Google My Business: Ground Zero for Online Marketing

Ground Zero, the foundation for every business that wants to be found online is Google My Business.  It's the first thing I recommend to all starting-up business owners.  There are a lot of online tutorials for how to access your My Business listing page but basically once you are logged into your Google Account, search for the 'My Business' icon and you'll be directed to your main page.  From there, it is relatively straightforward to follow each of the steps to completely and accurately set up your My Business page.

From your My Business page, your Google Reviews are visible and accessible.  Your online reputation matters.  Both to the search engines and to real people.  Ask for reviews and respond to them right from your My Business Page.

Build up your content two ways on your My Business page.  First, upload photos and videos.  They can be of anything related to your business.  The more content you post, the more of an authority you become and again that benefits both your customers and the search engines.

Second, you can create posts.  Like blog posts, you can share your opinion on various topics related to your business.  Take advantage of this feature with regular updates.

There are other valuable features available and as you gain experience, you'll learn how to take advantage of them.  For more on Google My Business, here's an informative infographic:

Until next time...

Chris Morales

Small Business Marketing in 2020

Running a small business is challenging!  You're the 'go-to' person for everything:  Staffing, sales, operations, customer service and of course marketing.  Most days marketing falls to the bottom of the to-do list.  

But there are ways to stay on top of marketing your small business.  These are top three things I share with the students in my Small Business Class at George Brown College:

1. Set up your website.  Optimize it with keywords that help search engines serve you up in relevant consumer searches.  
2. Set up your Google My Business Page.  Google has a step-by-step process to help you.  Your Google My Business page works with online searches to help optimize your online performance
3. Set up your Facebook Business Page.  Facebook marketing has replaced the local newspaper by giving you tools to target by demographic, psychographic and geographic profiles.

That's 101.  Here are more tips to help you market your small business:

Until next time...

Your Online Reputation Precedes You

Individual or business, people are talking about you online.  And your reputation lives in multiple places:  Instagram, Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn are the big sites.  Every time you same something positive or negative, or it's said about you, your Sentiment score is adjusted.  

Last year I made a concerted effort to curate my online reputation (I posted a series of articles on the exercise, this is conclusion:  Branding Exercise Concluded - Now What?)  It was an eye opener!  Websites and Social Media channels from years ago were still being indexed by Search Engines and affecting my online reputation score.  I scrubbed them all, updated content everywhere and plugged as many risks as I could.  It worked!  Now when you search 'Chris Morales' you'll get a much cleaner online view.  

It was a lot of work.  When I'm ready to move forward again, I'll sign up with a monitoring service.  More thorough and consistent.  One Canadian company offering multiple services is Reputation.ca.  They have services for just about every level of need across a wide range of online reputation management.

Until next time...
Chris Morales

Branding Exercise Concluded - Now What?

The 8 week exercise to improve my Online Profile concluded last week.  Now what?

I confess to feeling a bit empty since all my online profiles are running on autopilot.  Oh I check in with my BrandYourself account regularly to see what's happening.  And it's good!

Moving forward it's constant monitoring, updating my various online profiles with new content and staying vigilant for anything negative that could affect the positive results to-date.

One important activity that will launch in the upcoming weeks is my video series on how to teach like a pro.  In this series I'll be sharing my insights, tips and suggestions from my teaching at George Brown College over the past 3 years.  

Managing your online profile is never really over.  And it requires effort.  That's life in the digital age...or at least since you did your first Google Search!

Until next time...

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 8 Update

Here we are at Week 8, the final week of the exercise to improve my online profile.  And...results are looking good!

Reputation results have stabilized in the 'Good' range.  I'm pleased with that.  I didn't want to be a slave to the algorithm and am please to only have to spend about 10 minutes every couple of days on maintenance.  The highlights of the activities that led to this result include:

1. Optimized LinkedIn Profile:  Headline and Summary.  Packed with relevant keywords that speak to the benefits I deliver:  Chris Morales LinkedIn
2. BrandYourself Profile.  This was key.  It's a user-friendly service that walked me through optimizing all of my online profiles:  Twitter, LinkedIn, Personal Website, Facebook.  I definitely recommend this service.

My Page One Search results have stabilized with the top 3 now showing 'Chris Morales' correctly.  I still have some work to do with images.  That activity will begin shortly and will be ongoing.  I'll share the results of those strategies and tactics in future blog posts.  If you want more information, contact me directly.

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 7 Update

I got distracted this past week.  My plan had been to focus on getting my images to show up on the Search page.  I started out OK but quickly ran into a roadblock:  I didn't have enough places on the web where I could post my image.  I tagged all the images I could find (and could get access to) but it just wasn't enough to get my images to show up for 'Chris Morales' images already being served up.

A setback yes but not all was lost.  A chance conversation with a Social Media Marketing expert led me down another path. One that could be even more effective in improving page 1 ranking for 'Chris Morales'.  

He suggested creating and posting more content.  His rationale was that Google loves new and relevant.  And it turns out that I have a treasure trove of relevant content currently hiding behind firewalls.  It's time to dig up and open the chest!

 

The source of this content is the book I wrote and published last December on Kindle, How To Teach Like A Pro.

The strategy to help improve ranking is to share the content of the book directly on multiple online platforms.  I've got three:

1. My YouTube Channel
2. How To Teach Like A Pro website
3. Blog on Chris Morales website 

Starting next week I'll be posting a video on my YouTube Channel with content from How To Teach Like A Pro.  I'll continue until I've published and shared the entire contents of the book.  So if you've ever wanted to learn the ins-and-outs of teaching at a Community College, make sure to tune in!

 

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 6 Update

When I started 6 weeks ago my reputation score was 350...'Poor'.  Now 6 weeks in it's up to 591 and showing 'Good'.  Yes I've fallen for the online reputation game but in the process I've cleaned up and focused my online profile to highlight more of the things I want to focus on.  

In first page rankings, 'Chris Morales' is now solidly on Page 1 above the fold.  Images are still now where they should be...this will be the focus moving forward.

 

For the next week the focus is on Images...getting them to show in Google searches.  The strategy is to upload more images and alt tag each one with my name, 'Chris Morales'.

Chris Morales

chris@chrismorales.ca

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 5 Update

As I rolled through week 4 I got some tips on how to further improve my Chris Morales Online Profile.  Thanks Mike!  He suggested I focus for the next few weeks on tagging my public/online photographs with alt tags, Chris Morales.  That will be the focus for the upcoming week.

 

Since last week, I've moved to Premium on both LinkedIn and BrandYourself.  I've experienced a positive lift in exposure on LinkedIn and seen my reputation move from 'Average' to 'Fair' on BrandYourself...both positive. For next week I'll continue curating my online reputation on BrandYourself with the goal of moving from 'Fair' to 'Good'

Chris Morales

chris@chrismorales.ca

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 4 Update

The dog days of summer...that's what it feels like this week.  Maybe it's time to take a vacation especially with the hot weather we get to enjoy this week in Toronto!

But wait...

Online results are improving.  'Chris Morales' now appears consistently in the top 3 page one search results!

 

The goals next week:

1. Update to Premium on LinkedIn for 1 month to improve the visits on that platform
2. Update to Premium on BrandYourself to clean up my Social Media profile and Online Reputation.

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 3 Update

I'm 3 weeks into this exercise to improve my online profile and must confess that this past week has been a drag!  Yes I completed the tasks I set for myself (Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 2 Update).  But because I didn't see any immediate results, I was bummed out!

 

Things turned around when I got an email prompt from BrandYourself (Chris Morales profile).  It suggested some updates and revisions to my LinkedIn profile and with 20 minutes to spare, I got at it.  A few days later when I searched again for 'Chris Morales', I got the above results:

1. My LinkedIn profile showed up for the first time in the #1 position
2. My biography on George Brown College ranked #2
3. No images showed up on this search

I'm very pleased with the progress to-date.  Since starting this exercise with a flurry of activity (about 2 hours work), I'm now spending only about 30 minutes each week to tweek my profiles, AboutMe, BrandYourself, YouTube and LinkedIn.  Next week, more of the same.

Chris Morales

 

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 2 Update

After 2 weeks I am pleased to note that one of my image is now showing at the top of the search results page! It's nice to get confirmation that I'm moving in the right direction...and I'm super pleased with how little time it takes to get results.

In my last update I had two tasks to get done:  Clean up my Twitter profile and work on YouTube.  I got Twitter cleaned up but ran into a challenge on YouTube:  I had two personal profiles and spent a large amount of my allotted time deleting one account.  In the process I did not get as far as I wanted with tidying up the remaining YouTube account.  That will be rectified this upcoming week with these set tasks:

1. Finish cleaning up my YouTube account
2. Update my About.me profile
3. Update my BrandYourself profile 

I'm still following the tips and suggestions in How to Improve your Personal Online Reputation.   So far the recommendations seem to be working.

Chris Morales

Chris Morales Online Profile - Week 1 Update

I'm week 1 into this 8 week program to improve my online reputation and Page 1 of Google search for my name, 'Chris Morales'.  See last week's post, 'Your Reputation Precedes You'. Here's where I am after 1 week:  

• Online Reputation still mostly 'Neutral'.  
• No Images showing
• Page 1 Search Results improving:  
• 3 results
• Website now showing above the fold

 Here's what I did over the past week:

• 'Cleaned up' my personal website, chrismorales.ca 
• Added a photo
• Added key words related to my business experience
• Created an about.me profile, morales.chris
• Edited my Google My Business profile
• Removed previous business acronym, 'MMG' and replaced with my name, 'Chris Morales'
• Added photograph

For the next week, week 2 I'll be working on the following two online profiles as recommended in the article, How to improve your personal reputation:

1. Clean up and update my YouTube Channels
2. My Twitter profile (alt tags and key words)

 Chris Morales

Your Reputation Precedes You

Back in the day people checked references.  Employers, prospective clients asked for 2 - 3 references to check background, reliability, character.  Fast forward: Now you are just a click away from giving up all the information about yourself that you've shared online:

• Online search results
• Social Media profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (to name the Big 4)
• Google Reviews (and every other 5 star online review site)

In my case, here's what comes up when I search my name, 'Chris Morales':

These search results are generally positive for my Employment position:

• Position #2, 7 and 8...all above the Fold
• LinkedIn is prioritized...this makes sense since I spend the bulk of my energy on curating my profile
• My Part-time Teaching position in at #8 is a surprise...I don't actively promote this...I think it is a function of the high traffic volume on the George Brown College website (and interest in the Continuing Education Courses)

There are no negative results.  My Online Reputation would appear to be 'Neutral'.  What are the things I could do to edge it toward 'Positive'?  A little research led me to this excellent blog post, How to improve your Personal Online Reputation.  Here are the top 4 tips:

1. Create online profiles and optimize them for SEO
2. Get your own personal website
3. Start blogging
4. Increase your click-trough rate by setting up the Google Authorship Markup

I already have a personal website and have been blogging for years.  What confuses the Search Engines though is that I have multiple online profiles.  Some that conflict with my name, 'Chris Morales' and thus reduce my profile and dilute the sentiment.

What I want is to have a positive online reputation and dominate the page 1 search results.  Over the next 8 weeks I'll be applying the tips above.  I'll be posting updates about the results and sharing my learning.

Onwrds to improved online reputation!

Chris Morales

The Anatomy of Online Reputation Management

'Boys behaving badly' are not the only people who have to worry about their online reputations.  Companies have an even greater risk online with their reputations because consumers make purchase decisions based on what others are saying.  78% of consumers trust peer recommendations when making decisions as noted in the Infographic below.  

 

A basic plan for managing your online reputation involves Listening, Responding, Publishing:

• Listening to the conversations that are already going on.  Wherever they are happening.  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter are the Big 3.  Google and other Review sites are also very important.
• Responding to comments, positive and negative.  More so for the negatives.  In a timely manner using plain language
• Publishing content about your company to generate positive awareness for your products or services.  Company history, new product updates, special offers are just a few of the topics for Blogs, Facebook and Twitter updates.  Sharing stories that help your customers should be your focus.

People want to know they can trust a company to deliver what they promised.  A positive online reputation goes a long way toward building that trust.

What are people saying about you?

On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, do you know what people are saying about you?  You should.  Your business success depends on your reputation and your customers are sharing their opinions...everywhere!

The Anatomy of Online Reputation Management

We love those '5 Star' Ratings.  Happy, happy customers relaying their positive experience with your event/store/purchase. Thank them.  Sincerely!

We hate the '1 Stars', especially the ones with no comments.  Often these customers are unconsolable with their experience with you.  Respond. But don't expect miracles.  

The mid-pack '3 Star' Reviews are Gold!  These are the experiences of real customers and can lead to the kind of insights that can improve your business.  Take the time, listen, respond...it's your reputation!

Chris M Morales
chris.morales@bell.net
@ChrisMoralesTO
647 393 3855

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Rookie Mistake

Rookie mistake! Yes, even with the years of experience on Social Media, it is possible to crash out. That happened today when I posted iGN!TE as a Current/New Job position on my LinkedIn profile. As it should, my LinkedIn profile lit up! Lots of congratulatory messages on the 'new job'.

I should have known better!

Let me clear up one thing first: No, I do not have a new job since the gig at Budds' ended a few weeks ago. As my LinkedIn Headline states, I am currently available for a full-time or contract position in digital and social media marketing. Yes, I'm actively looking!

What is iGN!TE? As us Marketing types are prone to do when we are 'between assignments, it's the face of my Small Business Freelance/Marketing Consulting. In the past I've referred to it as Morales Marketing Services and Outsourced Marketing. This time my creativity was alive and I came up with iGN!TE and set up a page on my blog, iGN!TE and the page on LinkedIn. My intention was to use LinkedIn to promote digital and social media marketing services. Because of the way I posted it, it triggered the 'New Job' Announcement. Rookie!

So now you know!

Thanks for the somewhat premature best wishes. I really appreciate them and will make sure to post the new gig properly when appropriate.

Chris M Morales

chris.morales@bell.net

@ChrisMoralesTO

647 393 3855

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Social Media Reputation Management for Auto Dealers

Social Media Reputation Management leverages word-of-mouth to 'get found'.  I'm a big believer in Social Media Marketing as an important component of a Digital Marketing Strategy.  In the highly competitive retail automotive space, Reputation is everything!

Dealeradar provides the most advanced Online Presence, Reputation Management & Social Media Marketing solution in the automotive industry. We deploy an intelligent digital engagement platform essential for auto dealers and OEMs that desire measurable increases in Google organic search relevancy, reputation engagement, review solicitation and the ability to communicate through all social channels with a single platform.

Dealeradar provides essential enterprise optics into all online presence, social and review activity for dealer groups rolled up into a single, user -friendly dashboard. This innovative platform also provides critical, real time insight into your competitor's share of voice in your market and competitive social footprint.

Dealeradar provides operational efficiency by monitoring every social media channel and online review site 24/7 providing actionable information along with 'in-market' leads to your dealership. Our revolutionary Social Marketing and Response Solution allows single point online Social Media and Review engagement all from the convenience of a single interface. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above is courtesy of Dealeradar, an innovative Social Media Reputation Management solution focused on Automotive Reputation Management.  

Chris M Morales

chris.morales@bell.net

@ChrisMoralesTO

647 393 3855

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Reputation Matters

Online your reputation matters.  It really matters! 

People have always chosen products based on what others have to say about their own experiences. Fact Check:  Modern Marketing did not invent Brand Opinions.  Brand Reputation lies in the hands of the consumer, your customer and is affected at every touchpoint they have with your business or brand.  Today via Social Media opinions can be shared more freely.  The task of online reputation management is more technical...blogs, Facebook, Twitter...and task more complex and inter-related. Staying on top of your reputation is your top-of-mind opportunity.

Chris M Morales

chris.morales@bell.net

@ChrisMoralesTO

647 393 3855

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization