A few months back I started a new site and blog DallasMarketingRockstar.com and recently decided to move my day to day blogging and marketing there.

I originally created it to have a place to write about the current events in the Local online marketing scene. Given all the action that is going on in this space it needed it’s own site.

Google, Facebook, Foursquare, Groupon and many more are all making a play to get a piece of the pie that is Local Business.

So head on over there! Feel free to contact me if you are looking to improve your marketing and increase your brand awareness. CONTACT ME

The Accidental Unofficial Poll

It is obviously in my best interest to say that advertising in the Yellow Pages is not the best way to spend your advertising budget.

I have to say that, right? After all I am attempting to convince my potential clients to shift your money to me and allow me to actually make their money work for them and actually produce result.

The above was a screenshot taken from my personal facebook wall.  I truly just wanted a current local copy of any yellow pages. Seriously!

As you can see most joked about it and whether they still even existed. One of my friends even said she throws her away. I can’t remember the last time I saw one in any of my friend’s homes.

Once again this is unofficial and far from some very in depth analysis.

So I ask you… where’s your copy? How often do you use it to find a local business?

Many friends have asked why I post my pictures to Flickr and not directly to Facebook (FB) This is my answer to that question in great detail.

Given the low cost and simplicity available these days, the cost of setting one up is cheaper that it ever has been before. This is especially true for anyone that does any significant amount of posting on their Facebook walls for their friends and family. However, my philosophy on this is completely different if you have a Facebook Fan Page and will write about this in a future post.

Here are the top 3 reasons I think you should have your site.

NUMBER 1: You own it!

I have seen several “fanpages” by FB users angered by rumors that FB will start charging to use it. They insist that if that happens, they will bounce! My dear FB users… you do realize that it takes a lot of money(as in a bajillion dollars) to operate FB right? I know that really sucks but it’s just true.

Once you post anything to FB they in essence own it. They are going to try to leverage YOUR content and YOUR conversations and YOUR demographics to market to you and your friends. Yes, they are eavesdropping on your conversations and interests.

They have to monetize all their efforts to make money. That’s the end game. How do I know? I know this because I advertise through FB using their powerful tools that even Google doesn’t have (yet).

I do recognize the beauty of FB and use it regularly. I have created some amazing friendships and partnerships through their network (and I was a very late adopter)

NUMBER 2: You Control It

What is going to happen to all your content when FB disappears or the next HOT social network pops up (please bow your heads for a moment of silence for Myspace) ?

A good friend of mine recently told me it took her forever to import her pictures from her myspace account to facebook. Some people are even using FB as the exclusive host for all their images and photos.  ”No Bueno” – Michelle
(Side Note:Let’s not even talk about the fact that once you upload images to FB they downgrade the quality of the original version.)

Regardless of what happens to any of these social networks  you maintain control of your content (pictures, videos, conversations). If by chance you create massive amounts of content then you absolutely need to have your own site.

Drive people back to your site from your FB wall. Deliver you massive awesomeness on AllAboutYou.com!

Which brings me to…

NUMBER 3: You Can Make Money

I am not going to try to sell you on some type of Get Rich Scheme. All I am proposing is that you are already posting all this amazing content and sharing it with the world, why not make a little money while you are doing this.

For some people this can actually be much more depending on what you are passionate about and love to talk about.

There are numerous ways you can monetize your site and provide your visitors with tremendous value. If you consistently bring in good traffic you could even sell ad space.

Yes I know that’s just crazy talk. But if you could make an extra 30-50 dollars a month posting content on your site which you are already posting on your social network of choice. That’s the equivalent to the raise many people are not getting these days.

So What Now?

If nothing else I would definitely recommend having your own website where you can post your pictures and share them with the world. Or if nothing else check out photo/video sharing sites like flickr.com(which I <3)

You can get a free account but you will end up with limitations. I highly recommend investing some money in your images. Whenever you put your stuff online on free site you give up privacy and/or quality.

Regardless of what you choose. I recommend doing something to protect your content. I have a website I created just recently launched to walk you through the steps needed to build a website and have you up and running in no time. There are several coupon codes I share that will save you some money on registering your domain and another which will give you your first month’s hosting for only 1 cent.

Check it my the site out and talk to you soon!

Not getting any traffic to your local small business website? Have you been asking yourself why the phone hasn’t been ringing even though you have a website?

Having a website is great, however the fact remains that you need to get the word out that your business and website exists.

I was watching some training videos recently and in it they said there are well over 200 million websites on the internet. 200 Million!!! That doesn’t even take into account all the Facebook, Twitter, mySpace, and numerous other social networks.

So How Are Visitors Going to Find Your Site

For some small businesses I recommend that they use the social media outlets as much as possible. The problem of course remains that these small local businesses are too busy performing their craft (plumbing, business coaching, dance instruction)

I have personally just came around on the value of small businesses leveraging Facebook specifically. If you truly offer a product and amazing service in your city or town, the buzz will grow organically.

People will want to share your greatness. It’s what we do. Every chance I get I tell people about my dance instructors at DFWsalsa and my improv trainers at Dallas Comedy House. See I just did again!

I am willing to bet you do the same. That’s the beauty of social media. This method id highly recommended and will also allow you to stay in touch with your people and offer them specials you may want to promote.

There is one aspect I can’t stress enough to social media… BE SOCIAL! Interact! Care! If you can’t do that yet still want to maintain some type of presence than hire someone to do it for you. I know several people that offer this as a service to their clients.

If you have a hard time being social, then you will be giving off the perception of a spammer. I have personally removed people that would only interact with me when they were trying to promote and event or sell a service. BE GONE!

You don’t want to be that guy that gets so annoying that someone has to go out of their way to remove you from their stream.

Social Media involves an investment of time for sure. Like I mentioned you can hire someone to do this for you if you have it in your budget to free your time from it.

But you need to be doing something to get your possible clients to your site and let them know you more than capable of helping them with their needs.

In one of my next posts I will write about a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)  methods that will also drive traffic to your site. Stay tuned!