Changing domain names is something that, in most cases should be avoided.

When “remodeling” a website/ web presence it is important to keep the existing domain name.

How long a domain name has been registered and active is one of Google’s major ranking factors.

At times it might be necessary to change domain names.

Maybe the biz is changing hands.

Maybe the biz is changing names.

Maybe the idea is to use one of the new domain extensions. (recently I saw a few banks launch “dot-bank” domains).

Or.. perhaps the domain was lost.

Aside from the domain being lost, there is a proper and improper way to launch a new domain.

The main thing though…

Each page of the old domain must be properly redirected to the corresponding page of the new domain.

No matter… what your domain situation is… be “master of your domain” at…

https://cyberspacetoyourplace.com/fast-lane/

“Middleman Companies.”

They exist in almost every industry.

Dominated now by “new tech start-ups” these companies simply act as connectors.

Uber is obviously, the most notable “middleman.”  Getting around transportation regulations by simply “connecting” drivers and those who “want a ride.”

In other industries there are sites like “Home Advisor” who say they make hiring a “home service professional” a better experience.  

There’s a countless amount of food ordering apps.  

Sidenote: At least some of the delivery services do add a little value.

But… I am “meh” about letting my food travel with the Uber driver.  

Personally… I have the most respect for AirBNB…   At least they are taking an existing asset (house/space) and putting it to work in down-time.  No judgement if someone prefers sleeping in a stranger’s apartment over a hotel. Whatever. We have space in our house that is not used a good portion of the time. We get AirBnB guests once in a while.

What I don’t have respect for are the middlemen companies who do nothing.

They simply wiggle their way in between you and your end customer.

They do not provide the service.  They do not fulfill the order.

Why?  Because they think they can do it better.

Sadly… in some cases they can.  There are tradespeople out there who can’t return a phone call to a new potential customer if their life depended on it.  There are customers out there who just want to easily order food for a large or small event and can’t get the caterer or restaurant to simply nail it down.  

The middleman companies promise to make the “experience better.”  And in some cases they have made it better.

But the tools are available for those that want to do simple things like…

Do online /mobile app scheduling.

Keep cards on files for repeat orders.

Communicate via text rather than only voice-calls.

Take orders via FB Messenger.

Take payments online.

All these things are not that hard.

Usually they’re pretty simple to implement too.

Don’t give the middlemen a leg up.

Happy New Year to You!

Here is to wishing your business an amazing 2019!

It seems like 2018 was the year that “not much changed.”

Sure… Alexa, Google Home and “Voice” reached critical mass.

But does voice have the widespread adoption?

Meh?  

I know all the SEO peeps are talking about how important it is now to “optimize your site for voice search.”

The most amusing “new thing” of all?

Facebook Portal and the Google and Alexa devices with the screens.

“Wow… video calling on a device that remains in the same place!”

“Revolutionary!”  Ha, Not really.

As things change slowly around you. As some new concepts take hold and others quietly go away… stick to the principles of a solid online presence.

Lately…

With all the changes and shake out in the social media world…

Snapchat Crashing

Twitter… Still Barely Hanging On

The Death of Google+ (Finally)

And…  Despite Facebook’s problems… Facebook and Instagram still dominating (with some recent much-needed changes).

It’s a good time to poke fun at businesses still doing Social Media… Circa 2010.

Here goes. Four things…

1. Having every social share button on your website still… especially G+!

 

2. #Hashtag to #everything. Social Media amateurs drench their post in hashtags for who knows why… beyond thinking someone will search the tag and find them.    It looks so bad when they’re over-used.

 

 

3. Fancy Photos: Doctoring up pictures with all sorts of things like logo, website, etc. Not needed. A good post and authentic photos… people will find your website and other contact info.

 

4. Motivational Quotes: Social Media has killed the value of motivation quotes. Amateurs think by posting quotes (Totally un-related to the business) that they’ll somehow get likes and shares. Nah… the average FB user sees tons of quotes from their friends and has learned to tune them out. Because most come from the ones trying to sell them products from Multi-Level Marketing companies.

 

Most of this is not the fault of the business owner. More so, the “Social Media Marketing Company” they hired.

What to do?

Start with the opposite of the 4 things listed above.

Maybe even get some guidance by being part of our higher level program…

Check Out “The FastLane”

Over the past twelve months I have kept our list up-to-date on the numerous changes made to Google’s… “Google My Business” Product.

The ability to add more in-depth information. All the way to (what has worked well for my other business… the posts and photos section).  I believe these two really help you stand out!

Google’s heading toward adding “Products and Services” areas to the listing.

These can link to the page of your website that displays your products and services.

I am sure, in time, Google will make these go directly to a section on the Google My Business page.

As with anything Google throws our way, the recommendation is always the same.

Take advantage of it.

In our FastLane Program we optimize and manage Google My Business Listings to help you stand out above the crowd.

Test “But, they’re young, they know this stuff!”

The famous last words of a business owner who did damage to their brand by assuming “young people” must know online marketing and social media.

Do you remember the sad story of James Foley?

The poor guy who was beheaded by ISIS in 2014 on camera?

Sad.

This story made news again when a social media company hired by a local burger chain to “manage social media” created a post with a picture of Foley right before he was murdered. 

So… you can see the stupidity, I pasted the image in this email.

Ugh!

The problem going on with this stuff is simple…

Marketing, Your Website, Facebook, Instagram, Google…  To use these channels properly you mustn’t forget the core mission…  You are using these platforms to sell your stuff/services.

It’s not so much about being clever or cute… or worse… distasteful.

It’s about business experience and selling.

In the past I have always advised to proceed with caution if you’re considering delegating social media to an outside firm.

Defiantly one reason I keep our social media services to a minimum… advising when it comes to Facebook and Facebook Ads and strategically posting on Google My Business to drive search results.

This blew my mind.

I learned that Fast Food workers were protected by “No Poaching” agreements.

These agreements prevented Franchise owners from being able to entice workers to change jobs.

Recently… as with any private sector over-reach … the Government … stepped in.

The argument was simple. These agreements put downward pressure on wages.

News to me.

I thought only Apple and Google got in trouble for these things.

Hmm… what protections do us small business owners have?

None!

Non-compete agreements are generally hard to enforce.

And I doubt we are able to strike up non-poach agreements with each other to protect employees.

It’s certainly the most expensive thing… to train employees.

I’m no HR expert, so good luck is all I can say on this one.

Certainly… this is the reason why small business use outside vendors for as many things as possible.

Online marketing being one of them.

We had some issues with our central A/C in our townhouse/condo.

Boil it down to a poor install during construction.

It’s funny – when I saw the sticker of the company who did the install – about seven months ago… when I moved in…  I said..   UH-OH.

Well – I was right.  Things were “half-ass” on a few levels!

We got it fixed…

But the thermostat was so whacked.

The thermostat was programmable and just kept resetting itself to 78 degrees, no matter what we did.

So we swapped to a very simple thermostat that just goes up and down.

Now… just like my dad, I am back in control of my thermostat.

I like simple.

Now… onto the end of an era and some simple tips for you.

THE END.

I am no longer accepting Facebook Ads clients.

No more – managing budgets and placing ads.

I found – over the years – that most clients would not hold their end of what it takes to be successful on Facebook.

The best part about beating the dead-horse is when you stop beating it.

Now – I only consult on it – that’s all. I will tell clients what to do – based on my 8+ years of using Facebook Ad’s successfully… but I won’t be doing it for them.

This decision was made in conjunction with the fact – that I am too busy doing Facebook Ads and Social Media for two businesses that I own/ am part of.

So here’s the simple Facebook Strategy…

Content…  Keep it flowing.  If you’re in a visual business, you need to take advantage of that. Facebook Users love good photos and videos.

And then step two.  Because nothing will happen without step two…

Promote selected posts to “People who like your page and their friends.”

Add your website link to 90% of your posts.

Use landing pages here and there for specific or seasonal promotions.

Use FB Ads to target specific users and expand your ad reach.

The headline here…

Just posting on Facebook is not enough. Additional steps are required. If you take the additional steps – good things will happen.

Before we get to this “simple approach”… a side note.

Once again…

Google Does NOT Call You!

But for years – I have had conversations with business owners who swear they “keep getting calls from Google.”

Google does not call you.

The problem…

Tons of boiler rooms… mostly based outside of the U.S. make calls and pretend they are from Google.

Worse… TONS of robocalls come in claiming to be from Google.

What these calls have done is similar to what the grain industry did to make Americans fat.

The grain industry convinced Americans that eating tons of carbs was the best base of a diet. Remember the food pyramid?

Brands like Snackwells (in their healthy green package) were consumed by the pound.

“Low Fat” eating was the “in” thing.

Guess… what… obesity rates sky-rocketed!

So that’s what is happening. An army of call centers are convincing business owners that Google calls them.

NOPE.

My advice for a hot bod? None really. I eat what I want. Workout daily and average at least two hours per day on my treadmill desk. Plus… I do “manly” labor jobs to clear my head at one of my four properties.  That’s all.

On to the simple approach to only marketing.

While launching a new local biz in the last month – I’ve taken a simple approach to the online marketing.

• A sharp website that looks good and is optimized. It still amazes me how business owners don’t care about how their sites look. Prospects visit websites – even if just for a second to get… a “ya or na” feeling from the biz.  Optimized and indexed in Google so it climbs in ranking organically.
• Google My Biz. Taking advantage of all their new features. We had a deal that mentioned the promo I put on there.
• Local SEO – via listings and re-indexing the site through webmaster tools. And adding a few blogs here and there.
• Google Adwords. It’s a new biz so it’s up against all of the competition who has been there for a while. Using Google Adwords is a little “Ace” to rise higher in search.
• Facebook/Instagram: Simple. Putting out regular content that looks good. Also every post has the mission to drive users to the website. And – I back the best posts with ads carefully targeted.

We’ll do more.  I haven’t begun to add email marketing to the mix yet. That’s coming.

The local newspaper ad sales guys & girls have been around for decades.

In the days when local newspapers had tons of eye-balls looking at them, the salespeople would show up, tell you how many readers they had, tell you all the possibilities and then ask you… “Do you want to do a quarter page, full page, eighth of a page?”

Then… if you wrote a good ad, you might get some results.  If you wrote a bad ad, and got no results, it was your fault, not the paper’s fault.

Those days died a long time ago.

Many local newspapers went under or really pulled back.

For example… the number of actual reporters and editors has dropped dramatically.

In many cases, the quality of news has also dropped.

Enter a company like GateHouse.

They are a buying up local newspapers at fire-sale prices.

Now…  are they bringing back quality local news?

Not really…  Most of the news is written in a central office and shared around the country.

Are they sending their ad sales guys out to sell quarter page ads?

Not really… they’re sending their guys out to sell small businesses digital marketing services.

I’ve been in this business for a while now.

Since late 2005.

I’ve seen it over and over…

The Phone Book Companies getting into online marketing.

Direct Mail Companies getting into online marketing. (Rimes with PalVak)

And now… Newspapers.

Make sure you vet who you might work with.

If you like a depth of knowledge and real experience running a small business… check out our FastLane program. It’s not for everyone, but… ya never know.

If you like… newspaper ad guys… there’s that option too.

And who knows… maybe an ad in the paper or their website would make sense…  as long as you can track via your own analytics, you’ll know if it working or not.