About Us
Your most valuable online business asset is your online reputation!
You may be tempted to invest in a better web site, video, SEO and even paid online advertising to increase your future prosperity. However, none of these efforts will work… without a good online reputation.
Think about this, If you were looking for a dog walker on Google and one dog walker had 34 (5 star) reviews and another dog walker had 7 (5 star) reviews, which one would YOU call?
Would a better web site, video, SEO or paid Google or Facebook ad help the dog walker with only 7 reviews?
NO!!!
Obviously, the second dog walker needs more reviews.
But, getting reviews can be difficult.
Even with a fantastic offline reputation, happy customers don’t leave reviews unless you ask them. Typically, only dissatisfied customers are self-motivated to leave “bad” reviews.
For a perfect solution, take a look at this handy tool to help you get more “good” reviews. https://review4pro.com/tool.htm
Hope you find this business insight helpful.
How We Got Started
I'm an experienced Google My Business troubleshooter. After I retired I created my "Wind River Promotions" business to help select local businesses grow and prosper.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (8)
"Get the "Wind" beneath your wings!!"
"I would recommend the Wind River Promotions Company to any busy business owner, who is planning..."
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"I would recommend the Wind River Promotions Company to any busy business owner, who is planning to grow his/her business and find more customers. In our days it is not easy task to find new clients. Ron Lemire has a great knowledge of Internet marketing. He spent many years in this field, working as a specialist with Google search for businesses, Google AdWords and other Google tools. He knows how to set up your company web page, that any potential client could open it right away on his/her mobile phone and contact to your company immediately. "
Products & Services
The backbone of our agency is Reputation Management. NOTHING you do for your business "online" (website, video, SEO) is as important or VITAL as yo...
Gallery
Recommendations Given (56)
"Having done books myself I know how dedicated you need to be and Jan impressed me, not just as..."
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"Having done books myself I know how dedicated you need to be and Jan impressed me, not just as doing bookkeeping but because she was able to motivate herself to market a great anti-aging product. I'm getting on in years myself so that makes perfect sense to me.
I might also mention that Jan hails from Edmonton, where I spent most of my life before getting married and moving onward and upward :-)
All the best Jan...
Ron"
"I'm always looking for images to use for online promotion and I am really impressed with Peter's..."
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"I'm always looking for images to use for online promotion and I am really impressed with Peter's selection of images and their quality. He clearly has a discerning eye and the ability to capture the moment."
Recent Activity
When seeking the best practices to grow your business you will mostly see advise about provide great customer service, playing fair and dealing with integrity. All of which are true. You do need to earn your customers admiration or you'll never succeed.
But, think about this for a moment......
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When seeking the best practices to grow your business you will mostly see advise about provide great customer service, playing fair and dealing with integrity. All of which are true. You do need to earn your customers admiration or you'll never succeed.
But, think about this for a moment... If you are an exceptional baker and your customers keep coming back and back and back, and you meet all of the above advice.
Then take this test... Search online for bakers in your local area using Google. Look over all of the bakers listed. How many Google reviews does your business have compared to your competitors?
Unless you have a large amount of 4 and 5 star reviews... no one will visit your web site, your establishment or take the time to check you out. No matter how good you, your business or your website is, unless a searcher can instantly see the quality of your business reflected in the quality of your Google review score, you will be perceived as a failure and ignored.
Google reviews mirror sites like Amazon... where 1,2,3 star or negative reviews are universally frowned upon by the general public. People who instantly make snap decisions can make or break your company.
So the one skill you absolutely must master is getting your satisfied clients, customers or patients to leave you a 4 or 5 star Google review -- or hire a reputation management service to help you.
Think about this balance: perhaps a reputation management service charges $1000 a month ($50 per working day) but poor quality reviews cost you $200 in lost revenue (or much more) every day... Is it really better to save money on a needed business expense or sit around wishing for more work?
Li Cheng, Competent legal knowledge aside... I'm not in the legal profession. My main focus is helping local businesses with growth and promotion.
From a strictly business point of view, I'm sure lawyers, like everyone in business want's more customer/clients.
To change your focus for a...
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Li Cheng, Competent legal knowledge aside... I'm not in the legal profession. My main focus is helping local businesses with growth and promotion.
From a strictly business point of view, I'm sure lawyers, like everyone in business want's more customer/clients.
To change your focus for a minute think about this..
If you were looking for a dog walker on Google and one dog walker had 37 (5 star ) reviews and another dog walker had 7 (5 star) reviews... which one would you choose?
If you want to improve your business success... Your most valuable online asset is your review/reputation. Statistics reveal that 97% of consumers read online reviews before they decide which product or service they'll purchase.
What most businesses fail to realize, is that reviews have nothing to do with customers they already have... it's all about getting new customers.
Want more customers, clients or patients, get more reviews.
Of course the trick is how to easily get 4 & 5 star reviews and keep low value and negative reviews from sinking your ship. If you're thinking about adding a $300 video or a $100 monthly review management service... forget the video.
What is a client worth to you? If a review management system added 1 new review that resulted in 1 new customer a month... would it be worth it?
Food for thought...
Ron
Sue, reading over your questions and comments is like listening to a choir. Everyone singing in harmony about the virtues of having the skills of a good teacher.
But, if you are a very good tutor and really want to help students... lets face it, the most valuable skill you should nurture is...
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Sue, reading over your questions and comments is like listening to a choir. Everyone singing in harmony about the virtues of having the skills of a good teacher.
But, if you are a very good tutor and really want to help students... lets face it, the most valuable skill you should nurture is advertising.
You could be the most fantastic tutor in the world, and be totally useless to the world, if you can't convince parents (or students) to hire you.
Of course you could run around blowing your own horn and telling people how great you are... but it would be much more convincing to have other people do that for you.
Think about this idea. Create yourself a "virtual" Google My Business account (you don't even need a web site). The advantage??? With Google My Business account you can start collecting reviews to boost your reputation.
Statistics reveal that 97% of consumers read online reviews before they decide which product or service they'll purchase. That means, when parents try to look you up on Google, you'll have reviews as proof of the skills you want to offer.
As a bonus you could create a business card with a link to your Google My Business account (talk about free advertising).
Just a thought...
Ron
Paula, while any strategy with social media could be effective, I would also think about creating a Google My Business account. There are plenty of local businesses that do not have web sites (You don't even need an address).
The advantage of adding this strategy to your tool box, is that...
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Paula, while any strategy with social media could be effective, I would also think about creating a Google My Business account. There are plenty of local businesses that do not have web sites (You don't even need an address).
The advantage of adding this strategy to your tool box, is that you can start getting reviews from your existing clients.
Your most valuable asset online is your review/reputation. Statistics reveal that 97% of consumers read online reviews before they decide which product or service they'll purchase.
That means, even if you are marketing on Facebook or LinkedIn, people will try checking you out on Google. It's always better for your business to show them something positive -- like a good reputation. Hope this insight helps... Ron
1 Reply
While I've seen some great suggestions for this question, most local businesses miss the obvious.
If you were looking for a dog walker on Google and one dog walker had 37 (5 star) reviews and another dog walker had 7 (5 star) reviews... which one would YOU choose?
If you are a...
(more)
While I've seen some great suggestions for this question, most local businesses miss the obvious.
If you were looking for a dog walker on Google and one dog walker had 37 (5 star) reviews and another dog walker had 7 (5 star) reviews... which one would YOU choose?
If you are a photographer, carpet cleaner, hairstylist, etc. how many reviews do you have?
Your most valuable asset online is your review/reputation. Statistics reveal that 97% of consumers read online reviews before they decide which product or service they'll purchase.
What most businesses fail to realize, is that reviews have nothing to do with customers you already have... it's all about getting new customers.
Want more customers, clients or patients, get more reviews.
Of course the trick is how to easily get 4 & 5 star reviews and keep low value and negative reviews from sinking your ship. If you're thinking about adding a $300 video or a $100 monthly review management service... forget the video.
Ron
I started my business to help local professionals grow and make their companies prosper. But, I quickly learned I needed to be a masochist with patience.
Over 80% of consumers now shop online with a cell phone. With a super short attention span, they hate slow loading web sites that aren't...
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I started my business to help local professionals grow and make their companies prosper. But, I quickly learned I needed to be a masochist with patience.
Over 80% of consumers now shop online with a cell phone. With a super short attention span, they hate slow loading web sites that aren't secure, love videos (especially about kitties) and they don't read newspapers or look for businesses in the Yellow Pages.
You've probably heard the saying "you can lead a horse to water -- but you can't make him drink". Well trying to help a local business become successful is even worse. They're more paranoid than a horse!
Local businesses may desperately need more traffic and customers (and know it), but they raise the draw bridge, close the windows and bolt the door to prevent any online marketing company from helping them get new customers.
I think local businesses stubbornly refuse to pay for online advertising because, "in days of old", they heard somewhere that online Internet traffic was free - (and you used to be able to buy a coke or a loaf of bread for a nickel).
A legitimate online marketing company is not a scam. They are professionals looking to become long term partners with a local business. To do that, they know they need to help that business grow and become prosperous. The continued health of the marketing company completely depends on the local business becoming, and staying, successful.
It stands to reason that any online marketing firm that fails to deliver and make their clients happy would be quickly fired... in effect killing the Goose laying the golden eggs.
So, instead of slamming the door in the face of online marketers, local businesses should stay alert and seriously examining every offer of online help they get. Their very future could depend on it. Ron
As far as it takes. I know a foot doesn't do it and neither does a meter. I've found that a mile seems to be a sweet spot :-)
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As far as it takes. I know a foot doesn't do it and neither does a meter. I've found that a mile seems to be a sweet spot :-)
I suppose printed marketing still works in a small town but, when people have the attention span of a gnat, haven't the time (or ability) to read simple English (or what-ever), would rather watch cat videos, can't spell worth shift... OMG! The digital world IS taking over! Run for the hills....
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I suppose printed marketing still works in a small town but, when people have the attention span of a gnat, haven't the time (or ability) to read simple English (or what-ever), would rather watch cat videos, can't spell worth shift... OMG! The digital world IS taking over! Run for the hills....
Hey mister... would you like to meet my sister? Saw this in a movie one time... but it's probably wouldn't work for "My Little Bridal Boutique" :-)
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Hey mister... would you like to meet my sister? Saw this in a movie one time... but it's probably wouldn't work for "My Little Bridal Boutique" :-)
Any entrepreneurial "Mom & Pop" stores that still exist could only be hanging on by a thread. These types of retail shops were under assault long before Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Walmart and others existed. Privately owned retails stores (and even door to door salesmen) began their slide into...
(more)
Any entrepreneurial "Mom & Pop" stores that still exist could only be hanging on by a thread. These types of retail shops were under assault long before Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Walmart and others existed. Privately owned retails stores (and even door to door salesmen) began their slide into history when catalog sales and franchises came along.
Even computer and appliance repair shops and headed in that direction because it's often cheaper to buy brand new instead of making repairs. When was the last time you saw a shoe repair shop?
Unfortunately, competition is not the only problem. The cost of maintaining a brick and mortar shop often exceeds the revenue potential of most "Mom & Pop" operations.
