Three Rugged Computers For Tough Business Environments

When it comes to computing requirements for business, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The same computer that works perfectly in an air conditioned office might not function at all in harsh operating conditions. Here rugged computers would be the apt choice. As the name suggests, rugged computers are designed to operate in extreme environmental conditions which may involve high levels of heat, moisture, vibration or dust. There are a number of businesses in which rugged computers are ideal, for example field sales / technicians, transport, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare and the military. Not just the external housing, but the internal components of these computers are designed to be sturdy and durable and before you start concocting visions of a large monstrosity, these machines also come in relatively sleeker versions like laptops and tablts.

A rugged computer might cost between $1300 and $5000. So, is it worthwhile to make this kind of an investment on specialized computers A rugged computer offers reliability and durability, which over time could substantially reduce the total cost of ownership. In addition, for businesses which involve a lot of outdoor work, features such as high battery life are essential for ensuring that employees do not lose productive work hours.

Here’s a look at some of the suppliers of rugged computers 

Glacier offers a comprehensive range of rugged computers like vehicle and fixed mount computers, tablets, handhelds, and laptops. Their latest offering called the T510K Rugged Tablet has garnered a lot of attention due to its amazing features. It has a 10 inch display and 23 button keyboard. It has great data collection capabilities with an RFID (or Radio Frequency Identification), barcode scanner and a camera. Dual batteries allow nine hours of operation even in extreme conditions. It is lightweight (2.42 lbs), and offers wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. It can survive a 40G shock and a 4 feet fall. As per Ron D’Ambrosio, CEO of Glacier Computer, “The T510K tablet is a perfect choice for field service technicians”.

Panasonic makes some of the most popular rugged computers. The Toughbook 31 series is probably their biggest offering, with a price tag of about $3300 - $3600. Consider this - a 13.1 inch screen, certification exceeding MIL-STD-810G (highest military standard for a computer), ability to survive a 6 foot drop, can work both in sunlight and dark, webcam and a battery life of 21 hours.

Getac offers some of the most dynamic rugged computers. The Getac X500 deserves a special mention here. It promises durability and ultra fast speed. It’s MIL-STD-810G military certification for shock protection and ruggedness and IP65 rating for dust and moisture protection says it all. The 15 inch display is sunlight readable and can accept input from touch of even a gloved hand. It is priced between $4999 and $6599.

Depending on your business you could evaluate the feasibility of buying a rugged computer for your team. But before doing so, make sure that device has the necessary features for countering the risks associated with your particular line of work.

 

Three Rugged Computers For Tough Business Environments

When it comes to computing requirements for business, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The same computer that works perfectly in an air conditioned office might not function at all in harsh operating conditions. Here rugged computers would be the apt choice. As the name suggests, rugged computers are designed to operate in extreme environmental conditions which may involve high levels of heat, moisture, vibration or dust. There are a number of businesses in which rugged computers are ideal, for example field sales / technicians, transport, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare and the military. Not just the external housing, but the internal components of these computers are designed to be sturdy and durable and before you start concocting visions of a large monstrosity, these machines also come in relatively sleeker versions like laptops and tablts.

A rugged computer might cost between $1300 and $5000. So, is it worthwhile to make this kind of an investment on specialized computers A rugged computer offers reliability and durability, which over time could substantially reduce the total cost of ownership. In addition, for businesses which involve a lot of outdoor work, features such as high battery life are essential for ensuring that employees do not lose productive work hours.

Here’s a look at some of the suppliers of rugged computers 

Glacier offers a comprehensive range of rugged computers like vehicle and fixed mount computers, tablets, handhelds, and laptops. Their latest offering called the T510K Rugged Tablet has garnered a lot of attention due to its amazing features. It has a 10 inch display and 23 button keyboard. It has great data collection capabilities with an RFID (or Radio Frequency Identification), barcode scanner and a camera. Dual batteries allow nine hours of operation even in extreme conditions. It is lightweight (2.42 lbs), and offers wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. It can survive a 40G shock and a 4 feet fall. As per Ron D’Ambrosio, CEO of Glacier Computer, “The T510K tablet is a perfect choice for field service technicians”.

Panasonic makes some of the most popular rugged computers. The Toughbook 31 series is probably their biggest offering, with a price tag of about $3300 - $3600. Consider this - a 13.1 inch screen, certification exceeding MIL-STD-810G (highest military standard for a computer), ability to survive a 6 foot drop, can work both in sunlight and dark, webcam and a battery life of 21 hours.

Getac offers some of the most dynamic rugged computers. The Getac X500 deserves a special mention here. It promises durability and ultra fast speed. It’s MIL-STD-810G military certification for shock protection and ruggedness and IP65 rating for dust and moisture protection says it all. The 15 inch display is sunlight readable and can accept input from touch of even a gloved hand. It is priced between $4999 and $6599.

Depending on your business you could evaluate the feasibility of buying a rugged computer for your team. But before doing so, make sure that device has the necessary features for countering the risks associated with your particular line of work.

 

New Clipix Feature Notifies You When Prices Drop On Products You’ve Clipped

It’s a little like Pinterest and a little like Evernote, as Telecrunch noted. It’s Clipix, a free bookmarking service that lets you clip links, emails, photos and videos, as well as upload any kind of file from your phone or computer. Clipix offers an iOS app and an Android app.

What sets Clipix apart is its patent-pending price drop alerts, which notify users when the price of a clipped retail item is reduced. This works for products and real estate websites.

This price drop alert feature could be quite useful for business users. Say you’ll need a new computer coming up in a few months. You can research a few suitable models on various websites and clip them with Clipix and let the service watch the prices for you. If the price drops on one of the computers, snap it up. Now imagine doing that with real estate or any other product.

Clipix also allows users to share their folders and even collaborate with others in real-time. The service also provides a bar code scanner that makes retaining information easier for users and companies.

“Over the past 9 months the Clipix team has developed a number of unique solutions for users who need a tool to help them be organized online and easily collaborate with others as needed,” said Oded Berkowitz, founder and CEO of Clipix.

Berkowitz told Telecrunch that Clipix is meant to be flexible, “so you can easily create a folder for all the research you are doing about a purchase, as well as a copy of the warranty after the purchase. His aim is to make Clipix a service that’s what he calls a ‘Pinterest for the real world’ and not just a visual bookmarking tool” for visual content.

Speaking of Pinterest, you might be interested in how you can use visual marketing to build your brand. Check out Stephanie Faris’s article on visual marketing from our archives.

Do you use bookmarking service for your business What’s your pick Let us know in the comments!

New Clipix Feature Notifies You When Prices Drop On Products You’ve Clipped

It’s a little like Pinterest and a little like Evernote, as Telecrunch noted. It’s Clipix, a free bookmarking service that lets you clip links, emails, photos and videos, as well as upload any kind of file from your phone or computer. Clipix offers an iOS app and an Android app.

What sets Clipix apart is its patent-pending price drop alerts, which notify users when the price of a clipped retail item is reduced. This works for products and real estate websites.

This price drop alert feature could be quite useful for business users. Say you’ll need a new computer coming up in a few months. You can research a few suitable models on various websites and clip them with Clipix and let the service watch the prices for you. If the price drops on one of the computers, snap it up. Now imagine doing that with real estate or any other product.

Clipix also allows users to share their folders and even collaborate with others in real-time. The service also provides a bar code scanner that makes retaining information easier for users and companies.

“Over the past 9 months the Clipix team has developed a number of unique solutions for users who need a tool to help them be organized online and easily collaborate with others as needed,” said Oded Berkowitz, founder and CEO of Clipix.

Berkowitz told Telecrunch that Clipix is meant to be flexible, “so you can easily create a folder for all the research you are doing about a purchase, as well as a copy of the warranty after the purchase. His aim is to make Clipix a service that’s what he calls a ‘Pinterest for the real world’ and not just a visual bookmarking tool” for visual content.

Speaking of Pinterest, you might be interested in how you can use visual marketing to build your brand. Check out Stephanie Faris’s article on visual marketing from our archives.

Do you use bookmarking service for your business What’s your pick Let us know in the comments!

9 Credit Card Sites To Help You Choose A Business Credit Card

Finding the best credit card for your business can be a daunting proposal. With so many cards on the market, each offering different benefits (and drawbacks), which is right for you

Several websites aim to make the selection process easier for small business owners, so that you can narrow down and find the best credit card for your particular needs.

The sites below cover business credit cards, and include consumer credit cards, too. The major banks are all listed along with some minor financial players. Most provide links that allow you to apply immediately after making your selection and for many, that is how they earn revenue. Some are advertising-based.

GetRichSlowly has financial advice on many areas of personal finance, but under the credit card tab, you can select “small business.” It allows you to sort based on the amount you expect to spend each month and whether or not you will carry a balance. But the details about rewards are prominent and you have to click “see more info” to view APR and annual fee information. This is a rich resource site and I have been a fan of it for quite some time.

Card Hub offers a direct comparison between different card rates, rewards and fees. It allows you to search for the best credit card for you based on what you find most important, as in points, cash back, and so forth. I like that you can compare foreign transaction fees and transfer fees.

Bankrate.com is a well known and reputable website. It gives you details about how each business card can work for your business. Introductory APRs, Regular APRs and annual fees, whether you can transfer balances and what kind of credit you will need are all laid out and easy to view. The site only gives the sorting option of “business,” so the search is not as detailed as on other sites.

CreditCards.com gives you a summary of card benefits and rewards, but detailed APRs, annual fees and the credit rating are required to apply for the card. Its search items are limited. You can search by the type of credit card you would like or by your credit quality.

Billshrink gives you the option of looking for charge cards or credit cards. Frankly, this confuses many people and I found The Street’s explanation helpful: Charge Card Vs. Credit Card: What’s The Difference The service allows you to search based on what you spend and what your credit rating is expected to be. The card summaries focus on the rewards you can earn, which may not be as important for some small business owners. They also maintain a Billshrink for Business page, but I found the main service useful, too.

CardRatings.com gives you details about cards, but it does not have easy to find APR, annual fee, and credit facts. This site allows you to sort business cards by the amount you plan to spend each month and by whether you carry a balance or not. There are “editor’s ratings,” but these seem to vary between four or five stars.

CreditCardGuide allows you to sort cards by credit rating and issuer, like other sites. However, this website includes fuel and fleet cards as well as regular credit cards. Cards are listed with details, but APRs and annual fees are easy to find at the bottom of each listing.

CreditCardConnection.org allows you to compare the credit cards offered by credit unions in your state. Although the site only allows you to search for credit cards by state and then gives you a rather disorganized list, it links you to each credit union website so you can explore the opportunities offered for not only credit cards, but for other business accounts.

CreditCards.org allows you to sort cards by credit rating and issuer. APR, annual fees, and credit rating are all easy to find. This site has an additional benefit of telling you what the average rate for your credit rating is each day.

Finding the best credit card for your business isn’t easy, but hopefully this post can get you started.

March 26 is Last Day to Vote in Small Business Book Awards #BizBookAwards

There’s still time to vote for your favorite business books. Visit the 2013 Small Business Book Awards page to select your favorite titles - and author resources â€" before time runs out. Voting runs through March 26, 2013.

The Small Business Book Awards, founded by my company, Small Business Trends LLC, are now in their 5th year. They  shine a spotlight on books and resources for entrepreneurs, small business owners, CEOs, managers and their staffs.

Competition is stiff again this year. There are 160 books and 49 other resources nominated in 11 categories.

The awards are open and web-based, meaning anyone can vote. That way you, the readers, truly have a chance to determine the outcome. The awards are also socially connected, so you can discuss your favorite book picks with your connections on Facebook and Twitter.

Be sure to recommend the books you love to a friend and use our awards site, not just to cast your vote, but as a resource to pick out the next book you would like to read.

Meet Our Sponsor, Namecheap

We’d again like to acknowledge the generous support of Namecheap, our Presenting Sponsor for the 2013 Small Business Book Awards. Namecheap is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and Web hosting company, managing 3 million domains with more than 800,000 clients.

It’s because of Namecheap’s support that we are able to run the Awards without charging nomination fees of any kind.  And it also helps us deliver our weekend book reviews (over 400 business books reviewed to date).

If you need a domain name and hosting services for your book or small business, we suggest taking a look at Namecheap. Thanks again, Namecheap!

Awards Details

Who: Anyone may vote for their favorite book or resource. Vote for as many nominees as you wish.

What: 2013 Small Business Book Awards.

When: Voting goes through March 26, 2013. You can vote once a day (every 24 hours).

How: It’s a one-click vote, no registering! It’s easy and takes less than 10 seconds to vote.

Where: To vote for your favorite book or non-book resource, search the list of Book Awards nominees!

Create An App For Your Small Business To Keep Your Mobile Customers Happy

Creating apps that help customers interact with them is one way that small business owners are keeping up with the ever increasing dependence that consumers have on their smartphones.

Businesses that add smartphone applications can provide customers with a myriad of services which might include account management, and the ability to make appointments without having to make a phone call. Customers might look for coupons or schedule a recurring service. They might use a map feature to find the business or get directions to it. Creating an app can help businesses turn casual customers into loyal customers.

According to the International Data Corporation, smartphones will officially overtake feature phones in sales in 2013, making smartphone use even more common among consumers. With smartphones come apps and many believe that staying up on technology means, for many businesses, the willingness to invest in the creation of an app.

App Express is one company that’s helping small businesses create apps that work for them.  Because many small business owners might be a bit overwhelmed by the idea of creating an app, App Express is focused on making it easy for business owners. This means there’s no coding necessary and no large upfront costs.

With more and more people using their smartphones to write emails, handle business tasks and manage personal needs, it stands to reason they might head to their smartphone to find the location of a sandwich shop or auto care store.  If they have an app for that auto care store, they can check hours, get a map to the store and, with just one touch, dial the store to ask a specific question.

And small business owners shouldn’t feel that they will be relegated to the bottom of the app heap. With a company like App Express at the helm, small businesses can enjoy elegant designs and feature-heavy apps that deliver all the specific features customers want.

Some of the possible features for these small business apps include appointment scheduling, sharing (allowing customers to “like” the business on Twitter or Facebook), offering deals and coupons, payments (letting customers pay on the go and letting small business owners receive payments instantly), and information, such as location and hours.

Recently, Local Book Publishing partnered with App Express. The deal allows Local Book Publishing to resell App Express to its advertisers in Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Utah and Arizona.

‘Working with App Express accelerates our move into mobile and allows us to offer our advertisers an affordable option for engaging mobile customers,” said Kevin Neuberger, vice president of operations at Local Book Publishing.

App Express focuses its energies on partnering with a network of white-label providers and resellers, just like Local Book Publishing, with an emphasis on helping small businesses prosper.

Track When Attachments and Presentations are Viewed With ToutApp

A small business regularly sends e-mails with attachments to potential customers, existing clients, and colleagues, with no way to tell whether that attachment is ever viewed. What if there were a way to track what happens to your attachment after it leaves your mailbox

Tout App provides templates and tools to put businesses in charge of their daily e-mails. The app has been designed to match today’s newsfeed-oriented environment, providing real-time tracking of e-mail reporting in a live feed.

“Tout is an e-mail management and analytics company,” TK Kader, founder of Tout, says in a video on the company’s website. “We help you take the stuff that you write over and over in your e-mails and help you template them, so you can focus your time on the unique parts of your e-mail.”

Once a team member has a template in place, that template can then be shared with other staff. This will ensure customers receive consistent messages from everyone in your company. By creating groups within the app, businesses can move customers into groups that make sense to them. Your business, for instance, could set up a group of customers who need follow-up a month, four months, or a year down the road.

Because ToutApp interacts with Salesforce, users can super-charge their work in the popular customer management solution. While viewing a lead or contact in Salesforce, users can view e-mail activity there. ToutApp also interacts with Google and Outlook-a big bonus for .

For each e-mail sent, users will be able to receive detailed reports of what recipients do. Senders will be able to see which links in the e-mail received clicks and which pages of documents or presentations are viewed by each recipient. At that point, businesses can use the data to regroup and determine the direction of future marketing strategies.

Another bonus to ToutApp is its interactivity with your contacts list. At a glance, your sales team can determine which clients are currently interacting regularly with your staff and which have been inactive for a while. You’ll also be able to easily follow social media updates for clients and colleagues.

While you can do many of the things listed above currently using your e-mail client, social media sites, and Salesforce, Tout brings it all together in one place, saving time. The free plan includes five free e-mails per day, which will likely be impossible for most businesses-but the site does provide a free 14-day trial to let businesses determine the exact plan they need. More robust plans begin at $30 a month and include template sharing and collaboration, 50-person groups, and contact management functions. To have team analytics and 250-person groups, you’ll have to upgrade to the small business plan, which costs $250 per month for up to ten people.

As Tout points out in videos on its site, social media has changed the way people interact, yet e-mail has remained the same. Today’s e-mail solutions should work to keep up, and ToutApp is one of the apps that does just that!

Create An App For Your Small Business To Keep Your Mobile Customers Happy

Creating apps that help customers interact with them is one way that small business owners are keeping up with the ever increasing dependence that consumers have on their smartphones.

Businesses that add smartphone applications can provide customers with a myriad of services which might include account management, and the ability to make appointments without having to make a phone call. Customers might look for coupons or schedule a recurring service. They might use a map feature to find the business or get directions to it. Creating an app can help businesses turn casual customers into loyal customers.

According to the International Data Corporation, smartphones will officially overtake feature phones in sales in 2013, making smartphone use even more common among consumers. With smartphones come apps and many believe that staying up on technology means, for many businesses, the willingness to invest in the creation of an app.

App Express is one company that’s helping small businesses create apps that work for them.  Because many small business owners might be a bit overwhelmed by the idea of creating an app, App Express is focused on making it easy for business owners. This means there’s no coding necessary and no large upfront costs.

With more and more people using their smartphones to write emails, handle business tasks and manage personal needs, it stands to reason they might head to their smartphone to find the location of a sandwich shop or auto care store.  If they have an app for that auto care store, they can check hours, get a map to the store and, with just one touch, dial the store to ask a specific question.

And small business owners shouldn’t feel that they will be relegated to the bottom of the app heap. With a company like App Express at the helm, small businesses can enjoy elegant designs and feature-heavy apps that deliver all the specific features customers want.

Some of the possible features for these small business apps include appointment scheduling, sharing (allowing customers to “like” the business on Twitter or Facebook), offering deals and coupons, payments (letting customers pay on the go and letting small business owners receive payments instantly), and information, such as location and hours.

Recently, Local Book Publishing partnered with App Express. The deal allows Local Book Publishing to resell App Express to its advertisers in Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Utah and Arizona.

‘Working with App Express accelerates our move into mobile and allows us to offer our advertisers an affordable option for engaging mobile customers,” said Kevin Neuberger, vice president of operations at Local Book Publishing.

App Express focuses its energies on partnering with a network of white-label providers and resellers, just like Local Book Publishing, with an emphasis on helping small businesses prosper.

Track When Attachments and Presentations are Viewed With ToutApp

A small business regularly sends e-mails with attachments to potential customers, existing clients, and colleagues, with no way to tell whether that attachment is ever viewed. What if there were a way to track what happens to your attachment after it leaves your mailbox

Tout App provides templates and tools to put businesses in charge of their daily e-mails. The app has been designed to match today’s newsfeed-oriented environment, providing real-time tracking of e-mail reporting in a live feed.

“Tout is an e-mail management and analytics company,” TK Kader, founder of Tout, says in a video on the company’s website. “We help you take the stuff that you write over and over in your e-mails and help you template them, so you can focus your time on the unique parts of your e-mail.”

Once a team member has a template in place, that template can then be shared with other staff. This will ensure customers receive consistent messages from everyone in your company. By creating groups within the app, businesses can move customers into groups that make sense to them. Your business, for instance, could set up a group of customers who need follow-up a month, four months, or a year down the road.

Because ToutApp interacts with Salesforce, users can super-charge their work in the popular customer management solution. While viewing a lead or contact in Salesforce, users can view e-mail activity there. ToutApp also interacts with Google and Outlook-a big bonus for .

For each e-mail sent, users will be able to receive detailed reports of what recipients do. Senders will be able to see which links in the e-mail received clicks and which pages of documents or presentations are viewed by each recipient. At that point, businesses can use the data to regroup and determine the direction of future marketing strategies.

Another bonus to ToutApp is its interactivity with your contacts list. At a glance, your sales team can determine which clients are currently interacting regularly with your staff and which have been inactive for a while. You’ll also be able to easily follow social media updates for clients and colleagues.

While you can do many of the things listed above currently using your e-mail client, social media sites, and Salesforce, Tout brings it all together in one place, saving time. The free plan includes five free e-mails per day, which will likely be impossible for most businesses-but the site does provide a free 14-day trial to let businesses determine the exact plan they need. More robust plans begin at $30 a month and include template sharing and collaboration, 50-person groups, and contact management functions. To have team analytics and 250-person groups, you’ll have to upgrade to the small business plan, which costs $250 per month for up to ten people.

As Tout points out in videos on its site, social media has changed the way people interact, yet e-mail has remained the same. Today’s e-mail solutions should work to keep up, and ToutApp is one of the apps that does just that!

How One Moving Company Increased Revenue Using Mobile Analytics

At one time, when someone was ready to move, the Yellow Pages was a go-to source for finding the best moving company. But for today’s consumer, locating a nearby business is easy as speaking into a smartphone or tablet. This has presented new challenges in small businesses interested in reaching customers.

Easy Moving Company was faced with this challenge recently. The Texas-based business wanted to reach mobile customers in the most effective way possible. The company’s goal was to attract new customers without breaking its budget. Like many small businesses, Easy Moving Company has a limited budget to spend on marketing campaigns, so it was important for the company to make the most of every dollar.

Working together, VocalizeMobile and ClickFuel were able to help Easy Moving Company achieve-and even exceed-its goals. The two companies provide an easy-to-use analytics dashboard to help track all of the moving company’s marketing campaigns. Using these analytics, Easy Moving Company was able to adjust their campaign over time to ensure they were spending each dollar on the right efforts.

VocalizeMobile provides tools to help businesses maximize their mobile search campaigns. By teaming up with ClickFuel, a campaign performance dashboard solution, VocalizeMobile was able to give Easy Moving Company the full suite of services it needed. According to ClickFuel CEO Steve Pogorzelski, this gave Easy Moving Company’s owner confidence in knowing he was in control of his marketing spend.

Easy Moving Company’s dashboard gave the company an ongoing visual snapshot of all of the company’s marketing campaigns, tracking clicks, leads, and incoming calls. Having this snapshot each step of the way allowed him to adjust his campaign accordingly, giving him the opportunity to make changes to his campaign. VocalizeMobile used the information from the ClickFuel dashboard to show Easy Moving Company how the campaign had a 75 percent success rate in converting calls into customers. VocalizeMobile was also able to show a Easy Moving Company a $500,000 increase in revenue during the campaign, which helped the company expand throughout Texas.

ClickFuel is a SaaS-based solution that provides dashboards designed to help with small business marketing campaigns. VocalizeMobile helps drive SMBs create highly-targeted mobile campaigns. Using ClickFuel, VocalizeMobile is able to show small businesses real-time analytics on the success of marketing campaigns.

“The average small business owner is time-starved and cash-strapped, with marketing as one of many different hats he or she wears,” Pogorzelsi says. “However, because marketing is one of the biggest investments a SMB makes, analytics to substantiate this investment and make marketing campaign adjustments is vital. ClickFuel’s Fuel Station grants SMB owners easy access to insights from marketing data and the confidence to make smart marketing decisions based on past results.”

By using these tools, small businesses can ensure each dollar spent on mobile marketing achieves results. While nothing is guaranteed, tracking is a great way to learn more about how customers are connecting with your product or service. The benefits of this can extend beyond your marketing campaign…to tell you more about whether you should make changes to your basic business model to better meet customer needs.

Why You Should Target Moms When Marketing Content

Consider This Equation When Creating and Marketing Content

Content + Social Media + Moms = Free Advertising.

Okay, maybe not free, since you have to pay for the content production and the time your social media strategist spends on the campaign, but that’s the small print.

There’s a huge network of moms on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter who want to share information about your business. So when marketing content, begin producing content targeted toward them and they’ll begin sharing it.

Why Should You Target Moms When Marketing Content

Generation Y moms (a.k.a. “Millennials”) make up a huge portion of social network users and bloggers. Three in four moms use Facebook at least monthly, one in two moms use their smartphones to access social networks (compared to 37% for the non-mom population) and one in every three blogs is written by a mom.

That’s all well and good, but that doesn’t reveal anything about real ROI (return on investment) when it comes to targeting moms.

Consider this: Half of those moms make recommendations about a brand or share brand-related content on a daily basis. Over three quarters of them follow at least one brand and over 90% of them say that they’re influenced by other moms’ recommendations (including shared content).

There’s one other little mom statistic that certainly should not be ignored: Women, many of them moms, make upwards of 80% of purchase decisions in the United States.

Where Content Comes In

In order for you to take advantage of that huge ring of moms comparing and talking about different products and services, you need to produce content for them to share. I’m not talking about some cutesy ads with moms and kids being sentimental about family timeâ€"I’m talking serious content.

Moms want information when it comes to products. They want things like descriptions of multiple functionalities and features. They want to know how a product can be useful to them, in real life. They want to know how a product will stand up to use, and they want to know if a service is worth the money (hence the many, many blogs dedicated to moms’ reviews of products and services).

Does that sound like content marketing to you It sure sounds like content marketing to me.

Pulling It All Together

Really reaching the mom demographic requires two things:

• Interesting, relevant and informative content.
• Expert social media strategy.

With these two marketing aspects combined, you can harness the power of moms and gain huge exposure among the group of people who make more purchasing decisions than any other group out there.

Mom Photo via Shutterstock

How One Moving Company Increased Revenue Using Mobile Analytics

At one time, when someone was ready to move, the Yellow Pages was a go-to source for finding the best moving company. But for today’s consumer, locating a nearby business is easy as speaking into a smartphone or tablet. This has presented new challenges in small businesses interested in reaching customers.

Easy Moving Company was faced with this challenge recently. The Texas-based business wanted to reach mobile customers in the most effective way possible. The company’s goal was to attract new customers without breaking its budget. Like many small businesses, Easy Moving Company has a limited budget to spend on marketing campaigns, so it was important for the company to make the most of every dollar.

Working together, VocalizeMobile and ClickFuel were able to help Easy Moving Company achieve-and even exceed-its goals. The two companies provide an easy-to-use analytics dashboard to help track all of the moving company’s marketing campaigns. Using these analytics, Easy Moving Company was able to adjust their campaign over time to ensure they were spending each dollar on the right efforts.

VocalizeMobile provides tools to help businesses maximize their mobile search campaigns. By teaming up with ClickFuel, a campaign performance dashboard solution, VocalizeMobile was able to give Easy Moving Company the full suite of services it needed. According to ClickFuel CEO Steve Pogorzelski, this gave Easy Moving Company’s owner confidence in knowing he was in control of his marketing spend.

Easy Moving Company’s dashboard gave the company an ongoing visual snapshot of all of the company’s marketing campaigns, tracking clicks, leads, and incoming calls. Having this snapshot each step of the way allowed him to adjust his campaign accordingly, giving him the opportunity to make changes to his campaign. VocalizeMobile used the information from the ClickFuel dashboard to show Easy Moving Company how the campaign had a 75 percent success rate in converting calls into customers. VocalizeMobile was also able to show a Easy Moving Company a $500,000 increase in revenue during the campaign, which helped the company expand throughout Texas.

ClickFuel is a SaaS-based solution that provides dashboards designed to help with small business marketing campaigns. VocalizeMobile helps drive SMBs create highly-targeted mobile campaigns. Using ClickFuel, VocalizeMobile is able to show small businesses real-time analytics on the success of marketing campaigns.

“The average small business owner is time-starved and cash-strapped, with marketing as one of many different hats he or she wears,” Pogorzelsi says. “However, because marketing is one of the biggest investments a SMB makes, analytics to substantiate this investment and make marketing campaign adjustments is vital. ClickFuel’s Fuel Station grants SMB owners easy access to insights from marketing data and the confidence to make smart marketing decisions based on past results.”

By using these tools, small businesses can ensure each dollar spent on mobile marketing achieves results. While nothing is guaranteed, tracking is a great way to learn more about how customers are connecting with your product or service. The benefits of this can extend beyond your marketing campaign…to tell you more about whether you should make changes to your basic business model to better meet customer needs.

VSkimmer Trojan steals card data on point-of-sale systems

Researchers have discovered a new Trojan capable of stealing credit card data from point-of-sale (POS) systems, and it appears to be an updated version of Dexter, similar malware targeting card-swiping devices.

On Thursday, Chintan Shah, a security researcher for McAfee Labs, blogged about VSkimmer, which is capable of grabbing data - account numbers, expiration dates and service code numbers - stored on the magnetic strip of credit cards.

In the post, Shah also said the Trojan targets Windows machines.

“The malware, vSkimmer, can detect the card readers, grab all the information from the Windows machines attached to these readers, and send that data to a control server,” Shah said.

McAfee researchers noticed participants on an online Russian forum discussing a potential sale, and began to analyse the Trojan.

“The author of the thread also discusses other capabilities of this malware, which appears to be a successor of Dexter, but with additional functions,” Shah said.

Dexter was originally detected in December 2012 by researchers at Seculert, an Israel-based security firm. It too targeted POS terminals, devices swiped during purchases.

According to Shah, the fact that VSkimmer was targeting terminals running Windows showed how “financial fraud is actively evolving and how Trojans are developed and passed around in the underground community,” he wrote.

In an interview with SCMagazine.com on Friday, Adam Wosotowsky, messaging data architect at McAfee Labs, said that attackers likely started infecting machines with VSkimmer via USB devices.

“A USB [infection vector] would require an inside job or confidence scam - talking people into allowing you to [access] these machines,” Wosotowsky said.

McAfee has yet to confirm the number of infections. Its oldest sample of the malware dates back to 13th February. Wosotowsky said however, that efforts to leverage the Trojan have been very 'targeted', so VSkimmer cases are likely not widespread.

“This is specialised malware, and it's a trend we are seeing more of - [attackers] going directly after point-of-sale systems,” he said. "There's a lot of activity moving in this direction."