Chances are, if you’re a current client or you’ve called our number in the last three months, you’ve have the pleasure of hearing my adorable British accent. For those who haven’t, hello I’m Helen – Jason’s new assistant (and secondary brain), and I’m here to do a quick blog about why I truly believe in OpenPotion web design. OK, maybe it’s going to be less than quick, I apologize in advance for this…

All Over the World

We’re a virtual company, which is a strange concept to everyone, and sometimes even me. My morning commute is down the hallway, past the TV and couch, and into the sunroom that doubles as my office. My suit and tie is actually a raggedy old pair of pajama bottoms and comfy sweater. My in-house office mates are two domestic shorthair cats called Professor T. J. Snuggles and Melon. Yep, I work from home, and I love it. At OpenPotion Web Design, we all work from home, and it’s really effective. Despite being thousands of miles from each other, I’ve never felt closer to my co-workers. Take Esteban, our Project Manager – he lives in Bolivia, but it sometimes feels like he’s actually peeking over my shoulder, making sure I’m focusing on the right jobs for the day. And Starr – we have so many collaborative meetings about content that I sometimes almost invite her out for a drink ‘after work’. We have people who work in Pacific time, Eastern time, and even in time zones I have no hope of ever understanding. The fact is, it works for us, and it’s all down to who we work for. With Jason’s help making sure we have nothing but awesome clients, we’ve built OpenPotion into a company that you can’t help but love.

Website Design Full of Openness

We use this phrase a lot. Our name, OpenPotion, isn’t just a name – it’s who we are and what we do. We believe in openness, both in how we communicate (yes, I’ll tell Jason if my lateness is due to one too many glasses of wine) and also in how we build your site. We don’t do cookie-cutters, we won’t tell you “Sorry, that’s just how it is”, and we certainly won’t tell you something isn’t possible without checking every avenue first. We want you to love your site each time you visit it and we want it to be effective at its job, and we’ll be open with you so we can achieve it.

Why We’ve Sort of Become the Experts of Building Property Management Websites

Sometimes I don’t believe Jason could be as young as he says he is, because of the extensive list of things he has done already with his life. I’ll let you ask him about that, but one of the many things he knows a lot about is property management, and boy, does he know a lot! I’ll tell you a secret – I knew NOTHING about property management companies before starting work with OpenPotion. I knew how to pay my rent on time as a tenant, and I could write up a fairly decent maintenance complaint when I needed to, but the Real Property Management world was new to me. Then I got hired as Jason’s assistant, and within three months I was writing articles for clients on how to maximize their rate of return on rental properties, and advising clients on the advantages and disadvantages of Appfolio and Propertyware. This is all thanks to the knowledge held within Jason’s brain, and his unique and strangely effective training sessions with us. Seriously, test him out – he’d take first place at any Property Management trivia night (if such a thing existed).

My Performance Review

It’s been three months pretty much to the day since I logged in to the OpenPotion system for the first time and was introduced to my new co-workers, and every day is still a thrill ride. If this was any old office job, right about now I’d be in some cold meeting room discussing progress points, weaknesses, and objectives, and setting generic targets to appease the mighty paperwork gods… but I’m not. Instead I’m working for one of the most talented CEOs I’ve ever met, with some of the most focused colleagues and honestly, some of the most awesome clients you could hope for (some of you are downright hilarious), and I couldn’t be happier.

So, want to hear the accent? Go on, give me a call!

A Google business listing is a powerful tool… more useful than Yellow Page ads, and it is completely free. Read on to find out how to take control of your Google business listing and start getting more web traffic.

Many of us use online tools such as Google Maps to find local businesses. Have you looked up your business lately? For example, if you are a sign company in Orange County, what comes up when people search for “signs in Orange County” – is it you? How do you look compared to the competition? Do you even have a website?

Some people charge businesses to do this for them… which is silly since it is easy and free.

Here is how to create or update your listing for the first time…

1. Navigate to http://www.google.com/local/add to get to the Google Local Business Center. This is where you will manage your business listing
2. Register for a Google account if you do not have one (this is also free, and takes under a minute)
3. Sign in to the Google Local Business Center
4. Follow the prompts… Provide as much information as possible, including images and categories
5. Google will then verify your listing by phone or postcard, to make sure you are actually authorized to be making changes to that business
6. That’s it! Now that was pretty painless (if not, give me a call), and maybe even worth thousands of dollars to your business – not bad for a couple of minutes of your time!

Want to do more to improve the ranking of your new website? Check out our suggestions below for quick, simple, and free ways to boost your online presence and get in front of even more potential customers:
To really outshine your competition, your business listing needs a few things:

• A link to your website so they can find out more about your business.
• An image that strengthens your branding and helps them remember you, or that portrays a positive emotion.
• Positive testimonials – send the link of your business listing to your happy clients so they can add a review.
• A large list of categories that fit what you do.

And make sure you do these things:

• Remove any old listings with old addresses or phone numbers, or any outdated information
• Include your full business address and phone number as text at the bottom of your website
• If you have several locations add (or take control of) each location as a separate listing.
• If your major competitor has a site, but you do not, users will likely be drawn to their business, because we all want to find out more before calling – and that can translate into lost business. Your website is your 24 hour employee, brochure, salesperson, and online storefront/office. If built properly a website can easily save you over $20,000/year on employee costs if it is customized to alleviate some of your tedious business tasks. Not only that, but by including your website address in your other marketing efforts, it makes them increasingly powerful.

Are you STILL yearning for more tips on how to boost your website? Check out these resources:

Google’s user guide for Google Places

How to add a company page in LinkedIn

Setting up your business page on Google+

Schedule a time with us – OpenPotion knows how to grow your website!

Any other ideas on how to maximize your listing? Let us know in the comments.