marketing for small business – Small Business Odyssey

January 11, 2012

Google+ Business Page for Your Small Business Marketing

Since November 2011, Google has offered small businesses the opportunity to create their own Google+ Business Page. This is a direct challenge to the supremacy of Facebook Fan/Business Pages. It is a wise addition for anyone engaged in small business marketing. The Business Page is really valuable if you actively build your circles on Google+ and update your stream regularly.

When you join Google Plus, you will see an image in the right hand column of your Home page which enables you to create a Google+ Business Page (or Brand Page):

When you click on this button, you will see a range of options for categorising your business page as illustrated in the image below:

The category you choose determines the initial information your provide to develop your Google+ business page.

Google gives examples of the types of businesses that fall within the various categories (pass your mouse over the relevant button to see these). Here are the examples given for the first three categories:

Local business or place – hotels, restaurants, places, shops, services … basically places that you go to (if you select this option, Google can automatically pick up your Google Places and Google map details via the business phone number that you enter)
Product or brand – clothing, cars, electronics, financial services…(where recognition is via an established brand or where you are developing a brand)
Company, institution or organisation – includes not-for profits … (might also apply where you are offering a range of brands in different niches).

Once you have completed the basic set-up of your Google+ business page, you can then add photos and videos and begin to add content to your stream. When you enter a URL as part of your stream content, Google+ picks up the relevant thumbnail and image and some intro information.

Sharing your Google+ business page

Google provides a special URL for your business page which enables you to guide other people to your page and/or to share with your business page circles. With your Google+ business page, you can create circles that you name, while the default circles for business pages are:

Customers
VIPs
Team members
Following

Google offers you the option of sharing your new page with your circles. However, I would set up some content in your stream before sharing, so people have a reason to use the Google+1 button to recommend your Google+ business page (and/or share your content with their own circles). Their +1’s will show up as recommendations on Google’s search results and in Google ads.

When you post to your stream on your Google+ business page, it also updates your Google Plus stream on your personal home page. This means that the content from your Google+ business page is shared with your circles.

How do you delete a Google+ business page?

Many people enquire about this issue but there is a lack of information around, and what is available is often out of date (as this advice will be if Google+ changes again).

To begin the process to delete a Google+ business page, click on the arrow below your name on your Google+ home page (see image below):

Then follow these three steps:

Choose “Manage your pages’ from the drop-down menu
Select the Google+ business page you want to delete
Click on “Delete’ at the bottom of the relevant business page (see image below):

A Google+ business page gives a boost to your small business marketing by enabling you to get closer to your customers (current and potental) through sharing your business message with the right people.

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

Google +1 Button: Your Road to Increased Visibility

The Google +1 button acts in a similar way to the Facebook ‘Like” button. However, the Google +1 button has more far reaching effects and is likely, in the long run, to impact heavily on the effectiveness of your small business marketing.

The Google +1 button is not just a ploy to challenge Facebook’s ascendancy in social media, it represents a fundamental paradigm shift for Google – from content to people, from page rank to people rank. Google has for a long time ‘branded’ you (given you a ‘value’ ) based on your online content and your connections.

Google +1 Button represents a shift from page rank to people rank

In the days of Google’s Wonder Wheel, Google provided a visual representation of how you were viewed by Google itself and the relationships between you and particular keywords. I have written about this earlier in a guest blog post, Google is Watching You. Unfortunatley Google has dropped the Wonder Wheel but you can see the representation below that Google developed of my friend and colleague, Chef Keem:

Google has recognised that Chef Keem is a leading Squidoo Lensmaster (Giant Squid), that he lives in Austin, Texas and that he shares numerous recipes on his website and on Squidoo as well as via his videos, articles and blog posts. Google even recognized that at the time this Wonder Wheel was created, Chef Keem was establishing a new Bavarian Bistro (see the bottom link on the right of the image). If you ever want to see how to create an effective personal branding campaign, then visit Chef Keem’s Kitchen.

The reality is that Google is moving more and more to giving you and your business a “value” based on how your content is viewed by others and the extent of your associations on the Web. Google has even built up a knowledge bank about you based on your online social connections, e.g. people you are connected to on Google+, Google Reader or Google Talk.

Google +1 in search results

The net effect of all this is that Google will show your +1’s in the search results for people you are connected with. The corollary of this is that when you search on Google, you will see below the individual search results if anyone from your social connections has +1’d the particular search result. The following image gives you an idea of what this looks like:

If I use your cursor to hover over the individual names you will see how each of the people who +1’d the site are connected to you (in this case each is connected to me via my Google Plus Circles).

So the more people you connect with via Google Plus and the more you +1 Web content, then the more visibility you will gain in relation to what you value of the Web. Also if other people reciprocate and +1 your content, you will appear in more and more search results for people you are connected with on the Web. So the +1 button has a spiralling effect if you continue to build your social connections through Google Plus and if you +1 the content of others.

Your Google +1’s on Google Plus

Your Google +1’s are available to you as a stream on your Google Plus profile. The default setting for this is that this list of your +1’s is private. However, you can make it public on your Google Plus profile by changing the settings.

There are a small number of simple steps involved when you are on your Google Plus site:

Click your profile icon
Click ‘Edit Profile” icon
Click on the displayed +1 icon (see image below)
Tick – ‘Show this tab on your profile”
Click “Saved”.

Adding the Google +1 button to your website or blog

There are a number of ways that you can add the +1 button to your website or blog so that people can use the +1 button to recommend your content/site to others:

Use Google’s code for adding the +1 button to your website or blog
Use a WordPress Plugin specifically designed for this purpose

If you are reasonably advanced technically, go for option 1 above. However, using a WordPress plugin gives you greater flexibilty and it may be easier for you to install a WordPress plugin.

To find a WordPress plugin for the Google +1 button, just do a search on Google. When I did this, I came across the following Google result:

Now you can see once again, Google is using my online social connections to show who recommended this plugin. In this case it was Mari Smith, Facebook expert, who is in my Google Plus Circles. Because Mari recommends this plugin and because it is used on reputable sites like Mashable, I chose the +1 button plugin she recommends. You can access the plugin here:

Google +1 Button – WordPress Plugin

You can see this Google+1 button plugin operating on this blog, Small Business Odyssey. The plugin offers different ways to customise the Google +1 button, including adding the button before or after posts or in both positions. You can also add a count of how often the +1 button is used for your website, page or post.

In the final analysis, the Google +1 button gives you the opprotunity to increase your visibilty and to enhance your small business marketing online.

December 29, 2011December 29, 2011

Google+: Why Small Business Must Get Involved with Google Plus

Google Plus is Google’s new social network launched in June 2011. Google+ will be an integral element in small business marketing into the future. It will not only enable you to build your personal profile but also build your business brand online. Google Plus membership has already reached 62 Million and is growing at the rate of 625, 000 new users per day.

Why bother with Google Plus?

Google views Google Plus as extending its capability (and value) beyond its traditional search engine focus to social networking. However, these two major arenas of Google’s activity should not be seen as separate. Google has already made it clear by its own words and actions that the Google + social network will feed search engine results. It has also shown the intention to rapidly integrate other Google applications into Google Plus, its new social network.

Google has already integrated Google+ into its toolbar as shown in the images below:

This icon. ‘+Ron’ , provides a direct link to my Google+ account. In the following toolbar image, you can see how Google integrates ‘notifications’, ‘sharing’, ‘profile” (thumbnail photo) and ‘settings/help’ icons for ease of access:

As we progress through my blog posts about Google Plus, you will see that Google is deadly serious about this new social network – it is not just a new ‘plaything’. Wherever you go on Google, including the search results, you will see increasing integration of Google+. Google played around with its early social network, Google Buzz, but has since canned it to build Google Plus – all the time using Buzz as a learning laboratory. If you have any doubts about Google’s long-term commitment to Google Plus, just check out Google’s own announcements re its ongoing Google + updates.

Integrating Google Plus into your small business marketing will no longer be a nice option (initially, Google+ was invitation-only), it will be an essential element. Otherwise, you will see your online marketing progressively vanish into the background as Google takes over the foreground with its Google Plus social network.

As mentioned in my earlier post on the major changes for small business marketing in 2011, Google+ is one of Google’s strategies designed to wrest back the Number One web traffic position from Facebook. The similarities between Facebook and Google Plus will hit you immediately, so this new social network represents head-on competition with Facebook. As a small business owner, you can stand on the sidelines and watch the battle or you can engage with both these giant networks and ensure that you have a sound footing online – this is where the action is and where the people (your customers) are.

What is significant about Google Plus?

Google Plus has already been lauded for its ease of use and flexible privacy settings (addressing one of the key problem areas of Facebook). As Google+ is in its early stages, it is also possible to get access to people you would not normally be able to link to.

So here is a list of key things you can do (explained in detail in later posts):

create a comprehensive personal profile
build ‘circles’ (add people to different circles/groupings and control the access and distribution of your information via your circles)
share photos and videos
develop your ‘stream’ (similar to Facebook’s ‘News Feed’ – integrating ‘status updates’ and content such as photos or videos)
private message other people in your circles
create a hangout (an evolving facility to engage others in live conversation via video and text chat – considered by many to be the real technological breakthrough for Google Plus)
create ‘sparks’ – recommendations
build business pages (sound familiar?).

Some commentators are suggesting that with these features and the growing integration with Google’s own applications, Google Plus represents a combination of Facebook, Twitter and Flickr rolled up into one state-of-the art social network.

How to Join Google Plus

You can join Google+ via a link on the blog/website of a Google+ member. You will see the image displayed at the top of this post and the sign-up box as shown in the following screenshot:

Alternatively, you can go directly to Google Plus and click on the following image and this will take you to the signup page indicated in the above image:

Note: You will need a Google account to join Google Plus (with either sign-up option).

With each advancing day as we move into 2012, Google Plus will become more critical to small business marketing and this will be progressively explained in succeeding blog posts (which symbolically will take us into the New Year).

December 26, 2011

Google Local Places: Critical for Small Business Marketing

Google has created over 49 Million websites for businesses around the world in the form of Google Places. These Google-generated websites contain basic information such as business name and address and a Google location map. They contain Google’s “best guess” about relevant company information and location.

However, the latest stats show that only 2% of these websites (Local Places) have been claimed and verified by business owners.

Local listings (Google Places) are increasingly valued in Google results. More recently, some local listings appeared ahead of other organic searches on Page 1 of Google results for relevant keyword terms. The resurgence of Google Places is one of the 7 major changes that impacted small business marketing in 2011.

Another key consideration about Google Places is that they are optimized for mobile to facilitate mobile search. There is a considerable fusion between local and mobile marketing occurring now, so creating mobile compatible sites is becoming increasingly important.

If you have an offline business, now is the time to claim your Google Places website using the guidelines provided below.

Creating your Google Places and Google Map

The process of creating your Google Places website takes three basic steps, as simple as A, B, C.

A. Setting up Google Places

If you have not yet created a Google Gmail account, now is the time to do so. If you are working on behalf of a client, then you can create an account with their business name in the email address.
Log into the Google account via http://maps.google.com and check if a company listing exists by searching for the company name (with location) in the box provided.
If a Google Places listing exists for your business (or that of your client) click the “edit this place” button and proceed to edit. If a listing does not exist, click “My Account” and choose “Google Places” to set up your listing.

B. Updating/editing your Google Places listing

1. Business Name

Google recommends you use the actual business name, not a keyword rich made-up name. This is to assist verification purposes. If Google cannot verify the business and your association with it (or that of your client), you will not be able to edit your Google Places.

2. Physical Address

It is vital that you give the physical address of the business (or if working from home, your home address). The physical address is necessary for Google to employ its Google Map technology as part of your listing. If you do not want the physical address disclosed, there is an option to suppress it later (along with the specific map location). The address is critical because Google Places is designed as a local business locator and Google needs this information to verify the listing.

3. Phone Number

This should be the direct local number so that clients and customers can contact the business directly. The last thing you want to do is send a customer on a “wild goose chase” trying to find someone to talk to on the phone.

4. Email address

Google has expressed a preference for you to use the email address that incorporates the company domain, This is preferred to a Gmail account or other derived address, as it aids the verification process.

5. Website address

This has to be the URL for your company (not a specific product or service). Google uses this for validation of your listing. If you have no website you can leave this blank.

6. Business description

You can make this description keyword-rich, provided you explain to potential customers exactly what the business is about (otherwise you are wasting your listing).

7. Business category

Google provides a drop-down list of suggested categories. You can type in the business category you think should cover your business (or that of your client). Google will suggest something close to this, if it does not exist. Unfortunately at the top level, you have to accept one of the Google suggested categories. You then have the option of adding four more customized sub-categories.

8. Optional Information

What you complete here will depend on the nature of your business. Possible information includes hours of opening, service area and payment options. Hours of operation can be critical for some businesses, e.g. there is nothing more frustrating than trying to locate the hours of operation of a retail store when in a hurry.

9. Photos

You can upload up to 10 photos provided they are associated with your business or products/services.

10. Videos

You can upload up to 5 videos (via their YouTube addresses) that are associated with your business. This is a great opportunity to add multi-media marketing on a page created by Google itself (that it wants to give priority to).

11. Coupons

Google Places also provides the facility to offer coupons and other special offers.

C. Activation of your Google Places

Once you submit your listing to Google, you will be given the option to receive an activation code by phone or by postcard (2 -3 weeks). When you receive this code, you need to use the PIN code provided to activate your Google Places Listing (access via the link provided or via “Dashboard”). If you don’t activate your listing, your (edited) Google Places will not be published.

Google Places is an important component of small business marketing and offers the opportunity to have your website listed high in Google search results with an attractive display.

December 26, 2011

7 Major Changes in Small Business Marketing in 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, it is instructive to reflect on the massive changes to small business marketing that occurred during the year and to look at their implications. These changes were driven by a number of landmark events that spawned innovations.

One of the key drivers of the changes that small business marketing confronts today, and into 2012, is the direct competition between Google and Facebook for Number One position on the Internet (and all the revenue that goes with this position). The impact of this competition is being felt throughout the Internet marketing world and in social media. There are many people becoming disengaged by the endless changes created by the two Giants of the Internet as they try to outpace each other. One possible prognosis is that this could open up the arena for another player who undermines the customer base of the both the big players, as Facebook did to MySpace.

I want to focus on seven (7) key changes as a way to highlight the impacts from a small business marketing perspective. This approach is in line with my suggestion to write blog posts in sets and sevens. So here are the seven key changes in 2011 affecting small business marketing:

1. Google Places upgrade and resurgence

Google introduced improvements to Google Places, the platform for local businesses to highlight their location, hours of business and their products/services. Along with these changes, Google gave new prominence to Google Places in local search results, changing the display and increasing the value of a Google Places web presence. Sadly, very few small businesses understand the value of this change and have failed to take up their allotted Google Places website. In 2012, Google Places will be an absolutely essential part of your small business marketing. Without it, you may find yourself dropping deeper and deeper in the list of local search engine results as your competitors make full use of this facility (one which Google itself hosts!).

2. Changes to Facebook Pages

The big news of 2011, was that Facebook had more web traffic (visitors) in March than Google and took over the Number One position in terms of search engine volume. The race is now on and Google and Facebook are involved in a head-on tussle to capture (or retain) the number one position. This competition has generated many changes on both sites. Facebook has made major changes to its Facebook Pages to make further inroads into the business market. These changes have complicated the scene for small business marketing. It has meant that many small business owners have had to ignore Facebook or engage small business marketing consultants (who are struggling themselves to keep up with the changes). But how can you ignore the Number One source of web traffic that is also a social media site with over 700 Million members?

3. Introduction of Google Plus and Google +1

Google quickly responded to Facebook’s resurgence with the introduction of its own social network, Google Plus. It also introduced an equivalent to the Facebook “Like” in the form of the Google +1 button. There are other major changes in Google’s search algorithm and results display that accompanied these changes. The challenge for small business owners is, “How can you keep abreast of these changes and their implications for small business marketing?”. Again, you cannot afford to ignore the Google changes or your competition will be appearing in a much more prominent way than you as Google attempts to “reward’ those who get on board with its new social network and related changes.

4. The resurgence of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest online network focused on business and in 2011 grew to over 130 Million members. LinkedIn is a new and growing force in small business marketing. Depending on the nature of your business, it can be a critical component of your small business marketing, particularly in the light of the overall growth of social networking which looks like continuing unabated in 2012. The introduction of status updates by LinkedIn is an attempt to utilise its growing power to move into the Big League occupied by Facebook and Google.

5. The growth of local marketing

During 2011, there was a massive switch of focus by Internet marketers from affiliate marketing to local marketing. This was driven in part by two influences, (1) the decline of affiliate income owing to the depressed economy in the US and (2) and the recognition that around 80% of business for offline businesses comes from within a 5 kilometre radius. The changes to Google Places and the emergence of social networking ‘review” sites, intensified this new focus. What it means for your small business marketing is that you have to make the most of online local marketing tools because your competitors are being courted daily by Internet marketers who see this area of consulting as a the new “goldmine”. The new superstars of Internet marketing generate their income from monthly retainers paid by businesses, small and large, for local marketing services.

6. The massive growth of mobile marketing

With the advent of the Smart Phone and the associated growth of mobile usage, mobile marketing has taken off as the new frontier for Internet marketing. This growth is being aided by the focus on local marketing and has spawned the development of thousands of apps for mobile phones. Two new areas of online riches are emerging, (1) the creation and sale of mobile phone apps and (2) the development of mobile marketing strategies and tools (software). As a small business marketer, you are going to need mobile compatible websites and mobile marketing tools. One advantage of Google Places discussed above is that it is already mobile-compatible – which is another reason why it is so critical for small business marketing.

7. 2011 – The Year of the PlugIn

With so many changes on so many fronts, WordPress developers have had a field day. There has been a massive growth in WordPress Plugin development in 2011. I receive an invite every day to purchase two or three new plugins. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep abreast of these software innovations. However, the WordPress plugins are designed to make it easier for you to accommodate your small business marketing to the changes that are occurring in Internet marketing. Many of the plugins help you to automate your small business marketing process.

In succeeding posts, I will further explain these 2011 changes and highlight their implications for small business marketing moving into 2012.