(click to view larger image)

1. Collect all your information for your profile.
2. Go to http://local.google.com/.
3. Click on “Put your business on Google Maps”.
4. Click on add a new business.
5. Google will look for your business, and if it is there will give you the option to claim the listing.
6. You are then taken to an area to either Edit or Delete the listing.
7. Suspend the listing if you have more than one listing.
8. Edit the remaining information on the good listing.
9. Move the marker if the information for your location is incorrect.
10. Upload videos and images.
11. Click submit.
12. Choose your method of verification – phone or mail.
13. Check site in about two weeks after you entered the content.

Id: DH5APMMSSCW9

Space is limited to a maximum of 10 students so sign up early!

Fri, Aug 19, 2011 

Class #3221T – Get Your Business Listed on the First Page of Google: Using Local Search  

How does a small business get onto Google (local), Bing,and Yahoo maps? If you have been approached by an Internet marketing company that has some version of ‘local’ in their name and promises to get you listed on the first page of Google for a monthly fee, then you need to come to this class before you sign on the dotted line. Learn tactics that search engine optimization companies charge upwards of $2,000 for to get you into “local search.” In most cases it takes a little knowledge, some elbow grease, and you can do the same thing yourself at little to no cost. After this class, you will know how to get your business on Google, Bing and Yahoo maps, listed on local directories, find places you never thought of to be listed, and have a road map of action items-even if your budget is $0.
From:  9:00a.m.– noon
Fees:   $57 Non-Member $45 Member $10 materials fee payable in class

Class # 3244AJ – Everything You Wanted to Know About Blogging

Discover how you can make your voice heard with a blog. Personal blogs and business blogs are great tools for sharing knowledge and expertise. Blogs can help build additional traffic to a website and can help you connect with potential new customers. A blog is a low cost alternative to having a full-blown website, and for small business owners blogs offer an inexpensive way to get out on the Internet. In this class learn about the difference between a business blog and a personal blog, the different blog creation platforms available, and which ones are free and which ones cost money. We will talk about the pros and cons of different blog programs. Learn about RSS feeds, categories, tags, trackbacks and other blog terms. You will leave the class with a complete plan on how to create your own blog and ideas on what to blog about for your business, hobby, or project.
From:  1:00p.m.–4:00p.m.
Fees:   $57 Non-Member $45 Member $10 materials fee payable in class
Sat, Aug 20, 2011

Class# 3590AM – Market Online: It’s Easy, Effective, and Affordable

In one power-packed evening get a solid overview of Internet marketing and how to grow your online presence immediately. The Internet provides a rich set of affordable options to help companies of all sizes and types grow. Learn what is available, what fits your business needs, and what can be implemented at little or no cost. Discover the tricks behind a form of marketing you can launch today with zero investment that delivers the highest ROI of any form of marketing, online or otherwise. Leave class with the knowledge to create your own online marketing plan. 
From:  9:00a.m.–12:00p.m.
Fees:   $57 Non-Member $45 Member $10 materials fee payable in class

Class# 2801BI – Google Freebies and Must-Haves  

Google offers a wide range of tools to help your track, promote and monitor your business online. Most of the tools are free and can offer valuable insight to your online marketing efforts. If you have a website or are planning a website for your business this class will show you the most valuable of these tools you can use to promote, find keywords and track your business online. These top 5 tools will help you make informed decisions about what your need to change, how to track your competition and how well your online marketing dollars are being spent.
From:  1:00p.m.–4:00p.m.
Fees:   $57 Non-Member $45 Member $10 materials fee payable in class

If you cannot make it in August we repeat the classes January thru June and August thru November.  Class content is updated regularly so the latest information is given.

If you would like us to add the +1 button to your site, just give us a call.

If you have been maintaining your own plugins then you can install the +1 button with a plugin on your site, Google +1.  However, before installing another plugin check to see if your current Social Sharing plugin such as SexyBookmarks has the Google + included.

The Google+1 button is similar to the Facebook Like button, it is part of Google’s efforts to advance in the Social sharing environment.  You can read more on it on Google’s page at +1 Button.

Dear Subscriber;

In the coming weeks, your search results and ads on Google will include a +1 button, which users can click to recommend your ads. You don’t need to make any changes to your account in order to take advantage of them. The final landing page URL of your ads can also appear on the Google profile of any user who +1’s your ad.

Here’s how the +1 button works:
Let’s say you own a hotel in Madrid. Brian had a lovely stay at your hotel last summer. When Brian starts researching accommodations for his next trip to Spain, he searches on Google while signed into his Google account, and sees your ad. He clicks the +1 button on the ad to recommend it to his contacts.

When Brian’s friend Ann plans her trip to Spain, she signs in to her Google account, searches, and also sees your ad – plus the personalized annotation that Brian +1’d it. Knowing that Brian recommends your hotel helps Ann decide where to stay during her travels.

Think of the +1 button as a way for fans of your business to recommend what you offer, for all their friends and contacts to see. By helping searchers see more personal, relevant ads, we believe you’ll see more qualified traffic. You can also add the +1 button to your site to give your customers the opportunity to +1 your site after visiting it.

• To learn more about what’s changing and how +1 works, visit the AdWords Help Center.
• To add the +1 button to your site, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central

Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team

1. Subscribe Me Plugin
2. AddtoAny:  Subscribe Button
3. Category Specific RSS feed – This WordPress Plugin allows you to present a menu with multiple RSS feed subscription option to your site’s visitors in addition to your normal RSS subscription option.
4. TentBlogger Vimeo, YouTube, Rss Embed:    If you use any video in your blog posts this is a must have plugin! RSS readers are notorious for not interpreting and/or reading when your blog post has a video embedded in it. This plugin intelligently manages video embeds in your visitors RSS feed readers.
5. Tentblogger RSS FeedBurner Redirect:   Redirects your blog’s feed to Feedburner ! This is strategic because feedburner  lets you track your readers, analyze trends in your readership, and also allows you to setup email subscriptions and even monetize your feed!
6. FeedStats:  Allows you to get stats on about your RSS readers.
7. Feedage Tracker Plugin:  allows you to add buttons to the site and tracks the readers on the major feedreader sites.
8. Feed Subscriber Stats:   Allows you to see the number of subscribers according to FeedBurner/Google.

Tracking Subscribers.

Feedburner.com -  Now owned by Google it is a service that will track sign ups.  It also keep a track of the email addresses for the people that are subscribed to your feed.  If you are new to Feedburner then use the new Beta version it can give you a lot more information.

Feedage.com – Tracks people signing up for your feed on other feed readers such as myyahoo, google etc.  Use the feedage tracker plugin with this account.

RSS is the abbreviation of Really Simple Syndication.  What it is simply, is a document of your website that is created by your site software in a format that is able to be read by a feed-reading program.  Your website is built in such way that a web browser can read the information on the site and that is what you see when you visit the site in a browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari.  The RSS feed is just another format of the website content that can be read in a different way.

When you look at the raw rss feed it has all kinds of code like pieces to the information.  These code tags tell the feed reader what that content is and how to display it in the feed reader.

One of the great benefits of RSS feeds is that rather than having to go back to a website to read the new content that has been posted a person can subscribe to the site via a feed reader and read it with their other feeds from other sites in a mobile device, on their browser or in any other feed reader.    T his makes it a lot more efficient to keep up on a number of blogs and websites.

Where can you get a Feed Reader?

You probably already have access to a feed reader.  There are both mobile feed readers, desktop base feed readers and web based feed readers.

Mobile devices such as smart phone have an app for reading feeds.  Take a look in your phones app directory and search for RSS reader.  There will be a number to choose from.

Another way to read rss feeds is by a web based feed reader.  Services such as Google Reader   (instructions on how to use Google Feed Reader) , Bloglines, MyYahoo  & , MyMSN  all allow you to collect feeds from various sites and go to one site to read them all.   The advantage of using a webbased service is that you can read your feeds from any computer and when you change machines you still have all your feeds in one place.

Client based feed readers – programs that you add to your home or work computer that allow you to read feeds are available.  Microsoft Office has a feed reader in the left side or your folders look for the folder marked RSS Feeds and follow the get started instructions.   On the Mac mail also comes with a feedreader.  Check out a Comparison of Feedreaders on Wikipedia.

Signing Up for a Feed:

A WordPress website generally has a feed reader built into – just type in http://www.yourwebsiteaddress.com/feed to find your feed.

If you are on a site and want to subscribe to their feeds take a look for something to the effect of Sign Up for our Feed, or look for the orange Feed Reader icon that shows a feed link.

Jayson and Liz will present on both custom post types and custom fields, when to use them, how to use them and how they work.

After a short break in the last 50 minutes of the meeting we will come back and create a custom post type and some custom fields and output the content to a website.

So, bring along an idea for a custom post type you might want to build, along with the fields you will need to create and the information to access the website you want to add the custom field too. It could be a movie database, event calendar, recipe database, mp3 database…. the ideas are only limited by your imagination (or your clients imagination.)

MeetUp Document:  WordPress_Meetup_Jan_2011

We moved out of Boulder at the end of 2010 and are now in downtown, funky Nederland in the purple and yellow building known affectionately as the “Off Her Rocker” building because of the gift store upstairs.   Our new office is in the lower level facing the creek.

Notice that we do not get mail here, only Fedex and UPS but you can use the mailing address for any USPS items. The phone number has not changed.

All classes are held at CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec

If you have any questions just drop us an email to liz@maia-consulting.com.

Class Descriptions:

Get Your Business on the First Page of Google: Using Local Search
How does a small business get onto Google (local), Bing,and Yahoo maps? If you have been approached by an Internet marketing company that has some version of ‘local’ in their name and promises to get you listed on the first page of Google for a monthly fee, then you need to come to this class before you sign on the dotted line. Learn tactics that search engine optimization companies charge upwards of $2,000 for to get you into “local search.” In most cases it takes a little knowledge, some elbow grease, and you can do the same thing yourself at little to no cost. After this class, you will know how to get your business on Google, Bing and Yahoo maps, listed on local directories, find places you never thought of to be listed, and have a road map of action items-even if your budget is $0.

Grow Your Business on Twitter
Learn how to powerfully optimize your Twitter profile to drive qualified leads to your website. There are over 8 million Twitter users and it is expected to expand to 50 million by the end of this year! Discover how to become a center of influence using the micro-blogging features of Twitter, which is a goldmine if leveraged properly. Learn how to build a rock-solid platform, grow your list quickly with targeted, qualified traffic, create joint ventures and make money using Twitter.

Market Online – It is easy effective and affordable

In one power-packed evening get a solid overview of Internet marketing and how to grow your online presence immediately. The Internet provides a rich set of affordable options to help companies of all sizes and types grow. Learn what is available, what fits your business needs, and what can be implemented at little or no cost. Discover the tricks behind a form of marketing you can launch today with zero investment that delivers the highest ROI of any form of marketing, online or otherwise. Leave class with the knowledge to create your own online marketing plan.

Google Freebies and Must Haves

Google offers a wide range of tools to help your track, promote and monitor your business online. Most of the tools are free and can offer valuable insight to your online marketing efforts. If you have a website or are planning a website for your business this class will show you the most valuable of these tools you can use to promote, find keywords and track your business online. These top 5 tools will help you make informed decisions about what your need to change, how to track your competition and how well your online marketing dollars are being spent.

Everything you Wanted to Know about Blogging

Discover how you can make your voice heard with a blog. Personal blogs and business blogs are a great tool for sharing knowledge and expertise. Blogs can help build additional traffic to a website and can help you connect with potential new customers. A blog is a low cost alternative to having a full-blown website, and for small business owners blogs offer an inexpensive way to get out on the Internet. In this class learn about the difference between a business blog and a personal blog, the different blog creation platforms available, and which ones are free and which ones cost money. We will talk about the pros and cons of different blog programs. Learn about RSS feeds, categories, tags, trackbacks and other blog terms. You will leave the class with a complete plan on how to create your own blog and ideas on what to blog about for your business, hobby, or project.

Class Dates & Links for Signing Up:

Sat, Jan 15, 2011
3221P     Get Your Business Listed on the First Page of Google: Using Local Search
1:00p.m.–4:00p.m.

Thu, Jan 20, 2011
2802U     Grow Your Business With Twitter
6:00p.m.–8:00p.m.

The following dates allow you take in a full day of learning.  You can sign up for one or both classes.  Classes are designed to complement each other so it is a great opportunity to come away with lots of great info.

Sat, Feb 26, 2011
3590AI     Market Online: It’s Easy, Effective, and Affordable
9:00a.m.–12:00p.m.

2801BE    Google Freebies and Must-Haves
1:00p.m.–3:00p.m.

Fri, Mar 18, 2011
3221Q    Get Your Business Listed on the First Page of Google: Using Local Search
9:00a.m.–12:00p.m.

3244AG     Everything You Wanted to Know About Blogging
1:00p.m.–4:00p.m.

Fri, Apr 15, 2011
3590AJ     Market Online: It’s Easy, Effective, and Affordable
9:00a.m.–12:00p.m.

2801BF     Google Freebies and Must-Haves
1:00p.m.–3:00p.m.

Sat, May 21, 2011
3221R     Get Your Business Listed on the First Page of Google: Using Local Search
9:00a.m.–12:00p.m.

3244AH     Everything You Wanted to Know About Blogging
1:00p.m.–4:00p.m.

The one issue that did happen is that the plugins would not update via the link in the admin area of WordPress and I was getting a server 500 error when adding the NextGen Gallery plugin.

To solve the issues :

Find your .htaccess file in your root folder.  Then add the following code below the # END WordPress line.

Options All -Indexes
AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
AddHandler x-mapp-php5 .php

Save the file and it should work.

Recently Google announced that business owners can now respond to reviews left on Google Places.

From the site at http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/08/respond-to-reviews-for-your-business-on.html

“Starting today, if you’re a verified Google Places business owner, you can publicly respond to reviews written by Google Maps users on the Place Page for your business. Engaging with the people who have shared their thoughts about your business is a great way to get to know your customers and find out more. Both positive and negative feedback can be good for your business and help it grow (even though it’s sometimes hard to hear). By responding, you can build stronger relationships with existing and prospective customers. For example, a thoughtful response acknowledging a problem and offering a solution can often turn a customer who had an initially negative experience into a raving supporter. A simple thank you or a personal message can further reinforce a positive experience. Ultimately, business owner responses give you the opportunity to learn what you do well, what you can do better, and show your customers that you’re listening.

Before writing your first response, we recommend reading our handy tips on how to respond to reviewers. Then take a stab at responding by following these instructions. If you have not yet verified ownership for your business on Google, please visit Google Places to claim your listing.”

This is a great opportunity for business owners to communicate with their reviewers, remember though don’t have heated discussions online, don’t get mad or personal these reviews are going to be around for a very long time and you want to be professional in your replies representing your business.

If you feel that a review is not compliant with the rules then you can flag it for removal and Google will look into the situation and remove the review if necessary.