I just wanted to highlight something you could, and should all be doing for free to put your business on the map. Literally. A great blog on The Independent cropped up in my Twitter feed this morning about independent retailers taking responsibility and marketing themselves.

In the article Nigel Botterill mentions that over 80% of UK businesses are not taking advantage of Google Places. Now, not having your business on Google Places is, frankly, bonkers. It is a fast, free way to put yourself on the first page of Google for relevant searches. This got me wondering, how many of our DIYWeek.net users have not put their business on Google Places?

Perhaps you don't know what Google Places is and think it is a separate tool that hardly anyone uses. Well you might have noticed that when you search on Google Maps now, the map will include shops and businesses. You can click on these to see images and comments about the place. Take a look now. Wouldn't it great if someone checking out a map of your area saw a series of photographs of your store, with all your contact details, live link to your website, reviews from your best customers and even advice on how to get there via public transport? Well they can. And it is free.

Here's an example, the plant shop next to our offices have added themselves:



If there are any of you who have not done it yet, take 10 - 15 minutes and do it now. It is so simple I won't write out the steps here, just visit this link and follow the instructions.