Google Places Expert Gives Free Online Help to Local Business Owners - How to Optimize Your Listing

April 28, 2010 - PRLog -- "Google Places is the most important place you can possibly be found on the internet today!" says Randy Kirk, author of Running a 21st Century Small Business.  "When businesses and consumers are looking for local retailers, suppliers, and service companies, how do they avoid the big colorful map at the top of the page."

Kirk decided that even though a large portion of his revenues as a marketing consultant come from helping people optimize their listing on Google Places and other Local Search Engines (LSE's), the recent push by Google to change the name from Google Local Business Center to Google Places was going to catapult Places into the very top spot of all LSE's.  He decided to give away virtually everything in his tool box regarding how to get a perfect listing on Places.

"To merely claim your listing is about a 10 minute exercise," explains Kirk.  To do 50% of what you should do to benefit from Google Places is another hour or so of internet pain.  But to get to 90%, you might be looking at 20 hours or more of learning a lot of new ideas.  For those who are ready to do it themselves, I provide a comprehensive road map at my blog http://www.GooglePlacesHelp.blogspot.com.  Will it be worth taking that 20 hours?"

Let's say your time is worth $100 an hour.  That would be $2000 worth of your time.  How many orders would you have to secure to pay that back.  For a mortgage broker, maybe only one order.  For a retailer,  $4000 worth of product or so.  I'd say it is worth the 20 hours."

Other than location, we wanted to know why Google Places is so critical.  Kirk explained it this way, "They have all the power, resources, and money to make this the primary way that people will do search for local business.  YellowPages.com has an edge right now, but it can't last.  Already Google Pages has way more reviews on each business than any other LSE.  And very importantly, the relevance of their results is superior by a long shot."

Kirk has also produced a short video introduction to the Google Places story which can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilkJjxHs3kI.



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The New Yellow Pages for Local Business is optimizing website visibility through Google Places, websites, YouTube, LSE's, Forums, and other methods. Traditional marketing, too. We invented the box; Still thinking outside of it. www.SearchPage1.com

Randy Kirk is a serial entrepreneur and noted business author of six books on small business.