Online Member Resource Guide Creating and Editing Business and Event Listings on the Explore the Pearl Website Logging in...page 2 Member Dashboard...Page 2 Editing Business Listing...Page 2 Changing Password...Page 4 Adding an Event Listing...Page 5 Social Media...Page 7 Member Resources...Page 9 Staffing Changes...Page 9 Additional Benefits...Page 9 1
1. Login Click the Member Area link located in the footer of each page at ExplorethePearl.com Sign in with the Username and Password you received from the PDBA. If you can t recall your password, click the Lost your password? link below the sign in box. Enter the email address associated with your account and a new password will be emailed to you. If you can t recall the email address or user name of your account, please contact Julie Gustafson, PDBA Executive Director via email at julie@explorethepearl.com. Please add Julie Gustafson s email address (julie@explorethepearl.com) to your address book so emails from the PDBA will not be marked as spam. 2. Member Dashboard There are three main options located here that you can choose from: Edit Profile, Edit Place Listing (Business Listing), Add Event, and explore other Member Resources, such as Member to Member Discounts, Member News and Updates, and Link-Back instructions. 3. Editing a Business Listing Click the edit link located directly under your Business Listing summary in the Member Dashboard. 2
Editing Business Listing There are several fields that are required for your Business Listing as well as some optional fields as described below. Optional fields that are left blank will not appear on your listing. A. Categories this field is predefined by the PDBA. If you need to update your category, please contact the Member Support. A B C B. Listing Title Edit this field by simply typing over the current entry. C. Address You can edit the street address of your business if needed, and then click the Set Address on Map button. The two fields below the map are automatically populated do NOT edit these fields. D. Listing Description Edit your description here. If you need to format your text, please do the styling here and NOT by copying and pasting copy styled by another application first. The menu bar is similar to the menus in email programs or Microsoft Word. The first icons are for: Bold, Italic and Underline. If you need to make a link to another site, highlight the to-be linked text, select the anchor icon and enter the URL.. E. Special Offers Have a sale, promotion or a happy hour offer to share? Please enter the brief details here. The offer text can be edited the same as the Listing Description above. D E F E. Additional Fields edit and update the information in these fields as required. G. Add/Delete Images your Listing can feature a slideshow of 1-6 images. Images should be in JPG format sized to 604 pixels wide by 395 pixels high (horizontal) at 72dpi or 96dpi. Images should be smaller than 250kb in size. Images not meeting these requirements will be cropped down, or sized-up depending on size. Click the green arrows to change the slideshow order. Need to resize images? Try www.pixlr.com or www.picmonkey.com G continued 3
Business Listing continued H. Video Code videos on YouTube, Vimeo and other video sharing services that provide Embed code can be placed in your listing here. Copy and paste the Embed code from the service with 604 px as your width option. Sample code is shown at right. I. Free Listing the Explore the Pearl Website is built on a foundation that can accommodate paid website listings. Since Business Listings are included with your membership, please select the Free Listing checkbox. J. Review Your Listing click the button to complete the form and review your Event Listing. If you have missed any required fields they will be marked in RED. H I J K K. Publish Your Listing this page will show a draft of your Business Listing. The final styling will be automatically applied when the listing goes live. If you need to make edits, select Cancel to return to the edit page. If all of your information looks accurate and complete, click the Publish button. The Business Listings are moderated, so it may take 1-2 days for your edits to be reviewed and your listing to be published again to the live site. 4. Changing Your Password If you need to change your password, please click Edit Profile in the Member Area sidebar. In the new page that opens you can enter your new password. Please do NOT edit or change your Username or you will lose access to your business listing which is associated with your Username. To return to the Member Area, please click the link in the green page footer at bottom of page. 4
5. Adding an Event Events can be added by clicking the Add Event link in the right column of the Member Dashboard. There are several sections that are required for each Event Listing as well as some optional fields as described here: A. Select City this field is pre-populated with Portland. Do not change this. B. Category please choose a check box from one of the categories listed under Events, e.g. check Sale if you are having a sale, or Food and Drinks for a Wine Tasting. You can also choose multiple categories if needed, especially for First Thursday events. C. Event Title please provide a concise Title for your event. Include anything relevant for readers that would help them understand your event quickly, e.g. Jane Johnson Art Opening at ABC Gallery as opposed to just Art Opening. D. Address enter the street address of your business, or an alternate address if the event is taking place at another location. Click the Set Address on Map button. The two fields below the map are automatically populated do NOT edit these fields. If you change your address information, hit the map button again to reset the map icon. E. Event Description please enter the details of your event here. If you need to format your text, please do the styling here and NOT by copying and pasting copy styled by another application first. The menu bar is similar to the menus in email programs or Microsoft Word. The first icons are for: Bold, Italic and Underline. If you need to make a link to another site, highlight the to-be linked text, select the anchor icon and enter the URL. A B C D E F F. Dates and Times enter the start and end dates by clicking the fields and selecting the date from the pop-up calendar. Enter the start and end times, and be sure to include AM or PM to the time. continued 5
Adding an Event continued G. How to Register after filling in the phone, email and website field, you can enter any specific information for how to register or buying tickets for your event. If there are no requirements for attending your event, please leave this field blank! Any nonrequired fields that are left empty will not display on your final listing. H. Registration Fees as above, only enter this information if required. If there are no costs for the event, leave this blank! I. Select Images your Listing can feature a slide show of 1-6 images. Images should be in JPG format sized to 604 pixels wide by 395 pixels high (horizontal) at 72dpi or 96dpi. Images should be smaller than 250kb in size. Images not meeting these requirements will be cropped down, or sized-up depending on size. Click the green arrows to change the slideshow order. Need to resize images? Try www.pixlr.com or www.picmonkey.com J. Video Code videos on YouTube, Vimeo and other video sharing services that provide Embed code can be placed in your listing here. Copy and paste the Embed code from the service with 604 px as your width option. Sample code is shown at right. K. Membership/Free Listing the Explore the Pearl Website is built on a foundation that can accommodate paid promotions. Since Event Listings are FREE with membership, please select the Free Listing checkbox. G H I J K L M L. Review Your Listing click the button to complete the form and review your Event Listing. If you have missed any required fields they will be marked in RED. M. Publish Your Listing this page will show a draft of your Event Listing. The final styling will be automatically applied when the listing goes live. If you need to make edits, select Cancel to return to the edit page. If all looks good and all information is accurate, click the Publish button. The Event Listings are moderated, so it may take 1-2 days for your event to be reviewed and published to the live site. 6
6. Social Media Promoting the Explore the Pearl and Pearl Magazine Websites to your customers can drive more traffic to the Pearl District in general and more visitors to your business specifically. There are several ways that you can help get the word out about events and promotions in the Pearl District. A. Facebook please like our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/explorethepearl, and also select Get Notifications and Add to Interest Lists to be sure you see our posts in your Facebook feed. Please also Like and share the posts on our page this is one of the single biggest factors in getting more visibility for Pearl District events. Benefit: events posted on our website will also be featured on our Facebook page. B. Twitter follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pearlportland. Please re-tweet Tweets and Favorite relevant tweets as well. Use #pearlportland as a hashtag in your Twitter posts as well as #pdx or even #pdxevents. You can tag the PDBA by adding @PearlPortland to your tweets to get more followers. Benefit: we endeavor to like and repost as many of our members post as possible. A B D C. Instagram Tag your Instagram photos with: #pearlportland. Benefit: we feature photos with this tag on our homepage. Follow us at: www.instagram/pearlportland. D. Pinterest Please follow the PDBA at: www.pinterest.com/explorethepearl/ Pinning photos from the Explore the Pearl and The Pearl magazine websites will generate more traffic back to our sites. Benefit: PDBA follows member s pages and re-pins photos. continued 7
6. Social Media continued E. Sharing Events and Listings click the Twitter, Facebook, or the Share button on Explore the Pearl to share your business listing or event on social media. Benefit: This is a very easy way to promote not just your business, but the entire Pearl District as a destination choice. F. Sharing Pearl magazine articles click the Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linkedin buttons on The Pearl magazine s article pages to share the articles on social media. Benefit: This is a great way to get the word out when your business has been featured in the magazine. Please encourage friends, staff and customers to share articles as well. E F G. PDBA Sponsored Events share web graphics and links to your social media followers. Benefit: more people interested in the Pearl District means a bigger potential audience for your business or service. 8
7. Member Resources A. Member to Member Discounts This new feature offering discounts on products or services to fellow members is linked in the right sidebar. To add a discount for your business, please send an email to Julie Gustafson at julie@explorethepearl.com. B. Linking Back You can link back to the Explore the Pearl website from your site by clicking the link in the Member Area sidebar and following the instructions on the page for adding a PDBA logo and link. Benefit: This helps our website s Google search ranking. A B 8. Staffing Changes Please e-mail Julie Gustafson at the PDBA with any changes in your staffing or marketing representation so we can make sure your login information for Explore the Pearl is current: julie@explorethepearl.com. Please add Julie Gustafson s email address (julie@explorethepearl.com) to your address book so emails from the PDBA will not be marked as spam. 9. Portland Relocation Guide All PDBA members receive a profile on the Portland Relocation Guide website. Members can log into their account here: https://www. portlandreloguide.com/my-account/ A. Once signed in, you ll see four tabs at the top of the page select the listing tab and then you ll be able to make changes and additions as needed for this page. Contact Cecile Ruffino for more information: Cecile.Ruffino@webmediagroup.com or call 503-744-1582. A 9
10. Townsquared Townsquared is an online community for businesses in Portland. Stay in the know about local events, get crime and safety alerts, share local marketing and partnership ideas and get business questions answered from your neighbors. This is a FREE, private business network and we are one of the first to get exclusive access to it. Go to townsquared.com to set up your free account. 11. PEARL SWAG R PEARL SWAG R is a new way to share special real-time offers to customers when they are visiting Portland s Pearl District! When a PEARL SWAG R user brings up a map of the Pearl, they ll see your offer, which will rotate through 50 pins in the Pearl. To create your offer, simply complete the form at the link below. explorethepearl.com/swagr-offer/ The PEARL SWAG R app is now available to download for both Apple ios and Android. explorethepearl.com/the-pearl-swagr-app/ 10