I want to continue today talking about Local SEO and a few local marketing tips that can help you gain rankings in your local area and make a good first impression to possible clients for your business. Everything that I will describe can be done for free and it only takes a little time and effort on your part. You will get out of it what you put into it.

Do not be afraid. Anyone can follow these tips and implement them on your own site. You do not have to be a technical coding geek to do this. So, breathe easy and keep reading.

For this example, I’m going to use a friend of mine’s chimney sweep website, HomeSaverChimneySweeps.com. His name is Mark Ferraiolo and we have been friends for many, many years. He lives in Pennsylvania now and has allowed me to use his website to illustrate a few examples that one could use to make their sites better in the eyes of the search engines.

Mark has done a pretty good job listing his site on Google local. Below is the screenshot of how it appears.

At first glance at his Google local listing, I would recommend that Mark ask more of his customers to write reviews about his business. He is only showing 1 review. I know for a fact that Mark has many satisfied customers and he should be asking each customer to go online and write a review. Word of mouth and testimonials are very powerful.

Here is what I observe and what I think Mark should do to his listing:

• Be more descriptive about what your business does. Mark only has 2 sentences describing his business.
• Post more photos showing your work. Google allows up to 10 photos to be posted.
• Post youtube videos of his chimney sweep work. Google allows up to 5 videos to be posted for the listing.
• Add coupons to his listing. The coupons will appear with his business listing on Google maps.

Wrist slap #1
Here is where I’m going to fuss a little bit at Mark and slap his wrist. When I visit HomeSaverChimneySweeps.com, Mark does not have a blog on his site. As we all know, the search engines love fresh content.

Wrist slap #2
Add video to your site Mark. You and I have discussed this in detail. Start a youtube channel. Youtube is the #2 search engine in the world next to Google and unfortunately, Mark is not taking advantage of this.

There is no evidence of any social media presence for Home Saver Chimney Sweeps such as Facebook & Twitter. Do you think that Mark could benefit from using Social Media in his chimney sweep business?

Google Insights:
The next thing I would do if I were Mark, is to visit Google Insights to search for the top terms I could use to help customers find me. I searched for the term “chimney” and used the filter of the state of Pennsylvania and all metros.

A quick search using Insights turned up a ton of useful information that Mark could use. The screen shot below shows regional interest for the search term “chimney.”

The screenshot below is the pot of gold for Mark. Google Insight shows all of the top searches related to “chimney” for the entire state of Pennsylvania. It also show the top rising searches for the term.

What should Mark do with this information? It’s simple. He should be incorporating these terms into his site. There are many other things that Mark can do also. Start posting youtube video and tagging his videos with these search terms. Posting photos on his site using “alt tags” with these terms.

Add a blog to his site and write specific articles about each search term. Mark should start building links to his site using these terms as anchor text for the links. I only see 15 links pointing to his site using the Yahoo Link Domain tool.

If Mark could start to rank in the search engines for these individual terms, combined with youtube videos of his work and customer testimonials, I believe Mark, my good friend, would have more chimney sweep work in Catawissa, PA than he could handle. Actually, I don’t think it…I know it.

Of course, this is not everything that Mark could do to help himself. These tips are quick and simple that he could start to implement today. What are some recommendations that you would give to Mark to improve his local SEO? Feel free to join in and leave your tips.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

Local Businesses do not seem to grasp the power of the internet and local search that is right at their fingertips. There is a trend here in my town and most likely yours. With just a few simple steps, small businesses could own their local search terms in the search engines and do a better job of controlling their message. Most business owners seem to be too busy running their business instead of marketing their business. This appears to be a fact for small business everywhere and could provide opportunities if someone were interested in starting a business and becoming a local SEO Consultant.

Let’s take my town of Monroe, NC and look for some examples. After you see what I will point out to you in my town, it will be very easy for you to recognize the same situation in your hometown. For my example, lets use the term “Monroe NC BBQ” and look at the results. I love BBQ and here in the south, BBQ is king.

Personally, I am drawn to the Outlaw BBQ listing. The business listings are ok, but still seem to be a bit more like a telephone book listing. Out of the 4 listings that you see, you can bet that Outlaw BBQ will definitely get a look from most people on the search. Which one would Grandma click?

Diving in a little further, I click on Bob Gibson’s business listing. As you can see from the screenshot below, Bob Gibson has not claimed this local listing on Google? Just below, Bob Gibson has about 12 reviews. Some are good and some are bad. Ol’ Bob is really missing out on some great content he could add including photos and videos. This is a Failure! BTW, the other 2 businesses have not claimed their Google listing either.

I would venture to say that Bob Gibson does not have a clue that the bad reviews are there because he has no response to the bad reviews. It’s obvious that Bob is not interested about controlling the message or possibly trying to get it changed. This one comment alone has probably driven customers to a competitor. If I were Bob or if I were working for Bob, I would have responded or would have asked what I could have done for this person to have this negative removed. At the least, I would have encouraged my customers to go online and write positive reviews about my restaurant that would drive this comment far down the line.

Here is what I did on the review. Bob Gibson’s is one of my favorite restaurants in Monroe and I go there quite often. The food is great. I took this opportunity to write my own review and to hopefully cancel the negative somewhat and to push it further down the page. If I were Bob Gibson, I would not hesitate to ask my friends or customers that if they like my place, to please go and do a review. I would hand them a free lunch card along with directions on how to do it. I would do everything possible to control the message.

If I were a local SEO Consultant, I would use what I did as a way to get my foot in the door to offer my services. I would print out what I did and maybe make a few notes on the pages, attach a business card and stop by and ask for the manager. I’d give it to him or her, speak for just a moment and probably leave. If they were not on Twitter or Facebook, I’d ask why not? I’d follow up in a couple of days and if the response were positive, I’d set up up a meeting. If you have a cool reception, I would mention that you really like Bob Gibson BBQ but if they do not want my services, I’m going to move on to one of the other BBQ restaurants and make my offer to them. I would do this in a very nice way.

Below is an example of a business owner who claimed and took control of his business listing. He’s a long time friend of mine. I advised him on a few internet ideas early on when he started his business and he’s done a great job. It’s not BBQ and it’s in another state but it’s a good relevent example of the point I’m trying to make. He owns a Chimney Sweep business, and he has done a good job for his Google Local listing.

There is a lot more to cover and I will continue in the next post about how to identify some of the local search terms and to gain ranking. Local SEO is much easier to rank for local terms than you think. I’ll cover more real life examples in the next article.

If you are a small business located anywhere in the country and you feel as if you are not making the most out of your internet presence or if the landscape is confusing, we want to hear from you at Echelon Media. Give us a look.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

One of the things I’ve been trying to do is to simplify my hyperlocal blogging efforts as much as possible. I want it to be very easy for readers to do 3 things when they land on my hyperlocal blog.

• Inquire about advertising
• Contribute to my site as a writer
• Submit community news & events

For me, those 3 items are the bread & butter, heart and soul of my site.

Are you making it easy for your readers who land on your site? What you see below is a screenshot from my hyperlocal blog’s right sidebar. I don’t claim to be a graphic expert, I just wanted something simple, clean and catchy. I hope I have accomplished what I have set out to do. When a visitor clicks it, it takes them to a page on my site where they can get more information and fill out a form or send me an email.

I created the simple graphics myself using 2 programs on my MacBookPro. I use Apple Keynote to create the graphic and PhotoShop Elements to clean it up a little. It’s very simple, like me, and anyone can create similar graphics for your site.

What are some of the hyperlocal marketing ideas you use on your site?

What do you want your readers to do when they land on your blog? Have you made it painfully simple to do so? If not, get cracking.

Hyperlocal Blog Tips

Are you using your existing multimedia for effective SEO on your hyperlocal blog? Generally, I think we all fall somewhat short getting the most out of what we have. It can be a little tedious to SEO your hyperlocal blog but today I want to share some SEO Tips to generate traffic to your hyperlocal blog.

For this illustration I am optimizing for the term “Your Neighborhood Produce in Monroe, NC.” I will illustrate simple ways to do it that takes little effort and time on my part. I want this article to give me traffic for years to come. If I do a little extra, I’m pretty sure my efforts will pay off.

This is a real life example of what I have done to a particular article on my hyperlocal website in Monroe, NC, The Monroe Scoop.

I recently went out and shot a video of an event called Your Neighborhood Produce. I want to show you the ways I have used the video to give my article and site an SEO and traffic boost.

Hyperlocal Social Media

The first thing I did while editing the video was to take a short segment of the video and post it to the Monroe Scoop Facebook Page. I was editing the video anyway. I took an extra 3 minutes to post a snippet of the video. I wanted to generate some buzz for the article before I published it. Below is a screenshot of my Facebook Page.

The next thing I did was to take a snippet from the video I was editing and upload it to YouTube. This takes virtually no time whatsoever because I’m already sitting and editing my video. It takes just a few moments to grab a piece of the video and upload to YouTube to give your site and article the SEO boost for some long term traffic to your site.

Below are the 2 videos I uploaded. The first video was a short clip and the second video was the completed version. In the video description on YouTube, I linked out to my site in Monroe, NC. YouTube is awesome for the links and traffic. Hey, you already know that though.

The next thing I did was to grab a few screen shots from the video and upload them to my Flickr account. I use the handy Flickr uploader and it took a total of about 3 minutes to upload and tag 7 photos. I did this while I was still editing the original video. I have posted a couple of the photos below just to give you an example.

Since I’m showing you these photos, I will also put in “alt tags” on these photos and they will link back to my original article. Might as well do it since I’m writing about it, right? The links from Flickr are no-follow but they may send me some additional traffic based on searches. I made sure I placed appropriate tags on the photos.

The next thing I did was to grab the embed code from Flickr for my 7 photo slideshow. You can see that below. Your readers love photos, video and slideshows. Give them what they want, it’s easy and takes very little time to do a little something extra.

I hope you are still following along. Writing this article has taken a lot longer than what I actually did. Since I have more than one hyperlocal blog, I did a little extra work to send more links back to my original article. I placed a couple of the still photos in a new article. I placed the photo slideshow into the article on my second site.

Here is where I got a little fancy, I placed a screenshot of my video into the new article. It looks exactly like the video but instead will hyperlink back to the article on Monroe Scoop. This created even more links to the article and will also count toward my traffic. I’m hoping to get traffic to both sites because of this little maneuver. Below is the screenshot I used to send traffic back to the original article. If you click it, it will take you to the original article also.

I actually host my own videos on my own hosted server on my sites for the most part. I occasionally post a youtube embedded video when I’m pressed for time. YouTube is great for the links but I do not like how they stream video. I don’t think they operate on enough bandwidth and cause videos to stop and stutter.

I estimate it took me an extra 15 minutes of work to do what I have described above. It’s important that you use what media you have and turn it into multimedia. The SEO benefit for your hyperlocal blog will be long term and beneficial. There are SEO Experts out there that would do more and are much more talented than I am, but for the citizen journalist trying to get more out of your articles, these few extra steps will help immensely.

Of course I will also send out a few tweets to get visits to the site.

I have no idea when you, the reader, may stumble upon this article. Why don’t you test me out and type in Your Neighborhood Produce in Monroe, NC into Google and see how I did. If I’m not outranking the actual site, hopefully I’m just under it. I could certainly go after the top ranking with more links but that is not necessary for my purposes.

Give this a try the next time you are working on video or posting some photo’s on your hyperlocal blog. Try to get the most out of your multimedia.

If you are a hyperlocal blogger you absolutely should have a Facebook Fan page. The benefits to having one are many as you can imagine. Today, however, I want to discuss with you one aspect that I think is important in managing your Facebook Fan Page associated with your hyperlocal blog. There are a lot of things you should do, but let’s focus on one small aspect today.

I want you to consider the Fan Page as your personal internet piece of real estate and treat it such. Yes, it’s called a Fan Page but it is an extension of you. What happens on the page and what you allow is a direct reflection of you. Protecting your fan page is like protecting your reputation in your community. If it’s full of negative, you will be perceived as being negative. If your page is lively and fun, you also will be considered in the same way. Get that into your mindset and you will be well on your way to creating a successful Facebook Fan Page.

Facebook Fan Page Tip

I’m going to share what I do on my page. You may disagree and that’s ok, but this works for me. Do not allow anyone or any business to promote themselves or their business in such a way that it doesn’t benefit your community as a whole.

If you allow your page to become a community billboard for self promotion, you can kiss it goodbye. It will become a place for spammers and you will be taken advantage of.

Businesses will be on it everyday promoting their own special interests without regard to you or the other members. Who wants to see the “Buy 3 Tires, Get One Free” ad every other day? What is the benefit of the community by allowing these type posts on your Fan Page? Zero.

I have my guidelines clearly posted but every now and then someone breaks my rule. I immediately delete the post and then I send a nice direct message explaining why I did what I did and I always offer alternatives.

Here is the note I have placed in the sidebar.
Please, read this! We support community events and local business. If you would like to post an event or promote a business, we ask that you first contact us and inquire about a promotion using the Fan Page. Please read “notes” tab at top of page.

Now, when they read my guidelines, here is what I have written.
Due to the large amount of Facebook members on the Monroe Scoop Fan Page, we feel it is necessary to post some guidelines on appropriate use of the Fan pages.

If you are not already a Fan, please become one. This is a great Fan Page because of our members.

I rarely have anyone break the guidelines I have set. Our Facebook page is a vibrant page with a lot of interaction and no spam. As a result we are growing in numbers every week. I personally believe this policy I have put in place is one of the main reasons for the growth of our Fan Pages. I run 4 hyperlocal websites and each has it’s own individual Fan Page. When you total the Fans from each site, it is believed that my network has the largest Fan following in my county.

I wish you success on your community Fan Page. This is the absolute first thing I would do when starting a hyperlocal Facebook Fan Page.

Please visit the Monroe Scoop Facebook Fan Page.

I’ll be bringing you more practical tips in the weeks ahead. I’ll soon be focusing on how video can make a real difference. Make sure you subscribe, you do not want to miss any of these tips.

I’d like to announce a new project I am involved in with 3 of my buddies, Allyn Hane, Josh Whitford & Brian Matson. We have teamed up together and formed Echelon Media, a Social Media Consulting Business.

Most of you will immediately recognize those names. Over the last few months, we have all realized the fluff and the garbage floating around out there where Social Media is concerned. The so-called A-listers talking fluffy cloud scenarios but never actually giving real life examples and help to those who may be struggling.

The 4 of us have our own specialties in regards to our online work and participation in Social Media. We felt we could give our individual and group thought on how we use Social Media successfully from our own perspective. Thus, Echelon Media was born. Feel free to check out “About Page”, on Echelon to read individual Bio’s about our group.

One of the first things we hope to accomplish is to give you straightforward, no fluff examples of how to use Social Media to your benefit. The 4 of us are real people who actually do what we preach and teach.

The website is about 1 month old now and we have experienced a very successful month of traffic for such a new site. It is our intention to provide businesses and individuals with solid, practical advice on how to build their businesses and brands. We will offer our consulting services to individual and business online through the use of technology or we are available to speak directly to your group onsite.

Echelon Media has just kicked off a series of what we call “Social Media Shorts.” These are quick one minute video tips designed to help you in your daily efforts in Social Media. These are the things that we do everyday and we are sharing these practical tips with you.

Below you will find the first 2 quick vids of our Social Media Shorts series of tips.

If you need Social Media Consultants, or if you just want to brush up on some handy tips, please give us a visit. If you like what we are doing, help us spread the word. We would love for you to follow us on Twitter @echelonmedia. Become a Facebook Fan and ask us to answer a specific question you have about Social Media.

2010 BloggerLens.com

Who: Me. Local Social Media Expert who happens to be frugal.

What: Need cheap Social Media marketing tactics.

Why: I must constantly market myself and my network of community websites.

How: Business Cards!

Ok, you don’t have to be involved in Social Media to use business cards effectively. All of us should carry them everywhere we go.

The most effective and simple marketing tool that each of us should possess are simple business cards. I give them out everywhere I go.

I just had 250 of these cards printed for me at VistaPrint. All I paid was around $5.67 for shipping. I designed the card with their online template. It was easy and fast. The cards arrived about a week later. They are perfect and high quality.

I receive weekly emails and offers from Vistaprints now. I do not mind because the offers are mostly free and I only pay shipping. Last week I ordered 100 postcards for free and paid $6.56 in shipping.

For $12.23 I’ve ordered 250 business cards and 100 post cards. (I know it’s not free if you pay for shipping but free your mind on this one)

I wholeheartedly recommend Vistaprint.

Go to VistaPrint and order your business cards today for cheap.

This has been a “No Fluff, Common Sense, Direct Help” article from a guy who actually practices Social Media in his community.

2010 BloggerLens.com

When you have some cold hard cash to spend and you can’t find the product you want to spend it on, that may be a sign that it’s a pretty good product. In my case, I’m looking to buy 2 Kodak Zi8’s. This is the updated version of the Kodak Zi6 in which I already own. I love the Kodak Zi6. You can watch the video of my Kodak Zi6 Review if you are so inclined.

The main reason I’m going to purchase the updated Zi8 is because of the new capabilities to use a wireless microphone with the Zi8. As a hyperlocal blogger, I have a lot of interview type situations and need the wireless mic. Your viewers will forgive you for crappy video, but they don’t like crappy audio.

My local Best Buy store has them in stock for $230. Amazon and B&H Photo carry them for $179 and both are out of stock as you can see below in the screenshots. I’m not going to pay full retail. I checked the Best Buy website and they state that they will not match prices for online items. Personally, I think that’s a stupid policy from Best Buy. Read their policy below. They will only match their own prices against themselves. It’s stupid mainly because I could have walked out of the store yesterday with my 2 zi8’s and saved $100. Hey, I’m selfish and frugal.

With the $100 savings I could join Amazon Prime for 1 year. That would get me free 2-day shipping on just about everything that Amazon sells.

Amazon is sold out of Kodak Zi8’s. I can go ahead a order one and it will be sent when they are back in stock.

B & H Photo is also out of stock but I like the options they give me better than Amazon. Take a look. I can get an e-mail alert sent to me when they have some in stock. I like that very much. B & H does not make me go through with a purchase.

At Best Buy, I should have been able to walk over to the Geek Associate Table, and after being ignored for 10 minutes, they should have looked up the online price at their competitor and matched the price on the spot. I would have walked out with 2 Zi8’s and they would have a happy customer eager to return again to spend some more money. Instead, I am now re-evaluating how I will shop and will probably avoid my local Best Buy Store unless it’s extremely urgent on my part.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

I pulled up behind a Jeep a few days ago and snapped this with my Blackberry. I thought it was pretty cool and another form of cheap marketing & advertising. I doubt this person has $200 invested. I would imagine that this simple marketing technique has sent a good bit of business their way. Would use use vehicle advertising decals to brand yourself or your business?

I use it on my vehicle.

Josh Whitford from Unconventional Marketing Ideas uses it on his vehicle.

Would you use it?

2010 Bloggerlens.com

I came across a new text writer that may be just what all of you writers and bloggers need. The Ommwriter. The Ommwriter is a Mac based text editor and turns your Mac screen into a peaceful place with subtle images and pleasant background music. When I saw it, I immediately downloaded the “free” application to give it a try.

If you find yourself distracted when you write, this may be a very helpful application. The video below explains it much better than I can. I like Ommwriter and recommend it. Sorry PC users, this is a Mac based application.