The Inbound Marketing Blog

Dry cleaners, auto mechanics, accounting firms, moving companies, restaurants, doctors, law firms, and other brick (click) and mortar businesses win and lose new customers every day before the potential customer even picks up the phone. This decision is based solely on past and current customers’ opinions he or she read has online. With so many businesses to choose from, being number one on Google is nearly never the only deciding credibility or trust factor. You’re dealing with an educated customer who does his/her research and does not care what you have to say about your business. They do care what others like him or her have to say. When friends and family aren’t readily available to ask for recommendations, where else can people turn, but the local online community? Welcome to the new word-of-mouth (mouse) marketing. When faced with too many choices, others rely on the “social proof” of what others think. Online reviews are a perfect example. Where are potential customers finding these reviews? The truth is, all over the Internet. There are 1000s of local business review sites and directories, you say? Don’t worry, there are a handful that matter more than the rest combined.

Since a potential customer’s initial search still starts with keywords on a search engine using a service-oriented keyword followed or preceded by the city in which they’re searching (ex: BMW mechanic Dallas). You should first pay attention to the truly important ones already showing up in Google, Yahoo!, and MSN for your keywords. Below are six of the major review and business listing sites which hold weight and have huge online presence. Learn the six biggies.

1. Google Local Business Listings (The “10 Pack”)

You can get your business listed on Google’s map and show up directly on the search results by registering at the Google Local Business Center www.google.com/local/add Describe your business with location info, services, hours of operation and business website link. After you have a listing, your goal is get reviews. If you let Google find your business first, you’ll be rewarded with better placement on the map. Much like Google would rather find your website on its own through links rather than search engine submission, Google Maps will trust and more than likely post reviews from other review sites before submitting or modifying your listing. Often, the Google Local Listing bot will scour the Internet for other reviews sites already touting your company’s offerings and experiences, so start building profiles on some of the other sites first and you’ll already have a diversity of amazing reviews before you expand. Another backdoor is getting your business listed on the BBB’s website or InfoUSA.com to ensure your Google Local presence. Reviews are by far the #1 one factor in achieving top placement in the alphanumeric listing of the Google Local Business Listings/Map Listings. Make sure the reviews are real though. Having keywords in your business name and a complete profile also helps. Get started at the Google Local Business Center. Read the rest of this entry »

You can sell almost anything on eBay, although they do have restrictions on certain items such as firearms, body parts and adult beverages. Below are some of the most popular categories of items sold by eBay consignment stores across the nation.

1. Antiques & Collectibles - Dolls, Cabbage Patch Kids, Radio Flier wagons, Mr. Potato Heads, and other toys from the ’50s to ’80s are hot stuff on eBay, but may be taking up too much room now that your kids have moved out. These items may be important to you, but so is making your mortgage.

2. Appliances & Furniture - Moving a houseload of furniture can be a hassle, and often you spend more in moving costs than what your couches, love seat, and headboards are worth. Be in the black and make money off your move by selling your furniture on eBay.

3. Cameras & Video Recorders - Technology improves quickly. Some people always have to have the latest and greatest, while others don’t care about the difference between a five- and a six-megapixel camera. Sell your celebrity-endorsed camera from last year to those looking for a deal.

4. Designer Apparel & Accessories - This year’s Ed Hardy is last year’s Dolce and Gabbana. People are fickle with their fads, and you can definitely make a buck if you strike when the iron is hot. Don’t let those $120 jeans lie in the laundry basket because you put on a few pounds. Sell them on eBay.

5. Electronics & Phones - Phones are much more versatile than what they were just a few years ago. They are constantly improving with functions and apps that will play MP3s, do your taxes, and walk your dog. Some people just want a nice, but inexpensive phone, so why not sell them your old one?

6. Event Tickets - So not every one of your friends wanted to see the Casey and the Sunshine Band. Pass that joy onto someone else.

7. Housewares - Some of these could fall under the “Antiques” category if you aren’t careful. So you have 100 Tupperware pieces left over from that one party you threw in the 1980s. Pass it on.

8. Musical Instruments - So Chuck Mangione inspired you to buy a flugelhorn in 1986, but you never took lessons. Give it up to the next generation of jazz on eBay.

9. Sports Equipment - You have a Stair Master, but you just became at master at staring at it. It did its job right? Make room in your game room for something that’s fun for the whole family (like a pool table), and stop kidding yourself.

10.Vehicle Parts - Forget Cash for Clunkers. You might be able to make more than $3k if you piecemeal your old cars to the highest bidder. Unlike the government deal, you get cold, hard cash.

Don’t want to go through the hassle of writing an ad? eBay became even easier when professional eBay consignment stores opened up all across the nation. Easysale, a popular Dallas eBay consignment store, charges you nothing upfront to list your item in most cases. After your item sells, they send you a check for 60% of the selling price. They’ll even pick up your eBay items around Dallas for free.

This week I’ve spent some time creating new websites. As for now they will act as news sources until I can build them up and get enough backlinks to start using them as lead generation sites.

Reporting on social media events and meetups in Dallas.
www.SocialMediaDallas.com

National AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN adCenter News.
www.PayPerClickMarketing.org

Tutorials and videos with instruction on Social Media.
www.SocialMediaClass.org

Check out this post I created on a friend’s blog about fun stuff to do on Dallas Craigslist other than hookup.
I forgot to put find a job, but that is the second most obvious one other than the previous mentioned activity.

Here it is: 10 Fun Things to Do on Dallas Craigslist Besides Hookup

Two weeks ago, I had an brilliant idea. I decided I wanted to start exploring some of the smaller cities around the Metroplex each weekend, find their points of interest, and blog about them. The only catch — I have to meet someone from each city before and sleep on his or her couch in order to get the insider’s tour. Sound crazy? It is a little bit. Over the last few weeks I’ve been to: Comanche, Denton, Glen Rose, Keller, Las Colinas and Roanoke. I want to visit Ennis this weekend (*update: didn’t make it).

Last Friday night, I couchsurfed in Las Colinas. Last Saturday, a family in Keller, Texas. I won’t mention their names for the sake of anonymity.

How did I do it?

I started by putting an ad out on CouchSurfing.com offering up some services in exchange for one night on someone’s couch. While some people may offer house cleaning or cooking, I got a little creative and offered a little more unconventional labor.  Plus, I’m not really good at cooking or cleaning anyway.

Couchsurfing Tip #1 : Offer something of value in exchange for your stay. This is something of value to your host, not you. It does not have to cost money. Think of everything you are good at and enjoy doing for others and make a list of services, which most would consider valuable. This may sound obvious, but don’t offer anything you are not really willing to do,  because he/she may take you up on your offer. This means, if you hate washing dishes, do not put it on your list! Put a dollar value on your time.  Most all of these services I could do in one hour and I put a $50 value per hour on my time.

See the slightly HILARIOUS list of services I offered inside: Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t already guessed, I am from Texas and I am also a huge fan of the state. In this state we see a lot of armadillos. Albeit, most are on the side or middle of the road and not moving too much, they are quite common in Texas.

I have seen many live ones, and they are fun harmless creatures, unless they are digging holes in your yard or tearing up your flower bed. I thought I would share this list of off beat armadillo facts for those lovers of everything Texas, including the wild animals.

1. By a Different Name – In Spanish armadillo means, “little armed one.” Germans have a different word for armadillo which means “little pig.” I think armadillos would take offense to that if they only knew. I know I would. In the 1930s Americas called armadillos Hoover Hogs, as a knock on the presiding president. Some less fortunate souls had to end up eating these lovable creatures or they would have starved. They blamed the president at the time for his plan to supply jobs which, in their minds, was not working.

2. Guinea Pigs for Science - Armadillos are very cold blooded, which isn’t an insult on their personalities, it is just a fact. Due to this, they are used in research for leprosy, which they are prone to contract. There is very little chance of humans getting leprosy from armadillos, but armadillos are used in finding cures and understanding the disease in humans.

3. Baby Soft – Baby armadillos, much like crabs or any other hard shelled creature have soft shells for the first months of life. Similar to a human fingernail, they harden over time through a process of depositing bone under the skin to make a shell.

Get three more Unkanny Facts About Armadillos in Texas. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was younger, I had my fair share of family vacations– snow skiing trips, Disney Land, World, New Mexico. Some were closer to home with other families like the Bishops like Six Flags or Wet N’ Wild (Hurricane Harbor). In retrospect, some of my favorite trips were the ones we took within Texas. In the summer of 1989, when I was eight years old, my family, brother, mother, and father (my sister wasn’t born yet), loaded up in our Astro Mini Van and headed to Canyon, Texas, 25 miles outside of Amarillo. The point of the trip was to watch one of “the world’s most popular outdoor musical dramas” TEXAS, and to take the Palo Duro Canyon tour.

The Canyon Tour

Palo Duro Canyon State Park , located outside the main city of Canyon, Texas, and considered to be “the Grand Canyon of Texas” opened to the public in July 1934. It contains 26,275 acres is 120 miles long and is as much as 20 miles wide. With a maximum depth of 800 feet, its elevation at the highest point is 3,500 feet above sea level. Some say Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States. The largest, the Grand Canyon, is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and 6,000 ft. deep.

The actual tour was breath taking. We surmounted the rocky terrain rode in one of those 30 - 50 tourist mobiles driven and narrated by our guide. He pointed out some memorable scenes and rock formations, but I was more excited about the roadrunners and lizards I saw for the first time. After the tour, and while awaiting the performance we spent time in the gift shop where my father let me buy my first pocket knife. I still have it. Read the rest of the post on Palo Duro Canyon State Park here.

Austin, Texas, is one of the fasted growing cities in the US according CNN’s Money Magazine. As of 2006, it is the 16th largest city in the US, and the fourth largest in Texas. It is quickly becoming the hub of commerce combined with a high quality of life.

With an above average income, and relatively low housing costs, in the last few years there has been a land rush for stake in this No. 2 “Best Places to Live” (also according to Money Magazine). Below are seven attractions in Austin divided into three categories: music, museums, and bat bridge (a category of its own). If you live in Texas, take a weekend trip and enjoy what Austin has to offer.

Music Festivals in Austin

Learn more attractions in Austin. Read the rest of this entry »

When out of state tourists think of Texas road trips, only a few hot spots come to mind: The Alamo, Austin night life, and that is about it. I wanted to point out some other lesser-known city and outside attractions that might make for an interesting road trip.

Schlitterbahn - For your summer time road trip, drive your water-amusement-park-lovin‘ self down to New Braunfels, Texas and get your feet wet in this German themed oasis of fun. There are two parts to this park, and I personally enjoy the older classic part. I don’t know, there is just something nostalgic about that muddy water tube slides and river tubing.

I am sure a family would prefer the newer part with a man-made river of the chlorinated persuasion one can lounge on alligator floaty on all day. It keeps you moving whether you want to or not. There are also huge slides that make for a real tongue swallower! 

More pictures inside. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best road trips I’ve ever taken was to San Antonio and Austin, Texas, during Spring Break of 2002. It wasn’t Padre or Cancun, but I had a good time because I love Texas culture and it was just my girlfriend (at the time) and I.

I really don’t know what prompted it, but there we were South of San Antonio, in a low key neighborhood not too far from the San Juan Mission is an intersection of roadway and railroad track that has become known in a catalog of American ghost lore. The haunted railroad they call it.

Brief History of the Haunted Railroad
Here’s the back story: In 1941, a catholic school bus full of kids made its way down the road and toward the intersection. It stalled on the railroad tracks and a speeding train crushed the bus, sacrificing all of the children. The bus driver, a nun, survived, until she went insane and committed suicide. Since the accident over 60 years ago (as the story goes), any vehicle stopped on the railroad tracks will be pushed by tiny unseen hands across the tracks to safety.

Ghost picture inside. Read the rest of this entry »