Joe Polish & Lisa Wagner’s Rich Cleaner Blog ::

Over the last month I’ve given away a lot of really valuable gifts.  If you browse some of the posts on this blog, you’ll have access to my ‘underground’ training videos from my last marketing conference.  You’ll find access to my killer Genius Network Interviews with Sir Richard Branson (Rebel Billionaire and Founder of the Virgin Empire) and Tim Ferriss (NY Times Best Selling Author of the 4 Hour Work Week).

I’ve given away the marketing secrets to Van Signage that Sells, Going Deep with Referral Reward Programs, and How To Create Your Own Busy Season.

Most recently, for those of you on my email list and who’ve opted-in on this site to be Rich Cleaner Blog Members, I gave away my interview with the infamous “genius” copywriter and marketer, Gary Halbert, in honor of Einstein’s Birthday (March 14th) on www.GeniusNetwork.com just for telling me YOUR Birthday (so I can send you a birthday gift) and YOUR definition of “Genius.”  And, those of you following me on Twitter recently got private access to my interview with best-selling author Neil Strauss – whose latest books, Emergency and The Game, are making record sales.

Well, today I’m going to give away something else.  Something SO VALUABLE that if implemented it will be worth MILLIONS to your company (I’m not exaggerating…).  In fact, without this particular wisdom, its probable your business will not even survive.

The information you’re about to read in this post will help you generate NEW high-end new clients faster and cheaper than anything else you’ve ever done.

I’m giving it away in this series for FREE.

Why?

Why am I just giving away this information when it’s so valuable that it’s actually a Piranha Marketing product that easily sells itself 24 hours a day 7 days a week??!!

Because I care about this industry.  I want to help you grow your cleaning company.  I want to help you grow your restoration company.  I know that this information is an absolute must for a local service business to survive in this modern world.  More importantly, it’s VITAL knowledge for a service business who wants to thrive in a struggling economy.

That’s why.

“So, what IS it…?”

• It is step-by-step, explanation on how to dominate your local area search… on Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
• It is free training on how to create your internet presence so you are the most compelling, immediately trustworthy and obvious choice on the search engine result page.
• It is the secrets to finding and determining the right “keywords” and phrases high-end clients are typing in when they search for your services online.
• It is even going to tell you what “tags” are, what squidoo is, what social media profile pages and ‘blogs’ really are, and MORE IMPORTANTLY how EASY it is to use them to leverage your presence on the web so that you quickly and easily generate NEW high-end clients for FREE!

Now most of you know me and you know I AM a Marketing Genius.  But, I am NOT a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert.  So, I’ve brought in an expert to help me deliver to you (for FREE) what you need to know to dominate the internet in your area and as I like to say, Eat Your Competition Alive!

The expert I’ve brought in is not JUST an SEO expert… He’s actually presented at two of our Rich Cleaner Marketing Conferences, personally coaching my high level Platinum Plus Members and is coming back by popular demand to the Rich Cleaner Conference 2009.

His name is Dan Hollings and he’s not just recognized in our industry, he’s internationally recognized and respected as one of the most sought after internet marketers around.  He’s an internet strategist to celebrities, talk show hosts, NY Times bestselling authors, noted teachers, and world renowned entrepreneurs.  He’s consulted for over 100 business projects (many of them “household names”), but what he is most well-known for is his extraordinary internet marketing campaign behind the #1 smash hit movie…“The Secret”.

Most folks think it was “the universe” that was responsible for the huge online success that The Secret became.  But no, it was Dan… (so we like to refer to him as “Mr. Universe”).

According to ABC News… “Dan Hollings’ Marketing Campaign Behind “The Secret” Is Going To Go Down In History As The Greatest Case Study of Viral Marketing Ever Done. Anywhere!”

Here are excerpts from Dan’s presentations Rich Cleaner Conferences…

Dan Hollings At The Rich Cleaner Conference
Introducing How To Dominate Local Search

Dan Hollings at the Rich Cleaner Conference
Teaching Shortcuts To Getting Google Reviews

There is no one in the world more qualified than Dan Hollings to teach these revolutionary online marketing strategies.  And, now, for the first time ever (for FREE anyway), Dan and I are going to hand you these strategies, step-by-step, over the next several posts.

As you follow along, post your comments and questions.

Looks like we’ll just have room for the first 2 of our 12 lessons in today’s post but you’ll get all of them within the next week or so.

So, let’s begin.

Our Goal

Our goal is not to teach you what you already know. Our focus instead, is to tap into some of the powers and assets of the internet to help you propel your business activities and results toward your ultimate goals. In fact, this will focus in like a laser on LOCAL internet strategies because these are the strategies that will have the greatest impact on your local business. It’s an area of marketing often overlooked in other internet marketing materials – in fact, few other internet marketers even touch the subject.

Rest assured, this is very cutting edge stuff (that your competition doesn’t yet know) but the good news is, you do NOT need to be a rocket scientist or a computer nerd to take advantage… rather, you just need the “know-how.”

#1 BE MINDFUL; BE FINDABLE

Half the battle in finding customers or clients in your local area is making yourself “findable” online. Every day, thousands of people seek local services for their homes and businesses, many are actually desperate (or at least eager) for your service and these days, more than you might imagine use the internet to seek a solution.

For better or for worse, it’s amazing how many people think that a business close to them is the best choice. The internet, through local search, puts a priority on proximity and thus you need a strategy to make your business appear close no matter where in your service area you’re actually located.

Perhaps people are searching for someone to clean their carpets, someone to do landscaping, a handyman, painter or pool service; it really doesn’t matter because the internet can deliver ANYTHING one might be looking for almost as fast as you can say GOOGLE (or YAHOO!).

The interesting thing about online searchers, is that they often want to use the internet like a virtual backyard fence, where they can lean over it a bit and ask a friendly neighbor for recommendations or tips (something you cannot do in The Yellow Pages or from a newspaper ad).

Maybe they want to do a little research first, find out what ordinary folks think about this service or that in their local area. What many fear most, is overspending and/or getting lousy service… they don’t want to

MAKE A MISTAKE.

You’ve likely been in their shoes, think back… now think forward…

BINGO, you have your secret strategy #1.

To do well online, FIRST you need to THINK like a customer (your customer). Think what they would do, think where they might look, think what they most desire to know and who they most want to hear it from.

Then PLANT YOURSELF (and your message) in those “FINDABLE” spots.

Don’t think of the internet as an advertisement medium, rather think of it as a relationship building medium – plus a bit of a rumor mill if you like – SO… whenever possible let OTHER people and other sites deliver your message and tell your story.

Remember, searchers are leaning over the fence hoping to hear from a neighbor (or one of your existing customers) as to whether you’re any good or not.

While this FIRST SECRET might not seem like an internet strategy, it is. This MINDSET part of your strategy is so important, nothing else should be done, until you’ve thought through this concept. First understand the mindset of WHOM you want to find you, then think from their perspective what person or service THEY HOPE TO FIND.

Then think how you can leverage OTHERS (other sites/ other people/ other companies) to help deliver your message. Whether you’re marketing a product, a service, or even playing the dating game, this step or a close variation is critical to your success.

#2 THINK LOCAL

The internet, in the minds of most, is this big global network of people and computers plus a bottomless pit of information and resources so vast no human can really comprehend it. And just when you think you’re beginning to grasp the massive breadth of all this, you’re dumbfounded to discover it’s likely doubled in size, and doubled again from what you last conceived.

Often in our fascination with the internet’s bigness and scope, we fail to realize how powerful a tool it can be on the small scale – locally. It’s almost like thinking, “Hey this might be a great telescope, but lookie here, if I do it this way, it’s a great microscope!”

For most service business needs, the internet should be a local microscope, allowing you to focus in on YOUR neck of the woods in ways, only a few years ago, where totally impossible. Imagine this… What if you could create a publicly searchable map of all your happy customers chocked full of testimonials, photos, links and more.

This is an advanced “to-die-for” strategy we teach our top clients, and it’s just a taste of what you can do if implement these secrets.

How might you do this?

Explore first, then “plant” yourself.

First, discover LOCAL search. For illustration purposes we’ll focus on Google Local, but all the major search engines offer local search results for keyword searches that are deemed “local.”

Go to Google.com and type in the address of where you live. Try it with the full address, then just your street name and city/state, then just your zip code. Notice the search results (also called SERPs – search engine results page).

Any lights going off yet? Something was FOUND, right? Search engines seem to dig up something, no matter what. But were any of the results useful?  Could you have been found there?

Now, try clicking on the MAP option that likely appeared when you did a street address search.

You’ll notice under the search box a TAB called “Find Businesses” – click that. Initially, you’ll get something like this image:

In the search box to the left of your address, type in any business, keyword, or phrase you like. In this example, we’ve typed in Dan’s business… “Internet Strategist” (next to location “Tucson AZ”).

As you can see, local businesses pull up on the left and at the TOP is Dan’s business, Web Services LLC.

Again, any lights flashing in your head yet? Even on most other searches in Dan’s local area, Dan’s listing pulls up typically within the TOP 5 of local results. If anyone searches by the county name where Dan lives, or any neighboring communities… BINGO, they’ve found Dan.

Any local service business can easily pursue a few simple steps and PLANT themselves under keywords and phrases HOMEOWNERS and BUSINESSES might type in when seeking to find the services they need.

And to think, the population of Tucson, AZ is over 518,956.  Out of over a half million residents living in Tucson, a few might be seeking services, and many (if not more) in your local area are desperately trying to find you… but can you be found?

It only gets better…

I’m sure you’ve inquired about what it costs to be in the local yellow pages? Pick a big number and add several ouches afterwards. For most, it’s not a great investment. Yet, Google and other search engines will give you a BIG yellow page style ad (with your own COUPON option) for absolutely FREE.  You can offer Carpet Audits and free “Consumer Awareness Guides.”

And your listing is not for just one year – we’re talking perpetually! FREE!

Here is a resource list of the links you’ll need:

GOOGLE LOCAL
http://local.google.com/

ADD YOUR BUSINESS
http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us

YAHOO LOCAL
http://local.yahoo.com/

ADD YOUR BUSINESS
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php

MSN LOCAL
http://local.live.com/

ADD YOUR BUSINESS
http://webapp.localeze.com/bizreg/add.aspx

OTHER LOCAL SEARCH MARKETING OPTIONS

Ethical Services

ZoomInfo

CitySearch

InfoUSA

InfoSpace

AskCity

Local.com

MerchantCircle

Yelp

http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/local-search-marketing-guide/other-options/

#3 The ‘KEYS’ To Your Local Success

When people seeking your service start exploring online, they do so like you, me and everyone else. They rev up their browser, head off to a site or search engine and start searching. Most searches are done by typing in a KEYWORD or PHRASE to a search box, clicking the search button and scanning through the resulting SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

Since we know this is what people do, all that’s left for us to determine is WHAT the heck they are typing into that little search box. If we can make an educated guess about that, then our job becomes more defined. All we must do is PLANT ourselves (our service, our listing, a site, a page or a blog) so we pull up on the SERPs where they are looking.

If you’ve ever heard anything about “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO), this is basically what we are discussing, but at a very simplified level. You need not have any special talents to do this stuff, just the knowledge of what to do and where to do it. The process once clear in your mind is rather simple. The good news is that doing this stuff on the LOCAL level is far easier than trying to achieve a similar goal on a national or global scale. But for you, and for your business, LOCAL is exactly where we want to be found.

So what do we need to do? We need to figure out what KEYWORDS or PHRASES local folks are typing into those little search boxes!

How do we do it?

We’ll tell you how and give you a free tool to do it too… in our next post.

For now, please take action.

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
-Thomas Edison

“Genius lies not in thinking of ideas, but in the ability to execute the ideas.”
-Jane McElyea

1) Get yourself set up with Secrets #1 and #2.

2) Post your comments or questions and you’ll qualify to win a the 3 hour audio training recording with me, Dan and some of Piranha’s most successful cleaning and restoration marketing students discussing these insider secrets to online marketing for cleaning and restoration businesses.

3) Check out the massive wisdom I’ve shared through this blog, through my Genius Network, and on my Twitter site over the last month.  Make sure you’re staying plugged in to me and Piranha Marketing (become a Member of the Rich Cleaner Blog), so we can continue to help you create an E.L.F. Business (Easy, Lucrative & FUN!) and so you can “Eat Your Competition Alive!”.