Just case you don’t “ego surf” like I do, because you know I do, reputation management just got a bit harder.   In an article by Chris Crum for smallbusinessnewz.com http://ow.ly/5ht5B  he reminds us (if you’re me) or tells us that Bing and Google are now scraping deeper into your social life.

Just type your name into your favorite search engine and it’s easy to tell that they are beginning to use social media platforms as a primary means of hunting out key words and phrases. But what does that mean to me (or you)?

It means that even before hearing your voice or meeting you in person, future employers or clients are pulling you up on Google, and more than likely investigating your personal Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Suddenly it becomes their concern as well that you had a crummy day, someone made you mad, or if you had the best mac & cheese ever today- is he/she always like this? This is where the fine line is drawn between being personable and unprofessional. While it may be okay to post a tweet or status saying “Go, Mavs!” (HELL YEAH), one saying something crude about the Heat would not be so acceptable.  These platforms require the user to use their personal judgment about what they are okay with being on the internet about them.

So, knowing this can either make or break a reputation for a person or small business for that matter. Social media platforms bring a new definition of the term “first impression.” People decide if you or your company is worth their time after meeting your online persona and before meeting you in person. Social sites have transformed in the past few years from dominantly personal to a blurred line between personal and professional. They are now a method of reputation management that many neglect to maintain.

http://mashable.com/2011/06/07/reward-twitter-followers/

http://on.mash.to/jToJqB

Mashable shares six easy ways to keep your Twitter followers happy and feeling like you care. They are super easy, so there’s no reason to not try them out!

First, everyone likes free stuff- duh. Occasionally offering small freebies to followers encourages consumer loyalty and brand interaction.

Another thing you can do is give followers some control, like, say they guess a number or answer a question correctly- let them pick the special of the day or the music played at your business.

Number 3: Talk directly to your consumers through Twitter. We all want attention; so, if a consumer tweets about your business, why not ask them how their experience was?

You can provide useful information for followers by providing relevant blogs and articles that teach them something new.

The fifth thing you can do is to give them a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look into your company. Do this by posting pictures or video content of what’s going on in the office where they don’t normally get to see. It makes your brand more personal.

Lastly- make them laugh. Everyone needs some comic relief sometimes. If you can personify your brand it will be more likeable to followers who are already interested in you.

A question within the realm of online marketing is how do you get consumers to engage with local businesses? Location-based deals are extremely popular right now, but where do the many social networking sites fit in?

Social sites like 4square and Facebook have the option for users to “check in” and post their geographic location to their followers. While this may encourage others to well….have fun…I guess; it doesn’t seem to be the most effective way to attract consumers.

Some (not enough) brands and companies offer deals for “checking in” at their location, but the social networking companies  don’t seem to be utilizing this concept to its maximum—as they should. This type of location-based feature could be much more advantageous if deals were made available ahead time, as opposed to finding out local deals after they are needed. No one wants to sit down at a restaurant in a certain location, only to find out that next door they are offering a better deal.

Social networking sites should take some advice from sites like Groupon and LivingSocial which provide consumers with deals in their specific area before they walk out the door and decide where they are going. These sites have encouraged local businesses to become active in online marketing, as opposed to passively waiting for people to “check in” and post their location.  LivingSocial is able to use GPS to offer its users deals within their areas, and similar sites are emerging throughout the world. According to mashable.com, LivingSocial just began advertising $1 lunches in Washington DC, and recently our Dallas Advertising Agency (shameless SEO plug) , www.TagTeamCreative.com  used Groupon to feed the entire office at a significantly reduced price.

While Livingsocial  just acquired Socialmedia.com, a site that attempted to connect social networking and advertising but struggled in the wake of Facebook’s popularity, it’s time for social networking sites to try again—especially monster sites like Facebook. 

As for companies solely using social networking as a means of pushing for local clients? We can only hope they catch on and start giving us motivation to shop locally, because everyone loves a deal!

Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing blog recently posted a cartoon about the differences between inbound and outbound marketing (click here). While the cartoon definitely demonstrates the differences between the two types of marketing, I think it inaccurately represents a few points.

First of all, inbound marketing—while it may be far more sophisticated—is still time consuming. I may not be stuffing envelopes, buying printed ads, or attending large trade shows, but I work for a considerable portion of the day at making my company (and other companies) SEO-friendly. Writing a blog and being an active member on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter takes some time, especially when managing social media for several different accounts and focusing on relevant content. Social Media tools may be user-friendly, but in order to be effective marketing tools, they need to be used consciously and consistently.

An example of this is what we do with www.LeadGenerationDirectories.com  . We help our clients use link-building and keywords to optimize their sites for search engines, as well as, constantly monitor our directories, such as dallassocialmarketing.com and dallaslawyers.net ,to ensure that they continue to rank highly on search engines. Explaining this process and executing the tasks needed to be successful isn’t always easy or fast, which is why we are in business.

The other point that Hubspot’s cartoon misrepresents is the concept that inbound marketing doesn’t cost anything. This is simply not the case. As I’ve stated above, it can be incredibly time consuming. And last time I checked, my time is worth something. Is writing a blog and tweeting cheaper than buying airfare to a trade show? Absolutely…in the short run, but once again anything which you devote your time, or your employees’ time, to is not free.  Oh it feels like it sometimes……… but that’s for another time.  

With the endless amounts of information available through search engines today, how does a small locally owned business stand out? I get asked that a lot. In a time where outbound marketing is no longer the most effective means of advertising and the yellow pages are all but obsolete, businesses are shifting to inbound marketing and emphasizing location.

Lead generation websites, such as www.Leadgenerationdirectories.com , act as indexes to consumers. Sites, such as www.lawyersdallas.net , provide the names of companies and services that have paid to advertise on these sites.  Not only do these types of sites serve as a direct source of advertising, they also provide link building for smaller companies, enabling them to be more visible through search engines and therefore more available to consumers.

Furthermore, many lead generation websites have prime positions in search engine results, often appearing on the first page. Small locally owned businesses rarely have this type of visibility on their own. By advertising on a lead generation website, small businesses can promote themselves in a cost and time-efficient manner—thereby gaining the advertising clout of much bigger companies.

Personally, our agency- TagTeam Creative has several, ten or more, profiles on theses directories.  The phone rings constantly and we have a steady flow of emails leads as well, not to mention the incredible lift in SEO the sites have produced.  More on that later.

To learn more about inbound links and lead generation, check out www.hubspot.com.

Hubspot's Inbound Marketing Vs. Yellow Pages Cartoon