More on coupons

I mentioned in my previous post that Google offers an easy to configure coupon feature as part of your listing in Google Maps Local Listings. Here's how you get started.

First go to Google Maps Local Business Center. Enter the details of your coupon. As you enter the text, you can see the actual coupon being built in the Preview section on the right side of the page. Click the Continue button and you'lla table listing of your coupon offers.

Of course, you can have multiple coupon offers active at one time.

If you choose to have coupons expire, you'll need a tracking system to replace the expiring coupons. It's always good to coordinate these coupons with your marketing campaigns - the tricky part is to keep track of them.

Finally, be sure to take advantage of the Offer Code that Google offers when creating an online coupon. This will help you keep track of the effectiveness of each coupon you create.

Happy couponing!

Using Google Maps for Free Company Listing - Part II

So let's get your company on the map - Google Map, that is. First start by heading to Google Maps web page for Business Listings.

By the way, you'll need a Google account, for which you can register on this same page. A Goolge account is the passport you'll need for many free Google services like blogging and free web page creation tools so dive in and get registered if you need to.

Once you have your account, sign in on the same page. You'll see a page on which you'll add your business location information. Notice at the top of the screen that you're inputting your information on the Location tab.

Did you notice the Coupon tab? Google allows you to offer coupons to attract customers who find you through Google Maps. Pretty cool, huh? I'll tell you about Coupons in my next post.

But back to getting your company into Google Maps. Finish entering the required information. Then you'll receive a confirmation letter from Google. Once you respond to the verification, your company should be accessible via Google Local Listings in a few weeks.

You can also place a link for your company location on your website to provide a tailored map to your location.

Good stuff and best of all, it's for free!

Using Google Maps for Free Company Listing - Part I

Google offers many free services, several of which I will be reviewing in future posts.

Here's one of the most valuable freebies for getting local visibility for your business in your local community.

But let's start by asking a question. When was the last time you looked up a company in the Yellow Pages book? For me, it's been a long time. I found my accountant on Google Maps, and search there regularly for restaurants.

So let's get your business online with Google Maps, if you aren't listed already. You can start by checking to see if you're listing is already posted by typing the following in the text box at Google.com: your_company_name your_city
where you replace your_company name with your actually business name and the city in which it's located. Congratulations if you found it, but don't be satisfied yet.

What are the common categories that customers will search for your business?

Here's a Google Hack - a way to format a search request to Google without using any commands. Enter the primary industry or category for your business followed by a colon then your company's zip code. Here's an example: shoes: 94720

Tip: Make sure you place a space after the colon to get this feature to work.

This will pull up all the companies categorized as shoe stores in Berkeley, California. If your company is listed in the category you expect your customers to search for you, you're golden and can say - "Yippee, I've got a Google Freebie".

If not, don't despair. This freebie is within your grasp - just hop to my next post.

Do Small Businesses Need to be Online?

The Startup Journal, a Wall Street Journal online publication, posted an article pondering if small businesses need to 'hop aboard the internet highway' and get online.

Elizabeth Holmes points out that the National Small Business Association found that 40% of small businesses do not have web sites. Some businesses don't see the yield from the additional investment of having a website built and maintained.

The flip side, of course, is that 60% of this pool of businesses do have a website!

The survey's Executive Summary provides more detail: "Today, over one-third of companies (37%) are engaged in e-commerce, including 52% of businesses in the retail industry, and 50% of those in manufacturing."

So certainly, some industries are more involved in websites and ecommerce.

At the very least, I think it's invaluable for companies to take advantage of free online listings.

My next blog will talk about an easy, free way to get your business listed with the Mother of All Listing Services. Yes I mean Google.

Using Video to Promote Your Business

So your business is ready to dip another toe in the Web 2.0 pond? You'll find the water is quite warm - filled with ideas to get your message out to your targeted segments.

John Jantsch's blog, Duct Tape Marketing, has listed a number of strategies for getting your customers involved in the fun of marketing your company.

Videos should offer some value to the customer, it could be information on your product or the greater subject area, or an opportunity for your customers to get in front of the camera. Does everyone want 15 seconds of fame?

How about the Pepsi's Doritos contest last fall? The company invited fans to submit ads for Doritos. The winning ad was run during the 2007 Super Bowl.

Even better, the general public got in the act by voting for the winning video from the top five posted at Yahoo's video site.

Get your customers involved and everyone wins!