THIS DOMAIN NAME FOR SALE

Email dcary45 @gmail.com if you are interested purchasing

 

Online Marketing For Local Companies.com

 

Also available is the acronym for the site OMFLC.com

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Local Businesses: Use QR Codes to Create Your Own Daily Deals

Groupon and Daily Deals are increasing local business sales at an exponential rate.

It’s not just the deal itself that increases sales, it’s the shareability of these Daily Deals. Consumers want to share Deals with their friends and family on Social Media.  Your service or product is spread to others at Internet speed.

To leverage the daily-deal phenomenon for your own business and save on marketing dollars, use QR codes to build a viral “Daily Deal”.

Here are the Steps for a Successful QR Code “Daily Deal” Campaign:

  1. Decide what your Deal will be and how often you’ll update it.  Daily?  Weekly?  Monthly?  Create an offer that ties in with your company.  Have a new product you want to promote?  Now is the time to use the shareability factor of Daily Deals.
  2. Create a QR Code at one of the free sites I’ve listed below.  Keep your offer short, compelling, and easy to understand.  Use plain text on your “Landing Page” to start.  A Landing Page is where the QR Code goes to once it is scanned.  Keep it simple!
  3. Add the QR Code to printed material accessible to consumers with likely access to a Smart Phone.  Ideas: at the cash register, on your front door, even the stalls of your restrooms!  Areas with a Wi-Fi connection are ideal.
  4. TEST & Re-TEST the code with your Smart Phone and anyone else’s you can use.  Don’t skip this!  You are better off not using a QR Code than having one that doesn’t work.
  5. Track QR Code use with free Google Analytics embedded in the Landing Page html code.

You can change your Daily Deal as often as you like by simply changing the text on the Landing Page.

Sites to generate free QR Codes:

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

http://www.unitaglive.com/qrcode

http://www.qurify.com/en/

What QR Code companies do you use?  Let us know in the comments below.

 

 

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3 Basics to Optimize Your Website for Local Search

If you are a local company looking to increase your online marketing efforts, the following strategies will help you get ahead of competitors in your region.Help customers find your local business

1         Place your local street address and phone number (with area code) on every page of your website.

Help customers find your local business, and Search Engines are more likely to list you as a local company in their Local Directories.

Bonus Tip: Add your address and phone number above the fold so website visitors don’t have to scroll down to find it!

2         Add a Google Map to EACH of your website pages.  Customers are more likely to come if they can easily find your store or restaurant, especially if they are on the road looking for you or your services

3         Claim and fill out your free business listing on Google Places I can’t emphasize this enough.  Google Places feeds the Google search engine, so when locals (or newcomers) are looking for “dentist in Cincinnati”, your office will be listed.  Your business has fewer competitors on a Google search when you are local.

So that’s it!  Take the time to implement these 3 strategies and watch your online marketing efforts grow your local company.

Please Tweet and share this post to others!


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BestBuzz: Local Businesses Fall in Love with QR Codes

BestBuzz: Local Businesses Fall in Love with QR Codes QR Code promotion for Valentine's Day

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Cracking the QR Code to Boost Business – US Business News – CNBC

 

QR Codes on clothing labels

QR Codes on clothing labels

Cracking the Code to Boost Business – US Business News – CNBC.

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First Steps to a Successful Online Brand

First Steps

Yes, creating an effective web presence can be overwhelming.  So where do you start?

Start with what has made your company already successful.

What problem do you solve for your customers?  How does your business make their lives (easier, simpler, more productive) ?

  1. Build your website around your already-winning customer benefits (you’ve already done the hard part)
  2. Make it easy for your customers and clients to find and  contact you
  3. Include an overall design that matches your company’s brand
  4. Keep the website content updated and focused on your customers and clients by means of a blog, videos, and/or pictures

Your local store will increase sales with an effective website

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The #1 Way to Make Your Website Local Business Friendly

Using Google Maps on Your Website

Google Maps

Can customers find your local brick & mortar business?

They will with a Google Map added to each of your website’s pages.  Yes – I said each of your pages. Traffic to your site can land on any of your web pages.

Keep the map visible “above the fold” of each page so visitors don’t have to scroll down to find it. Help make it easy for customers to find your exact location.

Remember, it’s not just the locals who may need to find you.  A visitor from outside the area may be looking for a local coffee shop near their hotel.  A new resident may be looking for the closest place to buy tires. (all good reasons to make sure your business is listed on Google Places as well!).

Nothing is more powerful for a local business website.  Did I mention it was free?

How To Add A Google Map to Your Website or Blog

Easy.  If you use WordPress, simply add the free Google Map plugin. Comfortable with plugins? Find variations from the basic Google Maps plugin here.

Or

Simply tell your web developer to add a bit of free code from the Google Map site.  Note: While there are Flash-based Google Maps available, I would steer clear of them since so many mobile phones don’t recognize Flash.  It would be a shame to add a map that was not viewable by people on a cell phone!

Please Tweet this post to a friend who could benefit from a map on their website.  Thanks!

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Predictions For Local Search In 2012 – Year Of The Dragon

 

Article originally appeared at Search Engine Land

by Chris Silver Smith

The last few years in local search have seen some unprecedented changes in online local business marketing, and you might think that the evolution would be ready to slow down.However, I don’t believe that’s going to happen yet, so enter 2012 – Year of the Dragon!

For the purpose of this article, I’m using a broader definition for “local search” which includes local services and related marketing technologies through which consumers might discover local businesses and those businesses’ promotional efforts.

2012 - Year of the DragonOnline options for marketing and distribution of local business messages expanded over the past few years and throughout 2011.  Local companies now have a huge number of directory sites, services and technologies they may use in promotions, including local-targeted pay-per-click ads, daily deals platforms like Groupon (as well the Groupon-clones), check-in services like Foursquare, QR codes, etc.

 

For full article click here


 writes for the the Locals Only column at Search Engine LandChris “Silver” Smith is director of optimization strategies for KeyRelevance. Follow him @si1veryon Twitter. 
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7 Reasons Why Women Make Great Entrepreneurs

Women in business

This article was originally featured on addicted2success.com

Only one in four companies in the US are run by women. Does this mean that women aren’t cut out for the suits, ties and big decisions? This subject has been debatable for a long time so we are are here to clear the scene with 7 cold hard facts as to why women make great entrepreneurs.

We can see this comment section turning into battle of the sexes as we type this, haha. Enjoy this post and dont forget to chip in your 2 cents worth.

Do Women Make Great Entrepreneurs? Read On:

1. Women possess strong communication skills and social intelligence. The digital economy requires these skills, and women enjoy a slight edge over their male counterparts (according to numerous studies). A stronger network means they will be better resourced throughout the life of the venture. By leveraging their connections, they will have to reinvent the wheel less and learn fewer lessons the hard way.

2. Female-owned companies tend to offer family & friendly benefits. These include such perks as job sharing, parental leave and telecommuting. They argue that their more worker-friendly policies boost morale and lead to less turnover, less absenteeism and higher productivity.

3. Women also make good listeners. One study found that the collective intelligence of a group rose if the group included more women. They have open minds. They’re not autocratic.”

4. Women start companies to better balance their work and family lives. Wealth is not their primary focus, so most remain smaller. But there are exceptions, like Martha Stewart (Omnimedia), Ruth Furtel (Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse), and Lillian Vernon, which make big money.

5. Women collaborate. Women have worked well together since the earliest female enterprises, whether dividing grains in the village or working in quilting bees. Even some of today’s cultural stereotypes have legs, for instance, women’s joint trips to the restroom!

6. Female owners are more likely to have positive revenues. They prefer lower risk opportunities, and are willing to settle for lower returns. Some women feel that pushing profits is “not polite.” More women entrepreneurs are single person businesses, while men tend to have more employees. Researchers have begun focusing on the relationship between testosterone and excessive risk, thus evaluating whether groups of men spur each other toward reckless decisions.

7. Females aren’t afraid to ask for help. Many men (not all) have difficulty asking for help when it comes to something like their very own business. Pride can sometimes get in the way. But most women don’t have a problem admitting that they’re not sure how to accomplish a certain task or what needs to be done next in the building-a-business game. This can sometimes provide an advantage in a well-spring of knowledge from sources that help ground their business more quickly.

Please share this post to women in your network who may forget what an advantage it is to be a woman in business!

Are you a female entrepreneur?  What advantages do you have?  Let us know in the comments below.

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Two Simple Tips For Local Social Media

Today’s post introduces you to a resource you don’t want to miss.

Social Media Examiner is filled with loads of content for a local business making the most of their online presence.

Click here for the post interviewing John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing about small businesses and Social Media.

A big takeaway from the interview?

Making Social Media work for small business

Ask your customers for referrals

I’ll add another tip:

Ask for reviews on Social Media sites such as Yelp & Google Places

Customers who know and trust you want to spread the word.  Help them help you by simply asking for the referral and review.

Like this post? Please share it!

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