MDS Resource — Digital Ad Agency

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  • Online Reputation Repair Can Be Avoided By Effective Online Reviews and Reputation Management

    Do You Know What People Are Saying About Your Business Online?

    What Is Online Reputation Management?

    Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of Online Reputation Management:

    Online reputation management is the act of monitoring, addressing or mitigating search engine result pages or mentions in online media and Web sphere content. It primarily involves tracking what is written about a client on the Internet, then utilizing sophisticated online and offline techniques in promoting positive and neutral content, while at the same time pushing down those links the sponsor may not want to show when their name is searched.

    Did you know the 2011 “Social Shopping Study” indicates that 50% of consumers spend 75% or more of their total shopping time conducting online product research? Furthermore:

    • 92% of Adult Buyers Regularly Check Online Reviews Before Purchasing
    • 70% of Consumers Trust Other Consumers’ Opinions That Are Posted Online

    Why Is Online Reputation Management Important?

    Marketing local business online flourishes because the whole world is coming online, too.

    1. Your prospects are online
    2. Your competitors are online
    3. Your customers are online
    4. That includes your unhappy customers, too!

    The Internet Has Changed Everything !?!?

    Local small business marketing has benefited in so many ways from the Internet. However, the online universe has also empowered consumers.

    • Before the Internet, businesses delivered their messages to consumers via one-way communication channels that they controlled (think – TV commercials)
    • Business NO longer completely control their message!
    • Thanks to the Internet, everyone comments on business messages via blogs, social media, customer reviews, etc.

    What Are People Saying About Your Business?

    Your company’s online reputation is being discussed:

    1. By former employees
    2. By bloggers
    3. On forums
    4. On social media
    5. In customer reviews

    Online Reputation Is Crucial For The BIG BOYS, Too!

    Don’t believe me? Google the company names for which these all too common
    namesakes sprang up:

    • www.walmartsucks.org
    • www.homedepotsucks.com

    What Are The Negative Effects Of A Bad Online Reputation?

    1. Bad customer experience
    2. Unresolved customer issues
    3. Bad reputation
    4. Lost revenue

    What Can Happen If You Don’t Repair Your Tarnished Online Reputation?

    Internet marketing for small business needs every advantage possible to succeed. A tarnished name puts you at great risk.

    1. You could lose existing customers
    2. New customers may be difficult to find
    3. Your business can suffer financial loss
    4. You could go out of business!

    What Happens When You Repair & Defend Good Reputation?

    1. Your positive good online reputation stands out from the crowd
    2. You will retain existing customers
    3. You will get new customers easily
    4. Your positive brand image will be credible & authoritative!

    How To Maintain Your Online Reputation

    Marketing your business online is about building and nourishing relatinships. So, too, is reputation management.

    1. Be proactive instead of reactive
    2. Monitor online conversations about your business
    3. Respond and interact with consumers online
    4. Regularly create and distribute positive content

    What Are The Benefits Of Actively Seeking Online Reviews?

    Actively seeking online reviews from satisfied customers is certain to:

    • Boost conversions, and
    • Provide feedback about your product or service

    Consumers trust and expect online reviews and, seeing them, will gravitate to your business.

    How To Get Customer Reviews To Build Or Repair Reputation

    Referrals and new sales leads continue to be your ultimate goal. What better way to build social proof than to ask for a review?

    1. Survey all of your customers for feedback all of the time
    2. Offer incentives in exchange for reviews (e.g., coupons, discounts, free samples)
    3. Ask customers to review products by placing calls-to-action on your product pages
    4. Send customers to your business listings on Google Places, Yelp, CitySearch, etc.
    5. Link your business listing profiles to your website

    Always Create Positive, Branded Content To Promote Reputation!

    Flood the first search engine results pages with positive, branded content:

    • Your well-ranked website must be the first result for your company name
    • On-going search engine optimization (SEO) for all of your webpages
    • Videos, press releases, photos, articles, etc. promoting your good name
    • Tips, tools, helpful tutorials & other useful content for your visitors

    Monitor Online Conversations For The First Line Of Reputation Defense

    Find out what people are saying about your business:

    • Do a Google search for your business name …
    • What do you find when you search for you?
    • Check articles, blogs, forums & customer review sites
    • Frequently check your own blog & website for comments
    • Pay close attention to the social network sites

    Reputation Repair Requires Response & Interaction

    1. Listen to what people are saying
    2. Be respectful
    3. Display a helpful & friendly demeanor
    4. Respond to both positive and negative comments
    5. Always quickly offer solutions to problems

    Why Respond & Interact To Fix Online Reputations?

    • It builds relationships
    • It allows you to actively manage & control your brand
    • It allows other people to see your point of view
    • It shows that you care

    You do care, don’t you?

    How To Repair Your Reputation

    Do you already have negative online comments and reviews?

    1. Make brand optimization your main focus
    2. Use SEO to drive negativity further down the SERP’s
    3. Create and publish videos, press releases & articles
    4. Create a blog — regularly publish fresh & unique content
    5. Engage in social media to build a loyal & eager following

    How to Improve & Fix Your Online Reputation

    1. Ask for negative reviews to be removed
    2. Promptly address issues
    3. Don’t ignore unhappy customers
    4. Don’t argue with customers
    5. Know when to walk away
    6. You cannot please everyone!

    Call Now
    Answer Questions: 612-235-6060

  • Reputation Management: 10 Things You Can Do To Repair Your Online Reputation

    Reputation Management And Your First Impression

    Who says you never get a second chance to make a first impression? Indeed, you may have a second chance, especially if that first chance was taken from you. In this world where your reputation is everything and your name is far more than mere label, reputation management is a business necessity.

    Internet media is complicated. Now we are all exemplary publishers and we the people build and extend the Internet a little bit more every day! Not only can anybody contribute; but, there are no rules regulating what is said, in which venue and how close any of it is to truth.

    Who’s to stop a vindictive person from anonymously complaining online where everybody can see it? Often, by anonymous, it’s true that many of these complainers hide behind a shroud because they cannot withstand the slightest scrutiny. Did you ever know somebody who complains every chance they get? Far from a majority, it only takes one acerbic comment to destroy a beautifully constructed reputation. One bad review from one disgruntled or obnoxious trouble maker and years of carefully crafted integrity can come tumbling down.

    How Can You Repair Online Reputation?

    So, what can you do to put Humpty Dumpty back together again? Can you really repair a damaged online reputation? Yes, you can repair online reputations. Is it as simple as removing negative online reviews?

    Sadly, no. For the most part, bad reviews are probably carved in Internet stone. But, one bad apple is no reason to throw out the whole bushel.

    Ten Effective Reputation Management Practices

    1. Review Sites

      Review sites, also known as citation sites, are essential to successful reputation management. When people see stars on business reviews, it is social proof that your business has very positive fans. Five stars clearly indicate a winner! Three stars leave people thinking average and so-so.


      What do you think when you see a one or two star rating?

      One way to repair an online reputation is to amass as many five star ratings as possible on many different sits.

    2. Blogs

      Blogs continue to be extremely popular communications tools. Whereas, many estimates count as many blogs as United States population, that number is less important than how business benefits from blogs. Whereas, web pages are intended to present static facets of your business, blog posts are quite different. Blogging allows you to present the day-to-day elements of your business, such as events, success stories and milestones.

      Furthermore, your public audience is invited to comment on and interact with your business through your blog. Therefore, blogs become a chronology of the good things about your business and how your public responds to them over time. A continuous stream of great news eventually removes the effect of negative online reviews.

    3. Pictures

      Yes, a picture is worth at least a thousand words! Even Google recognizes images as their own search category. All else equal, people browsing on the Internet are far more likely to look at pictures than read text.


      Don’t you want your audience to see clean images of your company and happy, smiling faces?

      Cleanup your online reputation by positioning a plethora of positive images high in search results. Basic search engine optimization of your images includes:

      • Main keyword in the image filename
      • Main keyword in the HTML alt tag
      • Keywords in the image description
      • Keywords in the image caption
      • Position images on the page in context

  • Video Testimonials

    Whereas, images are powerful, video is the single most powerful medium on the Internet! So much so, that Google often favors videos over most other online properties in the search results. Have you ever searched and found those remarkable video thumbnails on the 1st search results page?

    We all know that Testimonials are the best marketing promotion you can have, right? Video Testimonials are the most persuasive of all Testimonials. Keep it succinct, to the point and as specific as can be. Then, of course, position your Video Testimonials where they can be easily found and viewed.


    Who will remember that anonymous bad review?

  • Press Releases

    Tell everybody who is anybody what’s going on with your business. Press releases announce noteworthy events and accomplishments. They are designed to attract news media attention, so they can help you spread the word to a larger audience.

    The fact is, you always want a lot of positive attention for your business. You need even more when you’re recovering from bad reviews. Regular press releases help:

    • Generate traffic to your website
    • Give your company more visibility
    • Build your brand
    • Provide credibility and authority

  • Nullify Negative Keywords

    It’s a fact: Many Americans start their fact-finding and decision-making on the Internet. That’s good, isn’t it? Isn’t that why you’re on the web to begin with? They search and when they find you, you have a sales opportunity.

    However, when the 1st search results page includes links associating your company with “scam,” “scammers” and bad reviews, many people cannot get past the negativity. Instead, they use the back button and browse elsewhere.

    Your job, then, is to fill that 1st search results page with positive links to your business, whether they be blog posts, YouTube videos, Facebook or citations. The point is, if you have only one reference to your business on a search results page, there are many more opportunities for negativity. Bury a bad review with many positive references to you.

  • Local News

    Your business is part of your local community, isn’t it? How do you participate in your community? Have you contributed to a church group, civic activity or food drive? Do you partner with businesses down the block? Can you help celebrate and appreciate success stories in your neighborhood?

    The local Internet is a great source for local directories, special offers and collaborative opportunities with other local businesses. One of Facebook’s most powerful features facilitates “tagging” other business pages. Celebrate the best of your community online and ask other businesses to do the same. This will demonstrate your positive place in the community.

  • Thread Authority

    Often times, you can participate in forums to express your authority in your field and build credibility. Find a local forum or one specifically about your industry and look for opportunities to help and provide information. When you see a discussion to which you can add value, forget your sales pitch and simply offer great advice and free information.

    When time is right, start a discussion, again offering great advice and free information. You may also write an article to guest blog on some other blog and get a whole new audience remarking about your credibility and perceived authority.

  • Facebook

    Whereas, your website is mostly about your company and what you have to say about it, social media is primarily about what others have to say about you. Facebook is king of social media now, its members being the 3rd largest country in the world:

    1. China
    2. India
    3. Facebook
    4. United States

    Properly managing social media is a critical part of building your reputation in the community. Facebook done right is social proof, whether that be a Like, Share or simply interacting on your Wall. When many people are positively interacting with your Facebook page, newcomers start their relationship with you on a very positive note. Positive social media engagement and interaction is a powerful buffer to negative reviews that may be found elsewhere.

  • LinkedIn

    LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world. Thread authority, mentioned above, is especially applicable here, too. By participating in Groups and LinkedIn Answers, you can quickly increase credibility and be seen as an authority in your field.

    LinkdeIn Recommendations, however, warrant mention here as an extremely powerful tool to present positive Testimonials. Whereas, elsewhere reviews and Testimonials are often veiled in anonymity, LinkedIn Recommendations cannot be anonymous. Furthermore, since LinkdedIn members are exclusively professionals, their Recommendations are imbued with professional credibility.


    Nothing squashes an anonymous bad review like a recommendation from a credible professional!

    • Reputation Management Is More Than Putting Out Fires

    Although, you may not be able to remove bad reviews, certainly there are many ways to distract prospects with glowing references to your company. Truly, it takes a lot of work to build a good name and very little to destroy it!

    It’s been said that the best defense is a great offense. The simplest reputation management is to build a wall of glowing reviews before any bad review appears. Short of that, you now see many ways you can repair your online reputation once it’s tarnished.

    Call Now
    Answer Questions: 612-235-6060

  • Ten Ways Local Small Business Marketing Will Drive Eager Buyers To Your Door Day In And Day Out

    The Price Is Right For Local Small Business Marketing
    The Price Is Right For Local Small Business Marketing

    As if succeeding at small business weren’t hard enough simply making ends meet, local small business marketing can be quite perplexing, too. When you’re small, so is your budget. Eager buyers are shopping for solutions to their perplexing problems. So, where are they if they’re not here in your office? Here are ten local small business marketing tips to attract their attention.

    Buyer Personae Love Local Small Business Marketing

    1. Know your buyer personae. Who is your very best customer? Who is she? What does she do for a living? Where does she live, hang out and shop for groceries? How will she know the best solution to her problem? When you know your best customers exceptionally well, exceptional customers will come to you.
    2. When you know your best customers, it’s little wonder that pleasing them, too, is so much easier. One size never fits all. When you’re shipping to customers perfectly suited to your products and services, meeting and exceeding expectations is the norm. Match your offering to those who need it most and you’re guaranteed to-die-for word of mouth accolades for your local small business marketing.

      3. Local Small Business Marketing Builds Networks

    3. Regardless your small, medium or large company, networking is at the center of gathering targeted sales leads. Your local chamber of commerce is the logical first step out in your community. Who knows better what your business needs to succeed than other successful business leaders in your neighborhood? Sharing local referrals with them logically leads to reciprocal business.
    4. In the online world, LinkedIn.com is the world’s largest professional network. It has numerous groups and categories with local focus eagerly seeking local solutions. Best of all, every Fortune 500 company’s executive management is represented on LinkedIn. Prospecting is as simple as participating in groups where local prospects hang out online.

      5. Local Small Business Marketing Uses Social Media

    5. Apparently, Social Media is here to stay. Facebook, for example, is the third largest country in the world and its membership has twice the population of America. Keep your business page up-to-date with events, new offerings and encourage your customers to contribute opinions and share referrals online.
    6. Twitter is a mystery to many small business owners. How much can be said in 140 characters? The key is listening, listening and more listening. However, when you hear somebody comment on you and your brand you need to respond. Give thanks for kind comments. Appreciate the customer service opportunity to solve problems quickly when you hear about them.

      7. Local Small Business Marketing Is Continuous Improvement

    7. In business, learning from your mistakes and duplicating success are vital. At the end of the day, the purpose of your business is to profit by satisfying human wants and needs. As you get better at building strong relationships with those whose problems are best solved by what you offer, you will succeed at attracting more of those best customer.
    8. Continuous improvement means getting better and better at solving customer problems. Continuous improvement is also getting better and better customers, many of whom will refer you to others in need. The best possible local small business marketing results in great customers standing up in public and testifying to the greatness of your relationship.

      9. The Price Is Right For Local Small Business Marketing

    9. Don’t sell yourself short. Price is rarely the real reason a prospect goes elsewhere. When you provide enormous value to eager buyers shopping for your solution, price is no object. It’s not the pain as much as it is the consequences of not relieving that pain that matters.
    10. So, what is your benefit to your customers’ painful problem? How do they value that benefit? How much will it cost them to forego your solution? When you’re in front of your ideal buyers, yours is the perfect solution. Solve their problem and you’re a savior.

    Local small business marketing is all about exchanging the right solution at the right price. Driving eager buyers to your door day in and day out is easy once you stop trying to sell to everybody. Anticipate eager buyers shopping for what you offer and local small business marketing puts you everywhere they look.

    Call Now
    Answer Your Local Small Business Marketing Question: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • Who Else Wants Extraordinarily Successful Online Marketing For Small Business?

    Online Marketing For Small Business Succeeds
    Online Marketing For Small Business Succeeds

    Success and survival are not the same thing. Times are truly tough today and small businesses everywhere are scrambling for survival. Online marketing for small business is a success opportunity that Internet publishing platforms offer individuals with something to say. Commit whole-heartedly to communicating with your online audience and this success can be extraordinary. Listening to many of my clients has convinced me that they have compelling stories to tell. Given a targeted audience these small business owners are effective closers and the audience loves them. How, then, can you attract that just right audience?

    Tell Online Marketing For Small Business Stories

    Regular, honest and compelling content creation is critical to success. Story tellers consistently share their opinions and thoughts online and rise to thought leadership in their particular niche. Thought leadership? What differentiates you from your competition? What is your unique selling proposition? If you want to be different you must lead; otherwise you are a follower lost in the masses. The leader of the pack is interesting because she is out in front of the pack and all eyes are on her. Speak and the pack listens intently. Call them to action and many will convert into the best customers you ever had. The best customers refer others to you and will stand up in public and testify to your leadership.

    Build Online Marketing For Small Business Communities

    Build a community around your brand, both your personal and your business brands. Perhaps, the most striking thing about online marketing for small business is the simplicity. Allowed yourself to be yourself. Once you stop intruding on people trying to convert them to buyers — you know: “Buy ME!” and “Give ME Money!” — what else is there to do?

    One of the greatest features of the Internet is that you can publish your story in your voice, at your pace and it stays available until I need to see it. Give me relevant information in the format I want to receive it. I will pay attention to you. Create curiosity. Build a compelling story. Tell me just enough to get me to come back next week … same time, same place. Nurture me and my interest. Allow me to come to want your service and I will come to you as an eager buyer sooner or later. Inbound marketing brings eager buyers to you at the moment they are ready to buy.

    Share Online Marketing For Small Business

    Create triggers that encourage people to share. Basically, there are five types of Internet sharing:

    * Video;
    * Image;
    * Audio;
    * Text;
    * or a combination of the four.

    Be different. Instead of clubbing prospects over the head and stealing money, give them something to take away from meeting you. Give them something for free. Social media is “social” inasmuch as it shared among its users spheres of influence. We social creatures share valuable information in our social networks, especially information about great deals. If you give me an informative eBook or consultation, in my mind its value increases with its free-ness. I will happily share my find with like-minded friends. How is this different from a referral?

    Online Marketing For Small Business Succeeds

    Tell your interesting and compelling story to an audience that wants to hear it. We will clamor for it Inbound marketing rules are dead simple. Social media and inbound marketing have leveled the playing field and put in your hands exactly the same tools as the biggest corporations in the world. Sharing your story with the world on a consistent and honest basis you can become a thought leader and create a community of followers around your brand. Online marketing for small business is a success opportunity for those with something interesting to say.

    Call Now
    Answer Your Online Marketing For Small Business Question: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • If You Are Marketing Local Business You Can Double Your Best Sales In Ninety Days Or Less

    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business
    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business

    How does your business survive without local buyers shopping for what you offer? Marketing local business may seem daunting, that you’re at a big disadvantage to the big boys. You probably don’t have an online shopping cart and you create great customers eyeball-to-eyeball. Unlike international behemoths like Amazon and Target, you have a service area issue. Although, you’ll service buyers who travel hundreds of miles to you, your ideal customer lives within a 10 or 50 mile radius. Is this your business?

    You’ll be excited to hear that you’re not limited in the ways you can market yourself locally. Yes, I know, most business owners don’t specialize in marketing. This whole advertising thing has become a sinkhole for money you’d rather reinvest back into the business. After placing a few ads all over town, putting your company listing in the yellow pages and networking with your Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club, you’ve probably run out of advertising ideas. Times are tough, traditional advertising is more expensive and, near as you can tell, your return on advertising budget approaches zero. On top of everything else, Dorothy the yellow pages rep and Toto the local SEO geek are pestering you to get online, saying all you need is to be numero uno on Google and a million website visitors. That’s it — nothing more — right?

    Not.

    It’s true, as we learn to search and find what we want on the Internet – when we want it – we respond less and less to offline media. As consumers, we have definitely changed the ways we shop and buy. We no longer sit around waiting to be told what to buy and what’s available for purchase. Million dollar Super Bowl commercials are mere entertainment now, so why spend wheelbarrows of money on traditional and ineffective advertising? Get with the times, marketing local business benefits greatly from the following tips:

    Marketing Local Business Online

    Anticipate eager buyers shopping for you online and everywhere they look you are there. Remember yellow pages? Similarly on the Internet, there are directories that catalog local companies by location, by advertising and by customer reviews. These local online directories are quickly becoming popular resources for buyers to find local companies. Little to no cash gets your company listed in these directories. Advertise your company in as many locations as practical to gain maximum exposure. Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Bing Local, MerchantCircle and Yelp are but a smattering. There are also industry, thematic and cultural directories, too.

    Free Publicity Marketing Local Business

    It’s always vital to announce your business organization, activities and events to your community on a regular basis. This is more than simply telling everybody that you’re still in business. Survival and success are NOT the same thing. New products and services demonstrate that you’re interested in and responding to your customers’ evolving needs and desires. Your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MerchantCircle and even LinkedIn are great places to post your news. Press releases, news releases and media announcements are easier and cheaper done now than ever before. There are many sites online catering to your PR needs. When eager buyers see that you not only have what they’re searching for, but you also have an even newer model, they’ll likely tell their friends about you.

    Marketing Local Business Customers Love Coupons

    Consider the fact that people love to save money — don’t you, too? — coupons can create great customers. You don’t have to worry about complicated sales pitches, just offer them a discount for trying you out. Instead of direct mail or printing fliers, save yourself the distribution expense and publish coupons on the Internet. With billions of searches on the Internet every month, be creative and put your promotion everywhere your eager buyers are looking. Try mentioning a coupon in your blog post, experiment with QR codes people will scan with their smart phones and consider social media. Internet sites like Groupon, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and MerchantCircle are only the tip of the iceberg. Get them in the door and you have the opportunity to create another great customer!

    Can your business survive with local buyers? Yes and marketing your local business online is easy and fun! You’re not limited in the ways you can market locally. By marketing local business effectively you can double your best sales in ninety days or less.

    Call Now
    Answer Your Marketing Local Business Question: 612-235-6060

    Call MDS Resource For Special Offer Now: 612-235-6060

  • 101 Ways To Profit From Marketing Your Business Online

    Profit By Marketing Your Business Online
    Profit By Marketing Your Business Online

    Is Marketing Your Business Online Viable?

    Are you looking for a real way to grow your business, get more leads and generate more sales? Let me say upfront, you can’t wrestle with your business and achieve a clear victory without marketing your business online. Don’t swat at me quite yet — I have my reasons which you’ll soon see.

    I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 10 years now and I have a lot of experience growing businesses. Throughout all the business growth, I’ve been testing each method to find the best ways to improve business. I discovered that marketing your business online is the most effective way to gain popularity and attract a flock of eager buyers shopping for what you offer. Although there are still offline techniques available for growing business, many of these methods are waning and can sink your bank account. Especially when your business is quite young, you usually can’t afford to use high cost promotion methods. At times like these, can you risk investing in advertising with questionable return?

    You Have Permission To Market Your Business Online

    One of the greatest offline marketing business turn-offs today, consumers no longer accept intrusion marketing. They are not waiting to be told what is available for purchase. Instead, think about your own habit. When you get the whim to acquire something new, are you more likely to Google for it or scan through Yellow Pages?

    Luckily, the Internet makes it possible for everybody, even those with tight budgets, to market their business online via websites, blogs, video, social media and social networks. Are you serious about serious business growth? Are increased sales and more of your best customers acquisitions that drive you through your business day? I suggest you consider marketing your business online. Perhaps the greatest thing about this is that it’s considerably less expensive to market your business online than ineffective traditional marketing ever was.

    You Can Afford Marketing Your Business Online

    Of course, nearly all business owners have a website. All by itself, how effective has your static online business card been for your business? Among the most effective online marketing strategies is participation in social media and social networks. I have been augmenting my website efforts with social media for over 5 years now and it’s been tremendously effective increasing awareness of my business brand.

    Where Marketing Your Business Online Takes Place

    Yes, there are at least 101 social media and social networks in which you can participate. Not all of them are equally effective for your business; and to participate in all of them will be prohibitively expensive. So, where to start? Where will it benefit your business most? Of the 101 possible, I recommend all businesses consider these three:

    • Linkedln — The world’s largest network of professionals;
    • Facebook — The 3rd largest “country” in the world; and
    • Twitter — Customers, vendors, partners & competitors discuss you here.

    Social Media Are Marketing Your Business Online

    Social media are effective precisely because they empower consumers to participate in business development. What better way to market your business online than to ask your market what it will buy? Once you anticipate for what eager buyers are shopping, place your content there where they will find it and follow it back to your door. Marketing your business online is that simple.

  • Who Else Wants Location Based Social Media?

    Who Else Wants Location Based Social Media?

    Location Based Social Media Is Where We’re At

    Connecting with others regardless of proximity is one of the strongest values Social Media brings to the table.  My blog may be read in earnest around the world and I appreciate that.  LinkedIn has brought business to table with people I’ve not met nor am I likely to meet (e.g., China, India.) Exchanging tweets across the universe is fun and rewarding.  So, what is all of this hoopla about Location Based Social Media?

    That being said, I do in fact live here, in this specific place, and not only to I reside here, but I shop here, I eat here and I come face-to-face with hundreds of people every week — right here in Minneapolis, MN USA.  Most businesses I see do not benefit from ecommerce and shopping carts.  Somebody in Afghanistan on the Internet can go to target.com and order a 4-slice toaster; Target will do the currency exchange and ship the toaster to them the next day — everybody wins.  On the other hand, my dentist in Plymouth, MN is not likely to benefit from that Afghani shopper.  My dentist has a service area outside of which he’s not likely to profit.

    Location Based Social Media are the darlings of 2010.  New social media platforms, known as Location Based Services, add a contextual layer of movement and proximity to our relationships online and offline.  Location Based Services are smartphone applications utilizing GPS to provide information and social networking relevant to our current location.  Location Based Social Media are our interfaces to these applications.  We are exploring our community online, tracking our friends whereabouts, recent activities, opinions and we shout out to our world where we are and how we want to be found.

    What does Location Based Social Media mean to you?  ABI Research estimates, “By 2014 global LBS revenues will have surpassed $14 billion.”  The more detailed information we have on prospect behavior patterns and social context, the better we find something truly valuable to offer them.  We can also provide more specific, directed information based on the location of our best audiences.  Location Based Social Media is particularly valuable for brick and mortar store front business who need to drive local traffic to their store, and for anyone promoting an event at a physical venue.

    Basic Types of Location Based Social Media

    Kate Shaw categorizes the main types of Location Based Social Media in a blog post “Comprehensive Guide to Location-Based Social Media.”

    Social Check-in Sites

    Social Check-in sites enable users to access information about businesses in the local area.  At the same time, Social check-in sites encourage users to develop location based relationships with other users, with their other social networks and with local businesses.

    Offer incentives to users to check-in and frequent your establishment.  Compelling offers bring new customers to your location and build loyalty with your existing customers.  Encourage users to check-in on any and all Location Based Social Media.  Honor incentives you offer across any Location Based Social Media a user may use.

    Listen to your guests! Review sentiment.  Comment on posts.  Acknowledge Testimonials and Referrals.  Most Location Based Social Media have Facebook and Twitter connections that allow your guests to promote your business to their entire social network.

    Some Location Based Social Media have search options facilitating keyword and brand term searches.  Look for opportunities to promote special offers to users checking in to a nearby locations.  Some Location Based Social Media have advertising platforms that enables marketers to purchase advertisements based either on category or location.

    Social Review Sites

    Social Review sites encourage users to publish online reviews, referrals and Testimonials based on their experiences at restaurants, hotels, shops and wherever you and your business are found in Location Based Social Media.  Quality scores can be assigned to each comment based on this user-generated content.

    Not all Social Review sites are Location Based Social Media.

    Social Review sites are critical for brick-and-mortar business — do not skip your strategy here.  Utilize Social Review sites for the free market research they offer — make the changes your customers ask for as appropriate.

    Social Review sites enable businesses to publish local business content.  Many Social Review sites facilitate offering coupons and discount offers to loyal customers.

    Make absolutely certain that your guests remember that you exist on Social Review sites.  Ask them for their Testimonial.  Acknowledge customers that take time to post the positive reviews.  Respond to your negative reviews with tact and consummate professionalism.

    Local businesses need to listen closely to what their customers say about you, and respond to their suggestions and complaints.

    There is no more effective marketing than Testimonials.  Every review, every referral, every comment is a Testimonial to the quality of your business.  The more positive Testimonials you accumulate, the greater your authority and credibility in your community.

    In real life you cannot please everybody.  Everybody cannot be your best customer.  Some customers cannot be satisfied.  The minority negative review is real life.  Occasional dissatisfaction is more believable than saccharin drivel, and builds your online personality.

    Social Scheduling Sites

    Social Scheduling sites facilitate sharing your “social calendar” with your social networks.  Individuals can find out about upcoming events.  Networks of people can plan anything from birthday parties to movie dates.

    Rather than publishing to the world where you are at at this moment, Social Scheduling sites facilitate sharing where you will be.  Like a public calendar, you publish where you’re going, which events you will attend and with whom you are going.

    Social Scheduling sites often include comment and review functionality.  Other users comment, share information, and they can publish their own intent with a “count-me-in” button.

    Social Scheduling sites can facilitate keyword searching, so customers and Location Based Social Media can find out about your events.  Any marketing involving conferences, meetups, parties, or other get-togethers will benefit.

    Conclusions About Location Based Social Media

    Carefully examine the list of Location Based Social Media.  Explore the pros and cons.  Determine which platforms will best help you communicate with your customers.  Marketing Local Business Online demands that you go where your customers are.  Be found everywhere they are looking for you.

    Listen carefully and learn from your guests.  Self-reporting your location has a value in itself.  Declaring your current location is more than just a piece of information — your intention is behind it.  Suppose you’re in a bar and the name of the place is broadcast to your colleagues.  That’s both a statement about where you are and an invitation to others.  They can infer about your availability or your willingness to interact socially.

    Engage with your guests — communicate — bring something of value to the conversation.

    Remember that Location Based Social Media is very new.  You are marketing to early adopters with voyeuristic tendencies and enormous digital mouths.

    Be genuine.  Engage your guests with open arms, a big smile and kind words.  Offer them the right incentives at the right time.  Your Location Based Social Media community will become your most loyal customers and loudest evangelists.  Location Based Social Media is where we’re at.