Google Maps Related Search Aggregator

Executive Summary

FindProz.com is a startup that began in Utah but has recently relocated to Seattle, Washington. FindProz provides an online listing service for private instructors to generate leads of new students.

My project focused on the needs of the company in relation to the current operations. Two key needs came to the forefront:

1) Gathering information off of Google to find and contact potential affiliates

2) Create an excel database to record additional information of FindProz’s users such as profile completion status, communication results, and action items.

The context of these needs will be described below:

1) As part of the company’s strategy key partnerships with affiliates such as ThePianoGalleryStore.com and have the affiliate host a portal to the FindProz service directly on their site. This partnership populates FindProz with instructors that were currently in a static list on the affiliate’s website and turns that space into dynamic content that generates commission for the affiliate based on the amount of leads generated through that portal. Portal example: http://www.thepianogallerystore.com/piano-teachers-in-utah.html

Currently FindProz is actively expanding their affiliate base in Seattle, Washington. They were pulling hobby shop locations off of Google Maps searches manually then organizing that information by City to create sales route plans. I created a search aggregator to pull in a number of similar locations by using Google’s related places listing at the bottom of a location’s page. This was not a part of my original proposal but upon starting the project they requested that I completed this first before doing the excel databases – but the client gets what they ask for.

2) To increase the user experience and user base able to receive leads complete profiles and meaningful customer contact is needed. FindProz as a company works closely with its users by helping them have a successful experience in gaining leads from FindProz. There is a need to create a way of tracking these communications. The goal is to be able to tie together the website database with the offline excel database tracking when user’s have been contacted by the company and what follow up items were there.

Write up:

• http://files.gove.net/shares/files/11w/abramws/VBA_Final_Project_Documentation.pdf

E Excel file:

• http://files.gove.net/shares/files/11w/abramws/Web_Crawler_4.xlsm
• http://files.gove.net/shares/files/11w/abramws/User_Integrated_Tables_Scrubbed.xlsm