Promoting your Studio with Google Places

Recently I had a friend ask me about what I have done to promote my studio.  One of the things I have done is set up a listing with Google Places for my studio.  It's easy and it's free.  And, I have found that it provides quite a few leads for me.

Here's how to set up your studio information on Google Places.
- Go to www.google.com/places
- Under the "Get your business found on Google" click on the "Get started" button.
- When you set up your listing you can give viewers information about how to contact you, what services you provide, and what type of payment you accept.
- Google will then want to verify that your listing is accurate which can be done over the phone or by mail.

Keep in mind that this will most likely be the first contact potential students and their parents will have with your studio.  Therefore, make sure that what you provide in your listing reflects your studio.

A cool feature that Google Places offers is the ability to post coupons that will show up with your listing on Google Maps.  You can set a brief description of your offer, an expiration date, and the parameters of your offer.  One idea might be to offer a free first lesson.

Another nice feature about using Google Places is that it gives you diagnostic tools to see how many times your listing has been seen and how many times searchers have acted upon seeing your listing.


Question for you: How do you promote your studio?  What have you found effective?