I was catching up on some reading at SearchEngineLand.com and I came across a great article about how small businesses can improve their online visibility.  As I read through the article I noticed a link to AmIVisible.org and clicked on it to see what it was all about.  What I stumbled upon was a great tool for checking your company’s visibility but, what was even better than that, was the list of 10 tips for improving a small business’s online visibility.

Here is a rundown of what they are and I would recommend checking out the link above for the complete article.  It is well worth taking a few minutes to go over.

Tip 1: Claim your local business

Tip 2: Update your full and accurate address on all local business directories, search engines and your website in the right categories

Tip 3: Put your business in the right categories

Tip 4: Include product/service keywords in your local business listing title

Tip 5: Add or verify your business listing with data providers for search engines

Tip 6: Get your customers to write online reviews about your business

Tip 7: Engage your customers online on user review sites such as Yelp

Tip 8: Use social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter to stay  in touch with current customers and attract new customers

Tip 9: Advertise online

Tip 10: Create a clean, coherent website with content that targets your keywords.

Travis Scott External Content, SEO internet yellow pages, IYPs, online visibility, SEO

Restaurants using Twitter for cheap, effective marketing

By Devra J. First | Boston Globe Staff | June 29, 2009

On Dec. 2, computer consultant Jen Deaderick got on the social-networking site Twitter and posted: “Tupelo02139 is preparing.’’ It was her first missive, or tweet, on behalf of the Cambridge restaurant Tupelo, where her husband is a chef. The restaurant was more than four months away from opening.

Other tweets followed, about getting inspected, planning the menu, picking the paint. By the time Tupelo opened at the end of April, word had spread among followers of the restaurant’s Twitter stream (@tupelo02139), and their followers’ followers, and so on.

“Our opening night was packed,’’ Deaderick said. “At least half were there because of Twitter.’’

What can you do with 140 characters or less, the length of each tweet? A lot, restaurants are discovering – everything from posting daily specials to luring followers with offers of free appetizers to offering a glimpse of kitchen life. It’s all good for business.

Read the complete article:  Restaurants finding Twitter a cheap, effective marketing tool – The Boston Globe.

Travis Scott External Content, Twitter marketing, restaurants, Twitter

Jennifer Van Grove | Mashable.com | June 14th, 2009

Twitter may be a toddler in terms of age, but when it comes to purpose the microblogging site has managed to become the most useful utility for keeping up with news and hot topics as they happen.

Twitter is coming of age right before our eyes, and more and more people outside the immediate web/tech bubble are starting to respect the platform as more than just a flash in the pan. As such, we think it’s important to zoom out from the actual status updates and start looking at some of the larger trends surfacing around Twitter.

In this post we’ll examine how Twitter (Twitter) has changed the nature of search and created demand for real-time search engines. We’ll also explore why Verified Accounts matter, how savvy marketers are engineering Twitter trends, the nature of sponsored tweets and what’s to come, and the relevance of Twitter chat in third-party applications. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it encapsulates 5 important Twitter trends to keep your eye on right now.

Read Complete Article

Travis Scott External Content Twitter

by Ben Parr | Mashable.com | June 13th, 2009

We have seen and heard about a lot of impressive social media marketing campaigns in recent months. Sea World, Vitamin Water, Target, and Carl’s Jr have found success utilizing social tools on the web. But the most recent campaign from Cadbury may be the most creative idea yet.

Confectionary giant Cadbury the company that makes Trident gum and the famous creme eggs is going all-out in promoting its Creme Egg Twisted candy bars with a campaign known as “Operation Goo.” Agents in this contest must rack up as many social media views and points as possible in a viral contest that goes beyond the ordinary.

Read More:  Social Media Goo: Cadbury Campaign Going Viral.

Travis Scott External Content Cadbury, social media marketing, viral

by Jennifer Van Grove | Mashable.com | June 3rd, 2009

Facebook is huge, Twitter is mainstream, and social media is everywhere. It’s now not unheard of for large and traditional brands to embrace the unknown for better or worse. Remember the Skittles ordeal?

These same brands are also starting to find creative ways to tie offline brand experiences with online social media promotion. Starbucks is currently experimenting with offline social media challenges of this variety, and now Dunkin’ Donuts is merging their new product release campaign with their Facebook Fan Page strategy.

Read the complete article:  Dunkin Donuts’ Facebook Campaign Turns Your Profile Pic into Prizes.

Travis Scott External Content Dunkin Donuts, Facebook, social media marketing, Twitter

by Ben Parr | Mashable.com | June 3rd, 2009

Much like his campaign, Barack Obama’s presidency has been marked by an unprecedented amount of reaching out to citizens using the social web.

He has aired his press conferences via YouTube, shared fascinating moments of life in the White House via Flickr, and is using Twitter to keep people informed of what’s going on. Now he’s trying a completely novel mobile approach to share a speech on bridging the gap between the U.S. and the Muslim world. He will deliver it in Cairo, Egypt tomorrow.

The ambitious plan goes beyond posting messages on Facebook() and other social media sites – things he already does. The State Department project intends to utilize a mobile system to send highlights of Obama’s speech live via SMS to anyone who registers for them on America.gov.

Read the complete article:  Obama SMS 2.0: President to Deliver Speech via Text Message.

Travis Scott External Content Obama, SMS, text messaging, texting

by Stan Schroeder | Mashable.com | June 4th, 2009

At the “Future of Media” panel in New York, Twitter exec Jack Dorsey said he wants Twitter to be like electricity, e-mail, SMS, or phone. It’s an ambitious goal, and whether Twitter will reach such levels of ubiquity depends on whether its creators have really discovered a new communication channel.

“I think Twitter’s a success for us when people stop talking about it,” said Dorsey. Given the amount of coverage Twitter receives right now, it seems almost impossible, but one day it will happen; the question is whether it’ll happen because people have forgotten about Twitter or because it really became commonplace like electricity?

Read the complete article: Twitter Wants to Be Just Like Electricity.

Travis Scott External Content Twitter

By John Cook | TechFlash.com | June 3, 2009 at 3:20 PM PDT

Congratulations Seattle. We’re now the second geekiest city in the country.

The Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro area has moved ahead of Boston to claim the title as the number two technology region in North America, according to a report released by the Milken Institute this week. The report — which ranked the regions by wages, employment and other factors — gave Seattle a total score of 46.4 points. That was just ahead of Boston, which scored 45.2 points.Silicon Valley remained in the top post, with a score of 100.

Source: Milken Institute

Read the complete article:  Seattle tops Boston as North America’s No. 2 tech spot

Travis Scott External Content boston, Seattle, silicon valley

Clay Holtzman, Staff Writer | Puget Sound BizTalk | May 27th, 2009

Just about everyone is on Facebook and Twitter these days. Smart nonprofits know that includes donors.

A Seattle nonprofit is launching a social networking campaign to raise the final $230,000 it needs to complete a children’s park that is fully accessible for disabled kids.

The Seattle Children’s Playgarden is in the home stretch of its campaign to raise $2.1 million. The social networking campaign starts today and supporters can follow or check the group’s status here and here.

Read the complete article here:  Puget Sound Business Journal Seattle: Charity turns to Twitter for funds.

Travis Scott External Content charity, non-profit, Twitter

By John Cook | TechFlash.com | May 22nd, 2009

The biggest reason why entrepreneurs fail is because they fail to get started. That was one of the key messages from Big Fish Games founder Paul Thelen, who delivered the keynote address Thursday night at the awards dinner for the University of Washington’s annual Business Plan Competition.

“If you do start, chances are you may fail, but you are going to learn a lot in the process,” Thelen said to a packed room of student entrepreneurs, VCs and other members of the Seattle startup community. “This is a learning process, and the only way you learn is by doing.”

Read the complete article on TechFlash.com:  Paul Thelen on games, startups and ineffective business plans

Travis Scott External Content business plans, entrepreneurs, startups