Understanding Google My Business It is definitely a task attempting to keep up with all the incarnations Google goes through with their local products. Google Maps, Places, Google+ Local, and now, Google My Business. Before you go running away, throwing up your hands, let me just tell you that it’s not bad at all. Promoted by Google as a way for local merchants and service providers to create and manage listings all in one simple to use platform, they appear to have accomplished exactly that! Google sees this as a way to centralize all your listings that have anything to go with Google; search, maps, Google+ and Local and have them all close at hand for easy access and management. Let’s see what this new platform offers, and why we think it will work for you. 5 Reasons Why You’ll Want to Create Your Local Presence on Google My Business Google My Business centralizes all your information – No longer will you have all your information spread out over several different Google platforms, increasing the chances that you can have errors and thus ranking problems. Now you’ve got one place to go to update, add images, virtual tours, and more. Use Google+ to Connect with Your Customers – Using the Google+ platform integrated with GMB, you have an easy way to connect directly to your customers and prospects through your company’s Google+ page, add content and images, and you even have the ability to use Hangouts. Very cool. Customer Review Management – Everyone likes this one. Now you have a simple solution to managing your reviews through Google+ You can see and easily interact with anyone who leaves a review, and take care of any problems promptly. Run Everything From Your Phone – Out and about? Now using the Android or iOS apps it is possible to run your business with the Google My Business platform wherever you are. This even applies to ad campaigns! Google My Business Customer Insights – A surprisingly useful statistical function shows you where your customers are coming from, what they’re clicking, and more. It also integrates easily with your Google Analytics account, as well as Adwords. Not bad, Google!  

Want to Create a Lead Magnet that Gets Results? If you’re trying to develop an email list of prospects, you’ll need an item of value that’s specific to your intended audience to entice them. What lead magnets are and the way to implement them All of us need fresh leads, and the best way to acquire them is to offer people something valuable in exchange for their contact information, typically their name and email address. What is given in exchange is called a lead magnet. The secret is to create something for this purpose that is specific and will benefit your audience quickly. Nobody wants to wait weeks for a benefit; give them something they can use now! 7 Killer Lead Magnets you can offer A topical infographic – It truly has been the year of the infographic, and it indicates no sign of slowing. There are becoming much easier to make now, and you can also outsource this task. Use videos – There are countless uses for video in your business, from showcasing your business or products to creating an informative how-to video for people (Hint) A short report or PDF – The tried and true method of sending out a PDF in exchange for an opt-in is still working quite nicely. Just keep in mind it needs to be short, powerful and hopefully very specific. Information – packed mindmaps, blueprints and cheat sheets – These are wonderful tools for packing plenty of useful information into an easily deliverable, branded form. Hold a webinar – Webinars are excellent ways to introduce yourself to a potential audience, all the while giving them something valuable via a content-packed webinar. Audio podcasts – Podcasts are one more easily distributable tool for branding and delivering great content. They are very easy to produce as well. Give a coupon or free trials – We all want to save a few bucks. This might be the easy way to not only get more subscribers, but sales as well.