Consulting – Social Media Juander INC

Small business owners have enough to mark off of their checklist when starting out. Once you have devised your business plan, the next thing is to create your online presence. You either pay a web designer or embark upon building your own site by using one of the many drag and drop web design platforms. No matter how you arrive whether paid or free…..the need is the same……TRAFFIC. With all the other start-up costs, you don’t want to create a huge Google Adwords bill so what do you do? The answer is to dominate your local online listing!

Most people think claiming your online listing means registering your domain with Google, Yahoo and Bing. While that is a huge part of the equation, you can quickly gain relevance for your domain by claiming local online listings. This is especially important if you live or do business in a suburb outside of a major city. You can’t compete with companies with huge Adwords budgets but you can Search Engine Optimize your site to claim local searches for your product or services. Most SEM companies buy keywords based on Metro areas because they have no knowledge of surrounding towns or counties. The first step is deciding which online listing service to use. I Googled top-online-listing-service and came up with this list from Hubspot.

Top 50 Online Listing Sites

This is a great place to start if you are a do-it-yourselfer optimizing your own site, but if you are a Search Engine Optimization Consultant this is a daunting task. The screen shot above only has twenty sites listed, think of going through all fifty one by one! One of the most visible is Yext.com. Yext.com has partnered with many online listing services such as Manta, Mapquest, Yahoo, Superpages and Yelp. They offer to save you time and effort by providing a single point mass listing service. For about $500.00 you can have them list and correct errors for 50 sites. I felt there had to be a cheaper option, so I continued to search and found Synup.com. The dashboard is very clean and easy to use and the best part…..it’s FREE! The site checks your listing over 182 sites. You can either go to those sites and correct your listing yourself or just click on the correct listing link and have Synup correct the listing for just $1.50 per listing. That’s 182 sites for about $273.00! This is a quicker and more cost-effective option if you’re a small business owner or a Search Engine Optimization Consultant. You can add multiple sites/listings and it keeps them all organized. There is also a function on Synup.com that allows you to check and respond to reviews received from your listings.

I registered with about 20 sites and then did a test search using the term chain-music-social-media based on a blog that I wrote yesterday. Here are the results: The NUMBER ONE spot!

I then searched social-media-consulting-waldorf-md which is a suburb of Washington D.C.. I Search Engine Optimized my listing to highlight my local area and Washington D.C. to get added traffic.

The first spot in the organic search is the manta.com online listing. When you click on the link my company is listed number two. I didn’t opt for the premier listing or pay anything extra. I just built out my free listing.

The task of dominating local web traffic is a very hard one. You need to make sure your listings and content are optimized with local terms larger SEM firms may not know. As your site gains relevance based on your local search, your search results will ultimately improve. But whatever you do, remember to Dominate Locally To Compete Globally!

Juan De Cruz, Jr.

http://www.socialmediajuander.com

jdecruz@socialmediajuander.com

(240) 479-0082

Google Ranking Help, How To Get On Google 1st page, Online Marketing, Organic Search, Paid Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing Consultant, Social Media Uses

The Curious Link Between Social Media & Chain Music

October 13, 2014May 7, 2015 socialmediajuander

Social Media Marketing Consulting — The Curious Link Between Chain Music and Social Media

I am a self-confessed Hip-Hop head. I reached my Hip Hop heyday in the 90’s with groups such as Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde and De La Soul. This form of Hip Hop was called “conscious” rap because of the content, thought and movement that was a product of the music of the time. Studio Gangsta Rappers were shunned and your rep was based on the music you produced, not a marketing campaign. As a 42-year-old Social Media Marketing Consultant I struggle to stay true to my Hip Hop roots, or move on to Classic Jazz? I can not relate to today’s version of Hip Hop “Chain Music”. No content, no point, just a catchy heavy base beat and a gold chain.

When you look at the current Digital Marketing landscape……one could say it’s gone the way of “Chain Music”! Social Media is “en vogue” so companies jumped in flooding timelines with shameless sales plugs and pitches. Forbes Magazine wrote about the importance of Social Media for Small Business as far back as 2011. Over that span of time the Social Media Marketing Industry has changed immensely. It was the connection that was important…….an online interaction that creates an in person engagement. With the introduction of Facebook Ads and other products, you can pay for Likes and Followers. It’s no longer about building an organic online community, it’s about paying to get into the timelines of the masses. Social Media has gone the way of the Google Search Consultant…”but you have 50,000 impressions!” When numbers become the game in Social Media, failure is imminent. When there is no true content, people will eventually learn the truth. There are those Social Media Marketing Consultants and Agencies that get it right. They realize that just setting up an “Enter to Win an iPad” link isn’t true traffic. When I see companies and marketing consultants that get it right, I remain hopeful for our industry. Despite all the filters that keep your message out of timelines unless you pay to play……..we can still be heard if you have the rigtht content, the right message and the right audience.

Just as my hope in the Social Media Marketing industry is renewed from time to time, my hope in Hip Hop is renewed when I hear song’s like Wale’s “Chain Music”. Wale is a Washington D.C. Metro area native and has been on the scene for years but he didn’t receive the national recognition he deserved until he inked a deal with MMG. Although Wale’s message hasn’t changed, his delivery has……a line from Chain Music states, “tried to give you light and a message, but you’d rather have some VVS’ (diamonds). He realized that the culture of the Chain Music era is a necessary evil, just as Social Media is a necessary evil for businesses. If there is no engagement, no connection, no information exchange……..Social Media Marketers may as well trade their corporate suits in for gold chains.

Juan De Cruz, Jr.

Social Media Marketing, SEO/SEM, e-Mail Marketing Consulting

http://www.socialmediajuander.com

(240) 479-0082

Social Media Uses

Guru’s, Wizards and Experts (Who can you trust to handle your Social Media)

September 4, 2011May 7, 2015 socialmediajuander

When I decided to branch out on my own to become an independent Social Media Marketing Consultant for small businesses, I noticed that I was just one of thousands, maybe millions of people doing the same thing. I browsed individuals titles in different LinkedIn groups and profiles, I even scoured Craigslist and other forums to view the competition. I was amazed at all of the creative titles which included Social Media Guru, Expert, Specialist, King Queen etc.! I got so confused, with all of the mentions of Wizards, Guru’s and Warlocks…..I wasn’t sure if I was reading a Harry Potter series or an offer of Social Media Marketing services. By the amazing things that people promised, I was expecting Professor Dumbeldore, Harry or the one we do not speak of (Voldemort) to materialize to run Social Media Marketing Campaigns. While we mere mortals sit back and await the magic to spill down from Hogwart’s….the Wizards and Gurus form a special Social Media Marketing Strategy!

The truth is, there are no Wizards, Gurus or Experts. The reason being, Social Media is ever-changing. It originally shaped our personal communication and now we have seen how it has shaped the way we do business. As small business owners, and large companies for that matter, scramble to form a voice via Social Media, they are met with empty promises! If you are looking to contract someone who says they know all there is to know about Social Media…….in the words of Ghost Face Killah…..”Run”! Social Media is an ever-moving target, there is no plateau, just a consistent climb. just because someone can construct a Fan Page doesn’t mean they are an Expert.

Misconception Number 1

“People think if you build it they will come!” @JemekaShamae

This has to be one of the greatest misconceptions. Social Media Marketers will contract their services to build a Social network, but they don’t advise their clients on how to increase traffic, how to track what posts are effective and how to maintain a constant online presence. “You have to take time to develop your content and voice!” –Jarvis Holliday If not you’ll have a Social Media network no followers and a look of….”what now?”

Misconception Number 2

“Whoomp there it is!”

Some fraudulent Social Media Marketers lead their clients to believe they will see instant results. The truth is, you have to develop content, you have to engage your followers and listen to your followers prior to dumping your marketing campaign on them. Think of Social Media just like a friendship, it takes time to develop trust and a connection. You wouldn’t barge in on a new friend and ask for money.

Misconception Number 3

“It is what it is!”

So many people think that the world of Social Media is just a malaise of Likes, Retweets, Fans and Followers. They fill as if they just post random thoughts that they will increase their following. The truth is a real Social Media Marketing strategy is far more cerebral than that. There is software out there that helps to measure the effectiveness of your content, the click-through rate to your website and also the conversion rate of page views to likes. If your Social Media Marketer isn’t offering these services then you really need to explore your professional relationship.

The Marketing Cycle for Social Media is longer than that of standard marketing campaigns. It can be compared to Transactional versus Relationship sales. As you search for a Social Media Marketing Consultant, be sure they are not promising you the world…..and just giving you Hogwarts School of Magic!

Juan De Cruz, Jr.

www.socialmediajuander.com

@juandeezee

Tag: Consulting

Dominate Locally To Compete Globally……The Importance Of Local Listings To Boost Organic Search

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