Review Sites Creating A Problem

The good news is that review websites have provided a forum for customers and businesses to exchange and discuss their sales history working together. The bad news is that the intended use for review websites has completely failed. Review websites, like Google reviews, Yahoo, Yelp, YP, Mechantcircle, Superpages, YP, and others, may have had good intentions but have created a mess for small business.

I am certain the true intention of these review pages was the bottom lines of the sites that host them. If you can create an excuse to have a separate page for every single business on earth, you have just justified 1 billion new ads displaying revenue-generating pages for the review sites.

It may be argued that this is a win-win situation, since the reviews sites, like Yelp.com and YP, get to make huge gains in pages to display ads while businesses get free publicity. This would be nice if it was true.

The review sites have turned into a free for all of fake positive reviews and malicious competition targeting bad reviews. Here in Charlotte, we can easily point out examples of local businesses and services that spend hours every week attacking their competition with negative reviews. These review sites require nothing other than an email account to allow you to post high-ranking, anonymous attacks on your competition. The review sites themselves have no vested interest or financial connection to the validity of the reviews. Ad-displaying pages make the same revenue for these sites with accurate or fake reviews; there is no motivation for these sites to try and insure integrity.

The down side is that the only way this sort of phenomenon resolves itself is through becoming obsolete. Until these sites see less users counting on them and the revenue impacted, they will not change policies to protect businesses. Until that time comes, many of these have become an easily accessible medium for slandering competition and misleading customers. ME

Online PR Company Approach

So what do you mean when you say online PR?

Had the pleasure of meeting one of new clients last night at the 2012 Vision Award in Charlotte put on by the Center City Partners, and the title above is a question I got.

What exactly is online public relations and what do you do for me?

If you know me you know I absolutely love SEO, Marketing, selling online and watching SERPS and the trends online. I am very analytical and would really do this for free or on my day off.

I answered this with a lot of overlap from Defensive SEO and strong dash of social media.

“Public relations” is defined as the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by an organization or a famous person. PR is the state of the relationship between the public and a company or other organization or a famous person.

Online we must often be reactive in a practice sort of way. We do not always get to “wag the dog” when dealing with the world of searchable content. Very often a customer will search for what they want when they want to. In other forms of PR and marketing people like me take pride in telling people what they want and doing it in a way where they don’t know why they wanted it.

Does anyone really remember what was so great about Cabbage Patch kids or Teddy Ruxpin?

Now we can track customers and searchers to within a micrometer of what they are thinking and this is almost as good as telling them what they want. With Google analytics and other social media tracking tools like Pagelever allow us to know what works and doesn’t work in real time.

Still in this situation we don’t know when the trend will change until it does. The solution to this is often preparing ahead of time with defensive SEO, a tsunami of online press and covering every page a person may find in conjunction with a clients name.

We want to do all of the basic things like create a great Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Linkedin presence of course. We want to make all of those pages tempting to join with motivational calls to action for any visitor. Our thinking here is that when we do all this work to get a searcher to your page we don’t want them leaving empty handed.

I want your social media presence to be like the candy in the checkout aisle. Who can say no to “free newsletter, EBooks and updates only takes one click on my LIKE BUTTON?”

Not really PR, but the residual PR you get from having an active relationship with thousands of fans and followers is he most effective part. When someone sees you r message on your wall it means only so much, but when they se your message on their best friends wall who is your follower….means much more.

Searchers are not on Facebook searching though; they are on Google, Bing or Yahoo. And when they enter you name what do they see? The searchers can often end a search for your service on just the snippets Google provides. If I search for CGR Creative where I work as Online Marketing Director I see nothing but the great things we do for our community. I see Press releases covering our activity in the community and I see rave reviews from valued clients past.

In a past article I point out how over 80% of searchers do not go past page one in their searches, but that doesn’t apply to reputation defense when I do it.

If I am searching for a web design firm in Charlotte I likely won’t go past page one if I am a casual searcher. But now I have picked CGR for example and am considering the phone call tomorrow to them. My next step is to search them specifically and in this scenario most searchers will go 2,3 or 4 pages deep. Searchers curious about your business reputation are not looking for top 10 or the Google chosen “best”, they are looking for the bad news. Searchers looking for bad news tend to go much deeper into the results.

When’s the last time you search some old friend or enemy just for fun? How many pages deep did you go? Enough said.

Now go search CGR Creative Charlotte and go back to page 4, this is what I can do for clients.

We make sure you have a good reputation online which gets you a much higher conversion rate on raw leads who are kicking tires online. You have spent so much time building your name up with positive public relations; one single bad piece of news that is accessible to the world on Google 24/7 will lose all that faith in your next perspective client.

We build content and press for you through 40+ Press websites, cover all review websites including industry specific ones and local search results, respond to anything negative and work to minimize or remove it. We will make sure you perspective clients hear nothing but positive things and build faith in your business that they will turn around and pass on to their friend with confidence. Word of mouth and what people see what their own eyes is very effective in selling your brand long term.

Todd Kron
Online Marketing Director
CGR Creative Design - Charlotte, NC

Commercial Art

By Embra King

Call me crazy, but I love commercials.

I love them between shows, on billboards and in magazines. When I was young, I used to go over to my friends' houses and spend hours looking through their magazines, no matter what the subject. Sure I would read the articles sometimes, but mostly I was admiring their layouts and ads that filled up most of their thin pages. When I go to the movies, I always make sure I get to the theater early, as to avoid missing the previews. If it wasn’t for those wonderfully crafted teasers before every show, I could hardly justify spending the twelve-dollar ticket price.

No, you didn’t read any of that wrong, I enjoy something that most Americans seem to openly grumble about. I just think it is because we are looking at things all wrong.

Advertising, when done well, is a wonderful art form that folds creative design, language, and economics into this beautiful, multi-layered piece of work. Companies and organizations of all sizes hire artists and writers to create powerful messages and a visual presence for their cause or product. Advertisers create beauty where there would only be grey. Ad agency’s are taking problems and solving them with art.

Not only do I find commercials and advertising to be an ongoing work of art, but I also enjoy them for chopping up TV shows. To me, most shows need commercials. A killer slowly opens the door to find the hero asleep and helpless in bed when suddenly, a commercial break. We are left on the edge of our seats. We cry, “No not now!” Our bodies tense up in anticipation for what lies at the end of the commercial block. Sure, if you have seen the commercials a hundred times before this time might be better spent using the restroom or grabbing a bowl of ice cream, but for me there is something special about seeing what others created in the spaces that companies have created for them.

Imagine a world without advertising, commercials, or branding. Sure, it is awesome to get out into nature and be surrounded by nothing but mountains and trees, but I can’t imagine a world in which cities aren’t filled with commercials, filled art. I think we all should take a closer look at the next commercial you see and just reflect on how many artists, writers, and salesmen it took to create the piece.

Check out the documentary Art & Copy to get a glimpse into the crazy world of advertising. It can be found on Netflix.

Pictures From Julio's Presentation

Pictures From Julio's Presentation

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative Featured at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative was featured at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference Saturday

Charlotte, North Carolina - Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer of Advertising Agency CGR Creative, LLC, spoke about New Media at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Charlotte Advertising agency CGR Creative has been a supporter of small business in Charlotte since it's founding in 2002. The Working Charlotte Business Prosperity Conference 2010 was a great way for CGR to give new media advice to small and medium sized business owners seeking to boldly unlock the "know-how" and the "how-to" of doing business in Charlotte.

Julio began his presentation by explaining that, "What ‘new media’ means changes rapidly so the question becomes, “how can I keep current without going crazy or bankrupt?” The answer is simple, “Jump In!” Learning to swim requires that you get in the pool. You can research, compare, look to your competitor, etc. but eventually you must get wet."

Julio also provided these 7 pieces of advice for attendees to take away from his presentation:

NEW MEDIA: Sink or Swim!

Enjoy the Water: Don't try to be everything to everyone. No product or service will appeal to everyone. Many business owners, including corporate executives, try to come up with ways to reach every market. Typically, this does not work. It can spell disaster for small businesses, who cannot afford to spread themselves too thin. Therefore, find your market and be everything you can be to that audience.

Swim with a Strong Buddy: New Media is one area where people try to tell the professionals what to do and how to do it. You wouldn’t tell a doctor what treatment to prescribe, just like you wouldn’t tell your lawyer how to defend you. Companies can lose a lot of time and money while trying to act as their own ad agency. Agencies are experts. They charge for their time and experience and have one goal in mind: To get the best results for their clients in order to keep those clients.

Beware of Rip Tides: Many companies offer quick fixes for little investment. These are often a simple "Buy your Rankings" package which can work for a short time and leave you stranded in deep water after the initial investment is gone. Work toward developing a consistent managed strategy that will work for the long term.


Know How Deep the Water is: Make your new media decisions based upon research and a formal marketing plan rather than a predetermined target budget. New media is often less expensive than traditional channels but you still get what you pay for.

Constantly Work on Your Stroke: Monitor your new media performance! You need to find out what works best for you. After you find this out, you’ll want to stay the course. Keep track of how SEO efforts and keyword campaigns not only how they drive traffic to your business but at what rate they actually produce sales. Consider testing each new media channel before deciding on which to explore more fully.

Have a Lifeguard: You should always have a professional that you can rely on for no nonsense feedback and creative ideas for all your new media campaigns. Preferably this is someone with a vantage point with which to measure your efforts and who can point you in the right direction.

Pay Attention to the Other Swimmers: Put your new media dollars in the right places. Your favorite website, social media outlet, blog, or even search engine might not be a favorite of your audience. Know what they read, peruse, and where they get their info, and advertise in the new media channel that reaches your target market.Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer, CGR Creative, LLC - Description: Explore "New Media" (Websites, Search Engines and Social Media) and how to stay current without going crazy or bankrupt. Learn how to leverage technology to build awareness of your company.

About CGR Creative: Charlotte based CGR Creative is a full service advertising agency, marketing firm, design studio, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

For more info on CGR Creative visit http://www.cgrcreative.com

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative Helps Promote North Carolina Charity

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative recently completed a brand image overhaul for Statesville based Purple Heart Homes. The charity was founded by Dale Beatty and John Gallina, two former Soldiers injured in the line of duty. Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative helped create a new modern brand image for the charity including their logo, supporting graphics, business cards, brochures, and other collateral. CGR Creative is known for their cutting edge graphics and their ability to develop and manage memorable brands. As an Advertising Agency, CGR Creative takes pride in being Charlotte, North Carolina's Agency of choice among new businesses.

Jason Ramsey, CGR Creative's Creative Director said, "Work like CGR Creative's brand management for Purple Heart Homes is what every Charlotte Advertising Agency should be doing more of." He went on to explain, "They [PHH] had a clear idea of what their goals were and they let us develop the brand image that would deliver on those goals."

About Purple Heart Homes: Purple Heart Homes wants to help other service connected disabled veterans achieve the quality of life they deserve. PHH is committed to helping Veterans with a variety of injuries regardless of when they served. Full construction of a new home will generally be reserved for recent medical retirees without an established home, who have a need for new housing after medical retirement. Smaller projects such as improving accessibility within existing homes can be completed for qualified Veterans regardless of when they served.

How you can help: PHH is not a construction company, but instead they are a Public Charity that seeks ways to pool community resources for our candidates. Our ultimate goal is for the communities where our Veterans reside to accept a role of ownership in the projects we undertake. This gives Americans a chance to show their appreciation for local Veterans, thru donations, labor, and by participating in projects that reward the volunteers as well as the recipient. 

We are currently focusing our efforts in the North Carolina region. To join us in our mission, or to find out more about how you can help, or to apply for assistance, please visit us at www.phhnc.org 

About CGR Creative: CGR Creative is a Charlotte advertising agency, marketing firm, design studio, and interactive marketing company. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.