Google Alerts is a free service from Google that will send you an email alert anytime Google finds something online with the keywords you define. This is pretty cool stuff and provides you with incredibly valuable marketing intelligence for free.
It can help you keep tabs on what people are saying about you (your actual name), your company name, your type of products and services, or maybe even a competitor.
I do a lot of consulting in the wedding industry, as a result I have Google Alerts set-up for keyword phrases like: marketing to brides, marketing to brides online, wedding industry statistics, wedding industry trends, and wedding associations. It’s incredible how easy Google Alerts makes it for me to keep my pulse on the finger of things.
I recently used it to watch for a chair I’m interested in to go on sale at Staples (i.e. “Staples Kronos Mesh Chair” – I saved $100!).
Give it a try today – http://www.google.com/alerts
“Chris’s expertise and guidance has been invaluable to our business. We have a great looking website, it works very well, it’s top ranked at Google, it generates inquiries, and we’re closing sales." Carol Clarke,