Your prospective customers will look to their friends and acquaintances to find and learn more about your business.

Your prospects rely on such information because frankly they don’t know anything about you or your business. You have to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and understand that they are taking a bit of a risk when they decide to use your services or products. After all, they don’t know if your services or products are just plain bad, if they can trust you, etc.

Your prospects need some proof to assure them that they should go to your business and use your services or products. Thus, just like any other human being, your prospects will turn to those people in their network for recommendations.

We all use what is called social proof to help us make decisions. We rely on what others say and do around us to help us figure out what to do. For instance, if you were walking on a busy sidewalk and everybody suddenly started staring at the sky, you’d likely look up too to see what’s going on.

The same idea goes for your business. If one of you prospect’s friends and acquaintances began visiting your business regularly, chances are that this prospect would do the same.

Word of Mouth & Web 2.0

Now how does word of mouth have anything to do with the internet?

Well, it turns out that word of mouth has a lot to do with the internet and increasingly so.

For instance, when I moved to New York City about a year ago, I had absolutely no idea which places in my neighborhood would be good for something to eat. However, I quickly went on Yelp to look at reviews of some of the places in my local area. In less than 10 minutes I was already compiling a list of places I wanted to check out based off of user reviews.

Such an anecdote is not uncommon. Increasingly your prospective customers are turning to second-hand reviews on sites like Yelp to find and learn more about your business. Very rarely will I ever come to a local business without doing at least a little bit of research online if I can. Your prospective customers are no different. They will continue to rely on what others say about your business to help them make a decision about whether or not to do business with you.

The internet has enabled your prospects to much more easily use word of mouth to help them make decisions about your business. Indeed, after all, the internet is one of the most democratic mediums ever created. Anyone can have their say and information isn’t controlled by any single person or organization. That’s the beauty of the internet and why your prospective customers are comfortable relying on such information. Furthermore, your prospective customers are lazy . What makes the internet so appealing for word of mouth information is that it extremely convenient. All your customer has to do is open up his or her laptop or pull out his or her mobile phone.

Moreover, the internet is increasingly making it even easier for you to tap your immediate social network for word of mouth recommendations and information. Facebook, Twitter, and the like are much more relevant to your prospective customer as word of mouth sources, because these sites contain individuals that your prospective customer has actually chosen to connect with (usually friends and family). Thus, thanks to the internet, now your prospects can better and more conveniently utilize their most trusted sources of information (i.e. their friends).

Therefore, if there is anywhere word of mouth is taking off, it’s on the internet.

So What Can You Do?

Word of mouth can be like wildfire. Though you don’t have control of the winds that may move it from one direction to another, you can do things to help guide it.

One thing you can do for starters is build a presence online. That means take ownership of your online listings, set up an account with Facebook and Twitter, build a website, etc. Without a presence, there’s absolutely no chance you can guide the conversation online.

The next thing you can do is start your own conversation. Indeed, one thing that’s truly fantastic about the internet is that it can be one big megaphone for your business. By publishing your own content you give your customers a real look into your business. Such transparency and interaction can and will help you build valuable relationships with prospective customers.

Lastly you can converse directly with your customers. This means listening to your customers online and responding to conversations your customers have about you on the web. Their’s absolutely no reason to be shy, like anyone else, your customers will sincerely appreciate the fact that you are listening to them. Moreover, you may learn something too .

See what you may already be doing to influence the online conversation about your business and start creating a “social media strategy” for your local business using these guidelines.

New Facebook Places Feature!

Just yesterday, Facebook released a new feature called Facebook Places.

This feature allows users to share their locations as well as see where there friends are. It uses a “check-in” feature which allows users to share where they are and find other nearby users who have checked in. It also allows users to post comments about particular places and even tag other friends at a location.

With the surging popularity of internet-enabled smartphones, Facebook is adding location information to their social networking. Users can simply check in to a location with a single tap of a button on their cell phones to share their location, write reviews, and find nearby friends.

Without a doubt, this is a HUGE development for local businesses trying to market themselves.

Such a feature opens up some big opportunities for local business owners who are trying to get themselves on the “map” (pardon the pun )

Claiming Your Place

To claim your place, you can just search for it in the Facebook search bar. If you find your place, you can claim it immediately through a click of a button and a verification process.

If your place is not found, you can create your place on Facebook by visiting the mobile Facebook page and adding it to Facebook.

Opportunities to Promote Your Business, Market Your Brand, and Expand Your Customer Base

Now Facebook Places is definitely in its very early stages so the capabilities as of now are somewhat limited. However, there’s no doubt that Facebook will soon roll out features that you can take advantage of to market your local business. (Indeed, I’m willing to be that a lot of these features will mirror some of the features already present on Foursquare and Gowalla)

Incentivize Customer Loyalty - Already Facebook has a check-in system for users. You can provide customers an incentive (like a special offer) for frequent check ins, so that you bring back more returning customers. Indeed, I bet there will be a feature like Foursquare’s “mayor” feature, which rewards you with the title of “mayor” if you have the most check-ins to a specific location. Such a feature in Facebook, would further encourage customer loyalty.

Deals - You can reward those users who check in to your business with a special offer or deal. Not only will this encourage users to come to your business but will help promote your business to other users across Facebook. You can make it apparent to customers that your reward check-ins by using signs in your business.

Promotion Engine - Another great thing about Facebook Places is that Facebook, after all, is a social network. Thus, you can take advantage of user’s own social networks within Facebook by encouraging them to write reviews for your business, post pictures, send updates, etc. You can provide a special offer for such promotional actions.

Advertising - Facebook has a fantastic advertising system. It allows you to target your ads to all Facebook users (already at a half a billion people and growing) based on various criteria like demographics, area, interests, etc. Just like with Facebook pages, Facebook will now give advertisers the ability to advertise their Facebook Places account as well. You can then use Facebook ads to directly advertise your business to targeted Facebook users.

By the way, I forgot to mention that Facebook Places is absolutely FREE! You do not need to spend a single dime to use it.

I have included a link to the Facebook Places page. You can see the FAQ menu to get more information about how to use Facebook Places and how it works.

Go and claim your business on Facebook Places, right now!

Podcast Coming Up

I’ve had a simple question in my head lately, “I want to reach more people and more effectively. What can I do?”

The first thing that came to my mind was to just try another medium, other than blogging.

Naturally, then, the idea of making a podcast immediately jumped as a possibility.

However, I definitely had my doubts. Like, how do I make a podcast? What kind of resources and equipment do I need? What value could I bring to the listener? Would anyone actually listen? Is my voice good enough?It

It can take a lot of time and energy to make a podcast and making one I thought would hamper my ability to work on other areas of the Academy.

However, I thought, “What the heck. I might as well give it a try.” I may (and likely will) find podcasting just as enjoyable if not more enjoyable than the blogging and writing I do now.

Moreover, I’m kind of somewhat fascinated by podcasts, as it allows me to speak freely and actually talk to already existing readers and prospective audiences as well.

I realize too that podcasts are extremely portable and are a chosen form of media consumption by big multi-taskers like me. I love to take podcasts on the subway with me and I know some people who even like listening to them while they workout.

Lastly and most importantly, I get a chance to connect with more people and with that be able to offer more resources and advice that will help local businesses achieve the success they desire.  That’s what I am all about in the end, and that’s exactly what I want.

Anyway, I haven’t set an official launch date, but I will keep you posted with any major developments!

Get Your Business On the Map

Google’s been undergoing a lot of developments lately in order to appeal to local business owners.

One important area of change has been with Google Maps.

Obviously, as a local business owner, Google Maps is very relevant and important to your business. When potential customers are looking for a business near them online, they typically use map sites like Google Maps.

In fact, Google Maps is by far one of the most popular online mapping sites. It’s also tied directly into Google’s search engine so any search that is performed in Google search can then show relevant Google maps data. So you search for “pet stores” in Google, and you typically get maps results of pet stores in your area along with the normal search results. So not only is Google Maps the most popular mapping application online by itself but it is also tied directly to the most popular search engine on the internet, Google.

As such, it’s important that you “get your business on the map” (as it were). It’s a very simple and easy process to get your business on Google Maps, and it’s instant free online traffic to your business. Moreover, people will be better able to find your business.

Recently Google developed what they call “Tags.” Tags essentially are meant to enhance your listing on Google to help you attract more customers. More specifically they allow your business to standout from the crowd when uses see a bunch of listings on Google.

You can use tags to highlight (with a special yellow tag) aspects of your business that you would like your customers to take special notice to. For instance, if you want to show a special offer or something unique abou your business you can include it on your Google tag, so when a user finds your listing on Google they will immediately notice the special offer.

One thing to note is that tags do not improve the positioning of your listing or improve your organic search engine ranking within Google. They are only used to highlight a certain aspect of your business when users find your listing.

The wonderful thing about tags is that they allow you to rope in more customers through your Google listing by giving you the ability to emphasize something your customers might be interested in.

Secondly, tags are very easy and quick to set up. It will likely take you only a few minutes to set up a tag if you already have a business on Google Places.

Furthermore, it’s pretty cheap. Right now, it’s set up at a flat rate fee of 25$ per month, which is incredibly cheap for enhancing your Google listing.

Lastly, (and I personally love this) Google gives you the ability to get reports and metrics on your tags. You can see how customers interacted your tag which can be used to improve it down the line.

I have included a video Google created that also describes how tags work:

If you haven’t set up a Google Places account, set one up. Then try Google tags.

I decided to create this webinar to give a good overview of all the tools and resources out there that you can use for your local business.

The problem with learning about internet marketing in general, especially with local internet marketing, is that there are so many different strategies and methods out there.

Some methods are more effective than others but only on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, some techniques are more appropriate at different times and for different customers and clients.

I wanted to clear up the information overload and confusion about local internet marketing by giving an overview of all the tools and resources you have at your disposal, how they work, and what they can do for your local business.

You can sign up for the webinar here.

Yeah I know.

What can a shirtless man sporting men’s deodorant teach you about marketing your business?

Well, a lot of things actually. This advertising campaign is easily one of the most popular advertising campaigns to come along in the last few years. Not only did it receive a lot of attention from viewers but it also sparked a great deal of positive reaction too.

For instance, this video already has more than 9 million views on YouTube alone, and it’s been up for only about two weeks! Thus, not only is this video reaching audiences, but people are flocking to see it. Even in my group of friends, the video has spread around like wildfire. I couldn’t go a day these last few weeks without hearing about the Old Spice man.

Thus, this advertising campaign is the very definition of viral marketing. It has generated a great deal of buzz and likely surpassed anyone’s expectations at Old Spice.

Some of the good marketing principles from this campaign can prove invaluable to your local marketing campaigns as well. You can attract more customers to your doors and get greater awareness and loyalty from your customers, by using some of these principles.

I have thus decided to list out some of the good principles that you you can learn from a campaign like the Old Spice man campaign:

Give your customers what they want…entertain them

Everyday life is pretty boring. You wake up, go to work, go home, and go back to sleep. This is what all your customers experience day by day.

Thus if you really want to stand out amongst your competitors, don’t be afraid to entertain your customers. People don’t want boring. They experience boring every minute of everyday. Therefore, if you want to spark their genuine interest you should provide at least a little flicker of entertainment in their lives. Then, they will remember you.

You can’t make someone look at your advertising and really see what you are trying to market, unless you draw them in. We have all had billboards and commercials thrown in front of our eyes, but we rarely pay any attention to them. It’s as almost as if we have programmed our brains to ignore commercials once they come on to the screen.

However, in those rare instances where we are actually entertained by an ad, we find the ad resonating with us a little longer.

Think about the Super Bowl. When I watch the Super Bowl with my friends, we not only find ourselves excited to see the actual game but also excited to see the commercials. Why? Because Super Bowl commercials are always the most entertaining and unique commercials of the year. This kind of delight and excitement, you can also pull through your own advertising campaigns.

By the way, the Old Spice guy got his start at the Super Bowl. Moreover, his commercial was one of the best remembered from the Super Bowl as well.

Thus, if you want to draw in your customers, feel free to throw in some humor, uniqueness, and even weirdness into your advertising campaigns.

Be Unique, Have a voice

My brother is an artist. More specifically, he is a photographer.

At one point he told me, “Good art doesn’t come from a committee. It comes an individual voice”

I can only imagine what the Old Spice campaign must have looked like when the idea came about. I bet that individuals at Old Spice must have thought they were taking a bit of risk with this ad campaign.

Frankly, the idea of a shirtless man speaking completely nonsensical things to a camera while also pulling stunts seems a bit odd.

Futhermore, ideas like this don’t come about by a group of people voting on it. These kinds of ideas only come from individuals who are using their very own creativity and imagination.

However, Old Spice simply trusted that such an ad campaign would work and thus took a major bet on the campaign’s potential.

This bet has obviously paid off, and now Old Spice is reaping the rewards of their risk.

You also should not be afraid of taking such risks when trying to market your own local business. Don’t be afraid of putting a unique voice out there. After all, people don’t want to see something that they find everyday. Such bland and colorless campaigns will only prove unsuccessful as they will fail to resonate with your audience. Take a risk and let out your own creative talents when executing your campaigns.

Indeed, just when you thought that you had all the window decals you need, along comes Facebook with yet another one.

Apparently, Facebook is sending special window decals to certain local businesses that have text-to-like SMS instructions on them. The picture below demonstrates what it looks like

It’s no secret that Facebook is a massive force in the internet world. It has nearly 500 million users already an counting. As such, Facebook is a powerful tool for local internet marketing, and can greatly help you both attract and retain local customers for your business.

With the limited release of a window decal they are making it possible for these select businesses to further promote their Facebook properties. Indeed, this simple window decal provides anyone with a cell phone with the ability to “like” a local business on Facebook. Any Facebook user would recognize the prominent Like icon and Facebook logo.

So what’s the big deal? Well, Facebook claims that “businesses that promote their Page off-Facebook tend to see a 20% or greater increase in connections.” I’m somewhat unsurprised by the relatively high percentage as Facebook makes it very easy for individuals to connect with business on the Facebook and because there are so many Facebook users out there.

With a simple decal like this, it’s even easier to promote your businesses Facebook property and easier for clients to connect with your business through Facebook (all they got to do is send an SMS).

Why does it matter if I make any connections to clients or customers through Facebook? More specifically, who cares if a customer “likes” me on Facebook? Well, remember this important little lesson: Social networks provide social proof!

Any marketer or even psychologist will tell you just how important social proof is, especially to people’s everyday decisions etc. Social proof is essentially social influence that guides your decision-making when you lack the knowledge to know what decision to make. You do it all the time. If everybody starts looking at the sky, you can’t help but also look at the sky even though you have no real reason why.

The same logic goes with social networking sites like Facebook. If your business generates a great number of “likes,” more and more users will respond to your business as they see your growing popularity.

Indeed, local business owners especially know that social proof is one of (if not the) largest marketing assets they can have. Many local businesses grow by word-of-mouth, which is certainly a  type of social proof. Thus, having an additional effective and simple tool to further your business’s social proof, is yet another fantastic resource you can use for your local marketing.

After all, it is only a window decal. All you have to do is “set it and forget it,” and you have already helped your local internet marketing.

Of course, your businesses should actually have a Facebook property if you are using this decal. If you don’t already have one up, then what are you waiting for?!

Have you been using Facebook for your local business? What have been your experiences so far?

Ad Age reported that Facebook is preparing to launch a new feature that will allow any Facebook users to broadcast their current location along with status updates. This allows marketers to further target individuals with even more relevant location-relevant ads.

To be honest, it seems absolutely natural that Facebook would get into the geo-networking game. The more information it has about it’s users, the better relevant ads it can serve to them. Moreover, it gives its users yet another tool with which they can interact with their social network. Wouldn’t it be kinda cool to know the exact location of some of your Facebook friends (or be really really creepy at least)?

Obviously such capabilities offer amazing benefits for local marketers. With such functionality, local marketers can serve hyper-targeted ads to users based on location. Imagine walking down the sidewalk and seeing an ad for a special offer at the store across the street on your mobile phone. You’re likely way more likely to drop by when you are right next to the place than when you are just sitting at home. Of course, such incredibly advanced and precise targeting is a little further into the future. Moreover, there hasn’t been as much work in location-based mobile advertising. However, there’s no doubt that such location-based advertising holds great promise especially for local marketers.

I predict that Facebook will likely first build out the “social” part of the new location-based broadcasting functionality before trying to dip their toes into advertising. However, they already have a massive user base (over 400 million people last time I checked) and an already social platform. Thus, if you would want anyone to test out the efficacy of location-based social networks, it might as well be Facebook.

If you have used location-based social networks like Foursquare, Loopt, Google Latitude, etc. for your business, how successful were they and what tactics did you use?

In another recent change, Google has developed new Google Places pages for mobile phones. From the looks of it, it better streamline all the information about your local business so it can be optimized for a mobile phone. Google Places is already a key and necessary internet listing that you should create for your local business, and this new mobile version of the product helps you better reach the growing class of smartphone users looking for your products and services on their mobile phones. As you will notice in the below demo video, the new mobile Google Places pages seek to optimize all your business information so that it is easily and readily consumable by any smartphone user.

If you don’t have a Google Places page yet, you are very likely missing out on a golden and free opportunity to promote your business on the internet. The beauty of Google Places is that it is closely married with Google Maps, the most popular internet geo-location and local search tool out there. Thus, by not claiming your listing on Google Places you could easily be missing out on a massive audience of Google Maps users. Furthermore, as you will notice from the below demo video, Google Places gives you a bunch of great and free tools you can use to promote and inform potential customers about your business.

For those of you who have heard of it, you may also know that it has one of the fastest growing user bases of all the social networks. In fact, though it is still a very new service, it is already closing in on 1 million users!

Moreover, because of it’s sudden rise in popularity and it’s value as an effective local internet marketing platform, Yahoo had offered as much as $125 million to buy Foursquare!

So what the heck does Foursquare do anyway? More to the point, what can I, as a local business owner, get from Foursquare?

As mentioned above, Foursquare is a location-based social networking platform. Thus, unlike sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, Foursquare’s functionality is based solely on your location. As such, the service is primarily used on your mobile phone when you’re out and about.

For instance, users “check-in” at location using text messages or a mobile application. Users are able to connect with their friends and send updates of their location.

The real fun of Foursquare is that you are awarded points for checking in at locations. Users can also earn badges by checking in at certain locations or checking in frequently at a specific location. Moreover, as a user you can create a private To Do list for certain locations or add public Tips that other users can use for a certain location. Tips include things like what to eat at a certain place, what kind of cool things to do at a location, what to be wary of at a spot, etc.

Foursquare is able to effectively encourage more use of the service through the use of badges. For instance, users who have checked into 50 different venues get a badge, users who have been to the same place 3 times in a week get a badge, etc. There’s also a lot of very interesting and even strange badges out there as well. For instance, you get a special badge for finding 3 places with a photobooth, checking into the Apple Store 3 times, etc.

Furthermore, for the individual who checks into a venue more than anyone else, on separate days, they earn the title of “Mayor” of that venue (of course, until somebody else comes along and beats them).

Now what does this seemingly silly social networking service have to do with your local business? Well, as a location-based service it can help directly drive customers to your doors and encourage repeat customers!

Foursquare is amazing for local businesses, in that it is both an increasingly popular social networking service and a location-based platform. It’s as almost as if Foursquare was designed specifically for local businesses! (indeed, it probably was…) Facebook and Twitter aren’t nearly as local-centric as Foursquare is. Indeed, I’d even go as far as saying that Foursquare is one of the few tools that all local businesses should invest at least a little bit of time in as the service specifically targets location-based users.

Check out Foursquare here, and let me know what you think!