Author: mikal
-
College Commencement Address: Keystone College (May 2012)
In early-2012, the President of Keystone College (La Plume, PA.) invited me to deliver the Keynote Address at the College’s 141st Commencement. Here, I talk about a mistake I made leading up to and after my own college graduation, and share what I learned from that experience.
-
Why Facebook’s News Feed Update Is Good News for Businesses and Brands
Never one to sit on the sidelines or allow user experience to become stale, Facebook has unveiled a new user interface (UI) for its popular News Feed feature that it claims will reduce clutter and focus more attention on updates, images and information from the people and brands you care about most. Scheduled to be…
-
Phone Bank: What You Need to Know About Digital Wallets
Q: What is a digital wallet, and how will it impact my business? A: A digital wallet is an app that works as a secure digital container to store the information consumers carry around in their wallets or purses, such as credit and debit cards, ID, driver’s license, coupons, receipts, concert tickets and even airline boarding passes. When accessed…
-
Inside Expert: How to Hire an IT Professional
Q: How do I make sure my full-time IT hire knows his or her stuff? A: From your question, I assume that the days of enlisting everyone to jump in and help each other figure out hardware and software issues, from setting up a network to hooking up the printer, has become a waste of time. Or…
-
Adobe Debuts Its Newest Campus – Bring Your Gym Shorts!
Were a corporation’s success measured by the magnificence of its buildings, Adobe Systems’ brand new 280,000-square-foot campus located 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the growing community of Lehi, proves to be every bit a monument to the company’s absurdly successful multimedia and creativity software innovations. Since its incorporation three decades ago,…
-
How To Shoot Great Videos for Your Business
I was recently talking with the owner of a popular Southern California-based chain of restaurants about his online marketing efforts. While his four restaurants have garnered more than a combined 100,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, he has yet to venture onto YouTube. Ironically, that’s where many of his customers have posted videos…
-
Information You Can Use: What You Need to Know About Data Modeling
Q: How can data modeling boost my business? A: Data modeling refers to the organization of various databases (customer lists, inventory, sales history, etc.) into tools that help you use that information as effectively and flawlessly as possible. These customized programs, such as CRM software and inventory-management services, are designed to make database information nearly idiot-proof…
-
10 Dos and Don’ts When Blowing the Whistle on Your Own Company
Late last year, Michael Woodford shocked the business world as CEO of a multinational conglomerate by blowing the whistle on his own company — Japan’s Olympus Corporation. Within two weeks of being appointed chief executive officer at Olympus, Woodford was fired when he continued a personal inquiry regarding $1.7 billion in questionable mergers and acquisitions.…
-
Cash Pad: The Benefits of Cloud-Based Point-of-Sale Systems
Q: What are the advantages of switching my POS system to the iPad? A: There has been a lot of discussion among brick-and-mortar merchants over the advantages of switching from the traditional in-store point-of-sale system to a cloud-based version that can be run from an iPad or other tablet or mobile device. For help weighing…
-
Now You’re Speaking My Language: How to Create a Multilingual Website
Q: How can I create multilingual websites to attract international customers? A: Tackling the world, are we? Good for you. Attracting foreign visitors to your website involves a fairly obvious formula: Speak the same language as your target market. According to research firm IDC, web users are four times more likely to purchase from a…
-
The 5 Mistakes Marketers Continue To Make On Facebook
In this highly touted Information Age, it’s just a tragedy when a business or brand goes amateur with its Facebook Page. Yet many respectable business entitles continue to consider social networking as a hobby, completely ignoring tried and true approaches that can result in open and honest communication with customers and fans alike. In order…
-
Responsive Website Design: How to Build a Multi-Platform Website
Q: Can I build a single website that works on a computer, a tablet and a smartphone? A: For the most part, yes. And with your customers increasingly viewing your website from a number of mobile devices (iOS, Android) and on various browsers (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox), it’s an important goal to achieve.…
-
NLRB Slams Costco On Social Media Use Policy: What It Means For Your Business
A ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a case involving Costco earlier this month makes it clear that employers who want to avoid labor disputes would be well served to schedule a sit-down with their legal counsel and take a close look at their existing social media use policies. What prompts this…
-
6 Tips for Running a Layaway Program
With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, and the recent news of major realitors such as Toys R Us and Walmart retooling their layaway programs, many smaller merchants I’ve talked to are considering adding a layaway option. A layaway program has the potential to build brand loyalty and drive repeat traffic to yourretail business. First,…
-
WalkMe Website Tutorials Help Keep Visitors on Your Website
A business’ website should have a clear message and should be easy for visitors to navigate. For Eyal Choen’s mother, figuring out how to use her bank’s website was anything but simple, and that’s what lead Choen, along with Rafi Sweary, to launch WalkMe — a Tel Aviv-based startup that developed a tool that website…
-
The Creator of ‘The Best Sandwich in America’ Shares His Secrets to Success
Business is booming for Tommy DiNic’s, afamily-run sandwich stand at the Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia that was established in 1954. Its roast pork, provolone and broccoli rabe sandwich was recently crowned the Best Sandwich in America by Travel Channel Man vs. Food host Adam Richman. Richman toured the country sampling 28 sandwiches, before…
-
What PayPal’s Partnership With Discover Means to Business Owners and Consumers
The announcement last week that PayPal is partnering with Discover Financial Services to offer a retail “digital wallet” paymentoption could result in a windfall for millions of brick and mortar merchants who already accept the Discover Card. Beginning in May of 2013, PayPal’s 50 million customers in the U.S. will be able to use their…
-
When a Tattoo Equals a Lawsuit
Casual dress codes have become standard in many workplaces, especially in young startups. It’s increasingly acceptable in many offices to find employees wearing T-shirts, shorts, sandals, or with visible tattoos and piercings. But relaxed or vague company dress codes can lead to misunderstanding and even lawsuits. For example, a former U.S. Marine recently filed suit…
-
What Google’s New Stance on Copyright Infringement Means to Your Business
Google currently accounts for over 66 percent of all online searches in the U.S. With this kind of market prominence, business owners should keep an eye on the slew of recent changes that Google has made to its search algorithm, especially one that may have serious implications for business search results. Google is now taking…
-
How Secure Package Delivery Can Raise Customer Satisfaction
Having packagesshipped and left at your customer’s front door comes with many logistical problems, from missed deliveries to address mix-ups and stolen or weather-damaged documents and merchandise. To solve such problems and improve customer satisfaction, Amazon has joined with the U.S. Postal Service and several large retailers in instituting a secure package delivery service that…
-
5 Reasons You Should Make the Switch to Electronic Signature Technology
If you still haven’t made the switch to electronic signatures, you’re missing out. The electronic signature process enables businesses of all sizes to simplify the task of obtaining signatures and expedites the contract signing process, all in a seamless and efficient way. DocuSign, a San Francisco-based company that helps businesses collect and manage digital signatures…
-
What Facebook’s Page Post Targeting Means to Your Business
Facebook added new meaning to the term “target audience” last week with the unveiling of a powerful new tool that enables small business owners with Facebook Pages to fine-tune their marketing message in order to fit the interests of each of their followers. It’s called Page Post Targeting and this new feature appears to be…
-
How to Promote Your Business with Customized Facebook Timeline Apps
Q: How can a customized Facebook Timeline app help my business? A: This question usually pops up after a business realizes that its catchall Facebook page is great for building excitement about the brand but has limits when it comes to specific promotions or tracking interest in ancillary products such as a new line. A…
-
How to Properly Close Your Business
Much like discussing funeral arrangements while you’re still young and healthy, the topic of closing your business isn’t something many entrepreneurs want to contemplate. But the numbers aren’t in the favor of small-business owners, the U.S. Small Business Administration reported that an estimated 552,600new companies opened for business in 2009, while 660,900 businesses closed up…
-
Selecting the Best Shared Workspace for Your Tech Needs
Q: What sort of technology should my startup look for in a shared workspace? A: Co-working spaces have sprung up across the country, offering affordable desks or offices for freelancers, independent contractors and one- or two-person companies that aren’t big enough to sign a long-term office lease. In addition to infrastructure, these spaces can offer…
-
Get Me Wired: Selecting the Best Shared Workspace for Your Tech Needs
Q: What sort of technology should my startup look for in a shared workspace? A: Co-working spaces have sprung up across the country, offering affordable desks or offices for freelancers, independent contractors and one- or two-person companies that aren’t big enough to sign a long-term office lease. In addition to infrastructure, these spaces can offer…
-
The Key to Annoyance-Free Website Surveys That Get Results
There are plenty of annoying distractions online, and chief among them are pop-up surveys. Adding insult to inconvenience is that these pop-ups require instant action: You either have to click something to make it go away, or click to participate. Either way, these irritations distract website visitors from their primary purpose, which should be your…
-
How to Prevent a Website Crash After a Traffic Spike
Q: How can I manage crash-inducing traffic spikes to my website? A: First off, congratulations–this is a good problem to have. Maybe a new product on your retail website got big media attention. Suddenly your online traffic jumped sevenfold, and 90 minutes later, your site shut down, the victim of too many consumers trying to…
-
It’s OK to Lie Online in Rhode Island and Other Quirky New State Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on federal health-care reform dominated the news last week, leaving small-business owners with more questions than answers. With far less fanfare — a slew of new state laws went into effect for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Many of these state mandates might seem a bit wacky on the…
-
With Local Currency, Subscriptions, Time to Test Selling on Facebook?
Selling on Facebook could be getting a lot more attractive. Facebook is doing away with its Credits currency and allowing businesses and app developers to offer subscription billing instead of just one-time payments. Credits have always been confusing for the average Facebook user. Now that they’re gone and subscription billing is available, more nongaming companies…
-
Facebook Exchange Ads Could Raise Even More Privacy Concerns
Facebook advertising’s latest makeover could raise new unease about privacy, tracking and snooping by the popular social networking site. Consider: Facebook already has more information on you than your own mother, and now it can serve up ads nearly custom-tailored to you on web pages when you’re off Facebook. The social networking site last week…
-
What’s the .Deal with the ICANN ‘Reveal Day’ and the New Domain Names?
There’s a lot of hoopla over the release of a list of businesses that have applied for new Web suffixes, replacing the mundane “.com,” “.org,” “.gov” and 19 other generics. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) went ahead and labeled yesterday “Reveal Day.” It might be tempting to get in on the…
-
How Dreamt It Got Approved for Apple’s App Store in 2 Hours
If you’re thinking about building an app and want to know what it takes to get an app approved by Apple, check out what Jason Becker has to say on the topic. He and his team created Dreamt It — an ingenious little app that taps into the iPhone’s Siri voice recognition software to help…
-
What a Trip to LAX Taught Me About Customer Service
There’s nothing like business travel to get you thinking about how to improve customer service. Here are my takeaways from a recent flight home to Orange County, Calif., from the East Coast. Whether you own a landscaping business or sandwich shop, maybe you can help turn my lemons into lemonade. Communicate issues early and often.…
-
When Employees Become the Competition
While traveling in Pennsylvania recently, I stopped off in Pittsburgh to visit Nick Vacco, a serial entrepreneur. Vacco’s 13-year-old company, Detail King, is an auto-detailer training company. Vacco got his start in college when he ran an auto-detailing business out of the trunk of his car. While touring his training facility, I overheard a student…
-
What’s Eating Entrepreneurs Today
Profitability, passion for the job, balancing work and home life — all are issues taking up the most space in business owners’ minds these days. The recently released 2012 UPS Store Small Business Survey offers a window into what entrepreneurs are thinking about lately. Here’s a list of their biggest concerns, according to the survey:…
-
New CEO Success Buzzword: ‘Openness’
What’s it take to succeed in business? How about openness, transparency and employee empowerment? That’s the consensus of more than 1,700 CEOs surveyed for the 2012 IBM Global CEO Study. Corporations are catching up with how consumers and employees like to interact with companies. As a result, the pressure’s on for corporations and brands to digitalize…
-
Will It Always Be Fun and Gamification?
Whether or not you realize it, “gamification” has been a part of your life since childhood. You might recall, for instance, receiving rewards or prizes from your childhood dentist after each visit. For me, prizes were based on challenge-response behaviors. If I remained cavity-free (the challenge), I got to choose a stuffed animal to take…
-
Think It’s OK to Ask for Employees’ Facebook Logins? Think Again
Proponents of free speech say no employer should have the right to ask job applicants or employees for their private social utility passwords, any more than they have the right to ask to inspect personal diaries or someone’s bathroom medicine cabinet. Such demands by employers could set a precedent for personal and online privacy, a…
-
Rating the Best — and Worst — States to Do Business
How business friendly is the place you’ve set up shop? A new report rates the business climate of states and counties across the U.S., based on a survey of business owners. The report, from 2012 Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey, presented in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, offers a roadmap — quite literally — of the friendliest places to…
-
5 Tips on How to Present Like Steve Jobs
Whenever I’m asked to speak to a group — whether it’s a large gathering like a college commencement, or a smaller one like those found at a local chamber of commerce’s monthly breakfast — I think of Steve Jobs, the master presenter. The co-founder of Apple didn’t just focus on statistics or technology in his communications; he…
-
Social Media Users Are Squeakier Wheels When It Comes to Customer Service
You may have heard that acquiring a new customercan cost up to five times more than keeping the customers you already have. Yet poor customer service continues to irritate many consumers. More than half of U.S. consumers (55 percent) polled for the 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer (PDF) say they’ve turned their backs on at least…
-
Women Are More Social — When It Comes to Social Media, That Is
Women are much more likely than their male counterparts to engage in blogging, follow brands and celebrities online, and buy products online that they’ve seen featured on television, according to a new report from Nielsen. Nielson’s latest State of The Media (PDF) report shows that women are 8 percent more likely than men to create or update…
-
10 Tips for Forming a Board of Directors
Entrepreneurs who want to take their business to the next level may eventually come to the conclusion that they need a board of directors. But what does it take to form an effective one? Julie Garland McLellan, a leading governance consultant and the author of the new book Dilemmas, Dilemmas II, is happy to show entrepreneurs…
-
When It Makes Sense to Outsource Social Media Marketing
While I believe most businesses should handle social media in-house, here I share at least one compelling reason to hire a consultant or outsource your social media marketing (this video was created for Entrepreneur magazine’s “60 Second Solutions” series): http://youtu.be/CW9kmOuepBg
-
Building a Profitable Wearable Device May Depend on Who You Partner With
Wearable electronic devices have moved beyond the pages of comic strips like Dick Tracy and have appeared in everything from eyeglasses that incorporate GPS to running shoes that pinpoint their wearer’s immediate location and bracelets that tabulate one’s exercise efforts. But wearables are still far from mainstream, and the next round of product engineering will require exploiting…
-
Facebook May Have Finally Nailed Local Offers
In the past, Facebook has been timid about instituting new ad formats, especially anything that inappropriately disrupted the flow of user-generated content in a News Feed. But the world’s most popular social network recently opened the floodgates for businesses by beta testing Facebook Offers, a new ad format tailored for merchants and small enterprises. When it finally…
-
Why Your Business Needs to Pay Attention to Consumer Feedback
Knowing what customers find important and how they want to interact with a brand is important to any business’s success. A new study encourages brands to take note of what consumers think is necessary in order to improve a product or service and then make the changes that will satisfy shoppers. Here are five suggestions from the…
-
Why You Should Manage Your Own Social Media
I make my living as a business-aligned communication strategist. Basically, that means businesses and brands hire me to create and publish editorial content that engages their audience in ways that relate to specific business goals and objectives. While consultants like me offer a valuable service, managing your company or brand’s social media in-house is a better option,…
-
How to Handle Negative Online Reviews of Your Business
As an entrepreneur or merchant, you should become a vigilant watchdog about what’s being written or said about your brand or product online. Reviews show up in a number of places, including sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, and TripAdvisor, as well as in comments or full-on posts on blogs and social media utilities. These reviews offer word-of-mouth advertising,…
-
Ask a Geek: How to Protect Customer Data When Using Credit-Card Plug-ins for Smartphones
Q: Are those credit card plug-ins for smartphones really PCI compliant? A: First, a primer on Payment Card Industry (PCI) noncompliance. If you fail to protect customers’ credit card data, your business could face hefty–even crippling–penalties and fines from payment processors, and could lose the ability to accept cards altogether. (Then there’s the prospect of…
-
Facebook Timeline and Business Pages, Perfect Together
Facebook told marketers that its new Timeline interface would improve consumer interaction with brands. Timeline is living up to that promise, according to a new study. The study, by Seattle-based social engagement analytics firm Simply Measured, focuses on 15 large brands, including Toyota, Ben & Jerry’s, and The Humane Society. It compares each brand’s engagement rate with its fans…
-
A Guide to Ambient Social Networking for Business Owners
“Ambient” social networks were all the buzz at Austin’s annual South by Southwest tech festival. So what are ambient networks? They include social discovery platforms and “proximity”-based apps on a smartphone or mobile device that locate other app users within the same geographical area. Unlike Foursquare, which connects people to places, ambient social networks aim to connect people…
-
Commentary Should Remain the Lifeblood of Blogs
Gawker Media founder Nick Denton still has a problem with readers’ comments: Apparently, they’re boring. At SXSW 2012 in Austin, Texas, Denton — whose media empire includes such popular blogs as Gawker.com, Lifehacker.com and Gizmodo.com — reiterated his disdain for allowing just anyone to comment on his company’s blog posts. He says comments have become…
-
A New Study Reveals the Power of First Impressions Online
If you think any old website will do for your business, read this. It takes less than two-tenths of a second for an online visitor to form a first opinion of your brand once they’ve perused your company’s website, according to researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. And it takes just another…
-
Is the End Near for Traditional Advertising?
The demise of in-your-face marketing and advertising is close at hand, to be replaced by what Facebook’s Paul Adams terms a form of advertising that depends on “many lightweight interactions over time.” Adams is Facebook’s Global Brand Experience Manager, a job that allows him to spend the balance of his day researching and designing better…
-
How Facebook’s ‘Offers’ and ‘Reach Generator’ Can Deliver More for Less
All anyone seems to be talking about these days is how much they dislike Timeline, Facebook’s new user interface for business and brand Pages. Fortunately, the social networking giant also offered a couple of new advertising options that might just ease the tension surrounding the new look and feel. During Facebook’s Marketing Conference in New York…
-
How to Engage Fans on Facebook
Tips for sparking conversions and dialogue on your Facebook Business or Brand Page (this video was created for Entrepreneur magazine’s “60 Second Solutions” series): http://youtu.be/AaL4z2RIic8
-
Ask a Geek: App Development Methods Decoded
Q: I’ve heard software development shops talk about various methods–“waterfall,” “agile” and “scrum”–for building apps. What’s the difference? A: Be assured, the developers who use scrum aren’t billing you for a daily rugby match to help brainstorm your product. In this case, the term describes one of more than a half-dozen software development processes used…
-
What You Need to Know About Facebook’s Business Page Facelift
Beginning this week, businesses and brands will start to notice significant changes and enhancements when using Facebook Pages. Among other things, you’ll be able to assign up to five different degrees of access for Page administrators and gain access to real-time analytics surrounding popular activity metrics. You’ll also see an entirely new user interface —…
-
Smartphones Become the Go-To Tool for Shoppers
Smartphones are giving new meaning to the term comparison shopping. Whether they’re seeking lower prices or better terms on an item they see on a store shelf, consumers are quickly learning that their smartphone can be used for more industrious tasks than playing Words With Friends or snapping and posting photos on Facebook. Last year,…
-
Is Your Website Lost in Translation?
The “language of business” is based around the common denominator of currency. Business decisions are made on whether that currency will make you more currency, cover your expenses and leave enough for expansion. But in today’s atmosphere of global trade, the language of business has become a literal term. As more non-English speakers find themselves…
-
An Argument for Caution as Facebook Readies Mobile Ads
Ahead of Facebook’s IPO, it’s only natural that the social network is looking around for new ways to monetize its usage — and please its new shareholders. Enter Facebook’s latest revenue generator: Running ads on mobile versions of the site, which currently attract roughly 400 million monthly users. Earlier this month, Facebook struck a deal…
-
Do You Know What’s In Your Business Credit File?
One of the biggest challenges for startups and small businesses is that many have blank credit files.While it may be true that there’s nothing negative in there, there very well may be nothing positive, either. It’s just blank — and that’s a problem because an empty credit file is just as bad as having a…
-
Main Street Merchants Aren’t Deterred by Red Tape
With all the anti-regulation sentiment expressed lately by candidates on the campaign trail and in a dozen and a half debates, you’d think small-business owners would be in agreement that government regulations are destroying their enterprises. The hue and cry coming off the presidential campaign this year includes rhetoric that blames federal and local regulations…
-
Is Your Facebook Business Page Ready for 31,170 Visitors?
We all know that Facebook users tend to pass along what interests them to their friends. But a new survey suggests that more than 30,000 other Facebook members may wind up seeing it, too. The average Facebook user in the survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has 245 friends, and…
-
Zuckerberg’s $1 Salary and More: Parsing the Facebook IPO Filing
Facebook turns eight years old this Saturday and the world’s largest social-networking utility gave itself an early birthday present: An initial public offering that could potentially raise $5 billion this spring. Apparently everybody wants to attend the birthday bash because response to Wednesday’s IPO filing crashed the Securities & Exchange Commission’s website. But the most…
-
Ask a Geek: Why You Should Consider an IT Audit
Q: Does my company need an IT audit? Will it improve our bottom line? A: Business owners looking for practical recommendations to improve or leverage their information technology (IT) and gain critical efficiencies should consider conducting an IT audit. “An IT audit is an in-depth analysis of a company’s technical environment, including its existing computer…
-
Understanding Google’s New Page Layout Algorithm
Google issued a new warning to webmasters that it is updating its algorithms again, this time targeting websites that choose to display ads that run above the fold — that is, the section of a webpage visible without scrolling. And before you start griping that Google just won’t leave well enough alone, this change is…
-
The 10 Things Facebook Got Right Pre-IPO
Facebook could file papers for a mega initial public offering as early as this week. Keeping in mind that it’s roughly $100 billion valuation occurred in the span of seven years, the question is: What were the moves that Facebook made as a startup that resulted in such success? Here are ten ways that I…
-
The 10 Ds of Creating a Social Media Use Policy
There’s been no shortage of news these days about companies getting in trouble because of what they or a third-party marketers have done when taking to the socially-powered airwaves. A common theme among those who find themselves caught in the crosshairs of the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Trade Commission or even a company’s…
-
How Fine Art America Built Its Business by Bootstrapping
Sean Broihier adds new meaning to the term “bootstrapping.” Operating on sweat equity alone, in 2007, Broihier launched Fine Art America, an ecommerce marketplace for works of art. Artists upload digital images of their artwork to fineartamerica.com and offer them for sale as frame prints, canvas prints, greeting cards and more. Once a purchase is…
-
Why and How to Host a Hackathon
Wikipedia may be going dark tomorrow, but three days from now the folks who run the non-profit foundation will host a three-day “hackathon” geared toward building entirely new applications running on top of Wikipedia itself, on mobile devices or based on Wikipedia’s data and content. If you’re a coder, programmer or Internet-based design engineer you…
-
How Gowalla’s Deal with Facebook Affects You
It’s looking like Gowalla, the Austin, Texas-based geosocial networking company, will be checking in at a whole new address: Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto, Calif. Last Wednesday, the Austin Business Journal speculated that Gowalla was looking for a buyer (no news there… Gowalla has struggled and by its own admission for quite a while now).…
-
How to Protect Your Business from a Rogue Employee
Days before Christmas, a New York glass installer who admitted he uploaded an unfinished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the Internet, received a one-year sentence in federal prison from a U.S. District Court judge who termed his actions “extremely serious.” It’s a sad story for Gilbert Sanchez, the glass installer, but what, you ask,…
-
Lawmakers Seek FTC Scrutiny of Google’s Search Results
Two U.S. senators fired off a letter to the Federal Trade Commission this week calling for an investigation into what they allege as bias by Google in favor of its own products and services in search results. Senators Herb Kohl (D., Wis.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee…
-
10 Gifts Entrepreneurs Can Give to Staffers
Even though there are less than two weeks remaining on the clock until Christmas, it’s very possible you forgot to order gifts for your staff. Not to worry. Here’s a quick and dirty list of simple business-appropriate delights that should fill the bill. And rest easy. I took it upon myself to personally test each…
-
What Your Business Can Learn From Apple’s Battle with Samsung
If you haven’t been paying attention to the ongoing court battle between Apple and Samsung, you’re missing an epic conflict over patents and trademarks, both of which are often overlooked by entrepreneurs when attempting to launch a new product or service. The dispute centers on Apple’s claims that Samsung’s products infringe upon its design patents.…
-
Why Negativity Can Be Good for Your Business Blog
You know who doesn’t love a cheerleader? Customers. Those who post only positive blog entries on their company blog run the risk of appearing superficial and pushy. A better course of action would be to allow employees to post content on the company blog that might not be construed as all pixie dust and roses,…
-
Understanding the Value of a Facebook Fan
If you’re like most of the marketers or business owners I talk with these days, you’re wondering what exactly are the benefits of Facebook fans (i.e., “Likes”) to your brand. Also, how much more likely are they to do business with you than those who don’t “like” you on Facebook? Those who profess to be…
-
Measuring Offline Vs. Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing
The now commonly held notion that social media-related marketing is a requirement for business success may not carry as much water as once thought. Despite all the technological advances in recent years, especially in the realm of social media, a recent study suggests that the vast majority of public discussion about products, brands and services…
-
More Small Businesses Extol the Benefits of Social Media
The vast majority of small-business owners are discovering that social media doesn’t have to be painful. And as a result, those entrepreneurs who are choosing to take advantage of social channels say they’re reaping huge rewards besides being able to commune with customers, according to a new report. The Fall 2011 Attitudes and Outlook Survey from…
-
Why Google+ Pages Isn’t Good for Business
When Google launched its latest social networking utility, Google+, in June, and then announced in July that the service had already enrolled 10 million users, I reported that Google+ wasn’t ready for business. Now, four months later, Google has announced the release of Google+ Pages — a way for businesses, brands and organizations to officially use Google+ to…
-
How to Sell to Grocery Giants Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Market
How did a squeezable fruit pouch maker land its products on the shelves of 18,000 stores in just two years’ time? Here’s a hint: marketing was a key ingredient. It all started in 2006 when Fabian Milon couldn’t find squeezable fruit pouches — a popular and healthy snack in his native France — anywhere in…
-
Why Big Corporations Are Putting the Brakes on Social Media
When it comes to the care and tending of corporate blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, a new study suggests big business social media may be suffering from neglect. In recent report by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth social media use among America’s largest companies is losing steam. Specifically, less…
-
Employees’ Facebook Pages Are Private, Until They’re Not
Even businesses that have an air-tight social media policy can run afoul of the law when employees post on Facebook and other social media platforms. Last week, an appeals court in New York determined that there are limits to how much proof of employee shenanigans a business can legally gather from social media utilities such as…
-
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, 2nd Edition
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, 2nd Edition — Published October 4, 2011 In the days B.C. (Before Computers), losing touch with friends and family was a part of life. You’d graduate and all your school chums would wander off in different directions. You’d leave your job and lose valuable contacts. Aunts, uncles, and cousins…
-
Is Any Publicity Really Good Publicity?
Some publicists and public relations pros still have a sign on their desks that read: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” They take the shotgun approach to public relations — firing off a press release aiming at anything with a heartbeat. Some business owners are the same way. They share valuable content in exchange…
-
Target Social Shoppers: Marketing Your Way Through The Holidays
To paraphrase political commentator and stand-up comedian Lewis Black, we don’t really like to celebrate the holidays anymore; we just like to announce that they’re coming. Black of course is talking about you, the independent specialty retailer who, along with your larger and big box brethren, count on fourth-quarter sales to end the year on…
-
10 Tips for Better Content Marketing
Last week I wrote about the importance of creating and publishing original content as part of your overall marketing strategy (see Why Content Marketing is King). Today, I offer my 10 tips for better content marketing: 1. Be goal-oriented: You need to create a business-aligned communications strategy where everything links back to company goals. Without such…
-
Social Marketing Is Best Served on a Combo Plate
If you’re accountable for the dollars your company spends on social media-related marketing and you’re looking for evidence that socially engineered content and engagement marketing lifts sales, here’s some good news. A just-released study shows that consumers — patrons of five fast-food franchises in this case — are much more likely to pull out their wallets and…
-
Video and Social Media Strategy
In this segment from BlogWorld 2011 in Los Angeles, I answer questions about video and the role that a business-aligned communication strategy should play in a business or brand’s social media-related efforts (interviewed conducted by Mark Yoshimoto of .TV). http://youtu.be/Qf2mSe-tDgE
-
Why Content Marketing Is King
When it comes to marketing strategies, content marketing has just been crowned king, far surpassing search engine marketing, public relations and even print, television and radio advertising as the preferred marketing tool for today’s business-to-business entrepreneur. Late this summer, HiveFire, a Cambridge, Mass.-based internet marketing software solutions company, surveyed nearly 400 marketing professionals about the…
-
What Time Is Your Facebook Sweet Spot?
You’ve just added a status update to your Facebook business page, and, so far, you’ve received 57 Likes and about dozen comments on both the blog post it focuses on and the Facebook status update itself. The question is, how long is this online euphoria going to last? Will your update continue to attract comments…
-
Five Keys to Building a Successful Gaming Company
Want to be the next Zynga? If your answer is yes, you’re not alone. Just ask Philip Holt. He’s the president and CEO of the Orlando, Fla.-based game development studio called Row Sham Bow, which plans to debut its first effort — Woodland Heroes — on Facebook this Tuesday. Holt says Heroes is an action…
-
Cities Should Market Their Problems to Entrepreneurs
Small towns across America have been hard hit by the recession. Business closures, job losses and significant downturns in construction and real estate are among many woes. But towns like Pagosa Springs, Colo., where I recently presented workshops on social-media marketing and delivered the keynote address at the 4th annual Colorado Entrepreneurship Marketplace, can benefit…
-
Commentary on Marketing Initiative at Natural Products Expo East
In this interview conducted by Heather Smith of New Hope Media, I weigh in on Barlean’s Organic Oils‘ “Ideal Omega test kit,” which was developed in cooperation with Stirling University. The kit, which will be be available to consumers sometime in 2012, reveals the exact ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids in your body.…
-
New Ways to Tap into Daily Deals Sites
On the surface, it would appear that the daily deals phenomenon is beginning to lose its luster. Not only have the visits to Groupon slowed this summer, Facebook dumped its deals program and Yelp cut its Deals sales staff by half. But none of these developments mean the daily deals business model has stopped evolving…
-
Employees’ Facebook Posts Give Businesses Heartburn
Ever since social networking took root in U.S. offices, disgruntled employees have lodged more than 100 complaints with the National Labor Relations Board claiming their bosses have stifled their online freedom of expression. What was once contained to gossip and gripes around the office water cooler has evolved into punitive postings by employees on their…
-
To Find Local Customers, Use Local Resources
For business owners, it’s likely well-known that understanding how your customers consume news and information can help you target your marketing efforts to better reach them. So here’s a question: Do you know what resources your customers rely on for local news? Your first stab at an answer might be that older folks turn on…
-
How Facebook’s Facelift Affects Your Business
With all the hoopla over Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last week that change is coming to Facebook, you’d think the sky was falling. A slew of new features have caused consumers and brands alike to once again proclaim that Facebook can’t leave well enough alone. While modifications to its interface have always caused some level of…
-
A Profile of the Active Social Networker
This isn’t an episode of Criminal Minds, but if you were conducting an indepth investigative analysis where you were asked to present a profile of the “suspect” most likely to visit social networking sites and blogs, here’s what you’d come up with: Our most active social networker/reader of blogs is a woman between the ages…
-
Are Facebook Posts Penalized by Using Third-Party Tools?
If your goal is to boost engagement on your Facebook Page, you might not want to invite a third-party API (application programming interface) to your online get together. Using third-party tools like Hootsuite, Sendible, Shoutlet and Postling to schedule and post content to your Facebook Page can actually decrease your likes and comments by 80…
-
How to Create a Jobs Page for Your Company’s Website
If it’s true that a company is only as good as the people it keeps, you’d think more business owners would realize the importance of the career section on their website. With most companies, however, I find the career section–if it exists at all–the most neglected. Avoid repeating this mistake. Spend some time and effort…
-
Five Reasons Why Websites Still Matter
You know you must leverage Facebook, Twitter and word-of-mouth marketing to increase awareness of your brand. But the fact is, websites remain infinitely more popular with consumers than all of the business pages on social media sites combined. Only 22 percent of those of us online in the U.S. visit a branded social networking page…
-
Labor Ruling Is a Reminder to Revisit Social Media Policies
Providing guidelines on how employees should refer to work on social media sites is smart. But firing staffers for what they post about your company is a big no-no. Employees who openly participate in a Facebook conversation about the terms and conditions of their employment — including defending their job performance — are protected under…
-
Can a Tweet Button Drive More Traffic to Your Web Page?
Since Twitter changed the face of communications, business owners have increasingly wondered: If I tweet it, will they come? In the big screen adaptation of William Patrick Kinsella’s short story, Shoeless Joe, the main protagonist — an Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner — hears a voice in his head that says, “If you build…
-
Who Checks Your Company’s Social Media Profile?
Social Media isn’t just for teenagers and techies anymore. Adults have long used social media sties like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But the number of adult Internet users who now claim they use those and other social networking sites has more than doubled since 2008, according to a new report released late last week. For…
-
What Facebook’s Latest Changes Mean for Businesses
Facebook recently made a number of product and platform changes that affect companies and brands that market using the world’s most popular social utility. Here are five of the latest changes you need to be aware of: 1. Privacy settings for sharing: Privacy has long headed the list of concerns expressed by users of Facebook.…
-
Understanding Google’s New Sitelinks
When it comes to search engine results, your company’s placement acreage atop a Google search result page is what matters. Thanks to some tinkering by the search engineers over at the Googleplex, your website’s Google search results now have a much better chance of standing out from the crowd. Just in case you missed it,…
-
The Fallacy Behind ‘Facebook Fatigue’
You can call it “Facebook Apathy” or “Facebook Funk,” but “Facebook Fatigue” it isn’t. The term “Facebook Fatigue” has wriggled its way into the business lexicon — most recently, in a pair of reports claiming there is flagging support for social media sites among users. The notion is that people are bored with Facebook and…
-
Facebook Posting Techniques that Really Work
There’s a fine line between a scientific approach to marketing on Facebook and a haphazard shotgun approach. For those of you who prefer not to “point and shoot,” a new study from a San Francisco-based social media strategy firm offers an in-depth analysis of the top 20,000 Facebook Pages and up to a quarter million…
-
Is Business Email Really Dead?
Some social media consultants have begun eulogizing email. They suggest employers cast out what they see as a dying communications tool, and, instead, encourage employees to use whatever social media channel they feel most comfortable with for a given communication. This assessment is premature. As an advocate of using social-media utilities and platforms for business-related…
-
How To Smooth a Rejected Job Applicant’s Feathers
To follow-up on my recent article about do’s and don’ts of using social media to screen new hires, when your company uses social media channels to both source and screen new talent, you must consider that your applicants can turn right around and use those same channels to your disadvantage. In other words, if you…
-
Do’s and Don’ts of Using Social Media to Screen New Hires
Using social media to find new employees is one thing, but making a prospect fork over their Facebook credentials as part of a background check is something else entirely. More than one half of employers use social media sites to recruit potential candidates, up from just over a third in 2008, according to a June…
-
Affordable Video Hosting for Small Businesses
Entrepreneurs and small-business owners often think that incorporating video into their marketing or communication plan — let alone configuring a website for video — is costly, complicated and beyond reach. With the launch this week of Vimeo PRO from Vimeo, nothing could be further from the truth. Online video is expected to account for half…
-
Is Your Business Ready for Video?
If the findings of a recent report are any indication, you should be slapping pancake makeup on your business and telling the director that you’re ready for your close-up. The survey, from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, shows that 71 percent of U.S. adults who use the Internet have used video-sharing sites such…
-
Get People Talking: Tap into the social nature of your website’s visitors to boost relationships with customers and your company’s reach
Facebook and Twitter have lulled many businesses into thinking that blogging and posting content on social venues are the only means of stimulating dialogue on the web. But many businesses have substantial amounts of content on static web pages–from product and service descriptions to “about the staff” pages and photographs–that can be turned into customer…
-
Why and How to Build Customer Relationships with Website Comments
Facebook and Twitter have lulled many businesses into thinking that blogging and posting content on social venues are the only means of stimulating dialogue on the web. But many businesses have substantial amounts of content on static web pages–from product and service descriptions to “about the staff” pages and photographs–that can be turned into customer…
-
AdWords Express Takes Pain Out of Local Online Advertising
Google released a new version of AdWords this week with the intent of making setting up and managing a local online advertising campaigns easy and stress free. And from what I’ve seen so far, AdWords Express is not only simple to use, but it’s an ideal interface for local businesses with no prior online advertising experience. AdWords…
-
Five Lies About Social Media Marketing
When you think back on it, the advent of social media hit the marketing world like hot sauce on an empty stomach. All of a sudden businesses with an appetite for “what’s next” rushed to set up Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts and blogs to connect with as many customers as possible. Waylaid somewhere along the…
-
A Competition Roundup for Entrepreneurs
If you’re an entrepreneur with a competitive spirit, consider vying for the plethora of recently announced contests and challenges that offer the winners hefty cash awards, startup-related services or advertising tools as top prizes. First off is the UPS Store, which this week launched a Facebook contest promising its grand prizewinner an integrated marketing campaign…
-
A Competition Roundup for Entrepreneurs
If you’re an entrepreneur with a competitive spirit, consider vying for the plethora of recently announced contests and challenges that offer the winners hefty cash awards, startup-related services or advertising tools as top prizes. First off is the UPS Store, which this week launched a Facebook contest promising its grand prizewinner an integrated marketing campaign…
-
Report: Facebook Users are a Trusting Bunch
Conventional wisdom alleges that if your company’s target customer is highly engaging, community oriented and relationship-minded, then marketing over Facebook makes sense for your product or service. But why is that? The answer might be in a just-released report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project that delves into how people’s trust issues, personal…
-
Google+ Isn’t Ready For Business
With so much talk about Google+ lately, it’s only natural that business owners want in. They’ll have to wait though. Google last week began field testing Google+ — the search giant’s new social networking utility — on an “invitation-only” basis, and many entrepreneurs and business owners are chomping at the bit for an opportunity to…
-
FTC Takes Aim at ‘Fake News’ Websites
From snake oil to sea monkeys, selling fraudulent — or at least disappointing — goods can return a quick buck, but the risks are often high. The Federal Trade Commission recently asked the federal courts to put a temporary halt to the tactics of 10 companies using what appeared to be bona fide “news sites”…
-
Advertise on Facebook? AmEx Has the Credit Card for You
Forget miles and cash back, American Express is rewarding cardholders with Facebook Ads. In what is being touted as a means for small businesses to attract new customers, AmEx announced this week that its Membership Rewards points can now be used to purchase advertisements on Facebook. And Facebook execs are all onboard, saying the program…
-
New Facebook Ad Unit Ask Users to Chime In
Facebook has a new ad platform that will really get users talking. The social network with more than 620 million users today launched a new Sponsored Stories ad unit — aptly named “Comment” — which urges members to do more than just look at, “Like,” or share a brand’s display advertisement. Formatted like a conversation…
-
Climbing on the Social Media IPO Bandwagon
In recent weeks, we’ve seen the likes of LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), Pandora Media (NYSE: P) and Groupon file to sell shares to the public. And while at least two of these stocks were flying high at the outset, they’ve since sunk — along with fellow entrepreneurs’ hopes for a similarly frothy showing. For its part,…
-
The Secrets to Mastering Facebook
Interview by Forbes Magazine Contributor, Dan Schwabel (from June 2011) With over 700 million users now, Facebook is growing rapidly and becoming more entrenched in our society. In order to learn more about Facebook, and how we should and shouldn’t be using it, I caught up with Mikal E. Belicove, who is a business strategist, author, and…
-
How to Fend Off a New Kind of Cyber Attack
Welcome to your worst nightmare online. That business website you so painstakingly created, nurtured and made successful has just been poisoned in a nasty cyber attack. Known as Mass Meshing Injection, this type of attack attempts to overpower security measures aimed at detecting a previous type of cyber attack called Mass SQL Injection. Since the…
-
How Do Your Sales Leads Measure Up?
Here are a few ways to check the effectiveness of online business generation by developing a lead-scoring model. Your online marketing efforts may be helping you rack up a lot of leads–but how do you know if all that work is bringing in the right kind of potential customers? For that, you need a lead-scoring…
-
Why Savvy Businesses Field Customer Questions on Twitter
Here’s a problem that’s becoming more common all the time: You have a question about your cellular or Internet service, for example, so you call customer support only to be transferred twice and then put on hold — indefinitely. Your phone is pressed up to your ear and you’re wondering, what happened to responsive customer…
-
Taking the ‘I’ Out of Business Posts on Facebook
For as far back as I can remember, I’ve always advised companies with blogs and Facebook and Twitter accounts that there is no “I” in business. When speaking on behalf of a business, brand, product or service over a Facebook status update, tweet or blog post, I advise them to always use “we” (or some…
-
Five Dos and Don’ts for Businesses on ‘Empire Avenue’
Last week, I wrote about Empire Avenue, the “social media exchange” that enables players to buy and sell virtual shares in another person or business or brand. With an expanding user base, the game helps players monitor their social influence and garner business-related connections that may lift sales and boost their bottom line. This week I…
-
Groupon By the Numbers: From Startup to IPO
For those of you who are casual observers rather than intense market players, news that a cards-held-close-to-the-vest internet startup has filed papers for an initial public offering (IPO) with the SEC is cause for exploration. Especially if that company is Groupon, the website whose brand is synonymous with the daily deal. By filing its S-1…
-
Still Foggy on Cloud Computing?
The topic of cloud computing has had its share of ink lately, some of it good, some of it not so good. On the positive side, Apple is negotiating with record labels to allow consumers to upload and store music purchased on iTunes, online via the cloud. If approved by the record labels, Apple will…
-
Five New Tools to Help You Add a Game to Your Website
Few activities are more engaging than a well-designed game. By their nature, games encourage and facilitate exploration of virtual space and reward players when they perform tasks, achieve goals or acquire skills. When you think about it, this is precisely what your business needs to do for your customers. By encouraging your website visitors to…
-
LinkedIn’s IPO Could Spark a Social Gold Rush
The much-anticipated linkup of LinkedIn on the New York Stock Exchange took place this morning, with the business-focused social network making its debut under the LNKD symbol. Based in Mountain View, Calif., LinkedIn operates the largest online professional networking service on the planet with more than 100 million members in more than 200 countries and…
-
Location-Based Check-Ins on the Rise with Consumers
Just when you thought American’s love affair with their mobile phones couldn’t get any closer. A recent study shows that an increasing number of mobile-device users — a.k.a. would-be customers — are taking advantage of geosocial and location-based check-in services such as Facebook Places, Gowalla and Foursquare. One in five smartphone users currently use location-based…
-
Six Tips to Kick-Start Your Lead Scoring
As entrepreneurs, it’s fair to say that many of us are fledglings when it comes to prioritizing prospects and scoring leads. We know, for instance, that collecting data from those who make inquiries about our products or services allows us to focus our attention on those prospects that are more likely to become customers. But actually…
-
Tell Google You’re Ready for Your Close-Up
How many times have you made reservations at a restaurant only to find the decor disappointing? Maybe you figured a place called “Haute Meal” would feature modern fare and furniture, and instead you find a dark dining room decked out with stained glass, worn red leather booths and pink lighting intended to erase wrinkles and…
-
Daily Deals Not a Big Deal for Finding Customers
We’re hearing an awful lot these days about daily-deal websites. Facebook just launched Deals, Groupon turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google and now has a presence in over 500 local markets, LivingSocial has raised more than $600 million in funding from the likes of Amazon and T. Rowe Price, and just last…
-
The Quest for Balance: Offering an optimal blend of text, graphics and white space will keep your visitors clicking
For centuries, artists and writers have struggled to marry form and function. Click around online for a while and it becomes clear that web designers still grapple with the challenge. Achieving the optimum blend of text, graphics and white space eludes most companies. Too much text is likely to overwhelm, while too little leaves users guessing…
-
5 Facebook Developments for Businesses
The engineers at Facebook have been busy fine-tuning and adding new features lately, prompting the following primer on what’s new and — more important — what these developments mean for your business. Included among the additions and changes: There’s now a “Send” button for websites. “Deals” on Facebook launched this week, and its “Questions” function…
-
A New Model to Help Improve Website Usability
Offering an optimal blend of text, graphics and white space will keep your visitors clicking. For centuries, artists and writers have struggled to marry form and function. Click around online for a while and it becomes clear that web designers still grapple with the challenge. Achieving the optimum blend of text, graphics and white space…
-
Why We’re Still Lost In Geolocation
Business owners who anticipate that geosocial services like Facebook Places, Google Latitude, Foursquare, SCVNGR, and Gowalla will be the next best way to reach new customers may be waiting a while longer yet. Geosocial, or geolocation, services — which allow their users to send short messages online or by text to update friends on their…
-
Facebook and AmEx Offering Business Makeovers
Everybody deserves a break, but American Express OPEN is now offering small business owners the ultimate Big Break. The credit-card issuer this week launched a national contest that will culminate with five winners each winging their way to Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., for a two-day, all-expenses-paid social media marketing “makeover” and $20,000 to…
-
Selecting a Provider to Score Your Leads
If landing leads is an art, knowing which prospects are more likely to turn into customers is a science. Here are a few vendors who’ve managed to develop tools that help you crack the code. Each provider below offers marketing automation or revenue-performance management services — a.k.a. customer relationship management tools — that includes a lead…
-
Why You Should Optimize Your Social Media Presence
When it comes to landing a top spot in search engine results, the world’s leading 200 consumer brands can’t be beat. But within the search pages on social media sites, a study out this week shows that the biggest brands often barely register. Nearly 100 percent of top 200 Fortune 500 brands are either at…
-
Brands Failing to Leverage Facebook to Boost Search Results
Nearly every single one of the world’s 200 leading consumer brands does a great job of maintaining a top or near-top ranking in search results for their brand’s name. But a study released this week shows that those same brands slack off considerably when it comes to having their Facebook Page represented in the top…
-
How to Prioritize Your Prospects
Ask many fledgling entrepreneurs to describe their target demographic and you’re more likely to hear a generalized response like: “Every business can use our product,” rather than, “My demographic is IT managers with an annual budget of $5 million or more who are actively searching for a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard solution.” Rarely…
-
Score New Customers with Lead Scoring
Ask many fledgling entrepreneurs to describe their target demographic and you’re more likely to hear a generalized response like: “Every business can use our product,” rather than, “My demographic is IT managers with an annual budget of $5 million or more who are actively searching for a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard solution.” Rarely…
-
How Marketers Use Social Media
If you’re not only the CEO, but also the CMO of your company, you may be wondering if all of your social media efforts are panning out. According to a new report, you’re not alone. While 90 percent of marketers now say that social media-related marketing is important for their business, nearly 25 percent are…
-
Mother’s Day Advice for Online Retailers
Mothers can be big business. Take for instance the results of the Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, which showed that the average person buying a Mother’s Day gift this year was projected to spend around $127. On top of that, the National Retail Federation said Mother’s Day is the second largest holiday in terms of…
-
Which Daily Deal Site is Right for You?
Ever since Groupon rejected a $6 billion buyout offer from Google in December, everyone it seems has been talking about daily deals, including merchants and enterprising business owners who wonder which daily deal website is best for helping their product or service reach new customers. Here, I’m going to help answer that question. First up…
-
Gentle Reminders: Retargeting can lead to increased conversions and turn abandoned site visits into sales
Online shoppers are fickle. Nearly anything can prompt them to abandon their shopping carts–sticker shock from shipping and handling fees, second thoughts about spending the money, an inkling that they can find a product cheaper elsewhere or simply a desire to sleep on it. Whatever the reason, you no longer need to sit back and…
-
Google’s Own Search-Engine Tour Guide +1
Google says the World Wide Web is a big place and what we all need from time to time is an experienced tour guide. As a result, the folks over at the Googleplex have trotted out Google +1, an experimental feature that enables those with a Google Profile to share recommendations with their friends and colleagues right…
-
Because 20,000 Users Produce 50 Percent of all Tweets
You’ve heard the idiom about the squeaky wheel getting the grease. It turns out the most frequent squawkers on Twitter — while small in number — generate the most tweets, according to research presented this week at the 20th annual International World Wide Web Conference in Hyderabad, India. The 10-page study, called Who Says What to Whom on…
-
Which Service Will Get You on Your Customers’ Map?
I don’t know how high school dances work these days, but it used to be that the boys slouched against one wall of the gymnasium and the girls huddled around at the other end. It was a selection process and if you were a guy, you had to make a decision, walk over and ask…
-
A Competition for Your Startup
For many would-be startups, the hardest part of getting going is securing the necessary funds. A killer idea is an obvious must. But you may also need office space, data management technology, a server and development tools to bring your pie-in-the-sky proposition to the market. Enter the Start-Up, Boot-Up business plan competition from Contegix, a…
-
Reid Hoffman’s 10 Rules for Entrepreneurial Success
LinkedIn co-founder and angel investor Reid Hoffman says now’s the time for bold entrepreneurship. Current economic conditions offer an ideal environment for startups, he says, because you have more time to get a new venture off the ground before the competition catches on. At last week’s the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas,…
-
A Way to Win Back Online Customers
Online shoppers are fickle. Nearly anything can prompt them to abandon their shopping carts–sticker shock from shipping and handling fees, second thoughts about spending the money, an inkling that they can find a product cheaper elsewhere or simply a desire to sleep on it. Whatever the reason, you no longer need to sit back and…
-
Google’s Panda Puts Content Farms Out to Pasture
Let’s face facts: Your business isn’t on the Net if it isn’t highly indexed by Google because Google is the Internet. So when the world’s most popular search engine recently announced an update to its search algorithm, many of those businesses that use low-quality content to drive search engine traffic to their sites found themselves at…
-
SBA Fine-Tunes Rules for Disadvantaged Firms
The Small Business Administration this week implemented changes to its rules governing the 8(a) business development program that are expected to allow more small businesses to qualify, access and compete for coveted federal contracts. Named for a section of the Small Business Act, the 8(a) program was created to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete in…
-
4 Core Social Media Strategies from Stonyfield Farm
By Caren Baginski, for Delicious Living – the leading consumer magazine in the natural products industry. There’s a whole lot of “social” going on at the first day of Natural Products Expo West; but perhaps some of the most influential may not occur face-to-face, but rather through a tweet or Facebook wall comment. It’s no surprise, then,…
-
Watch Where You’re Swiping That Credit Card
VeriFone Systems, an electronic payment service, boldly established what amounts to a technological “no-fly zone” against one of its competitors this week, claiming its rival Square produces a credit card reader that can be turned into a skimming machine by criminals in less than an hour. Douglas Bergeron, VeriFone’s CEO, announced Tuesday in a YouTube…
-
Starting Your Own Group Buying Site Without Joining Groupon
Last week, I told you about The New York Times’ plan to join the likes of Groupon and LivingSocial in the group-couponing world with TimesLimited. But have you considered that you too can have your own group-buying website where you can promote your own products or services? Despite the ample praise bestowed on the big group-buying sites…
-
A Group Buying Site for Rich People
The recent return of the luxury consumer has been well documented. Not only did Tiffany’s sales skyrocket over the holidays, sales at high-end shops Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales have also seen their sales tick up. But how do small business owners capitalize on the wealthy increasingly whipping out their wallets? Oddly enough, The New York…
-
The Master of Your Domain: How to size up and select a webmaster who can keep your site one step ahead
In the web’s early days, knowledge of HTML and an eye for graphics were all a webmaster needed to succeed. Now, a top-notch webmaster must be a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in server and application programming, graphics design, e-mail marketing, media development, site security, social media integration and more. Here’s what you should be looking for in…
-
How to Look Like a Pro on Facebook: Facebook Expands Preferred Developer Consultant Program
There’s a lot more to creating an enticing Business Page or application on Facebook than just slapping your logo on it, adding a fewcoupons and hoping customers and potential clients will stumble across it. Justlike your company website requires a dedicated programmer or designer, entrepreneursconsidering a Facebook storefront should also retain qualified professionalhelp. Brands, corporations…
-
Why Customers Unsubscribe, Unlike and Unfollow You
There you are, busily marketing your business or brand through social networking and suddenly you’re experiencing a rash of unsubscribes, unfans, unlikes or unfollows on your email, Facebook or Twitter accounts. What’s going on here? It’s like that old Righteous Brothers hit, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” Only this time around it’s not a mid-60s…
-
How to Hire a Webmaster
How to size up and select a webmaster who can keep your site one step ahead. In the web’s early days, knowledge of HTML and an eye for graphics were all a webmaster needed to succeed. Now, a top-notch webmaster must be a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in server and application programming, graphics design, e-mail marketing, media…
-
Make Sure Your SEO is Wearing a White Hat
The New York Times piled some fairly harmful media attention on JC Penney over the weekend by questioning how the behemoth U.S. retailer was able to consistently turn up first in line on Google’s search results for a large number of seemingly unrelated keywords. From “bedding” to “blue jeans,” the JC Penney name popped up…
-
A Review of Facebook’s Latest Page Features for Businesses
In case you’ve missed it, Facebook is in the process of unveiling a major update to its Pages platform, striking what should be a happy chord for businesses and brands that use the world’s largest membership-based social networking site to engage with consumers online. Feature changes and enhancements go into effect for all Pages on…
-
‘Do Not Track’ Legislation Could Impact Your Business
Members of Congress are expected to introduce privacy bills this week that would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to initiate a Do Not Track registry for online advertisers. Such legislation could ultimately have an effect on entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes that rely on certain types of online marketing — especially retargeting (also…
-
Settlement Reached in Employee Firing Over Facebook Commentary
There’s been a settlement in the case of an ambulance service employee who was fired last year for posting some pretty caustic comments about her supervisor on her Facebook page (read Can Complaining About Your Boss on Facebook Get You Fired?). The regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Hartford, Conn., announced…
-
Coaches Corner Videos for Entrepreneur magazine
Mashup of four videos I appear in for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Coaches Corner. Topics covered — all of which are related to social media/network marketing — include: How to measure return on investment How to differentiate signal from noise How to find new things to say frequently enough and stay on top of comments and feedback How…
-
Benchmarking Facebook Ads
If you’ve been sinking a portion of your marketing dollars into Facebook advertising the past year or so, you might be wondering how that online advertising is paying off for you. And with Facebook ads expected to pull in more than $2 billion from U.S. advertisers and $4 billion worldwide this year, you shouldn’t feel…
-
Home Away From Home: Treat every page of your website as if it’s the homepage
Everybody knows the importance of making a positive first impression, but if you assume prospective customers first encounter your website through its homepage, think again. Natural search results drive users to individual pages that best match each user’s search query, and often that page is not your site’s homepage. On the more than 25 websites…
-
How to Build Business with Facebook Deals
There’s an independent theater near my house that offers customers a cheesy looking discount card. Show it to the disinterested teen-ager behind the glass when you buy a ticket and he’ll take your money and punch a hole in the card. After five punches, the next film is free. Of course, if it’s a “new”…
-
Can Complaining About Your Boss on Facebook Get You Fired?
Here’s a question for the water cooler crowd: Can complaining about your supervisor on Facebook get you fired? Can a status update change the status of your employment? I’ve opined in the past about the dangers and drama of authoring and then posting job-related commentary on Facebook or other socially engaging online properties (see Pitfalls…
-
A New Twist on Offering Savings Through Social Media
Over the weekend, I made a purchase online from a site called Abe’s Market. I was looking for a hard-to-find product and Google pointed me in Abe’s direction. It’s a great-looking site, focusing exclusively on “Green, Natural, and Eco-Friendly” products. It’s easy to navigate, has an exceptional blog with lots of helpful information — and…
-
Tips for Interior Pages of Your Website
Everybody knows the importance of making a positive first impression, but if you assume prospective customers first encounter your website through its homepage, think again. Natural search results drive users to individual pages that best match each user’s search query, and often that page is not your site’s homepage. On the more than 25 websites…
-
Do’s and Don’ts of Featuring Your Business in Wikipedia
It’s hard to believe that Wikipedia celebrated its 10th birthday last week. The popular online reference site was launched back on Jan. 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. With 17 million articles in more than 250 different languages, Wikipedia is consistently ranked as one of the most popular sites on the net. And…
-
Don’t Make These Smartphone Business Blunders
At first glance, using your cell phone as a business communication tool makes perfect sense. It’s lighter than a laptop, fits easily in your pocket, purse or the palm of your hand, connects to the internet nearly everywhere you go, and seemingly provides instant access to everything you need when you’re out of the office.…
-
Using QR Codes to Promote Your Business
When it comes to the latest and greatest in marketing tools, maybe you’ve heard the term QR code bandied about as the next big thing. The initials QR stand for Quick Response, and you should think of a QR code as an easy-to-create, two-dimensional bar code that can be scanned by a smart phone to…
-
Tips for Creating Website Terms and Conditions
On a scale of one to 10 — with 10 being excruciatingly boring — I’d rank website terms and conditions of use agreements as maybe a twenty. Dry as dust. The only thing less spellbinding than T&Cs might be the privacy policies that often accompany such gray type. Why do companies insist on including them…
-
Employees Walk Away the Winners in This Intranet Contest
If you’re looking to develop or improve a successful intranet for your start-up or business, you might want to take a look at the common themes identified among the winners of this year’s Intranet Design Contest put on by the Nielsen Norman Group. Not familiar with this international competition? NNG is a Freemont, Calif.-based website…
-
Game Theory and Gaming Mechanics for Your Website
This is the time of year when business strategists are asked to give their take on the future of the web and online entrepreneurship in general. I’ve been asked no less than a dozen times between October and the end of December to prognosticate in writing about trends and predictions for the upcoming year. And…
-
Career Objective: Don’t overlook the importance of a comprehensive jobs page on your company’s website
If it’s true that a company is only as good as the people it keeps, you’d think more business owners would realize the importance of the career section on their website. With most companies, however, I find the career section–if it exists at all–the most neglected. Avoid repeating this mistake. Spend some time and effort…
-
What’s in a Word? Plenty When It Comes to Facebook Status Updates
Words are powerful things and Facebook status updates can prove to be equally powerful tools for those of us who use social media to promote our businesses. Because a major focus of social media-related marketing is on creating content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share with their own networks, our choice of words…
-
Create a Business-aligned Communication Strategy
When I worked in the corporate world (think global corporation with 30,000 employees and a Board of Directors complete with an audit committee), this was the time of year when everyone in the enterprise received their final financial targets for the following fiscal quarter, as well as numbers for all of the next fiscal year.…
-
8 Social Media Outsourcing Do’s and Don’ts
You can find plenty of arguments for and against outsourcing the management of your company’s social media initiatives. From ghosting your company’s blog entries, Facebook status updates and tweets to monitoring and mining platforms for inappropriate content and customer insight, some companies just find it easier to pass these responsibilities to a third-party provider. Whether…
-
What To Do if Google Says ‘Your Website May Be Compromised’
If you’re a webmaster, five words you never want to find on the search results for your website on Google are, “This site may be compromised.” The fact that hackers and crackers are making a picnic lunch out of your website pretty much means your immediate future has already been planned for you. Anything else…
-
Social Networking Picks Up Steam on a Global Level
It should come as no surprise that social networking has rocketed in the United States — the country where it all began (thanks, eBay). What is surprising to some, however, is how widespread the use of social networking sites and platforms has become on a global scale. Did you know, for instance, that of Facebook’s…
-
Getting Your Business Up in Running in 10 Steps? That’s Wicked!
Let’s face it; the biggest obstacle to starting a new business isn’t the economy or your bank’s strict lending requirements. Most likely what’s stopping you from getting a new enterprise off the ground is you. Categorize it however you want — procrastination, self-doubt, fear of the unknown, or literally not knowing where to begin —…
-
Tweet This: Only 8 Percent of You Are Even Using Twitter
Have you ever been an observer or an unwilling participant in an event — or even an entire era — that left you asking yourself, “What am I missing here?” Disco immediately comes to mind. For kids growing up in the late ’90s, maybe it was the Giga Pet craze. And whomever it was who…
-
Social Media and Your Company’s Acceptable Use Policy
Acceptable use policies have the intent of providing a safe working environment, increasing employee productivity and providing a layer of security to company assets like individual computers and network infrastructure. Thinking back on my first office job, I recall my supervisor going to great lengths to explain to me that the company phone was for…
-
ReSearch.ly Provides Real-Time Feedback on Your Products and Brand
Every company wants to be the fly on the wall when consumers are talking about the pros and cons of their product or service, and now PeopleBrowsr, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based social search engine and social media analytics company, has come up with an online tool that does just that. ReSearch.ly, released this week, is a…
-
Five Questions to Answer When Launching a Website
Before you hire a web programmer, graphic designer or agency to build your website, assume the persona of an investigative journalist and gather information critical to the success of your project. The best reporters know that the most important building block of any factual news story is the use of the five Ws. Taking time…
-
The Inside Scoop: Save time and money on your next website by first answering the who, what, when, where and why of your project
Before you hire a web programmer, graphic designer or agency to build your website, assume the persona of an investigative journalist and gather information critical to the success of your project. The best reporters know that the most important building block of any factual news story is the use of the five Ws. Taking time…
-
Free Legal Advice for Tech Startups
Entrepreneurs face many legal challenges when starting a business. From writing a business plan, to determining which corporate structure is best and scraping together enough money to file the appropriate documents, starting a business is easier said than done.With attorneys charging as much $750/hr. to set up a business, and online legal documentation services like…
-
Book Review: Facebook Advertising For Dummies
There’s a lot of buzz these days about the amount of traction Facebook has gained as an advertising platform. According to Hitwise, nearly one in four page views, excluding mobile-generated traffic, in the U.S. now occurs on Facebook.com, and comScore recently reported that 23.1 percent of all online display ad impressions in the month of…
-
Twitter Leaps Unapologetically Into Creating its Own Apps
It was with great interest late yesterday afternoon that I watched Twitter co-founder Evan Williams (@ev on Twitter) speak at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. For quite some time now, I’ve tried to come up with a compelling reason why I should use Twitter on a more regular basis. In fact, I’ve often…
-
How The Fortune 500 Uses Social Media
Just out from the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a study targeting the use of social media by America’s largest companies — the Fortune 500. In particular, the research examines what the big boys are doing when it comes to using blogs, Twitter and Facebook. And the results show…
-
Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing, You Already Know
In the rush to gain subject matter credibility in the eyes of anyone who’s paying attention, PR firms, advertising agencies, marketing organizations, application service providers, and consultants and consultancies in nearly every business vertical are all publishing reports, studies, white papers and more about social media-related marketing. But in nearly every case, they’re either repeating…
-
How to Use SCVNGR to Grow Your Business
Seth Priebatsch, founder, CEO and “chief ninja” of SCVNGR, Inc., describes SCVNGR as a game about “going places, completing challenges and earning points.” In SCVNGR, players complete challenges to earn points that ultimately enable them to unlock and redeem rewards at businesses like yours. Think discounted coffee, a free month’s worth of SaaS, half-off on…
-
Use of Geosocial Services is Underwhelming — for Now
Based on a Pew Internet survey released this morning, only 4 percent of American adults who go online on a regular basis are using any form of geosocial or location-based services like Foursquare. And on any given day, only 1 percent of internet users are taking advantage of these services. To complete the survey, Pew…
-
BizTechDay 2010 – Does Traditional Media Still Matter?
Coverage from a panel I was on at BizTechDay in San Francisco (Oct. 23, 2010). From the conference program: “The media landscape has changed immensely and companies need to approach media coverage more strategically. There is a real art to giving relevance to your company and your brand by pegging products, services and even company…
-
Putting the Focus on B2B Blogging
If you’re responsible for marketing or business communications at a B2B company and you’re still on the fence about incorporating a blog into your business-aligned communication strategy, this should be of interest. HiveFire, a Cambridge, Mass.-based internet marketing software solutions company, has released the results of a marketing research survey that suggests many business-to-business companies…
-
The Benefits of Framing Out Your Website
Suppose you’re sitting at Starbucks with your corporate architect to discuss plans for an office renovation. You grab a napkin and start sketching desktops and conference areas with your pen. Some of the lines don’t show up, and the napkin bunches up and tears, but you’re quite pleased with your rendering–until you catch sight of…
-
Frame it Out: Developing a website prototype with a wireframe tool will get you and your designer closer to what you envision.
Suppose you’re sitting at Starbucks with your corporate architect to discuss plans for an office renovation. You grab a napkin and start sketching desktops and conference areas with your pen. Some of the lines don’t show up, and the napkin bunches up and tears, but you’re quite pleased with your rendering–until you catch sight of…
-
Facebook Moves to Eliminate Spam on Business Pages
Back in the fall of 2008, Facebook sued Montreal-based spammer Atlantis Blue Capital, and its owner Adam Guerbuez, for repeatedly spamming Facebook members. In what many view as a landmark CAN-SPAM-related judgment, US federal judge Jeremy Fogel awarded Facebook an astonishing $873 million dollars in punitive damages. Now, just days after a Canadian court upheld…
-
Nielsen Wants to Take the Mystery out of Measuring Online Advertising
What do you say when someone asks how your online advertising is performing? It’s a good question, but the answer can be nebulous because measuring ad results online is a difficult proposition. It’s difficult to decipher what the metrics really mean and it’s difficult to compare your results with another media. And then there’s the…
-
4 Common Website Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Ask your target demographic what it thinks about your website’s usability, programming and design, and you’re bound to receive a variety of responses. These can range from “looks good to me,” to “I didn’t find what I was looking for,” or “I think it sucks.” Everyone has an opinion. A more likely scenario is that…
-
Thoughts on Twitter Versus Facebook for Business
I’m of the opinion there are two camps when it comes to online marketing and the use of social media to drive business messaging and customer action: Those who mostly use Facebook Those who mostly use Twitter Sure, many businesses display the blue-based badges for both Facebook and Twitter on their homepage, which suggests that…
-
Natural Foods Merchandiser interview on Creating a Social Media Strategy
From the good folks over at Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine (the leading natural products industry journal covering health, beauty, supplements, fresh, grocery and beverage trends): “Heather Smith of New Hope Natural Media and NewHope360.com, talks with Mikal Belicove, contributor for Entrepreneur magazine, about what mistakes businesses make in creating a social media strategy and what…
-
New Report Uncovers the Anatomy of a Facebook Post
Many businesses are directing their marketing departments to find ways to attract and retain customers by engaging them on Facebook and other social media networks. Their logic is that by using internet-based services to connect with their demographic, these companies can breathe new life into their brand, product or service. Enter Vitrue (not Virtue), an…
-
What To Do If Your Company’s Blog Is Subpoenaed
Earlier this year, the Cleveland Plain Dealer disclosed that a local judge — or somebody using her e-mail account — had been using the newspaper’s comment section to opine on several of the judge’s cases. The judge filed a $50-million invasion of privacy suit, claiming the newspaper violated the site’s terms of service. The suit…
-
Starbuck’s Free Wi-Fi Opens the Door for Hackers and Crackers
When Starbucks said it would be offering free Wi-Fi in all of its U.S. stores by the end of June, the buzz among the entrepreneurial set was enthusiastic. Entrepreneurs and those working on startup businesses love to work remotely — especially in hip environments like the ones found within a Starbucks’ cozy/homey atmosphere. For many,…
-
Social Media Savvy Companies and Their Employees
NetProspex, a Mass.-based company that manages a B2B focused sales and marketing database platform, has released its Fall 2010 Social Business Report, which it touts as “a comprehensive look at the use of social media by business people across the U.S.” (I have some serious issues with the report, but more about that later.) This…
-
The Usability Factor: Whether your website is delivering the expected user experience lies in the perceptions of those who use it. Here’s how to measure them
The internet continues to evolve and advance, and so do users’ expectations. Every time one of your customers or prospects visits Facebook.com, ESPN.com or any other well-conceived, navigable website, the pressure increases for your company to offer a similarly engaging and easy-to-use site. Fail to deliver the expected user experience and you may lose customers.…
-
Is Your Website a Turnoff?
The internet continues to evolve and advance, and so do users’ expectations. Every time one of your customers or prospects visits Facebook.com, ESPN.com or any other well-conceived, navigable website, the pressure increases for your company to offer a similarly engaging and easy-to-use site. Fail to deliver the expected user experience and you may lose customers.…
-
Claim Your ‘Place’
After months of speculation, Facebook made it official: It’s in the location game. The company released its retort to Foursquare in August, a location-based check-in tool called Facebook Places that enables customers to see a map on their iPhone or other mobile device that includes your business (the Place) and a list of their Facebook…
-
Looking for Entrepreneurial Tips in ‘The Social Network’
The Social Network opens in theaters nationwide on Friday amidst a deafening buzz about Facebook’s co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg. If people aren’t questioning the veracity of the film’s storyline, they’re speculating about it. Is it fact, fiction or just a dramatic, narrative account pumped up with a little extra Hollywood juice? Controversy erupted months in advance…
-
A Shaman of the Internet
From September 17, 2010 – CoastLine Pilot By Cindy Frazier, cindy.frazier@latimes.com Mikal Belicove is on the cutting edge of social media. He’s way out there, blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and generally having a great time playing around in cyberspace. And he makes a good living at it. Belicove calls himself an “information-sharing junkie.” But he could…
-
New App Clues You in on What People Think of Your Website
You want to know what I think of your new website. You got a sec? The folks over at Zurb have created an ingenious little web application that allows anyone to conduct a free test of what visitors remember about a website. And those visitors get exactly five seconds to form a first impression. Called…
-
Outage: Is it Facebook or Me?
If you’ve tried logging onto Facebook today (Sept. 23, 2010), you may be wondering if there’s something wrong with your internet connection or if Facebook is down. Fear not; it’s not you! Sadly, it seems many people and their grandparents (yes, your customers’ grandparents are likely trying to access Facebook also) are receiving a message…
-
myBrainshark Makes Your PowerPoint a Big Star on YouTube
Brainshark Inc. has just opened up an ocean of access to its on-demand multimedia customers by introducing a new feature that enables businesses and entrepreneurs to share their PowerPoint presentations on YouTube–at no cost to the participating company. Started 10 years ago, Brainshark provides a web-based Software as a Service platform that allows your business…
-
Websites in Motion: When you’re designing your site for the mobile web, the secret is simplicity
Juniper Research estimates that the number of mobile web users will grow from 1.2 billion this year to more than 2.4 billion in 2014. While many of these users will be able to surf the mobile web just as they do on their desktop and laptop computers, hundreds of millions of others will still be…
-
How to Avoid Facebook Business Page Recategorization
The e-mail message was alarming and ominous: Thinking the above message must be spam, the folks at The Inn at Mount Snow in West Dover, VT, immediately logged onto their Facebook account, where they were promptly confronted by the following message at the top of their Page: Definitely not spam, and according a statement provided by…
-
How to Avoid Facebook Business Page Recategorization
The e-mail message was alarming and ominous: Thinking the above message must be spam, the folks at The Inn at Mount Snow in West Dover, VT, immediately logged onto their Facebook account, where they were promptly confronted by the following message at the top of their Page: Definitely not spam, and according a statement provided…
-
Social Media Marketing to Baby Boomers
Facebook is not just for kids anymore, nor is LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or the many other popular social media platforms and services. As today’s Pew Research Centerstudy entitled “Older Adults and Social Media” concludes, “Social networking use among those ages 50 and older nearly doubled over the past year.” In fact, the fastest growing demographic of…
-
Use Facebook Places to Boost Business and Lift Sales
After the initial buzz dies down, most of the chatter surrounding Facebook Places — the just-now-released location-based check-in tool — will likely focus on how it might affect similar social networking tools like Foursquare,Loopt, Gowalla and Whrrl. Oh, there will be some discussion of privacy concerns to be sure, but what will be left out of the equation is…
-
Get a Second Opinion Using Marginize
In Don’t Believe Everything You See on the Web,WomenEntrepreneur.com columnist Francine Schill writes that “just because a company has an awesome website doesn’t mean it’s legitimate.” Francine is absolutely right. Let’s face it, tossing up a sophisticated looking site these days is as easy as dressing up as your favorite character from Mad Men this Halloween. The…
-
How to Conduct a Tweet Chat for Your Business or Brand
To promote our recent book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, my co-author, Joe Kraynak, and I participated in a ‘Tweet Chat’ (also called a Tweetchat) about Facebook. If you have never heard of Tweet Chats and have no idea of what they are, just think of them as online, real-time conversations broadcast via Twitter.…
-
Wednesday Web Resources: Online Training and Web Conferencing Tools
Carol Tice, who’s been writing the Wednesday Web Resources column for the past year or so, has handed off the reins to me. Giddyap! Each week I’ll spotlight two high-tech, free and subscription-based web services that operate in the Software as a Service category. These SaaS companies provide services that I think have a rightful…
-
Mass Customizers Hope for 8 Million Facebook Impressions
Back in 1974, the folks at Burger King came up with an incredibly successful television advertising campaign based on the slogan, “Have It Your Way.” It was an instant success because the burger franchise meant what it said–you wanted extra lettuce on your burger? You got it. Hold the secret sauce? Just ask. It’s been…
-
The Cost of a Quality Website
Off-the-shelf content management systems and design templates have made building and managing a website easy and affordable for small-business owners with modest needs. Not counting your sweat equity, you can build and maintain a small website for less than $250. But, honestly, do you really want to bank your company’s online presence and messaging on…
-
The Cost of Quality: Sidestep sticker shock by creating a detailed budget for designing, building and launching your website
Off-the-shelf content management systems and design templates have made building and managing a website easy and affordable for small-business owners with modest needs. Not counting your sweat equity, you can build and maintain a small website for less than $250. But, honestly, do you really want to bank your company’s online presence and messaging on…
-
Coming Soon: Social Media Conferences
Social media is on the fast track to becoming the core outlet for corporate communications, marketing, public relations and customer service. If your business is not involved in social media via venues including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, the good news is that it’s not too late to start. Even better news is that conferences,…
-
Social Care: Managing Customer Service via a Facebook Page
If your company or brand has a Facebook page, whether you like it or not, you now have a new customer service platform. Customers will flock to your Facebook page not only to become faithful fans, but also to access support, ask questions and (unfortunately) post complaints. According to the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media…
-
The Benefits of Business Blogging
Is blogging about your business worth your time? Here, I outline the potential benefits of setting up a blog to post company news and events.
-
Top Web Design Mistakes Small and Large Businesses Make
Here, I outline common small and large business web design mistakes that can hinder positive customer interactions. I cover websites in Flash, HTML5, website customer service, company about us, and building customer trust. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=022tMCnizgQ
-
Top 5 Things Every Businesses Should Know About Social Media
Discover the right and wrong ways to leverage the power of social networking to promote your business. Points including social selling, social media marketing, choosing the right niche, how to engage customers, setting social media goals, and tips for small business owners on getting started in social media. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvbs-oQr5ms
-
Using Web Analytics Tools
Do you know what’s happening on your own web site? Here, I outline how analytics tools can help you make informed decisions about your online endeavors.
-
Why Every Online Retailer Should Have a Blog
To the average online shopper, you’re just another small retailer trying to earn a buck on the Internet. If you sell on eBay, all a buyer knows about you is right there in your product listing and perhaps your seller rating, and that isn’t much. If you operate an eCommerce-enabled website, maybe you have an…
-
How to Maximize Revenue from Online Landing Pages
Are you generating the response you expect from your landing page, home page or other key online real estate? Consider these five tips on landing page design, from yours truly.
-
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook
Facebook leaves many people and businesses scratching their heads over even the most fundamental features, such as the difference between their Wall and their News Feed. My latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Facebook, gets you registered and touring Facebook in the first chapter and reveals the features that have made Facebook the number one…
-
Understanding the Small Business Cloud
As Entrepreneurs, we’re increasingly hearing that cloud computing can benefit our businesses; but what is the “cloud” and how exactly does it work? The fact is that you’ve probably been using cloud computing for years, perhaps without realizing it. If you have a Hotmail email account, use Facebook, or do your banking online, you’re utilizing…
-
The Best Blog Spot
When planning a business blog, the first question is often the most difficult: What is the best domain hosting strategy? You have three options, each with benefits and drawbacks: Standalone domain (e.g., businessname-blog.com): A standalone domain, also known as a top level domain, is separate from your business’s website domain. That can often be a…
-
The Best Blog Spot: Creating a business blog may be a simple part of your online strategy, but how and where to host it?
When planning a business blog, the first question is often the most difficult: What is the best domain hosting strategy? You have three options, each with benefits and drawbacks: Standalone domain (e.g., businessname-blog.com): A standalone domain, also known as a top level domain, is separate from your business’s website domain. That can often be a…
-
Many Entrepreneurs Would Swap Ownership for a Job
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s been a bad week for business, no doubt about that. New jobless claims are on the rise–again. The stock market has dropped below 10,000–again. The national debt has climbed to its highest level since World War II, and pending home sales plunged a record…
-
Unsolicited Testimonial: “Mikal Belicove speaking on social media strategy and tactics”
The following video, shot by Scott Schang, reviews a June 30, 2010, presentation I delivered for Apple in Irvine, Calif. (Note: The “slow” item mentioned in the review relates to the person who introduced my session.) Watch the video over at Scott Schang’s Blog
-
What’s Missing From ‘Social Media Day’
Just 22 days ago, on the 8th of June, the minds over at Mashable.com decided we needed Social Media Day, a special day on the Gregorian calendar celebrating social dialogue and the tools and platforms enabling the “revolution” (Mashable’s word, not mine). And they decided that day would be today. While I’m all for raising…
-
Four For Friday: Google Caffeine and What it Means for Your Business
This week’s Four For Friday is a little different. Rather than asking you, our readers, to weigh in on four issues currently impacting businesses, today I’m asking someone else to answer four questions of my own (questions that similarly reflect the current climate in business). If this goes well–meaning if you like the format and…
-
Google Caffeine and What it Means for Your Business
This week’s Four For Friday is a little different. Rather than asking you, our readers, to weigh in on four issues currently impacting businesses, today I’m asking someone else to answer four questions of my own (questions that similarly reflect the current climate in business). If this goes well–meaning if you like the format and…
-
Here’s Looking at You
Search for just about any topic using any search engine and you are likely to see a hodgepodge of links for information, news, video, images and even blog posts. That’s because search engines strive to provide blended search results. To ensure that images are included in the results, search engines give them preferential treatment. Because…
-
Here’s Looking at You: Make your site a better search engine target by optimizing your company’s images
Search for just about any topic using any search engine and you are likely to see a hodgepodge of links for information, news, video, images and even blog posts. That’s because search engines strive to provide blended search results. To ensure that images are included in the results, search engines give them preferential treatment. Because…
-
Entrepreneurship Is on the Rise
According to the latest figures from the Kauffman Foundation, for each month in 2009, 340 out of 100,000 U.S. adults started a new business. That statistic, the highest in the last 14 years, represents a 4 percent increase over 2008, or 27,000 more starts per month than in 2008, and 60,000 more starts per month…
-
Brainstorming Might Hinder Great Ideas
You walk past a group of employees gathered in one of your company’s meeting rooms, laptops and notepads are strewn along a table the size of a small state. There are charts and graphs and PowerPoint presentations and three-quarters of the people in the room have a hand in the air. There’s a lot of…
-
Boost Advertising with Earned Social Media
Your brand gains exposure in two ways–through advertising and earned media. Advertising is everything you pay for to promote your brand, including advertisements on TV and radio, in newspapers and through social media venues (such as Facebook). Earned media is what results from other business efforts and achievements, such as delivering innovative products, high-quality customer…
-
How to Take Control of Your Online Reputation
Small businesses often believe they are at the mercy of reviewers in online review and recommendation sites. And the more businesses think they’re being misrepresented online, the more vocal their dissatisfaction becomes. Recently, several small businesses filed a class action lawsuit claiming that review site Yelp.com was removing negative reviews and reinstating positive reviews for…
-
Citibank Survey Shows Recession Lingers for Most Small Businesses
Citibank released its first quarter small business survey on Tuesday, offering the view that despite indications that the economy is getting better, most small businesses say they’re still dealing with the aftermath of the recession. In addition, these skeptical entrepreneurs are saying that while their businesses might be doing a little better than they expected,…
-
Coolness Has its Price: Seven reasons to avoid using Flash on your website
There’s no doubt about it: Websites designed in Flash are cool. They’re animated, interactive, multimedia eye candy. You see it, and you want it. Unfortunately, coolness has a price, and if a web designer sells you on Flash, you will be paying that price from Day One and for every second your site is live.…
-
Coolness Has its Price
There’s no doubt about it: Websites designed in Flash are cool. They’re animated, interactive, multimedia eye candy. You see it, and you want it. Unfortunately, coolness has a price, and if a web designer sells you on Flash, you will be paying that price from Day One and for every second your site is live.…
-
Pitfalls of Using Social Media as an HR Tool
On the surface, one would think job applicants wouldn’t want their prospective new bosses to know how drunk they got at a party the night before the job interview. But just how could a potential employer discover such things? Easily. It’s written all over the applicant’s Facebook wall for everybody to see and comment on.…
-
Four For Friday for Entrepreneurs – The Giving Back Edition
Q1 – Charitable Giving: In Utah, charities and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply for a $100,000 grant from Humana aimed at building healthy communities within the state. In Rhode Island, retail pharmacy chain CVS is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support flood relief efforts across the state. Does your business offer…
-
For For Friday for Entrepreneurs – The Inspiration Edition
Q1 – Motivation: What were your original motives for going into business for yourself? Q2 – Mentors: Who, if anyone, do you idolize, look up to as a mentor or consider an example of all that’s good about entrepreneurship? Q3 – Politics: The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship (April 26-27, 2010) will bring entrepreneurs and leaders…
-
What Your Business Can Learn from Apple’s Lost iPhone
Did you hear the one about the guy who walks into a bar and ends up losing the next generation of Apple’s iPhone? According to Gizmodo.com, the guy is Gray Powell, an Apple software engineer who was field-testing the device. Long story short, Powell left the phone–which isn’t scheduled to be released until at least…
-
Small-Business Owners Cite the Benefits of Social Media Marketing
If you’re dipping your big toe into the waters of social media marketing–all the while wondering if these somewhat obscure channels will really help promote your business or brand–I’ve got some good news for you. A well-researched report entitled the “2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report,” was published this month, and it should be required…
-
Google Revamps its Local Business Center
Google, which currently owns 65 percent of the search market, has just renamed its Local Business Center ‘Google Places‘ and added a host of new features, demonstrating the behemoth’s ongoing commitment to letting business owners manage their online presence using the world’s No. 1 search engine. As I’ve written before, you can add your business…
-
Four For Friday for Entrepreneurs – The Office Space Edition
Q1 – Location: Do you work from your home or a traditional office? If you work from home, how do you keep your home and business lives separated since both are under the same roof? Q2 – Personalization: If you work in a traditional office, are you in an enclosed office or a cubicle? In…
-
Get the Most From Your VoIP Provider
As small businesses continue to play a significant role in the changing economy, technologies addressing their unique requirements follow suit. One of the most compelling concepts at play in enterprise technology with profound implications for small businesses is hosted Voice over Internet Protocol, which enables smaller businesses to conduct national and even global communications with…
-
Get the Most From Your VoIP Provider
As small businesses continue to play a significant role in the changing economy, technologies addressing their unique requirements follow suit. One of the most compelling concepts at play in enterprise technology with profound implications for small businesses is hosted Voice over Internet Protocol, which enables smaller businesses to conduct national and even global communications with…
-
Stop Squandering Your Social Media Opportunities
In my view of the social media landscape, a majority of businesses that engage in social media marketing look this gift horse in the mouth and fail to fully exploit its inherent opportunities. They use social media venues like Facebook and Twitter merely as broadcast channels–billboards on the information superhighway. As a result, they attract…
-
Understanding Net Neutrality and Anti-Government Regulation
If you’re plugged in and tuned in to topics related to government regulation of the internet, you have probably heard the term net neutrality. If you find the term confusing, join the club. Most people have never heard of it, and even fewer people understand it. With net neutrality all internet traffic is treated equally.…
-
Will Facebook Start Charging Members?
Rumor has it that later this year, Facebook will start charging its members to use the service. Although this may sound like an April Fool’s joke, the rumor’s more malicious than that. Using this ruse, pranksters and malicious hackers have stirred up angry tirades against the social media giant and convinced thousands of Facebook members…
-
Four For Friday for Entrepreneurs – Do You Have a Use for the iPad?
Q1: iPad: April 3rd marks the debut of the iPad, Apple’s new tablet computer. What uses does your business have for the iPad or devices like it, and will you be buying one or more within the next couple of months? Q2: craigslist: As you may have read in Entrepreneur’s recent article, it’s been 15…
-
Funley’s Delicious: Take a Critical Look at Social Media Strategies
This week, the spotlight shines on Funley’s Delicious, an all-natural snack food business based in Westwood, Calif., and its owners, Ashley and Shawn Mendel, whom I met at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. What I find most compelling about Funley’s is that its business model is perfectly tailored for social media marketing.…
-
How Starbucks Builds Meaningful Customer Engagement via Social Media
Comedian Lewis Black jokes about walking out of a Starbucks and seeing another Starbucks right across the street. Yes, Starbucks has developed an incredible brand presence wherever it has chosen to set up shop–across the country, around the world, on the web, and in just about every social media venue on the internet, including Facebook,…
-
How Fast is Your Company? Don’t keep customers waiting… Turbocharge the performance of your website
On the web, people have zero patience. Your link pops up in a Google search, someone clicks it, and the stopwatch immediately starts ticking. If your company’s website doesn’t pop up in two to three ticks, I can almost guarantee that before the fourth tick visitors will click the back button and try the next…
-
Put Your Business on the Map with Google Maps
If you’ve ever googled a geographical area looking for a specific product or service, you know that local business listings pop up near the top of the search results. Google “dentist” followed by the name of your city and state or your ZIP code, and Google presents you with a list of dentists in the…
-
Battling Bad Press in the Social Media Arena
I usually write about the positive side of social media marketing–using it to ignite a word-of-mouth wildfire that increases sales and profits. But social media also has a dark side–negative press generated by disgruntled customers or by devious competitors. This can spark a wildfire, too, and this one often makes business owners, managers and CEOs…
-
Facebook Etiquette for Businesses and Brands
When your business establishes a presence on Facebook, you make a commitment to be a good neighbor, a trusted Facebook friend. The emphasis is on being a friend, not a store, a business, or even a customer service help desk (although these days, your customers are just as likely to ask you a product support-related…
-
Your Weekly Facebook Page Update… What’s That About?
Has your business received a “Your Weekly Facebook Page Update” message via e-mail? If so you’re not alone. Every business with a Facebook Fan Page has started receiving those. Are they spam? Absolutely not, furthermore: The Weekly Facebook Page Update is legitimate. These update notices contain valuable information. You should be putting this information to…
-
When Social Networking Does a Business More Harm Than Good
Businesses are tripping over themselves in a rush to expand their social networks, but having a high volume of connections does not always boost sales. In fact, in his article “Social Learning in Social Networks,” Visiting Assistant Professor PJ Lamberson at MIT Sloan School of Management claims that in certain situations more connections may make…
-
Lessons From the Sandpit: How Tweetminer Got its Twitter Back On
For the past five months, Justin Vincent’s Twitter application went largely unnoticed by the social networking and microblogging site, until last week that is, when Tweetminer was randomly suspended by Twitter. Founded in October of 2009, by last week, with little to no advertising or marketing, Tweetminer had grown to include 3,000 users. Justin, a…
-
How to Play a Segment of an Embedded YouTube Video
On the web, you have about two seconds to engage any given visitor, so getting right to the point is crucial. One way to accomplish this is to skip the excess footage at the beginning of an embedded YouTube video to start with the most relevant “scene.” Here’s how it’s done: Pull up the video…
-
Protect Yourself: Social Media and Legal Liability
Business blogging and other forms of business-related social media seem to be innocent enough, but the content you post could get you into serious legal trouble. Chicago attorney and media law expert Damon Dunn, of Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn Ltd., cautions any company that publishes content on the internet to vet that content, particularly…
-
A Community of One’s Own: Why Social CRM may make more sense than Facebook
While the herd mentality drives many entrepreneurs to stake their claims in the Facebook community, it is important to consider whether it makes sense to build your own customer community–independent of Facebook and integrated with your company’s website and customer relationship management system. Yes, Facebook represents a huge potential market and offers several free community-building…
-
SMB Adoption of Social Media Has Doubled
When Dr. Alan Glazier, CEO and founder of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care decided in January of 2009 it was time to grow his business, one of the first things he did was launch a social media marketing campaign. One year later, Glazer’s Rockville, Md., optometry office is a blogging and tweeting pro, and the…
-
Upcoming Social Media Conferences
With the economy starting to show signs of improvement, businesses are shifting their focus from how do we survive to how do we grow. When the recession hit, we saw a gradual shift by marketers away from traditional marketing practices and toward online, on-demand venues that eventually fueled a significant deterioration of the traditional marketing…
-
Google Buzz for Business
Google Buzz — a social networking tool that allows Gmail users to share updates, photos, videos, links and more instantaneously online and on Android phones and the iPhone–made its debut today. By the end of the weekend, Google says all 175 million or so of its Gmail account holders will have access to the new service.…
-
Understanding HTML5 and Why it Matters
In the year 2000, HTML4 was christened the official language for web page development. A decade later, an eternity on the web, we are just beginning to hear about the next generation of HTML – HTML5. Someday soon, HTML5 will dominate the web and completely change the way you develop your website and web-based applications.…
-
Video SEO for Your Website: Optimize your site’s search engine ranking with video
Because video has become the new darling of search engines, many startups are rushing to create and post video on their websites. Just run a Google or Bing search on any topic, and links to video clips pop up right on page one. The reason for this is that search engines are tripping over themselves…
-
Optimizing Video for Search Engine Rank
Piggybacking off my February 2010 Entrepreneur magazine column (“Video SEO for Your Website“), a reader in New York City wants to know exactly how to optimize the video on his company’s website. From Bob Bello, Founder and President of CiscoKits.com: “I would like to improve and make sure the videos I am putting on my…
-
5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Abandon Your Blog for Facebook
In the rush to create a Facebook Fan Page to promote their business or brand, many companies are neglecting their existing blogs. As a result, thousands of business blogs have been left to rot, leading potential customers and business partners alike to draw their own conclusions as to why a company’s blog hasn’t been updated…
-
5 Tips to Attract More Blog Comments
As companies turn to Facebook to boost their business, they notice more people posting Facebook Status Updates, Notes, Pictures, and Video than are posting comments on their company blog. As a result, business owners and marketing managers tend to do one of two things: Discontinue blogging altogether, because all the action is on Facebook. Wonder…
-
Avoid being held hostage by your Web designer
Recently, I received an e-mail message from a reader of my Entrepreneur magazine column inquiring whether I could help her company gain access to source code that a third-party programmer had created on their behalf and is being used to run certain areas of her company’s website. Her company had hired a Web design and…
-
Go Right to the Source (Code)
When I consult with a business about its website, I start by asking if it has ever viewed its site’s source code. For the uninitiated, source code–which can be generated by many different computer programming/scripting languages and is accessible under the “View” menu of most web browsers–is what makes your website operational. Comprised mostly of…
-
Go Right to the Source (Code): Ensure a bug-free website by following the best practices of programming and design set by W3C
When I consult with a business about its website, I start by asking if it has ever viewed its site’s source code. For the uninitiated, source code–which can be generated by many different computer programming/scripting languages and is accessible under the “View” menu of most web browsers–is what makes your website operational. Comprised mostly of…
-
10 Ways a Facebook Fan Page Helps Your Business
Facebook is a social network, not a shopping network, so why should any business spend resources establishing and maintaining a Fan Page on Facebook? (A Fan Page, by the way, is a profile for a business or organization rather than for an individual.) Because even if members have no intention of buying anything on Facebook,…
-
Boosting Business With a Facebook Fan Page
Some of your business’s most valuable assets are its fans–the brand evangelists who sing the praises of your products and services–with or without you knowing about it. On Facebook, you have access to a choir of more than 350 million potential fans. Enlist a tiny percentage of the most vocal members to be your loyal…
-
Really Simple Success: Content syndication via RSS is an easy and inexpensive way to drive more traffic to your site
In search engine optimization, great content increases the likelihood of your website receiving and maintaining a high search engine rank, which ultimately drives qualified traffic and leads to your company’s website. But great content requires great distribution to really shine. Placing your content in front of the right customers at the right time is critical,…
-
5 Tips for Selling on Amazon.com
Although eBay is still the market of choice for many drop ship mom and pop retailers, more and more eBay sellers are expanding their operations into other marketplaces. One of the more popular of these alternatives is Amazon.com. Unfortunately, many drop ship sellers who attempt to make the transition from eBay to Amazon fail to…
-
For More Sales, Create a Landing Page: A well-conceived landing page sends the right signals about your company and can help boost conversion rates
More often than not, businesses that pay to advertise or promote their products or services send everyone to the same place: the home page of their company website. Unfortunately, when you send everyone to a home page packed with multiple messages and calls to action, and navigation that distracts from the purpose of your promotion,…
-
Conflicting Reports on Social Networking for Business
Time to muddy the waters a bit. Three new reports surfaced this week, each offering a different point of view on how business owners and executives value social networking for business. If you’re considering adding social media to your marketing mix, you may find this interesting. If you’re already sold–or feel like you were sold…
-
Tough New FTC Regs for Bloggers
For the last year or so, I’ve been warning my clients that the Federal Trade Commission is becoming more involved in regulating online commerce, specifically in terms of disclosures relating to online content. In particular, I’ve been telling companies that the FTC is likely to implement new guidelines that will bring blogs, Internet forums, message…
-
Four For Friday for Entrepreneurs – Do You Still Use a Traditional Business Card?
Q1 – Business cards: While exchanging business cards remains fairly common, more professionals it seems are also opting for Web-based card exchange services and digital business cards. Companies like BusinessCard2, DubMeNow, CloudContacts, TwtBizCard, Bump, BeamMe, SnapDat, Retaggr, and Poken all offer digital business card options. Do you still use the traditional business card or have…
-
Analyzing the Analytics How to make sense of your website’s performance data
In the world of website promotion, only three things matter: proper positioning, traffic volume and conversions. The number of people visiting your website–and how many of those people are ultimately doing what you want them to do, such as placing an order or contacting you for more information–is absolutely critical. To maximize your return on…
-
Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Download for Free?
There’s no image–not an aerial shot of the Taj Mahal at dawn or of me as a baby–that isn’t available for someone to download online. And chances are, most entrepreneurs and bloggers are doing it without paying for it. Online photo theft is arguably one of the most rampant, underreported crimes on the internet. Perhaps…
-
Analyzing the Analytics
n the world of website promotion, only three things matter: proper positioning, traffic volume and conversions. The number of people visiting your website–and how many of those people are ultimately doing what you want them to do, such as placing an order or contacting you for more information–is absolutely critical. To maximize your return on…
-
Is Your E-mail Marketing Shareworthy?
We’ve all received e-mail promotions with a “forward this message to a friend” call-to-action, but hardly any of us ever does. According to Richard Evans, Senior Product Marketing Manager at e-mail marketing automation firm Silverpop, “social e-mail” has the potential to be the new viral, but only if you tap into the right resources. Richard…
-
Heating Up the Gridiron: 2009 Utah and Idaho College Football Preview
While area college football fans shake off the chill from last year’s Bowl Championship Series snubbing of undefeated University of Utah, college football teams across Idaho and Utah are heating up the gridiron in preparation for the coming season. Whether you are rooting for a routing or just praying your team does not end up…
-
The Twittering Class: How social media can elevate your company’s online cred
Social networking sites and services such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have followed the same path to the business world that blogs did only a couple years ago: They’re all online hangouts that evolved into sophisticated branding, lead generation and sales tools for business. And with the right approach, they are an ideal way to…
-
A Matter of Online Trust: Give customers a reason to trust you over the other guy
Brick-and-mortar sells. Your customers can see it, touch it and drive to it. Upon entering, they can look around and then look you and your colleagues in the eye and gauge your trustworthiness. On the web, however, most companies–especially startups with no track record–are suspect until they prove themselves dependable. Rather than take a chance…
-
Social Media Engagement and Your Bottom Line
The power of customer engagement is nothing new. What is new is that technologies and methodologies — including the Internet, HTML 5, social networking, and user-generated and distributed content — have expanded the reach of customer engagement and its cousin, word-of-mouth advertising, and the speed at which it spreads. With social media engagement, word of…
-
You Are What They Click: Picking the right website designer is the first step to defining your business online
Choosing the right web-design firm or partner for your startup requires you to carefully balance several factors, including price, talent, technical expertise, availability and even personality. Making the right choice is key to establishing a clear vision for your website, fully implementing that vision, and keeping your startup on track and within budget. It all…
-
Facebook’s New Username Feature Raises Trademark Issues
If you’ve logged into your Facebook account within the last 48 hours or so, chances are you’ve already seen and read the following message: Starting on Friday, June 12th [sic:2009], at 9:01pm in your time zone, you’ll be able to choose a username for your Facebook account to easily direct friends, family, and coworkers to…
-
The Purpose-Driven Website: Assuming your website is successful, what will it have accomplished?
I recently met an entrepreneur who told me her startup needed a website. When I asked why, she said, “Because every company has a website, so why should mine be any different?” When I pressed further and asked what end the website would serve, she paused, looking a little puzzled, and said, “Well, I don’t…
-
Start a Blog For Your Business: Make sure you examine your business goals before jumping on the blogging bandwagon
Business blogs attract search engines, display your startup’s personality and encourage customer participation–a form of marketing that startups crave and money alone can’t buy. But before you jump on the business blogging bandwagon, get familiar with the basics and choose a blogging solution that’s right for you and your startup’s goals. Every blog needs a…
-
65 Indispensable Websites for Business Owners
At last count there were approximately 10 gazillion websites out there. Where’s a business owner to start when looking for valuable information? If you’re reading this, it means you’re on Entrepreneur.com, which is a good start. Read on for 64 more vital online spots you should know about. Accounting Terminology Guide http://nysscpa.org/prof_library/guide.htm If you need…
-
The 2009 Internet Directory: Web 2.0 Edition
The Internet has changed dramatically in the past few years. It used to be that when someone said they found something online, they meant a static website, and most Internet directories were essentially just website directories. Nowadays, more sources of information exist online, many of which are optimized for community-based participation and interaction. The trouble…
-
Profile: Gamma West Cancer Services
Cancer … it’s one of the few words that can stop anyone’s busy life. Luckily, medical professionals at Gamma West Cancer Services are focused on beating cancer with direct and swift treatments. Gamma West, which serves Idaho, Utah and the Intermountain West, is the first clinic in the region — and one of the first…
-
Tips and Tools for Small Businesses: SBA and Zions Bank Working Together
[mb] Insert first paragraph here… [/mb] Download the PDF…
-
Romantic Getaways in Idaho and Utah
Care to be swept off your feet Medieval style? Adjourn to the Sherwood Forest with the passion of Robin Hood and Maid Marianne. Or retire in an Egyptian oasis where the pharaoh and his queen rule the desert. Enamored by the mystique of the Deep Blue? Enter the enchanting realm of the Atlantis or a…
-
Are Awards Worth the Effort? Company and CEO Awards: Contributing to the Bottom Line or Just Feeding Egos?
Do awards have any measurable impact on business? Nearly every business magazine has a “Top What-have-you” company or CEO list. Often, the application or nomination process for these awards includes entry fees, certified financials, detailed written statements, supporting nominations, and more. When balanced against the human resources, fees, and the sheer time it takes to…