Yahoo what are you doing?

This is a short post today.

I was going to show you how to add your business to Yahoo local. But do you know what, the yahoo local offering only works in the US.

You cannot enter any other address that does not a US state or Zip code.

This is the kind of thinking that turned Yahoo from the biggest player to an also ran.

I will investigate further and let you know what I find if there is a way to add a business that is not in the States.

Regards

Nick Jennings.

Registering your business with Bing

The local business marketing offering from Microsoft is http://www.bingbusinessportal.com  its not got the traction of google yet but I don’t think that you can every right off anything that Microsoft brings to the market (except maybe Vista but they do follow up with something very quickly if they fail). Also I am sure that the Microsoft mobiles will push it more than google.

Setting up is very similar to setting up your google local account.

First up go to http://www.bingbusinessportal.com  and click the Get Started Now! Button and off we go.

You will the go to a screen with one of those terrible CAPTCHA images that you have to try and work out what the text is.

Then you can start putting you details in on the next pages.

Fill in all your details and continue to the next screens where you can start to input the type of business you have. There are convenient categories to choose from you could type text in the search bar at the top but it didn’t seem to return anything of value when I used it. You can select a maximum of four categories to list with. Put them in any order the priority is set later.

Then a next page uses sliders to adjust the priority and distribution of your company skills. This is quite a nice and quick way of sorting it out.

One of the options that bing has is to create a mobile version of your website with a QR code. Basically they take your site and format it better for the mobile phone user. I will review the layout of this site when I have my registration verified. The QR code is a square bar code that you can scan in via you mobile and it will link to the website. QR codes are making some inroads into the traditional advertising media and I will cover them later.

You are nearly done; the next page is about your business and what you do. Create you company tag line and a description of what you do.

Adjust the pin in the map if it is not in the correct place for your address (but it seems very good at locating any companies I have set up.)

You are then done as far as you can until you receive the PIN via the post from Bing.

When you receive the PIN you are then published and visible by any users searching with Bing.

A follow up post will show how to make the best from you listing.

All the best for your marketing

Nick Jennings.

Claiming your Google places listing

Have you ever searched in Google and noticed the map box on the left of your search window.
If you haven't have a look at this image.

Do you see the red dots they are companies that google have pre registered. The ones with the large bubble with a letter in are the ones that have been claimed by the business. Now you want to claim this listing asap. Get there before all your competitors and start climbing your way up the rankings.

First have a search to see if you are already listed and get permission to update your listing.
Put in where you are and your phone number. If you are already listed you will then go to the claim you listing screen.

Fill out your business details and add you tags (what you ,sell ,do ,are) and a little company bio then you are nearly done.
If you are not listed you will have to register. When you have done this you will see the following screen.

Google will then send you a postcard with the pin number you will need to login for the first time to you google local page.
When you are logged in you can start to add more details about your business and start climbing your way up the Google rankings.
Also congratulations your business is now a big red dot in the google search window.

Now don't forget to tell everyone about this blog I am aiming to get as much help to local entrepreneurs as possible.

Nick

First step Twitter

A lot of the local marketing mobile tools have Twitter feeds embedded in them. For those of you have been in a cave for the last 3 years Twitter is a micro blogging tool that allows 140 character posts.
Time to set up a twitter account, go to Twitter and set up an account. Use your company name in the user name section you will probably find that you company name isn't taken. If it is try and work you name and company name into a usable twitter name. There is a limit to the length, so there might be a little challenge for you there.
When you have setup an account edit you profile. Add an image, your location, web page and a little Bio about you and your company. Don't make it to long just find some keywords for your business and what you do. This is important make sure you add a picture of yourself not your company logo or the outside of your business. Local marketing mobile is all about creating a connection with your customer. One import part of creating your connection with you customers is giving your business a face. Yes your face don't get a model in. Just to prove a point. local_mmobile

No models here 

Now here is the trick with your twitter account. People don't want to know what you had for breakfast. (Unless its from your deli and you want to promote it) or what colour shirt you are thinking of buying. Do not fall into the trap of banal updates. You want to post things that are of use to people and inform them about you and your business. Make a list of what you want to get across and split it up into 140 chars. Doing this will focus you mind and your vision. Save these somewhere and just reguarly post.
When you are organised like this your twitter account will give value to your clients.


Next we will have a look at how your new twitter account intergrates with you local mobile marketing.

Regards Nick.

Going Local

Using the fast growing world of mobile marketing to position your business localy is what this blog is all about.
I am going to cover adding you business to the local marketing tools. Google Local, Yelp, foursquare, twitter and facebook. Also any other marketing tools that I have forgotten to mention or have yet to research.

When the Internet hit the big time it was all about going global and marketing your business to the world. This is no bad thing but as the smart phone revolution has taken hold, they are being used to find out what is going on where you are.
This market is currently being used by the early adopters but is taking off quickly so the time is now to get on board.

Having a smart phone you add the geographical location to the search. So its a very powerful tool for your local business. To be seen on a smart phone you have to do a few things which I will cover in upcoming posts.

I do hope you follow my blogs and they help you get more people through your business doorway.

Regards

Nick.