the link

This post serves to present a case for buying locally and offers a buy beware:

I just had a tail-spin conversation with a company by the name of Egumbull. I am representing Mr. Collins, a 18-year small business owner of an auto shop in Durham, North Carolina. He is located on one of the most heaviest traffic intersections in they city. After  explaining to Mr. Collins that I show small businesses how to improve their SEO using Google products that are free to them and how to make their branding more consistent, he asked me to Google the phrase “auto repair.” He did  not show up.

Mr. Collins, a well read, slow spoken man from Orange County, North Carolina describes himself as a “country boy.” Tonight he told me, “I know I’m country, they just don’t know that.” As Mr. Collins said “they” he pointed to the phone’s receiver.

Mr. Collins owns Collins Exxon, is a busy mechanic, 48, and trying to understand social media.

After slowing down, and listening to Mr. Collins, I was able to understand that Mr. Collins paid for a service to boost his SEO and needed his contract to know why his business name wasn’t showing up in Google. He had agreed to pay $155.00 for 12-months and needed some answers. Mr. Collins also needed way to see monthly progress.

In exchange for changing the air-filters on my car, I agreed to sit in on a call with Mr. Collins, representing him as his communications person, with the Californian company he is paying to improve his SEO. The work he performed, at what I was quoted equates to my regular small business rate. Not a bad barter.

The California “dudes,” not understanding his slow, country-boy, southern accent, rushed Mr. Collins as he tried to explain himself. I patiently waited while Mr. Collins explained his problem in every detail to the impatient customer service reps. After they bounced him around, I offered to handle the call. I explained to the reps Mr. Collins did not have a copy of his contract and would like to understand what he is paying for.

After the reps picked up on my online communication and social media savvy, they grew suspicious. I simply went through the routine of asking questions. Questions facilitate conversation.

Egumbull, already accused of scamming businesses according to Ripoff Report, accused me of wanting their trade secrets. I don’t think so. I know I have a model that works. I am very confident in it.

After what I went through tonight, Egumbull, you helped confirm my model works. You didn’t take time to listen, nor to communicate. Furthermore, I witnessed you treat Mr. Collins, your customer, very poorly. You hung up on him multiple times, bounced him around and made snide remarks. The “customer service” was simply deplorable.

To SEO companies: work with small businesses in regions where you understand the language and vernacular of the people. You aren’t helping small businesses succeed by not understanding their communication needs, you’re hurting them — in the pocket.

To small businesses: do not hire “SEO consultants” who are not from your region, nor take the time to listen to your true business needs. Make sure the company you choose will communicate in your language in real time. If you communicate best with a consultant at a coffee shop, in your hair shop, or in your auto repair shop, hire them. Hire a consultant that will listen to what you want to accomplish with your business.

Choose a consultant that will help you realize your dreams. Hire consultants that will educate you in social media, teach you how to use it, how their children use it, how their customers use it and then, how networking helps bring people into your store. Do not trust consultants that will just say “they’ll increase your SEO and get you topped ranked in Google, here’s a pen, sign this contract.” Lastly, choose consultants with a positive reputation and track record. All my business is based on referrals.

I believe in small business, and I believe in free Google products for small businesses. I believe in communication and I believe in the beauty of words.

I don’t need your trade secrets.

I grew up on the West Coast (from Portland, Oregon) and spent many summers in Orange County, California.

After spending six years in North Carolina, I am continuously learning how to COMMUNICATE with people in the southeast. This is a must for me because I am choosing to grow my business here. To add, I made a choice to Marry Durham.

I am very invested in the local economy — I am choosing to grow a consultancy that helps elevate small businesses by telling their stories and their rich histories in the best electronic communication format that will reach the customers they serve.

Today, I sat in Mr. Collins shop to get an understanding of his client base. I watched a video he took and uploaded to YouTube of people playing the blues and making fun of Elvis in his auto shop. What other auto shop have you been to where you can sit and listen to blues live?

Your can see videos of Mr. Collins’ church services and a basketball team he coaches. This is a small business owner and a community member that can benefit most from a someone who truly understands the community and small business owners’ needs.

Here is a taste of the rich dialogue had at the All Women’s Social Media Summit on October 22. This video clip is made even sweeter with a sampling of the social media expertise I contributed to the panel! That’s right, watch me in this clip!

The All Women’s Social Media Summit will air on Saturday, November 12 in Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, channels 18 in Durham, 8 in Chapel Hill and 4 in Carrboro. This is a must-see for small businesses expanding their communication efforts online.

The All Women’s Social Media Summit is the ONLY summit of in the nation to feature an all women’s panel of social media experts!

If you are an advisor or public speaker of any kind, your business service and reputation may be closely associated with your name. If you’re like me, all of my new business comes from referrals, and in many cases, my name has been Googled prior to my first conversation with clients.

If your name is Googled, does the website you use for your business appear at the top of search results? If not, follow these 3 steps to quickly improve your Google search results.

Before you begin, you will need to create a Google account to access the free products available for small business.

1. Submit your website to Google.

Add your URL to Google so that it finds and indexes your site. Think of a series of keywords that describe your business services to use when submitting your URL. Use words people will most likely use in Google to find your business. You can also add your name here also.

For example, if you are a financial advisor in Atlanta, Georgia, use searchable terms such as: “wealth management” “Atlanta” “Georgia” “personal finances” “financial expert” “financial advisor”

2. Create a free business listing in Google Maps.

Go to Google Places to create a business listing in Google Maps. Users will be able to go to your place page to find your location, directions to your business, hours of operation and reviews. Keep in mind, many users have Google Maps on their smartphone device. In many cases, Google Maps has a navigation feature that uses GPS to provide users with turn-by-turn driving, walking, and transit directions.

3. Promote your website everywhere.

What good is a website that no one knows about? Creating a site that no one knows about is a common communication pitfall business owners make. Your URL should appear in the signature of your email, on your business card, in your Twitter bio, on your LinkedIn profile… everywhere!

The more people visit your site, the higher it will be placed in Google search engine results.

4. Don’t forget the other search engines.

You can submit your URL to Bing and Yahoo in just a few clicks. As in #1 of this post, you will need to identify keywords that describe your business and will be used in the search engine by users.

Leah D. Gordon has been invited to present at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s SE Region Womens’ Symposium today at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Gordon’s guest presentation follows the wealth management firm’s recent announcement allowing its financial advisors to use LinkedIn and Twitter for business practices.

“This is an exciting time for women in business,” says Gordon, “social media is a powerful communication tool we can use promote businesses.”

Gordon’s talk will cover examples of how financial advisors’ clients are using social media and ways they can use LinkedIn and Twitter to raise online profiles, follow up on referrals and make an impact on their bottom line.

Follow Leah D. Gordon on Twitter @simpleelovlee to learn tips on using social media for business.

—
Leah D. Gordon is owner of Branding the Link, a boutique strategy consulting firm focused on building online brands.

UNC was under a tornado warning today.

I started tweeting my experience and the news is now coming to the office do an interview with me on my experience while we took shelter.

Tune into NBC 17 News if you’re next to your computer or tablet to watch.

In an effort to inform people of the many ways they can follow MEASURE Evaluation, I chose to incorporate the project’s web address and links to social media channels to my email signature. I think its starting to look a bit ridiculous. Check it out and leave a comment. Tell me:

1. What you would change?
2. Is it all necessary?
3. How would you (re)format it?
4. What does yours look like?

Do you get frustrated hunting for a specific email or a news article you came across? Perhaps you are an e-hoarder and have a hard time pulling media from your devices and finding a place to put it.

Not to worry! There are many free tools ready and available for you to use! Sign-up now!

Leah D. Gordon will present free online tools, tips and tricks that help you organize your electronic clutter. Learn how to systematically organize your media, decide what to share and what to keep private and how. Participants will learn how to organize electronic clutter such as:

• email
• contacts
• bookmarks
• photos
• video
• articles
• blog posts
• books
• music
• documents
• tweets and tweeps
• facebook friends

Tools presented are free to use and online privacy concerns will be taken into account.

Who: E-hoarders, disorganized media consumers and everyone in between

What: Online seminar on organizing electronic clutter

When: 10AM-12PM EST on Saturday, Augutst 20, 2011

Where: Online. A join.me link will be sent to paid registrants prior to the seminar.

Why: Because you need to get organized.

Register: Space limited. Registration closes August 18, 2011 at 5PM

Cost: FREE

Technical requirements:

• Your computer or device must be running Flash Player 10
• You must be using one of these browsers: Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8, 9; Firefox 3.6, 4; Chrome 5 or above; Safari 5
• On an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, make sure you have the free join.me app
• On an Android device, make sure you have the free join.me app

SIGN ME UP!!

Bottom line: Adding a +1 button to your content helps users quickly find relevant content from people they know and trust.

You can add a Google +1 button to pages to encourage to users to recommend your page content to their friends and followers when signed into Google.

credit: http://jonathanbjorkskog.com

“+1-ing” content can improve your personal image as well. By clicking the +1 button, you are communicating to your followers and friends content you find to be reputable and credible.

Give it a try!

They play it safe, are quick to assassinate what they do not understand. They move in packs ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another. They feel most comfortable in groups, less guilt to swallow. They are us. This is what we have become. Afraid to respect the individual. A single person within a circumstance can move one to change. To love ourself. To evolve.

—Erykah Badu, monologue in “Window Seat”

What is GroupThink?

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. Antecedent factors such as group cohesiveness, structural faults, and situational context play into the likelihood of whether or not groupthink will impact the decision-making process.

In a 400-page report released July 11, 2004, the United States Intelligence Committee concluded that the intelligence community suffered from “collective group think” which led to the presumption that Iraq had an active and growing weapons of mass destruction program.

“This group think caused the community to interpret ambiguous evidence such as the procurement of dual use technology” to mean Iraq had an active weapons program, Pat Roberts (R-Kan)said. “It is clear that this group think also extended to our allies” and other nations, “all of whom did believe that Saddam Hussein did have active WMD program.”

“This was a global intelligence failure,” Roberts added.

Badu and GroupThink

On March 13, 2010, Erykah Badu shot “Window Seat” known to be her most controversial music video. This video was shot in a single take, in real time, while she walks Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas removing articles of clothing. At the end of the video Badu is shot in the nude by an unknown assassin. Blue blood flows from the gunshot to her head and spells out “groupthink.”

Badu was inspired by Matt & Kim’s video for the song “Lesson’s Learned” shot in New York’s Times Square.

“…the bravest, most liberating thing I’ve ever seen two people do… I wanted to dedicate this contagious act of liberation and freedom to them. I hoped it would become something contagious that people would want to do in some way or another” Badu said.

Badu described President John F. Kennedy, assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, as one of her heroes stating,

“My point was grossly misunderstood all over America. JFK is one of my heroes, one of the nation’s heroes. John F. Kennedy was a revolutionary; he was not afraid to butt heads with America, and I was not afraid to show America my butt-naked truth.”

Badu intended for the assassination scene to represent character assassination by groupthink.

—

A clue that tells you if an artist is “true hip-hop” ask yourself, “is it socially conscious?” So many MCs fake and over use the classification of hip-hop. I’m just so glad true hip-hop lives on.

This week, I pay tribute to Soulquarians, featuring one or two of the talented people in the collective via my blog (the 1st was on FB, I have to move it over).

Today I honor Erykah Badu, the only female Soulquarian. She has inspired me over the years, been with me on long road trips, danced with me in my dorm room and chilled out with me while writing blog posts. Erykah Badu continues to drop heavy beats, captivate you with her voice and raise serious and sensitive issues through music. She encourages us to understand “what’s going on. “

I had such a good time with my good friend @nkanagat during our recent photo shoot. I recently received a request for photos to be posted to a conference website. I scrambled, looking for photos, and to no avail had none that were up-to-date. Luckily, photog extraordinaire, @nkanagat was available.

Leah’s professional photos

We both value web technology, cloud computing, new gadgets and most importantly free web-based applications. During our photo shoot, we pretty much had a mini-dance party, while we streamed a Pandora station I shared called, “Leah’s Dance Mix.”

Using Picasa, we warmified the photos and made other very minor adjustments (extraordinaire). The photos were then uploaded to Dropbox, which we absolutely love for file sharing, as we both travel domestically and internationally for work.

I emailed three photos in .jpg format to the person who initially requested them using gmail, shared the photos with my Facebook friends, tweeted them and shared the Picasa Web album and am now blogging for you! Wah la! Free file sharing and business has been conducted!

This file sharing process was so quick, low cost and fast! All of the communication and file sharing platforms are free and available for us to use! I encourage you to continue to use applications to carry out your work that are web-based and low cost.

I incorporate these platforms into my work so that I am able to keep my overhead costs low and offer competitive pricing to my clientele.

Enjoy the photos, and if you need to use any, please send a quick email for permission to leah [at] leahdgordon [dot] com.