Google has announced changes to their search algorithms so that more relevant and up to date results appear first.
Google uses 200+ methods to rank pages, and this recent announcement regarding fresh content has HUGE implications for webmasters and marketers.
Says Google: "We completed our Caffeine web indexing system last year, which allows us to crawl and index the web for fresh content quickly on an enormous scale. Building upon the momentum from Caffeine, today we’re making a significant improvement to our ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for these varying degrees of freshness." Google went on to add this, "Frequent updates are critically important. There are also searches for information that changes often, but isn't really a hot topic or a recurring event. For example, if you’re researching the a specific product, or you’re in the market for a new car and want reviews of a specific car, you probably want the most up to date information."
So here is what you need to understand from this announcement to improve your website ranking and ideally increase your sales.
1. If you don't have a blog, start one NOW.
2. Blog or post articles about recent events or hot topics that are trending to give yourself an advantage
3. Blog or post fresh new content to your site DAILY if you can, frequent updates is paramount.
4. Blog about topics or events with YOUR own key words embedded in the content.
5. Up-to-date review sites about products that have rich quality content with key words gives you an advantage in ranking.
Google is essentially telling you what their indexers and bots look for when ranking web pages. Listen to what they are telling you, take this information and start blogging, not once a month, but daily if you can. Make sure your blog is monetized to maximize your opportunities for profit and lead generation.
Want to keep on top of Google and the 200+ factors they consider for page ranking? Join the Google Webmasters' forum at Google.com/webmasters
To stay up to date on Google's methods for page ranking, go to their official blog at googleblog.blogspot.com
**** What do you think of these changes that Google is making to page ranking?
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. If you were a real boy, like my father and like me, you never saw a river you did not want to know better. But it had to be a river... a thing of shimmering possibilities, always moving, always beckoning, never the same, not even for an instant.
This thing called to you, and sleep was always difficult when you were near a river traversed by people from far away places, who went where they liked, when they liked and had real lives like you could only imagine. And you did imagine, early and late... until the chance arrived for you to do more than imagine... to have instead the chance to see for yourself. For that is what you always wanted... and now that you are grown... you want it still, don't you? For when the river has seized your brain (as every river aims to do)... the river owns you for life... and you can never see one, a proper river mind, that does not, siren-like and luring, call you to come see what you know so well you have missed for so long. For this article, I might have selected as incidental music Jerome Kern's iconic tune "Old Man River" from the 1929 film "Showboat." But that tune is too dark and challenging for my purpose... and while Paul Robson's rendition is brilliant, it forces you to dig deep and think about things you might not want to think about just then.... for dreaming is what you want to do on the river... a very different thing from cogitation and ponderation.
Instead, I chose a song of the late nineteenth century, "Polly Wolly Doodle", first published at Harvard, my own alma mater, right across the street from where I am writing now. It appeared in a Harvard student songbook in 1880. It's a bouncy tune (what else would Shirley Temple have sung in her 1935 film "The Littlest Rebel"?); the kind of organized nonsense a boy would sing with the unabashed glee of unburdened mind, thrilled as he was to be on the river and away from mom who made him wipe his feet and wash his hands before dinner. You didn't know what a "polly wolly doodle" was, but you knew you would like it... You'll find the words and lyrics in any search engine. Go ahead, sing it. It'll lift your spirits and put you in just the right mood... the river mood.
Any river, not merely some river, no matter how great.
This is a tale about rivers, all rivers, not just some river, no matter how renowned, celebrated, powerful and captivating. This may rile the spirit of "Old Man River," the Mississippi, the greatest river on earth, but, with bold temerity, I remind this river's spirit that it is so great because all the rivers of this great continent pay it the full tribute of their every drop. And so this, while always being homage to you, is also tribute to all who share your sinuous attributes...
River folks
The Marshalls and all their branches, for all they were kin to statesmen as great and as different as Chief Justice Marshall of undying Supreme Court fame and a much later General of the Army and saviour of Europe George C. Marshall, had the itch to go West. And so, in due course, they came to see the great Mississippi flow from the vantage point of Stronghurst, Illinois, a piddling river town which even today can call hardly a thousand souls its own. But because of the river, which could take them anywhere, they put down deep roots in a town from nowhere. And that river, its people and its cultures, bit deep.
My grandfather Harvey Lant, who died when I was young, must have felt that bite for he took his only son over ta' Burlington, 'cross the river, ta' where the great river queens held raucous court. It was because such royalty (especially the cassino boats and the showboats) were gaudy, meretricious, of salacious intent and always deep in the ways of river trickery and hoodwinkery that the real ladies, the God-fearing, church-social ladies, the stalwarts of our lives, never went with their menfolk when they had determined, as my ordinarily mild grandfather now had, to see the great river and its ways close at hand. The queens and the ladies did not know each other.
Grampa had invited his nephew Richard, my father's cousin, to be a part of this strictly male, and as it happened unique event. The boy was anxious to go, would go, but as my father recalls, the youthful disdain and contempt abiding after 7 decades and more, he was "mollycoddled" by his stern mama Grace.... a woman of iron habits and high degrees of strictness, strictures, scriptures who made sure he would not go. My father, just 8 himself, recalls to this day the rue in that little pinched face as Richard was left behind and they set off.... Years later, when he was a wealthy man, this cousin confessed he remained deeply regretful, for the river had eaten in to him, too, at least a bit. Still... "Had he really wanted to go..." But with the mollycoddled, you could never tell....
And so this became because of one woman's worrying nature, a once-in-a-lifetime journey where one discovers along the way one's father... his values... and, the most important thing of all, his love for you...
Burlington, Iowa, now boarding for all the destinations on earth.
Even today when only the vestiges of Burlington's high-flying past remain, it is still possible to see this city as it wants to be seen... as a place of international demeanor and outlook, a place to connect anyone to anywhere he wants to go; not some hick town in the corn belt, but a grand destination, entirely familiar with gourmet foods (fresh local, too), the best wines of epoch vintages, high stepping musicales and painted ladies no better than they should be. This was possible because of the river and only because of the river. And grandfather thought my father should see it.. and I admire him the more for the thought, for perhaps he left behind a smoldering spouse, who would well and surely give him her unvarnished opinion later... in dinners a little overcooked... in favorite foods suddenly unavailable.. in linens changed less frequently and sour towels left a day too long ... in dark glances and meaningful asides... all this and more primordial evidences of unmistakable distaff disapproval, unanswerable, yet deeply felt and always clearly understood.
But that was later...
Now, in the midst of Depression ravaged Illinois, with the land stalked by fears of every kind, they were en route to the Burlington Iowa bridge where you could see the river, broader here, and the fleet that would sail in your mind's eye for your whole life. And it was all happening in a place called Burlington, named after one of England's most stylish milords, a place that launched steamboats of beauty and renown.... and the railroad grandchildren Jeffrey and Kevin would take to the zoo in Hollywood, Illinois. But that was years from now, and unimagined.
What was the name of the ship? The odds were it would be queen of..., belle of..., then one of the grand river ports whose names resonate... St. Louis, Cincinnati, Natchez, New Orleans... he thought it might have been the Delta Queen, and I hope it was; though my research showed that she was in Stockton, California those years. That was the ship presidents selected for a little cruise... and always the pictures for Life magazine.. Truman, Carter and Hoover did it... but Hoover did it later when the nation hated him less for doing so little when so much was required.
One day down to Cairo, one day back up.
You can imagine the joy of this boy, the only son, so lucky so little touched -- yet -- by the economic maelstrom ... Here's a hunch why his father was so insistent about going now. Like millions of fathers across the land, Harvey followed the dismal news and in this year of grace 1932, there was more to fear than fear itself. And so he decided that his son should have this treat before his ability to bestow such a gift was submerged by events. And so there was a great urgency about the matter...
Thus, from the Texas deck of a great queen, threatened like everything but majestic now, lightly passengered, theirs to enjoy, they followed the route of Huck and Jim to Cairo (Kay-Row), which made locals chuckle when the out-of-towners said Ki-Row, llinois...
Huck missed the turn to the Ohio River... and thus sent them into the Deep South, living hell for Jim as a runaway slave. This day the captain did not err; I doubt they would have minded if he had, and so they went to Cairo, a place of dark beauty and diabolic secrets.. My father remembers nothing of that but recalls his father holding his hand as they moved along the swift Ohio... and the look in his eyes that day... a look he did not understand until he had an 8 year old of his own...
**** Your response to this article is requested. What do you think?
Let us know by posting your comments below.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. So, at last it came, after a thousand long years, then as swift as lightning... girl royals are now equals of boy royals, by parliamentary fiat and the Queen's own signature . And all the Founding Mothers of Women's Rights and Feminism are cock-a-hoop, equality in all occupations -- even the most august -- having always been their goal.
For such an epochal event, there must be music, bright, uplifting, girlish music, and so I have selected that curvaceous tune "I enjoy being a girl" from Rodger and Hammerstein's hit "Flower Drum Song" (1958). The only person who may be unhappy hearing it will be the first affected British prince... and he isn't even born yet.
Now thanks to the omniscient information services provided exclusively to only the best of commentators (ahem!), I am about to reveal to you the transcript of the critical interview between HM The Queen, HRH The Prince Charles The Prince of Wales; HRH The Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh, and Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Windsor Castle on a day not too long ago:
The Queen: "Well, what we've always expected has at last been proposed. The Prime Minister has advised and the Cabinet has approved that princesses should now be the equal of princes in all matters, including The Succession. I have called this meeting of The Firm to discuss our options."
Prince Charles: "Queen Victoria would not have been amused, ma'am."
The Queen: "Or Queen Mary either."
Duke of Cambridge: "But we must move with the times, dear grandmama."
And upon hearing this the Queen gave an audible sigh... speaking thus with weariness and resignation:
"Every one of my Prime Ministers, starting with my first, dear Winnie, has been so advising me for 60 years now... and where has it gotten the Windsors... or the nation?"
" 'Give up the Empire, Your Majesty,' they said, "And so, being only a young girl, though a sovereign queen, I did."
" 'Give up the right to veto legislation.' And, being a constitutional monarch I did, thereby affixing my signature while holding my nose to even the most daft and ludicrous ideas."
" 'Make such and such a one a baron...such and such a one an earl... and distribute knighthoods to all and sundry'; and I did this, too, giving honors to those completely without scruples, much less honor... and I felt queenship to be a deception... yet I did all this and more for the dwindling cause of royalty."
"Yes, I did all this, and much more."
"I was advised to give up the Royal car on the railroads... to give up the Royal yacht which made such a grand impression on politicians and especially their star-struck wives... then I gave up the Royal plane... and slashed the number of carriages... and the footmen and, and, and..."
And here Majesty took a moment to brace herself.
"And now I hear, dear Charles, that you wish to pull down Buckingham Palace and turn it into luxury flats. Can this, too, be true?"...
Prince Charles: "You have often called it a white elephant yourself, dear mama."
The Queen rises, and speaks not so much to the living princes before her but to her princely predecessors, the Plantagenets, the Stuarts, the Hanoverians, the latter day princes of Saxe-Coburg and, as last, her relatives of Windsor... and suddenly there is profound silence in this chamber hung with red brocade, gilded with gold, and graced by majesty.
"Have I kept faith with you, my ancestors... have I kept faith with you, England? Have I done what you wished... even when I thought better of it... have I stood before the nation at all times, in all seasons, in all situations, proud to be the queen of such a people and the worthy descendant of such princes as you were? Have I been a sovereign of nobility... of wisdom... of magnanimity... of grace... of cool reflection and of courage?"
And here she moved about the room, touching each picture with gentleness as if she were caressing a beloved relative, seen again with love, respect, and deep compassion.
There was no sound in the room... but each person in that room was touched to the very core of their being. For they were all, each of them, threads in the royal skein of England... and if they never knew it before, they truly knew it now.
Prince William, the white hope of the dynasty, graced with kindness and empathy, saw the Queen was tired now, leapt up to take her arm and kiss her cheek, for he was in himself a man of reconciliation and knew by instinct just when to move and what to do.
"We love you so, dear grandmama," and a tear came to them both.
And then Prince Philip jarred the atmosphere, as he had been doing for 60 years, "Oh, that's all very well, but what's to be done? This is no time to play the tragedy queen, you know." And so they got down to the business at hand, the business of managing the greatest constitutional monarchy on earth, giving up as little as possible, keeping as much, for this constant nibbling, they knew, would never stop.
Was the government determined on the matter? "Of course," said the Queen, "for Conservatives are always the most revolutionary."
Have all the 16 Commonwealth nations been consulted? "Yes, and already they have all signified their acceptance."
And what about the prohibition on a sovereign being Roman Catholic? "That will remain in place for now, not even the greatest levelers in the land are prepared to open this Pandora's box in the face of all the current scandals, sexual and otherwise, at the feet of the Bishop of Rome."
At last the details having been canvassed and thoroughly vetted, the discussion waned. All had had their say but one, HRH of Cambridge, once Kate Middleton. "Have you anything you wish to say, my dear? Perhaps you prefer to watch, having been one of us for such a short time?"
But Kate of Cambridge did have something to say, and she took her line from Portia in "The Merchant of Venice."
"Your Majesty, dear grandmama," she said...
"The quality of mercy is not strained..."
And the Queen knew the rest and thought the words in her mind as the duchess spoke them...
"It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute of awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. But mercy is above this sceptered sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute of God himself, And earthly power doth then show like God's When mercy seasons justice."
Your Majesty achieved the crown not because you were the oldest but because you had no brother. Any brother, of whatever age, would have removed you from the succession and unjustly, too. With this act, you would have achieved the crown by right and equity. And consider this: no mother, not even a queen, should be forced because of the gender of a child to love a girl less than a boy. And therefore I urge you to see this bill as a matter of fairness and love, and of mercy for a mother, not of loss and diminution. It is not like giving up a plane or boat for this is a matter of fundamental right and profound human need. This is something we must do, not because we are forced, but because we believe that this is right, for us and for all people."
And the Queen knew she had heard more than truth from her grand daughter... she had heard the heart and the humanity of a queen. And so she, in recognition, ordered lavish Christmas revels at Windsor, in honor of Duchess Kate and her unborn child, girl or boy, Heir of England... all liberally done and paid for from the privy purse, without demur.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. He his also an expert on British and US history, and author of 18 best-selling business books.
What do you think about this topic? I invite your comments below. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. If your neighborhood is like mine, you've got more immediate problems than immediate solutions. You're running a business and need more cash yesterday than is coming in today. You've got two choices: whine, complain, bemoan, and just roll over and die... or learn the essential lesson of how you get your business through difficult times by doing EVERYTHING you can to raise cash and keep your ship floating until better times roll in... as in due course they will.
To put you in the mood for the blunt message that follows, I've selected the unmatchable music and message of "Some People"; Mama Rose's soaring, gritty, determined tune from the great musical "Gypsy" (1959). Turn up the music, which you can find at any search engine, and imbibe... 'cause this baby is going straight to your brain... and your resolution, commitment, and determination are about to surge! Meet Michael Bisceglia, a man with a solution.
Michael Bisceglia is a jeweler, specifically an online jeweler, and that means, in this fall of 2011, that he's got problems. When a bearish economy blights the land, folks have other needs for their limited cash than buying bling... and this hurts Stauer... which hurts Michael. Now what?
Bisceglia has a survivor's outlook... that today must be taken care of... if there is to be a better tomorrow. To get through today, Bisceglia is trying something that most people don't know and wouldn't do even if they could: trying an audacious strategy that needed to be bold... because Bisceglia's business is bad... Here's how it works:
He selects an attractive item from stock, like a $179 pearl necklace or a $249 amethyst necklace, and GIVES IT AWAY so long as the customer pays the $24.95 shipping costs.
That's right, Bisceglia gives away a "thing of beauty is a joy forever". He's crazy, right? And what's the catch? In fact, Bisceglia is crazy like a fox... and there is absolutely no catch. That's because he is approaching business salvation and growth from a new direction. He looks upon these special promotions as a means of acquiring crucial new customers... and he KNOWS that fully 1/3 of them will buy from him in the future at full price... and thus swell his coffers.
Because he's done this unbeatable offer before, he's got a good idea of what his results will be and, thus, approaches the next promotion with serenity. But this most assuredly was not the case the first time he did this. He could conjecture... he could surmise... he could deduce... but he didn't know. And that's why Biscegia is a successful entrepreneur and survivor... because he knew when he was in trouble, brainstormed his options, did his homework, made his educated guess... and then went forward, even if he was privately sweating.
The first of his unprecedented promotions was a winner... and came to validate his audacity:
"In this economy, you have to be outrageous in your offers." Amen.
"Everybody's doin' it, doin' it."
The last time this phrase made a public appearance, it was part of a "brand-new" dance called The Turkey Trot, back in 1900. Now they refer to the deep discounts which have come to characterize this year of grace, discounts retailers are giving; not, let's remember, because they like to, but because they feel they must given the persistent rotten economy, a cocktail composed of stubborn high unemployment, stock market turmoil, and an overall fragile U.S. economy. And this... a recent Gallup poll found that eight of 10 Americans think the country is already deep in a second recession and are cutting back accordingly.
What's more you can count on more of the same as the 2011 holiday sales season gets fully underway. This season is sure to see savage price-cutting by major retailers, eager to rack up profits, no matter how meager. There will be selected deep discount items to get you into stores... and bigger discounts once you get there.
And, of course, hanging over every discounted price and incentive there will be that shopper's heaven, the 'net with prices and deals designed to motivate even the most penny pinching. Whether you're in the business of selling to folks online or off, what's happening is about you. But are you conscious of these facts and the need to take the boldest of actions as early as possible? Here are some ideas that'll help:
1) Make a point of collecting the offers people in your field are making. By paying attention to what others are doing (even if they're holding their noses when doing it) you can begin the crucial maneuver of out positioning even the most savvy marketers.
2) Be aware, too, of the offers folks in any other field are offering. See if any of these offers can be transformed into motivation you can offer your customers. ALL marketers, in the name of satisfied customers of course, are Peeping Toms when it comes to scouting the best offers... then adapting them for immediate use, motivation -- and profits.
3) Start a blog and run ads to your list every single day. Blogs work when you've got interesting content... because, then, you can piggy-back your offers without fear your customers will unsubscribe your list. The more interesting the content, the less likely an unsubscribe. And where do you find such copy? jeffreylantarticles.com is one superb place.
4) Use a loss leader like Michael Bisceglia (though yours may not be as beautiful). Remember, most people believe we're mired in a second recession (we're not), but perception is reality... and so if this is a proven way of getting new customers, use it. Your objective is to get through the malaise to prosper on the other side. Far too many business people made the crucial mistake of trying to sustain profits at pre-recession levels, when that wasn't possible or realistic... and they paid the price with an "out of business" poster on the door.
The good news: there is still profit out there!
Despite the challenging environment, revenue in November and December is expected to rise about 3 percent from those months last year. Such an increase -- below last year's 5.2 percent spike over 2009 -- would be above the 2.6 percent average gain during the last 10 years.... but this is still money in your pocket... and more importantly, the opportunity to make more when the gloom rises and happy days are here again.
I know Michael Bisceglia of Stauer will be amongst that number; he's proven his understanding and willingness to do EVERYTHING it takes to be tough, taut, and thoroughly prepared. Now what about you?
Have you already given up the ghost; thrown in the towel; brainstorming how you can live on Social Security and prune your lifestyle accordingly? If you've fitted out your coffin, all that's left is to get in.
But that's not really what you want, is it? It was certainly not what Mamma Rose wanted. When her father wouldn't give her a few bucks, she took the solid gold award he had been given for a lifetime of service on the railroad and pawned it... She was determined to do what was necessary. Are you?
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
What do you think? We invite your comments below. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
I don't know who came up with the phrase, "Always Be Closing" but it's brilliant. In sales circles it's known more simply as ABC.
If you are in sales, this simple catchy phrase will help keep you on track to making sales.
Here's some insight into sales and how to increase the number of sales YOU make.
Buyers like to get the sales person off track.
They like to ask questions, lots of questions.
They ask:
Does it come in blue?
What's the guarantee?
Buyers like to stall, hedge, avoid.
They say:
I have to ask my wife.
I want to look around.
I think I can get a better deal somewhere else.
Buyers like to know that their business matters, that they are getting some personal attention to earn their business.
But sales people, know the ABC's of sales - Always Be Closing.
Smart, successful sales people know that happy customers and good sales people go hand in hand.
They know that spending a little extra time with a serious buyer, or creating a personalized offer can be exactly what is needed to clinch a sale.
The buyer wants their questions answered so they can make the decision to buy. The smart salesperson wants to answer those questions and move the person ever closer to buying.
My colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Lant talks about the sales dance. He likens the sales process to a type of courtship. The sales person approaches, the buyer is shy, aloof. The sales person comes closer, offers the right words, and assurances. The buyer plays hard to get but shows interest. The sales person is more engaging, tries harder with a better offer, always moving toward the close.
ABC - Always be Closing means this:
Answering relevant questions, eliminating obstacles to the sale being made, helping with payment plans, reassuring the buyer, making special offers, sweetening the deal, whatever it takes to get the sale.
Closing the sale means finding out from the customer, what it will take to get them to buy NOW, not next week, or next month. The best sales people are listeners. They listen to what the buyer wants and they determine a way to get it for them so the sale is made, today. You can HEAR someone who wants to buy, if you stop talking long enough to listen.
ABC means doing your job right so the customer gets a great deal and you make a great sale!
Most of us have been on the receiving end of a poor sales person, and we also remember that warm happy feeling when you've made a purchase that you feel good about. We like to feel special, a good sales person can make that happen or alternatively with the wrong approach can make you walk away.
Happy customer's who feel they got a good deal can be a repeat customer or a customer for life. Unhappy customers help you learn what you could perhaps be doing better. The right approach with an unhappy customer can convert them into a happy one! In fact, they may end up being your best customer because they see you actually cared and tried to make better a problem situation.
Got a sticky note? Write ABC on a sticky note, and post it on your computer. It will help remind you when you are talking to a customer, or answering an email, or sending a quote, or posting an offer, remember to Always Be Closing.
*** We invite your comments below.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
As Groupon and other Bulk-Buy sites lose favour with merchants, business owners are going back to basics to generate traffic and new business.
Yelp.com is a reviews website that allows members to post reviews (good and bad) about different types of business. The site is structured into geographical areas which is beneficial for both users of the site and for businesses.
Yelp.com provides an easy way to see what people are saying about a specific business of interest. Recent surveys report that review sites are very popular among consumers (especially 35 and under) who will frequently use these kinds of sites to search for a business, then decide whether or not to use a service or business.
--> Benefits for the Consumer
Search for businesses by category or key words, in your specific area for hours, contact information, or website address.
Yelp allows you to find smaller businesses that might not yet be indexed on Google Maps
Browse what people are saying about a specific business or service, or add your own review.
The "talk" element of the site allows for more detailed specifics on a business or service.
Easily share your reviews on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
--> Benefits for the Business
63 million people have visited yelp in the last 30 days - that is some kind of MASSIVE - FREE exposure for your local business. People who may never otherwise have heard of your business or perhaps forgotten about you can get acquainted with you.
Any local business with a physical presence can benefit from being listed at Yelp.
Business owners can add their own business listing (if not already listed) to ensure that their contact information is accurate. They can also add photos and message customers.
Business owners (or Managers) can reply publicly to reviews or comments posted about their business.
Business owners can pay for premium advertising, called Yelp Ads.
Business owners can see what people are saying about their business and pinpoint for correction, problem or services issues in their operation.
Recently Yelp has added Events listings as well. So if you are organizing an event, submit it and get instant exposure. Visitors to Yelp, in your location will see your listing as Yelp will scan the geographical location of the member logging in, so events in their area show up.
Yelp has integrated several social media sites (FaceBook, Twitter etc) into the site so when users access these, or refer friends to the site, business owners get the benefits of even more promotion.
- Review of Yelp
For the most part, review sites like Yelp.com are GOOD for local business. The exposure for a business, is tremendous and difficult to not be seen as valuable. You get free exposure by reviews being posted, new customers are introduced to what you offer, former customers are reminded that you are still there. You as the owner or manager get come control over content, by adding your own business, then commenting often, posting pictures etc. Social media allows businesses to engage with their customers in a positive way.
Yes, there are some possible disadvantages. People can write negative reviews about your business. But if you run a solid operation these will be overshadowed by the good comments that people post. Some businesses have been known to pay people to write good reviews or offer other perks. Statistical averages will most often work in your favour if you are an honest business, doing your best to provide a quality service for your customers. Remember, negative reviews can be responded to by the business owner, or manager. Customers understand that no business is perfect. False, or off-the-wall reviews stand out as such and are often filtered, removed or rated lower in terms of helpfulness. What matters to consumers is that a business owner makes an effort to resolve problems.
For more details visit Yelp.com
What do you think of Review Sites? Helpful or not helpful? What Review sites do you like?
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. Today you will turn on the water tap in your home or office over and over again; just how many times you will not bother to consider. The water is there... it is easily accessible... you can have as much as you want as often as you want.
But this most assuredly is not the case for Barbara Buegeler, her husband David, and their arid acres in West Texas. Water, for them, is a constant concern; one they ponder about during the day and which they dream about, still pondering, at night. This is their story... a story of fortitude, commitment, and, yes, of a love that binds them to the land that defines them. It is a story every worker on the land will know and which every urban dweller, folks like me, should know... but do not... and so I write today as much for myself as for you.
For the incidental music for today's article, I have selected Dimitri Tiomkin's soaring score from the 1956 film classic "Giant." Go to any search engine and listen... but remember this: the music you listen to accompanies a work of fiction. What follows here is a work of fact.
A statistic that defines all.
A West Texas ranch like Barbara Buegeler's, where cattle are raised mostly for breeding, just a few for meat, needs at least 20 inches of rain each year. When these rains come, each drop a benediction to the earth and its momentary proprietors, all is well. People like Barbara, though they wouldn't like their neighbors to know, greet the rain when it comes as congregants in God's own cathedral. The water falls from on high and, before touching the good earth, enabling everything that follows, they are happily drenched and grateful. Water is everything here... and they greet it accordingly, with pure joy -- and relief -- in their hearts. Only those who have ever been without can so exult and the prayers that come involuntarily are not just words... but profound gratitude. These are the people of the land... and they know what is important.
These are now the people of drought and this is a story of resolution, faith, of fear and apprehension... but most of all, of abiding commitment. Meet Barbara Buegeler and her husband, both 67 years old.
The Buegelers have for over 30 years ranched west of San Saba (dubbed "Pecan Capital of the World"), at the edge of Hill Country, just where West Texas begins. It is a place that, for them, transcends mere beauty. It is "something of a heaven on earth," they say and which their decades of commitment confirm. It is a place where they wake up early to greet the dawn, grateful for the decision they made so long ago in their human lives, but just the shortest instant in the life of the land they own in law.... but whose acres in fact own them; again a fact which every land dweller knows and no urban dweller near or far away ever really comprehends.
These acres, always waiting for the rain, bring forth fruit in plenty and the pecans for which this place is famous. Here there have been good years... even great years... but since the summer of 2010 there has been drought, day after day when the rains have not come, just a few tantalizing drops. Local folks scan the skies, looking for portents in the clouds and hot breezes and have turned inward as they wait for what they and the land must have.
The rain stopped and the searing winds commenced.
Prosperity in West Texas is the result of a formula, conceived by Nature, known to all the people of the land. There must be just so much water, just so much sunshine, and the land must supply just the right cocktail of essential nutrients. Changes are neither desirable nor welcome, for changes spell problems and problems, over a particular period of time, spell catastrophe for the land and all its inhabitants, man and beast.
Beginning in mid-May 2011 the great heat began. No one thought much of it at the time; great heat is a regular feature of this land.... but as this heat continued day by day, inhabitants knew that this was the heat they fear and respect... for this is the heat that brings drought and all its well-known miseries. These predictable miseries marched smartly in as the daily temperatures rose, as high as 118 degrees, never lower than an even 100. And what the sun delivered by day, it left a hefty residue by night, when the land and every inhabitant still perspired... and knew the relief would come, had to come, but when?
Water tanks never dry before, dry now. And still no relief in sight...
How bad is it? So bad that three ponds which were never bone dry in these 30 years are now completely dry, no drop to be seen, even by accident. And this meant, for the first time, too, the need to haul water from the fire station in the town of San Saba, lest the drought on the land carry off its parched inhabitants. For lack of water the land and everything on it dies, no matter how inured to drought they may be... and this reality is known to all.
Hauling water.
Anyone who has ever carried liquids home from the grocery store, knows only too well the heft of water and how difficult it is to move. Imagine, then, the need to haul every drop needed by plants, animals and humans... and to know that to stop means death and desolation. Thus, no one thinks twice about the task; it is necessary, and so must be done.
In San Saba each tank is filled to its 525 gallon capacity. Two such tanks are carried on a gooseneck trailer; another truck, this one driven by Barbara, hauls 325 gallons more. To maintain life (and hope) the Buegelers must make three trips a day (each trip 1 1/2 hours) three times a week. In each trip they haul 1,375 gallons. Home, the water moves by gravity flow and pump to fill the storage tanks, a time-consuming, laborious and absolutely essential process which cannot be missed, skipped, forgotten or complained of. It is all an inescapable process on which the land depends.
And as it is with water, so it is with everything else, too.
The animals, bereft of grass, must have all food and water promptly delivered by their human servitors... or they will perish under the blazing sun. Hay is non-existent and must be delivered... at prices that rise with the temperature. Many bales are needed each week; the prices now $110-175 for each, a worrying rise of up to $50 per bale. But this, too, is necessary, life in its delivery; death without.
And there is worse, far worse, to report.
Good neighbors and friends of so many years now broke; selling what little is left, dreams gone, now of the land no more. Towns you never heard of like Goldthwaite dried up, no water there at all. Eighteen hour days are now the norm as thirty years of work come down to the back breaking reality of food and water, unrelenting labor. And around them wildfires start and surge amidst the dry trees and foliage and worse expected, as Winter is prime season for these fires which jump and play -- and destroy.
Then just the other day a thing so small to the rest of us, so crucial to the Buegelers and their neighbors... some rain, 6 inches, not enough, but God's pledge there would be succor and better times. And so Barbara and David, made thus more hopeful, went out to feed the 22 baby calves and their mothers. And thought that despite all, theirs was still a paradise, the right place to find serenity and even the God who did not forget them after all.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dt. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
