In honor of this beautiful 80 degree weather, the project that we chose for today was finishing up the content and images on a Caribbean Travel WordPress website that we have been working on for a few weeks now.  First, thank you Corin for choosing us to help with a site for your very fun new business and thanks to Joy at How Joyful Design Studio for making it look so bright & beachy! It certainly makes me want to take a vacation!

If you’re interested in traveling to these amazing places, contact Corin for details.  She has some GREAT deals on all inclusive packages!

I just arrived in Raleigh, NC (America’s most wired city according to Forbes) for the Internet Summit which starts tomorrow morning at the convention center. The 2010 Summit will feature over 100 industry expert speakers from such companies as Google, Cisco, Salesforce.com, Go Daddy, Microsoft, Autotrader.com, Yahoo!, Red Hat, Mashable, StumbleUpon, Playboy, Lulu, SkyMall, Discovery Channel and many more.  So far all is good…I checked into the hotel to find that they do not have wireless access in the rooms (really!?) BUT they do in the bar.  And, the bar has Family Guy on TV.  This is my kind of town!

I am sitting here enjoying a glass of wine (and a debate with the guy next to me as to why I would choose a wine glass vs. a pint glass for a nice Cabernet…again, really?!) as I review the agenda for the next two days.  It looks like it’s going to be a busy couple of days! Here is a quick overview of the sessions that I have chosen to attend:

Wednesday
Creating A Powerful Social Media Plan

• Social Media Strategy: The Most Important Elements of Success
• What Social Media Tools Do You Need?
• Making the tools work for you – Part I – Blogging, widgets and wikis, podcasts, online videos
• Making the tools work for you – Part II – Twitter, Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com
• Integrating and monitoring social media

And in the afternoon…

The Future of the Web
Integrated Social Media Marketing
Web Analytics and Measurement
And, of course, a Welcome Reception and After Party

Thursday
Online Advertising
Maximizing E-mail Marketing
Ad Words
Lunch with Keynote Speaker: Bob Parsons from GoDaddy (what I want to know is whether Jillian and Danica will be there?)
Search Marketing
Reputation Management

I will blog as much as possible throughout the conference and look forward to bringing back lots of great new knowledge to apply to future projects!  Keep an eye on the Garnet Blog, Facebook and Twitter for the latest from IS 10 in Raleigh!

Google Maps Results Sample

Google just made some updates to Google Places.  I was reading about it tonight and it reminded me of something I have been wanting to share on this blog for a while now.  Run, don’t walk, to Google Places and claim your listing! What in the world am I talking about?  When you ‘google’ a place or business often a map pops up with several business listings next to it.  Trust me, you want to be right there!

WHY? Claiming your listing allows you to officially mark your businesses presence on Google maps which adds credibility and ensures that customers are getting accurate information about your business, straight from you.  This includes contact info, hours, photos, services, etc.

HOW? Just follow these steps and you will be on the map in no time!

• Go to www.google.com/places
• Sign in with your Google username and password
• Click on ‘Add New Business’
• Insert your business information and click ‘Next’  (*if your business is already listed, it may give you the option of just selecting that existing listing.  If it’s your business, do that.  If not, move forward with creating a new listing)
• It will then walk you through adding detailed contact information, operating hours, photos, video, services and keywords.  Add as much information as you can and then click ‘Submit’
• You will then have to validate your listing.  You can choose to have them call you at the business number (it usually happens within seconds) or via a postcard in the mail.  Either option will provide you with a code that you need to enter in order to complete the process.
• You’re done!

NEXT!

• Once you claim your listing, you can access it anytime through your Google account to make more edits and to add the very latest information about your business. There is even a space to add current promotions and specials.
• Check out Google Tags.  This fairly new feature allows you to promote specific things about your business (ex: coupons, special offers, your website) by placing a bright yellow ‘tag’ on your map listing for about $25/month.
• Encourage your customers to review you on google.  Notice that the listings that come up first have the most reviews.  That is not a coincidence I am sure! And, it sure can’t hurt to have  others who are searching come across all of those great reviews about you!

Have questions about claiming your google listing?  Post them as a comment below and we are happy to respond with more advice!