This is probably the single most powerful FREE Internet Marketing and presence creation tool that ALL small brick and mortar business owners can and should take advantage of…regardless of their online skill level. Like it or not, Google is the most prominent search engine on the web (by far) and they’ve created a tool specifically for local small businesses called the “Local Business Center”. Long story short, it serves as a quasi-bare bones website, giving all the pertinent details about YOUR business…and even what others are saying about your business elsewhere on the Web. Hence, it is also becoming the prime “reputation management” tool that small entrepreneurs would be wise learn about and take control of, as reputation is one of the most critical assets that any business possesses.

I just happened upon a helpful and concise article written by one of our neighbors across the pond. Here is a link to that article entitled:
Set Up Google Local Business Center in 5 Steps

One of those 5 steps involves choosing the most appropriate “categories” to list your business under. Please don’t make the mistake of choosing only one. You are allowed to choose up to five (5) categories…and they are choices worthy of careful consideration. It’s like being given 4 (four) extra front doors to your business bringing traffic and customers you otherwise could’ve easily overlooked and lost forever.

Another respected writer went to the trouble of listing every single “category” on one page (a luxury not offered inside the Google Local Business Center) and posted his insight in this short article:
Google Local Business Center Categories – The Complete List

Remember, you don’t need any special skills to fill out your business profile in the Local Business Center. All you need is a free Google Account and an email address (GMail is free too) and you actually create both in one fell swoop when you use that link. Now you’re ready to knock out the crucial hub of your online business presence.

If you haven’t heard yet, Yelp seems to have come down with a case of cold feet at the alter with Google. Reasons, so far are in short supply according to TechCrunch and the NewYorkTimes. No doubt the story is far from over and similar advances on Yelp are in the fold.

Meantime, here’s a poll at an online news community and local search site, Topix, asking…”Who benefits from Yelp’s rejection of Google?”

Are you being regularly pitched by “website companies” that don’t seem to really understand that all you want is an affordable way of getting the most new business from the Internet? ….without being bombarded by the jargon and techie goobledegook.

Why do they have to make it so hard and talk to you as if you’re a Dummy and not just an Internet Marketing Newbie?

Well here’s a short guide to some of the jargon…

…and by getting us involved you shouldn’t ever really need to get on top of all the jargon. We pride ourselves on being Marketing Consultants that will do all that techie stuff for you, so you can get on running your main Business, rather than trying to master the fast changing industry of Internet Marketing yourself.

(Rather than listing these alphabetically, we have arranged them in a logical flow order)

Community Marketing : an integrated online and offline marketing system that connects you with customers in your Community.

Blogsites : Websites that combine the best of a Blog with an easy-to-use website, with a blog and direct response marketing system that gets potential customers to take action.

Search Marketing : the catch all expression that covers Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Engine Marketing (Pay-Per-Click) and Local Search.

Search Engine Optimization : Getting your website designed so that it is optimally configured for the Search engines for the keyword phrases you want to be ranked for AND ALSO building offsite ‘backlinks’ that push you up the search results.

Backlinks : Where an external website links to your website. Having backlinks from well respected websites is one of the MAIN THINGS that Google and the other Search Engines look for when deciding how far to push your website up the search results page.

Local Search : Getting your Business found on the local maps that feature at the top of many of the search results pages of the leading search engines. This is a whole science unto its own in a very competitive part of the search results pages.

Pay Per Click (PPC) also referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM) : Having a paid ad for your Business shown on the right hand side of the Search Engine Results Page. Typically you bid a price against other advertisers and only pay each time your ad gets clicked.

Google Analytics : Free tracking software that can be added to a website so that you can monitor data such as how much traffic the pages of your website get, how long people stay on pages and where they come from.

Social Networking : Hanging out on Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter and Business Networks like LinkedIn and Cagorabiz to network and socialize with other users.

Social Marketing : Promoting your Business within the Social Networks, by networking and establishing ‘Pages’ and Groups to build a following or fan base for your Business. Having established a fan base, you can then communicate with them using systems provided by these networks.

Social Bookmarking : Where people ‘favorite’ or ‘bookmark’ a website so they can return to it, and by doing so they share that link as a recommended website with other users of the Social Bookmarking site (e.g. delicious, digg, StumbleUpon). This has the additional benefit of being a good source of backlinks.

Article Marketing : Writing brief articles like this one, that give away valuable free information and in exchange help brand you as an Expert. They also are a good way to get you free traffic and backlinks from the Article Directories, so that your business gets pushed higher up the search results.

Video Marketing : similar to Article Marketing, but they are instructional videos that give you exposure as an Expert on high traffic websites like YouTube.

Content Marketing : General term for Article Marketing, Audio Marketing and Video Marketing where you get traffic by giving away free ‘content’.

Email Marketing : Building a list of newsletter subscribers who have given permission for you to email them about your Businesses products and services. It’s a low cost and very effective way to communicate, educate and build relationships with existing and potential customers.

Relationship Marketing : Building relationships with customers and potential customers so that they Know, Like and Trust you to a point where not only do they want to spend their money at your Business, but that they might also recommend your Business to their contacts. This can also extend to forming Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances.

Offline Marketing : Traditional marketing that does not involve Internet marketing (aka Online marketing)