IN THIS ISSUE
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Reputation
Management
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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.
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 ______________________ 80% Off
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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
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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 entrep reneur 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.”
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