tn16

Dave, I just want to get the right thing done. It seems like we have had several suggested approaches here which I will list:

1. Remove “Preferred contact method”
2. Add an option that specifies to please only contact me using the preferred contact method only.
3. Add a yes/no drop down that says may we contact you by phone
4. Leave the e-mail option and improve response times and work on improving the effectiveness of our replies.

If we can reach some type of majority on any of these, I will be happy to get er done!

I’m leaning more towards number 1 or 2 and then changing the text program accordingly. This seems to satisfy most concerns. Cast your vote and it will be done in the next couple of work days.

I agree with Greg 100% on those companies that say you will be on “the first page”. Usually they are talking about local ads or pay-per-click ads which doesn’t seem really right. Now if they offer to get you up there in the organic results, that is entirely a different thing.

Aside from signing up for google local, you should also sign up for yahoo local using this link:
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/

In the past MSN local search hasn’t been great but its always improving. You can sign up for them here:
https://ssl.search.live.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

Make sure your information is correct on these. Other websites will use this data to build their own databases. These three are a source for almost everyone that aggregates such data.

As I’ve mentioned before, this website is also a good location to sign up for some other free listings. You should end up on most of these pages anyways after aggregation occurs, but it can’t hurt to check. Also note that I don’t have experience with all these pages, so use careful judgement when you sign up for a paid service:
http://www.locallytype.com/pages/submit.htm

I also ran across this directory which seems fairly descent:
http://www.dmoz.org/add.html – *Overall Rank of 232

That seems correct, nationally yellpages.com ranks 718 while yellowbook.com only ranks 4,463 based on overall traffic. Alexa.org is a great tool for those of you who don’t know about it. You might look into superpages.com as they are ranked 821. This can be an amazing tool all around.

@Patrick, Mike, and James – Can you give us more specifics on what your ROI is with yodle? This is one of the first companies that have shown me a demo that I was fairly impressed by. The tools they provide significantly simplify the job and add extra value to the point where it seems worthwhile. Our only concern here was the call system, if you decide to stop and you have advertising with that number on it, it could be a problem. But if you like them, shouldn’t be too much a problem.

First I just wanted to comment on the companies that say they will get you on the first page. Unless they are offering to do this for the “Organic result set” this is a *scam alert*! You can get on the first page easy enough be submitting yourself to google and yahoo local search, the same goes for msn. Don’t be fooled by these people. Local search and google ads don’t really count in my book. These kinds of services only have real value if:

a. Local search is very competitive in your area and you’re having a hard time getting on top.
b. You don’t want to manage your own pay-per-click accounts
c. They offer some kind of useful tool that makes the job easier and more profitable to you.
d. They don’t want to charge insane amounts of money.

In most cases, local search will show the top 10 cleaners your area when you type something like “carpet cleaning YOU AREA NAME HERE”. If you have a website and a few reviews on the board, you will get on that first page no problem.

For more information on signing up for these kind of services as well as some mentioned by Ammon, see my post here:

http://heavensbest.com/bulletin-board/viewtopic.php?t=1357

I was able to demo with yodle a few weeks back and I feel like they had some relatively useful tools. Can anyone comment on there experience with yodle thus far now that you have been using them for some time?

I know that one of the concerns that has come up before is that a lot of people will put in these bid requests at work and can’t answer their phones. I was thinking we might figure out some other kind of work around like change the preferred contact method to “May we contact you by phone?” (Yes / No)

*Just a reminder about a feature that’s still in testing*
You can receive a summarized version of bid requests via text message by activating the feature in the Operators Only > menu heading “Other Links” then click “My Information”. Enter the phone number of your device that will receive the text messages, choose the provider, and set receive bids via text messages to yes. If your provider isn’t listed or isn’t working please contact me via phone or e-mail.

Most comments I’ve heard on these bid requests agree with Ron on how to book them. The sooner you get your bid into them, the better your chances are.