First of all, Happy New Year to you, your family and friends!  Can you believe it’s 2012, already? Wow!

If you haven’t picked up on the vibe, yet, smartphones & tablets are taking over in a major way…

Here I am, a couple of days ago, blown away by the how awesome the “Ease into 5K” running app is on my iPhone — thanks Amy for telling me about it!

Not only did we see an exponential growth in mobile device use (i.e. smartphones & tablets) in the last quarter of 2011 with all of the web sites we host, but I’ve never seen so many people — of all different ages — using mobile devices of some sort, everywhere I’ve been!

A group at our local Apple Store are learning exactly how to use their new iPads!

It’s been said that smartphones and tablets will overtake PC’s as the primary device used online at some point in 2014…

WOW!

Conclusion?

The Future Is In Your Pants...

And NOW is the time to assure you, and your business are smartphone and tablet friendly…

Special thanks to Brad Larson, of Larson Education Services for sharing that phrase with me – I love it!

At our last ISG Way event, we summed up exactly what we’ve seen in mobile usage for the hundreds of web sites we host and market:

• A 12% increase in mobile use (going from 3% to 15%), growing exponentially in the last quarter of 2011,
• iPad users, in particular, seem to dominate the mobile user base (30%+),
• iPhone & iPad users not only make up the most mobile visitors (over 50%), but they stay on sites longer as well.

Personally, I’ve noticed:

• More people becoming savvy with their apps – Mail and Web Browsing, but also Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard, Instagram, Words with Friends to name a few!  Most smartphone users are checking email on their smartphones first….
• Rows of people using their smartphone and tablets on a flight back from Ohio on Christmas Day – over 2/3′s of the plane had people playing games, reading the paper, reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to music using their phones or tablets (iPhones were most popular),
• The 60+ age group fully adopting, and most importantly, getting excited about what they can do on their tablets.   I saw two iPad training sessions going on in Apple Stores (see photo above), and a Nook training session – filled with older generations excitedly learning of the capacities of their new device!
• The younger generation (teens & 20 year olds), especially, ignoring voice mails and phone calls, yet responding almost instantly to text messages.
• I’ve switched from taking my notebook computer into meetings to taking my iPad with wireless keyboard (I’m can type very fast, and can’t keep up with discussion on a smartphone/tablet keyboard…)

Here’s my new and improved 2012 setup:

 What does all of this mean?

• Personally, if you have a smartphone, you’re going to see it being used in more interesting ways very shortly.  Think reviewing items in a store AT THE STORE, vs the older method of reviewing just a store (Oink is doing a great job of this already)!
• In business, at this point, you need to assure your web site (and blog, if you have one) are mobile friendly, and that they work properly on all mobile devices.  Simply test your web site with a smartphone or tablet to see if you can click the buttons, and navigate through your web site. (Be sure to test your contact form-if you have one, too!)
• Simplicity rules!  The simpler the site design the better (think bigger buttons, and no more than 5, if possible!)  Keep your contact forms minimal – not only does it result in higher conversion for standard computer users, but means more mobile users will be apt to contact you as well!  Take a look at our web site with your mobile device at www.ISGFL.com for a good example of this.

With all of this in mind, what’s the most interesting way you’ve been using your mobile device(s) recently?

Happy New Year, and cheers to you, your family, friends and business associates!

Charly

Yep, it’s true!  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have created sales for…

…their business by simply having a listing in Google Places!  (Think of it as today’s version of having a YellowPages listing!)

As you can see in the screenshot above – having top placement in the list - with reviews – even adds more of a punch!

In a future blog post, I’ll be discussing ‘freshness’ in relation to the way Google indexes, views and ranks its listings, but for now all you need to know is that it’s VERY important to:

a) Have your business listed, and claimed, in Google’s Places for Business.
b) Assure you are continually asking your customers to provide a review in your Google Places listing (this assures Google views you as “fresh” and continues to rank your listing higher and higher!)

So, how do you do all of this?  Let’s review…

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We’re REALLY excited about the debut of our latest mobile web development project…

…the Edison Ford Winter Estates mobile web site!

To view it, simply visit:

www.EdisonFordWinterEstates.org

on any mobile device (iPhone, Android, Windows7, iPod Touch, etc), and it will automatically come up!

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It was over 8 years ago when I was co-owner of a home renovation company, and this was our first…

…Fort Myers-based project.  (UGH, it needed a LOT of work!)

Our home renovation business had been going strong in Michigan, and having been in Michigan all of my life – being connected with practically everyone in our community through our Internet business – we had a great network of service professionals to work with.

Usually, many in each profession (electrician, painter, general contractor, etc)…

Being new to Southwest Florida meant starting over, and wow, that was really rough!

Questions like:

• Where do we start?
• Who was good?
• Who can refer a good painter, roofer, electrician, etc…?
• Who was telling the truth on estimates, job quality, whether they were currently licensed & insured properly?!?

These were all of the kinds of things we were thinking about, and had to take extra time to figure out.

I checked online, and we tested different companies out, going through many that definitely didn’t meet the criteria – finally finding a few that were a good fit for us.  I remember wishing there was a web resource, or a network of people who:

• were licensed,
• were insured,
• were great to work with – really positive about their work & life,
• kept their commitments, and
• had a great pride in their level of service.

Little did I know, a few years later, I’d be introduced to Jason Evers, the founder of a group that’s based on those very ideas…

The group is called the Quality Services Professionals, and it’s composed of Service Professionals that Jason personally assures are licensed, insured, enjoy what they do, and do what they do very well.

A couple of years ago, we built a new Quality Service Professionals web site to assure it helps you find (as I wish it did for us about 8 years ago!) the most qualified service professionals in Southwest Florida for your home or business.

If you’re looking for a:

1. Painter
2. Remodeling Contractor
3. AC Repair, Air Conditioning Service Company
4. Landscaping & Lawn Care Company
5. General Contractor
6. Plumber
7. Electrician
8. Roofer

and more, this is the site for you!

The people, and businesses, in the Quality Service Professionals currently service the Southwest Florida area, including:

• Fort Myers,
• Cape Coral,
• Naples,
• Sanibel,
• Captiva,
• Lehigh Acres,
• Estero,
• Bonita Springs,
• Bonita Beach, and
• Fort Myers Beach.

I’ve personally used quite a few people from the group, and have been extremely happy with the quality of work, happy personalities, and timeliness of their responses!

Be sure to visit the Quality Service Professionals, or contact Jason to learn more.

Enjoy!

Charly

If you’re ready to create success through the power of Internet Marketing, here’s…

…4 steps to help you succeed!

Are you ready?

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Now that the ideas have been had, the content has been created & deployed, it’s time for the fourth, final, and most important part of…

…the Internet Marketing process - testing & measuring!

Today, testing & measuring what’s been done online is extremely easy, in this stage, we’ll learn:

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Once the ideas have been prioritized, the content has been created & approved – it’s time for stage 3…

…in the Internet Marketing process – deployment!

Although this step may seem fairly simple, it’s really important during this part of the process to assure:

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After developing your ideas, the next step in Internet Marketing is to…

…create content using the ideas of most importance to your online goals.

Of course, it’s extra helpful to have a strategy around creating content that can be repurposed and used for a while (hint hint)…

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If you’re like most business owners…

…you’ve had to really pinch pennies over the last few years and assure any advertising you’ve been doing has been producing results.

Usually those results are measured in people calling your business, or contacting your business through your web site or e-mail.

One thing is for certain, the playing field has changed, and the typical amount of calls people used to receive through such things as the YellowPages have dwindled.

Those who truly leveraging the power of the Internet, are making up the difference through phone calls and contacts via their web site or via e-mail.

What’s even more interesting is that in the last four years – millions of people are making buying decisions directly from their smartphones!  (You may be one of them!)

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So many people wonder why their web site doesn’t show up in Google’s natural search results…

…either at all, or, on the first few pages of results.

At ISG, we hear all kinds of people reach out for help by saying things like:

“My web site isn’t showing up in Google!”

“I’ve spent a lot of time optimizing my web site for the keyword phrases I’m hoping to attract, but I’m still not showing up in the results!”

or

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