I’ve scoured my way through the complicated Google documentation, and searched for all the hidden secret tips I can find. I’ve even tried out the Google Places options, just to make sure I know the ones that work best.

And, I’m making the results of my long hours and sleepless nights available to you in this new report. It’s called Google Places Goliath, and this report shows you, step-by-step, how to get your business listed on Google Places – and how to harness the power of Google to bring customers to your door.

Here’s what you’ll discover when you download your FREE copy now…

* The 10 reasons why you need to be using Google Places (I’d bet you your competition don’t know more than one or two of these – and I’d be surprised if they know any!)

* The exact information you need to get approved by Google and how to find it… save yourself hours of research to get your business accepted into this prominent free publicity machine

* How to build up trust with your customers through Google Places – this tip alone is vital if you want to operate a thriving business in the modern day world

* Exactly how to get your business ‘on the map’ – literally! Get your business landmarked on Google Maps, so that customers in the local area can’t help but know about the service you are offering them

* The secret technique you need to know to get your customers to rave about your business online… apply just this single tactic and watch the floodgates open

* 10 other directories you can list your business in for nothing, and which all have a knock-on positive effect on Google Places

* And much more…

Can You Put A Figure On The Value Of This Information For Your Business… It’s not an easy question to answer.

How much is a customer, or a sale, worth for you?

I can tell you this. I’ve known of people who’ve spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars, running a commercial on the radio and not gained a single new customer.

You don’t need to spend that kind of money on the Internet.

In fact, after you’ve read and implemented the strategies in Google Places Goliath, you never need to spend a single penny more to get your business visible on the greatest global advertising medium in the world, the Internet.

So, you might that I’d be charging you hundreds of dollars for this information, right? After all, that’s comparable with that radio spot.

But, you’d be wrong.

I want to help out small, struggling business owners like yourself. So download your FREE copy of Google Places Goliath NOW!

Step 1

Copy and paste the address below in your web address bar to set up a new Google account or to login to your existing account.
(If you need to sign up for a new account please return to Step 1 when finished)
Copy and paste this web address into your browser http://places.google.com/business

(For complete screenshots please download our PDF)

Step 2

If your business is listed click the “edit” button or just click on the “add a new listing” button.

Step 3

You should be at the Basic Information page. Note: I recommend using a local number vs. an 800 number and using an email from your website like Bennette@justrealmarketing.com instead of a free email address.

Note: Add 10 photos. This is an important step that many businesses overlook. You give your prospects an opportunity to see what you offer without clicking on your website. Take advantage of this opportunity to make your business shine by avoiding this costly mistake.

Hot tip: Before uploading your pictures, go back and rename them with your keywords. For example your keyword is Houston Italian restaurant. Picture#1 is the exterior of your location and you might name it Houston Italian restaurant, picture #2 is the interior of your restaurant and you might name it Italian restaurant Houston, picture #3 can be a plate of your pasta dish and you call it Houston Fettuccine Alfredo pasta etc. I think you get the point.

Step 4

Hot tip: Videos are a must. People love visual and many will click to see a video before they read. You can take your pictures, turn them into a slide show, add some music and viola, you have a video.

Your videos don’t have to be high cost production. Due to the popularity of YouTube, some of the best videos are made by amateurs like us with a flip camera or cell phone. So whip out you camera and get going.

Continue completing the Basic Information page. Note: Your videos will have to be uploaded to YouTube, your website or a free video hosting site to allow you to a have url (website address) to link to Google.

Step 5

If your listing just needs updating, you may be one of the lucky ones that are offered the phone option, but for most businesses, Google has gone to the postcard verification. Now if you do get lucky with the phone option, Google will call your business number and you must be able to answer the phone. Otherwise, just select the postcard option and move on.

To learn the SECRETS to getting ranked on number one with Google Places please download our FREE Google Places Guide.

In this post we’re going to cover a powerful strategy you can use to dramatically reduce your current marketing costs while at the same time bring in more customers to your business. And do it in a way that is easy, inexpensive and is proven to work for any business in any industry.

The best thing about this strategy is your competitors are most likely not using it and you can start using this strategy right away!

Let’s get started…

If you’re like most businesses you’re wanting and needing more customers but you’re tired of spending a ton of money on traditional advertising methods like newspaper, TV, radio, billboards along with many of the other types of traditional marketing methods.

These types of marketing methods put a major strain on your budget and are probably getting to the point that they are just too expensive to do any more.

For most businesses the biggest challenge is not having a huge marketing budget where you can throw a ton of money at various advertising methods and hope something sticks. Let’s be honest, most traditional advertising methods are no longer as effective as they once were. And even if something is working you have two HUGE problems.

First, traditional marketing methods are super expensive.

Second, they are very, very difficult to track your ROI – Return on Investment. So even if you feel something may be working its hard to figure out exactly what it is. So you end up doing several different things at once because you’re too scared to stop them because you don’t know which one is working and which one is not!

This is very common for most small businesses but its not the best way to do your marketing. Fortunately we’re going to show you a better, less expensive way that is proven to work and one that is trackable so you’ll always know your ROI!

The bottom line is what you want is a flood of customers coming to your business, but you don’t want to spend more money in advertising. That’s a pretty fair statement, right?

What we’re going to show you is a strategy that will actually reduce your advertising costs; allow you to generate more business whenever you want; have the ability to turn it on or off whenever you need; and be able to do all of this on auto-pilot!!

How will that change your business? How will that change your personal life?

If you’re not excited or at least a little intrigued with what we’re talking about then you can stop here. But my guess is you at least want to see for yourself what this solution is and to see if it’s a good fit for your business.

With that in mind, let’s keep moving forward shall we?

Download our Google Places Guide Today!

10 Advantages of Google Places

As you become familiar with Google Places and update your listings on a regular basis, you’ll discover hundreds of advantages for advertising your business through this free service. Listed below are 10 advantages worth mentioning.

1. Online advertising is the way of the future, and it will soon replace paper phone directory listings that cost thousands of dollars per year.

2. Google Places is free.

3. Your business listing appears on the first page of Google.

4. You can offer discounts and coupons for one day, one week, or one month.

5. Your website, physical mailing address, and your phone number are displayed in your listing, which allows customers to find you more quickly and to get the information they need.

6. Mobile phone users can find your business listing immediately, and they don’t need a computer to do it.

7. You will receive more traffic and new customers.

8. You don’t need a physical retail or warehouse location to get accepted into Google Places. (This report will show you how to get approved.)

9. Within eight weeks, rather than eight months or eight years, your free advertising with Google Places will bring you more targeted customers faster than traditional organic methods.

10. Finally, and the most important to your financial goals, is that because it is so easy for customers to find your business listing, you will make more money than you did before your business was listed with Google Places.

 

NOTE: Google Places, like every business, has their rules and policies that they expect everyone to abide by. In that regard, Google does not approve business listings in every country in the world.

 

Therefore, before you attempt to create a business listing for yourself or your clients, it’s important that you find out if Google Places is available in your area.

This mapping tool from Google will show you if your country is on the list for getting into Google Places. Here is the link:

http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?answer=168339

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR CREATING A BASIC LISTING

In the simplest terms, to create a basic listing, Google requires the following information.

1. Business name

2. URL address

3. Phone number

4. Business description

5. Business hours

6. Business category

7. Keywords

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Prior to creating your listing, you should be well armed with three categories of research information. Once you have this written down, the rest of the process will go much faster.

The three research categories are:

Keywords, Competing businesses, and Sponsored ad results.

Keywords

Keywords and keyword phrases are the words that someone would type into a search engine to find a product, service, or company.

Step One :There are many free keyword tools available to you online, including the external Google keyword tool. But the fastest way to do your research is to open your favorite browser and type in the words that you would use when searching for a product or service that your business sells.

Step Two :Here’s the important part, so pay attention. Not every keyword or keyword phrase will generate a Google Places listing. Your job is to type relevant keywords into a search engine, and then see which keywords generate a Google Places listing. You may very well have to do this a number of times until a 3-or 7-block listing appears.

Step Three : Be sure to write down the keywords and keyword phrases that generated Google Places listings. You will need those keywords when you create your business listing.

 

Competing Businesses

 

Since Google Places helps people find your business through local search results on both Google Search and Google Maps, it’s important to know who your competition is so that you can stay ahead of them.

Here are two quick methods for staying ahead of your competition:

1. When viewing the first page results on Google for a specific keyword, it’s important that you look at the hyper linked titles and descriptions of those businesses that were not listed in Google Places. Click the link and look at the home page of their website. In the example of fish and chips, that keyword phrase is most likely used in the title, a description, and several times in the content of their home page. Compare what you see after viewing the top 10 organic listings with the information contained on your website. Although there are more factors involved in getting to the first page of Google, you will now have an understanding of those businesses that are competing with you.

2. Now what you need to do is to look at the top five listings in Google Places. Click on each link and look at the information that is provided to someone searching for “fish and chips.” You might want to print out each of those pages as a reference for when you’re creating your Google Places listing. The reason this is important is because those companies have achieved top positions in Google Places. You can learn from their listings. Study them; see what you can add to your listing later on. But whatever you do, do not cut-and-paste the exact words that another business has used to achieve their ranking in Google Places. That’s called plagiarism and it’s a punishable crime.

 

Sponsored ads

 

If sponsored ads appear on the first page of Google for the keyword that you have selected, read their ads, and see if they’re using the same keywords that you use for your business.

Sponsored ads indicate that business owners are spending money to place those ads for that chosen keyword. If you don’t see any sponsored ads, it might be a good way for you to advertise your business in the future.

However, that’s a more advanced topic than this report will cover. Just keep it in the back of your mind.

You can find out who your competition is if one company has a sponsored ad, along with a first page organic listing, and they’re also included in the Google Places listing on the first page.

Study their listings. Visit their websites. See what you can learn and apply it to your own website, or your Google Places listing. The research and information that you uncover by performing these three processes will launch your business ahead of many other companies.

It will give you better placement, and doing a little upfront research will mean less work for you in the future to maintain your high ranking with Google Places.

HOW TO GET ON GOOGLE PLACES

 

Let’s get started. Follow these steps to add a business to your Places account.

The first thing you’ll need to create is a Google account. Be selective about which Google account you want to use. If a friend, co-worker, employee, or outsourcing person will have access to your account to update it, you probably don’t want to use a Google account that contains your personal data. If that’s the case, then just open up a new Google Gmail account.

1. To create a new Google Gmail account, type this URL into your browser: http://www.google.com/gmailand then click the “Create an account” button.

2. After you have set up the Gmail account, point your browser to this link: http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenterto get started and then sign in with your Google account email address and password.

3. Next, you’re presented with two choices as shown in the following screenshot. You can add your business by clicking the link on the left, “Add a new business” or you can click the “List your business” link located on the right side of the page. Both links will take you to the same destination page.

Continue…

What is Your Online Reputation?

Your online image is NOT just your business website. There is much more to it. Google says this:
“Your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you — whether a mention in a blog post, a photo tag or a reply to a public status update,” – Google

In a nutshell, your online reputation is made up of everything about your business that exists online. The range of materials that could potentially impact your business’ online reputation is broader than you might realize at first. Here are just some components of your online image:
1. Comments made about your business on social media such as Twitter or Facebook

2. Images about your business online

3. Videos about your business (Good or Bad) on YouTube and elsewhere

4. Posts and articles published online about your business

5. Geo-location information broadcast through services like Foursquare

6. Comments that others make about you in social media or in blog posts

7. Images of your business that others publish on social media

Even what people say in an email or through instant messaging could potentially be copied and made public.
In fact, if you’re beginning to feel like virtually anything that others do on the Internet could become part of your business’ online reputation, then you’re starting to get the picture.

Now throw in the mobile internet and smart phones, where people can read and write reviews from anywhere. You can see how a bad review about your business will hit harder and spread faster than ever before.

Why Online Reputation Matters to Local Business

Many local businesses have found themselves in the unenviable position of being lied about, falsely accused, slandered, and attacked online. It’s a growing problem.

The cost is immediate, staggering, and long term.

Here are some common internet search facts you should know about:

95% of internet users do not search past the first page of search engine results.

80% of the United States population researches a product on the internet before purchasing.

72% of those that research will not buy if there’s a negative comment

Just look at these search results for Spas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who would you start with in these results?

The business with the most stars and reviews, of course! So, you can see how your business’ online reputation can directly impact your bottom line. Now the question is: How to grow, improve, and protect it.

We’ve put together a list of the five most critical things every small business should be doing to protect their online reputation.

When it comes to managing your business’ online reputation, you must be proactive. Think of it like a football game, it’s better to be on offense.

You want to be in control of your own results.

What are people saying about your business?

The first step is to find out what people are saying about your business online. The best way to do this is to simply Google your business name. Are there any reviews about your company on the first page?

How many spots do your business own on the first page?

Look at these results for Rainbow Pharmacy:

Do you have positive content and reviews past the first page? If so, moving these items to the first page of Google would help your online reputation.

Getting Google Love for Your Small Business

To get your positive content to the first page of Google, focus on search engine optimization (SEO) for these items. Good SEO strategies, by default, combat negative mentions. SEO typically takes at least three months before your business will see an impact, but the long-term value is unlike any other online marketing effort.

Your goal is to own the first page of Google for your business name with all positive content. Remember, 95% of all searchers will never go past the first page.

If you look at the search results below, you’ll see the Grand Wailea has positive content all over the first and second pages.

What if there are negative reviews and comments on the first page?

Be careful. How you respond to these negative items is critical to your business.

The biggest thing you can be proactive about when it comes to your business’ online reputation is to actively seek reviews. The two biggest are Google and Yelp.

Of course this site is all about the online business directory called Google Places. These listings are free and compiled by Google from various online directories like the online Yellow Pages.

Here is what a place page looks like:

 

Here is how a place page shows up in Google search results:

What makes this page even more important now is that Google recently stopped displaying reviews from other sites, like Yelp. They now only display Google reviews on your place page.

How to Get Reviews

The best way to get reviews is simply to ask. Seek out your most loyal customers and ask them to leave a review on Google or Yelp.

You could also offer some sort of incentive, such as 10% off their next visit or purchase if they leave a review.

Here’s an example of some incentive cards:

Video Reviews

Another great way to get reviews is to keep a small video camera or just use your smart phone to record video reviews.

Then, just upload them to YouTube. Do a little SEO on these videos and they’ll show up on the first page of Google.

This is a very effective tactic for generating more leads and sales for your business.

Handling Negative Reviews

When you see negative content or reviews about your business online, it’s important that you act quickly. There is a saying, “Silence is consent.”

Many sites such as Yelp let the business owner respond to the reviews. The longer you wait to respond, the more potential customers see the negative review and believe it’s a true representation of your business.

Your goal in handling an upset customer should be threefold:

1. They turn from upset to satisfied

2. They post positive things about you and rebut or remove their negative remarks

3. You learn something about your business that will improve it and help to avoid future negative reviews

But first, is the Criticism Legitimate or Fake?

Unfortunately, there is a small subset of people online who think it’s fun to leave bad reviews about businesses. If you find this to be the case, resist the urge to respond in anger.

Instead, demonstrating concern and wanting to discuss the specifics of their encounter will go a long way towards showing other potential customers that you are interested in their feedback and want to improve the situation.

Empathy is a powerful tool, and being sincerely concerned with their bad experience is a trait that every business owner should have.

In the case where you’re dealing with someone who simply wants to hurt you, be very selective with your response. If the insult is small, a simple apology will do. As the insults escalate, you must be careful with your reply.

Sometimes, the customer is clearly wrong because they expect too much for too little. Fight the urge to call them unreasonable. Instead, say something like this:

“We are very sorry you feel that way and will do everything within reason to resolve this. If you will contact us, we would like to work together to find a solution.”

If the complaint was legitimate, they may contact you. If they are simply being obnoxious, you will likely never hear from them, but at least you were professional in your reply and those who read the review will hopefully see that you were trying to be helpful and address the situation directly.

Be Transparent and Honest

Under no circumstances write fake reviews or ask your family, or worse, employees to write reviews for you.

These tactics are almost always found out and will do your online reputation more harm than good.

If the Negative Comment is true

* Don’t ignore or hide

* Participate in the discussion and be honest

* Add response to your website

* Issue statement addressing what has been done

* If it’s serious, get help. Seek out an online reputation management expert

If the Negative Comment is False

* Post a professional response

* Politely ask for the comment or review to be removed

* Post a response on your website

* Find or create positive content about your business and use search engine optimization to get it on the first page of Google

*Consult a lawyer

* Use Social Media

Social Media is all the rage these days. Facebook and Twitter have given anyone a voice to express their opinion.

Good for people, but this can be a challenge for a local business. Especially since Google shows some Facebook updates in its search results. This is what Tech Crunch had to say:

“The only problem with the new addition is that Facebook is only granting Google access to updates from its 3 million Pages, which are generally for celebrities, politicians, brands, and local businesses” — not your average Facebook user. (Tech Crunch 2010)

How can local businesses take advantage of this new technology to generate more business and help their online reputation?

Establish a presence on the 3 major social media sites

* Create a Facebook business page

* Create a Twitter account for your business

* Create a Linked In profile for your business

Be a part of the conversation

Participate in social media. Check you Facebook business page daily and update content regularly. Actively seek out local followers for your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Most importantly, when you’re commenting on these sites, be yourself. Let your customers know you’re a real person and truly interested in helping them to have a great experience with your business.

Creating Positive Content for Your Business

Sticking to our number one tenant of being proactive in managing our business’ online reputation, we can’t just wait for others to post positive things about our business. We have to go on offense. Here are some of the best ways to do that.

Press Releases

Writing compelling press releases and distributing them across the internet is a great way to get positive content out there. Google thinks highly of most of these sites and will more than likely show the press release in its search results.

Articles

Creating positive articles and distributing them across various directories or getting them posted on blogs relevant to your business is another great way to get positive content out about your business.

YouTube Videos

Did you know YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world? Creating either informative or funny videos about your business on YouTube can generate great press and if one goes viral, it could put your local business on the map.

Also, Google owns YouTube, so they like showing videos in their search results.

Other Web Properties

Creating a blog or other websites about your business is another great way to own more of that first page of Google. Sites like Tumblr, WordPress.com and others allow you to create blogs on their sites.

Make sure you read the terms of service on these sites, some of them don’t like anything that looks commercial.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this report. I’d love to have a chance to talk with you for even just 10 minutes about how our online reputation management services can protect your business and improve your results.

It’s possible that by making a few small changes, you could see huge results.

Maybe you have your business listed with Google Local Business Center. Many companies do. But unless your company is listed on the FRONT page you are missing out on an enormous amount of traffic. That is where we can help. We are aware of what it takes to get your listing on the first page of Google’s Local Listings so that your business will be prominently displayed for your future customers and clients to find.

We know what Google wants to see. Traditional SEO is virtually useless here. Our success rate is over 98% for getting any business listed for top search terms that your customers are searching for every day. Not just one or two, but several search terms directly related to your company! The traffic your company gets from this coveted placement is BETTER than being listed number ONE in Google’s Adwords paid listings. And you only have to pay us once to get there.

Our methods are proprietary, but we can show you step by step what we do once you are our client. The fact of the matter is, most of your competition do not know how to maximize their chance of making page one in the local Google displays. But let me assure you of one thing: those businesses that you see listed there are doing WELL. They are the ones that will not only survive this recession, but will prosper for the foreseeable future.

For a limited time we are offering you the chance to let us get your site listed on the first page of Google Local Business. We will go over your listings, make the necessary changes and additions, and then allow you to approve them before they go live. We will set up a video marketing campaign that is key to maximizing your chance for making page one. We will set up a network of backlinks that will “prove” to Google that your site deserves to be on page one. We will not stop until your site is permanently positioned on page one. For not just one, but several phrases that people are searching for every day.

Make no mistake, Google Local Listings are ABOVE the regular Google search listings! These are GOLD to those lucky companies that make it there. But the truth is, it is NOT luck. There is a proven strategy and we know how to make it happen.

Ask yourself this… How much business do you stand to get by having your business on page ONE of Google? Take a minute to crunch the numbers and then ask yourself this… Can you really afford NOT to use our service?

I’m tired of all the hype, false information and scams being provided to people like you that are not familiar with marketing. But on the other hand I must say, Business Owners Wake UP! If you get a call from a company guaranteeing to get you on the 1st page in 24 hours, it’s a lie. If a person promises to bring you an abundance of new customers for a $99 one-time fee, it’s a lie. Let’s face it, if they can get you lots of customers instantly, you better believe you are going to pay a Heck of a lot more than $99.

If you hear the words “We guarantee to get you…blah blah blah” or “We can rank your website by adding 1 keyword and making it bold,” RUN!

For the record, there are many honest and ethical companies out there that really can and want to help you, but when we don’t make false promises and guarantees to make a sale, many business owners don’t want to hear the truth.

Please allow me to offer you this small piece of advice. Marketing with a strategy takes time to come together. It’s like baking a cake. You can have all the necessary ingredients; eggs, oils and cake mix to bake a cake. Put these simple ingredients together properly, and you’ve got a masterpiece, but make a mistake and you’ve just wasted good eggs, oil and cake mix.

There is no magic bullet or secret recipe for marketing. The key is creating a plan with steps and then implementing the tasks. Now you know the secret! Stop chasing the instant false promises and go for the long term staying power by building your brand, enhancing customer relationships and positioning your company as the “go to” in your industry.

I just needed to get that off my chest because I have people that I meet ask me if the above promises are possible. My reply is always the same, “if they could really generate that much business for you, don’t you think they would be asking for a whole lot more money?” Enough said, let’s move on to the juicy stuff!

I’m not a famous Internet Marketing guru and most people have never heard of me. But, what you need to know is I’m a business owner just like you that decided I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and started my own business in 1993.

Listen up! What I want to share with you is very important and you may need to read this part a couple times for it to really sink in with what I’m saying. Anything you want to learn is already readily available to you for Free. The challenge is finding, researching, reading and pulling all the information together in one place to use as a reference guide.

For example, when I opened my café I had plenty of time on my hands while waiting for the city approval to begin construction. I decided it would be great to reserve as much capital as possible for marketing and operating expenses so I researched how to lay floors.

I hired a friend to help me and we proceeded to lay floors for the cafe, which I have to admit they turned out great. Actually I had flooring contractors look at them and said we did a great job as well. What I’ve learned from that was this, you pay one way or another.

Although I’ve saved myself thousands of dollars and the project turned out great, I gave up my time. It took us days of long hours working non-stop and only taking bathroom and food breaks. We also ran into challenges that were not mentioned in our research and found ourselves rushing out to the nearest hardware store for additional supplies or advice on how to address our unexpected issues.

Needless to say our persistence paid off, and we finished the project with professional looking results. But, what I also didn’t consider was the wear and tear on my body. I had a husband with 2 small children, which meant I still had to be a mommy and wife as well.

When I tell you my body ached, that was an understatement. My knees, back and hands were so sore that I was popping over the counter pain medicine like candy.

The moral of the story is this, you can learn to do all the required outside tasks of running your day to day business such as marketing, bookkeeping, taxes, payroll etc. and save yourself the money. But what you trade in return is your time and ability to enjoy the more important things in life.

Please allow me to offer a bit of advice as a business owner. Whatever you decide to do to enhance your business growth, you have two options. You can do it yourself and save the money, or you can pay an expert and spend your time enjoying the benefits of running your business.

Don’t make the mistake of spending all your time working in your business trying to do everything. Start spending your time creating a business that runs efficiently when you’re not there.

Now that’s the secret to a successful business.

Enough said…let’s get you set up with your Google Places listing.