The YELLOW PAGES just aren't what they used to be. In most regions, a full page ad can run $20,000  per year! And now they are trying to convince people to advertise with them online. A friend of mine owns a tree service. He works back and fourth between 2 different states. The YELLOW PAGES  quoted him  $2,000  PER MONTH, to list him on their site and help him come up in searches! THAT'S  OUTRAGEOUS. But people pay it.

I have had clients ask me, "Can the Internet really help me, if I just have a local business with local customers?" - The answer is  ABSOLUTELY! Local search is fast becoming the most exciting search vertical on the web. Recent research by the Kelsey Group reported that 70% of Americans consult the web before making local buying decisions, while 36% of search engine queries now request local results.

I have a client in Chicago who provides a very specialized service, locally.  She had NO web presence whatsoever. We helped her launch a blog, got her into some free directories and she is now coming up on page one in searches around her keywords. She only gets 5-10  hits a day - but in 4 months, has attracted 10 new clients!

Daniel Bower posted a great article at Wordtracker, Five Tips To Maximise The Long Tail Of Local Search. He says," Local search presents huge long tail opportunities; the range of keywords, and the variations of those keywords that can land someone on your page are vast. Take for example our site welovelocal.com. In the short term after our launch, 96% of non-paid keywords had just a single visit."

He also points out the benefits of review sites," It goes without saying that a business owner/marketer should ensure they have maximum visibility in the various review sites and local business directories.

In the US these sites include Yelp, Insider Pages and Angie's Lists, but also the much smaller sites such as the excellent Lawrence.com. These sites provide an invaluable source of local data which can help you research fresh keywords. Spend time examining the way they are structured, the terminology they use and, where possible, the language used in the reviews.

Research from Hitwise earlier this month reported that small businesses rely on search engines now more than ever before - it’s a trend that is only going to increase as SMEs see the lead potential of local search. It’s yet another reason to hone your local keyword research skills."


Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull"  New Business To You!
    Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0  Consultants and Strategists 

     

Over the last 2 years we have come into contact with numerous people who wanted to start a blog and most never did. Or they did, and got off on the wrong foot, abandoned the blog, or they had unrealistic expectations about what the blog might deliver in the short-term from an SEO perspective and were frustrated.

We have been doing this for over 2 years now and have launched about 25 blogs. We have made many mistakes along the way and therefore, also have learned a lot. And continue to learn every day as this business changes. Eventually, all of our blogs have ended up on Page One of Google for organic, primary and numerous secondary key word searches...

Here are some of the most common blog mistakes we've seen -

1. Never actually starting one! I have  3 friends and  5 clients  that have been talking about launching blog for a year now! Do they realize, if they had in fact launched their blog one year ago, where they would be today??? Just DO IT already!

2. Using Subdomains.  We are not a big fan of hosting your site somewhere that has to use a subdomain. (ie  typepad, blogspot). If it's personal, that's fine. But for anything business related, where you hope to get search engine lift, we do not recommend it. - Buy a domain and use it. In fact, buy a few domains. If you don't buy it and you don't own it , it's  not yours.  So www.worldsbestflorist.typepad.com  really belongs to typepad. Plus, you deprive yourself of potential search engine lift by hosting your site with subdomains.

3. Design. DO NOT get caught up on design. Blogs are about words, not design. Blogs are all about the content. And that content is indexed by search engines. You can be one page one with the the most awful looking blog out there! Search engines do not care about flash and design. Blogs are about simplicity. That's why search engines like blogs more than websites.

4. Expecting too much too soon. The first 90 days are about  building "the temple." Most directories won't even let you list with them until you are 90 days old or have more than 36 posts. Don't even try to get traffic or build traffic the first few months. It's all about planting the seeds, building the temple, and then traffic will come!

5. Making Money. Every month I have clients that want to start a blog to make "some extra passive revenue." MOST blogs do not make a dime! At least the first year or two. Once you get a page rank of 5 or 6, in about 18 months to 24 months, then maybe, you can start to monetize your blog. Sure you can put Google AdSense on your blog. And make about 25 cents per month. If you are  lucky! The focus should be on building the blog. Build a following. Positioning yourself as the expert in your area of expertise. If you do it right, you will come up in searches and be found by new readers and potential new customers!


Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull"  New Business To You!
    Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0  Consultant and Strategists 

We reported here a couple weeks back, the 2nd annual SOBCon blogger conference has been announced!

BIZ SCHOOL FOR BLOGGERS will take place in Chicago  May 2,3, and 4th!

Whether you are a blogger now and want to take your blog to the next level or a business owner who wants to jump into the blogosphere, THIS IS A MUST ATTEND EVENT!



To find out more about the contest, visit the SOBCon special page on their site.

To register to attend SOBCon, visit the registration page.


Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull"  New Business To You!
    Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0  Consultants and Strategists 

Check this out!  DIRECT ENERGY, North America's largest supllier of energy, has just begun competing for business in  MICHIGAN, OHIO and NEW YORK! They have a refer-a-friend and a  refer-a-reader affiliate program and you can earn $25 bonuses for each new person who signs up through you!

http://www.energysavermoneymaker.com

People are tired of getting “held hostage” by their energy utility and are making the decision to fight back by switching energy providers. They can get better service, save money and even get a bonus, with a new promotion from Direct Energy. Whether you’re a residential or commercial customer, you have the option of choosing your energy provider and locking in a rate. Your current energy provider cannot offer you a fixed price or price protection.

SIGN UP  and start referring people!

It's free!

The word TRAVEL is Googled
                            more than the word SEX!



Network Marketing 
                     

has made more millionaires than Real Estate!



TRAVEL is a $7 Trillion Industry!



These are facts!


Imagine, booking your own travel and saving on travel....

all of your family, friends and co-workers booking travel through your site, and you make the commission......

Helping your local church or civic organization, set up their own travel agency....

Take a cruise and get a VIP rate -  just pay port charges and the taxes!

TraVerus Travel is changing the way the world books and sells travel! And you can get in on it and get your piece of the $7 Trillion pie!

Make Money With Travel Now!

 

See my ad on EBAY -

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330172408245&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=014

More and more of our clients are coming to us looking for a blog tutor / blog coach. They have a blog that maybe doesn't look good or needs some jazzing up.....maybe they have a blog but not utilizing traffic drivers like social networks and online communities...whatever the case, we have helped them. We have 6 blogs of our own and have helped a couple dozen clients in the last year with their blogs. Small jobs or big jobs, we can help. We work on blogs 60 hours a week, so we now know the in's and out's, the latest techniques

 

 and can help you!

 

Just the other day we found a free site called  SUBMIT EXPRES.

Whether you have a website or a blog, Submit Express is a site that offers lots of free tools for the personal publisher / webmaster. Everything from a Meta Tag Analyzer to Link Popularity Checker to a Meta Tag Generator. Stop by and see what they can do for your site!

Our sites offer lots of advice....

http://www.businessbloggingconsultants.com

http://www.businessbloggingtips.com

http://www.officiallifebydesign.com

http://www.thebestdisocounttravel.com

 

Derrick Sorles

Blog Consultant / Web 2.0 Strategist

 

 

I have found a great magazine called

SUCCESS AT HOME, Jan. 2007

which I now sell here on EBAY.

Do you love to travel? Want to travel more?

Do you want to work from home part-time?

You can open your own online travel booking business!

HOw would you like to make money around the clock, 24 hours a day?!

The entire magazine and DVD is devoted to this unique travel program and an amazing opportunity

to start your own business from home with a very low investment!

Success is guaranteed!

visit my EBAY  Item number: 270137471713

Yesterday I found a great site - The Happiness Institute!

The Happiness Institute was established in September, 2003 by Dr. Timothy J. Sharp. Dr. Sharp (also known as Dr. Happy) is a well-known, highly regarded clinical and coaching psychologist who has devoted the last few years of his career to building an award winning private practice from which he and his team have helped thousands of people overcome problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia and relationship difficulties.

With the aim of teaching as many people as possible to be happier, The Happiness Institute offers a range of services based on extensive research, particularly from the growing field of positive psychology. Positive psychology is one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas of health and well-being and is based on the premise that it is not enough just to manage stress and depression.

Check out their blog and register for their e-newsletter and get a free e-book - 20 Simple Tips To Be Happy.

 

Derrick Sorles

www.officiallifebydesign.com

 

A-LIST AUSTRALIAN BLOGGER ALISTER CAMERON did a great post recently about DIGG.

The 100% guaranteed way to

get a front page story on Digg!

WHAT IS DHARMA

A few weeks ago we did an article called, "WHAT IS NAMASTE?" and it generated so much interest,  it was actually picked up by 6 other blogs! So this week, we wanted to explore DHARMA, another Sanskrit word. Ethically, it means 'right way of living' or 'proper conduct,' especially in a religious sense. With respect to spirituality, dharma might be considered the Way of the Higher Truths. A great resource online  is About Dharma. "Everyone wants to be happy and no one wants to suffer, but very few people understand the real causes of happiness and suffering. We tend to look for happiness outside ourself, thinking that if we had the right house, the right car, the right job, and the right friends we would be truly happy. We spend almost all our time adjusting the external world, trying to make it conform to our wishes. All our life we have tried to surround ourself with people and things that make us feel comfortable, secure, or stimulated, yet still we have not found pure and lasting happiness. It is time we sought happiness from a different source. Happiness is a state of mind, so the real source of happiness must lie within the mind, not in external conditions. If our mind is pure and peaceful we shall be happy, regardless of our external circumstances, but if it is impure and unpeaceful we can never be truly happy, no matter how hard we try to change our external conditions. We could change our home or our partner countless times, but until we change our restless, discontented mind we shall never find true happiness. Practising Dharma is the supreme method for improving the quality of our human life. The quality of life depends not upon external development or material progress, but upon the inner development of peace and happiness. For example, in the past many Buddhists lived in poor and underdeveloped countries, but they were able to find pure, lasting happiness by practising what Buddha had taught. If we integrate Buddha's teachings into our daily life, we will be able to solve all our inner problems and attain a truly peaceful mind." Another great source for information is Dharma International. http://www.officiallifebydesign.com