Yesterday I offered a Make YOUR Business Memorable Memorial Day Giveaway Marathon DO IT NOW Session so that one fortunate small business could benefit from everything in my Small Business Internet Marketing Starter Package and then some.

The other benefit:

Their business will be featured in
multiple Case Studies and
receive links from other blogs
I publish on showing
before and after results.

I should have known a fellow blogger like Kelli would be the most enthusiastic when it came to what I offer because she is much further along in understanding how to promote yourself online.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve decided to do TWO giveaways because…

By working with Kelli to promote her new best deals blog (Follow her new Twitter account @Deals3BD) I can demonstrate to bloggers how they can collaborate with two to four bloggers in their niche and push ALL their blogs to the top. Some very interesting Case Studies and before and after stats will come from that project.

While I am excited about that too, my intention was to show small businesses how much getting their free advertising in Local Search Directories, having them featured in blog posts, and teaching them how to effectively grow and use Twitter can benefit them.

WANTED: At least one small business to feature in Case Studies!

I would love to write a compelling story here about why what I do works – but the problem is that every business owner is starting from a different level of experience. It is simply not possible to explain what I do and while I’m happy to teach them if the want to know – success does NOT require understanding 99% of what I can do for them.

Instead of me teaching them how…
…how about me just getting it done!

How much research and how many ebooks, courses, blog posts have we all seen? Have we implemented everything we’ve read? NO! Why? Either we don’t know how and really have no interest in learning how OR we don’t have the time. I have come to realize for many things I do not want someone to teach me how, or to take a course – no matter how good it is. I just want what is important DONE already.

And I want it done by the best – optimized and effective.
Yesterday – or at least TODAY – not next week, month or year.

So let’s get TUIT. If you’re a small business that wants to see results and is ready to get started immediately, leave a comment. Since I know news doesn’t spread as fast in small business circles there is no deadline. I’ll pick one business by next Monday, but if you have a great business and are enthusiastic about making this happen I might pick you too!  What do you have to lose?

This is a guest post by Ana Hoffman (@WebTrafficCafe) who teaches how to increase Web site traffic in her WebTrafficCafe blog.

CLICK HERE To Get to My 202 Bite-Size Tips to Increase Your Blog Traffic

You’ve probably heard it a hundred times, but apart from making money with your blog, there are several other reasons to strive for more traffic.

Some of the most important reasons include higher rankings on search engines, self-promotion and brand awareness.

After all, as long as your conversion funnel works like a well-oiled machine, as it should, you have a great chance of still converting a good portion of your blog traffic that didn’t come to your blog to buy – necessarily.

So let’s take a look at the following 10 blog traffic magnets that are meant to do one thing and one thing only: bring you tons of targeted traffic.

Traffic Magnet #1:  High volume, FREE searches

You will need: a keyword research tool

Method: Find searches related to your niche. These searches need to have good traffic, but not advertiser bidding.

If nobody is bidding on these keywords, there is no money to be made on the search upfront. However, there will still be sufficient traffic to be directed to your blog.

How do you tap into this kind of traffic?

There are 2 options: Using paid advertising such as Google Adwords is the quicker option; alternatively, you can use SEO to optimize your search terms to ensure that you are on the first page of Google. While this takes longer to achieve results this way, it is free.

Traffic Magnet #2:  Controversy Brings Visitors

You will need: A controversial blog post

Challenging beliefs or passions make controversial content.

Method: You need to have a plan in mind for how you will approach the post and how you will defend your position. The best places to create controversy would be via social media, blog comments and online groups. This will bring a good amount of traffic from various sources, but you should know that the bulk of the traffic would be from the group that opposes your views.

Warning: Be professional in handling objections, as this is a great way to win a good following.

Traffic Magnetic #3:  Cover Industry Events

You will need: A popular industry event in your niche.

Method: Attend the event, meet new people, socialize and rub shoulders with the big names. Be the insider for your readers by posting everything you learned in a timely manner to make your readers feel that they were there.

Traffic Magnet #4:  Create a Top 10 List

You will need: 10 great ideas with a common goal that will be beneficial to your audience.

Method: While this seems simple enough, you should bear in mind that many similar lists do exist. Make sure that your list stands out from the crowd. Think it through, ensure that it is targeted and ensure that it will benefit your readers. It has to work!

Traffic Magnet #5:  Explain Complicated Concepts

You will need: A good understanding of the topic, or a good publication, which explains it.

Method: Create a simplified version of the publication and include tips and examples. Simpler posts often outrank complex explanations on search engines.  That is the objective of the exercise – to make it simpler for the reader!

Traffic Magnet #6: Translator Plugin

You will need: Any translator plugin

Method: By using a translator plugin on your site, you will be able to increase page-views by readers who are not native English speakers.  While the translation will not be perfect (as with most automated writing applications), it will still attract an international readership.

Traffic Magnet #7:  Blog Carnival Submission

You will need: A good blog post and a niche-related carnival.

Method: Search online for blog carnivals and then find one related to your topic. The post will most likely be published, resulting in backlinks and increased blog traffic.

Traffic Magnet #8:  Social Bookmarking Sites

You will need: Fresh, unique, solid and targeted content using a great title and description.

Method: Submit your content to bookmarking and link sharing services. I would stay away from the big ones such as Del.icio.us, Digg and Technorati, StumbleUpon, and Reddit, but stick with smaller, but active services like Blokube, BlobEngage, Bizsugar, etc.

Traffic Magnet #9:  Top 10 Blogs in Your Niche

You will need: Research

Method: Be the first person to compile a Top Ten list of blogs in your niche. This type of post will rank highly in general searches, which will translate into a good stream of targeted traffic.

Traffic Magnet #10:  Giveaway!

You will need: Something to give away – duh.

Method: Find or create something niche related to give away. E-books work well, as do free consultations, marketing opportunities and more.

Marketing Takeaway

Your next step? To take what you’ve just learned and put it to the test!

Plus, remember: any traffic is useless traffic if you don’t know how to convert it to paying customers / subscribers. So make sure your conversion pieces are all in place before you go out and invest your time in this kind of blog traffic generation.

Love it or hate it? Comment to show me that you’re alive!

GAIL @GrowMap suggestion: Be sure to follow Ana @WebTrafficCafe on Twitter and check out her blog!

First of all I’d like to thank Gail for the opportunity to write for her blog. February has been THE month of guest-blogging firsts for me: first guest post published on my own blog and – this – very first blog post written for a blog I have enjoyed reading for a while now.

Click this image for more CommentLuv Info

I am always on the lookout for easy ways to drive more targeted traffic to my blog and CommentLuv offers so many benefits that it just can not be ignored. If you haven’t heard of CommentLuv yet, I would suggest you to read Gail’s post on How CommentLuv Grows Businesses and Blogs.

What if there was an optimum way to use CommentLuv to get even more clicks from the comments I leave AND higher search engine rankings? Well, let me share 5 steps that I believe will result in just that: more traffic to your blog from both comments left and search engines.

Step 1: Register with comluv.com

Sounds obvious right? Registering your blog with comluv.com will allow you to have access to 10 links to “drop” in your comments instead of just one when you are not registered.

commentLuv quiver when not registered

commentluv quiver when registerd

Not only that, but for just $4/link/year, you can choose to create permanent links (links that will always appear in addition to your last 10 blog posts) to “pillar articles” or posts targeting popular keywords you wish to rank for – Andy at CommentLuv calls these default links.

Benefits for user traffic and search engine rankings: a greater “pool” of links to choose from that gives you more time to promote individual blog posts.

Step 2: Choose the link that is the most relevant

Having now access to 10 links or more (if you bought additional URLs), your regular visits to the blogs in your feed reader should entice you to always select the link that is the most relevant to the post you are commenting on. By “most relevant” I mean the post on your blog that discusses a similar subject to the one where you are leaving your comment.

Benefit for user traffic: people will be drawn to your keyword rich anchor (more clicks) because you are linking to a post that discusses the same topic that the one they just read.

Benefit for search engine rankings: search engines will give more weight to your link because the “context” of the link will be optimal (the page you get the link from being optimised for your own keywords).

Step 3: Hunting down blog posts

If you are like me, you’ll only have between 100 and 150 blogs in your feed reader, but not all of them use CommentLuv. I believe that the actual number of CommentLuv enabled blogs is in the thousands, so you can see the potential traffic and number of links you could be missing out on. Simply head to your favourite search engine and type:

"'s last blog" intitle:"your_keywords"

with the speech marks, and you should find dozens, if not hundreds of new pages to acquire links from (no spamming though!). Once that’s done, you could do a -intitle to find other posts that could be suitable, but do not include your keywords in the title.

[TIP from Gail: You can also se the CommentLuv search engine to search for your interests and keywords.]

Benefits for user traffic: more potential visitors coming from more sources, plus the above benefits discussed in step 2.

Want proof this works? See Gail’s older post
Blog Traffic Up 54.87% in 30 Days – which went on to an increase of 76.63%

Benefits for search engine rankings: not only will you have the same SEO benefits than in step 2 (above) but your “blog links” graph will appear more natural because spreading over many more domains.

Step 4: Cycle through your links

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to find a link in your CommentLuv quiver that is relevant to the post you are commenting on. If that is the case, take the habit of cycling through the links that are available and select a different one for every comment you leave… even if they are on the same blog and especially if they are on the same blog post!

Benefit for user traffic: people who leave comments will be interested in different things, so while your post on PageRank might not interest them, another post on Twitter might (for example).

Benefits for search engine rankings: you gain more deep links to all your blog posts for a better chance of ranking for more competitive keywords. In addition, search engines might only count the first occurrence of a link on a page and discard any later ones. Repeating the same link (with identical anchor) more than once on a page won’t offer any SEO advantage.

Step 5: Slow down new blog post publications

This one will probably get some bashing from full-time bloggers, especially the ones who publish daily, but if you think about it, the more frequently you post, the less time you can rely on CommentLuv to gain links to your blog posts.

One post per day means that you only have 10 days to get links, while posting 3 times a week (still a high frequency, by all accounts) gives you almost a month’s worth of CommentLuv link building time.

Conclusion

CommentLuv is not only a great plugin to get people interested in what was recently published on your blog, but it will also help obtain keyword rich deep links that help your blog rank higher for its target keywords. By following these 5 easy steps you should see your website traffic soar to new heights and remember: always include your keywords in the blog post title for even better anchor text.

Click here to find out How CommentLuv Works

Bloggers and businesses alike may not realize how very important CommentLuv can be to them. By joining the CommentLuv community you can connect with many others interested in the same things you are.

The CommentLuv featured posts you see in blogs that have CommentLuv installed make it easy to see which other commentators (people leaving comments) write about what you are interested in. Clicking on those comments connects you instantly with them.

There are already niches forming within the more than 20,000+ 30,000+ 35,137+ (on Oct 7, 2010) – 38,550+ registered users of CommentLuv (as of March 17, 2011) 41,888 (as of May 15, 2011) and the CommentLuv commuity is growing rapidly.

Whether you have a blog or not it is important that you seek out bloggers who write about subjects near and dear to your heart which for business owners means those related to the products and services you have to offer.

BLOGGERS: Welcome business owners as readers and commentators.
Invite them to share their expertise as guest bloggers.
Their experience and knowledge makes your blog even better!
Remember that they have interests beyond what they do
and interesting things to say on other subjects.

Be tolerant of those new to commenting and Social Networking and guide them in what is appropriate behavior. I am certain we have all made mistakes when we first got online. Never assume they realize what they are doing until we first explain what is expected.

BUSINESSES:  Do not spam blogs.
Do not hire SEO companies to spam blogs.
Do not turn your comments into advertisements.
DO contribute to the discussion and share what you know.

FOCUS on blogs in your niche
whose readers would be interested in what you offer.
For example, if you sell pole chain saws, do most of your commenting
in home improvement and construction related blogs.

Let CommentLuv default links guide the blog owners and readers who are interested in what you offer to your site. Use the information about default links to register your business and select anchor text that creates beneficial backlinks without detracting from the blog where they appear.

I wrote the information below in reply to a question that Mike Criss, owner of the online printing company PrintingBlue posed in my post about KeywordLuv.

I was prompted to write this post to share what I told him with all my readers including those who rarely read the comments. I highly recommend you read comments here because I share as much in them as I post!

I will also answer any questions you leave or you can use my contact form to reach me via email. I would be happy to answer any specific questions you have.

To benefit from using CommentLuv and KeywordLuv you do not have
to have them installed but I DO recommend installing at least CommentLuv.

I strongly encourage all bloggers to install at least CommentLuv and all bloggers and business owners to register to use CommentLuv.

Not long I ago I would have encouraged all bloggers to install both but there is breaking news about new features in CommentLuv that I’ll include in this reply that may make KeywordLuv unnecessary.

My KeywordLuv post explains how you as a business owner can use blogs that have KeywordLuv installed to create dofollow backlinks that will allow your site to be found in the search engines. Now you can get the same benefits by being a valuable contributor in CommentLuv blogs.

Here are some additional resources that will help you do that best:

1. First you need to know what keyword phrases are important to you. I explain how to do that in my post about using anchor text links to build traffic and get found in the search engines.
2. When you create content you need to consistently use those keyword phrases. I explain where and how to use them in my post about selecting keywords first and then writing copy.
3. Since this post was written CommentLuv has added new features that allow bloggers and businesses to register default links that automatically create anchor text without having keywords in the name field (which many don’t really like). Read how to use CommentLuv default links for anchor text.
4. If you’re not familiar with CommentLuv also read How CommentLuv works.
5. For those who are concerned about PageRank see CommentLuv Does Not Seem to Leak Link Juice.

I strongly recommend all businesses and bloggers who want to survive the economic downturn that is NOT going to recover and IS going to get worse learn why it is inevitable that the economy is going to continue to slide (both in the U.S. and globally).

The solution is to support small businesses – both the ones online and in their local communities.

There is more about why supporting the marketing efforts of small and online businesses is critical in my post about Word of Mouth. Find out what is causing worldwide economic collapse and how you can best avoid being a victim of it by reading these last two links.

Who do you know that could use this information? Make a difference today by emailing them the link to this post. Write it down and hand it to them. If you’re ambitious print it out and give it to the businesses you use. Use the TwitThis button and add @usernames to make sure others see your Tweet.

HOW TO USE COMMENTLUV:

• NEW from Kikolani: How to Build Links to HubPages Using CommentLuv

Related articles

• Why I Recommend BloggerLuv, CommentLuv, SBC (growmap.com)
• How KeywordLuv Promotes Your Blog (ariwriter.com)
• BloggerLuv, CommentLuv and Secret Blog Club (bloggerluv.com)
• Join Bloggers Supporting Bloggers NOW (growmap.com)
• NEW from the developer of CommentLuv: GrowMap Anti-SpamBot Plugin for WordPress = ZERO automated spam!

Do not assume that spending money is required to promote your business. While it certainly is ONE way it is not the ONLY way. Given the current challenges and the recent Merchant Circle Small Business Economic Stimulus Survey showing 73.1% of respondent businesses are experiencing moderate to severe declines in revenue, we offer here methods to increase your sales that require spending no money (unless you wish to hire someone to implement them).

We will start with ways that are fast-acting and short-lived and move on to those that provide benefits that last grow your business indefinitely. Use the fast methods to bring in cash when necessary and then focus on those that generate long-term benefits from one-time investments of your time.

ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS:

List your business on local classified-type sites that allow you to announce events and/or advertise your business. There are so many free online classified sites that determining which are worth using is a major challenge.

Avoid those that have few ads, only old ads, or contain get-rich-quick schemes or “bad neighborhoods“. Look for sites that are popular with those in your target area and/or market. When you find them be sure to keep the links and make notes on how well they worked for you.

Ideally you will even want to have Web Analytics installed on your site so you can see whether your ads are bringing visitors who become buyers to your site so you can focus your time and efforts on what produces  results.

[TIP: You may also want to consider buying inexpensive ads in one issue of your local free printed classifieds because they can be searched for online by anyone anywhere.]

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CRAIGSLIST:

The most well known classified site is Craigslist. You can advertise business services for free. Ads stay online for 45 days in most cities but in some they expire in 7-30 days so check the Craigslist FAQ to see how long YOURS will be live.

You can repost ads as soon as they expire. If this works for you get a calendar or use your organizer to remind you to keep them live.

[TIP: Log in to place new ads so you will be able to manage them in your Craigslist account.]

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TWITTER:

If you have sufficient followers (OR your Tweets are Retweeted by someone who does) you can use Twitter to increase visibility for your business or recommend someone else’s.  If you create an account at TweetBurner you can track interest in what you share at Twitter by using the Twurl bookmarklet.

[TIP: You can log into one TweetBurner account and send and track Twurls from multiple Twitter accounts.]

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LOCAL LISTING DIRECTORIES:

Every business – even those that operate entirely online and are NOT local businesses – will benefit from creating the most comprehensive local listings in every decent Local Listing Directory available. This is so important that we feature the link to our Local Listings REALLY Simplified page at the very top in the right sidebar.  I encourage you to click that link and go read that page.

We have also created:

• Local Listings Data Form – You can copy and paste or print out that allows you to collect all the information in one place that you will use to list your business
• Links to Verify Your Local Listings – Use these to find out if your business is already listed, review and edit existing listings and verify that new submissions are live and accurate.
• Direct links to the Local Listing Submission pages – So you can list your business yourself.

We’re going to be honest with you. Submitting your business to Local Listing Directories can be very time-consuming and it is NOT much fun; however, it is very important because:

• 67% of people surveyed in Nielsen Consumer Survey prefer using these online directories to using the printed yellow pages!
• Many of these directories have very high Google PageRank (most are PR 7) so they are more beneficial than almost any incoming link your business can easily obtain. Other search engines use similar factors in their rankings.
• Several of the directories provide online reviews and good reviews generate much more business!
• Several of the directories allow you to offer coupons which can be used to motivate potential customers to shop with you.

Some of the major directories are buggy and others time-out while you’re filling out the forms so do use the form we are offering and copy and paste your work before you click submit – especially if you get interrupted while creating your listings. More Tips:

• DO brainstorm all your major keyword phrases and work them into your listings (how much you can fit in where varies between directories because the fields and field lengths vary).
• DO make each listing unique to maximize results
• Do NOT simply copy and paste the same text into each directory.

If you decide to do it yourself and get stuck feel free to contact us at Twitter or leave a comment in this post. We would be glad to offer free advice and answer your questions.

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INTERNET ADVERTISING SURVEY:

• Merchant Circle Member Survey on Effectiveness of Specific Forms of Advertising found that Merchants Prefer Internet Advertising.

[NOTE: These tend to be very small businesses and the results show what they believe to be most effective. While some may have measured the results others are relying on their own perceptions of what works best for them. ]

CRAIGSLIST RESOURCES:

• Craigslist for Beginners
• Advertising on Craigslist
• 24 Craigslist Tips, Tricks and Resources – good general post on using Craiglist
• The Disadvantages of Using Craigslist to Make Money – Good analysis of the pros and cons; Why Craigslist is not very useful for selling products unless sales are limited to one geographic area.

LOCAL SEARCH / SEO RESOURCES:

• Local SEO Resource Guide – EXCELLENT
• Local SEO for Local, Niche, and Small Businesses – Covers keywords, tags, and copywriting
• The Definitive List of Local Search Directories – Very comprehensive
• Local Listings REALLY Simplified – Easy explanation plus Our Special Limited Time Offer for Businesses

UPDATE: 9/19/09 ProBlogger Guest post I Came, I Saw, I Commented: Was It Worth It by Josh Hanagarne – The World’s Strongest Librarian – provides this additional confirmation that commenting does indeed work. He gives these stats:

The numbers after commenting:

• A 100% increase on RSS subscribers (160-320)
• Over 40 newsletter subscriptions
• A second traffic spike due to people returning to answer my comment on their own blogs

Note that HIS strategy was commenting on the blogs of those who commented on his previous ProBlogger guest post. Imagine what could happen if he had used the additional strategy explained below. Maybe he’ll read this, try it out, and let us know what additional growth his blog sees from it.

Want proof this strategy works for others too? Check out these two Tweets I received today (Mar 23, 2009):

PaulHassing@GrowMap Thank YOU! Yesterday my site traffic was double what it was last Monday. All I did differently was follow your advice. Great stuff!

PaulHassing@GrowMap It’s nice (& rare) to see an approach which is ethical & practical having an effect. For once, good guys don’t finish last!

Here is the step-by-step method responsible for the increase in traffic here:

1. Visit your favorite blog, preferably a dofollow CommentLuv blog.
2. Leave a high quality comment.
3. If the blog uses CommentLuv select the most relevant post to share or a post you wish to promote.
4. In a CommentLuv blog you can leave two links in a comment by changing the primary link JUST BEFORE you click submit. When you’re ready to send the comment paste the other link into the box and immediately send the comment BEFORE the CommentLuv system loses your selected post.
5. AFTER you’ve left your comment share the post at Twitter, FriendFeed, cliKball, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us or on any other favorite Social Networking site or reader.
6. When sharing use an excerpt, image and title illustrating what YOU feel is the most pertinent information in the post. This will increase the number of new visitors the post will receive – and the number of readers who may read your comment or be interested in your featured post.
7. I often also share the best comment(s) or additional thoughts at cliKball and FriendFeed.

We all have limited time and the same number of hours in any day so maximizing the return on how we spend that time is critical to our success. If you already have quality content on your blog and a recent post worth sharing it is time to focus on getting quality backlinks from commenting to greatly increase your traffic.

NEW: If you don’t fully understand how CommentLuv works or haven’t registered your blog take the time to read this excellent post with screen shots on How CommentLuv works and the benefits of registering your site.

Combine our strategy above with the one from that last link to Peter Lee’s Work from Home blog and your time is guaranteed to generate incoming links, better search engine placement, higher visibility and more traffic to your blog.

For a more advanced strategy read How I Doubled the Pageviews of my Blog in Two Week – That post opens in a new window to make sure that BEFORE you do that you START immediately increasing your own traffic here:

The best way to learn something is to do enough of it that you will remember how and it will become a habit. The great thing about this strategy is that you can easily get started RIGHT NOW:

1. Just leave a comment in this post; the early commentators get the most exposure so go ahead and leave it now. It won’t take that long since you’re already here.
2. Be sure to include a link to your blog post. Make it your most recent post, the most related post, one you want to promote most OR one that your readers like best.
3. If you have a Twitter account here is an easy way:  Just click this Tweet This!
   
4. Then share it in your other Social Networking accounts and share it in your reader. The more you share the more it benefits you and everyone else.
5. BONUS VISITORS: If you want even more traffic publish your results and link to this post. We’ll find your new post, leave our own comments, and share it at Twitter, FriendFeed and cliKball.

BLOG COMMENTING:

• NEW: Internet Marketing Blog of Vance Sova – Increase Blog Traffic Using Blog Comments
• NEW: Social Media Training blog Velvet Connect – (Keith Jenkins) – Boost Your Reader Base by Commenting
• WordPress How To Spotter (TheSpotter) 3 Reasons Why Blog Commenting is Important
• FMS SEO Company – (Follow Karl)(Follow Kelly) – Blog Commenting for Traffic Generation
• ExtremeJohn - (Twitter) – 16 Reasons Commenting on Your Blog Sucks
• OES tsetnoc – (Twitter) – Blog Commenting – High PageRank

DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv Blogs With Comments Moderated by GrowMap

I approve more comments to support small businesses, good causes and bloggers than most bloggers so being active in our blogs is to your benefit. They are all 100% dofollow from the first comment and have both CommentLuv and KeywordLuv installed:

• GrowMap (This blog) – Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Blogging, Supporting Small Businesses, Local Search. See Best of GrowMap.
• GoodMillwork – Wood Products Manufacturer of architectural moldings including crown moldings, door and window trim, baseboard, chair rail, wood siding, exterior shutters. They can match any existing woodwork of any age for historical restorations, sell rare woods including cypress and genuine mahogany and mill mahogany moldings and ecofriendly TimberSIL.
• ExecGiftsBlog Personalized Gifts ~ Gift Affiliate Program ~ Wedding Store
• NoBogies Golf Store and Blog
• GrokHorses Horse Information Blog
• PSPLiving Living Healthier

What blog or online business couldn’t use more visitors? There are so many little ways to plant seeds of growth that no list can be comprehensive, so we’ll just start with some off the top of our head and count on our readers to add their best ideas. Feel free to leave links to related articles and posts in the do follow comments.

As you visit other bloggers be sure to share the best posts you find at your favorite Social Networking site. I favor the FriendFeed bookmarklet. The better your shared items the more people will want to read what YOU write. Take a little extra time and make your FriendFeed posts more valuable to readers.

Here are Five easy to use tools to make the results of your time online more fruitful:

1. Go to FFHolic to find the Most Discussed, Most Liked, Most Commented, Most Popular and Most Active discussions at FriendFeed. Select those that are related to your areas of interest and get involved in the discussion. Others reading your comments are likely to subscribe to you, read your feeds, check out your blogs – maybe even write about you or link to you. ACTIVE participants get shared!
2. Go to Twellow and find others with the same interests as you. If you want to see all the bloggers you can find it under Media. The more powerful blogger Twitter users you follow the more you’ll learn – and the more who will follow you. Visit their blogs and leave pertinent comments. (If that is sounding repetitive it is because it is VERY IMPORTANT.)
3. Use Twitterholic to visit the Top 100 Twitterers. There is a reason they’re top Twitter users, so even if you aren’t interested in their topics DO pay attention to what they’re doing to get ideas on how YOU can be more successful.
4. Set up Twilerts for the subjects you are interested in to get an email once a day with related tweets. Remember to add any names or users you use so you can see when someone is interested in you so you can follow them. If they recommended you be sure to thank them.
5. Use Zuula Blog Search to find the most recent AND relevant blog posts on any topic you’re interested in. Blog an answer and link them in and drop by their blog and comment. Wouldn’t you like the reader of the posts you most enjoy to be your readers too? With blog commenting and linking they can.

Have your own favorite way to grow your online networks? We would LOVE to hear from you. Drop your ideas including YOUR links and links to resources you use and recommend in the comments.

What do you do when your vehicle needs repair and you aren’t near your mechanic? Or you don’t have a mechanic? Who can you trust not to overcharge? How do you know if a business is trustworthy and competent? Would you feel better with a personal recommendation?

That is what online reviews are: personal recommendations by people just like you or me. The more reviews you can read, the better feel you can get for who to hire, where to shop, and what to do – especially in an emergency or when traveling in unfamiliar areas. Here’s how you can do that anywhere, any time…

A friend of mine’s pickup broke down just as she pulled into the parking garage at work. Lucky for her she was having difficulty finding a tow truck that could move it. Her plan was to tow it back to her mechanic – a tow that would have cost her at least $150 on top of what the repair would cost!

She was afraid that a mechanic she did not know might take advantage of her. I happened to call while she was still calling tow services. I immediately suggested we use Local Listings to locate a trustworthy mobile mechanic.

Any time you need to find a new business – whether that is a restaurant, Bed & Breakfast, auto parts store, drugstore, or – in this case, a mechanic – remember this simple method.

1. Go to your favorite Local Listing site – I used Yahoo! Local because it currently usually has the most reviews
2. Type in the type of business you’re seeking – in this case I used “Mobile Mechanic”
3. Type in the location of the desired business – she was in Dallas, many miles from her home
4. When the results come up click on the link for Sorted by: highest rated
5. Today, Simon’s Auto Repair has the top spot for Mobile Mechanics in Dallas – even though he is actually over 23 miles away from downtown Dallas. (Yahoo! Local allows the user to reduce or increase the distance from which they want to pull results.)

Here is a screen capture for my Yahoo! Local search for my Mobile Mechanics in Dallas, TX sorted by highest rated:

See the red stars? Anyone with a free Yahoo ID can choose the number of stars and/or add a review.  Notice that for some searches, only three good reviews can place your business on top for highest rated.  Every good business can benefit from making sure they are listed on Local Listing Web sites such as Yahoo! Local and Google Maps.

According to a Nielsen Survey over 86% of people use the Internet now! Every business should assist the public by ensuring they are listed in the major Local Listing sites and databases. [See the links at Special Offer to List Local Businesses for more information on doing it yourself or having it done for you.]

Fortunately for my friend, several people had taken the time to post detailed reviews for Simon’s Auto Repair.  His listing came up first, the reviews were detailed and obviously from actual customers, and after speaking with Simon on the phone I knew I had found a very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful mechanic I could confidently recommend to my friend.

He got her truck fixed in less than an hour for less than her own mechanic would have charged. He also gave her an amazing one year parts and labor warranty on the alternator replacement – something almost unheard of for electrical parts like alternators.

She was thrilled to save at least $150 on a tow, avoid the hassle of getting a ride home and back to work the next day and was able to drive her own truck home when she got off work. Everyone she worked with wanted his card. Not only can a mobile mechanic help you in an emergency – they can do routine maintenance, oil changes, tune-ups and repairs while you’re home or at work.

If you haven’t used Yahoo! Local I highly recommend it. I use it all the time to quickly look up the phone number, address, hours, and much more on businesses I already patronize. Even better, I can easily find new businesses I can trust including:

• Restaurants – especially one-of-a-kind types – with great food and reasonable prices
• Bed & Breakfasts when traveling (why stay in a hotel when you can have a private bed and bath in a B&B for less?)
• Auto Parts stores – Ever need some oil or windshield wipers while traveling?
• Hardware stores – Did you know small town hardware stores carry those hard-to-find items and often at really low prices (because their stock doesn’t get replaced as quickly as the big chain stores). Isn’t it annoying that stores that sell hardware frequently do not stock the bulbs, blades, or other replacement items. You’d be amazed at how much can fit into those small hardware stores – and how much easier it is to get assistance from someone who actually knows their stock and how to use it.

The very best type of advertising is a word-of-mouth recommendation; however, they’re not consistently available. Someone can only recommend you to friends they know who ask them or let them know what they’re seeking.

Reviews are a much faster way to grow a business because they are personal recommendations available to everyone online at the exact time they are actively searching for you.

USER GENERATED REVIEW CONTENT:

• BazaarVoice Word of Mouth Marketing Company:  Review CaseStudies on how reviews increase conversions, sales and leads
• UK Reviewer Intent Survey Summary: Understanding Why UK Customers Write Reviews
• User Generated Content Research Brief: Retailer’s Perceptions of the Importance of User Generated Content

WORD OF MOUTH STATISTICS:

• BazaarVoice Power of Word of Mouth

Social Media Marketing White Papers and Research:

• CMOs Plan for Higher Social Media Measurability in 2010
• Get Them Talking: How Growing Participation Chains Will Grow Sales
• Maximize User Generated Content (UGC) For Search Results Across the Sales Funnel

Each Local Listing site requests similar but slightly different information. The following form is a compilation of all of the data required when listing your business or Web site on the Local Listing sites listed.  You can use this form to gather your own information. Feel free to print this out and share it with others. 

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Fill out the information below as completely as possible. Additional information can be provided on a separate piece of paper. Skip anything you don’t understand or do not have immediately available and we will contact you to obtain it later.

FIRST NAME: _______________________ LAST NAME: ________________________________

STREET ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________________

CITY: __________________________ STATE: ______ ZIP: _____________

COUNTY: ______________________________

Cross streets on either side of your business: _____________________ and _____________________

Right or left side of the street (used to accurately map your location): ____________________

Primary phone number (the one customers use): Area code: ______ Number: __________________

Toll free number (if any): ______________

Additional phone numbers – specify what they are (Cell? Office? Other?): ______________________

Fax number: _______________________

Domain name (current or desired, if none one can be provided): ______________________________

email address (to be displayed online): __________________________________________________

Contact name: FIRST: ______________________ LAST: _________________________________

Additional email addresses (if any): _____________________________________________________

Do you want to display what hours you are open? YES / NO If yes, indicate hours for all seven days of the week and circle any of these that apply: By appointment only, call to schedule, Saturday and Sunday appointment only, Closed Sundays, No Sunday Sales. Write in any other phrase (allowed on some sites but not all). MON: __________ TUES: ________ WED: ________ THUR: ________ FRI: ________

SAT: ________ SUN: ________ Other phrase, if any: ______________________________________

Payment methods accepted: (Circle those that apply; cross out any that do not): Cash, Check, Visa, Master Card, Debit Card, American Express, Discover, Diner’s Club, Cashier’s Check, Money Order, Invoice, Financing, Google Checkout, PayPal, on site ATM, other.

Year established or in business since (what year): ________________

Public transportation available in your area (if any): ______________________________________

Languages spoken: __________________________________________________________________

PRODUCTS / SERVICES OFFERED (use additional pages as needed): ______________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

BRAND NAMES SOLD: ____________________________________________________________ PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (Use additional separate paper if necessary):

Affiliations: __________________________________________________________________
Certifications: ________________________________________________________________
Licenses: ____________________________________________________________________
Contractor’s License Number: ____________________________________________________
Other: _______________________________________________________________________

SPECIAL OFFERS: (Some Local Directories allow you to offer free coupons and this may be included in the text in others): _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

CATEGORIES: ___________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT: Proper category selection is critical to your success. It can be simple for some businesses (such as florists) and extremely complex for others (any horse related business or those who sell many products). If your business does not easily fall into one or two obvious categories allow us to assist you with this. Do make suggestions and ensure we have complete information on all the products/services you offer. Use additional pages as needed.

KEYWORDS: _____________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT: Keyword selection is even more critical than category selection. If you do not have tools to do keyword research, allow us to research this for you. Do offer suggestions.

Multiple Business Descriptions of various lengths are needed. Assistance in creating these is included. On a separate piece of paper provide as much information about what your business does as possible. Ideally this will include your slogan and USP (Unique Selling Proposition – something that sets you apart from others in your industry). These are both very important. If you have not already developed them and added them to your Web site header assistance will be provided.

NOTE: The ideal wording of your descriptions requires skills at keyword research, copywriting, understanding the difference between benefits and features, knowing what a call to action is, being aware of search engines’ duplicate content policies and many other advanced skills. If someone else is assisting you ensure they have this expertise.

Best results are obtained when you take advantage of our expertise AND provide abundant input.

No one knows your business better than you. The words in your descriptions determine whether your listing appears for any given search AND whether the reader clicks through to your site! Give this step the importance it deserves.

OTHER INFORMATION REQUIRED: Google requires that submitting or editing listings be verified by phone (almost instantly) or postcard (not recommended). The phone verification computerized process calls the phone number in your Google listing and there is no provision to use any other phone number. Someone has to sign into your Google account and request a verification pin at the same time that specific phone can be answered.

QUESTIONS? Call (469) 735-2108 if you have any questions while completing this information. Assistance will be provided in writing descriptions and selecting categories and keywords.

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On request we can email a copy in Word or Open Office format. The document fits on two pages. We print them on front and back to make one two-sided document. If anyone knows how to place a downloadable version within this blog we can make them available in that format.

If you wish to publish this information online please include a link back to this page. Feel free to make and distribute print copies to anyone interested. If you wish to provide this service for others, permission is expressly granted for you to edit the Word or Open Office document. Be sure to use your own phone number and email address.

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TIPS FOR NEW COMPUTER USERS:

How to copy and paste the above information into an email:

1. First you must highlight the area you wish to copy. Do this by pointing at the beginning of the area, then holding down the left mouse button and dragging all the way to the bottom of the area you wish to copy. When you do this the area will be highlighted (similar to using a highlighting pen offline).
2. Next point at the word “Edit” at the top of your computer screen and left click once
3. Point at the word “Copy” that appears under Edit and left click on it once
4. Switch to your email program
5. Open a new email, usually by clicking on “compose”
6. Put your cursor inside the new email where you want the copied information to appear
7. Point again at the word “Edit” and left click once
8. Point at the word “Paste” and left click once
9. The information you “copied” from the page above should appear in the email.
10. Now you can fill in the information directly in the email and send it.

How to print this page:

1. Click on Print Screen OR if you prefer or that doesn’t work
2. Point at “File” and left click once
3. Point at “Print” and left click on it
4. A box will open showing your printer options
5. Click on “Print” in the printer prompt box

If you need assistance with the above call (469) 735-2108

You don’t have to operate what Internet Marketers refer to as a “brick and mortar business” to benefit from local directory listings. Every business – whether it operates entirely online, has one or more physical stores, or serves a limited geographic area – would be well-advised to obtain as many incoming links from quality local listing directories as possible.

This is true even if none of your target audience buys from you locally! Here are seven excellent reasons to immediately start requesting listings – whether you sell locally or not:

1. They improve your search results position in major search engines such as Google
2. The keywords and categories used in your local listings will help your site appear for far more additional search keywords because they use keywords that do not currently even appear on your Web site
3. Varying the text used for each local listing allows your business to appear for even more searches – this is especially useful for businesses with services or products that have multiple generic names or are not widely known
   
4. Many local listing sites allow you to offer coupons to encourage new and repeat business
5. Some local listings allow you to easily post new photos – this is especially helpful to those businesses using template sites that rarely do well in traditional search engines due to duplicate content
6. Some sites allow you to interact with your potential clients online – you may wish to use one of these until you can upgrade your own site with these features
7. Reviews on local listing sites are worth their weight in gold

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Local Listing SEO Resource Guide – EXCELLENT
• 7 Strategies to Drive Local Traffic to Your Web site
• Link Building Basics
• Eric Ward is the most well respected Link Building Subject Matter Expert