 40% of my clients being bicycle retailers. So there were several from the list who had taken the extra step of reviewing my profile.<br />
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There were also the obvious ones. I had sent out some invitations to connect. I saw a few of those had potentially scratched their head, "Do I know this guy?" or "I see we have a lot of shared connections, but who the heck is he?"<br />
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I did see a few folks that potentially might want to sell me something. While most of us are not that excited to have more sale people calling on us, sometimes that could be an important line or needed service. <br />
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This service at Linkedin used to be something you paid for. At least for now, it is free to use. Maybe they want to get you hooked and then pull it away again. I'd say, take the risk. Go to your Linkedin home page. Over on the right hand side you'll see "Whose viewed Your Profile." And you also see the option to "see more." When you click on the "see more," you'll go to a page with 90 days worth of who has been checking you out. There are also some nice analytics for you to evaluate. Things like keywords that led to folks seeing you in Linkedin Search. <br />
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If you are in need of a marketing consultant to help you grow your business in sales and profits, please give a call. We are a boutique company and handle only 20 clients at a time. As of June 29, we are sold out, but are taking a waiting list. Call now at 310-910-1848. <br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-39832592221021972602013-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:002013-06-10T06:30:03.459-07:007 Steps to Blogging Perfection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQGaBEFSyeiRm_otoH8cUIpnPgv51nabqn1I3E_6gTEQIo2V5nM73Vk26Ke26s9mk_hWpZNLsXPqTDA07TmrHC6aQP5eZ1O4O0Nmw0rQeBKFul5_8u_SsVXd7GJsXM71MjRyNsmolllmL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-06-08+at+1.39.44+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQGaBEFSyeiRm_otoH8cUIpnPgv51nabqn1I3E_6gTEQIo2V5nM73Vk26Ke26s9mk_hWpZNLsXPqTDA07TmrHC6aQP5eZ1O4O0Nmw0rQeBKFul5_8u_SsVXd7GJsXM71MjRyNsmolllmL/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-06-08+at+1.39.44+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From 150 a month to 2000 per month by doing these steps</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">200 Page Views a Day Is Possible if You Follow This 7 Step Approach</span></h2>
<br />
Here is is. This is really all you need. If you have any questions, post them in the comments on this page or any of the posts in this list. There is no cost to any of this. You won't find anything for sale except my services if you want them. You can call anytime. I answer the phone. <br />
<br />
1. See my post here on the <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/9-critical-elements-to-new-2013-perfect.html">perfect blog post</a><br />
2. See my post here on <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/web-content-does-size-matter-400-words.html">how long a post should be</a><br />
3. See my post here on <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-write-titles-that-sells-your.html">how to write titles for blog posts</a><br />
4. See my post here on <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/04/riviting-images-create-traffic.html">the use of images on blog posts </a><br />
5. See my post here on <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/05/9-social-media-methods-to-increase-blog.html">using social media to promote your blog posts </a><br />
6.
Be certain to use most recent posts, most popular posts, and
recommended posts in the columns and under the post in order to keep
people on your blog.<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">7. Then see my post on <a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2013/05/twitter-is-broadcast-media.html">how to use Twitter as a broadcast media</a> </span>Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-50998687509137298572013-06-06T13:14:00.000-07:002013-06-06T13:14:55.438-07:00Social Media Examinar Looks at Linkedin Contacts - They LOVE IT!<h1>
How to Use the LinkedIn Contacts Feature</h1>
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Faithful readers, it is the rare day when I just step aside and let someone else have the floor. I can't improve on the following. And if you do a lot of social media and you are not currently receiving emails from these guys at http://SocialMediaExaminar.com , you should be. </div>
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By <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/author/linda-coles/" rel="author" title="Posts by Linda Coles">Linda Coles</a><br />Published <span class="datetime">June 6, 2013 </span><a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-linkedin-contacts/%3Chttp://www.printfriendly.com%3Ehttp://www.printfriendly.com" title="Printer Friendly"><img alt="Printer-Friendly" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/images/print-button.gif" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/category/how-to/" target="_blank"><img alt="social media how to" class="alignright" height="166" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/images/how-to-pose.png" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="social media how to" width="190" /></a>Are you looking for a smarter way to stay in touch with your most important business relationships?<br />
What if you could store all of your contacts in one place?<br />
Well now you can with LinkedIn Contacts.<br />
In this article, you’ll <strong>discover how LinkedIn Contacts looks and take a tour through its features</strong>.<br />
<h3>
What is LinkedIn Contacts?</h3>
<a href="http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/04/25/introducing-the-new-linkedin-contacts-a-smarter-way-to-stay-in-touch-slideshow/" target="_blank">LinkedIn announced</a> the new <a href="http://contacts.linkedin.com/" target="_blank">LinkedIn Contacts</a> in April.<br />
This new feature brings together all your address books, emails and calendars, and keeps them up to date in one place.<br />
From
these sources, LinkedIn will automatically pull in the details of your
past conversations and meetings, and bring those details directly into
your contact’s profile.<br />
Contacts <strong>hasn’t been rolled out to everyone yet</strong>, so you may have to check back later or <a href="http://contacts.linkedin.com/" target="_blank">join the waitlist</a>.<br />
To see if you have this new feature, <strong>click on Contacts in the top navigation</strong>. If you’ve been given access to the new functionality, it will look like the screenshot below.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="mail sources" height="338" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-mail-sources.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
The first screen in the new LinkedIn Contacts feature.</div>
</div>
<span id="more-39420"></span><br />
<h3>
Manage Your Network With LinkedIn Contacts</h3>
From the front page of Contacts, you can easily <strong>add tags and hide or remove a connection</strong> entirely.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="contacts front page" height="175" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-remove.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
Perform relationship-management tasks right from the Contacts front page.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Sync Your Contacts and Calendars</h3>
You can <strong>sync your email contacts from inside LinkedIn</strong>,
as well as from Gmail, Google Contacts, Yahoo! Mail & Contacts,
Outlook Mail and Contacts and the iPhone Address Book. Calendars from
Google, Yahoo! and Outlook are also available for syncing. After the
initial sync, the files update once a day to keep everything current.<br />
If
you have trouble with the sync function, there’s also an option to
import everything. The thing to remember is that if you import, you will
need to do an import again at some time in the future to catch your
latest email contacts when needed.<br />
Refresh your browser and click on Contacts to start exploring.<br />
<h3>
Send Congratulations Updates</h3>
From the left-hand navigation, <strong>click on Your Day</strong> and you’ll find that it’s much easier to <strong>see who has good news to share</strong>.<br />
This section will alert you to career changes and birthdays in your network, which provides a perfect opportunity to <strong>stay in touch with a quick message</strong>.<br />
Look for the cake icon to <strong>wish people a happy birthday</strong>, and <strong>congratulate a colleague on a new position</strong> or job when you see the briefcase icon.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="stay connected" height="140" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-contacts-news.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
A great way to stay connected with friends and colleagues.</div>
</div>
<h3>
New Search Functionality</h3>
Over on the left side of your screen is the new contacts <a href="http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/03/25/linkedin-search-just-got-smarter/" target="_blank">Search functionality</a>.
There are several sorting parameters to choose from, including
Connections, Saved, Tags, Companies, Titles, Locations, Sources,
Potential Merges and Hidden.<br />
You can <strong>sort your contacts by several criteria</strong>:
where they came from, whether they were imported into LinkedIn some
time ago, by the Outlook contacts you’ve recently added and also by any
apps you may use such as <a href="http://www.cardmunch.com/" target="_blank">CardMunch</a>.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 489px;">
<img alt="sort contacts" height="300" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-contacts-.jpg" width="479" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
LinkedIn allows you to sort your contacts into several different categories.</div>
</div>
The image below shows an extra filter functionality that’s now available to <strong>sort your connections by a variety of options</strong>.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="additional categories" height="152" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-connections-variety.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
The additional LinkedIn categories help you better manage your Contacts.</div>
</div>
Click on Recent Conversation to <strong>see whom you last chatted with</strong> on LinkedIn or <strong>reconnect with someone you haven’t interacted with in some time</strong> by clicking on Lost Touch.<br />
<h3>
Map Your Connections</h3>
Do you want to <strong>meet up with potential clients in the city you are visiting</strong> next month? Or would you like to <strong>find out who’s near you today</strong>?<br />
Sometimes
you’ll want to know where your contacts are located. The Locations
option, in the left navigation of your screen, pops up a handy map that
shows you the geographic locations of your connections.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="contact location maps" height="287" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-contacts-locations-map.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
You can see where all of your LinkedIn contacts are located and zoom into a location you’re interested in.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Curate Information on a Connection’s Profile</h3>
Let’s talk about what’s new over on LinkedIn profiles.<br />
Now, when you <strong>click on the profile of your first-degree connections</strong> or people you have sent an InMail to, you’ll <strong>see more information about your past correspondence</strong> and relationship with them.<br />
There are several places to <strong>make notes and keep helpful details</strong>. What you enter is not publicly viewable, so you can <strong>write as much as you need</strong> to.<br />
The Relationship tab is especially robust.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 489px;">
<img alt="last contacted someone" height="295" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-reid-message-.jpg" width="479" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
You
can now see when you last contacted someone in your network and you can
even add notes, set a reminder and jot down other useful information.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Set Reminders to Stay Connected</h3>
Do you need some contact management help? LinkedIn now makes it easy for you to stay connected.<br />
<strong>Create a Reminder and set it to alert you</strong> in one day, one week, one month or to recur. <strong>Type in what you need to remember</strong> and <strong>choose the option that best applies</strong>.<br />
This function helps <strong>streamline tasks that are related to your connections</strong>.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 489px;">
<img alt="set reminder" height="389" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-reid-reminder.jpg" width="479" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
Set Reminders while viewing a connection’s contact profile.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Store Relationship Details</h3>
<strong>Store the details of how, when and where you met your connection</strong> and who, if anyone, introduced you.<br />
This
is especially useful when you’re following up with a new connection.
You may want to mention specific details or someone’s name that you both
have in common to help set the right context with the person you’re
contacting.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="make notes on how you met" height="264" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-reid-who-introduced-how-you-met.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
Save notes on how you met for future reference.</div>
</div>
<h3>
View Your Messages</h3>
LinkedIn Contacts makes it easy to <strong>manage your networking activities</strong>.<br />
If you’ve exchanged messages or an <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/tag/linkedin-contacts/" target="_blank">InMail</a>
with a connection, a copy of the first few sentences of the latest
conversation will be on display to refresh your memory. Click on the
subject line to read the whole message.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="past message" height="154" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-reid-inmail.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
Past messages are accessible directly from the Relationship tab.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Share Your Calendar for Better Event Networking</h3>
When
you import or sync your calendars, shared calendar events are also
shown. The image below shows a Rotary Changeover event that both my
connection and I are attending. It’s easy for me to <strong>use this information to create a Reminder</strong> to find him at the event.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 490px;">
<img alt="calendar" height="127" src="http://cdn.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lc-calender.jpg" width="480" /><div class="wp-caption-text">
Sharing
your calendars enables LinkedIn to show you when other connections are
attending the same event. Note the options to create a reminder and add
useful notes.</div>
</div>
It’s interesting to note that in the image
above, the tags are clearly labeled along the top but they were not on
his profile. This is because this is a second-degree connection.<br />
<h3>
Go Mobile</h3>
You can also stay connected on the go. LinkedIn Contacts is available as a standalone <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linkedin-contacts/id635424128?mt=8" target="_blank">app for iPhone</a> for U.S. users, so you can <strong>stay in touch with your contacts wherever you work</strong>.<br />
With all of these new features, you might want to <strong>expand your LinkedIn marketing tactics</strong> and <strong>take full advantage of them thanks to the mobile option</strong>.<br />
<strong>Your Turn</strong><br />
The new <a href="http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/36951" target="_blank">Contacts feature from LinkedIn</a> creates an easy-to-manage, all-in-one interface for your email databases and LinkedIn connections.<br />
Will this become your contact management tool of preference?<br />
<strong>What do you think? Have you tried using Contacts yet? What do you find most helpful? What else would you like LinkedIn to add?</strong> Leave your questions and comments in the box below.Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-33489770012527756522013-05-28T06:30:00.000-07:002013-06-08T13:56:30.361-07:00Advanced Linkedin Tutorial - How to Prospect Using Linkedin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9roRtdCQtu-2fGYPIsqgPYgxrGf5pCf12kex5mbejJbtgtOf6ug1om8VKApaemTmi90-nO045CUb3d8l7G7r6WkE__W6E9aIoky-gQtGT83UHkN_zUu8Qvz636qJ_WwisLAmaa4OzF4i/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-26+at+10.15.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9roRtdCQtu-2fGYPIsqgPYgxrGf5pCf12kex5mbejJbtgtOf6ug1om8VKApaemTmi90-nO045CUb3d8l7G7r6WkE__W6E9aIoky-gQtGT83UHkN_zUu8Qvz636qJ_WwisLAmaa4OzF4i/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-26+at+10.15.46+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2>
Use Linkedin Advanced Search to Add High Quality Prospects to Your Connections</h2>
<br />
In the "olden" days, prospecting was a painful experience. When you decided to start doing business in a new industry, community, or level of trade, you didn't have any idea who the players were. You could buy lists, but that didn't give you much additional information about the prospects. It certainly didn't provide you with any better way to connect. You could use the list to call or send a mailing. But that meant 2% responses on mailings or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_calling" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Cold calling">cold calling</a> prospects and listening to endless answering machines.<br />
<br />
All that has changed with Linkedin. Say that I decide to expand my marketing consulting business to include a new vertical. I have been very successful with my one and only <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage_broker" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mortgage broker">mortgage broker</a>, so I decide to get more mortgage broker clients. I could still call <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.infogroup.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Infogroup">Info USA</a> and get a national or regional list. I could go online and search for mortgage brokers and start looking at websites. I could look for mortgage broker lists online. Or I could go to the advanced search option on Linkedin.<br />
<br />
With the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Web search engine">search engine</a> on Linkedin, I am tangentially connected to over 200,000,000 professionals who have at least some kind of listing and profile. The more sophisticated the individual, the more likely that their profile will provide you with all kinds of useful information. It can help you determine if they are a prospect, and whether they are the right person to call in the company. But with the free service you can also read the details of profiles of all 2nd level connections, including their biography, schools attended, previous work history, recommendations of others, and get an idea of how successful they are. <br />
<br />
But what if you don't have many connections, so have only limited 2nd level connections? Increase your connections. Adding more 1st level connections results in an exponential growth in 2nd level connections. I would advise trying to immediately move towards 500+ connections if you aren't already there. <b><a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-get-500-connections-on-linkedin.html">Other posts</a></b> explain how to get to that number over a month or so. You can elect to pay the nominal fee and see all profiles.<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Using Inmail to Make an Initial Contact with a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Marketing">Prospect</a></h3>
<br />
You can send anyone an inmail to start the conversation rolling. You are limited to 10 per month on the first level paid service. Inmail is a Linkedin mail service that doesn't disclose your prospects email. The open rate for these kinds of emails is a staggering 40%. I bet cold calling doesn't get you that kind of result. Of course, the prospect can still ignore your email, but the response rate is also amazingly high on Inmail.<br />
<br />
Keep your first email very casual like a first meeting at a party. Save the selling for later. Keep in mind that almost all of the prospects that receive this inmail are likely to check out your profile. Therefore you need to make sure that the profile is a "selling machine." See our earlier posts on how to<b><a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-set-up-profile-on-linked-in-to.html"> create a great LinkedIn profile</a></b><br />
<br />
To use the advanced search I merely insert any keywords that I like, such as mortgage broker. Then I can modify the search by many potential criteria such as their Title (Owner, President, CEO, Manager). If I really want to drill down on criteria, I will have to pay Linkedin a modest monthly fee. But for free, I can look at a defined geographic area, limit the search to various levels of connections, and call out the industry they are in (e.g. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Financial_Services" rel="wikinvest" target="_blank" title="Financial Services">Financial Services</a>).<br />
<br />
Keep in mind that the keyword does NOT have to identify a profession, but can be anything that might show up in the profile. So if you are a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_photography" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Wedding photography">wedding photographer</a> and you are hoping to connect with other wedding professionals in your area, you can just type in the keyword wedding. Up will pop wedding planners, wedding cake decorators, wedding ring retailers, etc. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Setting Up a Continuing Alert for Prospects on Linkedin's Automatic Search Alert</h3>
<br />
Once you find a good set of criteria that is delivering relevant prospects, you can warehouse these by saving them. You can have 3 saved searches for free. Now, by paying the upgrade monthly fee you can not only save more groups of prospects, but you can also set up the Automatic Search Alert. With this system, Linkedin will send you a notice if anyone is added to Linkedin that meets your requirements. In my case, any time a new mortgage broker listed himself with that keyword on Linkedin I would get a notice.<br />
<br />
Another way to use the Search capability is to surround the wagons. I have a client who wants to do business with several large customers. They have many buyers, sales managers, vice presidents, and field reps who might have a say in the decision to carry his products. By adding one member of that organization, I will now have 2nd degree connections to many of the others. By adding a few of those, I'll probably have most of the sales staff and also purchasing. As I add each one, others who I invite to connect will see that we have many connections in common, making their decision to connect easier. <br />
<br />
Once I have a large number on board, I can start to inmail them to build up my case from the bottom up. I might do this through polling them on subjects related or even unrelated to my product line. Or I might just chat them up about people we know in common. By looking at profiles I will also know a lot about them. When appropriate I can start to make the case of my product. <br />
<br />
Help us help others. How are you using the Linkedin Search to prospect for clients? <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-80360272033824788802013-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-20T07:00:03.686-07:00My Los Angeles Mortgage Broker Thinks I'm a Genius - That's One!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKJYhxbWx8ovm8JvjwGpqVjjcqZn4-1VUkVidTQv86wYP8KrhJhQSNDSMGoT5F1x0TXFDOzFzyYeF_ROQOiso32zH0ZbDIW4kebXGkvtJYHFacOfYj-bP5Fi_jFK17cJNEaqHG-GWR8Pm/s1600/Bill+Rayman+30+lr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKJYhxbWx8ovm8JvjwGpqVjjcqZn4-1VUkVidTQv86wYP8KrhJhQSNDSMGoT5F1x0TXFDOzFzyYeF_ROQOiso32zH0ZbDIW4kebXGkvtJYHFacOfYj-bP5Fi_jFK17cJNEaqHG-GWR8Pm/s320/Bill+Rayman+30+lr.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Rayman does mortgages in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.05,-118.25&spn=0.1,0.1&q=34.05,-118.25%20(Los%20Angeles)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Los Angeles">Los Angles</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
But the Same Client Wishes I Was a Genius on <a href="http://mortgagehelplosangeles.com/">Mortgage Los Angeles</a>, Too!</h2>
<br />
I am just a little guy. Small time Randy. Usually 20 - 25 clients at any given time. And the largest is only $10m in sales. Most are under $1m. The goal of my tiny enterprise is to help each of them get their sales and profits increased to their hearts content, and I think I've done that for Bill Rayman. <br />
<br />
Bill is another little guy. He does <a href="http://blog.mortgagehelplosangeles.com/">mortgages in Los Angeles</a>. He is an independent, but puts most of the loans through Mortgage Capital Partners. He has one or two assistants, depending on the market at any given time. But he is one of the busiest <a href="http://mortgagehelplosangeles.com/">mortgage brokers in the Los Angeles</a> office of Mortgage Capital Partners. <br />
<br />
Other than the fact that he is a brilliant guy, (degrees from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.3111111111,-72.9266666667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=41.3111111111,-72.9266666667%20(Yale%20University)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Yale University">Yale</a> and Wharton Business), he would be the first to tell you that a bunch of his current success is due to his position on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google</a> Places (aka Google Maps, Google+ Local). He is number 2 on the general search for <a href="http://blog.mortgagehelplosangeles.com/">Mortgage Broker Los Angeles</a>. He sent me an email the other day to tell me that I was a genius. Something about a major <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loan" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Loan">loan application</a> that he picked up that day which came directly from that ranking on Google Places. <br />
<br />
But try as I might, I haven't been such an amazing magician when it comes to the even more valuable <b>mortgage Los Angeles</b>. Bill is currently ranked around 16 for that keyword and that has been the case for a long time. So I thought I would do a little thinking out loud while I make a list for you of next steps to get this other keyword.<br />
<br />
1. Website - How is his website doing? Not nearly as well as Places. That is not unusual. Google doesn't like to give prized positions to both your website and Places. But I think the first thing I'm going to do is try and up the game on the website. Better Title Tag. More keywords on home page. Maybe be sure that the primary keywords are linked to solid inside pages or blog posts. <br />
<br />
2. Backlinks - Bill has been in the news a lot lately. He was on a local radio show and Yahoo home interviewed him. Maybe I can leverage those appearance into some guest blogging to create backlinks on high ranking and relevant blogs. Keep in mind, they need to be relevant, not merely high ranking. Zillow or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://trulia.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Trulia">Trulia</a> would be good.<br />
<br />
3. Citations - I generally add about 10 citations a month. Maybe the citations could be very pointedly relating to mortgages, as opposed to mortgage broker for the next couple of months. <br />
<br />
4. Reviews - No question he needs more reviews on Google+. I also think I will see if those reviewers could specifically say something like, "In <a href="http://www.mortgagehelplosangeles.com/faqs.html">Los Angeles, Mortgages</a> were hard to get, but . . ."<br />
5. Don't - I want to make sure that nothing I do hurts that other ranking. So only add to, don't subtract from any references to Mortgage Broker Los Angeles. <br />
<br />
There is my Todo list. Would you have any thoughts to add to that? I'm totally open for anything that might move this effort forward. <br />
<br />
Bill's website is http://mortgagehelplosangeles, and you can reach him at:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="width: 500px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="center"><span class="maintext3">Bill Rayman</span><br />
<span class="maintext2"><a href="mailto:brayman@mortgcap.com" style="color: black;">brayman@mortgcap.com</a><br />
phone: 310-295-6213<br />
fax: 310-481-2087</span></td><td align="center"><br /> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#285562">
<td align="center" bgcolor="#E9F2F5" class="maintext">
12400 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 900<br />
Los Angeles, CA 90025
<br />License #01780076</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=6529a422-5ee1-46e5-845d-e2ce7c12ca54" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>
Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-15085842362319693342013-05-18T14:03:00.000-07:002013-05-18T14:09:25.135-07:008 Basic Rules for Local SEO - Keywords and Backlinks for Miami Criminal Lawyer<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPcutXIX5ljoAhzWIVk5DxwdQM7JUMb2mahn2E_W86xjB8FHwC9H82QhZUHoWAi7UvARHdg0t8bhkduxrcGnQksNUtORWo2n6ppvdk4pmeUqFEgYgYVHsYmUEn9zBQSWXNh4QcnU1Vk2T/s1600/Eric+Kay+profile+picture.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPcutXIX5ljoAhzWIVk5DxwdQM7JUMb2mahn2E_W86xjB8FHwC9H82QhZUHoWAi7UvARHdg0t8bhkduxrcGnQksNUtORWo2n6ppvdk4pmeUqFEgYgYVHsYmUEn9zBQSWXNh4QcnU1Vk2T/s320/Eric+Kay+profile+picture.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric A. Kay, Criminal Attorney in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=25.7877777778,-80.2241666667&spn=0.1,0.1&q=25.7877777778,-80.2241666667%20(Miami)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Miami">Miami</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<h2>
<a href="http://attorneysmiami-fl.com/">Miami Criminal Lawyer</a> Ranking Gives Local SEO Consultant Heart Burn</h2>
<br />
Do you just love a challenge? I sometimes think that ranking Miami Criminal Lawyer for both the website and the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google</a> Places listing might be the ultimate test of SEO smarts. I recently built a website for one of my clients at http://attorneysMiami-Fl.com . It isn't as old or as big or have as many backlinks as dozens of other Miami Criminal Attorneys, so I'm holding my breath waiting to see if I can move up in the ranks. <br />
<br />
Here are the basic rules I live by for writing online content in order to generated views and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlink" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Backlink">back links</a> in 2013 that haven't changed:<br />
<br />
Rule #1 - Headlines and content should be written for the viewer, not Google.<br />
Rule #2 - Rewrite for back links without compromising the quality of the writing. <br />
<br />
Both of these rules will please the Google Beast. You must first feed
it strong, healthy food, then you can add in the Extreme Moose Tracks.
For a while in 2010 - 2012, this was not necessarily the case. You
could write, "spell article by criminal lawyer in Miami attorney for criminal law
around special patterns," and hyperlink Criminal Lawyer in Miami to their home
page. Then you would merely place this sentence in an article, press
release, forum, and/or "guest blog," and Google was giving the links credit.<br />
<br />
But algorithm changes <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Panda" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Google Panda">Panda</a>,
Penguin, and assorted others changed everything in early 2012, and today this same practice might actually
cause the beast to eat you. There are some new rules in 2013.<br />
<br />
Rule #3 - Don't overuse the same exact keyword from the same source.
We used to believe that you just needed to keep the total use of a
keywords under 5% of the total on the page (or some other percent
depending on which guru you were reading). Now you can lose the value
of keywords or even get negative attention if the keyword is overused
even in the same website or blog.<br />
<br />
Rule #4 - Solve the overuse problem by using synonyms. Google wants you
to write naturally, and knows that good writers don't use the same
words over and over. A good writer will say that, "The <a href="http://attorneys.miami-fl.com/">Miami criminal lawyer</a> was noted for having one the hat trick award while working for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.124354,-80.249503&spn=1.0,1.0&q=26.124354,-80.249503%20(Broward%20County%2C%20Florida)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Broward County, Florida">Broward County</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_defender" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Public defender">Public Defender's office</a>. The<a href="http://blog.attorneysmiami-fl.com/"> Miami based Criminal Law Attorney</a> now provides a website that gives South Florida residents a place where they can understand if and when the need an attorney for a traffic ticket, DUI, possession, or felony murder case.<br />
<br />
Rule #5 - You will note in the above rule #4, that each link is to a
different URL that the dealer hopes to help to rank. In this case, one
is to the website and the other is to the blog. It would be easy to
also point out that,"The <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/erickaylaw/">Law Offices of Eric A. Kay, P.A. </a> has an active presence on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/erickaylaw/">Linkedin</a> and provides updates to those who are connected on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
Rule #6 - Google also knows that good writers will commonly provide a
"natural" url instead of a hyperlink. So they like to see variations in
this theme as well. "Another way that <a href="https://www.hgilbertlaw.com/criminal_defense_attorney.php">Miami criminal attorney</a>, Eric Kay helps clients and potential clients is through an
extensive blog designed to help consumers understand legal
issues. The blog is available at http://blog.attorneysmiami-fl.com<br />
<br />
Rule #7 - I also changed the URL for this blog to have /Miami-criminal-lawyer
appear first in the internal page portion of the URL. Google looks at
URL's, and believes that what you put in the URL is what is most
important to you. <br />
<br />
Rule #8 - I created a "Search Description" which is the equivalent in
Blogger for the description tag. This tag should be written as a teaser
and have 140 characters or less. <br />
<br />
The blog post above provided my client with 5 back links to 4 different
URL's with 3 different keywords. And you'll also note that one of the
links was in the H1 headline. The article sounds perfectly normal, not
jammed with inappropriate or weird sentences designed to merely spam.<br />
<br />
What would you add to this analysis? Are there other techniques that
you are currently using to provide great content, but that also benefit
your sites with links?<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-17695227970454870672013-05-13T20:24:00.000-07:002013-05-15T20:54:47.978-07:0040 Marketing Fundamentals That Will Make You Successful <h2>
40 Free Chapters in New Marketing Book Available Now!</h2>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<h4>
<b>Following is the introduction to a book that I am writing online.
The first 40 chapters out of 101 are linked below. By the time you've
read those 40, I should have at least another 10 ready for you.
Subscribe so you are kept up to date.</b></h4>
<h4>
<b> </b></h4>
<h3>
<b>The Top Ten Marketing Fundamentals According to the Serial Marketer</b></h3>
<h3>
<b> </b></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS8IiF8ppOMLZl-zfSeecjKhtpNdog_jVguSFsYSrMWphOTSLJOlc0OGtTa_slEIysQAjo0KKgIMnaFzCHtVHaU1ZkKTf93vE2VKCktcjnZjr7G-wizfiANmg2fus_wKVA18ILX3aRQE/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS8IiF8ppOMLZl-zfSeecjKhtpNdog_jVguSFsYSrMWphOTSLJOlc0OGtTa_slEIysQAjo0KKgIMnaFzCHtVHaU1ZkKTf93vE2VKCktcjnZjr7G-wizfiANmg2fus_wKVA18ILX3aRQE/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" /></a><b>The Project</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Several months ago I set out to create my seminal book up to this time.
In 1998 I updated When Friday Isn't Payday, a book that attempted to
take a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Business">business owner</a> or even a potential business owner through every
phase of a start up or take over from the conception of the idea to the
eventual sale or passing off to family or employees.<br />
<br />
The book is available dirt cheap on Amazon used, or you can buy a brand
spanking new copy for a little bit more money. Heads up: the internet
portions are a bit outdated. However, that means the other almost 300
pages are evergreen. Warner Books believed in those 300 pages in 1993 and gave them new life in 2008. Inc Magazine said it was one of the top three small business books published in 1993. The new title is<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Running-21st-Century-Small-Business-Starting/dp/B000WCNUEE/ref=rec_dp_0"><b> Running a 21st Century Small Business</b></a>. There are tons of reviews if you care to check it out.<br />
<br />
In late 2011, I completed my 4th in a series of books for the bicycle
industry, called Principles of Bicycle Retailing for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Internet">Internet</a> Age.
There are only a few copies left at $50 each. The content works for
virtually any retailer. <b><a href="http://bikeshopowner.com/">You can buy that here.</a></b><br />
<br />
Now I wanted to kick it up a notch. I've started and owned or co-owned
33 businesses in a variety of industries. But I don't want to bore you
with all that. If you're interested, check out <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2005/11/i-have-deal-for-you.html">my bio</a>.
In the last five years I have worked with another 250 businesses for
anywhere from a few months to the entire five years as a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Marketing">marketing
consultant</a>. The die had been cast.<br />
<br />
The seminal book is to be called something like 101 Marketing
Fundamentals According to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Entrepreneur">Serial Entrepreneur</a>. The title is a work
in progress, and if you are great at titles, give me your best idea in
the comments. I'll reward you with something if I use it. No promises.
It will be any more than a signed copy of the book.<br />
<br />
Or books. There is a chance I will release this as 5 books or 10
books. Short <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="E-book">eBooks</a> covering various aspects of the marketing
equations. I have written 35 of the chapters and they are interspersed
here in this blog. I might take them down when I finish. I might not.
Not sure.<br />
<br />
I am in the process of rewriting the first ten chapters. They are
linked below. Depending on what day you follow the links, you may get
the first draft or the latest update. But know this, it is all free,
and no obligation. I've been blessed in my life with great mentors and
I'm happy to pass along any wisdom that I might have gained. You may
not think it is great wisdom. Happy to have you express your opinion in
the comments of any of these chapters. I'm not nearly too old to
learn.<br />
<br />
So have at it. Here are the first ten chapters. And these are in
order of importance. After the first 10 chapters, the tend to fall in
groups.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: yellow;">Auto Tweet this</span></b><br />
<b><a href="http://clicktotweet.com/Mc3mH">The Top 10 Marketing Fundamentals According to the Serial Entrepreneur and Biz Book Author Randy Kirk</a></b><br />
<br />
<b>1. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/07/101-marketing-secrets-whoops-starting.html">Setting Goals Is The Number 1 Marketing Fundamental by a Landslide</a> </b><br />
<br />
<b>2. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/02/business-strategies-vs-goals-why-you.html">Strategies Are What Make Goals Come Alive</a></b><br />
<b> <br />3. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/101-marketing-secrets-3-tactics-are.html"> Tactics Are the Third Leg in an effective Business Plan </a></b><br />
<b><br />4. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/07/101-marketing-secrets-from-serial.html">What is Profit - How Do I Make More of That?</a></b><br />
<b><br />5. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-make-huge-profits-by-buying.html"> Cost of Goods and Overhead Can Make or Break You </a></b><br />
<b><br />6. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/03/seven-salesman-traits-you-should-look.html">Nothing Happens Until Something Is Sold </a></b><br />
<b><br />7. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/customer-service-ranks-7-on-101.html">Customer Service and the Ultimate Question</a> </b><br />
<b><br />8. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/business-reputation-takes-8th-place-in.html">Business Reputation Online and Off</a> </b><br />
<b><br />9. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/03/hire-train-motivate-best-people-9101.html">Hire, Train, and Motivate the Best People </a></b><br />
<b><br />10. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-quality-decision-is-10101-marketing.html"> The Quality Decision </a> </b><br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
10 Marketing Secrets: How Do You Establish An Image For Your Small Business? Chapters 11-20</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
Let's all be honest. We did not sit down when we started our small
business and plan all the details of our image. I have started 33
businesses, and I have not followed my own advice on this subject more
than a few times. You may have become very successful without paying
attention to any, some, or all of the items on this list. But I daresay
that if you even scan over this list, you will agree that analyzing
these items and proactively making decisions about the image issues
listed will have a positive effect on your potential.<br />
<br />
It is never too late. You can start tomorrow. Each of these items is
linked to a blog post that gives the details for the headline. <br />
<br />
<br />
11. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/selecting-your-market-niche-is.html">The Niche Your Company Occupies</a><br />
12. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/identify-your-ideal-customer-is-13101.html">The Branding of Your Company</a><br />
13. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-determine-your-territory-13100.html"> The Territory Your Company Seeks to Sell Into</a><br />
14. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/identify-your-ideal-customer-is-13101.html">The Demographic of Your Client Base</a><br />
15. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/project-your-personality-is-marketing.html">The Expression of Your Personality as Projected onto Your Company</a><br />
16. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/small-business-marketing-secrets-16.html">Your Logo, Colors, and Slogan and the Impression They Make</a><br />
17. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/street-view-matters-is-17-out-of-101.html">The Street View of Your Business</a><br />
18. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/your-brands-brand-you-marketing-secret.html">The Brands you Carry Effect Your Company Brand </a><br />
19. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/online-personality-is-that-you-19101.html"> Online Personality Commonly Doesn't Reflect Your Business</a><br />
20. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-do-you-answer-phone-marketing.html">The Way You Answer the Phone Is Part of Marketing</a><br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
Marketing Secrets Tutorials - Logistics Review - Key Stuff You Need to Properly Market Your Company in 2012. Chapters 21 - 30</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCF7G4aAa4NA6f4Jt22NZ4_TNPdLY0m6NOEeTPVMt2v_O1jzleT-D2exq7_DWm3RkVUXg0lVPzVO5boRMLw10gpn2_evr33ASlM_H9N2OJl2ECC0Ihmfr2beLz3RclaPfOWqZaPg0w4CA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-03+at+8.45.38+AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCF7G4aAa4NA6f4Jt22NZ4_TNPdLY0m6NOEeTPVMt2v_O1jzleT-D2exq7_DWm3RkVUXg0lVPzVO5boRMLw10gpn2_evr33ASlM_H9N2OJl2ECC0Ihmfr2beLz3RclaPfOWqZaPg0w4CA/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-09-03+at+8.45.38+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marketing Secrets: The Fundamentals of Great Marketing </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Take a quick test of your business leadership skills. How do you come out on these four?<br />
<br />
Thus far in our series of <a href="http://www.help3smallbusiness.blogspot.com/">101 Marketing Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur</a>,
we have built the case for goals, strategies, tactics and seven of our
top ten recommended logistical considerations. <br />
<br />
The seven logistical items we have covered thus far are linked below.
Are these elements controlling you or are you controlling them. Are you
proactively evaluating and planning for adequate provisions for the
battle, or are you marching into war hoping you'll find ample supplies
of critical materials, equipment, and other resources along the way?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">21. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/money-as-1-logistical-issue-marketing.html">Having enough money matters! A lot.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/suppliers-are-more-important-customers.html">22. Suppliers are more important than customers</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/facilities-critical-in-marketing.html">23. Lost our lease is more common that you think. Facilities</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/employees-as-logistic-decision.html">24. Employees are a necessary evil OR your key to long term success</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/time-as-relentless-marketing-friend-or.html">25. Time is relentless, unyielding, precious. Count it</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/human-time-and-energy-as-logistically.html">26. You and your employees have limited time and energy. Plan accordingly</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/support-of-your-family-is-logistical.html">27. Your family is a logistical consideration. Unhappy families kill businesses</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/if-you-aint-got-no-axe-you-caint-cut-no.html">28. If You Ain't Got No Axe, You Cain't Cut No Wood</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/empty-wagon-or-museum-inventory-control.html">29. Empty Wagon or Museum? - Inventory Control</a><br /><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/small-business-visibilty-has-cost-and.html">30. Small Business Visibilty Has a Cost and a Benefit That Can be Measured</a></span><br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Referrals Beat Every Other Method as a Source for New Clients, and Excellent Quality Clients at That. Chapters 31 -40</h2>
Chapter #31 I
make my living helping small businesses figure out the best way to
increase sales. My services are much more necessary for helping with
print, trade shows, packaging, new product development, blog, websites, videos, social media, and email than they are for the most effective tool in marketing for generating new business. WOM - Word of Mouth.<br />
<br />
However,
I spend huge amounts of time convincing my clients to do the very
things that will increase referrals. You can read about them throughout
this post and throughout this blog.<br />
<br />
With #31 in the series we now move to building on that
foundation with specific approaches to delivering phone calls, foot
traffic, and online activity. The goal will be to go from the most
effective for the most businesses to the least effective. Effectiveness
would be defined as those things which provide the highest return on
investment of time, energy, and cold, hard cash. <br />
<br />
There are certainly times when you will want to undertake marketing methods that have a low ROI,
but still create absolutely certain results at appropriate times.
Sometimes the ROI is not easily identified, but can only be seen over a
very long term. For our purposes, we will look only at high, immediate,
ROI as the criteria.<br />
<br />
With that introduction, we return
to the number one source of new business for almost any new business.
All the statistics show that at or above 50% of new customers are
showing up at small businesses because of this factor. My own
conversations with 1000's of companies would show the same results.
Anywhere from 50% to almost 100% of new customers are derived from word
of mouth (WOM).<br />
<br />
The interesting thing about WOM is that
most of the cost of traditional WOM is free. WOM is most commonly
driven by things like quality, customer service, and overall
experience. Achieving those three elements in a business may require
the hiring of better people, training investment, use of better
materials, and spending on fixtures and systems. Almost anyone who has
studied these kinds of business costs has come to the conclusion that
the savings from scrap, obsolescence, rework, and lost customers alone
pay for these expenses and more. That they are also responsible for
increasing sales and profits through WOM is basically icing on the cake.<br />
<br />
32. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/04/creating-effective-word-of-mouth-wom.html">Creating Effective Word of Mouth (WOM) About Your Customer Service Edge</a><br />
33. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/experiential-marketing-and-its-impact.html">Experiential Marketing</a><br />
34. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/amazing-products-and-services-create.html">Amazing Products and Services? Grade Yours! </a> <br />
35. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/amazing-follow-up-is-marketing-secret.html">Amazing Follow Up. Are Your Customers Out of Sight, Out of Mind?</a><br />
36. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/stay-in-touch-to-create-word-of-mouth.html">Stay in Touch to Create Maximum Word of Mouth</a><br />
37. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/equipping-your-clients-to-recommend-you.html">Equipping Your Clients to Recommend You Can Increase Word of Mouth</a><br />
38. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/find-influencers-in-your-community.html">Find the Influencers in Your Community to Spread Word of Mouth</a><br />
39. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/7-ways-to-thank-business-referrals.html">7 Ways to Thank Those Who Send You Business to Build WOM </a><br />
40. <a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-your-business-cultivate-customers.html">Do you Cultivate Customers, Clients, or Fans?</a><br />
<br />
Virtually
every company I have ever discussed marketing with will tell me one
minute that WOM is the number one source of new clients, but then assume
that the future will depend on the internet or some other factor. My
first thought is always, "how do we capitalize on what is already
working."<br />
<br />
Obviously, Word of Mouth is no longer only
the traditional case of one person telling another in a face-to-face or
telephone conversation. There is now an entire industry based on
internet reviews and social media that has pushed WOM into something
quite different. I will go out on a limb however, and even offer you
the chance to tell me I'm all wet. <i>Traditional WOM can provide all the potential that it always has.</i> <b>And if the company is doing what it should to create traditional WOM, the online version will do quite well</b>, thank you very much. Online WOM or WOMM will be discussed in future chapters.<br />
<br />
*****If you are finding this information valuable, please tell your
friends and associates who own small businesses. Tweet about it,
Facebook it, Linkedin it, Google+ it, and Put it up on Pinterest. <br />
<br />
Chapters 41 - 50 should be coming to you by the end of June. Maybe
sooner. The basic idea of the next 10 chapter is "Going Big."
Sometimes we get caught up in small time thinking. These are larger,
more aggressive, and more visible types of marketing effort. The rough
chapter titles for this section are:<br />
<br />
41 Call a Huge Amount of Attention to Your Company (event, contest, scavenger hunt)<br />
<br />
42 Go Where Your Customers Go <br />
<br />
43 Join Something. Anything. Ok. Almost Anything<br />
<br />
44 Do Something Wild and Crazy (price, delivery, hours)<br />
<br />
45 Give Away Gold Bars (or something else valuable)<br />
<br />
46 Make Your Mom Proud. Become a Local Celebrity (top execs or employees, too)<br />
<br />
47 Make Your Dad Proud. Become a Noted Expert (top execs or employees, too)<br />
<br />
48. Make Everybody Proud. Write a Book<br />
<br />
49 Start A New Community Event<br />
<br />
50 New Products, New Services, New Displays, New Ideas, New Categories<br />
<br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-18967455491719548442013-05-06T20:30:00.000-07:002013-05-14T19:01:09.342-07:00Linkedin In the News - Facebook for Professionals and Businesses<h2>
Linkedin Contacts and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/iphones/" rel="boostvirginphone" target="_blank" title="Iphone">iPhone</a> Contacts App Are Game <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changers" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Changers">Changers</a></h2>
<h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe-25kBdzoYZlz3KXaUXoSPE4uiAAcdD2v35RVC6baFeOggIQQu6MG6dGfGn-Q3s04hGcjKJhqXTyGyeJUMbXtibpwfq82563CLgVhInlTuUr-65F_Q-at2DpNZrypzcS62a-vVQdewyb/s1600/Linkedin+Contact+app.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe-25kBdzoYZlz3KXaUXoSPE4uiAAcdD2v35RVC6baFeOggIQQu6MG6dGfGn-Q3s04hGcjKJhqXTyGyeJUMbXtibpwfq82563CLgVhInlTuUr-65F_Q-at2DpNZrypzcS62a-vVQdewyb/s320/Linkedin+Contact+app.PNG" width="213" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhET7P0N1_RJD0Yf3UYRtSiwTTyV40gK91Tc-z3MAHNCtD9I57ozKGWCartq1iRlNYqSlOOqVGo-UCP8qzZSC2DVN3uIU41D1b7TvT-0YC-BDk_vTfgeLjd3DzSUqdLm7wVvCw86d277JSE/s1600/Linkedin+detail+app.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhET7P0N1_RJD0Yf3UYRtSiwTTyV40gK91Tc-z3MAHNCtD9I57ozKGWCartq1iRlNYqSlOOqVGo-UCP8qzZSC2DVN3uIU41D1b7TvT-0YC-BDk_vTfgeLjd3DzSUqdLm7wVvCw86d277JSE/s320/Linkedin+detail+app.PNG" width="213" /></a> </h2>
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I am a huge fan of Linkedin. And I have reported here and elsewhere that it is the most critical social media channel for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Business">business owners</a>, managers, and professionals. I said that when they had 80,000,000 users, and again when they went public with 150,000,000 users (last year), and again when the hit 200,000,000 users, and who knows where they go from here. They now have about 225,000,000 on board and with the news today about Contacts and Contacts iPhone App, the sky isn't the limit. To infinity and beyond!<br />
<br />
So what is the big deal about contacts. We all have various kinds of address books, contact lists, etc., all over the place. Well, this contact app goes a bit beyond any other. Name, address, phone, company, email, website, picture. All good. Add resume, previous work history, notes, associations, summary of current company services, their connections, and so much more.<br />
<br />
You can organize these connections by anything you care to. <b>"Linkedin! Are you listening to me? Please allow us to update to the news stream by groups like we can on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://https//plus.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google+">Google+</a>. This is a critical missing piece. Correct it and you'll own the space for a decade."</b><br />
<br />
Do you think I'm hyperventilating over nothing. Check out these articles from today.<br />
<br />
<h3 id="title">
<a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/199753/nine-out-of-ten-execs-use-linkedin.html?edition=59611#axzz2SXtnJtkc">Nine Out of Ten Execs Use LinkedIn</a></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Roughly
nine out of ten (88%) business
executives use LinkedIn “often” or “very often,” according to a survey
of 139 suits by DHR International, a corporate headhunting and
management consultancy, as reported by
BusinessNewsDaily. What’s more, 73% said that LinkedIn is their favorite
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Social network">social network</a>, leaving Facebook and Twitter in the dust. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">In
terms of frequency of use, 65% of suits surveyed said they use social
media daily, while 27% said they
use it on a weekly basis (and no more frequently). On average they spend
between 30 minutes and an hour per week on social media, with a quarter
saying they use it for between one to two hours and one
in five using it more than two hours a week. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
<h3>
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="PC World">PC World</a> had this: <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2037941/why-its-time-to-take-linkedin-seriously.html">Why it's time to take LinkedIn seriously</a></h3>
</div>
<div id="title">
<span itemprop="articleBody description text">From my nearly 700
LinkedIn connections, I tapped a slew of entrepreneurs with more than
500 connections each about how they use the platform. The consensus:
Time using LinkedIn is well-spent. Here’s what they said. <two article="" examples="" from="" the=""></two></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<span itemprop="articleBody description text"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;">"I
use LinkedIn as my online <a class="zem_slink" href="http://rolodex.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Rolodex">Rolodex</a> to keep track of my contacts and
reconnect with old colleagues. Using the advanced search functionality I
can find people with specific experience in a particular geographic
area. This has helped me find vendors, strategic alliances, as well as
suggest candidates for job openings… I like the recent ability to
customize my profile layout, embedding the slideshare widget under
appropriate positions."</span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;"><b><b><b><b>—</b></b></b>Felena Hanson, founder of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.715,-117.1625&spn=0.1,0.1&q=32.715,-117.1625%20(San%20Diego)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="San Diego">San Diego</a> co-working space <a href="http://herahub.com/">HeraHub</a></b></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;">"LinkedIn is
essential to my business. We use the information to determine how to
target our business development efforts which increases our efficiency
and reduces interruptions to contacts we might have contacted who
weren't the right role. Because of LinkedIn we reach out and make the
right offer to the right contact most of the time. This increases our
sales and, we think, our reputation with our business partners."</span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;"><b><b><b><b>—</b></b></b>David Eads, founder of the Atlanta-based strategy consultancy <a href="http://mobilestrategypartners.com/">Mobile Strategy Partners</a></b></span></span></blockquote>
<div id="title">
<span itemprop="articleBody description text"></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;">You probably got an email from Linkedin today. Follow the instructions. Try it out. If you didn't, maybe you don't have an account. Get one. Check out the articles elsewhere on this blog about Linkedin, and get a bunch of connections. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em;">If you need help getting set up and maximizing the opportunities on Linkedin, I'd be happy to help you through that process. I have one opening for a client as of this date. Call me. Randy Kirk 310-910-1848 </span>
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-73948409910567563752013-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:002013-05-01T04:00:16.563-07:005 Quick, but Fantastic Tips to Linkedin Success<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/linkedin" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="68" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0001/1055/11055v8-max-450x450.png" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="150" /></a></div>
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<h2>
How to Optimize Your Linkedin Profile and Generate Business Leads</h2>
<br />
We have done detailed tutorials on Linkedin over the past few months. You can find those tutorials as follows:<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/take-your-linked-in-account-to.html">Take Your Linked in Account to Stratospheric Levels of Profitability</a> </h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-set-up-profile-on-linked-in-to.html">How to Set Up Your Profile on Linked in To Create Marketing Benefits for SMB</a></h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-get-recommendations-on-linked-in.html">How to Get Recommendations on Linked In to Bolster Your Cred</a>
</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-get-500-connections-on-linkedin.html">How to Get 500+ Connections on Linkedin</a></h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-get-100-relevant-connections-on.html">How to get 100+ Relevant Connections on LinkedIn</a></h3>
<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
Since then a number of tricks of the trade have come to my attention that were not included in the above:</div>
<ol>
<li>You can add multiple videos, images, or reports to your profile and experience sections. Go to your edit profile tab, and click on edit profile. Scroll down to your summary and you will see the following look on your screen. Next to the little blue pencil, you'll see an icon that defies an easy description. However, if you click on it, you will get a request for a URL. You can now add a URL for a YouTube video or other online image content<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRLV0KcF-obRxyp9IGzmchyq9rZ6W7U5vbBQ94Th5eNL9M9wW7lWt1LCVO0QDYc3F2mUDdOK5b50Vj3kjNQoSmSjirRa-muX8e7zLf_jmDGjTezpLEzf8uY1EDmVhsuhQzzpc5aMbO-Y4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-27+at+11.40.57+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRLV0KcF-obRxyp9IGzmchyq9rZ6W7U5vbBQ94Th5eNL9M9wW7lWt1LCVO0QDYc3F2mUDdOK5b50Vj3kjNQoSmSjirRa-muX8e7zLf_jmDGjTezpLEzf8uY1EDmVhsuhQzzpc5aMbO-Y4/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-27+at+11.40.57+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
<li> You can add Links within your content on the summary or experience areas to your website, internal pages of your website, blogs, blog posts, more videos, online press releases, etc. This makes a ton of sense. These Links can even be part of a call to action, such as directing the reader to a white paper or a sales funnel.</li>
<li>Add a call to action at the end of your summary and your most recent experience. </li>
<li>Make sure you are showing your Twitter account. When you create an update to the stream (which you should do daily or at least a few times a week) you can share with your Linkedin connections and automatically share with Twitter, too.</li>
<li>Include snippets of testimonials in your summary and experience. Not everyone is going to read your glowing testimonials. Use a strategic sentence from a review to prove your point.</li>
</ol>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=fdc592ea-8a7c-48dc-a3dd-8520706e3bd2" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>
Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-87344404660304317982013-04-28T09:52:00.000-07:002013-04-28T15:09:04.231-07:005 Steps for Bicycle Shop SEO and Social Media to Create Increased Profits<h2>
Effective Use of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Online advertising">Internet Marketing</a> Can Dramatically Improve <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_bike_shop" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Local bike shop">Bicycle Shop</a> Sales and Profits</h2>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpnO5Z7kM7DnuugvrdxZPQIXcty-TjW4vNbuf91SlMQOnQmQI2cdYGwLyET8cCxQ2yTUIZb8R4rtK4Wi8b4nMHdAe5biQdKWN65-KtELAF1rd_0pQzSc_NDRQdo-n9cjd-TauTPYpxdxO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+9.46.56+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpnO5Z7kM7DnuugvrdxZPQIXcty-TjW4vNbuf91SlMQOnQmQI2cdYGwLyET8cCxQ2yTUIZb8R4rtK4Wi8b4nMHdAe5biQdKWN65-KtELAF1rd_0pQzSc_NDRQdo-n9cjd-TauTPYpxdxO/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+9.46.56+AM.png" width="200" /></a>"I just don't have the time or the energy to stay on top of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:GOOG" rel="googlefinance" target="_blank" title="NASDAQ: GOOG">Google,</a> or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">Linkedin.</a> I haven't ever seen a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://pinterest.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Pinterest">Pinterest</a> site. My kids talk about Instagram and Tumblr, but I have no idea how or why I should use them in my business. Write a blog? You must be kidding. Do some videos? I'm sure they are effective, but I wouldn't know where to start. My SmartEtailing website seems just about right, and I do try to update it once a month or so. SEO on the site? No idea!"</blockquote>
<br />
Does that sound like your bike shop? If yes, then you are not alone. That is exactly how most bike shop owners view their internet marketing effort, assuming they think about it at all. In fact, unless you are in the minority, you don't really spend much time thinking about other elements of marketing that have nothing to do with the internet like:<br />
<ul>
<li>Store signage</li>
<li>Events</li>
<li>Clinics and rides from the store</li>
<li>Local advertising on radio, mail, newspapers, television</li>
<li>Newsletters </li>
</ul>
Fortunately, business has been ok during the recession for bike shops. Some of your competition closed down. That helped. The gas prices have brought more folks through the door to try a bit more commuting. And the middle-age white guy phenomenon has really been a help with larger ticket sales. <br />
<br />
But you do have this nagging feeling. What if gas prices stabilize or even come down? Good for the country, but not so much for me. What if those middle-age white guys find a new hobby? What if a competitor opens up in my area and takes 20% or more of my business?<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
You Can Start to Build a Powerful <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Internet">Internet</a> Presence Now to Create Long Term Business for Any Economy and any Competitive Problem</h3>
<b>Step 1.</b> <b>Create 5 YouTube Videos Per Month</b> - It doesn't take more than 2 hours to shoot them, and another 5 hours to edit. Set up an employee or a neighbor kid to do the editing. This will be your foundation stone in the internet effort.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 2. Set up a blog as a subdomain of your website. </b>I suggest you use Blogger, as it is much easier to use than WordPress. Do three posts per week. Use the videos as one of those three posts. Embed the video and write a short paragraph or two to tease the video. Write about simple repairs, new products, review a bike, advertise and promote services and deals. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Step 3. Set up Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ and Pinterest accounts.</b> It should take you about 5 hours each to set these up and make them look nice. Do you know someone who likes doing this sort of thing. Pay them. Promote your YouTube Videos and blog posts on these sites. It will take you about 15 minutes a day to put something up on each site.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KDHGLcRK1Fbh5lIH-XhuJShOPbUtPj6xDD8uTliehJmKqySAQXpvJyorVTSn_fLiMv51t0j0RyQM3T72baYV12zRs8VLnh5iVkjZyW6k_ObkbLBBe1FiZqTJ0Wd_88rkbGPG3vKg1-oS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+9.35.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KDHGLcRK1Fbh5lIH-XhuJShOPbUtPj6xDD8uTliehJmKqySAQXpvJyorVTSn_fLiMv51t0j0RyQM3T72baYV12zRs8VLnh5iVkjZyW6k_ObkbLBBe1FiZqTJ0Wd_88rkbGPG3vKg1-oS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+9.35.05+AM.png" /></a><b>Step 4. Gather thousands of emails.</b> Use every method you can think of to gather emails. Send out one email blast per month or two or even three during Summer. Promote your social media sites and talk about store events. Have something on sale every month in the email blast. <br />
<br />
<b>Step 5. Set Your Store Up and Claim Your Listings Everywhere Online.</b> Google Place, Google+ Local, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.citysearch.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Citysearch">City Search</a>, Yelp, Hot Frog, YellowPages.com, etc. The details of how to do some of this can be found in my book, <a href="http://bikeshopowner.com/">"Principles of Bicycle Retailing for the Internet Age."</a> You can find it at http://bikeshopowner.com for $49.95 or through J & B or the NBDA.<br />
<br />
That's it. At least for the Internet side. Easy! But I have one more secret to share with you. This one is the most important of all. You will be SHOCKED when I reveal the truth about your future internet effort. Ready? Scroll down.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpnO5Z7kM7DnuugvrdxZPQIXcty-TjW4vNbuf91SlMQOnQmQI2cdYGwLyET8cCxQ2yTUIZb8R4rtK4Wi8b4nMHdAe5biQdKWN65-KtELAF1rd_0pQzSc_NDRQdo-n9cjd-TauTPYpxdxO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+9.46.56+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
$<br />
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Your not going to do any of those. Maybe Facebook. But a year from now you'll be scratching your head thinking you put a lot of time into Facebook for no return. You should do all of the above. I can give you testimonial after testimonial of how this is working for bike shops. I have bike shop clients who are getting 1000 unique visitors per day to their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.youtube.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="YouTube">YouTube videos</a>, 60 unique visitors per day to their blogs, and 100's of impressions per day on their Google Places.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVZjYR5gf5PoFMteNRLih3cjo4r-6hfcUlNmKIIkOOO3_Co_jlA_os3ONKgdio-SbrWaN5Qs0CV4fDfcU1KnwNh5T23USaDIl1gdruvAiZn_cEi1Fekd48ZhoYlNMWHqdPzgJr1tauOBx/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVZjYR5gf5PoFMteNRLih3cjo4r-6hfcUlNmKIIkOOO3_Co_jlA_os3ONKgdio-SbrWaN5Qs0CV4fDfcU1KnwNh5T23USaDIl1gdruvAiZn_cEi1Fekd48ZhoYlNMWHqdPzgJr1tauOBx/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is an alternative solution that you can try. Hire Randy Kirk & Associates. We'll do all of the above for you. And bicycle industry clients get a special deal. You see, we charge everyone else $975 a month for these services. But I have a soft spot for the bike dealers. I've made my living selling you guys for the last 40 years. So, you get a deal. Single shops are only $750 a month.<br />
<br />
Call me right now! 310-910-1848. You won't get a clerk or a salesman. Just me. I only work with a maximum of 10 bike dealers at a time. Due to a financial setback unrelated to their business, one of my shops had to drop out. They were ahead 12.5% year to date. So I have an opening. If I can't take you now, I can put you on a waiting list. Don't wait. Call now. We still have time to impact the 2013 season.<br />
<br />
P.S. If your store is in trouble, or even if you aren't making at least $100,000 a year for yourself and your family, I can help. I really like these types of situations and have helped several shops to solid profits above six figures. <br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-20708368736029955732013-04-24T04:00:00.000-07:002013-04-24T04:00:19.455-07:00Image, Title, Head Shot, Teaser - Social Media in A Nutshell<h2>
Setting Up the Perfect Social Media Post to Maximize Eyeballs and Clicks </h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0jCwL3cOJh3g-js3Tetn8CQ2YIqgINoM_TTELQxJhyqBljvrzJipWrdZ4c_088BnsPYcyJ1VX3NMq3QIeG6ag3jl72lsd92VTO4lWSfMcmKCkyFkVV2-Os3Jj8aWQMiz0LQu1JScNlRa/s1600/164071_486968421823_467705_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0jCwL3cOJh3g-js3Tetn8CQ2YIqgINoM_TTELQxJhyqBljvrzJipWrdZ4c_088BnsPYcyJ1VX3NMq3QIeG6ag3jl72lsd92VTO4lWSfMcmKCkyFkVV2-Os3Jj8aWQMiz0LQu1JScNlRa/s320/164071_486968421823_467705_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riveting, alluring, compelling images capture eyeballs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I asked my daughter, the artist, if she would send me the most alluring, riveting, eye catching image she could find or create. I challenge you to come up with one that is any more likely to grab your eye than this one. <br />
<br />
I wanted such a shot to use as an example of how to get folks to pay attention to your <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_content" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Web content">social media content</a>. I could be wrong, but most folks who bother to put something up want others to read and comment. Many want way more than that. They want fans, connections, repins, and followers. And then, of course, orders.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOG_L5CnyDgyqgUOpJ-hzgenOaLP6cP90SiNM2ad03tFtgD3Mk36-xx44nO-nV80iydNEAl64oKsN34xAgkueBiVZYftVEehuc5xuIk639XyboAg5WKlphpBnETycUMvT4dIolB1rc3YD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-18+at+10.08.28+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOG_L5CnyDgyqgUOpJ-hzgenOaLP6cP90SiNM2ad03tFtgD3Mk36-xx44nO-nV80iydNEAl64oKsN34xAgkueBiVZYftVEehuc5xuIk639XyboAg5WKlphpBnETycUMvT4dIolB1rc3YD/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-18+at+10.08.28+AM.png" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">News Stream on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> - Images Are Critical</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I post about 60 updates to LinkedIn, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://https//plus.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google+">Google+</a>, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a> each week by hand. Others on my team handle the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://pinterest.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Pinterest">Pinterest</a>. After several weeks of this daily exercise, I noted what maybe is obvious to everyone else, and just took me a little longer. When scrolling down a news stream, I really notice cool pictures, I sometimes notice interest-grabbing headlines, and I occasionally stop because I recognize the face of someone whose content I like. In that order. <br />
<br />
As a writer, this really messed me up. I want folks to notice my scintillating prose. But as I learned the hard way many moons ago, sometimes you can't get an audience for the story if you don't have a great title. And in the book and magazine business, you need to have a compelling image to go with the title. So too in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Social_media" rel="wikinvest" target="_blank" title="Social media">social media</a> sphere.<br />
<br />
The issue doesn't stop with these news streams, either. Look to the left and you will see that the most recent and most popular posts offerings all have thumbnail images to grab your attention. Now look at the bottom of the post and recommended posts also have those <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbnail" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Thumbnail">thumbnails</a>. You want to use Pinterest or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://images.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Images">Google Images</a> to increase your visibility even more. Now your headline and teaser is of no help at all. <br />
<br />
So, the key take-away from all of this is that you should probably be spending more time selecting pictures for the top of the page on your blog or to capture attention if your are posting directly to the social media update. However, the picture only stops the viewer, it doesn't create the action. That is up to your headline and teaser. <br />
<br />
You may or may not be aware that I have another blog that is 100% devoted to <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/">content creation</a>. All kinds of content. Find that blog at http://ContentMarketingforGoogle.blogspot.com<br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-37564866052093828632013-04-22T10:00:00.000-07:002013-04-22T13:30:22.291-07:009 Quick Ways to Get Supended from Google Places, Maps, and Local<h2>
Nine Black Hat Tricks that <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:GOOG" rel="googlefinance" target="_blank" title="NASDAQ: GOOG">Google</a> Knows All About</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9v6htI68cmgP3vDcPJUOSiwctJhpuBkRVqTi-nmG3h3XFr8yig-Qx6-uwTyUx-H6DXVm6PwcgsFzJmxYKcJAyJcygmNt2bg_YmugxYI2lVaX3CaUJP0teXGje2CHXogI3Htu0jK1C875/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+6.36.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9v6htI68cmgP3vDcPJUOSiwctJhpuBkRVqTi-nmG3h3XFr8yig-Qx6-uwTyUx-H6DXVm6PwcgsFzJmxYKcJAyJcygmNt2bg_YmugxYI2lVaX3CaUJP0teXGje2CHXogI3Htu0jK1C875/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+6.36.58+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You Did What?!?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The phone rings. I don't recognize the number. Maybe a new potential client.<br />
<br />
"Hi. Is this Randy Kirk?" (Of course it is. I answer the phone)<br />
<br />
"Sure is. How can I help you."<br />
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"Well, I <i>used</i> to have this <i>great ranking</i> on Google Places, but now I seem to be <i>gone</i> completely."<br />
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"What kind of business are you in?"<br />
<br />
"I'm a...fill in the blank...lawyer, carpet cleaner, locksmith, appliance repair, limo service, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail_bondsman" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Bail bondsman">bail bondsman</a>...and I used to have these seven locations...."<br />
<br />
"Tell me about those locations." <br />
<br />
Now you know how my day usually goes. I am now in the unenviable position of telling someone that the gravy train has dried up. The phone ain't gonna ring no more. The free ride is over.<br />
<br />
Here in detail are the nine most likely reasons that your phone stopped ringing and your Google Places, Google <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Maps">Maps</a>, and Google+ Local is nowhere to be found.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Don't know if this is #1 for Google, but it is for me. Location. You cannot</li>
<ul>
<li>Make up addresses</li>
<li>Select any address at random </li>
<li>Use a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-office_box" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Post-office box">post office box</a> </li>
<li>Use a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:UPS" rel="googlefinance" target="_blank" title="NYSE: UPS">UPS</a> box even if you call it suite #</li>
<li>May or may not be able to use a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_office" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Virtual office">virtual office</a> or private mail box</li>
</ul>
<li>Fill out the form and say that folks come to meet with you even if you always go to them. Google knows that no one visits a plumber or a house painter.</li>
<li>Use a telephone number where Google can't get through to you. They make random calls to try to establish that you are where you say you are. </li>
<li>Spam the name of your company. You can probably get away with adding one descriptive word. If you name is Sammy's, you can <i>probably</i> add Pizza. Don't try for Sammy's <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.3313888889,-83.0458333333&spn=0.1,0.1&q=42.3313888889,-83.0458333333%20(Detroit)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Detroit">Detroit</a> Pizza unless that is the name of your company.</li>
<li>Spam your description with all kinds of location based keywords. </li>
<li>Use the same telephone number for more than three locations or more than one business</li>
<li>Have multiple listings for the same location of the same business - even if by mistake</li>
<li>Have one name, address, and/or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_number" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Telephone number">phone number</a> on your Google listing and have a different name, address, and/or phone number on your website or other internet listings. </li>
<li>Pay for, solicit, and or spam your reviews. </li>
</ul>
If you have done any of the above or are doing them now, and you haven't been suspended or even removed from Google, go straight to Vegas and play for the inside straight. If you have been caught, and you need help getting out of the penalty box, give me a call. If you would like to get your Google Places, Maps, and +Local sites set up perfectly and optimized to maximize the Google love, call me for that, too. 310-910-1848. That will be me who answers the phone. <br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-45388957902540397522013-04-16T20:47:00.000-07:002013-04-16T20:47:02.190-07:00General Contractor SEO and Social Media in 2013<h2>
How to Double Your Sales Doing Custom Home Building and Remodeling Using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Online advertising">Online Marketing</a></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBJWQx1to4ZVuLXwe9FOAXIuod5qyoayrobC-wqK_vHCur-RsIOOxSYnfAYQ8PtTUXkBqF2Ft7G4higFEQRL3upqPdifSYW35HxIm4MtmkvFpy2vV4iQlAGZIdKvzHj8ZtfwxgRY1F4t8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-16+at+8.33.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBJWQx1to4ZVuLXwe9FOAXIuod5qyoayrobC-wqK_vHCur-RsIOOxSYnfAYQ8PtTUXkBqF2Ft7G4higFEQRL3upqPdifSYW35HxIm4MtmkvFpy2vV4iQlAGZIdKvzHj8ZtfwxgRY1F4t8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-16+at+8.33.49+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I removed the city, but it is a major metro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I got the call about 18 months ago from a contractor. That would put us at about the 3rd quarter of 2011. He had been in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_contractor" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="General contractor">general contracting</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Business">business</a> for 15 years at that point, and was really struggling. He wanted me to help him with his internet presence. Since that's what I do in the main, and he could almost afford my rates, we decided to see if we could build up his business. <br />
<br />
Just a couple of weeks ago, Mike was on the phone with me. I asked him how 2013 was going. He was trying to figure out how he could get it all done before 10:00 at night, just to turn around and be back at it at 6:00 in the morning. His sales had doubled in 2012 over 2011 and his profits had tripled. Now he was discussing the details with me of how he should take it to the next level. <br />
<br />
Take a look at his <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google</a> Places (Google+, Google <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Maps">Maps</a>) rankings on some of his key words. This might give you some idea of why he's doing so well. Did we get those numbers overnight. No. This is a competitive business in a competitive city. Contractors are willing to spend to get good rankings. But we did slowly but surely move this client into this position, and he is doing quite well. <br />
<br />
This blog has a couple of hundred posts and pages. They tell you just exactly how to get the same results I did. Some things are changing in a pretty major way, but you still fill out the basics the same way it is described here on this site. Reviews still matter...a lot. Citations are critical. On page <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zemanta.com/related-blog-posts/" rel="zemantacom" target="_blank" title="related articles">SEO</a> on your website is critical. Social media including Google+ is becoming more important by the day. <br />
<br />
Then there are another 96 or so important factors that aren't as important as these four. I try to cover all of them and update you as much as I can here on this teaching site. But there is a lot more to Mike's success than Google Places.<br />
<br />
We created a great website for him, and a blog where we post three times per week. Then there's his <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">Linkedin</a> site where we are working to get him at least 500 relevant connections. We have shot a bunch of videos for him, and just recently set up a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://pinterest.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Pinterest">Pinterest</a> site. We also discuss traditional marketing ideas like local home shows, truck signage, fliers, customer service, networking in the community, and, oh yeah, who should he hire next to grow his business even more. <br />
<br />
If you think your contracting business could benefit from some of these kinds of efforts, give me a call. 310-910-1848. Ask for Randy Kirk<br />
<br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-9539949764584457152013-04-08T09:30:00.000-07:002013-04-08T09:41:49.474-07:00Google Places, as We Now Know It, Is Undergoing Slow but Steady Death March<h2>
Let the Guessing Begin on What Google Places, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Maps">Google Maps</a>, Google Local, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://https//plus.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google+">Google Plus</a> Will End up Looking Like. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNPESfJPQXr6JDBSp97dZYIvmToTi98E-4ncxYXEDHzuKzV8S27qOrccn4OWqASflqD1oAniGqBBEoOaP6xnnA48eC0CHpTDpAMZEZQen9KDSw02CrD4c3UxaESNMzUrwTJS6B9bCd6xz/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-07+at+6.01.57+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNPESfJPQXr6JDBSp97dZYIvmToTi98E-4ncxYXEDHzuKzV8S27qOrccn4OWqASflqD1oAniGqBBEoOaP6xnnA48eC0CHpTDpAMZEZQen9KDSw02CrD4c3UxaESNMzUrwTJS6B9bCd6xz/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-07+at+6.01.57+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sort of...not exactly...what about Google Maps?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
<br />
I have a plaque to prove that I am the Optimist of the Decade. Yes, the award came from many years of dedicated service to the Sunrise <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimist_International" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Optimist International">Optimist Club</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.0219444444,-118.481388889&spn=0.1,0.1&q=34.0219444444,-118.481388889%20(Santa%20Monica%2C%20California)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Santa Monica, California">Santa Monica, CA</a>. However, those who know me would not disagree with the description. Having said that:<br />
<br />
I have never seen anything as screwed up as Google Places, Google Plus Local, and related. You can quote me, Randy Kirk. Tweet the above by clicking<br />
<br />
15 of my 18 clients who care about Google Places rankings are doing just fine. The other three have good reasons for being where they are, and are close to being good rankings. So this is not a rant about the inconsistencies of the Google algo. My clients are making very nice money from their rankings.<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Which Brand? Please Choose One!</h3>
<br />
The rant starts with branding. Here are the brands that have existed in the last four years. Google Local Business Pages, Google Maps, Google Places, Google Places for Business, Google Plus Pages, Google Plus Local. The only one that is completely gone is Google Local Business Pages. All the others exist today and have an effect on how businesses get found. I am on record from the first days of this blog which was launched simultaneously with Google Places launch, that Google Places is the most complicated internet product or app or feature or medium or whatever you want to call it.<br />
<br />
Now, the Google approach to local business listings is many times more complicated, and business owners and their customers have no idea what to call what they are looking at. I'm not the best guy to ask, but I have created 100's of brands in my business life. I think Google Places was the best brand name. If they eliminate that name in favor of Google Local I think it hurts the roll out of this critical service. Google Maps is a strong name and has a lot of built in consumer cache. However, it is much broader than a modern Yellow Pages and thus would be like naming a Chevy a Car.<br />
<br />
The big issue is the confusion. We all know that most folks looking up the local eatery or bike shop use the blended search only. That currently gets you something like a Google Places result and still shows little gray (not red which was better) icons to identify the results as Google Places.<br />
<br />
For those who are prone to leave the blended results, they might be most likely to try maps. This option is still listed at the top of the page and the results from that search will provide much more information about each listing. Interestingly, these are shown as Places listings and still have the red icon.<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
No One Searches Under the Category Options in "More"</h3>
<br />
Much less likely is that the searcher will go to the "more" options for search to specifically choose Places. If they do choose this search option, they will get more detail about the listed places. There is currently no option to go directly to Google Plus Local. A question one could ask would be: Will Google Places go away as a brand, replaced by Local, and will this page still be an option.<br />
<br />
Finally, we can see Google+ Local options on our Google+ pages. These are not nearly as intuitive or useful at this time as any of the other options. Clearly Google likes this approach best and has designed with with the idea of making it very responsive to your specific needs.<br />
<br />
If you are a follower of this entire issue and I've made any mistakes above, please straighten me out. I admit that the whole thing is confusing. And, by the way, <a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/">Mike Blumenthal's blog</a> and<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/"> Linda Buquet's Forum</a> both have tons of breaking news right now. So if you want all the details, go there. <br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-81932733930975443592013-04-05T04:00:00.000-07:002013-04-05T04:00:03.088-07:00Bankruptcy Lawyer SEO and Google+ Optimization Tutorial<h2>
How to Build Your <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bankruptcyhome.com/glossary/bankruptcy" rel="bankruptcy" target="_blank" title="Bankruptcy">Bankruptcy Law</a> Practice Using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google</a>+, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Blog">Blogging</a>, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.youtube.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="YouTube">YouTube</a></h2>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;">"Since working with <b>Randy</b>,
my Google Places page rocks! Business has picked up, many clients are
mentioning my reviews, and I am having to refer clients out to
colleagues. I heartily recommend <b>Randy</b> to anyone serious about their Google Places marketing!" -Jeff Mathias, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.575,-93.7091666667&spn=0.1,0.1&q=41.575,-93.7091666667%20(West%20Des%20Moines%2C%20Iowa)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="West Des Moines, Iowa">West Des Moines</a> Attorney</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Jeff will be only to happy to take your phone call. You can easily find his number. Just Google Him. There is a secret to getting the phone to ring in today's market. And if your primary legal practice is bankruptcy work, you are probably thinking that the case load is going to start shrinking. That means that you are going to have to either get a larger market share in your area, or branch out into other practice niches.</span></span><br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">The Outlook for Bankruptcies in 2013 Is Good for the Country, but Bad for BK Lawyers</span></span></h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">As a marketer for over 40 years I have become pretty good at knowing which way the wind blows for certain businesses in various market conditions. Divorce lawyers don't do well in recessions. The same is true for business lawyers. Well bankruptcy lawyers don't do well when the public has learned to live with the new normal and/or as business begins to pick up. Oh, there will still be plenty of work, but not like the last 6 years. </span></span><br />
<h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">What About My Approach Is Different from 1000 other SEO Guys?</span></span></h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Let me give you just a few of the ways. I:</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">only take on 20 clients at any given time</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">answer the phone. Nobody else.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have a team of six writers, designers, and web developers</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">am graduate of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.law.ucla.edu/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="UCLA School of Law">UCLA Law School</a></span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have always been 100% white hat and a content developer</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">base the online approach on:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">blogging</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">YouTube</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">GooglePlaces Google+</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> and other social media</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Website</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">work all aspects of traditional marketing, too</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">understand that GooglePlaces Google+ is key to calls</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have worked with numerous lawyers who will all give you references</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 35 years of experience running my own companies</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 7 published books about business - two by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Hachette Book Group USA">Warner Business Books</a> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">charge only $975 a month</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> (does not include website work)</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Have no contract - prefer minimum four month commitment </span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" /></a></div>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">I have two openings as of the date posted on this blog. I do have several prospects that might take those spots. However, I do keep a waiting list when I'm full. If you would like to check out my work, it is pretty easy. You are on a blog that will give you a taste of my writing and blogging skills. But if you'd like to learn more about my business capabilities, check out my resume, and also go to one of my other blogs http://www.Help4SmallBusiness.blogspot.com</span></span><br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">You may call me most days 8:00 - 8:00 West Coast Time at 310-910-1848 or email me at RandyKirk77@gmail.com</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-42278467198099062512013-04-03T04:00:00.000-07:002013-04-03T04:00:00.519-07:00Divorce Lawyer SEO and Google+ Marketing <h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> How Can A Divorce Lawyer Thrive Using Google+ and Other Local Marketing Approaches</span></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="color: red;">"When you ask Siri, on the new iPhone, for example, for a divorce
lawyer in Encino, my name is the first on the list. I recommend him
whole-heartedly and without reservation.</span></span></span>"<br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"></span>Michele C. Friedlander<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> Law Offices of Michele Cobin-Friedlander</span></span></blockquote>
Michelle will be happy to take your call, as will Eric Aretsky of Aretsky and Aretsky in Bergen County NJ. They know the power of having those great rankings on Google+ aka Google Places.<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">What About My Approach Is Different from 1000 other SEO Guys?</span></span></h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Let me give you just a few of the ways. I:</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">only take on 20 clients at any given time</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">answer the phone. Nobody else.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have a team of six writers, designers, and web developers</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">am graduate of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.law.ucla.edu/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="UCLA School of Law">UCLA Law School</a></span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have always been 100% white hat and a content developer</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">base the online approach on:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">blogging</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">YouTube</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">GooglePlaces Google+</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> and other social media</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Website</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">work all aspects of traditional marketing, too</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">understand that GooglePlaces Google+ is key to calls</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have worked with numerous lawyers who will all give you references</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 35 years of experience running my own companies</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 7 published books about business - two by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Hachette Book Group USA">Warner Business Books</a> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">charge only $975 a month</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> (does not include website work)</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Have no contract - prefer minimum four month commitment </span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" /></a></div>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">I
have two openings as of the date posted on this blog. I do have
several prospects that might take those spots. However, I do keep a
waiting list when I'm full. If you would like to check out my work, it
is pretty easy. You are on a blog that will give you a taste of my
writing and blogging skills. But if you'd like to learn more about my
business capabilities, check out my resume, and also go to one of my
other blogs http://www.Help4SmallBusiness.blogspot.com</span></span><br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">You may call me most days 8:00 - 8:00 West Coast Time at 310-910-1848 or email me at RandyKirk77@gmail.com</span></span>
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=fb3abc13-c634-481c-97a0-3b1889624cb3" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>
Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-21447801697819884612013-04-01T10:30:00.000-07:002013-04-01T10:30:02.989-07:00Mortgage Broker SEO and Google+ Marketing <h2>
How Can You Get Your Phone Ringing with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google</a>+ and Google Places</h2>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Randy's efforts as my marketing director have been critical in raising
me above the mass of seemingly indistinguishable <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage_broker" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mortgage broker">Mortgage Brokers</a> to
become a top producer in one of the largest firms in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.05,-118.25&spn=0.1,0.1&q=34.05,-118.25%20(Los%20Angeles)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Los Angeles">Los Angeles</a>.
<br />
As people increasingly use the web to seek professional help, he
manages to keep me at the forefront of every key search engine. His
knowledge of the internet goes well beyond typical SEO and website
design. He is constantly researching what sites people rely on, and,
more importantly, how the various browsers and search engines alter
their algorithms that direct everyone's choices. His in-depth
understanding leads to strategies that keep me always ahead of the
curve. This on-going activity is vital for anyone who wishes to remain
on top of the ever-evolving internet."<br />
<span style="color: red;">Bill Rayman - Mortgage Capital </span></blockquote>
With Bill having recently been interviewed by Yahoo.com/home and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.224,-118.063&spn=0.01,0.01&q=34.224,-118.063%20(KKLA-FM)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="KKLA-FM">KKLA</a> radio in Los Angeles, he is so busy he may not take your call. Just kidding. Call him. You can find him listed #2 under Mortgage Broker Los Angeles or number 1 under the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.06,-118.36&spn=1.0,1.0&q=34.06,-118.36%20(Wilshire%20Boulevard)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Wilshire Boulevard">Wilshire Blvd</a> zip code 90025. <br />
<br />
<i>Please note that due to territorial integrity, I will not work simultaneously for another mortgage broker in California.</i><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">What About My Approach Is Different from 1000 other SEO Guys?</span></span></h3>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Let me give you just a few of the ways. I:</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">only take on 20 clients at any given time</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">answer the phone. Nobody else.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have a team of six writers, designers, and web developers</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">am graduate of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.law.ucla.edu/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="UCLA School of Law">UCLA Law School</a></span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have always been 100% white hat and a content developer</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">base the online approach on:</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">blogging</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.youtube.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="YouTube">YouTube</a></span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">GooglePlaces Google+</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> and other social media</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Website</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">work all aspects of traditional marketing, too</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">understand that GooglePlaces Google+ is key to calls</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have worked with hundreds of clients </span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 35 years of experience running my own companies</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">have 7 published books about business - two by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Hachette Book Group USA">Warner Business Books</a> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">charge only $975 a month</span></span><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> (does not include website work)</span></span></li>
<li><span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Have no contract - prefer minimum four month commitment </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdSRO2o12UoR4PnNQdkvhjgl5ENAVypZ0I_zD0jBKa9-GU5N_pTMRwwgcJqQYo-VhDjXuFpwsGfbRpG52HXrBasz8VLsjt5VDhpyBQNoszeKgSlRrsca7Nn2ChzNcZuoMXWqhmyHaZhyphenhyphenq/s1600/Randy+kirk.png" /></a></div>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">I
have two openings as of the date posted on this blog. I do have
several prospects that might take those spots. However, I do keep a
waiting list when I'm full. If you would like to check out my work, it
is pretty easy. You are on a blog that will give you a taste of my
writing and blogging skills. But if you'd like to learn more about my
business capabilities, check out my resume, and also go to one of my
other blogs http://www.Help4SmallBusiness.blogspot.com</span></span><br />
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="snippet" id="pp-google-review-snippet-0" style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">You may call me most days 8:00 - 8:00 West Coast Time at 310-910-1848 or email me at RandyKirk77@gmail.com</span></span>
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=fb3abc13-c634-481c-97a0-3b1889624cb3" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>
Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-50676019955746455982013-03-26T17:00:00.000-07:002013-03-26T17:00:04.406-07:00What Four Critical Things Are Missing In Your Business? <h2>
How to Use Goals, Strategies, Tactics, and Logistics to Grow Your Biz </h2>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCF7G4aAa4NA6f4Jt22NZ4_TNPdLY0m6NOEeTPVMt2v_O1jzleT-D2exq7_DWm3RkVUXg0lVPzVO5boRMLw10gpn2_evr33ASlM_H9N2OJl2ECC0Ihmfr2beLz3RclaPfOWqZaPg0w4CA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-03+at+8.45.38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCF7G4aAa4NA6f4Jt22NZ4_TNPdLY0m6NOEeTPVMt2v_O1jzleT-D2exq7_DWm3RkVUXg0lVPzVO5boRMLw10gpn2_evr33ASlM_H9N2OJl2ECC0Ihmfr2beLz3RclaPfOWqZaPg0w4CA/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-09-03+at+8.45.38+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Goals, Strategies, Tactics, Logistics. I'm not the first to suggest that a careful assessment of these four elements will make or break your company. <br />
<br />
Thus far in our series of <a href="http://www.help3smallbusiness.blogspot.com/">101 Marketing Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur</a>, we have built the case for goals, strategies, tactics and seven of our top ten recommended logistical considerations. If you have not been following this series, and would like to start at the beginning, you can find all 27 (as of 9/3/2012) on http://www.Help4SmallBusiness.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
The seven logistical items we have covered thus far are linked below. Are these elements controlling you or are you controlling them. Are you proactively evaluating and planning for adequate provisions for the battle, or are you marching into war hoping you'll find ample supplies of critical materials, equipment, and other resources along the way?<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/money-as-1-logistical-issue-marketing.html">Having enough money matters! A lot.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/suppliers-are-more-important-customers.html">Suppliers are more important than customers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/facilities-critical-in-marketing.html">Lost our lease is more common that you think. Facilities</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/employees-as-logistic-decision.html">Employees are a necessary evil OR your key to long term success</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/time-as-relentless-marketing-friend-or.html">Time is relentless, unyielding, precious. Count it</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/human-time-and-energy-as-logistically.html">You and your employees have limited time and energy. Plan accordingly</a></li>
<li><a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/support-of-your-family-is-logistical.html">Your family is a logistical consideration. Unhappy families kill businesses</a></li>
</ol>
There are three more logistical consideration coming in the next three days. You might want to subscribe to this blog to catch those tutorials, and the 71 additional <a href="http://www.help4smallbusiness.blogspt.com/">marketing ideas, methods, secrets, and tips</a> that will follow over the next 74 days. Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-89801728990836315972013-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:002013-03-25T10:00:01.532-07:00What Is Google Places, Google + Worth? Maybe $5000 a Month<a href="http://www.help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">What is Google Places Worth to Your Small Business?</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhMTZqBM7pi3wcHa6it9NWlrbXGGcGFXrn3cihWtUL1F7fi4CqDRociEDeRnDVDOOHsJCCYuXqyRGgdXdSWo54PW1VmPLFSx8ucphOxMSt9iLfQrLN4Jr47zSpj_ANCJMCdYYTiHCYgMl/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-13+at+10.26.37+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhMTZqBM7pi3wcHa6it9NWlrbXGGcGFXrn3cihWtUL1F7fi4CqDRociEDeRnDVDOOHsJCCYuXqyRGgdXdSWo54PW1VmPLFSx8ucphOxMSt9iLfQrLN4Jr47zSpj_ANCJMCdYYTiHCYgMl/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-13+at+10.26.37+PM.png" /></a>$10,000 a year? A month? A week? A day? In making decisions about how to spend your marketing dollars, you can make a smarter and wiser decision if you have some idea of the potential profit you might gain from spending nothing, a little or a lot.<br />
<br />
So how much should you be willing to spend on <a href="http://www.googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/"><b>Google Places help</b></a> to <a href="http://googleplaceshelp.blogspot.com/p/hire-randy-kirk.html"><b>rank #1 on Google Places</b></a>?<br />
<a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/p/hire-us.html"><b>How much is Google Places worth</b></a>?<br />
<br />
Start with your average transaction. Some retailers might have an average as low as $50. Lawyers might have an average as high as $30,000. Do you know your average transaction in dollars? <br />
<br />
Next you need to get some idea of how many of your clients would use the internet to find your or make a decision. I have clients who have close to 100% of all their clients coming in from the internet. Others, like restaurants, hotels, and many retailers get hundreds of impressions per day and multiple clients per day calling from their Google Places listings. Others with great rankings only get the occasional call. <br />
<br />
Your investment in an internet effort is determined by average transaction X number of anticipated additional transactions. <br />
<br />
So $50 per transaction and potential for 3 per week is $150 per week or $600 a month. Margins of 50% would mean $300 a month extra profit. I wouldn't spend much on SEO for that.<br />
<br />
Average transaction of net $2000 in commission. If one extra per month, I'd happily pay $500 a month for that.<br />
<br />
Average profit per transaction $500 and 10 of those possible per month. Investing $1000 a month for that is a no brainer.<br />
<br />
One of the great things about SEO is that it lasts for a long time. Unlike pay per click or advertising in Yelp or yellow pages, your website, Google Places efforts, YouTube videos, blog posts and other organic methods often work to make the phone ring for months or even years.<br />
<br />
One last thing. If you aren't highly ranked, your competitors are. The customer they get one time will often turn into a client and a source of referrals or positive reviews. Now how much is that Google Places listing worth? Call Randy at 310-910-1848 if you'd like to discuss a budget that makes sense for you.<br />
<br />
Want more like this. This blog alone is the equivalent of a 200 page book. I have two other blogs that deal with different areas of business management. Between the three, I try to create 6 - 9 additional posts per week of marketing and management methods that you can employ immediately. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow;">For instance, hundreds of folks have read: </span></b></span><br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/09/30-foundational-elements-to-small.html">30 Foundational Elements to Small Business Marketing - Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur</a></h3>
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>So you may want to check out my General Business blog: </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>http://help4smallbusiness.blogspot.com</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Or you might like my blog on creating and managing internet content: </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/</b></span>Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-68649545526774380762013-03-22T16:45:00.000-07:002013-11-18T20:05:02.081-08:00Cheap Back Links Are So Last Year - Here's the Future<h2>
I Never Used Back Links Until February 2012! Great Timing</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP4qbI90l9t6P_NyHNLoi1mbmlZLFsc61wYWLV_qDHH4dWGj0bM3mXrsypIZGgCzfKuNxG9a99VQkqfc-0bs8sSjo2noEHu9VhAdeHSUtCuGZJLWXrYSdVRukE0XifGpHyxBaFZyVPKWr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+4.37.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP4qbI90l9t6P_NyHNLoi1mbmlZLFsc61wYWLV_qDHH4dWGj0bM3mXrsypIZGgCzfKuNxG9a99VQkqfc-0bs8sSjo2noEHu9VhAdeHSUtCuGZJLWXrYSdVRukE0XifGpHyxBaFZyVPKWr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+4.37.50+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Website Developed on Something Like This - Still a Mac Man</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Some quick history. I've been doing internet optimization since Al baby invented it. I have worked on national campaigns, and for the past 5 years have concentrated on local. From 1994 until 2012, I never paid for a back link. In February of 2012 I met a guy who said he could give me solid content, but not great content, and provide me with some excellent back links. I decided to give it a try.<br />
<br />
<h3>
From Riches to Ashes in 90 Days</h3>
<br />
In no time at all I was converted. I only tested the theory on a few clients who had the most competitive keywords. Within weeks I was a hero. I imagined building my fledgeling marketing business into a major powerhouse with a blue-windowed-office building on the side of the freeway. But alas...Panda and Penguin and Venice and Panda II and on and on and just like that, I was back to where I started from on all the accounts that got the biggest boost.<br />
<br />
I count myself fortunate that my SEO guy was a man of character. None of his links ever cost me to fall totally out of favor with the Google. I just slid back to neutral. I stayed in touch with Mike as he worked hard to figure out how to profitably help folks get ranking without the old cheap back link methods. I am very impressed with and happy to share with you what he has come up with: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVNJSxsvetY5wAP88cbgT8CV-QGlLXdCt0i-Flm80G8h8tXw6SQh0zKfKzk6-HUJZcWzvTOS7v72JZntYIjGqk_NTqbLp7xvq_CmIDOBRwXVwtnr09tJBufs4pvU2PWYUfO0q2AnjudEQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+4.12.22+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVNJSxsvetY5wAP88cbgT8CV-QGlLXdCt0i-Flm80G8h8tXw6SQh0zKfKzk6-HUJZcWzvTOS7v72JZntYIjGqk_NTqbLp7xvq_CmIDOBRwXVwtnr09tJBufs4pvU2PWYUfO0q2AnjudEQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+4.12.22+PM.png" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Munter - Back Link Guru - Reborn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Any attempt to manipulate Google’s organic search results may give you
short-term results, but if you’re building your business for the
long-term, you’re probably best to avoid them. Know what you’re getting
into before you invest and choose carefully."</blockquote>
This is the last paragraph of a great new post from Mike Munter. He has laid out, in painstaking detail, what it takes to get links that will stand the test of time. Why will they hold up. Because they are the kinds of links that Google loves. They are from trusted sources. The content is unique, helpful, detailed, well written, and not spammy in any way. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">If you want to learn more about how to write great content, try my new blog</span>: <b><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/">Content Marketing Is So Internet 2013</a></span></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>What Does It Cost to Create the Kind of Content Google Wants Today</b></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">The short answer to this question is 5¢ - 20¢ a word. It largely depends on the industry you are in. Content for a bakery or restaurant might be closer to 5¢. Content for a doctor or lawyer, closer to 20¢. But there are many ways to use content that gives great value for the spend. For details on that you might try this article. <a href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/content-management-automation-for.html">Content Management Automation for Dummies</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then there is the added cost of adding the content to media. And in today's visual world, there is going to be some more money spent on great visual content. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I'm recommending you check out what Mike has wrought. You can find his post here: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://mikemunter.com/how-cheap-seo-services-can-hurt-you/"><span style="font-size: small;">What Cheap SEO Services Look Like (And What Can Happen If You Invest In Them)</span></a></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h3>
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</h2>
<span style="font-size: small;">If you are struggling to get the kind of visibility online that you would like . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">If you are not making the kind of money you think you should be . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">If you are hoping to take your business to the next level and don't have time to learn every new internet product that hits the little screen . . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We at Randy Kirk and Associates are on top of it all. We have:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A Blog Specialist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A Google Places/Google+ Local Specialist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A Pinterest Specialist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A Professional Ghost Writer and Staff </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A YouTube Team with Over 2000 Videos Online</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A LinkedIn Specialist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> A Website Design and Development Marketing Team</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> And we have great depth in every aspect of traditional marketing from print to trade shows </span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"> Call to learn more. 310-910-1848 I answer the phone. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVNJSxsvetY5wAP88cbgT8CV-QGlLXdCt0i-Flm80G8h8tXw6SQh0zKfKzk6-HUJZcWzvTOS7v72JZntYIjGqk_NTqbLp7xvq_CmIDOBRwXVwtnr09tJBufs4pvU2PWYUfO0q2AnjudEQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+4.12.22+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b>Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344122549113398948.post-37118022778393004082013-03-18T07:00:00.000-07:002013-03-18T16:36:38.177-07:00Google + Content + SEO + Social Media = Visitors and Visibility<h1>
Great Content Make The Google Happy and The Google Rewards Those Who Provide Same</h1>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJwynebGRW1NoL631IkIphmI15vM4Ond1qO63l8MWV2Shl38xjh9svMU1LYYXNfSnNlAfRQ8PmLreLDCWb3NdIM9IM4-Re9dmfF9YseR-CveH6Ppl4RvMlytqhMJ3Kv7MTxGNJ6TfNpYh/s1600/blogger_logo+original.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJwynebGRW1NoL631IkIphmI15vM4Ond1qO63l8MWV2Shl38xjh9svMU1LYYXNfSnNlAfRQ8PmLreLDCWb3NdIM9IM4-Re9dmfF9YseR-CveH6Ppl4RvMlytqhMJ3Kv7MTxGNJ6TfNpYh/s1600/blogger_logo+original.png" /></a>The game has changed in the past 14 months in a Major Way. Penguin, Panda, Venice and their various iterations have put the spammers out of business. You also might know that another
Panda update is coming around March 15. Bad content has been dealt with
harshly, but along with that a substantial amount of good content that
was written under the old rules has gone away also. We have taken a
completely new approach in writing for all media, in particular blogs, and our clients are getting huge results. We
now want to pass our discoveries along to you.<br />
<br />
In order to better
manage the massive amount of free DIY information that we provide to
those who are seeking free advice, I have started yet another blog that
specifically deals with the complete revolution that has taken place on
Google the last years.<br />
<h3>
<a data-mce-href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2125182894930263902#overview/src=dashboard" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/">Content Marketing Is So Internet 2013</a> You can save time by just going their now!</h3>
In this blog we explore the new way to help Google give us better ranking for all kinds of content:<br />
<ul>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>YouTube</li>
<li>Press Releases</li>
<li>Articles</li>
<li>Website</li>
<li>Google+</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Subjects Already Covered in Content Marketing Is So Internet 2013</h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqo-g3SL0nKCO56nCLbIMPAcx0vMnOk0dkNjyy4Z7Qg6Zn3_IYxYdO9Qa-dRiQbQ2QXyMWloopgMXeecUo6jsr3-RFZfUh8OHcAlhC8OvXNCL3vSGm8_P2xOf8T16oA7tzrm-7liSbe9G/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-16+at+4.31.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqo-g3SL0nKCO56nCLbIMPAcx0vMnOk0dkNjyy4Z7Qg6Zn3_IYxYdO9Qa-dRiQbQ2QXyMWloopgMXeecUo6jsr3-RFZfUh8OHcAlhC8OvXNCL3vSGm8_P2xOf8T16oA7tzrm-7liSbe9G/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-16+at+4.31.40+PM.png" /></a><br />
<br />
If
you didn't already take the above prompt to go check out the new blog.
Let me entice your further. We have basically only dealt with blog
content and a little PR up 'till now. But we will be adding complete instruction on all media in the future. You can subscribe to this blog if you would like as we will keep you up to date on new posts on the Content Blog. Or you can also subscribe to the Content Blog and get updates. We post on that blog about three times per week. All Free. <br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<a data-mce-href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2125182894930263902#overview/src=dashboard" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2125182894930263902#overview/src=dashboard">Content Marketing Is So Internet 2013</a></h3>
<a data-mce-href=" http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/content-is-king-for-googleand-queen.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/content-is-king-for-googleand-queen.html" target="_blank"><b>Content Is King for Google...and Queen, Jack, Ten ....</b></a> The Key to Google's Heart Has Always Been Content! Now They Mean It.<br />
<a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/content-management-automation-for.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/content-management-automation-for.html" target="_blank"><b>Content Management Automation for Dummies</b></a> - Content Is Expensive Unless You Use Lean Manufacturing Techniques to Create It<br />
<a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/web-content-does-size-matter-400-words.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/web-content-does-size-matter-400-words.html" target="_blank"><b>Web Content - Does Size Matter? 400 Words or 1400 Words?</b></a> - Should Blog Posts, Articles, Website Pages Be Short and Sweet or Long and Detailed<br />
<a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/write-1500-word-post-like-pro-all.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/02/write-1500-word-post-like-pro-all.html" target="_blank"><b>Content Writers: Write a 1500 Word Post Like A Pro - All Secrets Revealed</b></a> - If You Don't Know How to Write - Here is a How To: Generate Great Internet Content?<br />
<a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-post-failed-retitle-rewrite.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-post-failed-retitle-rewrite.html" target="_blank"><b>Blog Post Failed? Retitle, Rewrite, Reoptimize, Retag, Repost</b></a> - Don't Settle for 3 Views of Your Blog Post. Recycle and Revive It<br />
<a data-mce-href=" http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/nine-tips-to-turn-your-old-but.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/nine-tips-to-turn-your-old-but.html" target="_blank"><b>Nine Tips to Turn Your Old, but Fantastic Content New Again</b></a><br />
<a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/7-amazing-benefits-from-online-press.html 9 Critical Elements to The New 2013 Perfect Blog Post" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/7-amazing-benefits-from-online-press.html" target="_blank"><b>7 Amazing Benefits from Online Press Releases </b></a> - Creating an Online Press Release Can Create Massive Return On Investment<br />
<b><a data-mce-href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/9-critical-elements-to-new-2013-perfect.html" href="http://contentmarketingforgoogle.blogspot.com/2013/03/9-critical-elements-to-new-2013-perfect.html" target="_blank">The Perfect Blog Post You Used to Love Has Been Updated in 2013</a> - <span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;">Don't Miss This One</span></b><br />
Love
to hear your comments. If you need someone to help you with you
marketing, we are only too happy to provide a full range of services.
Be sure to +1 or Tweet about this new blog.<br />
<br />
If you are a content writer, but need additional content written, or if you don't want to or have time to write content, we are a potential source of help. Our goal is to be your VP of Marketing and help you with your entire marketing effort, including great online content creation. Call me at 310-910-1848. I answer the phone. Randy Kirkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.com1