I’ll admit, in the past I have not been a big fan of Winnipeg. My unimpressed attitude contributed greatly to my choice to head South for Miami, FL… but since I’ve been gone I’ve realized how great it really is.

The Forks, downtown Winnipeg

Winnipeg offers everything that you could want in a big city, on a little budget. You can get a great apartment with all of the amenities you want for under $700 per month, usually including utilities. You can rent the best apartments in the city (think loft style, exposed brick, exchange district) for around $1,200, which you could also rent a great house for.

But with housing prices so cheap, why even rent? As a single 25 year old male, Jeff owned his own house and paid for everything included (insurance, utilities, maintenance, taxes) for $900 a month. A MONTH! And it wasn’t a dud either… it was a completely renovated two-story house less than a 5 minute drive to downtown. It also came with a huge back yard, a deck and a BBQ and enough parking for at least 6 cars. In most cities you can’t even get a 1 bedroom apartment for that much!

Winnipeg also offers a variety of recreational opportunities for whatever you like. In the summer there are ample parks and bike paths to get around town, you can go to a beach or spend your time lounging at a patio with friends. In the winter you can play hockey, watch hockey (what, it’s Winnipeg?), go dog sledding at the forks, build forts and visit a mall and hide out indoors.

Winnipeg also has a fun nightlife that’s affordable for anyone around. Whether you’re a student who works part-time or an executive who has a night off, there’s a place for you… and most drinks are under $5. Compare that to the average drink price of $14 in Miami… it makes a difference.

Deciding where to live isn’t just about the weather or the cost of housing, it’s about the people, the culture and if it works with your lifestyle. Just keep in mind that living in a big city can be great, but it’s not so much fun when you can’t afford to leave your overly priced apartment.

How’d you like to be a lead?

Well folks, today is your lucky day! If you’re looking for professional services online, we’ve got quite a few forms that you can fill out, for a limited time only of course. We can sell you information to contractors, real estate agents, financial planners, fitness trainers and many more. So what are you waiting for?

How'd you like to be a lead? Yeah you...

The Internet has helped us take one giant step up from scanning the phone book for phone numbers of businesses that have reputable sounding names, but general search engines haven’t quite done the trick. They’ve supplied us with very few actual professionals, and many companies, directories or better yet… fancy lead forms!

Because general search engines such as Google or Yahoo! have not been able to provide us with the results we desire, we dig a little deeper.

We end up on websites that promise us ‘pre-qualified’ professionals to help us get the job done. (Pre-qualified? What does that mean, anyways?) So how do these websites work? Follow the simple steps below:

1. Just fill out your information and we’ll sell it to lucky contractors near you! No charge for you of course, the professionals just add our charge into your fees as taxes or something.
2. Then the nice local strangers can hassle you via phone and email and pressure you into using their services.
3. When you finally agree to let them do a ‘free estimate’, (because they never do send you the price, do they?) some weirdo shows up and leaves on his muddy shoes while he walks through your whole house. Great.

Websites like RenovationExperts.com promise you that four local contractors will contact you within 24 hours. Some websites like PerfectAgentMatch.com even offers stats describing why their professionals are so much better than the other guys. And, if you doubt their quality guarantee or you’re feeling a bit hesitant about surrendering your privacy, just read their fake testimonials below! How’s that for reassurance?

If you’re anything like me then you too are silently protesting for a better way to find high quality professionals to hire. And there’s hope: You can use GoGlobe.org to find and compare professionals in the privacy of your home without any pressure. You can browse profiles, send messages and ask for advice without giving away any of your personal information.

Next time you need to hire a home professional, don’t trust someone else’s judgment, decide for yourself. See who the professional is associated with, what other GoGlobe members have said about them, and see who they’ve worked for and with in your community.

With the influence and power that American investors have it’s no wonder that a significant investments will stimulate economic growth moreso than any reported ‘bailout’. Proof in the pudding is the jump that Goldman Sachs received after a very public investment from Warren Buffett - one of the country’s most notoriously effective investors.

Buffet Reportedly invested $5 Million into Goldman Sachs in his first appearance to Wall Street in nearly 20 years. Shortly after his investment was made public, shares of Goldman Sachs jumped significantly proving once again that the media significantly influences the market. What if the economy could be saved through more public investments from other celebrity members of the Forbes list.

Seems like if more public Rich Guys would make the effort, this economic turmoil may just pick itself out of the gutter. By their example many people will have the ‘Vote of confidence’ they need to start making much needed investments. If we’re lucky, they may even be able to inject some of that confidence into the badly bruised Real Estate market.

Since rationality is out of the question we could fool the public into believing that they’re land is still just as valuable a home as it was just one year ago. That their 2000 square foot home in the suburbs is just as capable of housing a family as when they bought it. Maybe if celebrity investors set an example that could reach the inboxes and news feeds of the public, then the widespread panic could dissipate.

So let’s hope that the Titans of Wall Street see the financial Bat-Signal (Buffet-Signal?) and take the call. Here’s hoping a series of high profile investors start making headlines day in and day out, rather than the doomsday story we currently hear. Maybe the system may just correct itself and we’ll be rescued from this downward spiral of nothingness.

I can promise you this. If I were a celebrity I would take it as my duty to alert the public of the benefits they have. I would call the media out on their pessimism and force them to look at the true economic value that we as a people possess. Maybe then we’ll see credit back in the hands of normal people, and homes void of “Foreclosure” signs and all that come with them. I leave you with a mash up of a once famous quote I say,

“Help me Wall Street Celebrities, you’re our only hope.”

Sponsor Your Community

Maximize your exposure by becoming the exclusive sponsor of your community.

Be seen by a captive audience of homeowners in your target market, to:

• Enhance your brand awareness
• Improve sales
• Get more traffic to your website

GoGlobe AdSpace is available to members and outside advertisers. It’s perfect for the sale of complementary products or companies that want their brand seen by customers in their target market.

Stand Out from The Crowd

Studies show that the top three search results get 79% of all clicks.

Secure your top spot on search results with a Featured Listing. First come, first served.

Be seen before your competitors and improve your business:

• Searchers view top three search results most
• The more consumers that view your profile, the more opportunities you have to convert them to clients
• More opportunities equal more clients and more money in your pocket

To maximize results, pair with a Premium Membership.

Convert More Leads to Clients

Upgrade to a Premium Membership to improve your conversion of profile traffic to real clients.

• Optimized search results to get more profile views
• Display detailed contact information for instant leads
• Show off your experience with unlimited Portfolio Projects and References

With Premium profile optimization you’ll be seen before regular members, improving your chances of converting the searcher to a client.

Displaying your detailed contact information at the top of your profile allows interested customers to contact you immediately.

With no waiting time you can respond immediately and increase your chances of converting the potential client to an actual client. You’ll also be able to put links to your own website and blog to improve your SEO.

With the ability to show off unlimited references and projects in your portfolio you can better illustrate your experience and reputation.

To maximize results, pair with a Featured Listing.

Home Made Solar Power In Action

If you think you’re doing your best to help the environment take a look at this guy. Mike Davis of Arizona (that’s right, no city of residence) moved away from city living to his own remote patch of land in the country. To make up for the lack of electricity to his home, Mike created his own solar panels on some materials you could get at the local home improvement store (and of course some savvy eBay shopping)!

Does this sound like a home project for you? Or do you have something else planned to “Greenify” your home? With all the talk about hybrids and carbon footprints we’re all doing our part to conserve energy. While necessity was the primary cause of Mike’s solar panels, it offers a solid energy alternative for households struggling with skyrocketing energy costs.

What’s more is that this proves you can do it on a buget. This project cost only $104.85 thanks to some resourcefulness and creativity. Read more about Mike Davis’s home project at his website.

At GoGlobe, we know that you don’t want leads, you want real, paying clients.

You want clients who want to work specifically with you, who like your style and who want to refer you to their peers.

And we make it easier for you to get them.

How, you ask? We market GoGlobe.org to bring in homeowners who are looking for professional services, so that your profile is viewed by interested consumers.

Homeowners compare profiles and only contact professionals that they consider hiring. That way, you spend less time trying to persuade people into hiring you, and more time serving your clients that want to work with you.

Plus, because homeowners chose to hire you instead of your competitors, they’re more likely to be satisfied with your services. And satisfied clients lead to more referrals and repeat business.

To help you maximize your time spent on GoGlobe, we offer a variety of effective and affordable advertising solutions:

• Premium Memberships: turn profile traffic into clients with enhanced conversion tools.
• Featured Listings: increase your exposure by placing your profile at the top of search results.
• GoGlobe AdSpace: reap the benefits of being your sole community sponsor.

So before we can simplify online marketing, we have to figure out what it’s all about. So why is it? Why do you market your services online? What’s the end goal?

You market your services online in order to get more paying clients. End of story. You don’t do it to get ‘leads’, you don’t do it to meet other professionals, you don’t do it for fun. It’s about getting more business.

So how do you market online? There’s a million and ten options and the number is increasing every day. Many professionals who choose to do their own online marketing use social networking, blogging, and forums as free ways to get business.

The most common approach is for professionals to write about relevant information in their market and have links to their website. They do this in hopes that the person reading the article will click through to their website.
Click throughs do two things: first it makes their website more relevant on search results, in other words increases their ranking. Second, and most importantly, the professional hopes that the person will come to their website and want to use their services.

Seems a bit tedious, doesn’t it? Writing content and leaving comments on subjects that are relevant in attempt to get people to click on your link and perhaps even become a lead. To top it all off, none of those options give you any sort of guaranteed results. How many website leads turn into actual clients?

So why is it done that way?

Because there hasn’t been an easier solution presented. Think: if Monster.com didn’t exist, where would you look for a job? You’d end up Googling obscure words like “Vancouver real estate agent job on commission” in order to find what you’re looking for.

It’s inefficient. And we’re here to change it.

GoGlobe simplifies the online marketing process. All of the activities you do take place on one site and you only have to participate for a few minutes a day. All of your activities (for example adding a new project to your portfolio or answering a homeowner’s question) help you get more traffic to your profile. And the people who are using GoGlobe.org are searching for home professionals!

The people who visit your profile on GoGlobe are likely in the market for your services, or will be soon. Furthermore, when a homeowner does contact you on GoGlobe they want to work specifically with you. No convincing, no sales pitches, just providing your services.

Plus, GoGlobe offers many easy and affordable advertising options designed to get you more clients, not empty leads.

Simply having an online presence is no longer enough to promote your business. Your online presence must be a powerful conversion tool, or you’re wasting your time.

The average website costs between $1,000 and $5,000 dollars to build from scratch. Many professionals get sold on template websites or ‘no start-up cost’ alternatives, but end up getting burned because of their high maintenance costs(if you want anything changed, it’s a couple hundred bucks) and lack of transferability.

On the other hand, setting up your GoGlobe profile is absolutely free. It only takes a few minutes to complete the registration and fill out your profile. Plus, you don’t need any experience to use the website or update it yourself; it’s as simple as uploading a photo or filling out a form, like you would to shop online.

As I said above though, simply having a website is no longer enough. The Internet is a big place, kind of like the universe, and you need to make it easy for potential customers to find you. In order to get found online, you need to work on SEO or pay for an advertising campaign.

In order to save money, many professionals try to do their own search engine optimization to get ‘high rankings on Google’. What many people do not understand is that SEO is a full time job for many highly paid and highly skilled professionals. It’s an on-going job that takes a great deal of time and effort.

One expert suggested that an agent should spend between three and five hours per day blogging, networking and marketing in forums in order to get ranked high. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have four hours a day to spend fooling around online.

Unlike trying to beat million dollar SEO and advertising budgets for high rankings, we make it easy for your profile to be found on our website. Our professional search alone makes it easy for homeowners to find exactly what type of professional they’re looking for. All you have to do is learn how to position yourself in your community.