Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success

Cloud retail can transform your business, no matter what its size. If you’re running a small to medium-sized retail company, you are all too familiar with the challenges: a tough economy, changing shopping patterns, more competition and higher costs.

Even large, well-established retail businesses like John Lewis, a chain of successful department stores operating throughout Great Britain, are embracing the cloud as a way of keeping up with the ever changing retail market.

Cloud retail services can handle the entire back-end process of a retail operation, including order processing, inventory management, fulfillment and shipping. Let’s explore the three benefits of order management in the cloud.

Managing Inventory

One way cloud services use data to make the retail industry more efficient is through enhanced inventory, writes Marcia Kaplan of Practical Ecommerce. More than just keeping track of when its time to restock, enhanced inventory management looks at eliminating slow moving merchandise in your inventory while increasing the amount of faster selling merchandise.

By selling through multiple channels, you can increase sales and reach a wider audience. But you will also need to be able to track inventory across all channels, such as a Web store, as well as Amazon, popular third-party e-commerce software such as Magento, offsite fulfillment centers and other shopping channels.

Cloud inventory management avoids the problem of too much inventory on hand and too few orders coming in. Excessive inventory ties up cash that you could have invested into other areas of the business to help drive additional revenue. At the same time, not having enough inventory on hand results in backorders, cancellations, negative social buzz and, potentially, lost customers.

The cloud can help you to adapt in near real-time to inventory fluctuations, keeping each channel running smoothly.

Improving Marketing

Large cloud providers like Amazon are transforming the retail industry by providing cloud services that can drastically improve the way you collect data and use it for marketing to your customers. These kinds of services were once available only to companies large enough to invest in their own software.

Marketing to your existing customer base provides a big opportunity to grow your business. Your customer list is one of your most valuable assets, and you can unleash its value by doing the following:

• Segmenting the customer base to compare and contrast purchasing behavior.
• Tracking results of specific campaigns and promotion programs.
• Generating lists of customers by specific categories to integrate with your email marketing system.

The cloud provides an easy way to integrate your marketing efforts across all sales channels and customer profiles. It does so by tying the back-office to the front-office, improving how and where you can utilize sometimes limited resources to help grow your business.

Delivering Customer Service

You are probably aware that it costs five times more to earn a new customer than to retain an existing one. Whether customers interact with you over the phone or online, delivering excellent customer service is a key ingredient in developing and nurturing customer satisfaction and retention, and ultimately repeat business through loyalty.

Cloud computing has revolutionized customer service and support, allowing you to answer critical questions that will help you keep customers longer and keep them satisfied.

There are three questions you should be able to answer about your ability to provide top customer service:

• Does my business have the tools to provide visibility into my customers’ orders across all channels?
• Does my business have a customer service team in place that can use these tools to quickly respond to customer inquiries and engage them?
• Do I have the ability to view the status of an order online, or am I able to access information in real-time?

It only takes one poor customer experience to produce countless lost customers due to negative reviews and posts online.

Conclusion

Cloud retail means managing fulfillment requests and inventory levels in a new way. By leveraging the cloud, you can gain real-time, actionable insight into the details of your business. This insight translates to growth and increased efficiency, and can help you capitalize on opportunity.

Cloud Photo via Shutterstock

Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success

Cloud retail can transform your business, no matter what its size. If you’re running a small to medium-sized retail company, you are all too familiar with the challenges: a tough economy, changing shopping patterns, more competition and higher costs.

Even large, well-established retail businesses like John Lewis, a chain of successful department stores operating throughout Great Britain, are embracing the cloud as a way of keeping up with the ever changing retail market.

Cloud retail services can handle the entire back-end process of a retail operation, including order processing, inventory management, fulfillment and shipping. Let’s explore the three benefits of order management in the cloud.

Managing Inventory

One way cloud services use data to make the retail industry more efficient is through enhanced inventory, writes Marcia Kaplan of Practical Ecommerce. More than just keeping track of when its time to restock, enhanced inventory management looks at eliminating slow moving merchandise in your inventory while increasing the amount of faster selling merchandise.

By selling through multiple channels, you can increase sales and reach a wider audience. But you will also need to be able to track inventory across all channels, such as a Web store, as well as Amazon, popular third-party e-commerce software such as Magento, offsite fulfillment centers and other shopping channels.

Cloud inventory management avoids the problem of too much inventory on hand and too few orders coming in. Excessive inventory ties up cash that you could have invested into other areas of the business to help drive additional revenue. At the same time, not having enough inventory on hand results in backorders, cancellations, negative social buzz and, potentially, lost customers.

The cloud can help you to adapt in near real-time to inventory fluctuations, keeping each channel running smoothly.

Improving Marketing

Large cloud providers like Amazon are transforming the retail industry by providing cloud services that can drastically improve the way you collect data and use it for marketing to your customers. These kinds of services were once available only to companies large enough to invest in their own software.

Marketing to your existing customer base provides a big opportunity to grow your business. Your customer list is one of your most valuable assets, and you can unleash its value by doing the following:

• Segmenting the customer base to compare and contrast purchasing behavior.
• Tracking results of specific campaigns and promotion programs.
• Generating lists of customers by specific categories to integrate with your email marketing system.

The cloud provides an easy way to integrate your marketing efforts across all sales channels and customer profiles. It does so by tying the back-office to the front-office, improving how and where you can utilize sometimes limited resources to help grow your business.

Delivering Customer Service

You are probably aware that it costs five times more to earn a new customer than to retain an existing one. Whether customers interact with you over the phone or online, delivering excellent customer service is a key ingredient in developing and nurturing customer satisfaction and retention, and ultimately repeat business through loyalty.

Cloud computing has revolutionized customer service and support, allowing you to answer critical questions that will help you keep customers longer and keep them satisfied.

There are three questions you should be able to answer about your ability to provide top customer service:

• Does my business have the tools to provide visibility into my customers’ orders across all channels?
• Does my business have a customer service team in place that can use these tools to quickly respond to customer inquiries and engage them?
• Do I have the ability to view the status of an order online, or am I able to access information in real-time?

It only takes one poor customer experience to produce countless lost customers due to negative reviews and posts online.

Conclusion

Cloud retail means managing fulfillment requests and inventory levels in a new way. By leveraging the cloud, you can gain real-time, actionable insight into the details of your business. This insight translates to growth and increased efficiency, and can help you capitalize on opportunity.

Cloud Photo via Shutterstock

The Smallbiztechnology Weekly Roundup And Look At What’s Ahead

Each week on Smallbiztechnology.com, we post a lot of articles that help small businesses GROW their business. We want to make sure you didn’t miss anything, so here’s a quick roundup of what we talked about last week and a sneak peek at what we’ll be sending your way in the week to come. Check out our video here, or watch below:

 

Mobile Technology

Office Tech

Software and Cloud Computing

Social Media

Security

Collaboration

Keep Customers

Get Customers

Here’s what’s coming up this week:

We’ve got 10 PPC Marketing Tips for Newbies, a Survey from American Express OPEN Shows Small Businesses Buy Local, a New Study Finds Pinterest Can Get You Clicks To e-Commerce Site, 5 Tips to Declutter Your Business Website and Social Media Content, How Facebook’s New Graph Search Is Coming For Social Recruiting, and Three Consumer Trends In The Mobile Space You Need To Know About and a whole lot more!

You won’t want to miss any of that, and there’s a lot more beyond what I just mentioned, so come on back and let us know what you think in the comments!

Remembering Passwords Could Become a Thing of the Past

For small business owners and staff who find remembering passwords challenging and find it difficult to manage the multitude of online passwords, a solution may be in the works beginning as soon as later this year.

PayPal Chief Security Officer Michael Barrett told those in attendance at a recent Interop show in Las Vegas that the end of the era of multiple passwords may be near, according to PCMag.com.

An alternative is being advanced by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance founded in July 2012 by tech firms like PayPal, Lenovo, Agnito, Infineon, Nok Nok Labs and Validity.

FIDO proposes a system it claims would be simpler to use while at the same time respecting the user’s privacy. It involves authentication using using a few different methods, including use of FIDO-recognized devices, biometrics, and use of portable memory.

Three examples of authentication are given on the FIDO website. One involves a finger swipe or biometric identification process. Another involves a memory stick that can be inserted into a variety of devices but which would then require only one password for all accounts. A third would employ embedded hardware that identifies devices accessing a particular account.

Barrett, who also serves as FIDO Alliance president, admitted at the conference that even with technology options to replace multiple passwords coming out soon it might take years to see mass adoption.

In an April news release on FIDO’s progress, Barrett observed: “By overcoming the limits of proprietary authentication methods, FIDO opens up a vast marketplace for strong authentication where FIDO enabled devices and services interoperate. We encourage all who require secure user authentication, and those who provide various methodologies to join us on a very fast track to FIDO universal strong authentication.”

With cloud applications being used, the number of passwords each person has to remember is exploding.  Security experts caution us to change passwords regularly and not use the same password for multiple accounts.  But given the sheer numbers of accounts most people have â€" 15 or 20 online accounts is not uncommon â€" that advice can be hard to follow.   And password vulnerability puts small businesses at risk. We all want a solution to the password problem.

Password Photo via Shutterstock

The 10 Most Important Attributes of a Content Marketing Maven

It’s time to hire your content marketing chief, a.ka. marketing maven, and you’ve got a big problem.

For one, you’ve never hired a content marketer. Secondly, you’re not exactly sure what a marketing maven is. Finally, you have little or no idea as to what a content marketer’s skill sets should be.

In an era where brands are leaping onto the content marketing bandwagon, it becomes more and more important for them to find the internal content talent that will strategize, execute, distribute and analyze an ongoing series of content marketing campaigns. Content marketing should be part of any brand’s DNA - a dedication to providing your target audiences with information of use and interest to them and of the highest quality.

It is the goal of content marketing to build trust and brand loyalty in your key constituencies. This is done through articles, through videos, through blogs, visuals and social media engagement.

Finding someone to head your company’s internal content marketing efforts is extremely difficult because there are so many responsibilities under the content marketing umbrella and your marketing maven will need to possess a diverse skill set.

Below, I have focused on 10 key skills that are elemental to a this role. While it may be impossible to find a single person will all of the following skills, a complete job description would include the following wish list.

1. Excellent Writing Skills

There is no bigger turn-off than poorly written, boring, unimaginative blogs, articles, Web copy and social media posts. Your marketing maven should have writing skills on the level of a seasoned journalist or should have the power and budget to add a top-flight writer immediately.

2. Social Media Fluency

This goes far beyond having hundreds of friends on Facebook or thousands of Followers on Twitter. This means a deep understanding of how businesses interact with their constituencies on various social media platforms, how frequently businesses need to interact and how businesses use social media as a customer service tool.

More importantly, your marketing maven must possess a deep understanding of how people interact with brands on social media. Social media marketing requires a deft touch. When people feel like they’re being ‘sold’ to on social media, they aren’t just turned off, they’re ticked off. Your content chief needs to not only understand this, but how to use social media in a way that informs and entertains your brand’s target audiences.

3. Strong Public Relations Skills

Many people are calling content marketing the new PR- and they are right. Creating content that demonstrates thought leadership and expertise is great, but knowing how to get that content out into the hands of the press, bloggers and other external content platforms can greatly elevate the brand’s profile.

4. General Understanding of Marketing (Beyond Content Marketing)

Content marketing is just one component of an integrated marketing campaign. Look for your marketing maven to understand the value and delivery of other marketing tools and where content marketing should fit into the company’s overall marketing strategy.

5. Search Engine Optimization Skills

A decade ago, SEO experts were the people who knew how to ‘trick’ Google and other search engines through keywording, backlinking and other practices designed towards the search engine algorithms. Today, thanks to Google’s Panda and Penguin updates and the increased sophistication of other search engines like Bing, quality content has far greater value in determining search results. Still, your content head should understand the principles behind writing meta descriptions, titles, subheads, etc. to ensure the best possible search results.

6. Understanding of Web and Digital Design Principles

There is a strong connection between digital content and digital design. A basic understanding of user interfaces and user behaviors can and will shape the ways and formats in which you deliver your content. This is especially true today when more and more people are digesting your content on smaller devices like tablets and smartphones.

7. Video, Photo and Graphics Skills

While articles were once at the heart of content marketing, video, photo imagery and graphics have emerged as highly effective vehicles for delivering brand messaging. A video can humanize a brand, deliver essential brand messages and even entertain. Videos are also extremely useful tools for media outreach. Infographics and photos can also capture the attention of your target audiences and deliver your brand messaging in a clear and memorable way.

8. Great Conversational and Listening Skills

Content marketing is a two-way street, with brands serving the needs of customers (and potential) customers by engaging with them in meaningful conversations. When you write an article, a blog post or even a tweet, you can expect people to respond. Ignoring those responses or failing to actively participate in a conversation with your target audience can be extremely damaging to your brand.

9. Great Networking Skills

Even in the digital age, there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. Your marketing maven can be a spokesperson and a key face of the company. That person will need to have their face in front of the media as well as potential clients or customers. Whether it’s at an informal breakfast or a major conference, your content person needs to be an effective brand ambassador.

10. Strong Analytical Skills

Never forget the reason why you engage in content marketing in the first place - to drive business. ROI (Return on Investment) on content needs to be tracked through benchmarks, analytics and testing. Your content chief doesn’t have to be the number cruncher, but must understand which numbers need to be tracked and why.

So, take the plunge. Write up the job description and go find yourself a content marketing maven. You’ll be happy - make that thrilled - that you did.

Content Photo via Shutterstock

Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback

If you are a business owner that accepts credit cards for payment, you may be already familiar with the frustrations of the dreaded chargeback process. This is when a customer contacts their credit card company to dispute a charge or have a charge reversed. But have you ever stopped to look at chargebacks from the point of view of your customers?

The post Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback

If you are a business owner that accepts credit cards for payment, you may be already familiar with the frustrations of the dreaded chargeback process. This is when a customer contacts their credit card company to dispute a charge or have a charge reversed. But have you ever stopped to look at chargebacks from the point of view of your customers?

The post Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback

If you are a business owner that accepts credit cards for payment, you may be already familiar with the frustrations of the dreaded chargeback process. This is when a customer contacts their credit card company to dispute a charge or have a charge reversed. But have you ever stopped to look at chargebacks from the point of view of your customers?

The post Merchant Versus Customer: Both Sides of a Chargeback appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Reality is Weighing on Small Business Optimism

Small business owners are an optimistic lot, with studies showing that they tend to have a rosier outlook than other people. Yet four years into the economic recovery, surveys show them in a relative funk.

What gives?

It’s pretty simply, really. Small business owners’ relative pessimism reflects reality. Despite an economy that has been expanding since mid-2009, conditions remain relatively poor for the typical small business owner.

Let’s start with small business owners’ attitudes. The most recent Wells Fargo Small Read More

The post Reality is Weighing on Small Business Optimism appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Looking for a Business Smartphone: Don’t Automatically Choose the iPhone

The iPhone has become ubiquitous in recent years. But as a business user, is it really the best choice for you?

Aside from things like call clarity and photo quality, much of the iPhone’s appeal comes from the variety of applications available. The Apple App Store and Google Play have over 700,000 apps available for both the iPhone and Android systems. But tech and productivity companies often release iOS apps before Android versions. And although it’s not without its faults, Siri is probably the best voice assistant available on any current smartphone.

Android Advances

The obvious competitor here is Android. A January comScore study shows Android phones with 52.3% of the overall smartphone market share, and Apple with 37.8%. But with Android there are a lot of different phones to choose from. A few of the ones likely to be considered by professionals are the Google Nexus 4, HTC Droid DNA, HTC One X+, and the Samsung Galaxy S III.

In a post on TechHive, Andy Ihnatko explained his own reasons for switching from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S III using Android. Aside from a better keyboard and more convenient speech-to-text option, Ihnatko cited the easier customization and better collaboration options between different apps. Specifically for business users, the Galaxy S offers a larger screen and a keyboard that can make typing long emails easier.

It also has a near field communications (NFC) chip that gives users the ability to communicate with other phones nearby and even lets you share photos, videos, and other files by just tapping your phone against another phone.

There’s also S-Voice, a feature similar to Apple’s Siri. But both Siri and S-Voice have taken a lot of criticism and don’t necessarily present a reason for anyone to switch to either device.

BlackBerry Comes Back

Then earlier this year, another familiar competitor re-energized itself with a new platform. BlackBerry launched a new smartphone operating system, the BlackBerry 10, that it hopes will become a major competitor in the business market. Conrad Flynn made a bold prediction in a recent blog post - that BlackBerry 10 would become the number one corporate smartphone provider this year.

He cited the company’s refocus on the professional market specifically rather than the overall consumer market, saying that the level of integration BlackBerry provides with things like Google Apps and Gmail is something that can’t be found on other devices.

Flynn, who was an early adopter of BlackBerry and currently uses a BlackBerry Bold phone, also said the messaging features on BlackBerry let users integrate things like email, IM, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more, rather than providing the more traditional separate email experience of an iPhone or Android phone. “All these little things can save users just that little bit of extra time, and while that might not be as important to the everyday consumer, it can definitely be appealing to the professional user,” he said.

Sales forecasts of the new BlackBerry devices have been strong at 2+ million units per month, per a Seeking Alpha report.  The report quotes analyst Peter Misek in predicting that sales of the more traditional physical-keyboard device, the Q10, will eclipse sales of the Z10.  BlackBerry’s newest physical keyboard device plays to business users.

Miscrosoft Windows Phones

There are also other options from companies like Microsoft, including the HTC Windows Phone 8x and the Nokia Lumia 920. These phones run on the Windows Phone 8 operating system, so they include a lot of the features Windows users are accustomed to.  They don’t, however, yet have nearly the number of apps available as Android and iPhone.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of options to choose from. Different phones and their features are better suited for different types of users and businesses. So going with the most popular or well-known option isn’t necessarily the best choice. Research each phone’s useful features and downsides.  Unstand the difference between using a smartphone for business purposes versus personal use - needs can be very different.  Thoroughly investigate the options to get a phone that’s the right fit for your business.

Small Business Events, Contests & Awards: Big Awards for Business, Ecommerce Done Right, UPS Sweepstakes + More

Welcome to our latest curated list of events, contests and awards for small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and growing companies.

To see a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Access to Capital Chicago
May 22, 2013, Chicago, Illinois

Join us at the Navy Pier to learn how you can raise capital for your small business. Meet 1:1 with loan officers. Attend panels on traditional and alternative lending options, start-ups, crowd-funding, and more.
Discount Code
sbtrends (Get 30% off)

Making Money Online: Ecommerce Done Right with John Lawson
June 25, 2013, New York City

Looking to create independence from this shifting job economy?
Want a stream of income that works for you around the clock?
Have a great idea of what to sell online but don’t know how to get started?
Dreaming of growing your online store from a hobby to a full fledged, profitable business?
Join John Lawson, award winning Social Commerce Strategist, American Express featured businessman, author, and founder of 3rd Power Outlet - an online clothing retail outlet that has exceeded $25 million in sales.
John will be sharing his practical, down-to-earth methods for building your own ecommerce business from the ground up in this two part workshop, packed with resources, tips, and how-to instruction.
Discount Code
SBTECH ( $25 off)

WBENC National Conference & Business Fair
June 26, 2013, Minneapolis, MN

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) will convene 3,500 decision makers from the nation’s leading corporations, government entities and women’s business enterprises (WBEs) to generate business together and stimulate economic growth at the 2013 WBENC National Conference & Business Fair in Minneapolis, MN, June 25-27, 2013.

Big Awards for Business
August 14, 2013, Online

The Big Awards started with a mission of recognizing real talent and performance. Real business people, those with experience and knowledge, judge the Big Awards. Request an entry kit today and submit your nomination by August 14, 2013.
Discount Code
SBT50 ($50.00 off)

More Events

• RISE Global Conference
  May 13, 2013, Austin, TX
• BlackBerry Live
  May 14, 2013, Orlando, FL
• Boost Your Brand Innovation LIVE Workshop
  May 14, 2013, Brooklyn, NY
• BOOM Your Business
  May 14, 2013, New York City
• SMX London
  May 15, 2013, London, UK
• Affiliate Management Days - London
  May 15, 2013, London, UK
• The Small Business Expo
  May 16, 2013, New York, NY
• AZ Small Business Conference
  May 16, 2013, Scottsdale, AZ
• Women’s Prosperity Network: Brilliance, Brainstorming & Breakthroughs
  May 17, 2013, Mt. Sinai, NY
• Ultimate Success Tour
  May 18, 2013, Atlanta, GA
• Internet Week New York
  May 20, 2013, New York, NY
• Spark And Hustle Tour - Detroit
  May 20, 2013, Detroit, MI
• Women’s Success Summit
  May 21, 2013, Miami, FL
• NYC May Business Networking Mixer
  May 21, 2013, New York City, New York
• B2B Sales Workshop - The Fundamentals Of Selling
  May 23, 2013, Atlanta, GA
• S.W.O.T. - 3 Quick Steps from Analysis to Implementation
  May 24, 2013, Online
• Zoholics - Zoho User Conference
  May 29, 2013, San Francisco, CA

More Awards and Contests

• UPS Small Business Three Point Play Sweepstakes
  May 15, 2013, Online
• Content Marketing Awards
  May 17, 2013, Online
• CrowdIt Launch Challenge
  June 04, 2013, Online
• eMinutes $2,500 Entrepreneurs Contest
  June 30, 2013, Online
• Huggies MomInspired Grant Program
  July 31, 2013, Online
• 2013 Big Awards for Business
  August 14, 2013, Online

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.

Visibility, security and access drives NHS to NAC solution

Around 2,000 of the 36,000 users who accessed Sussex's Health Informatics Service (HIS) were doing so from unmanaged mobile devices.

Speaking to SC Magazine, Peter Ward, senior client devices engineer, IT services at Sussex HIS, said that offering services to NHS trusts, hospitals and others in the county meant it needed to be flexible to people's needs and secure third party access.

Deploying network access control (NAC), and selecting ForeScout's CounterAct solution, Ward said this technology allowed him to have visibility of who and what was connecting to its large WAN, more than the intrusion prevention system that he said "sent a report once a week and was proactive but not reactive".

He said: “We offer NAC-as-a-service so users can work with our community network and offer secure access in real-time. I think that we have to be restrictive with access so we are taking baby steps since we put this in into remediating devices and do an assessment of access control.

“We are also making sure that our partners are at a secure standard. It is not only devices; but so many things are connected, from a CT scanner to a dictaphone, so if we didn't highlight these things it could have dire consequences. NAC will highlight what the system will see.”

Wood said that data can be collected to create a trusted network of users, and he was currently working on a mobile device management system to integrate with the NAC.

Asked if mobile access was a challenge for the HIS, he said that it had detected that 2,000 unmanaged mobile devices were connecting to the network. “It is not much when you think about it, but when you think about what they are trying to access and also they cannot connect without Active Directory, so we like to know what are connecting,” he said.

“Some are corporate-owned, while others are personally-owned, so with the NAC we can move it into a third-party space to manage access so it is a lot more secure.”

Wood said that it doesn't offer ‘bring your own device' (BYOD) and it saw allowing mobile and tablet devices to be a sensible move, but better control and visibility was needed, which it got with NAC rather than IPS.

He also explained that it needed to be flexible to partners' needs, as if they were not they could use another service under a changed rule, so it needed to listen to what customers wanted and tailor services accordingly.

“Sometimes data needs to be accessed in under a minute, so it presents an interesting challenge for IT to balance security with spend and to trade-off risk, visibility and cost as if you do not get it right, there are potentially dire consequences,” he said.

ForeScout CounterAct provides Sussex HIS with visibility of all IP devices and users on its network and the ability for deeper inspection to highlight issues and potentially unwanted applications on those devices.

John Hagerty, EMEA sales director for ForeScout, said: “Healthcare environments incorporate a diverse range of hardware such as PCs, laptops, network infrastructure, medical equipment, as well as users that change daily.

“CounterAct enables organisations like Sussex HIS to monitor, in real-time, who and what devices are connecting to their network while also checking the compliancy of all endpoints and remediating any problems without disruption to service or end-users.”

Tool reveals Apple user locations

An Australian researcher has created a tool that uses Apple's location services to potentially reveal where users live.

The tool works by accessing Apple's database of wireless access points, which is collected by iPhones and iPads that have GPS and WiFi location services enabled. Most iPhones and iPads regularly submit information about access points within range to Apple, regardless of whether users connect to them.

Apple uses this 'crowd-sourced' data to run its location services, however the location database is not meant to be public.

According to independent penetration tester Hubert Seiwert, Apple will reveal Mac address and GPS information on hundreds of nearby access points if a user queries the location of a single WiFi router's Mac address. 

His proof-of-concept Python application, iSniff GPS, uses this process to allow users to view maps of nearby access points. “You can send Apple a single Mac address of a WiFi router and they will send back a result set including the GPS coordinates of that Mac address and about 400 others,” Seiwert said.

“You can plug that Mac address into Apple's location service through iSniff GPS and you will get very precise information back from that.”

The tool makes use of a discovery last year by Immunity's Mark Wuergler, who discovered that iPhones and iPads sometimes disclose sensitive information about previously joined access points when joining a new WiFi network.

If captured, this data could previously be used with Google's location services to discover the locations of targeted devices.

Seiwert said Apple devices when joining networks will sometimes disclose via ARP requests the Mac addresses of the last three WiFi routers they have previously connected to, which will frequently include the device owner's home WiFi router.

His tool captures these ARP requests along with multicast DNS and SSID name probes for previously joined networks.

“This could be used to locate where people live,” he said.

In a test run at BlackHat last year, Seiwert used iSniff GPS to collect data from 1,337 devices probing for 3,543 unique networks. The tool contains Python code that uses Scapy to sniff live networks or to read pcap files, and presents the data collected using Google Maps views within a Django web interface.

Survey from American Express OPEN Shows Small Business Buy Local

The economic outlook continues to be less than cheerful even in the second quarter of 2013. Restrained bank lending, higher taxes, public sector layoffs, impact of troubles brewing in the Euro zone and higher costs of health insurance, have adversely affected business sentiments. Which is why the upbeat results of a survey by American Express OPEN of small businesses in the U.S, is both surprising and encouraging. The survey conducted on a nationally representative group of 993 small business owners and managers, reveals that they are optimistic about their business prospects and  are gearing up for doing ‘more with less’.   Here are the key positive trends on the small businesscommunity revealed by the survey.

Small business owners stay optimistic

More than half of owners (54%) were optimistic about their business prospects, with 50% planning to enhance their capital investments, over the next six months. Although, in the matter of cash flows business owners expressed concerns with 59% saying they were apprehensive of impact on business operations. Business owners may draw solace from the fact that cash flows are often impacted by factors external to the business, for instance customers taking longer to clear their dues.

Businesses focusing on improving employee productivity

While the overall bleak economic environment is affecting small business owner’s plans to hire more employees, there are still quite a few businesses (31%) that are planning to take on more people. What is more significant is the growing awareness that an enterprise is only as good as its people. Businesses are working towards improving the productivity of existing work force and in the process hope to increase employee salaries and business profits.

Use of social media stagnant, but businesses are using it more effectively

While the percentage of business owners using social media remained about the same (46%) as compared to the previous survey, what is significant is that small businesses are increasingly using social media with the objective of targeting new customers.

Business optimism translates to an overall ‘good feeling’

The survey goes on to conclude that a majority (92%) of small business owners are happy with their lives and this happiness largely stems from being entrepreneurs.

Continuing Support for Local Communities

Even more heart rendering is the trend that small business owners, despite tardy cash flows, continue to support local communities through donations to local causes and by being more participative in community projects. And, a vast majority of them (83%) also shopped for personal purchases from within the local community.

Optimism of the small business owners is certainly admirable in view of the gloom in the overall economic environment. As per Susan Sobbott, President of American Express OPEN “We should all draw inspiration from small businesses that remain steadfast optimists and loyal contributors to local communities and causes despite an economic environment that remains uncertain,”.

To end even on a more hopeful note it must be mentioned that the findings of the American Express OPEN survey discussed are not solitary. In a similar survey conducted by the U.S Bank across more than 3,000 small businesses, 67% felt that the financial health of their business was sound, with 29% reporting higher revenues over last year and 41% expecting higher revenues this year.

3 Steps Every Business Can Take For A Strong Online Presence

3 Baby Steps to Social Media

At one time, a business marketed itself through ad placement and print materials. Today, businesses must reach out to customers in the very place they get most of their information: the Internet. From contact information to store hours to customer reviews, consumers heavily rely on Google search results. What do customers see when they type in your business name? Is it the image you want to portray?

In the current search engine-driven marketing environment, it’s important for small businesses to be aware of online marketing techniques in order to remain competitive. Unfortunately, for many small business owners, time is a valuable commodity. Here are a few tips to not only help you craft a strong online presence but do so with minimum impact on your time.

Use Social Media Tools

Keeping up with multiple social media accounts, along with regularly updating website content, can be daunting, considering our busy schedules. I’ve found several time-saving sites that can at least simplify updating multiple platforms. Dlvr.it automatically feeds blog posts to multiple social media sites, integrating with link-shortening service bit.ly. Dlvr.it’s reporting feature can give you insights into how your social media followers are viewing your content.

But one of the best ways to stay on top of your social media content easily is by using dashboard services. I prefer Tweet Deck, which allows users to schedule Tweets, view multiple feeds side-by-side, and manage multiple accounts in one place. To add other social media accounts to your dashboard, you’ll need a service like HootSuite. With HootSuite, you can set up columns and schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Plus, and more.

Expand Your Social Media Presence

As with traditional marketing, one of the most important things about reaching out to your customers is to first understand them. What age group is most interested in your product or service? Set up a presence across multiple social media services and make sure each site includes a complete profile of your small business. Be sure to link your other social media pages on each profile page, as well as your website.

One of the best ways to increase your online visibility is to use keywords relevant to your business. Google Trends can help isolate the terms users are putting into Google each day that are related to your industry. Weaving those keywords into your posts can boost your chances of appearing prominently in searches.

Be Consistent

Your blog and social media pages should be consistently updated to keep customers engaged. Consistent postings have the added benefit of making your pages more relevant to search engines. Editorial calendars can be great tools for planning your postings. Used for years by traditional print media outlets, editorial calendars (also called “content calendars”) allow you to plan out your postings for months, ensuring you’re promoting the right event at the right time. For WordPress users, an Editorial Calendar plug-in allows you to move items around as needs change. Services like Kapost and Divvy HQ are more comprehensive tools. But for a free and easy solution, many small businesses opt for an Excel spreadsheet or a simple blank calendar template.

Your website and social media accounts are valuable tools for reaching potential customers. With so many services available to help, you can increase your online presence with minimal impact on your busy schedule.

I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s.

Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business

10 PPC Marketing Tips for Newbies

What’s your best tip for an entrepreneur just about to dive into PPC marketing for the first time?

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library, and email lessons.

1. Use Landing Pages

One of the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs new to PPC marketing is that they want to send all of their traffic to the homepage of their website. Just because it’s your homepage doesn’t mean that it will convert all the types of traffic that you generate. Creating specific landing pages for different categories of keywords is key to your success.

- Richard Lorenzen, Fifth Avenue Brands

2. Split Test Landing Pages

Always split test certain landing pages to see which give you the best conversions and results. Try different colors, layouts, questions and images. You’ll be surprised how small aesthetic changes to a landing page can affect conversions. Keep optimizing until you have a winning landing page!

- Shahzil (Shaz) Amin, Blue Track Media, LLC

3. Hire an Expert

PPC is an important, but complex, part of most Web-based businesses. Managing the keywords you target and the types of ads you will display and updating your site’s landing pages to support your PPC campaign takes time. Before you invest your time in learning PPC, hire an expert. Prove the efficiency of ad campaigns before you bring this task “in-house.” You will save time, money and stress!

- Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

4. Utilize Exact-Match Keywords

Do some heavy research on the best keywords for your industry. Start small. Make sure that you change the keyword settings in your campaign to “exact match,” instead of the default “broad match,” when setting it up. This will prevent unwanted impressions of random strings of your keywords that, left unchecked, will burn through your budget real fast.

- Anthony Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

5. Focus on Your Product

Once you have a good product, invest in content marketing. Put out a free version or provide some giveaways, like best practices documents and PDFs. It’ll take a little bit longer to get the same exposure, but we’ve found that PPC is really expensive. It’s wasted on the people who aren’t typically the best users. Our best users never click on an ad.

- Jim Belosic, ShortStack/Pancake Labs

6. Take Advantage of AdWords

Google usually gives out $100 AdWords credits to first-time advertisers. Use that credit to learn about PPC marketing and what PPC marketers do. This will allow you to have more intelligent conversations with a PPC marketer if you decide to hire someone. Or, if you go the internal route, you’ll have more intelligence about your business based on that $100 you “spent.”

- Brett Farmiloe, Markitors

7. Define Your Goals

State clearly what you expect from your PPC marketing campaigns. Define your goals and how you will measure results. Take your goals and measures to a proven SEO pro. It’s not something you should do yourself if you have no experience in PPC marketing. Hiring a pro will maximize the success of the campaign and ensure you’re targeting the right keywords to reach your goals.

- Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World

8. Spend Wisely

First, use Google’s Keyword Tool to get the estimated cost per click on a sample of keywords you’ll likely use. Second, you should estimate a realistic conversion rate (2 percent is typical). Now, assume you’ll buy 1000 clicks. How much will that cost, based on the estimated CPC? With a 2 percent conversion rate, you’ll get 20 conversions. Divide the cost by 20 to decide if it’s profitable.

- Justin Spring, BringShare, Inc.

9. Target Effectively

PPC platforms range in their abilities to reach target markets. Before you begin spending funds on PPC marketing, make sure you understand the segmentation capabilities of platforms like Google, Facebook and others you’re considering. For example, Facebook enables targeting by marital status and age, whereas Google’s PPC platforms are based on keywords. These differences matter.

- Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

10. Think Creatively

You must think outside the box with PPC. Don’t go after the large competitor phrases that everyone searches. Instead, go after a large number of long-tail phrases like competitor names, industry-specific terms, and, of course, trending phrases that competitors might not have started bidding on yet.

- Phil Laboon, Eyeflow Internet Marketing

10 Simple Steps Will Improve Your Business Blog

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook enjoy huge popularity, but blogs are still an important tool for small business marketing.

Jennifer Bourn, Owner and Creative Director for Sacramento WordPress Web design and branding firm, Bourn Creative, claimed they are “no longer optional for small businesses” in a recent guest post at The Sacremento Business Journal.

So if you don’t yet have a blog - start one. And if you do have one, apply the blog improvement steps below to kick it up a notch.

Make Things More Personal ~ Huffington Post

Publishing a blog for your business is great, says tech writer Drew Hendricks. But sometimes business blogs can get a bit too…well, business-y. Instead, Hendricks suggests adopting a more personal approach by letting readers know more about the people behind the blog. Here are some of Hendrick’s specific suggestions.

Choose a Monetization Strategy ~ Remarkablogger

Say you start a blog to promote your freelance services. Wouldn’t it be great to diversify a bit and find other ways your blog could generate revenue for your business? One option suggested by blogging consultant Michael Martine is the use of affiliate marketing, which can deliver more steady income even when other aspects of your business are in a dry spell.

Build a Powerful Network ~ MyWifeQuitHerJob

Blogger Tom Ewer insists the two secrets to creating a successful blog are to create great content and to create a network or community of like-minded people who will happily share that content for you. Ewer shows you what building relationships can do for your blog and a simple strategy for creating those relationships.

Grab the Reader’s Attention ~ ProBlogger

SEO and marketing copywriter Belinda Weaver insists a great opening for your blog post is the key to getting readers to give your post their attention and return to your blog week after week for more. Weaver says great blog openings begin with a great title and go on to intrigue, startle and touch readers on a personal level. Here is her recipe for success.

Recruit Some Guest Bloggers ~ Ms. Ileane Speaks

Ileane Smith, owner of Basic Blog Tips, shares her personal experience opening her site to guest bloggers. She says the process gave new and seasoned bloggers a chance to promote themselves and share their writing while also promoting her blog’s community. But Smith says blog owners need to take steps to vet guest bloggers to make sure they and their content are right for the blog.

Don’t Overdo the Keywords ~ Search Engine Roundtable

Industry observer Barry Schwartz shares the advice of Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller to a site owner on a forum. The site owner was confused about why his seven year old site was failing to rank for its keyword. Mueller explained the site currently contains over 1000 mentions of a single keyword. That’s too much of a good thing for Google. Don’t overdo it on keywords, Mueller says.

Use Vine and Instagram ~ Chris Brogan

As a way of enhancing your message on your blog and other social media, Chris Brogan suggests participating with what he calls “outlier social media tools” like Vine and Instagram. Check out these tools as a way of being a bit more human and creating what Brogan calls “bitesize” content. All the while you’re boosting your blog’s brand and building more community.

Set Up Google Authorship ~ Trafficado

Rob Parsons suggests some tips for improving the SEO and effectiveness of your blog. Among those suggestions is taking advantage of Google Authorship. The process involves verifying your identity with Google as the author of specific posts. The idea is that Google will favor authors who regularly create quality content, allow your image to appear next to content in search and thus improve click through.

Make Your Blog More Mobile Friendly ~ Lo Cost Marketing

Blogger Scott Dudley writes about the increasing popularity of mobile devices and the need to be sure you make your blog mobile friendly. With a growing number of potential readers using mobile devices, Dudley says making your blog mobile friendly is a simple way to grow your audience. Dudley also offers some simple options for making your blog accessible to readers interested in accessing your site through a mobile device

Start Allowing Online Payments ~ Famous Bloggers

If your blog promotes products or services offered by your business, it’s time to make sure customers visiting your business blog 24/7 will be able to pay online for those products or services. Blogger Laura Burkley offers benefits for accepting online payments on your blog. She also suggests some simple ways set up online payments for your business.

Blog Photo via Shutterstock

10 Simple Steps Will Improve Your Business Blog

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook enjoy huge popularity, but blogs are still an important tool for small business marketing.

Jennifer Bourn, Owner and Creative Director for Sacramento WordPress Web design and branding firm, Bourn Creative, claimed they are “no longer optional for small businesses” in a recent guest post at The Sacremento Business Journal.

So if you don’t yet have a blog - start one. And if you do have one, apply the blog improvement steps below to kick it up a notch.

Make Things More Personal ~ Huffington Post

Publishing a blog for your business is great, says tech writer Drew Hendricks. But sometimes business blogs can get a bit too…well, business-y. Instead, Hendricks suggests adopting a more personal approach by letting readers know more about the people behind the blog. Here are some of Hendrick’s specific suggestions.

Choose a Monetization Strategy ~ Remarkablogger

Say you start a blog to promote your freelance services. Wouldn’t it be great to diversify a bit and find other ways your blog could generate revenue for your business? One option suggested by blogging consultant Michael Martine is the use of affiliate marketing, which can deliver more steady income even when other aspects of your business are in a dry spell.

Build a Powerful Network ~ MyWifeQuitHerJob

Blogger Tom Ewer insists the two secrets to creating a successful blog are to create great content and to create a network or community of like-minded people who will happily share that content for you. Ewer shows you what building relationships can do for your blog and a simple strategy for creating those relationships.

Grab the Reader’s Attention ~ ProBlogger

SEO and marketing copywriter Belinda Weaver insists a great opening for your blog post is the key to getting readers to give your post their attention and return to your blog week after week for more. Weaver says great blog openings begin with a great title and go on to intrigue, startle and touch readers on a personal level. Here is her recipe for success.

Recruit Some Guest Bloggers ~ Ms. Ileane Speaks

Ileane Smith, owner of Basic Blog Tips, shares her personal experience opening her site to guest bloggers. She says the process gave new and seasoned bloggers a chance to promote themselves and share their writing while also promoting her blog’s community. But Smith says blog owners need to take steps to vet guest bloggers to make sure they and their content are right for the blog.

Don’t Overdo the Keywords ~ Search Engine Roundtable

Industry observer Barry Schwartz shares the advice of Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller to a site owner on a forum. The site owner was confused about why his seven year old site was failing to rank for its keyword. Mueller explained the site currently contains over 1000 mentions of a single keyword. That’s too much of a good thing for Google. Don’t overdo it on keywords, Mueller says.

Use Vine and Instagram ~ Chris Brogan

As a way of enhancing your message on your blog and other social media, Chris Brogan suggests participating with what he calls “outlier social media tools” like Vine and Instagram. Check out these tools as a way of being a bit more human and creating what Brogan calls “bitesize” content. All the while you’re boosting your blog’s brand and building more community.

Set Up Google Authorship ~ Trafficado

Rob Parsons suggests some tips for improving the SEO and effectiveness of your blog. Among those suggestions is taking advantage of Google Authorship. The process involves verifying your identity with Google as the author of specific posts. The idea is that Google will favor authors who regularly create quality content, allow your image to appear next to content in search and thus improve click through.

Make Your Blog More Mobile Friendly ~ Lo Cost Marketing

Blogger Scott Dudley writes about the increasing popularity of mobile devices and the need to be sure you make your blog mobile friendly. With a growing number of potential readers using mobile devices, Dudley says making your blog mobile friendly is a simple way to grow your audience. Dudley also offers some simple options for making your blog accessible to readers interested in accessing your site through a mobile device

Start Allowing Online Payments ~ Famous Bloggers

If your blog promotes products or services offered by your business, it’s time to make sure customers visiting your business blog 24/7 will be able to pay online for those products or services. Blogger Laura Burkley offers benefits for accepting online payments on your blog. She also suggests some simple ways set up online payments for your business.

Blog Photo via Shutterstock