Fake Reviewers Get 0 Starts From New York Attorney General

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New York’s attorney general revealed the results of a yearlong investigation into the business of fake reviews. Eric Schneiderman announced last Monday that 19 companies that engaged in the practice will stop and pay fines between $2,500 and $100,000, for a total of more than $350,000 in penalties.

“Operation Clean Turf,” was a year-long investigation into the reputation management industry, the manipulation of consumer-review websites, and the practice of astroturfing, found that companies had flooded the Internet with fake consumer reviews on websites such as Yelp, Google Local, and CitySearch.

The practice of putting up fake positive reviews is called “astroturfing” — the 21st century version of false advertising, which is illegal.

Business obviously have a lot to gain from astroturfing.

A Harvard Business School study from 2011 found that a one-star rating increase on Yelp can translate into a 5 percent to 9 percent revenue growth for a restaurant.

A Cornell study found that one extra star on TripAdvisor is tied to an average of an 11 percent rise in room rates for hotels.

72% of Users Say They Trust Yelp ‘As Much’ as Their Own Friends

The research firm Gartner projects that by 2014, between 10 and 15 percent of online reviews will be fake.

Obviously fake reviews aren’t anything to joke around about, and there have been quite a few incidents in the media the last few months related to online reviews.

Today, I want to leave you with 3 Tips

1. Get Your Customers To Write Reviews – you need a system in place that systematically and automatically gets your customers to visit yelp, google and the other TOP local directories and leave you outstanding reviews. I can tell you first hand I’ve only been asked to leave a review for a business less than 5 times.

2. Fix problems – understand that bad reviews are opportunities… When you get a bad review (and trust me you will) fix the issue, and ask the reviewer if they would post again saying you fixed the issue.

3. Track your brand name and reviews…

* Google Alerts – Service by google will email you when they find new results for your search
* Check out hoot suite to monitor and track mentions of your product or service on Twitter & Facebook
* BookMark Your Profile Page On: Google Plus Local & Yelp at the very least

How Often Should You Post To Facebook

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When I speak or training on Social Media, one of the most common questions I get is:

How Often Should I Post To Facebook?

The answer is that there is no right answer.

When people ask this question they are looking the the SECRET formula they can use…

It’s wrong to think there is a set of solid answers to every question…

There is not a time or frequency thats the best to post to Facebook.

You can only test, and measure.

Using Remarketing To Close Deals

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Have you ever visited a website online, and then later that day or the next noticed that you keep seeing ads over and over again for that site or brand?

Yep, Im sure you have…

That’s remarketing. I’ll explain how it works. When people visit your website you can drop whats called a cookie, and whenever they browse the web, they see ads related your products or services.

Typically remarketin his use for targeting people who visit your website but…. Today I’m gonna share with you a little trick.

If your working on sealing a deal or contract via email, you can use retargeter and perfect audience to do remasrketing with email!

Basically you setup a campaign in either network, and they give you a piece of code to stick in your emails.

The setup for the campaign is simple, the only thing you really need before setting up the campaign is a banner ad. If your not a designer just hop on fiver and get someone to do it for $5.

Lets talk for just a moment about what should be on the banner.

1. Product/Service Benefit
2. Image Of You Or Your Brand Or Logo

The benefit to setting this up the retargeting ads is to keep your company at the front of the prospects mind.

72% of Users Trust Yelp ‘As Much’ as Their Own Friends

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72% of Users Say They Trust Yelp ‘As Much’ as Their Own Friends

+TA

A new study published on WebProNews shows that consumers that use Yelp believe that Yelp reviews are VERY valuable. In fact, 73% of respondents say they trust Yelp reviews as much as their own friends.
This is mind boggling….

Online reviews are VERY quickly growing in importance and power.

And there has been a HUGE shift in the marketplace.
For years businesses have believed that referrals are the BEST customers. Friends referring friends is the best.
So Is Yelp the best now? With 73% of respondents say they trust Yelp reviews as much as their own friends.

Every business needs to manage and MARKET their online reviews PROACTIVELY.

I want to leave you today with 4 takeaways.

1. Get Your Customers To Write Reviews – you need a system in place that systematically and automatically gets your customers to visit yelp, google and the other TOP local directories and leave you outstanding reviews. I can tell you first hand I’ve only been asked to leave a review for a business less than 5 times.

2. Fix problems – understand that bad reviews are opportunities… When you get a bad review (and trust me you will) fix the issue, and ask the reviewer if they would post again saying you fixed the issue.

3. Track your brand name and reviews…

* Google Alerts – Service by google will email you when they find new results for your search
* Check out hoot suite to monitor and track mentions of your product or service on Twitter & Facebook
* BookMark Your Profile Page On: Google Plus Local & Yelp at the very least

Using Call Tracking To Better Your Sales Staff

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Not only does it help you determine the success of your marketing campaigns, and what channels or mediums are working bust but theres a few lesser known perks as well.

One of these perks is the ability to listen in on sales staff and other staff that use your company phones.

If you aren’t recording your calls, and training your staff with this knowledge your easily losing 20% of your sales…

Asking For The Sale
Not Knowing Your Services
Objection Handeling
Giving Directions
Listening To Your Prospects

My Must Have Mac Apps

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Here are the apps I mention in the video:

  • Screenflow
  • Dropbox
  • LastPass
  • Curtain
  • Caffeine
  • VLC
  • Skitch or Google Chrome Screenshot
  • Show how to turn Mac on at specific times
  • Skype
  • IMovie
  • Evernote
  • My Speed – by enounce
  • Yammer
  • Clarify It
  • My Little Pomodoro