Popset: Upload Albums Directly to Facebook Pages, Collaborate With Fans

There's no shortage of photo apps that give users the ability to work with social media sites, but not many are designed specifically with brands in mind.

Popset

Now, photo editing app Popset has updated its features to include the ability to post albums directly to Facebook fan pages, along with other social outlets.

CEO Jan Senderek says:

“Photos are an instantaneous and powerful way for brands to tell their story, which is why they're looking for ways to take full advantage of Facebook's emphasis on photos. Popset makes the process of telling that story through photo albums easier, by allowing brands to create and edit new albums, and then upload them to Facebook with one click.”

In addition to the ability to post photos and albums directly to brand pages, Popset also gives users the ability to synch brand and fan photos, which can encourage collaboration and interaction with customers. To do this, brands can invite fans to upload their own photos to the company's Popset album.  Senderek says:

“Collaborative photo albums mean that now your brand's fans can become advocates who help tell your brand's story through their photos.”

Senderek said that there are many ways brands can use this collaborative feature to interact with fans, and tell their stories from multiple points of view:

“A few high-profile figures have already found awesome ways to use Popset to connect with fans.  During his recent world tour to support Men In Black 3, Will Smith used Popset to create a group album for the New York premier so that he and his fans could put all of their photos together.”

Popset is a free app available in the App Store. In addition to sharing photos, users can also edit photos with filters, add captions and more.

Captions can even be preserved when the album is uploaded to Facebook and photos and albums are backed up and stored on multiple devices.




Protect Investors with Executive Liability

When most people think about executive liability they think board members.

“My organization doesn't need director's and officer's insurance because we don't have a board.”

Wrong!

business protection

D and O (directors and officers Insurance) also protects company executives.  Whether you are a for-profit or not-for-profit organization, an executive liability package should be considered just as important as general liability.

What Does Executive Liability Cover?

Executive liability is a name commonly used in reference to a package of coverages including (but not limited to) director's and officer's (D and O), employment practices, and fiduciary liability.

Monica M. Minkel wrote a fantastic piece on Executive Liability for American Agent & Broker Magazine.  Ms. Minkel does a wonderful job outlining the risks that are included in each piece of the executive liability basket and how those risks pertain to specific coverage.  I encourage you to take a minute and read her article.

The essence of the piece is that executive liability covers a heck of a lot more than just not-for-profit organizations and their directors and officers.  Small, private business should be considering this coverage like they do general liability and professional liability.

Why Is Executive Liability Important?

The quality of your board members and executive leadership is just as (and in many cases more) important than the quality of your staff, in the case of not-for-profit organizations, volunteers.

Did you know that board members and executives can be held personally liable for the decisions they make when directing an organization?  I'm fairly certain that the cream of crop board members and executives you want to recruit for your organization are aware of this risk.

In order to recruit and retain the best and brightest you need to be able to protect leadership in the event of lawsuit.

Disclaimer: I am not saying that purchasing executive liability is a lawsuit chastity belt. However, decisions are often made with the best of intentions and the worst of unexpected consequences.  Doing your best to protect against these consequences is prudent.

Investors Want to Be Protected

Companies in the start-up and early growth phases are always looking for new funding to help expand operations.  Venture capitalism and angel investment seem to be the new philanthropy these days.

Be aware that sound investors who intend to take equity in your business in exchange for funding are going to want to be protected against the decisions you make.

The basket of coverages included in executive liability provides the coverage they demand.

The Rub

The rub is this: there are too many organizations exposed to this type of risk.  Don't fall prey to the, “We're too small to worry about that,” excuse.  No business is too small to be sued because it's mismanaging invested dollars.

Call an experienced insurance professional today and find out where you are exposed to executive liability risk and what options you have to guard against a claim.

Protection Photo via Shutterstock




App of the Week: KeyRocket Helps Users Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

Did you know that by using keyboard shortcuts instead of mouse clicks you can save two seconds per action? Those two seconds add up to a full six days per year for the average full-time worker. This interesting calculation by Brainscape comes from the amount of time it takes a user to reach for his or her mouse instead of keeping those fingers on the keyboard.

But memorizing all those keyboard shortcuts can be even more time-consuming than just reaching for the mouse. Sure, you could wallpaper your office with keyboard shortcuts, but that would likely take even more valuable time from your work as you scanned the lists for the shortcut you need.

KeyRocket gives users a chance to learn those shortcuts without leaving the keyboard or computer screen. With each mouse click, KeyRocket provides a pop-up message that informs users of the shortcut for that particular action. The app currently supports shortcuts for Microsoft Office versions 2003 through 2013 and Windows versions XP through 2008.

Additionally, KeyRocket has released a version of its app that works with Gmail. It is provided as a Chrome extension and is available through the Web Store. The Gmail version gives you shortcuts you can use while composing, reading, and managing messages in  your Gmail inbox.

Many of us have long used shortcuts in Microsoft Office products, but as KeyRocket founder Jan Mechtel points out, KeyRocket helps with shortcuts in applications like Windows Explorer, as well. “It's amazing that even as a shortcut expert, KeyRocket taught me something new,” Mechtel said. “In my case Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new folder was a real productivity boost.”

For a commercial license to use KeyRocket, businesses will pay $5 per month per user. This gives access to shortcuts for Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, as well as Windows Explorer.

KeyRocket won't limit itself to Windows Explorer, Microsoft Office, and Gmail, however. The company asserts that it is continually working to update its software. KeyRocket invites customers to make suggestions about future features. Customers won't have to wait for the software to suggest shortcuts, thanks to a searchable database of shortcuts that can be searched at any time.

Over time, you'll naturally begin to memorize the keyboard shortcuts you use most often, making you even more productive. Still, KeyRocket will be a handy piece of software to keep around, since it will continue to offer suggestions for new actions you perform as part of your job.

Overall, KeyRocket estimates by using its software, your small business's productivity will increase by one percent, which translates to two extra days per year. For those who use Microsoft Excel excessively, KeyRocket estimates a three percent productivity increase, translating to five days per year.



George Page of Sea Breeze Farm: Embracing the iPad

Technology has certainly changed the way we do business and it's impacted one particular family run business in a very special way. George Page, Founder of Sea Breeze Farm, an organic restaurant on Vashon Island off the coast of Seattle, joins Brent Leary to discuss how he developed business apps that run on the iPad to help his employees become more productive and efficient.

* * * * *

George Page Founder of Sea Breeze FarmSmall Business Trends: Can you talk a little bit about Sea Breeze Farm, what do you guys do?

George Page: Well, we started out just a small hobby family farm that grew rapidly into a suite of small integrated micro businesses as I like to call them.

In addition to the farm, which consists of primarily livestock, we have a small dairy, we milk a dozen cows, we raise pigs and chickens for meat, and chickens for eggs and we raise ducks. On top of that, we have added a small scale winery and a cheese making operation.

In addition, we have a small scale butcher shop where we make bacon, ham, pates and cured meats.  We also have a small farm-to-table organic restaurant attached to that.

We operate at the local Seattle area farmers market, selling our product on a weekly basis year round.

Small Business Trends: How are you able to manage all of that?

George Page: My method for tracking business information and processing all of the different regulatory paperwork and issues has really evolved organically.  Just like the business.  So it has been a process of discovery.

From my perspective, running into a problem, I have to track this information.  How do I do it?  Well, let me get a piece of paper and make a list.  Okay, that is kind of clunky. How about Excel?  I remember that tool can do some cool stuff.  So we started usng Excel and spreadsheets and that started to get clunky.  It just seemed like there was something missing.  Something that could really make integrated information more dynamic and more relational.

It was at that point that I discovered FileMaker.  It is a simple to use a point and click, drag and drop interface and design your own database tool. That was revolutionary.  That has taken me in a whole new direction.

Small Business Trends: So you went from using the spreadsheets to creating a new database? How has that impacted the way you do business?

George Page: It has provided a scenario where we can interrelate a lot of business information.  The whole point of the database really is to eliminate data redundancy, and data entry redundancy.

If you put something into your system you don't want to have to do it again, whether it is an employees' name or contact information, or maybe information on the wine that you made this year like the varietal one, the vineyard, all of that sort of the stuff.

In addition, it provides a repository to keep all of your information in one interrelated location so you can find stuff. I would say that is probably the biggest part of it.  Just having all of your information accessible at your fingertips.

I guess I would say the other piece is that it is able to import that to a really dynamic, slick, user interface environment like the iPad.  That really is sexy and appealing to employees and customers alike.

Small Business Trends: Talk a little bit about the iPad.  How are you using it from a retailing perspective?

George Page: It has been driven by the restaurant environment where it started out by just creating a simple invoicing system for the iPad.  There are a lot of simple startup solutions FileMaker provides for you when you get up and running within a few hours and have your invoicing system in place.

My natural inclination was wanting to take that to another level and apply it to our restaurant, which is an environment where a typical invoicing system is a little clunky and awkward.  Because you are running tickets for a line. You need a touch screen so you can find stuff really quick and you have dynamic menu items that are changing on a daily basis for a farm-to-table seasonal restaurant.

I took it to the next level and took an invoicing backend solution from FileMaker and tweaked it into a touch screen interface that you can use on an iPad.  My employees can take orders on the iPad with a touch screen system.

In addition, my chef can update dynamically all of the menu items and it is reflected instantly in the point of sale system.  So price changes and item descriptions are instantly available to my service staff.

Small Business Trends: As the employees do their jobs, it updates the information and you can see it on your device?

George Page: Absolutely.  A really cool feature of that is that I can be sitting here in my office on the farm, having FileMaker open, and watch sales tick away at the restaurant.

Small Business Trends: You believe handing over an iPad might be an incentive for employees?

George Page: Yes, I think the employees love it. They love the sleek sexiness of the interface.

My chef is classic. He doesn't want to spend time on the computer.  He wants to go and cook.  He gets frustrated in trying to format the menu in Adobe Illustrator, trying to cut and paste fonts and items. It just drives him crazy.

Whereas, with this nice slick user interface, you have really cool things like a historic record of all of the menus.  So he can easily do a quick find and say, “Where is my menu from August 15 of last year?”  Because he had a recipe on the menu that year that he wants to replicate this year with fresh tomatoes.

Again, I had to just take away a lot of the clumsiness that technology sometimes puts in the way.

Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about your business and how to get a meal?

George Page: Go to Sea Breeze Farm.   There is a tab to make reservations right online. We are a very charming little 15 minute ferry ride from Seattle, floating across the gorgeous Puget Sound.  It is a pretty special little place.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

Whether you're growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]

 


Redesigning Your Website? Lessons You Can Learn From MailChimp and Their Redesign

MailChimp, a provider of newsletter services, just revamped their website in a way that saves space and bandwidth while giving its users a more pleasant environment. If you own a website, you'd better take note on how they improved their interface to give you a few pointers on what to work on in the future.

As important as it is to provide your site with fresh content every once in a while, it's also important to update its layout. Giving your site a new look makes customers feel more confident in your business, if done correctly. When done too often, it might actually have an adverse effect because of a phenomenon known as visitor burnout. Making a change every few months or every month (in the case of smaller changes) can prevent this phenomenon.

Now, let's have a look at some of the changes MailChimp has made:

  • The “campaign builder” header has changed its layout to look slimmer, getting rid of any superfluous use of space. This helped them acquire more “screen real estate,” which is important for putting things above the fold where customers pay the most attention. They didn't remove any buttons that were present in the previous space. They simply moved them onto a thinner bar that already had other buttons, turning it into a simple toolbar that makes its point without flashing casino lights.
  • MailChimp changed its revenue chart for easier access for those who link Google Analytics to their email marketing accounts on the site. Easier access wastes less of the client's time and makes MailChimp more pleasant for newer prospects. This is something to consider especially when you run or resell SaaS services.

What lessons did we learn?

  • Thin out as much of the site's layout while keeping everything logical and user-friendly. That part in italics is extremely important. There is such a thing as cutting too much from the screen. Make sure your site is still easy to use.
  • If there's something on high demand, or something you would like your customers to notice more, make sure they can access it easily. Otherwise, you can't expect for them to just click through. Like electricity, customers choose the path of least resistance.

Customers will appreciate seeing a slim, minimalistic, and very user-friendly website. If you give them that, you will take home the gold. You might even win over customers even if the competition has more stock, stronger features, or a more solid reputation.



6 Reasons Dry Cleaners Should Ignore Social Media

Last night I was at the Digital Advertisers Roundtable organized by Vanguarde Consulting Gruop and hosted by New York Institute of Technology Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, School of Management. Nice event with great panelists and moderator.

Panelists included:  Danielle Robinson (Saatchi & Saatchi), Stacey Aronstein (LinkedIn), Kay Lucas (MediaSense) and Theresa Braun (Likeable Media).

One of the anecdotal discussion threads was about dry cleaners and social media.

While I do think that ALL small businesses should a) consider online marketing and all should b) create content â€" I do believe the focus on these two items varies greatly depending on the type of business.

I strongly feel that while it's cute for a local dry cleaner to Tweet and “engage” their audience â€" overall people just want to have their clothes quickly cleaned â€" this is not a relationship business â€" necessarialy.

However, I think INSTEAD of focusing on social media, the local dry cleaner should focus on knowing who their customers are and collecting email, txt and postal addresses on each of their customers. This enables them, with permission to reach out to customers in interesting ways.

Postcards, special SMS messages about cleaning specials, an email when their clothes are ready and so many other things.

I posted about this on Facebook some people agreed with me, some did not.

10 Reasons Why Dry Cleaners Should (initially) Ignore Social Media

  1. Focus on those customers who are walking in your door
  2. Work to have them come back again and again
  3. Create a referral system to have them recommend other customers (Infusionsoft can help with that and read John Jantsch's book “Referral Engine“
  4. While business is always about a relationship all transactions are not warm and fuzzy relationship focused
  5. Social media is quite broad and dynamic and real time â€" email is quick, fast and right to individuals
  6. Your customer does not necessarily want to “engage” about their pants they just want them back quickly


We Have A Mission Statement, Credo and Mantra!

sales business cartoon
I worked at a company for a while whose mission statement was apparently “We strive to find a decent mission statement.”

It was decided that we needed one for our upcoming QS-9000 audit thingy, and for a good 3 months we received a new mission almost weekly. All of the other paperwork and documentation went fairly smoothly, but this little detail really had them stymied.

If we'd been honest it would've read “Our mission is to get upper management that jet they've been wanting for a while now. And some new carpeting would be nice.” But instead we got a parade of seemingly impressive but empty statements that became a running joke with the employees.

When you think about it, why you do what you do is a serious and thought-provoking question. But if it turns out to be a real stumper, maybe you've got other questions to be asking.




App scanning capabilities added to McAfee Mobile Security

McAfee has added privacy features for its mobile security software to protect against suspicious apps.

According to the company, the App Alert technology checks against a URL reputation database, part of McAfee's Global Threat Intelligence Network, and reports the apps that are associated with and/or may be sending personal data to risky sites, such as adware and spyware networks.

Luis Blando, vice president of engineering at McAfee, said: “Android apps can ask for 124 types of permissions - these apps could be invading your privacy and exposing your personal life.

“With McAfee Mobile Security, consumers can now filter their App Alert notifications to just those apps that are using permissions of interest or concern to the user. Whether selecting new apps, shopping online, browsing social networks or employing mobile banking, McAfee Mobile Security protects the mobile user with security that is as simple as it is powerful.”



General spam levels drop, but malicious attachments rise

In July there was a 50 per cent increase in the number of emails containing malicious files.

According to Kaspersky Lab, despite a noted downturn in spam, these emails accounted for 4.4 per cent of all mail traffic in July, despite there being an average of 74.3 per cent of spam in the second quarter of 2012.

Maria Namestnikova, senior spam analyst at Kaspersky Lab, said: “On top of the 4.4 per cent of email traffic containing malicious attachments, there was also spam that contains malicious links and fraudulent messages.

“August looks like it could be the peak month for dangerous spam. In the final summer month last year the share of malicious attachments almost reached six per cent. Everything points to a repeat of that spike in malicious code this August.” 

Symantec's Intelligence Report for July 2012 detected spam at a level of 67.6 per cent, and pointed to the takedown of the Grum botnet as a possible reason for the downturn.

It said that the most common spam category in July was related to newsletters, with 57 per cent of spam in this format, a move from 0.08 per cent of spam in June. Symantec deemed this likely to be the result of a campaign by the Festi botnet that used the social engineering tactic of spoofing newsletters quite heavily in July.

The average spam message size in July was between 0Kb â€" 5Kb, accounting for 4,707 per cent of all spam seen.

Namestnikova said she expected a gradual decline in the proportion of spam, which could drop to the 65 per cent mark of total mail traffic within the next year.



Best Buy Founder Tries to Turn Company Around

It's no fun to confront problems that are preventing your company from being successful, but sometimes this is the challenge facing all entrepreneurs. If your company is having problems due to changes in your market or in the economy as a whole, it might be necessary to go back to the drawing board and re-imagine your business in a new way. Sometimes, simple changes will help, while other times more radical moves are necessary. Our roundup looks at challenges facing businesses large and small and how those problems can be turned around.

Best Buy Breakdown

Desperate times. The struggling electronics retailer Best Buy has resumed talks with founder Richard M. Schulze about his offer to buy the chain. Schultz says he plans to take the company private and make some major changes to help it weather the radically changing market. Bloomberg

Desperate measures. The company may have difficulty fending off Schulze's acquisition attempt. The retailer reported a 91 percent drop in second quarter profits, and sales in the United States and Europe are down. Others familiar with the situation express skepticism that Schultz can assemble the resources necessary to acquire the company in which he owns a 20 percent stake. DealBook

Creative Counterpoint

Making connections. One of the things entrepreneurs instinctively do when facing challenges, either when launching their companies or when hard times befall them, is to network. Sir Richard Branson tells of how he used networking as an integral part of his strategy before social media even existed. Entrepreneur

Mashing mythology. When trying to find workable solutions for your company, you will be confronted with silly myths about business that must be ignored. Never buy into any paradigm you believe to be untrue. Instead, focus on getting positive results, not on platitudes that center on the negative. Buzz Small Business Magazine

More Solutions

A little extra. Sometimes it's the little things that can turn a company around. Consider this simple suggestion to improve your customer's experience when they're placed on hold. As you can see, very small changes can make your customers believe in you again. Small Biz Diamonds

The things you leave out. Sometimes you can turn your entire marketing campaign around simply by evaluating where you might have gone wrong. Here are some things you might have overlooked in your latest marketing campaign and why it wasn't a good idea to leave them out. FixCourse

Around the world. Another way you can help turn an ailing business around is by expanding your reach, perhaps by adding markets overseas. Depending on your product, moving into exporting can allow you to go after markets you might not have considered attainable. SBA.Gov