City Guidelines in Google Maps

In the Google Maps world, it’s pretty-well known they’ve had Mapspam issues and at least now (arguably) tries to keep very strict guidelines including using your exact physical address, as is.

There are some marketers who suggest using multiple PO boxes in different cities for one single location. Google may frown on this as “people have used this to spam the local listings to get them closer to the city center”. Maybe the 0 of 2 folks who find this particular answer helpful are guilty?

Disclaimer – I don’t know who the user andyhugh is in this answer.

Google Maps Answer

Anyway, there’s an example I haven’t thought of much. I was speaking with the owner of SOS Appliance Repair of Minneapolis. Technically, the business is in Golden Valley. However, their DexKnows profile page shows their correct physical address and zip, but with Minneapolis as the city. So does Yelp.

Companies have been practicing this long before the Internet for branding purposes alone. A lifetime ago, I worked for a company in the western suburb of St. Louis Park and the yellow pages providers listed their official street address and zip code. The city just changed to Minneapolis. Again, they did this for branding purposes. We’ve all probably seen this many times.

To my knowledge, SOS hasn’t added their business to the Google Local Business Center. If they did, I bet it would be just fine if they used Minneapolis as their official city location. It may or may not help for their Google Maps listing but doubt it would hurt.

Any thoughts out there and do you think this helps or hinders your Google Maps business listing?

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Favorite Posts of the Week – Spyder Trap on ADA Board, Punch Pizza Helps Mourning Viking Fans & Remarketing on Google AdWords

It’s time for another favorites post. I’m happy so say that these three favorites are from local Minnesotans that I consider friends.

First, congrats to Spyder Trap Online Marketing. Why? Mike Rynchek, President of ST was recently named to the American Diabetes Association’s Community Leadership Board.

This doesn’t come to a big surprise. Their company has worked a lot with both UnitedHealthcare and Children’s of Minnesota. They do well with them and I believe they’re very well-known now in the local healthcare industry.

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Next, still mourning from the Vikings loss? Me too. Aaron Weiche, VP of Five Technology writes on his personal blog on how Punch Pizza produced up to 10,000 pizzas to passionate Vikings fans.

I’m a spice wuss, but absolutely love Punch Pizza. Kudos to them for their clever campaign.

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Last but not least, if you’re familiar with PPC and haven’t heard of Clint Danks, you soon will. A recent post of Remarketing on the Google Content Network explains Google’s new beta product.

Admittedly, I’m a numbers guy and haven’t been a fan of Google’s content network ads. Google has definitely made improvements. In this new beta case, I’ll quote Clint on Remarketing:

Just because they didn’t take ‘action’ the first time doesn’t mean they won’t if given the opportunity again. It’s much easier to ‘close’ an interested party than a new visitor.

I believe this is measurable but will ask Clint for his input.

Currently on iTunes: Last the Evening – Carrie Akre

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Testing Out the Duracell myGrid

A good few weeks ago I received a package of a new Duracell product called a myGrid. It’s a neat little product which will charge up to four mobile devices at the same time.

myGrid

I figured it would be easy to find a bunch of people to test it out, although I was incorrect. Duracell did provide a few different sleeves for the phones, but there wasn’t one for an iPhone. For whatever reasons, almost everyone I work next to owns one.

Thanks to Twitter user @arok (Erik) though. He has a older RAZR that his daughter now uses so he brought that into work. Hookup was a breeze and it charged up quickly.

myGrid In Action

As you can see, it has plenty of room for the RAZR, plus up to 3 other devices if needed. The red stapler is there mainly as a prop.

This one doesn’t need a sleeve.

No Sleeve Needed

I then asked Eric his thoughts. He said two words: It works.

OK, I was admittedly hoping for a few more thoughts. Eric and a few others commented it is a definite slick product to have today, although not necessarily in a year when they believe competitors like a Powermat won’t require sleeves. Plus, most office workers who have smart phones just plug them into their laptop’s USB drive.

As far as the product today, I see a some good uses for it. One would be almost any establishment where employees aren’t at a desk all day. They wouldn’t have the option of plugging their smartphone in with a USB. This could be at…

• Manufacturing Plant
• Distribution Center
• Church
• Fire Station

The list could go on forever.

Another is right at the home. It may be alarming to some but many homes have only one computer. It would make sense to have something like a myGrid for both grown ups and their kids.

You have any thoughts on the myGrid? Let us know! Oh, forgot. Yes FTC, the myGrid was a gift indirectly from Duracell. No, I was not paid money to write stuff about it.

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Lindsay Whalen Comes Home – Does This Make You a Lynx Fan?

Minnesota received some big sporting news today. It’s not about the Vikings or Wild, but it’s about the Lynx trading to get Minnesota-native Lindsay Whalen. Here’s a WCCO link about it.

Many of you know that Whalen was a big part of the Gopher womens Final Four run back in 2004. For those not in the know, she was a huge fan favorite and I believe their tournament run rated better than most of the mens games.

People are gettin’ social about it online. I haven’t seen a Facebook Page on her, but a smaller Facebook Group is starting to get active.

Lindsay Whalen Now a Lynx

This news isn’t a Twitter Trending topic, but folks are weighing in with enthusiasm.

Lindsay Whalen Mentions on Twitter

My favorite Twitter message on this is from @freshmn.

Twitter Message about Whalen

I think I know what she means by this as she is a big Lynx fan and will ask her if I’m correct on this.

Basically, I’ve been lucky enough to know Erica for a few years and chatted with her a good year ago at a @GrumpysDT Tweetup. Somehow, Whalen came into the conversation. Erica was fine that the Lynx didn’t draft her right out of college because tickets would definitely sell short-term, but not long-term if they didn’t produce. I admitted that I would probably be guilty of this.

I’m far from a basketball analyst but was amazed on her sick passes as a Gopher and compared it to Jason Williams. Put it this way, look at her assist stats compared to other Connecticut Sun players.

How about you? Will you be paying more attention now that a veteran like Lindsay is coming home to play for the Lynx? Will tickets sell short or long term?

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Local Search Event in Spokane from GetListed.org

Many readers here are local to Minnesota although there are a few that live in eastern Washington. If you’re a 509-er, this is for you.

On Thursday, February 4th, some of the best local search minds will be presenting two half-day sessions in Spokane, WA. The event is called Local University put on by getlisted.org. The premise is to show Spokane-area business folks how to leverage the Internet to bring in local traffic.

To quote:

We’re bringing in some of the nation’s leading online marketing experts for an intensive, four-hour crash course in Internet marketing that will help you navigate the possibilities for marketing your business on the web.

Presenters include:

• Mike Blumenthal – Understanding Google Maps and Local Search (a must-read industry blog)
• Mary Dowling – Optimized
• Matt McGee – Small Business Search Marketing (overall good guy)
• David Mihm – Portland-based and well known for his Local Search Ranking Factors
• Ed Reese – Blogger at Sixth Man Marketing

It should be well-worth the $129. If you’re in the area, spread the word.

A bonus, it looks like Gonzaga has a home basketball game that night. During college, I spent some time at their music building. It’s a nice campus and it sounds like their McCarthey Athletic Center is a great place to see a game.

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B96 Changes Format and People Are Talking (Online)

Update: Blogger error (myself) and B96 has not launched a new station site. TwinCities.com has an article reflecting the change.

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, you may already know that the rap/hip hop station B96 switched formats to top-40 and launched WDVD. A lot of people have opinions of this and they’re conversing online.

Someone correct me. It looks like this is a national type station? I really don’t know but it appears to be owned by Citadel Broadcasting and there is another WDVD in Detroit.

Nonetheless, It sounds like B96’s ratings dropped and wants to stay new and fresh by playing music like Nickelback. Yes, this is sarcasm.

Fresh, New Music by Nickelback?

For those who know me personally, you know I enjoy (what I consider) good, original music. This could be orchestral, top-40, jazz, folk, rap, punk, metal, etc. The music is even better when it’s local.

I admittedly didn’t know much about B96 but am partially aware of Peter Parker and how he plugs local music such as the Minneapolis-based Doomtree label. Here’s a vid of Peter with P.O.S. after his Never Better release.

Here he is letting Doomtree go freestyle.

Now that they switched formats, there are some who aren’t very happy about it. They’re also talking about it online. There’s already a Facebook Page called R.I.P. B96 with (as of this writing) just over 1,000 members and rising quickly. You can do different Twitter searches and here is one for B96 top 40. My favorite Twitter message on this:

New B96 = KDWB

I haven’t seen a social presence yet from WDVD and am sure they’ll have one and a strategy for it at some point. They do have something called TuneGenie and it does look slick.

TuneGenie

This isn’t the first time a radio station changed formats in a sudden fashion and it certainly won’t be the last. It is the first one I’ve seen where people are conversing so much online because of it. Sign of the times I suppose.

Were you a B96 listener and if so, will this affect you? Will you listen do a different station or just get your music from a different source?

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Happy New Years and More Local/Social Travels

First of all, Happy New Years to you all! I hope your holiday season was fun and safe.

It’s known that we see thousands of advertisements everyday. in 2010 we’ll be seeing more of this in local search and social media. We hope to provide positive information from this.

With that said, today my local and social travels included a trip to Reads Landing to visit my sister and her kids at the Jahn Haus (my Dad’s house). It was my last chance before they headed back to Rochester (NY).

It started out the right way by hitting the Woodbury Lifetime Fitness and checking in on Foursquare. Getting back into better shape is just one of my resolutions and my trainer was probably surprised to see me in so early on a morning known for hangovers.

Lifetime Fitness - Woodbury

I had some time to kill so I drove passed Afton Alps. Their YouTube Channel piques my interest, although I’m not sure what to think about their Twitter and Facebook presence. Sorry for the bad pic. I’m not a photographer.

Afton Alps

From Afton, I took some side roads and didn’t realize I crossed the St. Croix into Wisconsin. This isn’t the LocalWI blog. I quickly turned around.

My co-worker and Twitter connect Carol (@PGSCarol) gave me a couple gems to hit while I pass through Hastings. She did suggest Emily’s Bakery and Deli but they unfortunately aren’t open New Year’s Day.

Emily's Bakery and Deli

I’ve been on a local meat store kick lately and have bought at Duffs Meats 2 before. They helped me pick out a good sausage for a meat and cheese tray today. I definitely recommend them.

Duffs Meats 2

Closer to my Dad’s place, I saw what was once Mt. Frontenac. Still a golf course, no longer a snowboard and shoosher hill. I liked the place and there are still some poachers.

Frontenac Hill - No Trespassing

Got to Dad’s place. Good times seeing the fam. Remember Racko? Me neither. We played it though.

Racko?

On the way back to Minneapolis included a return trip through Hastings and Carol had one more recommendation: The Busted Nut Bar and Grill, especially to try their cheese curds. They were… awesome.

The Busted Nut Bar and Grill

They serve actual Ellsworth cheese curds deep fried on location. There’s not much better than Ellsworth curds with a beer in an established, smaller town bar and grill. They weren’t on Foursquare yet either so I added them and checked in.

Turns out they have live music often, too. If I stayed later, there’s a local Hastings band playing called Sons of Sixth who has an EP on their MySpace page. It’s pretty original and would prefer that over  corporate-rock radio stations who play Nickelback.

Their current cover song list is pretty extensive which includes Judith, from A Perfect Circle. If their singer can actually pull out in one breath he did it for you on a secured YouTube video (right after 3m 10s in), he is my hero.

Overall, a great January 1st. Very little football watching and I’m ready for January 2nd.

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Claim your local business at Google’s Local Business Center at no cost. This link takes you right to their sign in page. You can sign in, or sign up, all by yourself.
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Domino’s Pizza Turnaround and a Social Media Consumer

Remember many months back when two derelicts Domino’s employees from North Carolina got in trouble for violating a pizza and then putting it on YouTube? That’s just gross.

Early this morning I was on Aaron Weiche’s personal blog and noticed a post labeled Dominos is Ringing Your Doorbell With Honesty & Effort. It’s a great effort on their part to bring back a better image.

Check out Domino’s YouTube Channel for their turnaround attempt. You can see they are taking their image seriously and even have an official Domino’s Pizza Turnaround website.

Domino’s has had a YouTube channel for over two years so one could argue that the timing of their usage is coincidental. It would be a good case too if it wasn’t for Domino’s President Patrick Doyle’s apology video right after the snot in pizza incident.

Let’s see what other social media presence they have.

• They do have a Twitter account named @Dominos and proactively engages in two-way communications with their followers
• There is a small Flickr Group they have for their employees to show fun things that happen during work. It would be nice to have one for the general public as well
• I was very surprised to see how much of a Facebook presence they have and how many people are talking about their new pizza. They have five fan pages as well including one for St. Jude Children’s research

The YouTube and Facebook presence alone tells me they’re using social tools in the right way. They’re not just out to be social media gurus/wizards/jedis/rockstars by seeing how many Twitter followers they can get and call it a day.

They’re trying to change their brand’s image.

Since they’re trying to change their image, I decided to be a consumer because of their social media efforts.

On my way home from work, there were a few Domino’s but the one on the UofM campus was the most convenient. It’s next door to Stub & Herb’s and right across the street from the McNamara Alumni Center.

Dominos on Oak Street

They have a nice, small area inside to pick up your pizza. A few folks were working, most likely college students and were very pleasant.

My Order

When I took the pizza home, it did look nicer than the last time I got Domino’s (although it’s been a few years). You could smell the buttery, garlic crust, too.

Full Pizza

The thickness of the slice was decent. Not a whole lot of toppings, but wasn’t expecting much.

One Slice

Was this the best pizza I’ve ever had? Of course not. I imagine it’s impossible for a huge chain to achieve such status. Was this the best Domino’s pizza I’ve ever had? It probably was and I’ll be enjoying leftovers tomorrow.

Nonetheless, thanks to Domino’s by listening to their customers instead of trying to tell them how to think.

BTW, anyone who is really into pizza should check out Aaron Landry’s blog. It not all about pizza, but he really finds some hidden gems.

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Local Search and Social Media Use in Christmas Travels

Last weekend, I had a good time in Delano just to basically live like a local for a few hours noting how well the city uses social media.

Over Christmas, I’m in Rochester and Reads Landing (just north of Wabasha), Minnesota. I’m not going to talk about a social media policy or a single town, I just want to note how local search and social media is in front of us every, single day no matter where we go.

This morning my Christmas travels started. It turns out that we have a little snowy whether this holiday season.

Blizzard Warning

This does make auto travel less than stellar, but we’re Minnesotan. Plus, the worst hit in the Dakotas.

My niece cooked Christmas Eve dinner in Rochester although I wanted to bring some meat and cheese for snacks. So, one of my favorite meat shops is on the way. It’s called Greg’s Meats in Hampton, MN, and wound up giving them an honest user review yesterday. They also sell bones for dumb, but cute dogs like Hannah.

Gregs Meats

Greg’s Meats doesn’t use social media and their website isn’t the prettiest, but that’s fine. They sell locally raised meat and they do it well. For you deer hunters, they’ll also make sausage out of your successful hunt.

From Hampton included a detour to Welch Village for some boarding. The con of this is weather made it a tad difficult to get there. The pros? Fresh snow and no lift lines! I heart no lift lines.

No Lift Lines

If you visit their website, they do have a social media presence and would probably admit that they don’t have an huge strategy for it. They have that automated Twitter-Facebook thing (never understood that – different audiences), and their Flickr and YouTube accounts are fairly stagnant. I bet they’re on the right track, though.

Nonetheless, Welch is a lot of fun after fresh snow falls and when no one else is there, although I did see friends Terra and Pete so I got to ride with them for over two hours. Here’s Pete doing a 360 while saying “Slim Shady”.

After Welch, it was off to the Pine Island Cheese Mart. Growing up in nearby Rochester, it’s surprising that I’ve never been there. They do have a few reviews on their Google Place page. They don’t seem to have a social media presence, although I’m not really sure they need one. It’s a very established place located right off of Hwy 52 and it turns out their smoked gouda cheese is beyond awesome.

Pine Island Cheese Mart

Overall, great Christmas Eve and all is well. I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season!

*Note – Christmas Day travels were just fine. It’s apparently bad in the general Midwest. it’s not bad around Minneapolis and Southeast Minnesota.

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Delano, MN – Spirit of Community and City of Social Media

Yesterday, a good friend both on and offline @AaronWeiche politely suggested that I blog a little more. As a good gesture, I decided to write a post all for him!… and/or the city of Delano.

Quick background, Aaron is the VP of Five Technology, Web design and Internet marketing firm based in the heart of Delano, Minnesota and his company is designing their new city website. He also grew up in nearby Buffalo (MN) where he again lives with his wife and three young daughters.

Regarding Delano, it’a a really nice smaller town about 15 minutes west of the Twin Cities suburbs. They pride on being The Spirit of Community. They are now also a City of Social Media. To quote:

The city of Delano uses social media to provide two-way communication with the public and the City. The City of Delano communicates via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

This comes from a PDF document on their city social media guidelines for sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It includes no vulgar language, personal attacks, spam, illegal activity and more. In the social media world, this means use common sense and I think the City of Delano gets this perfectly, especially when I see the words two-way communication as quoted above.

• They have an active Twitter account which mentions their social media guidelines as well as other new and relevant things in the community. They also mention the award for their new Highway 12 bridge (opens PDF file).
• Their Facebook Page is pretty active with 847 fans (as of this writing) and more relevant news and events that the community can find interesting.
• They don’t have much of a YouTube presence, but here’s a quick vid on why to shop locally (not a big surprise that I’m a big fan of that).

Once following Delano on Twitter, I did get a Direct Message back thanking me for following them and their Spirit of Community. In the social media expert/guru/wizard/ninja/master world, this is a no-no. In this case, I think it’s absolutely appropriate as they’re welcoming me into their community. Thank you, Delano.

Anyway, I decided to take the advice given in their YouTube video and purchase items from them locally. Aaron recommended going to Three Crows Cafe and Coffee House for some java. It was so cool to sit, sip and watch a group of musicians chat and play some old songs. There were 3 guitars, a violin and a mandolin. I did check in on Foursquare but immediately put the iThing away to relax and just watch the musicians.

Three Crows

Next I purchased some bacon and summer sausage down the street at Rieder Meat Market. This place was actually recommended to me this morning while visiting a wedding photographer in Minneapolis who’s getting absolutely screwed by a local search company based out of Newark, New Jersey by hijacking his Google Maps listing and map-spamming it with fake addresses to “enhance” his rankings. Dudes, give the guy control over his listing and please quit making the Interwebz cry.

Anyway, Rieder’s summer sausage is really good. Haven’t tried the bacon yet.

My last purchase was at Delano Floral and Gifts. It’s your standard gift store and I had really nice help picking out a few last minute Christmas gifts. Don’t mind the website’s over-SEO. If you’re in the area, check the place out.

Delano Floral and Gifts

Thanks to Aaron from Five Technology for nudging me to do a post. I had a really nice time visiting a new town.

Five Technology Headquarters in Delano

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