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business dog on phone attempts to sound human

Can We Talk? Why Your Company’s Social Media Needs to Sound Human

Reputation Management, Social Media

You may not think that a book written about the internet in 1999 would have much to offer us in the realm of web marketing today, but think again. Here’s a snippet of The Cluetrain Manifesto that was dead-on about the fundamentals:

“…Markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.”

—The Cluetrain Manifesto

There are so many marketers who go through great pains to try and fake the human voice, and sometimes it even works—kind of. But the point is not just to sound like you’re interested in talking to your customers. You have to have an honest desire to do it (at least for the business’s sake). Maybe you’re a business owner who wants to give your brand a presence on social media platforms—but odds are you’d prefer not to play the role of reaching out to the masses yourself. Time to hire it out.Read More »Can We Talk? Why Your Company’s Social Media Needs to Sound Human

people loathe us on yelp - what to do about bad yelp reviews for your business

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Yelp?

Reputation Management

If I had a dime for every time a business owner tore into Yelp, I’d already be retired.

It turns out that the internet’s most popular business review site, at over 100 million registered users, still isn’t popular with everyone. Many business owners, users, and bipeds in general tend to hate Yelp’s lack of transparency, aggressive sales staff, and the amount of power that they give to relatively anonymous users. If you don’t believe me, just check out Yelp-Sucks.com, a few recent horror stories from small businesses, or Yelp’s laughable 3/5 star rating on their own website.

Today, we’ll talk about how much Yelp can suck, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest complaints about Yelp, and then we’ll see what we can do about them.Read More »Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Yelp?

How to Get More Google+ Reviews for Your Business

Reputation Management

Every time you look at a search results page on Google, there is a good chance that you may see something new. It wasn’t too long ago that videos, images, author profiles, links to Google plus reviews, and maps weren’t all shown on the same screen. Many people who depend on Google for their livelihoods spend a lot of time and energy trying to predict which additions will be next, but nobody really knows for sure.

While there are many changes happening right now to the way Google displays listings for small businesses, Google has made it crystal clear that business reviews will play a huge role in the future. We’ve been able to see business reviews on Yelp, out of five stars, from Google’s search results for a few years, and we’ve already seen Google+ play a more serious role.

If you’re the kind of business owner who wants to stay ahead of the curve, one of the biggest things you can do for your business, right now, is to start earning Google+ reviews.

What the New Google+ Mobile App Additions Mean to Small Business Owners

Social Media

Keep Calm and Plus One - the G+ mobile updates just made it much easier to use for small business owners Google+ just won’t sit still. If you haven’t taken advantage of the platform yet, now is definitely a good time to start. With today’s relaunch of the Google+ mobile apps for iPhone and Android, it’s gotten even easier to let customers and clients keep tabs on your day to day, and give them a glimpse of the faces that make your company work.

While the redesigned apps actually cover a lot of ground, there are four updates in particular that Google wants to you know about. Here’s what they mean for you.

Photo editing within the Google+ app itself just got a lot easier. With instagram style options, plus basic crop, rotate and contrast tools, it’s easy to turn a quick snapshot into something worth sharing.

New photo editing options
So what?

Encourage your employees to ‘brag’ in pictures about their accomplishments, even if it takes a minute out of the workflow. If your electricians replace an electrical panel, turn it into a before & after. If your chef comes up with an awesome special of the day, get a picture online. If you take pride in your work, let it show.Read More »What the New Google+ Mobile App Additions Mean to Small Business Owners