Sorry for stealing iPhone 4 tag line. “Facebook Places changes everything; end of privacy as you know it” could have been another title to this post but I decided not to scare you even before you read the post. Privacy, though in my view, is a myth in this social media era and Facebook Places [...]

This post is a follow up of my earlier post about how to Create your small business identity online in 3 easy steps. Most of what I talk about is not rocket science or news but practical steps backed up with years of experience and knowledge. So now that your business has a web presence, it is time to tackle the beast a.k.a Google.

This post is not about SEO or ranking # 1 on Google (that will come later) but about how to create your small business listing on Google Places.

Google Places is similar to Yelp but the only difference is that it is not dominated by bunch of people in their 30s deciding what is good or bad for the rest of us. It is also similar to online yellow pages but smarter with reviews, maps, coupons, statistics and control over each and every aspect of your business identity.

When someone searches for a product or service you sell, Google shows web results as well as results from Google Places and that’s what makes Google Places a crucial online marketing tool.

Here is how you can create your small business listing on Google Places by following these 4 easy steps:

1) Claim it

The first step involves claiming your listing if it is already published on ...

There are still many small businesses that haven’t embraced the world wide web, let alone social media. Are you one of them? If yes then this post is for you. Here are three easy steps that require you have a credit card and 10 minutes of free time. Step 1 Register your small business name [...]

Few years ago before I fell in love with blogging, I was actively buying, selling, and creating websites. It was time consuming, required research and involved patience. I gave it up completely and decided to stick with blogging. Lately, I have been missing the entire experience. It is partly because my clients are asking me [...]

I just got done with my last seminar class at SFSU. There was a Google employee in my class who enjoyed celebrity status because of his association with Google. Our professor was too intrigued I suppose and asked him to do a small presentation about Entrepreneurship. It was suppose to coincide with the lecture on [...]