As a business owner, there are few things more satisfying than seeing a review that goes something like this, “I had an amazing experience here. I will continue to shop here and strongly recommend this store if you are in the area.” What a great endorsement, right?! So how are you going to use this [...]
What do people find when they search for your business? Rave reviews? Customer complaints? Let’s try an experiment. Go to Google and search for your ‘Business Name’. What do you see? Is it good? Now search for ‘Business Name + Complaints’. What do you see now? Is it scary? Your online reputation can be the [...]
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Foursquare, the list goes on and on. The world of social media is expanding faster than most companies can keep up with. For the franchise owner whose plate is already full, the prospect of actively maintaining multiple social media accounts is daunting. If you have been wondering why you should [...]
Local search drives business. Reviews are essential to consumers as they search for reliable, trustworthy businesses to purchase from. Merging the two is what Google does best. Roughly 40% of searches are local. This means that your neighbors are searching for places to shop in your town on Google. According to the 2012 Local Consumer [...]
When you deal with the public, complaints are inevitable. You can’t please everyone all the time, right? So what do you do with the complaints you receive? Your response can go a long way toward improving or maintaining your brand’s reputation, especially in today’s social media environment. The advent of social media has empowered consumers [...]
Another big IPO is in the works. This time it’s Yelp who filed for an initial public offering on November 17, 2011 valued at $100 million. With plans to go public in 2012, the local business review site is building on impressive revenue gains seen this year. In the first nine months of 2011, Yelp [...]
Twitter is expected to be one of the only social networking sites to have long term viability. Twitter usage and name recognition has been growing in leaps and bounds. Many are using Twitter not just to stay connected, but to market as well. So how do you maximize your Twitter? Get an active Twitter [...]
We’ve all done things in our lives we regret. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, those things are often found on the internet, available to potential employers, schools and any other person who enters our life. So can you protect your online reputation by having those pages removed from Google’s index? Unfortunately, it is not [...]
No one wants to see or hear a negative comment about their business. When you first read a negative blog post, you are likely to get a sinking feeling in your stomach. However, a negative blog post doesn’t have to mean impending doom. Instead of dreading seeing your company’s name, take this as an opportunity [...]