Many small business owners forget about the “social” part in social media. It’s important to look at FB and Twitter as a way to interact with your customers, current and prospective, not a way to drown them in offers and sales pitches. Communication is a two-way street, and social media is just another form of communication. So don’t only talk to your customers: ask them for opinions, respond to questions, and provide them with information they are interested in.

To put it simply, social media is just the tech age’s solution for going back to the way things used to be done. Back in the day, if you were looking for an electrician, you just went and asked the neighbors for a recommendation. Social media is changing the way this type of interaction happens, but the content is staying essentially the same. The only thing that’s changing is that instead of asking that neighbor face-to-face, now folks go online and ask a group of “neighbors” on the Web instead of in their backyard. So, you see, it’s not as different as it may seem.

Easy Rules for Successful Social Media Campaigns

Participate! Social media isn’t about just creating a Twitter account or Facebook page and then being done. Keep in mind that your customers are constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?” So if you aren’t interacting with them or giving them helpful info, they’re not going to keep on following your brand/company. Remember, if the goal of social media is to be an online “backyard” for chatting with “neighbors,” you need to be out there “talking” through posts! Over time, this enables you to develop a reputation as a knowledgeable and reputable person.

Put Your Expertise to Work. Share what you know about your industry. You are an expert! So if you work as a plumber, share tips on unclogging a toilet or saving on water bills; if you’re an appliance repairman, offer hints on basic maintenance; etc. Drawing on your knowledge to provide info is a great way to build loyalty and brand trust.

Stop Selling and Start Sharing! SELL SELL SELL is not a good approach for your social media sites. Think about it this way: If you had a friend who was always trying to sell you this or that, how long would you stay friends? If you’re always promoting one offer/product or another on your social media sites, you’re just going to come across as a pushy salesman. Instead, consider your social media sites as a place to create brand loyalty and educate your customers. If you do want to put out the news about a sale or product, just make sure that’s not the only content you’re pushing on your social media sites. And remember, social marketing is a long-term strategy, not a magic wand, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results after just a few months.

Respond to Unhappy Customers. Make sure you’re responding to negative feedback both promptly and positively. The unhappy customer will appreciate that their complaint has been recognized, but more importantly, you’ll be showing other people that their concerns won’t be ignored. And, even though it may be hard, make sure that you’re responding in a way that shows you understand where the customer is coming from.

Don’t give in to wanting to argue each point with the person who submitted the complaint. Instead, respond positively: When you’re dealing with customer satisfaction issues, about 75% of the point is to show OTHER people who may read your response that you truly care and will strive to resolve the client’s concern (and make sure the situation is not repeated). Handling customer complaints online is NOT about being right: It’s about stopping the complaint from costing you future business prospects!

Patience Is a Virtue. Developing a successful social media campaign is never going to happen overnight. It takes time and dedication. Make sure you’re logging in every day to respond to customers in a prompt manner. When you’re in the process of building your following, try putting up a post a couple of times a week. Once your fan base has grown and you have a feel for what content they appreciate most, feel free to start posting more frequently.

Promote It! Your Facebook/Twitter/Google+ page isn’t going to promote itself. If you’re not giving it a hand, it’s not going to be found. Put a link on your business card or Web site, add a sign in your store, etc.

How to Get Started

Here at PG, we actually create and optimize FB, Google+, and Twitter pages for all of our clients. But that’s just the start! Our goal is to get you found on those platforms, but to really maximize these resources, YOU need to take the reins. Outsourcing can backfire majorly, so invest a little time in your social media marketing and reap the rewards!

When we optimize your Google Places listing, not only do we ensure that your listing is up to date with Google’s latest standards, but we also monitor your listing for any changes that could have been caused by an external factor (e.g. a competitor, an angry customer, or another advertising company). We do all of the technical work so you can focus on your business!

To learn more about our Google Places optimization feature, don’t hesitate to contact your campaign manager or customer service representative at your earliest convenience.

E-mail to Robo-Call

Time is of the essence when it comes to closing a deal, and, unfortunately, with e-mail correspondence, sometimes you don’t see the message in a timely manner. So don’t let not responding to the message quickly enough cost you the lead! PG offers a complimentary feature that can turn your e-mails into calls: We’ll send the message to a robo-call service, which means when you answer the phone a robot will read the e-mail out loud to you. So if you have your cell on you, you won’t have to keep checking your e-mail to keep track of leads. If you’re the kind of pro who’s always on the go, this feature makes it easy to stay on top of those e-mail leads.

E-mail to SMS (Text)

We can also transform your e-mails into text messages for your convenience. This works just like the feature mentioned above, except that instead of a robo-call, you’ll receive an SMS message containing the first 140 characters of the e-mail.

Advanced Phone Package

Did you know that your CallTrax number can do way more than just monitor call volumes? We can also set up your CallTrax number to forward calls to different numbers (based on schedule or number of rings) and even add extensions… Don’t be limited by only connecting your CallTrax number to one phone.

Our three advanced phone options include:

1.    Multiple rings—If you have several different phone numbers where you’d like to receive calls, we can configure your CallTrax number to ring at each one in different fashions. A popular option is the “round-robin” style:  the first two rings can go to phone A, the next two rings can forward to phone B, and so on. You can also opt for sequential or simultaneous rings. These options increase the chances that an incoming call will be answered instead of missed. And missed calls often mean missed opportunities.
2.    Daily schedule—Would you rather receive phone calls at certain numbers depending on the time of day? We can do that, too! Let’s say, for example, that you want to receive leads only on phone A in the morning, on phone B in the afternoon, and on phone C in the evening. With our advanced phone package, that’s possible! We can also route your calls based on the day of the week.
3.    Extensions—If you have multiple lines, we can set up extensions for you. For example, you might have one line for customer service and another for parts, and you might want to allow leads to choose which line they want to connect to. For your convenience, we will set up extensions and even record the automated message, along the lines of: “Thank you for calling Advanced Appliance. To speak with customer service, please press 1; to order parts, please press 2.”

Advanced E-mail Form

Frustrated by not having all the information you need when prospective customers communicate with you via e-mail? Get all of the relevant info the first time around with an advanced e-mail form from PG. We can customize the form to make sure you get everything you need from the client, saving you both time and frustration. Check out a recent example for ideas, but remember, we should be able to create a fully customized e-mail form for your particular business needs.

Call Recording

Have you checked out your call log recently? As a convenience to you, we log and record all calls generated by your campaign. That means even when you don’t have pen and paper handy when you answer a call, you can listen to the call later to catch any details you may have missed.

If you’re interested in utilizing one of our convenient phone or e-mail features for your LeadTrax site and campaign, just let us know. Contact your customer service representative or campaign manager, and we’ll get you set up with the high-tech communication tools you need to succeed.

Photo Gallery

With the photo gallery, adding pictures to your LeadTrax site is straightforward and hassle free. Images of your team at work, your staff, and even your company vehicles are a powerful addition to your site, and can make a huge difference in transforming site visitors into paying customers.

Wondering just how much difference photos of your technicians can make for your business? Well, check out the current practice of Safelite AutoGlass.

When clients schedule a service call with Safelite AutoGlass, they’ll receive an e-mail containing a bio and photograph of the exact technician who will be coming to perform the work on their vehicle. As an in-house survey reports, 85% of customers said that the e-mail photo made them feel more comfortable with the technician, and 88% stated their belief that the job would be done professionally and properly after seeing the photo.

What does this mean for your company? Well, as the above statistics show, pictures of the staff who actually perform the services for your clients put folks at ease. So adding images of your team to your site will provide customers with peace of mind and set you apart from the fly-by-night “pros” who may also operate in your area.

Blogging

Showcase your professional expertise with your LeadTrax site’s blog! Conveniently included in all new sites, we’re offering an easy-to-use blog platform to help you reach out to current and prospective clients with professional tips, useful hints, and other information that can help draw people in. For example, you might want to blog about a challenging job you recently aced or offer helpful hints relevant to your particular industry. No matter what you write about, the trick to successful blogging is to provide useful information.

To get you started with your blog, PG automatically creates your first two blog posts for you. For a small fee, we can also write additional blog posts on your behalf, but you’re always free to add as many posts as you’d like on your own.

You can access both the photo gallery and the blog through your client portal.

So make sure you’re maximizing the value of your lead generation campaign by taking advantage of our free blogging, photo gallery, and other features!

Have questions? Just call your campaign manager or customer service representative and we’ll provide you with the info you need.

Want to sign up? Call or e-mail us now!

Do you ever feel like everyone has a smartphone these days? And that people are constantly staring down at their screens playing games, using the Internet, and checking their e-mail?
Well, it’s not quite constant, but the truth is more and more people are choosing smartphones as their primary tool for mobile communication. From iPhones and BlackBerries to the latest Android-platform phones, smartphones are becoming increasingly common in the US. In fact, the Pew Research Center just released a study in February that reports 46% of all adults in America (spanning all sexes and socioeconomic groupings) use a smartphone. And this statistic is up dramatically from the 34% reported in May 2011, a little over a year ago.

Why Business Owners Should Care

As a small business owner, you may not think that the growth in smartphone usage has much to do with you. After all, your company probably isn’t in the business of manufacturing mobile phones. However, the continued growth of smartphone usage in the US is starting to change how people use the Internet—and thus how they might find your company.

Check out these statistics:

• 61% of smartphone users perform local searches from their devices.
• 49% of smartphone users regularly use search engine apps (e.g. Yelp, Yahoo!, Bing, Google Maps, Citysearch) for local searches.
• 50% of all local searches are conducted on a mobile device.

In fact, some experts even predict that mobile Internet usage will surpass desktop Internet usage by 2014!

Because so many people are now relying on smartphones and tablets to search for local businesses, it’s easy to see how companies without a mobile site are destined to miss out on a large number of prospective customers.

Get Ahead with Mobile Optimization

That’s why mobile optimization is the new “SEO.” Having a fully functional Web site is crucial to your company’s success, but having an equally functional mobile site is increasingly vital as smartphone usage becomes more and more mainstream. As a result, mobile optimization is becoming a critical part of any online advertising campaign that hopes to be successful.

Now, you may be thinking, “What’s the difference? I already have a Web site, so why can’t people just look at that page on their phone?” Well, they can, but that Web site is going to display with tiny print, a crowded layout, and difficult navigation that can be a major obstacle. If prospective customers can’t read your site from their device, they’re much more likely to move on to a competitor who does have a mobile site.

The difference between regular Web sites and mobile sites is that the mobile version is simplified and scaled back to allow for easier readability/navigation on a mobile device like a smartphone. With a mobile version of your Web site, the font will be larger and the navigation more straightforward to make the overall experience easier and better for people who are trying to learn about your company.

The Growing World of Social Media

It’s hard not to notice that social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook seem to be consuming the time and attention of an entire generation. But did you know that young folks aren’t their only users anymore? Each and every day, people of all genders, ages, and backgrounds are turning to social media accounts to stay connected.

Social media usage is becoming more and more widespread at the same time smartphones are growing in popularity, with the result being that a large number of people are now utilizing their mobile devices to access social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Why is this significant to your business? Here’s some food for thought: Local business searches performed via social media are up 67% since 2010. And 35% of the people who use social media for local searches do so on a daily basis.

So, since more smartphone users are accessing social media through mobile apps, and these same social media outlets are becoming a tool to search for local businesses, you can see how it becomes even more imperative that businesses have a strong presence on these social sites.

Staying One Step Ahead

Here at PG, we’ve offered mobile versions of our sites since way back in 2008, but we’ve just rolled out a new and improved version for all of our clients. These sites feature all of the same vital information included in the full LeadTrax™ site, but with a simpler design that can be easily viewed on any mobile device.

As part of your lead generation campaign, we’re also already in the practice of automatically creating a presence for your business on platforms like Twitter and Facebook as well as listing you in online directories such as Yelp, Citysearch, Yahoo!, Bing, and Google Places—all popular search destinations with their own mobile apps.

To put it simply, while many business owners are worried about the changing direction of online advertising, PG’s clients have been ahead of this trend for years. Keeping your online advertising campaign at the cutting-edge of local search, we make sure you get the Web exposure you need.

Learn more about your business’s existing mobile site by contacting your campaign coordinator. Or, if you’re not already a PG client, call us to find out more about how our lead generation program can help maximize your business’s Internet visibility.

Which leads us to the age-old question, how can you get more customers to leave reviews for you? The short answer is make it worth their time and effort. This has two very important elements, offering incentives, but also simplifying the process of posting a review as much as possible. The easier it is, the more likely people are to do anything, including reviewing your company.

As you probably already know, your LeadTrax™ site from Prospect Genius comes with an optional “Review My Business” button. This handy button links directly to the Google Places listing that we already manage on your behalf, so it’s simple and straightforward for customers to leave reviews. That’s half the battle when it comes to persuading them to write you a review. In fact, since we debuted this convenient feature, countless businesses have already seen a dramatic increase in reviews after adding the button to their site.

If you don’t see the “Review My Business” button already on your LeadTrax™ site, adding it is easy. Just give your account manager a call and we’ll take care of it!

Specializing in Internet marketing for local service providers in all different corners of the country, Prospect Genius has been headquartered at 105 Jordan Road in Troy since 2010. On April 1 of this year, the company’s main offices will relocate to 250 Jordan Road, where there will be ample space for Prospect Genius’s growing team. In fact, the new property will be more than three times the size of the former office, which means that it will be able to accommodate any further expansion on the part of the PG staff.

President Alex Pelli says, “The new space is larger, spankin’ new, and allows for future growth plans. We’re all very excited about the move.”

Prospect Genius has seen continued growth due to an ever-increasing number of local businesses that depend on Web-based resources for visibility and accessibility. As online advertising becomes an invaluable aspect of business ownership, the demand for expert SEO services grows. According to a 2010 study by the Pew Research Center, more than 58% of American consumers use the Internet to research products and services before making a purchase. For that reason, the unique Web marketing services that Prospect Genius provides are integral to the success of countless local businesses; the expansion of their team is a direct result.

Prospect Genius is an SEO company based out of Troy, NY. Established in 2007 as an online lead generation and advertising program for local service providers nationwide, Prospect Genius specializes in sending customers straight to businesses’ Web sites.

For the entire month of March, Prospect Genius is offering double referral bonuses to current clients. Now, rather than receiving $10 off your monthly bill for every referral that signs up, you’ll receive $20 off!

New clients aren’t left out of the savings, though. Sign up with us by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 31, and you’ll save $50 off your monthly bill for the first six months.

For more information, or to get started on saving with your March Madness discount, feel free to call or e-mail our team today.

Fighting With Your Google Listing?

As you’ve probably discovered by now, dealing with Google is not always easy. Even if you’re able to understand and abide by all of Google’s ultra-specific rules, there are certain events and actions that you simply cannot predict or prevent. If you have a Google Places account and you’re managing it on your own, then it might be difficult to know how to deal with unforeseen complications, such as:

• Disappearing listings
• “Hijacked” listings
• Inaccurate information
• Lost information

When your Google Places listing has been duplicated, merged, or otherwise tampered with, it could be due to several different factors. Whether an old listing from a former advertising company has resurfaced, a competitor has been tampering with your listing, or Google has made an erroneous update to your listing automatically, there are countless outside forces that can and will make it difficult for you to maintain an accurate, optimized Places listing.

Regardless, it’s vital that you stay on top of any changes that are made to your listing. Why? Listings that have been merged or duplicated can cause your Google rankings to drop, while inaccurate information (e.g. that your business is closed) can cause you to miss out on new customers. It’s especially important to monitor customer reviews, as some dishonest competitors might leave fake complaints on your listing. Any changes made to your listing may become permanent once they’re left for a certain period of time, which is why it’s so vital that you’re always aware of what’s happening with your listing.

The Solution: MapTrax™

Prospect Genius recognizes that effectively managing a Google Places account is a complicated undertaking. That’s why we’ve developed a program that monitors your listing daily and alerts you of any changes automatically. Called MapTrax, this state-of-the-art system will help you keep track of any changes made to your company’s name, URL, phone number, address, and more, so you can immediately address any problems that arise. Essentially, MapTrax is very reasonably priced insurance that will save you time, money, and future business.

Constant Monitoring Is a Huge Time Drain

If you’re serious about the success of your business, then you probably have at least one online advertising company working for you. In fact, some ambitious business owners hire several companies at once. No matter how many advertising campaigns you have, you’ll naturally want to keep track of how each one is performing in order to ensure that they are being associated with the appropriate keywords (i.e. search terms) and that they are actually valuable to your company.

Unfortunately, monitoring the performance of each individual campaign can prove to be a very time-consuming and confounding process, especially when you have other projects and obligations to complete. As you may already know, repeatedly Googling the same thing from the same computer can skew your results. That’s because Google keeps track of the search history that’s associated with your IP address and will begin to customize your results accordingly. As you can imagine, if this is the only measurement that you have to judge your campaign’s performance, then you might end up making a decision based on faulty information. This can be especially costly if you fire a company that’s actually working or, alternately, if you keep a company that’s not working at all.

The Solution: AdTrax™

The only truly effective and objective way to measure your campaign’s performance is to use a non-biased, auto-generated monitoring system. For this reason, the experts at Prospect Genius have created AdTrax, a system that allows you to see where each of your URLs are ranking for each keyword, all in one convenient location. Once you log on, you’ll be able to see your advertising campaign’s raw, unfiltered results, no matter what time of day or night. AdTrax will track your results over time and produce a graph of your performance that’s simple to read and easy to understand.

If you think that your company’s advertising efforts could benefit from MapTrax, AdTrax, or both, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re offering both features at a reduced rate for the next 30 days, so act now!

You may remember a similar experience that we had with EDriven Concepts back in August 2011. In short, an EDriven Concepts sales representative named Josh Murlin called a number of our clients asking about their Prospect Genius accounts, implying that he was a representative from Prospect Genius without ever revealing his actual identity. In some of these phone calls, Mr. Murlin even tried to convince a handful of our clients to stop payment on checks made out to Prospect Genius and to instead mail these checks to an entirely different address!

Well, it appears that EDriven Concepts, disappointed with his less-than-honest advertising tactics, has parted ways with Mr. Murlin. In response, he and a business partner started another company called Skyrise Solutions, which employs those same dishonest tactics to poach clients from other SEO companies—and this time, EDriven Concepts is a target. Mr. Number, a “social caller ID” service that collects information about phone numbers linked to frequent spam and telemarketing activity, has already seen a few complaints from EDriven Concepts clients regarding Skyrise Solutions. These clients report that a representative from Skyrise Solutions pretended to be their current service provider and, in one case, charged them double what they were promised.

In addition to targeting his former company, Mr. Murlin and his associates at Skyrise Solutions continue their attempt to defraud Prospect Genius clients. As you can hear from the audio clip below, which was taken directly from one of the aforementioned phone calls, the sales approach is the same old song and dance: First, the sales representative tries to confuse the business owner by referencing a “previous” conversation that never actually took place. Then, they continue the present conversation and allow the client to believe that he or she is speaking with Prospect Genius, not Skyrise Solutions. You’ll notice that this particular sales rep mistakenly calls his company “Skyline,” an error that’s suggestive of tactics so dishonest, even the sales reps can’t keep them straight.

Skyrise Fraud Attempt

Given that this phone call took place on one of our metered lines, which are designed to record every single incoming call, Prospect Genius can say with absolute certainty that the purportedly “previous” conversation between Skyrise Solutions and this and other business owners never actually occurred.

If you would like to research Skyrise Solutions even further on your own, here is some contact information that we’ve collected:

Skyrise Solutions (Main)
29970 Technology Dr. STE 118
Murrieta, CA 92563
Tel.: (951) 698-6660

Cody (sales): 951-698-6707 and 951-551-1662

Please be very careful not to give representatives from Skyrise Solutions any sensitive or personal information, as we cannot guarantee its security. If you have any doubts regarding the legitimacy of a phone call, simply hang up, dial our main line (1-800-689-1273), and ask for your account manager.

Wishing you pleasant, honest dealings and continued success,

Prospect Genius