Bing is Sounding Out a New Service for Business Owners! Claim it. Own it. Rock it!

Bing launched the Bing Business Portal Beta on April 14, 2011. Bing Business Portal Beta has replaced the Bing Local Listing Center (LLC), and all listing on the LLC have been transferred to the Business Portal Beta. Claim or revisit your business listing to add the new and exciting features of the Bing Business Portal Beta:

• QR Codes - Bing now offers a QR code to link visitors to your free Bing mobile website! Bing is looking into including MS Tags in future launches of the Business Portal.
  
• Photos - You can now upload photos of your community, staff, and events!
• Color election - You can select a primary color, secondary color, tertiary color, background color, and a background texture.
• Deals - Offer discount coupons or promotions which will display on Bing search results, the Deal tab for mobile browsers, your Bing listing, and even your Facebook page. Read more about Bing Deals.
  

How to Claim Your Business Listing on Bing

1. Go to the Bing Business Portal. Click ‘Add new listing.’
2. Enter your community’s information and click the ‘Search’ button.
3. If your community displays as a result, click the 'Claim' button, and continue to step 4. Otherwise, click the 'Add new listing' button and continue to step 5.
4. Enter the CAPTCHA code, and click the 'Continue' button. Skip to step 6.5. Enter your community's information and CAPTCHA code. Proceed to step 6.

6.. Sign in with your Windows Live ID or click ‘Sign up’ and follow the instructions.
7. Enter your community's information:

• Contact information
• Social media sites
• Logo
• Specialties: Real estate> Buildings > Apartments
• Mobile site: FREE - creation of site and QR code
  
• Photos
• Tagline & description
• Parking options & Business hours
• Edit colors displayed on your sites
• Much more!
  

8. Request verification by phone or mail. Phone verification can be completed in minutes. Mail verification would be best for communities with an automated answering service.


Troubleshooting
Questions about QR Codes? Read our blog post QR Codes: A Scan Above the Rest!


Let us know what you do with your QR code for your mobile site!

Check In on Your Foursquare Venue! New Category Available!

The day has finally arrived! Foursquare has added 'Apartment Building' as a category option for Foursquare venues. Adding this category to your venue will help your community display in the results for searches by your target audience! To add the 'Apartment Building' category to your venue follow these steps:

How To Add a Category to Your Venue

1. Go to your venue. Click on a link or search for your community on Foursquare.com.
2. Click the 'Edit' button in the lower right corner of your venue information.
3. Select 'Home, Work, Other' from the drop-down menu in the 'Add a category' section.
4. Select 'Apartment Building' from the new drop-down menu option.
5. Click the green 'Add Category' button.

There's No 'Edit' Button?!

If you do not see the 'Edit' button on your venue, then you still need to claim your venue.

We will walk through the steps for How to Claim Your Foursquare Venue on Tuesday, May 3 during our week of "Your Online Presence - Claim it. Own it. Rock it!" You can also email me for instructions at Rachel@CaptureTheMarket.com.