Give a little, give a lot. But please, just give.

 I've created a team for the HBDA Walk this year and really hope that you will consider donating a little bit of your time or a little bit of money to support this cause.

NHF Hemophilia Walk

“We only have what we give.”  ― Isabel Allende

Spring Cleaning Your Dirty Data

The thought of dirty data makes my skin crawl. It just sounds nasty.... even if you have no idea what it is. Maybe its the illicit-sounding alliteration, maybe its the realization that your online company information could actually be trash-talking your own business. Floating around the web unchecked, incorrect and misleading.... yeesh. Not good for you, not good for your lead generation.

Here's a scary statistic.. Estimates show dirty data is a big problem for the U.S. economy. How big? About twice the size of the national deficit. *

Here's an example: Someone looking for your service in your area.  They may or may not type in a

Local Search Marketing Made Easy.

Geo-modifier (the search engines know where we are, wherever, whenever, so its not a necessity anymore), your lead may or may not type in your business name or the industry/service/product (i.e. 'plumbing, wedding pictures, Your Hair Source').

Here's the problem: If you have six different versions of your digital data swamping up the results, search engines will dampen all of them. Those versions cancel each other out. There is no authority therefore no relevancy.  Even so much as an ampersand (instead of 'and) can be damaging.  Not to mention the incomplete or outdated addresses and phone numbers! How in the world do you expect someone to call you if you have the wrong phone number on your listings? Spelling mistakes or punctuation errors....

Even one listing with wrong information can spiral out of control. And in Local Search Marketing, that can mean a whole lot more than dirty data. Lost leads, lost customers, lost revenue.

So, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to do sit there, passive? Allow that dirty data to accumulate until there is a slim chance of finding the root of the problem and a slimmer chance of correcting the multitude of branch listings that sprung from that bad seed? Sure, you can do that. 

Or, you can fix it.

Here's the solution: Local Search Marketing is like a tree. The major data providers make up the roots of that tree, the foundation. The foundation should be like, well, all foundations. Strong, secure.  As your tree grows,  search engine listings are included and more citations are added (pretty leaves waving in the breeze) to strengthen that information. All this translates into your business information becoming more authoritative. Your business becomes more relevant to the search engines and more accessible to that potential customer typing away on their desktop, laptop or phone searching for what you provide right now.  So, what are you waiting for?  Contact Sundog Marketing now.

*$3 Trillion Problem: Three Best Practices for Today's Dirty Data Pandemic, Hollis Tibbets, the Global Director of Marketing at Dell 

4 Simple Mistakes You're Making In Optimizing Images for Search Results

Searching by image has been around for awhile but it still seems as if no one has really figured out how to make it work for them.... and not just to identify birds or the spider that just crawled out of your shoe.

Here are a few simple steps which make up part of my 21st Lead Generation Strategy. These steps can help make your images more productive and prominent in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Follow these simple rules for optimizing your images
for search engines.

1. Make the Specs Match the Engine.  

Most local pages simply won't upload images that do not comply to their standards. Others can accept the file but when displayed, looks more like a cast-off Picasso than a picture.

Two common image file types for the web are JPEG and PNG. Choosing the right image type can reduce the file's size and increase clarity with no visual degradation. The file size should be 150 dpi (dots per inch), that's as high a resolution as you should go. Saving as the right file type and reducing the image size can be done with most photo editing software.

2. If It Ain't Blue, Fix It.  

Make sure the image color space is RGB (red, green, blue: the web spectrum or your television) and not CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black: also known as 'four color' or 'process color,' it's the print color space). This can be done with photo editing software.

3. Tag, You're It.  

Tagging images with keywords serves as search engine bait. Simply rename your image with your location (zip, city) and a keyword (heating, bookkeeping, etc).  Don't forget to Geo-tag while you're at it. Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical data to your image through metadata.  There are two main methods for geotagging photos; you can capture GPS information the moment the photo is taken (a setting on the camera) or you can assign the photograph to a map after the picture is taken. This information can be used to find location-based resources. Like your company!

4. Comply.  

Use your common sense. If you wouldn't want the image on the side of your car, don't upload it. If it doesn't somehow, in some way represent you or your business, don't upload it. If someone is nekkid, don't upload it. Or if the image captures someone doing something really stupid. That basically eliminates the entire cast of Jackass.

Here's a quick guide to search engine image compliance rules. Search Engines will remove images they see that violate any of the rules below:

• Illegal content
• Violations of copyright
• Trademark infringement
• Pornography
• Incitement of violence
• Promotions of hate
• Invasion of privacy 
• Be of respectable quality. Photos that are overly blurry, noisy, rotated, or too dark may be removed. 

 Hope you have found this guide helpful. If you have any question, don't hesitate to ask! 

Get a no-cost, no-obligation Digital Diagnostic to assess your company's online authority and quality, right here.

How Small Businesses Win Online War Against Big Retailers

“I just got tired of seeing small businesses get kicked around,” said Lissa Monroe, the techno-diva of SunDog Marketing and Design. “So I decided to fight ‘big biz’ competitors where it counts: in the online marketing arena.”

Today’s shopper goes online first. And they search, mostly on Google (approximately 83% of global searches) to find top-ranked businesses. From there, they turn into a lead, or purchase directly. Sounds simple enough, but Monroe says there’s a damaging twist.

“Just over 91% of shoppers never even make it to Page 2 of the search results” she says with a sigh, “So if small businesses aren’t on Page 1, their online leads and sales will suffer dramatically. Many who are shoved past page 1 see sales dry up and close shop.” And who is usually on Page 1? You guessed it: big businesses with big marketing departments committed to page 1 ranking. “Small businesses just can’t compete against that without serious technical expertise. That’s why I opened SunDog.”

Disproving the Experts

Monroe spent 6 years working at marketing powerhouse Hudson, Ink, a nationally recognized marketing firm in Montgomery. “They’re famous in their niche, which is one of the toughest markets around” said Monroe, referring to the firm’s renown with in-home service contractors.  Monroe dreamt up the idea of taking contractors to the top of Google. Fortunately, Hudson Ink’s owner was willing to invest in her training.

So off she went to learn from one of the internet’s top SEO (Search Engine Optimization” experts. “My head was spinning!” Monroe remarked of her intense training, “And then I was given a big disappointment.”

“Toward the end, my teacher, one of the top experts in the field said, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be able to do this with service contractors; that field is too difficult.”

“I was so let down… but challenged too.” Monroe said. “And my boss doesn’t take ‘can’t’ very well!” So Monroe committed herself to the labyrinthine process of learning to get top results for a group who ‘wasn’t supposed to’ be able to rank. The result?

The industry considers getting 70% of your clients to page 1 a “very braggable” result. Monroe did a little better than that. “We got 95.6% of our clients on Page 1. This was – and remains – unheard of” she said with a touch of humility.

After 2 years of stellar results, Monroe was ready to go on her own as a local SEO expert, helping small business compete – and win – in today’s online marketing world.

Small Business, Big Numbers, Big Results

“A business on page 1 of Google will get more leads, more sales, more customers, and be a healthier business” Monroe says triumphantly, “And that’s what SunDog does.”

Whether you have a website or not, Monroe says she can get you “listed” and start climbing the page ranks of Google and the other major search engines.

And I'm not going to let them keep
kicking small businesses around.

Monroe offers businesses a no-cost “Digital Profile” to let them see where they rank, who’s beating them, and most importantly how they can begin climbing the ranks. These are available to readers at sundogmarketing.com/google-marketing  for no charge.

“Many clients came to me with a Page 5 – or lower – rank, and wondered why even their mother couldn’t find them online!” she says with a laugh, but gets serious. “They were losing sales because they were just lost in a digital wasteland. We’ve achieved page 1 ranks for them, and for clients this has meant hundreds of leads. This can be the difference between closing shop or flourishing.”

Not for Everyone

“I’m fairly selective of clients” says Monroe, “because I have to be. Everyone wants to be on page 1 of the engines, but I can only accept about 20 new clients a month.” Due to online marketing’s explosive growth and SunDog’s guaranteed results, this hasn’t been a problem.

“I don’t ‘do’ websites, I just make them rank better by giving you a great online presence using search engine and directory listings. My goal is to help any business gain a healthier, consistent online presence. And that means sales. This is a tough business, and I’m against some huge firms whose goal is to keep small businesses off on page one,” says Monroe who crosses her arms defiantly. “And I’m not going to let them keep kicking small businesses around.”

Marketing in today’s technology-advance world requires highly-skilled expertise. Having SunDog’s Lissa Monroe on your side can more than even the score. Interested businesses can call 334-354-8576 or email lissa@sundogmarketing.com.  Just tell Lissa you want to walk with the big dogs.

The Scent of Dirt

Winter has a tendency to subdue us, slow our lives down a bit. It’s considered the quiet time, like hibernation. We’re less active, and we require more sleep in the cold months.  The bulk of our outdoor activities stop.

We almost forget that there is anything else but cold weather and barren trees. Then Spring sneaks in, silently, like a secret. A little bulb bursting through frosty ground, one at a time, the pecan trees tentatively sprout a few leaves. Then on cue, it explodes around us. Then, the secret becomes a celebration of color, life and growth. The world is throwing its very own party to celebrate itself. “hey, look what I can do!”

Suddenly it’s everywhere you look.

A shock to the system. That sudden saturation of color after a dreary gray winter.  Sort of like being stuck in an airport with a very long layover and suddenly – unexpectedly – you see a fond and familiar face.  You both brighten.

I’ve woken up in that re-emergent world  eager to put my hands in the dirt as soon and as often as possible. Some people need the sea, or a body of water to balance and quiet the mind. Others, wide open spaces. For me, I’ll take green grass, clean dirt, and the serene earthiness of it all to re-connect.  It’s the best therapy in the world.

You know, only a gardener can know there is such a thing as ‘clean dirt’. And even now, I can almost smell it.

Spring is a time for rebirth, another chance. It breeds hope…

I was so sure my Fire Leaf Maple in the front yard was dead. A victim of neglect thanks to my former tenants and a fickle winter.   Now I watch with utter joy as each leaf springs green and optimistic from its branches.

Regardless of the winter of our life, spring is always comes again at the end to greet us.  Maybe that is winter’s purpose, to teach patience, and Spring’s is to reward it.

Spring brings something new and reinforces the old.  One pays homage to the other, respectfully, in a cyclic fashion, just as the cycles of life itself.

Years ago my mother gave me a little cutting of jasmine that I planted near a wrought iron fence that borders by porch. Since then it has bound and wound its way to cover the entire twenty foot span of fence.

It started off tenuous and fragile. Yet life and tending have allowed it to flourish. It shows its appreciation with trimmings I can now with friends and family.

The cycle continues.

Life and tending allow us to flourish. We’ve all some branches to prune, some roots to extend, some yet-unfound fruit or flower to exhibit to the world. There is a time to grow, to sow, and to reap harvest.

Every Spring, we all watch as trees grow taller, stronger, deeper.  As I do, I see promise and hope.

Ten years a go I would not have been able to feel the simple pleasure of watching a plant grow. Now, its one of my favorite things to do.  Each passing Spring reinforces - for me at least -  the real passage of time.

I don’t count my years on my face. I count it in the inches taller my plum trees have grown, the distance my jasmine has traveled.  

Spring is both chaotic and beautiful all at once.  Yet in spring we are able - for a moment - to breathe with the rhythm of life, as we stop… and smell the roses.

Search Engine Customer Service - The Mayhem and Myths

Let me start out by saying that I am 'in the trenches' of the Local Listings environment. I'm logging into client's listings every day, across the search engines and directories. So I've got quite a bit of familiarity with the 'Dashboards' and the various levels of customer service they offer.

Most all correspondence is via email or online form. Some have an actual person that will reply like Bing and Superpages. And that actual person will stick with you (and your problem) until both parties agree that it is resolved.  A+

Google has a fabulous forum that you can post to and sometimes, sometimes Jade will answer and whatever issue you are experiencing may be fixed.  The 'Report a Problem' link is.... meh.  At the end of the day, Google has the last word.  That last word is usually, 'we're experiencing technical difficulties right now (BUG)'.  C-

Some send you down a rabbit hole of forms and FAQs that loop you back around to the original Help page, customer care phone numbers that offer no technical support. Yahoo.... F

Yahoo's verification method consisted of send out postcards with invalid PINs. Seriously.  After almost a year of dealing with this debacle, I really had given up. It was almost like dealing with a narcissistic, petulant demi-god.  Then....

A client, a client, was able to contact a real, live, breathing person at Yahoo this week (maybe because Yahoo'ers are now back at their desks??) and explain the PIN issue to her.

First of all, embarrassing for me. Second of all, a lesson for me.

The customer service agent was friendly and as a courtesy (she deals with Enhanced Listings and all the outstanding verifications were Basic), she told me what I needed to do (send her a list of clients and ID), told me what she was going to do (forward on to her supervisor) and then told me she really didn't know what would happen next. Which, in all honesty, was fine. I was just ecstatic that so much had happened already.  Now, having learned my lesson from Sharron, I will not 'wait.' I will not stand idly by hoping the situation will resolve itself. I will persist and pester until there is outcome.

 Here's a thought....if you could cherry-pick the best features of each, what would they be?

Here's mine:

• Bing's customer service
• Google's analytics
• SuperPages category selection
• Yelp's verification Process
• Merchant Circle's blog and service/product pages

Note: Yahoo is not on this list.