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Part 2 of 3 Part Series:

Do You Know What Search Engines Are Saying About You?

For the first time in humanity, one person can talk to 1.7 billion people for free, and unfiltered. People have the ability to check the credentials of you and your company online. More are doing this everyday. Your customers are deciding if you will earn their business BEFORE you ever speak with them. Today, you can and must control your online reputation. The longer you wait to start, the harder it will be to control it.

Your online reputation is quickly going to become a valid factor in the success of your organization. If you are not controlling your online reputation, your customers will.  Unfortunately the most motivated customers are the ones out to damage your reputation.

You are not going to be able to control what people say about you so you must be prepared to deal with it.  You must “own” your search results. The internet has become the place where we credential everything.  It is as much a decision making engine as it is a search engine.

 Negative reporting sites seem to trump any positive searches a company may have...even if the information is not accurate. This phenomenon is causing small business owners to lose millions of dollars in revenue going to their competitors. The sad thing is that much of the data is coming from disgruntled customers, ex-employees and even competitors who post inaccurate information for the purpose of sabotage.

Steps to Take

    1. Have a listening process. This must include multiple methods for listening to what people might be saying about you online. 2. You must have an engagement policy, which defines how you will respond to the positive and negative things said about you and your brand. 3.Have a measurement system that measures how much people are talking about you and what the sentiment is whether positive or negative. 4.Organizations need to immediately have a formal response paradigm that includes reaching out to people by phone as the first action. 5.Organizations need to learn how to deal with negative comment’s which receive preferential search rankings.

    The only solution available is contracting a capable SEO company to remove it

    Stay tuned for Part 3

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    Dear Subscriber,

    Congress to send small business bill to Obama

    WASHINGTON -A long-delayed bill to help struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to expand and hire new workers is poised to clear its final hurdle.

    The legislation - slated for a House vote Thursday - would establish a $30 billion government fund to help Main Street banks lend to small businesses. It also would cut their taxes and boost Small Business Administration loan programs.

    The vote would send the measure to Obama, giving him and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill a much-needed, but minor, victory just six weeks before the midterm elections.

    See full article from DailyFinance click HERE


    With 97% of consumers now doing their research online, it is as important as ever to have a reputable and professional presence online. Simply having a website isn’t enough anymore. In todays economic climate, its vital that your business position its website to be seen by consumers who turn to Google, Yahoo! and Bing. The question becomes, “How Do I get my business to the top of these major search engines?”

    While there is certainly things you can do on your own, if your business is looking to rely on the Internet for a majority of its business, you should consider using a professional Internet marketing company. With several hundred elements leading up to your website being properly optimized for the likes of Google, it is easy to get caught up in the “too good to be true” advertisements, only to be left holding the bag with no results for your company.

    Just Professionals believes in educating its clients on proper technique, and how to avoid the predatory web companies that do exist. That’s why in an effort to flush out the fly by night companies; we offer all members of MainStreetChamber a free consultation. Regardless of the company you use for your web design or search engine optimization, it is imperative that you are making educated decisions.

    In addition to free consultations, we offer MainStreetChamber members a money back guaranteed search engine-marketing package. This means the first page of Google, or you don’t pay a dime. We can do that because we have a proven and documented track record, and think it’s important to protect the business community from predatory tactics. After all, we're in this together. Call Just Professionals today at (888) 519-JUST (5878) for a free consultation and take advantage of our money back guaranteed search engine-marketing package.

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    Expansion
    President - Greenville, SC
    Karen Sturkie

    An entrepreneur at heart, Karen has been involved in the small business community in the Upstate of South Carolina for more than 20 years.  In the late 90’s Karen ran a successful image consulting business presenting “Dress for Success” workshops to local businesses and built a team of more than 40 consultants.  Then in 1999, along with two partners, she developed a call center to set real estate appointments.  The Appointment Center, Inc. quickly grew to become the benchmark for real estate appointment centers in the southeast, and currently sets appointments for approximately 80% of the real estate offices in the Upstate, serving offices in Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Atlanta, Virginia, Detroit, and throughout the southeast.

    As president of MainStreetChamber-Greenville, Karen’s goal is to use her enthusiasm and love for the small business owner to develop an organization that will not only assist the small business owner, but also recognize and applaud true entrepreneurial spirit.  “In this economy, more than ever it is important to band together as business owners and contribute our talents and ideas to the true benefit others.  I cannot think of a time in recent history where this organization is more necessary or relevant.  Now is the time to take action, and I believe that by working together we can produce results that would not be obtained by working independently.”

    Vice President - Greenville, SC
    Lisa McGill




    Lisa McGill has been living in the Greenville area for almost 50 years. She attended Eastside High School and Greenville Technical College. She pursued a career in the medical field followed by a career in sales.  For the past 3 years, Lisa has been a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty and is an active member of National Association of Realtors, South Carolina Association of Realtors, Greater Greenville Association of Realtors, and the Greenville Multiple Listing Service. 

    Lisa has also been involved in several small businesses:   In the mid-90’s she worked with an image company doing “Image Workshops” to help companies transition from “business wear” to “casual business wear.” She also helped both women and men in discover their own unique image from head to toe.

    Lisa also works part-time as a Wedding Director handling all aspects of the wedding, including church weddings, garden weddings, outdoor venues and historic settings. She has business partners who provide flowers, catering, cakes, DJ’s, photography, and music, etc.

    Lisa is married to Mendel McGill and has two teenage boys.  Their hobbies include football, baseball, and basketball.  Now a member of Taylors First Baptist, Lisa attended Pendleton Street Baptist Church for 24 years has seen a lot of changes in Greenville -- especially in the downtown area. 
    “I am very excited to have this opportunity to reach out and help others in the small business community in my hometown.  Now is the time—we will make a difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors in the Upstate.”

    President - South Bend, IN
    Ruby Brower



    Ruby Brower is the owner a non-profit organization that helps individuals, businesses and organizations reach their full business potential.   Individual Family and Community Development  (“I-FACD”) (2003)   Brower is an avid GRANT and BUSINESS PLAN writer,  who specializes in teaching the process. (gotfunding.info)  Brower has over 25 years of experience working in community and economic development.  She believes that everyone with a dream and entrepreneurial spirit,  should be equipped with the tools and resources to reach their goals.  Brower has done contracts with the Federal Government as a Grant Reviewer, and saw many deserving organizations that were doing great work, and did not know how to compete.    As an entrepreneur herself, she understands personally the trials and the tricks of the trade.
    Because of the day to task with small businesses, in every stage of development, Ms. Brower is excited to become the President of the MainStreetChamber in Indiana, in helping small businesses in her local communities around (South Bend, Indiana) realize the benefits that are being offered.  Brower’s goal is empower business owners to create even more jobs, thus strengthening the local community.

    Ruby was born and raised in North Carolina; however she spent most of her adult life in Massachutes.  She migrated to the Midwest in 1998 and graduated from Andrews University.

    “MainStreetChamber has invested in my dream, by sharing the wealth.  We (they) want to invest in you.  Helping people to make money, save money and get involved is what MainStreetChamber does and what I am committed to do as the President of the South Bend.”



    www.MainStreetChamber.org