# Google Hotpot, Tags, and Boost - Oh my!



## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

A little video from Google "explaining" in very simple terms the three factors used for ranking local pages as well as a very brief introduction to three new locally relevant products: Google Hotpot, Tags, and Boost. 

A very interesting thing about Hotpot...if you sign up and your online friends rate other businesses, those will be ranked preferentially when you search in those categories. Your personal results will also be ranked based on your past preferences/reviews/etc in hotpot.

Local search is getting a lot more social, folks. This is happening on a pretty wide scale already, but I predict that in the coming few years, very few of us will see the same results for the same local search terms, even when we search from the same geo location. Our past preferences/ratings as well as those of our online "friends" are playing a larger role in the results we see.


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

Cool stuff, can always count on you! I checked out Hotpot, looks interesting, the Boost is only available in limited areas.
I wonder how effective the tags are?

I do see when I do Google searches, "results from people in your social network".


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

I stopped tags a few weeks ago. Despite a large number of clicks on the local listing, very few clicked on the "tag." Boost is coming to all areas pretty soon, they're still testing it in limited markets.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Natter is not gonna like this


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

I was watching some Matt Cutts vids last night and came across this new feature on Google. You nailed it when you mention that everything is on the cusp of major change. I was hard headed and slow to adopt the social aspect but yes, businesses that are willing to interact across multiple platforms are going to dominate Google and their market in general. 

A new field is born... Social Positioning Optimization.


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## Pressure Cleaning (Nov 1, 2007)

If your Seo game is good no need to worry about hotpot.:thumbup:


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

Who's worrying about it?


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I think the Nazi's are behind this. lol


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## Seattlepainting (Jun 8, 2010)

The new Google SERP that rolled out a few months ago is heavy on the local/places; so optimize your Local Place. With big price tag for Groupon (higher than what youtube cost) it is clear Google wants to improve Local search.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Seattlepainting said:


> The new Google SERP that rolled out a few months ago is heavy on the local/places; so optimize your Local Place. With big price tag for Groupon (higher than what youtube cost) it is clear Google wants to improve Local search.


I agree 100%. This is a big advantage to smaller companies or new websites. You still have to get Google to notice you and they still weigh site strength (via standard SEO algorithm) to place you but distance is heavily weighted. I hate the change because it killed my first page dominance. Something I have started incorporating is for customers to leave me reviews. 

All Google is doing is taking the referral model and digitizing it. Instead of asking your neighbor who a good local contractor is, Google does it for you. They show you local guys and your reviews are what's going to build consumer confidence. 

Here's a decent and basic outline by Matt Cutts, the front voice of Google.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

Google has changed, I think that it will be a different beast. Totally different. I am reading that 2 people, in the same room, side by side.. using the same keywords in google will get different results. This is due to the influence of a person's friends, their opinions on "things" is taken into account also. 

This is taking our economy and putting it in a bubble. It is actually taking our businesses and turning them into characters to be played out on the "who's cool list" on the web.

I do have some ideas for this new social based search engine kluster-****. 

These type of changes usually help the brick and mortar companies. We will see, but one of the hinges to this happens to be Facebook. And I really don't like the way facebook is setup. Myspace was better for user functions/tweaking. I am with Plain in saying that Facebook is STILL broke or backward with the posting stuff to the account, it goes to personal instead of to your business' profile.. still a HUGE gripe of mine.

Happy Web-mastering!


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

N8, I look at Google in a little different light. I have heard many of y friends say it is all about who spends money with them and that Google is all about bringing in more revenue. That is of course true to some extent as indicated by their stock price and earnings but I do believe they are successful because they do one thing... provide the most relevant search results. 

The Google map placing can't really be argued with in that respect. If I search for "plumbing services" I don't want the nation's largest plumbing company in Chicago, I want local listings so I can find someone to fix my problem. 

Visiting the point you bring up about popularity, I guess I would pose this... what type of lead do all of us prefer? The person that has no idea what things cost, thumbs through a Yellow Pages and randomly picks our ad and calls, or a referral from a previous customer? That's what Google is trying to emulate. That's why they are scanning Service Magic, Yahoo local, Angie's List and other areas where people can give reviews. Angie's List and Service magic are hard to crack. An unscrupulous contractor cannot go make a ton of fake testimonials and 5-star ratings. So Google's recommendation is about as close as people are going to get to a referral. 

*The Quality of The Leads*

My initial reaction to the way Google is presenting SERP's (search engine results page) was negative. But when you think about it, the amount of clicks may go down, but the conversion rate (people that make a RFQ) should go up. 

Facebook is going to work on the same premise. I think it is a solid premise. My view now is very excited and positive about the social media aspects. People are going to get trained to leave testimonials. That's a double edged sword as people can also leave unfair reports when they aren't valid but as business owners it forces us to get our sh-- together and improve customer service. Anyone that has been in business awhile knows when customer service truly begins.. its not at RFQ callback or giving a quote. Its when you get the callbacks for problems. I've learned that the hard way a few times.

N8, install FBML on your company page. You can then put any standard HTML into the module it creates and put links, tables, pictures, whatever your heart desires.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

PressurePros said:


> But when you think about it, the amount of clicks may go down, but the conversion rate (people that make a RFQ) should go up.


Well, this was timely. Here's a a post published today from by someone who manges a lot of Place Pages for local businesses.

He notes that for the 40 place pages he examined, after the change Google implemented (ie combining organic and local results), the following happened:



> Change in Aggregate Actions	Up 28%
> Change in Aggregate Impressions	Down 25%


So while the total impressions for listings went down by a fourth, customers clicked on each listing more by almost a third. Something to keep in mind.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

that's pretty dang cool Y. Future will tell. I remain very leery..


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

PressurePros said:


> Facebook is going to work on the same premise. I think it is a solid premise. My view now is very excited and positive about the social media aspects. People are going to get trained to leave testimonials. That's a double edged sword as people can also leave unfair reports when they aren't valid but as business owners it forces us to get our sh-- together and improve customer service. Anyone that has been in business awhile knows when customer service truly begins.. its not at RFQ callback or giving a quote. Its when you get the callbacks for problems. I've learned that the hard way a few times.
> 
> N8, install FBML on your company page. You can then put any standard HTML into the module it creates and put links, tables, pictures, whatever your heart desires.


After watching the founder of Facebook on 60 minutes last night, I think the social aspect will only get stronger. As it gets easier for people to post comments, testimonials, complaints and share we will see more interaction.
It is very easy to find a local business on FB and ask a question, see the work and the comments from others.

There will always be business models that will do fine without it (NEPS can just say "no" to FB), but for many it will be a great tool in the marketing box.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

RCP said:


> After watching the founder of Facebook on 60 minutes last night, I think the social aspect will only get stronger. As it gets easier for people to post comments, testimonials, complaints and share we will see more interaction.
> It is very easy to find a local business on FB and ask a question, see the work and the comments from others.
> 
> There will always be business models that will do fine without it (NEPS can just say "no" to FB), but for many it will be a great tool in the marketing box.


yeah but until they can give you a stand alone business page that has nothing to do with your personal page it is worthless really.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

johnpaint said:


> yeah but until they can give you a stand alone business page that has nothing to do with your personal page it is worthless really.


Why do you say that, John?


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Well try to send a link to your facebook company page and see where it goes.
you know I could be wrong though it just seem like in the past I have had a hard time linking to my company page.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

PP you talked about FBML, do you install it on your personal page or business, or both?


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

John, its an app for your business page. Usually I have no problems posting a link on my business page (without using the FBML)


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Thanks PP


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

johnpaint said:


> Well try to send a link to your facebook company page and see where it goes.
> you know I could be wrong though it just seem like in the past I have had a hard time linking to my company page.


not sure I understand you here John? You mean sharing?


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

John (and n8), I really don't get the issue you guys are reporting.

I have had a facebook profile page (personal) for 5 years now. I have had my business page for almost 1 year. 

I have never had an issue with the two cross-meddling with each other. When I post a link to my business page, that's exactly where the link takes one.

I am at a loss as to your issues.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> John (and n8), I really don't get the issue you guys are reporting.
> 
> I have had a facebook profile page (personal) for 5 years now. I have had my business page for almost 1 year.
> 
> ...


OK so maybe I missing something here. 
Scenario, Your on someone web page of blog, you see a the blue FB tab that says share with FB, so you hit that and it sends it to your personal page. How do you get it to post to your business w/out going to the personal page first?


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

I kinda figured that's what you were talking about, John. The solution is to copy the URL and go back to your business page to post it.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

johnpaint said:


> OK so maybe I missing something here.
> Scenario, Your on someone web page of blog, you see a the blue FB tab that says share with FB, so you hit that and it sends it to your personal page. How do you get it to post to your business w/out going to the personal page first?


Those "Share" or "Like" buttons are not meant for that, per se.

They are meant for a business/blog to use on their business/blog page so that other consumers/readers can share it on their personal page. It's meant to "spread the word" about that post/page via people's personal profiles.

As a business, you can add one of those buttons to your blog/website and then when someone clicks on it, they can share your business story/etc on their personal page.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

PressurePros said:


> I kinda figured that's what you were talking about, John. The solution is to copy the URL and go back to your business page to post it.


Will I can do that and have, but what I be saying is they need to be a stand alone site and not tied to the personal site.
Is this so wrong for me to feel this way? lol
Like most people I don't want to spam my friends and turn them off,but I feel that FB is all about (the personal social thing) and they just through in the business page at last thought, but play it down.
I take it that most of you don't feel this way and thats cool, but until they separate them, to me it's not that exciting.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> Those "Share" or "Like" buttons are not meant for that, per se.
> 
> They are meant for a business/blog to use on their business/blog page so that other consumers/readers can share it on their personal page. It's meant to "spread the word" about that post/page via people's personal profiles.
> 
> As a business, you can add one of those buttons to your blog/website and then when someone clicks on it, they can share your business story/etc on their personal page.


Yeah, but what if the had a business share button to business that would be cool. they could make it a different color or something.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

But now that I think about that it, it would be like asking a train to push it's load instead of pulling it, it can work but it's really not designed for it. All of this social stuff is good to a point but I really don't like how it's seems to be getting to the point that everyone knows everything, and with all the nut cases out there I just don't think I like that. 
I think also once the net goes down this road there is no way to get back if this experiment does not work.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

johnpaint said:


> Will I can do that and have, but what I be saying is they need to be a stand alone site and not tied to the personal site.
> Is this so wrong for me to feel this way? lol
> Like most people I don't want to spam my friends and turn them off,but I feel that FB is all about (the personal social thing) and they just through in the business page at last thought, but play it down.
> I take it that most of you don't feel this way and thats cool, but until they separate them, to me it's not that exciting.



John, I hear where you are coming from. I thought about making a business account but was advised against it. (by business account I mean a personal account with my business name).

I think you may be looking in too tight of a box. A business page is not about sharing links. Its about sharing your information. Specials, projects, customer interaction. You get insulated from spam because the people that will be getting your messages will have opted in to get them. They can always click unlike. 

You may be better off using Twitter to share links.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I'm still waiting for that perfect site.lol


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

I think they are perfectly separated.

What kind of cross-talk issues are you having John (besides that "share" buttonthing)?

For example, I have 2 different business pages. One for painting and one where I was just messing around - testing things out. Most folks on here know only about one of them - the painting one. My facebook "friends" only know about the painting one also.

There is no way for them to know about my other one unless I add it to my "likes pages" list - ie unless I "like" it myself.

I think the business pages are perfectly separated from the personal ones.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> I think they are perfectly separated.
> 
> What kind of cross-talk issues are you having John (besides that "share" buttonthing)?
> 
> ...


You had to open a personal page before you opened your business page right?


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

johnpaint said:


> You had to open a personal page before you opened your business page right?


So what's the issue with that? Just open one and if you want to use it, go ahead and if not, don't add any "friends" and don't use at all.

You had to open a google account before you could use gmail. 

And you had to open a PT account before you could use the search function of the forum. But that does not mean that you have to post in the forum. Just open the account and use the search feature without posting.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

It does not feel right. That is/was my point. Facebook is weird. I happened to be on if for whatever reason this morning for about 3min. I saw that someone.. don't remember where I was.. was at a specific location. Like 4square. And THIS is supposed to get me business? 

Why can't search engines search stuff? Why do they have to try to get me to see one thing vs. just being able to see everything? I think Blekko, and all the pure search engines will get a lot more popular as Google tries to be every and all online web services in one. It is it's own worst enemy. New companies along with old and established are not bending to large sums of money for their acquisition. 

Google needs to get it's head on straight and be more than just what trend is happening now. It is finding it's self playing catchup all year long. Seems cluttered. And.. AND to those who are using it to make a living.. it is very shaky, uncertain.. I am going to make sure I am across the board now, instead of putting so much into Google optimization as far as the site goes..


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> So what's the issue with that? Just open one and if you want to use it, go ahead and if not, don't add any "friends" and don't use at all.
> 
> You had to open a google account before you could use gmail.
> 
> And you had to open a PT account before you could use the search function of the forum. But that does not mean that you have to post in the forum. Just open the account and use the search feature without posting.


Not good examples.Try again.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

N8, I used to say the same thing about websites and believed nothing would replace the yellow pages. :icon_sad: Not saying you are wrong but I doubt this is a passing fad. Facebook isn't the be-all-end-all, but it is a necessary piece of the marketing puzzle. Early adopters are going to be rewarded. At worst, you waste a little time posting pictures and writing a few blurbs. For the record, I cannot stand the incessant updates people make. I couldn't care less what you had for breakfast or where you are right now but I seem to be in the minority. 

The internet has historically been anti-social and cold. Human beings ARE social, so the evolution is natural and will occur.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

My question, John, what is the issue with having to open a personal account in order to open a business page?


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> My question, John, what is the issue with having to open a personal account in order to open a business page?


You like FB a lot,that's cool. It's not my cup of tea, we all like some things and not others. Sometimes it may be just a gut feel and sometimes not. I hope it works good for you.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

http://videos.webpronews.com/2010/12/07/seo-and-social-media-to-unify/

watch this video.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

john, it's not about me liking it or not. The fact of the matter is that I haven't posted anything on my business FB page in like 5 months. Hell, the whole layout of the page changed so much in that time period that my fbml custom landing page doesn't even look proper anymore (reminds me, have to fix it).

I hear you and n8 (but mostly n8) talk about there being some sort of technical issues between a business page and a personal page. 

I'm trying to figure out what those technical issues are. Haven't been able to understand you two very clearly.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

nEighter said:


> http://videos.webpronews.com/2010/12/07/seo-and-social-media-to-unify/
> 
> watch this video.


I can't, I keep staring at the guest sticking his tongue out a tiny bit every time the host asks him a question. It's kind of hilarious. :thumbup:


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

This is funny stuff.

I'd link some threads from ten months ago, which would show 'basco and natter going balls out creating Social media and website buzz and Fenner with an old high ranking website that looked like it was designed by Mike Brady, and no fb or linked in presence. 

Fast forward to now, basco and Natter are out and Fenner is up to his elbows in it. 

:blink:


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

y.painting said:


> John (and n8), I really don't get the issue you guys are reporting.
> 
> I have had a facebook profile page (personal) for 5 years now. I have had my business page for almost 1 year.
> 
> ...


across multiple forums there are the same reported problems. It may just be a mental block on my end, or not understanding the interface, but it isn't the best layout, it is a chore for me to be on that site.. I will just put it like that. Myspace, I could control the look and all of that, I had a myspace page for Atlas back in 05. 

I am just seeing it as being a really weird deal. Say "bert" doesn't have a facebook account. He has a regular website, married and content with his circle of friends. What happens to his site? Because he is not a "social butterfly" his site all the sudden won't be as favored as Joe Schmoe Painting who posts how his bowl movement went... ? Just because Joe had a "social network" and Bert did not? It makes no sense to me to turn the whole search engine (or its results..) over to a fad.. I know that sounds backward.. and I feel like I am 852 yrs old by saying it.. but it is a feeling I have about it. I think the company that has the right navigation will be the next big search engine. Striaght to the point. I have been online looking for christmas gifts and I feel like the quality of searches has gone down.

Anywho.. so google is trying to be the internet.. I can't wait to see how this plays out.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> This is funny stuff.
> 
> I'd link some threads from ten months ago, which would show 'basco and natter going balls out creating Social media and website buzz and Fenner with an old high ranking website that looked like it was designed by Mike Brady, and no fb or linked in presence.
> 
> ...


:laughing:

that is TOO funny!


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

N8, I think you're overestimating how much social presence effects google SERPS at this point for a contracting company's website.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> This is funny stuff.
> 
> I'd link some threads from ten months ago, which would show 'basco and natter going balls out creating Social media and website buzz and Fenner with an old high ranking website that looked like it was designed by Mike Brady, and no fb or linked in presence.
> 
> ...


Yeah, it's like the curtain falls an time changes, kind of thing.This is what it's looking like now with all the social stuff all mixed up with business kind of thing. It's too bad that there is only one search engine in town in some ways and others it's good.It's all together over ranked anyway.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

vermontpainter said:


> This is funny stuff.
> 
> I'd link some threads from ten months ago, which would show 'basco and natter going balls out creating Social media and website buzz and Fenner with an old high ranking website that looked like it was designed by Mike Brady, and no fb or linked in presence.
> 
> ...


:lol: I'm slow to comprehend, but when I finally get it, I go all in.


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## nEighter (Nov 14, 2008)

for the moment yes. But will continue to become a huge criteria in searches. That video above talks somewhat about it. But I did not come to that conclusion from that video.. it is just funny it said what I was trying to say.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

I'm laughing at myself here too because I've been as critical as anyone of social media, blogging, seo mania, etc. 

Now I'm keeping an eye on this stuff. Still can't bring myself to tweet. I promise I won't do that. 

But seriously, I think the big contradiction in this whole thing is that all of these phenomena keep the world at our fingertips 2 4 7. I just picked up my new iPhone 4 yesterday. Holy crikeys. Scary. I think people on our end, business, get frustrated when we set up all this crap and it doesn't generate a single lead. I'm ok with that. I don't look for my website or anything online to generate leads. I don't want to sort through a barrel of oysters for one pearl. But I do think it's a profound way to build credibility, name recognition and retention. I actually think it has more potential in retention than generation. Not a bad deal. You just have to have a base worth retaining. So, it turns into a vicious cycle of frustration.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Scott your website doesn't generate leads? My Mike Brady website did a little under $200g in new business this year. I spent maybe $1500 the whole year in advertising. I'm hedging my bets with Facebook and other social media blitzes. I agree with you that for the time being, FB may not generate many leads but as I populate the page and start inviting customers I am hoping they will start leaving testimonials. 

The key to the Facebook city if you will, is in the targeted marketing via PPC ads. Its like having a NY City marketing firm at your fingertips. Here's a promotional contest I will be running.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

PressurePros said:


> Scott your website doesn't generate leads? My Mike Brady website did a little under $200g in new business this year. I spent maybe $1500 the whole year in advertising. I'm hedging my bets with Facebook and other social media blitzes. I agree with you that for the time being, FB may not generate many leads but as I populate the page and start inviting customers I am hoping they will start leaving testimonials.
> 
> The key to the Facebook city if you will, is in the targeted marketing via PPC ads. Its like having a NY City marketing firm at your fingertips. Here's a promotional contest I will be running.


No, my website doesn't directly generate leads. It's not even set up to do that. It contributes. Marketing to me is like a batting order in baseball. The website doesn't need or want to hit cleanup. 

I read voraciously. Insanely. I prolifically follow certain (to me) opinion leaders, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally for a good cross section. 

An article I read yesterday discussed how the absurd combination of the economic downturn and the social media boom has bred a new consumer who will no longer tolerate automated phone systems (phone trees), computer voice customer service, etc. The notion is that there is a demand for more personalized business, which flies right square in the face of all of us e myth and out of the bucket readers. I think there's a balance in there that must be struck going forward. Ken, I'd be careful in the packaging and presentation of the site based estimating format you are working on. I'd like to bounce that around next time we talk. It's been since September I think!


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Good for you pp I'm glad it's working for you.There are many roads to a web site.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Scott, I think its been longer than that unless you mean Sept of '09. I'd enjoy hearing your insight.

I usually follow my instinct. The first thing I look for on a website selling me something is price. I agree wholeheartedly that persoanl interaction is where it is at with a service business but you have to keep in mind, what I will be doing will be with basic house washes. I cannot afford to hire a sales staff to sell $400 jobs. I would love for you to come down one spring for a couple of days and watch the madness unfold. I have reached critical mass with estimating. i cannot physically do any more.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

In all honesty, and I don't mean this to sound trite, I could care less what anyone does. We all follow different paths. That's why we became business owners in the first place. Every marketing expert on the planet is screaming social media and has been for two years. Every major corporation is using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. I follow those leads..

*Facebook gets more traffic than Google.* That blew me away. 

Think of TV advertising. Its based on traffic/users/watchers. Now what if you could advertise and only have to pay for TV advertising that went into the homes of your target demographic and geographic? This is why I am touting this as something to watch. Its cheap now. It won't be in the future.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to use it but am attempting to answer the misnomers. Every smart business person that understands the axiom of "he who markets best, wins" will probably want to plug it in as another tool in the marketing belt.

Or we can stop all this nonsense and talk about what is really important...brushes and primers.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

I totally believe that brushes are more important than primers. :thumbup:

I think it's human nature to want to take the path of least resistance. It's easy to set up a fb business page. Guys set them up, do absolutely nothing with them, and then condemn them. Sometimes I think it's fear of success. There must be a psych major somewhere in the group here. 

I'm surprised to hear the traffic stat too. I would guess that google traffickers are more likely to be searching for services than fb, but the beauty is that hour fb page, and your YouTube, and linked in, will all show up in google. It's really interesting to follow analytics and see how the traffic flows once it gets to my website. The pages people look at and how much time they spend on them is good info. Some of the guys here have probably done a pretty good job of generating traffic that decided not to pursue it any further when they got to the visuals and content. There's so much good ranking crap. People are not dumb enough to think that because it ranks well, people must be buying from it. Most experts seem to agree that professional, not stock, visuals and solid content keep people interested. Seems to make sense. 






QUOTE=PressurePros;175374]In all honesty, and I don't mean this to sound trite, I could care less what anyone does. We all follow different paths. That's why we became business owners in the first place. Every marketing expert on the planet is screaming social media and has been for two years. Every major corporation is using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. I follow those leads..

*Facebook gets more traffic than Google.* That blew me away. 

Think of TV advertising. Its based on traffic/users/watchers. Now what if you could advertise and only have to pay for TV advertising that went into the homes of your target demographic and geographic? This is why I am touting this as something to watch. Its cheap now. It won't be in the future.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to use it but am attempting to answer the misnomers. Every smart business person that understands the axiom of "he who markets best, wins" will probably want to plug it in as another tool in the marketing belt.

Or we can stop all this nonsense and talk about what is really important...brushes and primers.[/QUOTE]


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

RCP said:


> not sure I understand you here John? You mean sharing?





johnpaint said:


> OK so maybe I missing something here.
> Scenario, Your on someone web page of blog, you see a the blue FB tab that says share with FB, so you hit that and it sends it to your personal page. How do you get it to post to your business w/out going to the personal page first?


So you did mean sharing, that frustrated me at first too. I used an application that let me do it thru tweets, but I did not care much for it. I agree it is a pain to copy paste a link rather than just hit the like button. But think of Facebook as a website with many pages (I have several Fan pages) and your personal page is the "home" page. 



vermontpainter said:


> I'm laughing at myself here too because I've been as critical as anyone of social media, blogging, seo mania, etc.
> 
> Now I'm keeping an eye on this stuff. Still can't bring myself to tweet. I promise I won't do that.


Ya, you said no to Facebook at first!



vermontpainter said:


> An article I read yesterday discussed how the absurd combination of the economic downturn and the social media boom has bred a new consumer who will no longer tolerate automated phone systems (phone trees), computer voice customer service, etc. The notion is that there is a demand for more personalized business, which flies right square in the face of all of us e myth and out of the bucket readers.


Exactly, we are raising a generation of "I want it now"! You really have to use FB to see the viral effect. 



RCP said:


> After watching the founder of Facebook on 60 minutes last night, I think the social aspect will only get stronger. As it gets easier for people to post comments, testimonials, complaints and share we will see more interaction.
> It is very easy to find a local business on FB and ask a question, see the work and the comments from others.





johnpaint said:


> yeah but until they can give you a stand alone business page that has nothing to do with your personal page it is worthless really.


I'm still not following your thought on this. Like Y said, you can keep your personal/business completely separate. There are some major companies on FB. Biggest difference is Business pages are searchable by Google, personal are not.

This might help you to see the difference.

But you don't have to have one, or a website, or preprinted invoices, or logo'd shirts or all the other "stuff" we jabber on about. Just depends on what kind of biz you want.


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## Pressure Cleaning (Nov 1, 2007)

Facebook what? Is the public asking for businesses to be on Facebook? Tired of seeing ads just might be why they are there. Facebook is now trying to invite businesses for profits. Sure I'll be there once they introduce business to their users. Most peolpe don't even write reviews unless the service was so horrendous, most reviews are lying ss competitors. Advertisiing on youtube, Cnn and other places are a pain and if they do this wrong they will lose their users so Im looking for the next hot thing.

I did get a premium page just in case. :thumbsup:


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Thanks Rcp: Hey has anyone used a fb page to show their job reviews? what do you think about this RCP?


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

johnpaint said:


> Thanks Rcp: Hey has anyone used a fb page to show their job reviews? what do you think about this RCP?


I think it is great, when they write a review, it goes on their page and their friends' pages. 
I had one job where we were trying to decide colors, I posted the pics on FB and the customers friends were making comments.

Here are my reviews.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Yeah I have reviews scattered all over the internet and I would like to grab some and put them in a place where Google can grab them for G-Places. what do you think ?


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

johnpaint said:


> Yeah I have reviews scattered all over the internet and I would like to grab some and put them in a place where Google can grab them for G-Places. what do you think ?


I think Y will have to answer that one, I have not kept up with that. I just put this on my site so the HO can choose which site to use.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Looks good rcp


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

johnpaint said:


> Yeah I have reviews scattered all over the internet and I would like to grab some and put them in a place where Google can grab them for G-Places. what do you think ?


Here are the top 3 places for customers to put reviews so that your google place page picks it up:

1. citysearch
2. judysbook
3. insiderpages

You want to be careful though since Google has been known to combine 3rd party reviews into the place pages only to drop them later and then combine some other ones, etc. It's a work in progress for them, I think. Best is to have a program in place for your customers just leave them on google to ensure that they are there.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

I have one picked up from Google pages and by far the biggest amount, based on my local search results, was from Service Magic. My guess is that Google is going to pick them up from those places that it is most difficult to cheat. I am assuming on Service Magic you would have to have hired a SM contractor to leave a review.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

Ken, yes, service magic reviews always get picked up by Google place pages. Google puts a lot of trust into these reviews (for reasons you mentioned - it is hard to "cheat" with these, although not impossible).

The thing with SM reviews, though, is that once you stop using service magic, all of those reviews go "poof". Even if I was using SM, I'd rather have my customers leave them directly on my google place page so that they are permanent.

Re folks cheating with SM reviews - I don't think it's impossible. I'm not sure what fact checking SM does with each customer, but I can imagine a contractor, under a different name, pretending to hire themselves and then leaving a review for their own business.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

I've never used Service Magic as I think lead generation companies on the whole are hokey. That's probably an unfair blanket statement but I couldn't be bothered with chasing fake leads then trying to get SM to give me credit. 

Google is weighing the amount of likes, traffic, reviews, stars, YouTube views, fans, etc. Its almost impossible to keep up with. Of course that is the objective for Google, searching out natural results.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

If you want to be on the top of the list, it sounds like it is a full time job for one person to keep on top of all this stuff.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

y.painting said:


> Here are the top 3 places for customers to put reviews so that your google place page picks it up:
> 
> 1. citysearch
> 2. judysbook
> ...


I think SM pretty much owns insider pages.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

Yeah, both citysearch and insiderpages are in the portfolio of IAC. IAC also owns SM, they bough them out a few years ago.

IAC also own match.com and ask.com and a crap load of other online destinations.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Y painting I will have to say you have got me rethinking some of this stuff. thanks Man


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## Seattlepainting (Jun 8, 2010)

*Facebook*

I think facebook pages for painting contractors; will fade away. I am pretty active on mine (FB page) and I have alot of fans relative to the next guy, but I don't think in the long run a painting contractors page has enough compelling content and daily updates for even your best friend to look at on a regular basis; 

Last week I put a video up because it snowed in Seattle on my facebook page; it was fun lots of people looked but really the resources spent to do it are not compelling....blow up your LOCAL space on Google and BING instead.


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