Twitter Fuels Fire to Local Search

Ryan    Uncategorized     BlitzLocal, Google Maps, Local Search, Marchex, Social Media

My first real job out of college was at a company devoted towards leveraging the local search market. Marchex, BlitzLocal, and many other companies out there today see local as the blossoming form of main stream search. Essentially, they are banking on the fact that what people actually search for online will change to a more centralized and local base. Is this the case, and should we too be seizing this opportunity? Hell yeah! Well at least to some degree.

Today, applications and websites such as Google Maps and Yelp have helped pave a new local channel for people to funnel through in order to reach their destination. Local restaurants, service companies, and tech savvy independent business owners have harnessed this evolving channel in hopes of capitalizing on the trend that is local. Bring Twitter into the discussion and this shift is hugely magnified

If you browse through the millions and millions of Twitter users out there, you might just notice something. There are a lot of businesses, corporate accounts, as well as things which I would like to call community broadcast accounts. One example of a community broadcast account I personally follow is @CenPhoTV (Central Phoenix). So what do I mean by local broadcast account? With the ease and simplicity that Twitter represents, many people today are creating their own news feeds much like how a year or two ago,  RSS and other numerous technologies were helping people decide what is and what is not read-worthy. With Twitter, what was once a personal news feed for Joe who works in accounting, is now a public news feed for many other people who are interested in the same thing Joe is interested in. Even more, communication and chat can be added to the picture. Do you want to know what is happening downtown? What local restaurants are having specials tonight? Do a Twitter search and see if you can’t navigate your way through the TRAP (Twitter Crap.. I should brand the term – Look for a blog post later!) out there, to something that is meaningful AND LOCAL to you! Maybe a wine bar is hosting a tasting for $20 tonight. Entertainment on a Saturday? Sure why not. Plus… it’s local.

So why does this matter?

Let’s just say a map represents a grid. Like an X/Y grid. Oh.. this is an easy comparison. Google Maps has come a long long way in terms of shoving data into the actual maps. Restaurant locations, addresses, barber shop phone numbers (I don’t use a barber.. I use a very sophisticated beautician) and everything else you can think of is displayed on these maps. But as more and more information gets published, the more the clutter we need to sift through.

Real time statuses, reviews, and specials offers a totally different thing…

Put these two things together, and you have the capability of creating some of the most complex XYZ three-dimensional models out there. It’s like walking down the street and hearing every single person’s word of mouth blurb. … they should make an application that lists the most referenced restaurants on Twitter in a given city. Talk about word of mouth!

Alright, so while this might not be the best example, it does show a lot of what I’m talking about.

Today’s searching community is smart and can pretty much put two and two together. I know real time Twitter updates on Google Maps is just about here (maybe it’s already here and just not mainstream.. or maybe I’m totally out of the loop. I dunno), but we don’t need an application to do that kinda stuff for us! (Then again, we don’t need an application to decide on where we’re going to eat dinner tonight).

Maximizing Twitter, Maps, Yelp, Review Sites, Facebook, and everything else out there, searchers and social media users today are living proof as to why Local is now here more then ever. You know who you’re looking for. Do they blog?

Peace!

Some MJ and Some Lovin

Ryan    Uncategorized     Lou Rawls, Michael Jackson, Music, YouTube

I just realized that it’s been a long while since I’ve posted a YouTube video or some YouTube music on here. I know it isn’t professional or worth a good discussion, but in all reality, music is a passion of mine. While I do have about 11 years of classical piano under my belt, I’m also interested in the non-classical stuff.

For example, for all you Michael Jackson lovers out there, this is a totally cool ‘Demo’ version of PYT, originally on the Thriller album.

I almost like this version more than the original. Just chill and relaxed. Can I have a plush couch with some modern retro art and mood lighting?

Want more? This next song is a classic.. I mean it… Truly a great classic. I heard Lou Rawls sing this back in high school when I played trombone in the jazz band (He was quite a bit older… I’m not old!)  Have any of you Social/SEM gurus out there participated in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, ID? Probably some of my favorite memories from back in the day. Oh, and our band took home 1st one year… mind you there were only 8 or 9 other bands in our division, but still!

Lou Rawls singin You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

You’re gunna miss my lovin!

Peace

Gud Fud Restaurant Series: Bloom – Scottsdale, AZ

Ryan    Uncategorized     American Cusine

So I wanted to make the food stuff part of it’s own page, but after the new layout, I’m kinda switching it up a bit. Hopefully you SEM peeps won’t get too pissed that there is a little bit of personality here. Same goes for you foodies. Search marketing is a fun and interesting thing! Even though I’m kinda pissed at it 98% of the time.

Bloom – Scottsdale, AZ

• Date: August 11, 2009
• Website: www.foxrestaurantconcepts.com
• Appetizer: Smoked Salmon, warm potato galette, cool chive crème fraîche
• Entree: Aged New York, Crimini mushroom, cipollini onion & Parm. potato
• Vino: Flight #6, Progressive Whites – see below
• Dessert: Bars of Sin
• Rating: 4.5/5

Andrea and I dined at Bloom in Scottsdale last week for my 26th birthday. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m 26 now. Any ways, having been to Bloom a few other times in the past, I knew it was the place where I wanted to celebrate the dreaded occasion. (Actually, I like birthdays, and I don’t mind that I’m getting older) Tuesday was the night however, so I wasn’t expecting a huge crowd… nonetheless, I made a reservation. Thank God I did.

The restaurant was a lot busier then I thought, especially for a Tuesday. No matter, I like to see good restaurants filled with people. But not overly full. I don’t want to see an hour’s worth of people standing outside waiting for their table. Not the case on Tuesday.

Andrea has this thing for quick service in bad restaurants, and slow service at good restaurants. Say for example, Olive Garden… we better get our drinks, and salad within the first 10 minutes or she’s going to get mad. At Bloom however, if our waiter wants our entrees within the first 30 minutes… you know what I mean. Needless to say, we both get a cocktail to start hopefully a wonderfully delicious evening. Hers: Gin Fizz, His: Sapphire Martini, straight up, w/ a twist… it’s the usual.

After a pleasant ‘kampai!,’ we decide to order the smoked salmon to start. Now being from the Pacific North West, we’ve had our fair share of smoked salmon, some better then others, so we pretty much know what we like when it comes to the smoky treat. At Bloom however, we were treated to an almost ‘lox’ish’ kind of smoked salmon. Bright pink and wet, this smoked salmon sat comfortably atop small portions of crunchy potato gallete, with creme fraîche, and a few mixed greens to top it off. Delicious. The briny and smokey fish mixed with the crunchy potato was pretty freaking amazing. Mix that with the freshness of the creme fraîche, and you have a glorious treat. (Sorry I didn’t take a picture)

As we savored our appetizer, Andrea and I ordered our entrees. Hers: Market Fish (I don’t recall what the actual fish was, but it was a white fish), cooked similar to a seared tuna, sitting atop a corn puree, paired with spinach. His: Aged New York Steak atop a Parmesan potato, paired with Crimini mushrooms and cipollini onions.

For a drink selection, we also decided to split the #6 Wine Flight – Progressive Whites, which included a ’07 Martin Cadox (Albarino), a ’06 Chateau Monfort – Vouvray AC, and finally the ’07 Abazzia Di Novacella (Kerner).

Our entrees were both delicious. Andrea’s fish was cooked rare, like a seared tuna, but tasted very fresh and somewhat complex, all at the same time. I didn’t taste the corn puree, but she said it was an interesting compliment to the delicately prepared fish and vegetables. (As a side note, Andrea wanted the risotto the most after our last visit to Bloom where we found the risotto to be excellent and very creamy) My New York was cooked Medium Rare, and had a delicious demi glaze drizzled over the meat as well as the Parmesan potatoes. Our wines, while not paired to our specific entrees were all very good as well, but I think Andrea and I both enjoyed the sweetness of the Albarino, and the complexity of the Kerner the most. All three were excellent however.

All in all, my birthday dinner was very good. We finished the night off with the Bars of Sin and an espresso. (I tried drinking the coffee through a brown sugar cube.. which ended up with me pretty much eating the sugar cube) The Bars of Sin were really good as well. Not quite as dense as a flourless chocolate cake, but still very rich and almost creamy like.

If I was to rate this restaurant, it’d go something like this…

• Ambiance: 5/5
• Service: 4/5
• Food: 4/5
• Drinks: 4/5
• Selection: 5/5
• My Honest Opinion: 4.5/5

Twitter Follower Schemes- Getting Them Quick

Ryan    Uncategorized     Pyramid Schemes, Social Media, Twitter

I really do hate schemes and programs dedicated to making people pay a fee for learning how to make a living in an at-home career. From becoming your own affiliate marketer to reaping the rewards of Google AdWords… yeah I know there is money to be made, but come on. I should create a new get rich quick scheme aimed at creating get rich quick schemes…. I think they already have that (the infomercial to this program is hilarious). It’s called a fricken pyramid scheme people.

The other day.. more like 2 or 3 weeks ago, I stumbled across two sites dedicated to pumping up your follower lists. Like the naive person I am, I decided to check it out, so I logged in with one of my faux Twitter accounts. After a welcome screen, I was prompted that in order for me to get the followers I wanted, I had to follow ‘ALL of the VIP members’ as well as ’40 of the regular members’. I know what this is.. I just mentioned it above! Any ways, wanting to proceed in my horrible experiment, I went ahead and followed pretty much every single face on that page. Did I have a choice? Sure! but I wanted to test this service/get followers quick, even though my mind was pretty much already made up.

After I was done, I did pick up some followers. In the process, I also picked up around 60 new people I myself was following… maybe 1 of them, worth reading. So what is my point?

Everyone wants followers right? Okay, well maybe not everyone. Many people want followers. In essence, many people want friends. Look back at Facebook. Do you remember when you needed a college/university email address to actually access the social networking site? Well back in the day, your friends were like currency. The more friends you had, pretty much… the more popular you were. You may disagree with me, but is that not the determining factor in popularity?

Twitter is no different. Followers means you are relevant. Popular… okay maybe, but mostly relevant. This is important because in our evolving view of social media these days, relevance in and of itself really means popular… and what does popular mean? You guessed it, money. How many new social media consultants have sprung up over the last year and a half? Your guess is as good, and as wrong, as mine!

In theory, followers are good, but those people who tell you to follow someone so that they may follow you back… they are dumb. Yeah there is maybe a 5%-10% chance they’ll follow you back, but do you really want them to? Let’s say for example I like to write and tweet about my ‘Get Rich Quick’ program. If I go out of my way and follow like crazy and get other people to follow me like crazy, am I really offering them content that they’ll want to hear about?

If you’ve got some time, do this simple simple game. 1. Go through your river of the latest tweets, and look for people who you do and do not recognize. 2. Now look at the content they are pushing. 3. If you think that they offer you no real value, please stop following them. However, if you do think they are offering you value, @ reply them and tell them so. But make it look personal. Have I told you yet how much I hate automation. We’re already building Robots for our social networks, because we’re too effing lazy. Does that make sense…. look up the term ‘social’ in the dictionary, and make up your own mind.

Now that I’ve thoroughly gone off topic, I suppose I should come back to these ‘get followers quick schemes’ and wrap up this post about whatever. In a nutshell, if you want followers, lots of them, then create your own way of luring them to you. If you want to do one of these stupid schemes, go ahead. Just realize that the value you add and the image you are trying to portray in all your efforts, is probably going in one ear and out the other with these people. Not saying they’re dumb… just saying they aren’t interested. Try making that first engagement yourself. You might be surprised.

Peace.