Central Perk

miercuri, 27 martie 2013

Barnacle Reviews on Google+ Local

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 07:36 PM PDT

Since Google+ Local was released last May, it’s safe to say that everyone in the local search community -- business owners and agencies alike -- has been waiting with bated breath for the launch of Google’s rumored “Business Builder” dashboard. For whatever reason, it still isn’t out yet, but while you’re waiting, there’s no reason you can’t take advantage of the most underrated feature of Google+: the ability to interact on Google+ as a business page. And in particular, to leave reviews of other businesses as your business page.

Why leave reviews as a page?

Business owners, if this concept doesn’t immediately make sense to you, think of it like this: you probably go to networking events with your local chamber of commerce, Rotary club, or your industry trade group all the time. When you go to these events, you’re likely wearing your “business owner” hat, rather than your "weekend warrior" or "soccer mom" hat.

That’s essentially what this feature allows you to do: network socially with your “business owner” hat on, rather than your personal hat. Just like you would refer business to other business owners you trust and admire in these networking environments, the idea behind page-to-page recommendations on social networking sites works the same way.

Facebook gave its page users this functionality years ago, and many of you are likely accustomed to leaving comments on other Facebook pages and generally interacting with their community as their page rather than an individual profile. You may not have known, though, that you can do the same thing on Google+.

Why "Barnacle" reviews?

As far as I know, Search Influence's Will Scott was the pioneer of this concept in local search, which he defined as:

"Attaching oneself to a large fixed object and waiting for the customers to float by in the current."

As most of you would probably admit, it's hard work to optimize a local business website/Plus page/etc. So why not leverage pages that are already visible in your markets for your own visibility? That's the idea behind Barnacle SEO.

Will's original concept applied to link building to prominent Internet Yellow Pages profiles like Yelp business pages or Yahoo Local listings to increase the rankings of those profiles. As Facebook became more popular, he also applied the idea to Facebook conversations on popular pages in a given community (such as the home of your local newspaper or major/minor league sports team).

The problem is that with's Facebook's Timeline interface, comments and conversations drop "below the fold" awfully quickly, especially on popular pages with lots of conversations.

The results on Google+ Local pages, when done well, can yield much "stickier" results.

Getting started: using Google+ as your page

This part is pretty easy. Simply go to http://plus.google.com and log in with the Google Account under which you claimed your page. At the top righthand side, you'll see a dropdown that shows the pages on which you're an admin. Simply select the name of your page. Google will then take you to that page, and when it does, you should see the icon of the page show up at the top righthand side (rather than your personal profile photo).

You're now using Google+ as your business!

Getting your feet wet: reviewing friendly businesses

Going back to the Rotary club analogy, you probably already have a network of existing businesses that you refer friends and clients to in the offline world -- pay it forward and put your speech about why you would refer people to them out there for the entire Internet to see.

Chances are, when they Google themselves, they'll see your business' review right at the top of the list and might even leave YOU a review once they notice it.

Here's an example of this in action with my friend Mike Ramsey's business. You'll see, because he doesn't have that many reviews for his newspaper site, my face-for-radio shows up publicly right at the top of his list.

Kicking it up a notch: finding popular businesses

OK, that was simple enough. But most of your friends aren't likely to run tremendously popular businesses that are getting a lot of traffic from search, let alone organic activity on Google+. You want to identify who the most popular businesses are in your market. You probably have some idea of what they are already, but here are some algorithmically-influenced ways to find them.

1) Perform a search for "things to do" in your market

Google is showing more and more of these carousel-style results for these searches every day. The businesses and points of interest shown in this carousel tend to be the ones that get the most visibility on Google+.

2) See what businesses Google recommends at maps.google.com

Visit http://maps.google.com and see who Google shows to the left of the map -- both in text and image format. Again, these are likely to be popular businesses with lots of visibility on Google's local products.

3) See where top reviewers are going

Hat tip to my previously-mentioned friend Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing whose team authored this excellent piece earlier this week about how to find top reviewers on Google+ Local. Just follow the instructions in that post, and you'll get a screen like this. Chances are, most of the places visited by top reviewers are pretty popular.

4) See what places are popular on Foursquare

Visit foursquare.com and see what businesses are mentioned when you search for "best nearby." These places are going to have a lot of visibility among techies--good for a variety of reasons that I won't go into in this post.

Finishing things off: reviewing those businesses

So, the final step in the process is to leave a review of those top businesses. I don't have any earth-shattering tips for best practices when it comes to actually leaving a review, but I will point out that the more effort you put into leaving a killer review, the more likely it is that effort will be rewarded.

Why is that? Google+ sorts reviews by "Most Helpful" by default. This means that the better your review is, the more likely it is to have staying power over time -- which is the whole point of this exercise. You want people to gain real value from your review and have a positive experience when they see your brand for the first time.

Just like no one wants to talk to an incessant glad-hander or self-promoter at a networking event, no one wants to read reviews that talk about how great their own business is. Just imagine that you're talking to people face-to-face at one of these events, except instead of a 1:1 interaction, it's more like a 1:100 or a 1:1000 interaction.

Note that my business' review, though I left it over two weeks ago and haven't asked anyone to mark it as helpful, is still ranking second out of all reviews. Imagine the permanent "stickiness" of a review marked as helpful by even a handful of Google+ users.

Conclusion

Obviously, this technique works best for retail- or hospitality industry businesses, who are probably referring their guests to top attractions anyway, and are most likely to get traffic from out-of-town guests in the process of planning their trips.

But my guess is that (especially) in larger markets, even in-town residents are likely to do "recovery" searches on popular destinations -- where Google is increasingly pushing searchers towards Knowledge Graph results and popular reviews from prominent Google+ users. Make sure your business (or your clients' businesses) have a chance to gain this "barnacle" visibility.

In the comments, I'd love to hear if anyone has used this technique on their own, or on behalf of their clients, and what the results have been!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

An Adorable Ambassador

Your Daily Snapshot for
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

An Adorable Ambassador

President Barack Obama signs memorabilia for March of Dimes 2013 National Ambassador Nina Centofanti, 8, at the Resolute Desk during her visit in the Oval Office, March 26, 2013. Centofanti's parents Vince and Christine, brother Nicholas, and sister Mia, not visible, accompanied her during the visit. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Seth's Blog : Toward zero unemployment

Toward zero unemployment

A dozen generations ago, there was no unemployment, largely because there were no real jobs to speak of. Before the industrial revolution, the thought that you'd leave your home and go to an office or a factory was, of course, bizarre.

What happens now that the industrial age is ending? As the final days of the industrial age roll around, we are seeing the core assets of the economy replaced by something new. Actually, it's something old, something handmade, but this time, on a huge scale.

The industrial age was about scarcity. Everything that built our culture, improved our productivity, and defined our lives involved the chasing of scarce items.

On the other hand, the connection economy, our economy, the economy of the foreseeable future, embraces abundance. No, we don't have an endless supply of the resources we used to trade and covet. No, we certainly don't have a surplus of time, either. But we do have an abundance of choice, an abundance of connection, and an abundance of access to knowledge.

We know more people, have access to more resources, and can leverage our skills more quickly and at a higher level than ever before.

This abundance leads to two races. The race to the bottom is the Internet-fueled challenge to lower prices, find cheaper labor, and deliver more for less.

The other race is the race to the top: the opportunity to be the one they can't live without, to be the linchpin we would miss if he didn't show up. The race to the top focuses on delivering more for more. It embraces the weird passions of those with the resources to make choices, and it rewards originality, remarkability, and art.

The connection economy continues to gain traction because connections scale, information begets more information, and influence accrues to those who create this abundance. As connections scale, these connections paradoxically make it easier for others to connect as well, because anyone with talent or passion can leverage the networks created by connection to increase her impact. The connection economy doesn't create jobs where we get picked and then get paid; the connection economy builds opportunities for us to connect, and then demands that we pick ourselves.

Just as the phone network becomes more valuable when more phones are connected (scarcity is the enemy of value in a network), the connection economy becomes more valuable as we scale it.

Friends bring us more friends. A reputation brings us a chance to build a better reputation. Access to information encourages us to seek ever more information. The connections in our life multiply and increase in value. Our stuff, on the other hand, becomes less valuable over time.

… [this riff is inspired by my new book...]

Successful organizations have realized that they are no longer in the business of coining slogans, running catchy ads, and optimizing their supply chains to cut costs.

And freelancers and soloists have discovered that doing a good job for a fair price is no longer sufficient to guarantee success. Good work is easier to find than ever before.

What matters now:

Trust
Permission
Remarkability
Leadership
Stories that spread
Humanity: connection, compassion, and humility

All six of these are the result of successful work by humans who refuse to follow industrial-age rules. These assets aren't generated by external strategies and MBAs and positioning memos. These are the results of internal struggle, of brave decisions without a map and the willingness to allow others to live with dignity.

They are about standing out, not fitting in, about inventing, not duplicating.

TRUST AND PERMISSION: In a marketplace that's open to just about anyone, the only people we hear are the people we choose to hear. Media is cheap, sure, but attention is filtered, and it's virtually impossible to be heard unless the consumer gives us the ability to be heard. The more valuable someone's attention is, the harder it is to earn.

And who gets heard?

Why would someone listen to the prankster or the shyster or the huckster? No, we choose to listen to those we trust. We do business with and donate to those who have earned our attention. We seek out people who tell us stories that resonate, we listen to those stories, and we engage with those people or businesses that delight or reassure or surprise in a positive way.

And all of those behaviors are the acts of people, not machines. We embrace the humanity in those around us, particularly as the rest of the world appears to become less human and more cold. Who will you miss? That is who you are listening to .

REMARKABILITY: The same bias toward humanity and connection exists in the way we choose which ideas we'll share with our friends and colleagues. No one talks about the boring, the predictable, or the safe. We don't risk interactions in order to spread the word about something obvious or trite.

The remarkable is almost always new and untested, fresh and risky.

LEADERSHIP: Management is almost diametrically opposed to leadership. Management is about generating yesterday's results, but a little faster or a little more cheaply. We know how to manage the world—we relentlessly seek to cut costs and to limit variation, while we exalt obedience.

Leadership, though, is a whole other game. Leadership puts the leader on the line. No manual, no rule book, no überleader to point the finger at when things go wrong. If you ask someone for the rule book on how to lead, you're secretly wishing to be a manager.

Leaders are vulnerable, not controlling, and they are racing to the top, taking us to a new place, not to the place of cheap, fast, compliant safety.

STORIES THAT SPREAD: The next asset that makes the new economy work is the story that spreads. Before the revolution, in a world of limited choice, shelf space mattered a great deal. You could buy your way onto the store shelf, or you could be the only one on the ballot, or you could use a connection to get your résumé in front of the hiring guy. In a world of abundant choice, though, none of these tactics is effective. The chooser has too many alternatives, there's too much clutter, and the scarce resources are attention and trust, not shelf space. This situation is tough for many, because attention and trust must be earned, not acquired.

More difficult still is the magic of the story that resonates. After trust is earned and your work is seen, only a fraction of it is magical enough to be worth spreading. Again, this magic is the work of the human artist, not the corporate machine. We're no longer interested in average stuff for average people.

HUMANITY: We don't worship industrial the way we used to. We seek out human originality and caring instead. When price and availability are no longer sufficient advantages (because everything is available and the price is no longer news), then what we are drawn to is the vulnerability and transparency that bring us together, that turn the "other" into one of us.

For a long time to come the masses will still clamor for cheap and obvious and reliable. But the people you seek to lead, the people who are helping to define the next thing and the interesting frontier, these people want your humanity, not your discounts.

All of these assets, rolled into one, provide the foundation for the change maker of the future. And that individual (or the team that person leads) has no choice but to build these assets with novelty, with a fresh approach to an old problem, with a human touch that is worth talking about.

I can't wait until we return to zero percent unemployment, to a time when people with something to contribute (everyone) pick themselves instead of waiting for a bureaucrat's permission to do important work.

• Email to a friend •

marți, 26 martie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

The Axe is in Position, Only the Timing of the Swing is in Question

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 11:50 AM PDT

It has been amusing listening to the hypocrisy from Brussels regarding the leverage in Cyprus.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the eurogroup led the charge that Cyprus had an unsustainable problem with deposits over 700% of GDP.

Here is a little perspective courtesy of the Financial Times.

European Bank Assets as Multiple of GDP

Somehow we are supposed to believe that 7-1 ratio of deposits to GDP is a problem but the 22-1 ratio in Luxembourg is not. And what about the 4-1 ratios in France and the Netherlands?

What sunk Cyprus now rather than later was Cyprus was dumb enough to be in Greek bonds.

So why did Cyprus stay in Greek bonds so long? The answer is Cypiot banks were foolish enough to believe ECB president Jean Claude Trichet when he insisted there would be no haircuts on Greek bonds.

Trichet Hails Success of Cyprus

Those looking for an amusing flashback should consider this glowing speech by Jean-Claude Trichet on the successful entry of Cyprus into the euro area, in January of 2008.

Today's euro celebrations are the result of the successful macroeconomic policies that the Cypriot authorities have pursued in recent years. Cyprus has made significant progress in both nominal and real convergence, owing to successful policies – namely, well-managed monetary and exchange rate policies combined with a range of structural reforms. ... The ECB and the Central Bank of Cyprus, together with the National Changeover Board, the European Commission and national and international authorities cooperated closely in many ways to prepare the introduction of the euro. ... It included public opinion polls, advertising and direct marketing. Over 900,000 copies of different publications were distributed by the Central Bank of Cyprus - this is more than one copy per Cypriot! ... As a result of these efforts, today we can celebrate a successful cash changeover. ... intimate cooperation between the members of the team, the national central banks of the Eurosystem, and the ECB is the key for the success of the single monetary policy in the euro area.

Somehow, distributing over one pamphlet per Cypriot on the benefits of the euro was an insufficient formula for success. Shocking.

Four years and two Greek bond restructurings later, Cyprus was ruined but did not realize it yet. The second Greek bond haircut did Cyprus in, but the axe was yet to fall.

The ECB waited until the Cypriot election a month ago when their communist president was ousted by the pro-euro Nicos Anastasiades. The ECB then dropped a bomb on the new president.

For those of you who think Cyprus is "one off" and this will never happen again, please let me point out a few recent things.

Dijsselbloem brags Cyprus to be model for future bailouts.
A German Bank Economist Proposes "One Time" Cyprus-Like 15% Wealth Tax on Italians
By a 526 to 86 vote, the nannycrats in Brussels passed a regulation in March that will require a country to accept a bailout if offered. It's An Offer You Cannot Refuse.
Laying it on thick, the Bundesbank claims Spaniards are 33% richer than Germans.
The "men in black" seek answers in Spain. Troika to Return to Spain in May Asking "What Happened to €42 Billion in ESM Bank Recapitalization Tranches?"

Timing the Axe on Spain and Italy

Cypriot banks may be the first to suffer a forced bail-in but they will not be the last.

Recall the "success" of Mario Draghi's LTRO program? Yes, it brought down yields on Italian and Spanish bonds, I believe temporarily.

The LTRO program was also an open invite for German banks to dump Spanish and Italian bonds and for Spanish and Italian banks to snap them up.

Was LTRO really a "success"? For who? The answer is Germany, not Spain or Italy.

Economists hailed Draghi a genius. Yet, LTRO further concentrated bond risk. Spanish banks are now more leveraged to Spanish bonds and Italian banks more leveraged to Italian bonds. It was concentrated risk that brought down Cyprus.

Groundwork Laid for Additional Forced Bail-Ins

Groundwork for further forced bail-ins has been laid: A model is in place, regulations are in place, and German sentiment is in place. Spaniards are supposedly more wealthy than Germans, and the "men in black" demand an audience in May.

Solidarity, be damned. It's every country for itself. Arguably, that is the way it should be, but that certainly wasn't the promise.

It's too late now for Spain, Portugal, and Italy. The axe is in position. Only the timing of the swing is in question.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Wine Country Conference

I am hosting an economic conference on April 5 in Sonoma, California. Proceeds go to the Les Turner ALS Foundation (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Please see My Wife Joanne Has Passed Away; Stop and Smell the Lilacs for my association with the disease.

To learn about the economic conference with world-class speakers including John Hussman, Michael Pettis, Jim Chanos, John Mauldin, Mike "Mish" Shedlock, Chris Martenson with guest moderator Lauren Lyster and other Special Guests, please visit Wine Country Conference April 5, 2013

EU Pushes Bail-In Regulations on All Deposits Above €100,000; Run on Banks Coming Up?

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 10:01 AM PDT

Cyprus was such a "success", EU to push for losses on big savers at failed banks.

The European Parliament will demand that big savers take losses if their banks run into trouble, a senior lawmaker told Reuters, adding momentum to a policy unveiled as part of a Cypriot bailout.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said on Monday that in future, the currency bloc should first ask banks to recapitalize themselves, then look to shareholders and bondholders and then "if necessary" to uninsured deposit holders.

Now the likelihood is rising that tough treatment of big depositors will be written into a new EU law, making losses for large savers a permanent feature of future banking crises.

"You need to be able to do the bail-in as well with deposits," said Gunnar Hokmark, an influential member of the European Parliament, who is leading negotiations with EU countries to finalize a law for winding up problem banks.

"Deposits below 100,000 euros are protected ... deposits above 100,000 euros are not protected and shall be treated as part of the capital that can be bailed in," Hokmark told Reuters, adding that he was confident a majority of his peers in the parliament backed this line.

The law, which will also introduce means to impose losses on bondholders, is due to take effect at the start of 2015. Germany wants provisions for bailing in bondholders and others in the same year, though that may be delayed.

Hokmark urged savers to check their banks' health before taking the risk of depositing money.

"If you put your money in Royal Bank of Scotland ... or Deutsche Bank, depending on how that bank is working you are taking a risk," he said. "You need to be aware that you are taking a risk.

Step in Right Direction

Such regulation is a step in the right direction actually. There should be no deposit guarantees at all, no bondholder guarantees, and people should have to pay attention to where they put their money.

For a detailed explanation, please see Fraudulent Guarantees; Fictional Reserve Lending; Comparison of US to Cyprus; What About New Zealand?

Here are the key ideas from the article

Five Key Points

In a Fractional Reserve Lending scheme, the notion there are meaningful reserves is ridiculous
Far more money has been lent out than really exists (the rest is a fictional accounting entry)
Fractional reserve lending constitutes fraud (just as lending something you do not own is fraud)
There is no way for all this money to be paid back (so it won't be)
Of all the central banks, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has the most sensible policy for the most sensible reasons of all the central banks.

That said, note how bondholders and the ECB have been protected so far.

Bondholders did not suffer losses on Irish bonds, and the ECB did not even take a hit on its Greek bonds. Cyprus bondholders were not protected, primarily because the big European banks were not involved so they had nothing to lose.

Run on Banks Coming Up?

Looking ahead, the implication is that no one should place more than €100,000 in any bank. So no one will, especially in questionable Southern European banks. Instead, expect capital flight to presumed "too big to fail" Northern European banks, and also expect people to park more money directly at the ECB, where it will be safe.

Might such legislation then, spur a run on banks? Seems that way to me. My advice for European depositors is simple "Please don't wait until 2015 to find out."

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Damn Cool Pics

Most Amazing World Illusion! - Magic World [Video]
Funny Demotivational Posters - Part 53
The Hottest Girlfriends of Tiger Woods
Funny Baby Changing Station Graffiti
Why Cats are Better than Men [Infographic]

Most Amazing World Illusion! - Magic World [Video]

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 07:41 PM PDT

You know something is a little unusual about the garden in front of Paris' Hotel de Ville. Created by French artist François Abélanet, "Qui croire?" (or "Where are we?") is supposedly the first 3D plant installation and was constructed in 2011. According to the video's description,

This illusion is the result of the science of how the brain interprets imagery. Laser technology was relied upon to project the image of the globe/sphere for its construction.

Funny Demotivational Posters - Part 53

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 10:47 AM PDT

Check out these new demotivational posters below and tell me what you think about them in the comments. If you love my demotivational poster collection, please link back to it.

There are hundreds of such pictures in our archive of demotivational posters.

The Hottest Girlfriends of Tiger Woods

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 09:26 AM PDT

Loredana Jolie

Elin Nordegren

Devon James

Jamie Grubbs

Julie Postle

Holly Sampson

Kalika Moquin

Rachel Uchitel

Joclyn James

Theresa Rogers

Jamie Jungers

Mindy Lawton

Lindsey Vonn

Cori Rist

Raychel Coudriet

Funny Baby Changing Station Graffiti

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 08:38 AM PDT

The funniest baby changing station graffiti.

Why Cats are Better than Men [Infographic]

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 07:49 AM PDT

Have you ever thought about dumping your boyfriend and cuddling up with a cat instead? A cat can definitely make a better companion than a bad boyfriend, but beware venturing into crazy cat lady territory.

In this infographic, FreeDating.co.uk takes a look at reasons why cats are better than men, feline Internet stars and how to tell if you've become the ultimate spinster.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Infographic: Why Cats are Better than Men

Via FreeDating.co.uk

miercuri, 27 martie 2013

Barnacle Reviews on Google+ Local

Barnacle Reviews on Google+ Local

Why leave reviews as a page?

Why "Barnacle" reviews?

Getting started: using Google+ as your page

Getting your feet wet: reviewing friendly businesses

Kicking it up a notch: finding popular businesses

1) Perform a search for "things to do" in your market

2) See what businesses Google recommends at maps.google.com

3) See where top reviewers are going

Finishing things off: reviewing those businesses

Conclusion

An Adorable Ambassador

Your website on Google (this month for $1)

Seth's Blog : Toward zero unemployment

Toward zero unemployment

More Recent Articles

marți, 26 martie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

miercuri, 27 martie 2013

Why leave reviews as a page?

Why "Barnacle" reviews?

Getting started: using Google+ as your page

Getting your feet wet: reviewing friendly businesses

Kicking it up a notch: finding popular businesses

1) Perform a search for "things to do" in your market

2) See what businesses Google recommends at maps.google.com

3) See where top reviewers are going

Finishing things off: reviewing those businesses

Conclusion

More Recent Articles

marți, 26 martie 2013

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

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