Visibility

The internet marketing team at WebpageFX recently held a "Small Business Boot Camp" here in Carlisle, PA to teach small business owners how they can benefit from the Web.

We covered a ton of topics about our industry, but the one thing that made the most impact on our audience (as far as I could tell) was my mention of Layar.com and the augmented reality technology that’s at our doorstep.

Layar is a smartphone app that uses the phone’s GPS, compass, and a database of geo-located data to overlay info about your surroundings onto your "world" as you look through the camera lens.  It's a sight to behold and people gasped when I showed them the demo.

Layar's only one of a new breed of augmented reality (AR) applications that will change the way we view the world.  Sekai Camera, an AR app for Japanese iPhones, overlays data from third-party sources plus user generated comments on top of real world places and things. There's also seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">social-shopping site Justbought.it's app for Google Android.  Point at a store and you can see what other people bought there.  

To quote a YouTube commenter on Layar's demo video, "I can't wait to get a monocle."

Everything's Changing

We're catapulting towards a world where all information about a place, person, or business is available to everyone, on-demand and in real time.  For consumers this is, for lack of a better word, AWESOME.

Deciding between two neighboring restaurants? Point your phone at each one and read the reviews superimposed on the front of the buildings.  Once inside, point at the kitchen and read what other customers ordered and how it tasted.

Go apartment shopping by looking down a city block with your camera phone.  You'll see which apartments are for rent, how long the lease is, and how long they've been sitting there.  And read tweets and Facebook status updates from the people inside by clicking on their avatar displayed on the outside of their windows.

You can negotiate a better price on a TV by showing the salesperson tweets from people who bought for less from a competitor.  Or snap a picture of that same TV, hit "Search" and comparison shop online instead.

One day soon you'll point your phone at the barista at the coffee shop and see his latest tweets, Facebook profile, and tumblr blog.  And maybe some angry rants from an ex-girlfriend.

Is your business ready to compete in this information market?

What AR Means for You and Your Clients

At the Small Business Boot Camp I used this scenario to drive home how important managing all this stuff is:

A company rep from IBM is visiting your business for a big meeting.  They love your service and want to buy $1 million of your widgets.  While waiting in the parking lot she takes out her phone and looks at your building through the camera. She reads your customer reviews on Google Maps, mentions of your brand name on Twitter, and reviews from former employees on LinkedIn.  The information she encounters reinforces or destroys the "brand" you've spent years and thousands of dollars crafting.

The day is coming when your online reputation will be the most important one you have.  Start managing yours and your clients' today.  

Here's how:

Jump on seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">Social Media

Today in seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">social media is 1996 in seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">SEO.  It's only going to grow and you'll be rewarded if you're one of the first at the party.

Make profiles on all the major seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">social media / seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">social networking sites, especially Twitter and Facebook.  A quick Google search for "top seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">social media sites" can give you a list of others.

Of all of these, a presence on Twitter is the most important.  All of Twitter's data stream (minus protected tweets) is public and they encourage heavy use of their API for development.  The data is free and easy to access, so developers for future AR applications will be likely to turn to Twitter before others for streaming data.  Google just did this by tapping Twitter data for their new real time search feature.  

From a practical AR standpoint Facebook is not mature yet, but I'm betting Mark Zuckerberg and company will find a way to use AR to enhance their services.  Establishing at least a fan page on Facebook is a must for any business, if only because the site has 350 million users.

Some dark horses: LinkedIn and Mixx.  LinkedIn public profiles are seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">seos.com="" http:="" href="http://www.top<a href=">seos.com">seos.com">SEO'd like crazy and most show up on the first page for regular people's name searches.  They will only grow in importance.  Mixx is similar: if the Mixx username matches the company name you'll have a good chance to show up on the first page of regular SERPs also, as long as you don't get too much press.

Beef Up Local Outposts

Make sure to fill out every single field on every local business profile available.  Some important ones: Google Maps, Bing Maps, Yahoo! Maps and Yelp.

Encourage customers and clients to review the business on any and all sites of relevance.  The third-party sites that Google Maps pulls comments and ratings from are especially important.  Having tons of ratings (good and bad) and completing accurate profiles for every location improves the chances you'll rank for keyword searches on local maps and on the "7-pack" on regular SERPs.  

Plus, relevancy now carries over to relevancy for augmented reality down the road.   

Admit and Address Your Flaws

Perhaps the best reason to put all of this info out there is damage control.  When the business is an active participant in the conversation surrounding the company it's easy to make its voice heard.  And it's also easy to push other, less desirable voices off the radar.

You can respond to less-than-favorable reviews on maps sites, address disgruntled customers via Twitter and rebut any nasty claims left by trolls.  The "official statement" counts a lot more than everyone else's opinions.

Start Now

There's a ton of public information about you, your employees and your company on the internet right now.  Advanced AR applications will make it an unavoidable part of your customers' reality.

Take charge of the conversation today.