Having great time with fitness column

Most of you know I've started writing a San Jose Fitness column on Examiner.com. So far it has been terrific.

If you ever want to experience local - at a very real level - write a column that attempts to gather together information from a community as diverse as the Silicon Valley fitness community. There's Bollywood dancing, Zumba, and ballroom dancing. Hikes for seniors, skipping classes for toddlers (yup, learning to skip), and YMCA swim lessons.

With the slow, painful deterioration of our local newspaper there really is no central place for organizations, clubs, cities, etc to promote their various fitness offerings. So far I've discovered dozens of great events - from the Big Bunny Fun Run in Cupertino to the Healthy Trails challenge offered by Santa Clara County.

There are also thousands of fitness classes, boot camps, training activities and events.

The downside is marketing it. The Examiner does virtually no marketing for anything outside of San Francisco. To top it off, the column has an awful URL that pretty much guarantees no one will be able to remember it: http://www.examiner.com/x-5202-San-Jose-Fitness-Examiner

People can go to Examiner.com, type San Jose Fitness in the Search box, and come up the column, but that's awkward too. I'm mostly left to beg everyone to sign up for the column to be emailed to them. My hope is that my very smart friends, once exposed to what I'm trying to do, will be able to offer me good advice about what makes useful and marketable articles.

So if I haven't written and begged you so far, I will be soon. Go ahead. Beat me to the punch and sign up now.

And if you have marketing ideas, I'm listening.

Note to Comcast - Get Real

Last week I was feuding with Comcast. My fight with their robot-like customer service is not the issue I'm writing about, however. I'm writing about the company's choice to "hide" the real people in their company.

It started when I got a form letter from Ralph Martinez, Area Vice President, informing me I needed to get a new box and that "at no additional charge" I would be able to enjoy "over 10,000 On Demand titles and new channels...(etc)"

I called and got the box (the web site would not let me do it online), then activated it via chat (the web site would not let me do it automatically), BUT I was specifically told I could NOT get On Demand. So I wanted to write and protest to Ralph Martinez. But, no phone, no email, no address.

A company in hiding. I could go to their web site, contact anonymous customer service, chat with an anonymous drone who is provided with stock answers, or write their east coast headquarters, but not contact Ralph Martinez.

I found his HOME address on the Internet, but never his business address. Eventually, several days and a cranky chat session letter, I got the correct box. No apology. No explanations. No effort to sooth an irate customer.

It rankles me when executives hide...it says the company has so many complaints that its local executives have to stay in hiding.

Telling the story to two of my neighbors (bad news makes a great "over the fence" story), both of THEM also had recent (within 2 weeks) complaints and problems with Comcast. All three of us agreed, this is why we cannot trust Comcast with our "triple play" business (internet, phone, tv).

Truth is, I LIKE my tv service. It works. But I have incredible distrust for Comcast. Get real guys.

Intuit $25,000 Small Business Grant

You have til March 23 to tell your small business story - judged on three qualities: useful, funny and inspiring - in Intuit's "Share Your Story" and win up to $25,000 in a business grant.

More about social media

Buzzword? Sure, of course. Still, that doesn't mean local businesses can't take a gander at what the buzz is all about when it comes to social networking, social marketing, social media, whatever you want to call it.

Lee Oden has a nice post titled Best and Worst Practices Social Media Marketing. I think it's pretty self explanatory, but a neighbor told me I was too geeky, so if you need any help translating this into "to do" practices, send me an email and I'll see if I can help.

Social Media: Most Effective Tactics Are the Most Difficult to Measure Quantitatively

The smart folks over at Marketing Sherpa have a chart on most effective social media - and point out how the most effective are often not the most measurable.

These are tools local businesses can often integrate at little or no cost. If you are looking for some "real marketing" ideas, try these. Need some help? Hire a smart marketer (ah hem, what about yours truly) to help you out.

Looking to launch? Check out LaunchBox09

LaunchBox Digital is now accepting applications -its annual summer accelerator program starts May 18, 2009. Early application deadline is Feb. 27.

If you don't know the program, here is the LaunchBox link, and here is info from the web site:

LaunchBox Digital, an early stage investment firm located in Washington, D.C., is focused on helping entrepreneurs get through those challenging early days by bringing capital, advice, and practical guidance to help early stage businesses succeed. We offer:

• Funding and administrative support to enable founders to focus their energy on developing a great product;
• Mentoring and advice from seasoned technology veterans who have created significant stakeholder value; and
• Access to strategic partners, angels, VCs and the press to take your business to a whole new level

Check it out.

Maximize Your Business' Online Presence

My neighbor, a small business owner, told me she thought she had the whole "SEO thing" under control. I'm sending her this column from David Mihm and posting it here so others can read the hints in SMBs Need More Local Outreach -- here is just a portion:

What businesses can do to maximize their presence on local search engines:

Verifying your business’s information may lead to improved rankings on the major search engines, in addition to ensuring that they present correct information about your business.

1) Check to see where you’re already indexed using GetListed.org

2) Claim and verify your information at the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Live

3) Submit or verify your information with as many different data providers as you can.

(David supplies a list, so click on over to see it)

Local Closures

It saddens me to watch neighborhood businesses close - here in the Rose Garden area of San Jose, we've seen two closures in the past few months, and now comes the announcement that Communknity will close this month.

As the name implies, Communknity is a knitting supply store that seemed to do everything right. Five knowledgeable employees, in-store lessons, author appearances, and a local gallery. They supported local artists, hosted fundraisers, and were part of local breast cancer fundraisers.

In short, they created a small, tightly knit community while benefiting the neighborhood and community at large. This was exactly the type of business you want in your city.

I mourned when I saw San Jose's last general interest independent bookstore, Willow Glen Books, was closing, but the world of bookstores was forever changed before the economy tanked. Communknity rankled me in a different way...in a way that made our neighborhood a little poorer.

Constant Contact Hosts Small Biz Seminars

Congrats to email marketing company Constant Contact for the announcement they are launching small biz email seminars throughout the LA area.

This is something local newspapers and regional yellow pages should have been doing all along- not particularly email but all types of emerging marketing, and I predict this will be a winner for Constant Contact...great PR, great results, and a program that will expand quickly.

It's even nicer that their LA representative is Kelly Flint, formerly of United Way, since that brings the experience of someone used to having a limited budget and a diverse group of constituents.

Way back when I first got involved in the local interactive scene - in 1994 and 1995 - I held an ongoing series of luncheon seminars for advertisers of the Houston Chronicle. They were very, very appreciative, and in many ways, that helped lay the foundation for the success houstonchronicle.com has experienced (not to dismiss the incredibly progressive and practical interactive management teams over the years).

Anyway, thumbs up and accolades for "REAL MARKETING" to the Constant Contact team. There's no reason that small businesses should have to prowl through the web or take days out of the office attending seminars to get the low-down on email marketing.

Check Your Online Listing

Check out GetListed.org, or at least their free tool that lets you check your "claimed" listing in major search engines.

It's far from perfect at this point, mostly because the site is busy talking in "lingo" and not in local business-speak. But if you already sort-of understand your way around the local online lingo, it's a nifty check-up of whether you have dotted your i's and crossed your t's.

What do I mean that the site talks lingo? I typed Dr. Abed, 95126 (my dentist) and it showed no listings, even though when I went to Google and typed Dr. Abed 95126, she came up top of the listings. I typed in Zanotto's, (a neighborhood market) at it showed that the name had not been "claimed" on Google, Yahoo, Live but that it had 72 "citations" on Google. There was a link to click through and claim it, but no discussion on what "claiming" the name meant.

EDIT: Got a really nice note from the GetListed folks, and they pointed out that Dr.Abed's ZIP was 95128 - they are SOOO correct, which is what I get for making assumptions - and that her office is listed when done correctly.

Why, oh why (she asked again and again) do the online folks think that local businesses have nothing better to do than learn search-engine speak.

Anyway, Miriam Ellis writes a nice entry on why GetListed is good and useful and even necessary - and says nice things about the founders.

Link to local

I'm an advocate for eating locally grown fruits and veggies - pretty easy since here in Silicon Valley just about everything grows within a 50 mile radius.

For those not as fortunate (ie, those without neighbors who have a plentiful harvest), here is a link to "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" a resource for Californians. And here's a link to Local Harvest, a national resource.

Two Posts Worth Your Time

The 12 Most Dangerous Words in Business
Check out this post - it's funny and a warning to all of us

Time Off for Good Behavior
You all know how I feel about companies letting employees volunteer, but here's more support for making it a policy at your company