New Service Helps Small Businesses Migrate to Office 365

Many of today’s small businesses were formed long before Microsoft released Office 365 to the public in 2011. Those businesses are working from a desktop version of the software, costing hundreds of dollars per workstation and requiring manual installation. In 2013, as those businesses see their versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access becoming outdated, they are faced with a choice: Purchase Office 2013 Professional for nearly $400 or pay $149.99 for Office 365 and always have the latest version of Office.

With the ability to download Office 365 for up to five desktops, laptops, and mobile devices per user, it’s no wonder one in five Microsoft enterprise customers have already decided to make the switch. These businesses will no longer have to worry about supporting different versions of Office for employees and the dilemma about upgrading every couple of years will be gone. The biggest step is making the shift from locally-based Office to the Cloud, including moving all files and user information from local servers and computers to Microsoft’s secure servers. Businesses also have concerns about moving Outlook to the Cloud, since so much of day-to-day operations relies on Outlook functioning properly.

A Seattle-based startup has a solution. SkyKick is designed to make the migration process a smooth, effortless one for small businesses. SkyKick is working with software partners like CyberStreams and Centarus to help small businesses make the transition to Office 365.

“To help partners move millions of small businesses to the cloud we tackled a huge technology challengeâ€"how do we automate hundreds of project tasks, accounting for all the permutations of customer scenarios, and the thousands of different email systems that exist with small businesses?” SkyKick CEO Todd Schwartz says. “The SkyKick platform is designed to simplify that complexity at scale. We built a powerful engine under the hood, and an elegant interface on topâ€"kind of like search. The result is the SkyKick Application Suite which simplifies migration projects so partners can sell more Office 365, with less effort and risk, while providing a superior experience for their customers.”

SkyKick partners with technology solutions providers to ease the move to Office 365 using three powerful tools:

• Web Planner-The web planner helps small businesses assess their current environment and prepare for the move, all with an automated tool. The built-in Office 365 licensing assignment tool gives small businesses the pricing structure layout, letting them ensure Office 365 will meet their budget before making the move.
• Migration Sync-SkyKick’s Migration Sync moves data over first to ensure nothing is lost. The migration tool is designed to eliminate downtime completely by moving all user and contact information and DNS settings over.
• Outlook Assistant-Since the Outlook transition is a priority for many businesses, SkyKick has provided an app that reduces issues after migration, putting all Client-side data on the Cloud for a seamless transition.

For small technology service providers, partnering with SkyKick is a great way to help your small business clients migrate to Office 365. SkyKick doesn’t charge you until your client’s migration is complete and your clients never see the price SkyKick charges you for the service. For small businesses interested in easing the transition to Office 365, several businesses are offering the service. Visit SkyKick.com to find a partner near you.

NFIB Celebrating 70 Years Advocating for Small Businesses

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is celebrating a milestone this year, marking 70 years of advocating for small business owners.

While the nature of its job has changed somewhat in those 70 years, NFIB continues to advocate for small business owners nationwide.

“Seventy years ago, the National Federation of Independent Business began its mission to protect the right to own, operate and grow a business,” NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner said in a recent statement. “Since then, Read More

The post NFIB Celebrating 70 Years Advocating for Small Businesses appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Small Business News You Don’t Want to Miss

Top small business news stories this week looked at what to do when you get suspended on Twitter, and policy changes.  We also brought you information about new products such as the latest BlackBerry, a new tablet hybrid, and the possibility of a color book e-reader.  Also in the headlines is the life and times of a 26-year-old tech tycoon who has made it big … really big!

Read on as the Small Business Trends editorial team takes you behind the scenes with these stories and more. We don’t just bring you a bunch of noise â€" we add context to show you how the news affects your business.

Social Media

How to come back from a Twitter suspension. Lately, members of the small business community have experienced unwarranted suspensions on Twitter. Contributors to Small Business Trends and even one of our own team member’s accounts were shut down without notice. We give a behind-the-scenes look at one Twitter suspension â€" and how to recover from it.  First step - don’t panic!

Google+ Still missing the boat with big brands. Google+ may be popular with users, but some brands don’t seem to feel the same. A recent study finds that 40 percent of the major brands with a presence on Google+ have either never posted content on the social media site or do so infrequently. However, as we point out, that’s not a good reason for small businesses to stay away. Get your Google+ page up and active, and don’t wait until you have to play catch up.

Hangout with pizzazz. You’ve probably heard of Google Hangouts. Some of us may even use them for business. But now an app allows you to add a dash of style as well. We show you Hangout Magix, a tool that will give you new options when it comes to adding Google Hangout graphics like logos, speaker names and titles, captions and more.

Tech

New BlackBerry Q5 - 3 So Far This Year for BlackBerry. The new Q5 smartphone is aimed at developing markets, not at North America. But the phone is a reminder of how pervasive mobile devices have become in the world … and how  BlackBerry is reinventing itself with the BlackBerry 10 software platform.

HP targets iPad with new hybrid tablet. What’s cheaper than an iPad and able to function as both a tablet and a laptop? It’s called the SlateBook x2, and it’s coming in July from HP. The device is priced at $475, just $20 under the current iPad’s recommended manufacturer retail price. And hey, you get a keyboard, which business users love.

Could a color Kindle e-reader be on the way? Sure the Kindle Fire already displays content in color, but it’s really a tablet computer rather than a book e-reader. A new color e-reader would offer advantages over its black and white counterpart without some of the disadvantages of a tablet (such as price and battery life). Rumors abound based on an acquisition Amazon made  - although so far no confirmation has come out of the book etailing giant.

Policy

Immigration: E-Verify isn’t required for all businesses - YET. This online system lets employers check with a government database to be sure workers are legally able to work in the U.S. The trouble is that using it is costly in terms of time and productivity, especially to small businesses. In the opinion of many it needs to be simplified. It could also be mandatory in just four years, if Senate bill 744 making its way through Congress now is passed.  But if there’s any good news in this, it’s that a provision to accelerate mandatory adoption to just 18 months was defeated in committee. So we’ve got that going for us.  :)

Feds owe $3 million dollars in fees to small businesses. The U.S. owes a lot to small businesses in more ways than one. A recent investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Small Business shows the U.S. federal government owes 1,281 small businesses approximately $3 million collectively in termination fees after the government failed to meet its minimum purchase commitment of at least $25,000 each on the GSA schedule. Small business contractors, rejoice.

NFIB Celebrates 70 years. We look back at the history of the organization as it celebrates its 70th birthday.  Learn how and why the National Federation of Independent Business was founded. Learn about its 300,000 members and why we need a strong advocate like the NFIB on the side of small businesses.

Entrepreneurship

Who wants to be a millionaire? It’s probably the dream of every tech entrepreneur young or old to become the next Mark Zuckerberg. This week, David Karp, founder of social blogging platform Tumblr, proved entrepreneur dreams can come true. Karp’s site was bought by Yahoo for $1 billion making the 26-year old the latest tech tycoon and overnight mega-millionaire.

Stay Alive. Your business’s survival may depend upon it. Literally! A study recently found that companies whose majority owner had passed away within the first 10 years of founding performed much worse as time went on â€" even when there was a company management team in place to carry on. So remember, having the founding entrepreneur stay alive is good for business.

Marketing & Resources

What is Gangnam Style? If you still haven’t heard of Korean-based rapper Psy and his monster hit, read on. Psy became a global sensation when his music video â€" a self-made effort â€" reached 1 billion views.  And his success can teach small business owners more than you might think about marketing on a budget and standing out from the crowd.

Who’s in your ExpertCircle? Here’s a new Web service for small business owners who trust their peers’ judgment when selecting products and vendors for their businesses. The site, launched by Doc Stoc, allows you to submit your favorite products and vendors for others to see and to endorse or critique vendors and services on the site.

Learn from your customers. Customer experience is an important thing for companies to pay attention to. Your customers are the life blood of your business, of course. In this panel discussion, three industry leaders talk about what customer experience means to their companies.

Finance

Main Streets May Soon Be Without a Bank. Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-founder of Biz2Credit pulls together some scary numbers regarding the U.S. banking industry. They’re especially frightening for entrepreneurs in need of funding. Over the last three years, banks have been steadily closing branches around the country, leaving some communities without a local bank, he said.

Looking for a financing alternative? Financing for small businesses has never been so complex or has involved so many options. Pierre Debois reviews a book with a funny sounding title. But “Spank the Bank: The Guide to Alternative Business Financing” may provide some of the answers you need.

Top Small Business News This Week: May 24

Top small business news stories this week looked at what to do when you get suspended on Twitter. Also in the headlines were the life and times of a 26-year-old tech tycoon who has made it big…really big! And a study looked at how Google+ is still missing the boat with some big brands. Read on as the Small Business Trends editorial team takes you behind the scenes in these stories and more to show you how the news affects Read More

The post Top Small Business News This Week: May 24 appeared first on Small Business Trends.

4 Expert Tips On How To Use Images To Build Your Visual Brand

We all know that old saying about pictures. They’re worth a lot. But for some reason, a lot of business websites don’t have images that illustrate the business and further the brand. It’s ridiculous! Get some nice images up there! Pictures of someone using your product, or at least screenshots of your software. Or stock photos!

When you’re working on the visual side of your branding, there are a number of things you want to keep in mind, and iStockphoto was kind enough to send us some expert tips to share with you:

Know your brand before you begin

Before attempting to design a website, businesses must first identify their core brand values. It is essential that these values are reflected in their online presence while ensuring they are meeting the demands of their target audience. As a business, everything you do or say must send the correct message to your audience.

One way to achieve results is to invest in market research where you can ask your target audience what they like to look at. Also, by viewing your competitors’ pictures and their visual language you can start to improve your own, and see what works and what doesn’t.

Sourcing the best images (and ensuring copyright compliance!)

It is understandably difficult to select an image from a collection of thousands. To make it simpler, consider these five aspects when making your selection:

• Purpose - what is the image for?
• Tone - how do you say it?
• Relevance - is the image relevant to the audience?
• Timeliness - how new is the image?
• Uniqueness - is your image one of a kind?

Think carefully if you are visually representing your business or the people you do business with on your site. Are the models in the images representative of your company or client base? Do they look real and believable? Do they represent a good cultural mix? If your business is young and lively, are the models full of vitality or if your business offers a confidential service, do the models look approachable and reliable?

All too often, the person choosing the images is not in the target audience for the website, so images should be on brand as much as everything and everyone else that you communicate with.

However, with choosing images, comes the misconception of image copyright. Though the majority of internet users understand the rules when it comes to downloading music and video, the issue of image copyright is a cloudy matter and yet an important area for small businesses to understand and adhere to, otherwise they risk being over-charged.

A common misconception is the tendency to believe that once an image has been published online, it becomes part of the public domain. This however is not true and images remain bound by copyright. Anyone wanting to use the image further needs to have consent from either the author of the image or - when the license agreement of the social network allows it - the administrator of the website.

However by buying royalty free images from sites such as istockphoto.com, small businesses can be sure that they are not breaching copyright. More information on this can be found at stockphotorights.com. Image users may also find the PicScout ImageExchange application very useful - a free, downloadable tool which helps content users find out where they may properly license images they find on the internet.

Simplicity is the key

Simplicity in design is key to engaging customers on websites, so images need to be kept clear and simple and highlight exactly want you want to say. For example, the simplest design on the web today is also the most used: Google.com.

The imagery is often the last element that is considered - it is seen as “content” to fill a space - but choosing imagery that is impactful because it is interesting, surprising or amusing will engage the customer that little bit longer.

Once more if the website is cluttered it can reflect badly on the company so you need to prioritize messages accordingly. They key points - whether in text, image or video format - should be made prominent on the page, while at the same time you should look at creating room between elements and scattering images throughout. Despite sounding obvious, you’d be surprised how many websites are hard to navigate because the owner has tried to communicate too heavily on one page.

Updating the site regularly to show that the brand is active

In the online world, content is key. Creating quality content on a regular basis is the most effective way to attract and retain web traffic. Consistency in visual branding can be attained through using images that have similar conceptual value or have a theme in their composition, color palette, lighting technique or choice of models/location.

One of the best ways to bring more content to your site is to have a blog. Sharing your expertise can be a great way to add content and provide additional value on your website. Other ways could be simply changing some of the featured images and graphics throughout your site to make it feel fresh and revived. Doing this every few weeks can peek interest and allow returning visitors to investigate other parts of your website they may not have explored before.

-

When it comes to the marketing side of things, pictures are extremely important. If you want a blog or news outlet to write about your business, throw a good picture or illustration in with your press release. It’ll make a big difference to a lot of editors and writers, and it’ll help your business!

Let us know in the comments how you built your business’s visual brand!

Will We Soon See a Color Kindle E-Reader, Instead of Black and White?

Amazon recently announced acquiring Liquavista, a Holland-based company, from Samsung.   And speculation is rife  that the purchase may lead to a color Kindle e-reader to come.

Liquavista makes display screens and specializes in a process called electrowetting.  Reuters describes it as technology that ”makes displays clearer in all lighting conditions and can show video without using much power.”  The technique has applications not only for e-readers but for other devices like smartphones and laptops.

It’s true that Amazon already has a color Kindle.  But this technology would offer certain advantages over the black and white versions of the e-reader without certain disadvantages of the current color Kindle.  VentureBeat observes:

“Liquavista has built a screen technology that approaches the efficiency of traditional e-reader black-and-white e-ink screens while offering the color of LCD and other full-color screen technologies. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it, too: gorgeous full-color screen plus long-lasting battery life.  That might be just the technology that Amazon needs to kickstart conversion of its full e-reader line to a full-color and quick-response screen, as e-ink is also notoriously slow to refresh.”

NateHoffelder at Digital Reader first broke the news and suggested the color e-reader connection.  The development, if it comes to pass, could be important to both readers of e-books and e-book publishers.

When you consider that e-reader sales are down 28% in 2012 compared with 2011, it seems like the e-reader market needs some shaking up.  A color screen would give people who already own a black-and-white Kindle reader a reason to upgrade, and get them excited to buy more Kindle books.  And it could make Kindle content itself more compelling to owners of e-readers, especially for books with images in them.  Who wouldn’t rather see images in color?

Amazon is focusing heavily on digital content, so investing in devices that make it more compelling  to consume that content make sense.

In an e-mail to CNET, an Amazon spokesperson stated: “We are always looking for new technologies we may be able to incorporate into our products over the long term. The Liquavista team shares our passion for invention and is creating exciting new technologies with a lot of potential. It’s still early days, but we’re excited about the possibilities and we look forward to working with Liquavista to develop these displays.”

Further details of the purchase have not been made public. The video below shows the technology in action.

Image: still from Electrowetting Display video

Using Customer Experience to Drive Future Improvements

Enjoy this panel discussion on the topic of customer experience from the Social Biz Atlanta Conference. The participants are Ashish Bisaria, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Manheim, along with Rob Houser, Senior Director of Product Management for Sage Software.  As well as Esteban Kolsky, Founder and Principal of ThinkJar and host, Ginger Conlon, Editor-in-Chief at Direct Marketing News.

* * * * *

Host Ginger Conlon: Can you talk a little bit about what customer experience means in your company? Esteban can you give the broader definition, if there is one, of customer experience? Ashish, you want to start us off?

Ashish Bisaria: Manheim is the world’s largest used car auction house. So we take all of the used cars and bring the buyers and sellers together in a B2B.

Customer experience for our company is about driving full behaviors from our customers. The behaviors are buy, used, site and direct. At the end of the day, those are the four things that drive all customer experience decisions for us.

Rob Houser: Customer experience has changed our business model to annual contracts. So for us, that is the “stay” part. It is especially important, because every year customers have a new chance to go. So we want to make sure that at that decision point, they are already very engaged with us and we have engaged with them throughout the year and provided value to them and demonstrated that value through our Sage Advisor projects.

Esteban Kolsky: Essentially, there are a few points in there that do matter. First of all, experience could be what the customer experiences or the employee experiences or what the partner experiences or what somebody else experiences.

It is not only what they see or what they hear. But it has to do with everything. The customer experience is what happens to the customer from the moment they first hear about the company to the moment they don’t want to hear about it anymore.

Host Ginger Conlon: That is a great point. Customer service is just one part of the customer experience. Customer experience may be marketing communications you receive or the Tiffany Blue Box as you open it. All of the different ways that you interact and all of the different touch points.

Rob Houser: The experience is not the big part of where we are transitioning now, because we have had a lot of really good successes in individual areas across the company and improving customer experience. But they are not tied together, they are not consistent and they sometimes don’t even seem like they are from the same company.

That is our big revolution right now. It is trying to take the Sage Advisor umbrella and use that to pull together that ending experience.

Host Ginger Conlon: Ashish, you were saying you have those four stages. How does that actually work for the customer?

Ashish Bisaria: You have to view everything from a company’s viewpoint and a customer’s viewpoint. If you take the filter of the company viewpoint, there is a theory of what the company wants to be, how they want to deliver the services, the brand and the experience but there is the reality.

A customer experience job is to take the theory - which is the design aspect, the reality, the execution aspect - and minimize the gap between design and execution.
If you use the same concept from a customer viewpoint, the customer has a theory of what doing business with us is. That is their expectation. But then there is the reality of when they do business with us and that is the perception.

When their expectation is lower than perception, we have done all of the right things. When their perception (which is their reality) is lower than their expectation, that is the experience gap.

We look at those four boxes on every thing we do to minimize the execution gap and to minimize perception gap.

Host Ginger Conlon: That’s great. So Rob, can you talk a little bit about how Sage Advisor works and how you are using that to retain your customers?

Rob Houser: We have lots of data about how customers are using the products, how many ways they process payroll and how often they process payroll. Transactional kind of stuff that you talked about earlier. But also how long they spend on each screen, whether they use the slow way or the new faster way of doing things or if they customize the application. We can see how many times they call support, what those issues were about on support, what other services they have bought, what industries they are in.

We start to take all of that data and create a common place for our employees to go. When they are talking to that customer - be it is sales, support or user experience, people trying to provide productivity tips and training suggestions - we make sure that they start from, ‘I know what you need. We know you are a manufacturing company, we know you have four users who are sort of new to the system, here is some training that helps them be more productive.’

It is that personalized kind of experience that we are trying to strive for by leveraging the data that helps us to know who they are from the time we start interacting with them.

Esteban Kolsky: The experience is not only about what the customer gets, it is about how both entities get to win and how you get a win/win situation.

Host Ginger Conlon: There has to be a better fit for the company. You can’t just do it because you want to be nice. That’s great, but it is not going to be long term.

Esteban Kolsky: Instead of, ‘Oh we have to deal what the customer says,’ and you just rush and try to do everything without considering what the benefit to the company is. That’s where we come in - to get a better balance.

Ashish Bisaria: If I may add to this, one of the typical challenges for customer experience is what we should focus on. What is the customer asking us to change? Traditional customer experience surveys have a focus on scales - 1 to 10 - right and wrong, good or bad, etc.

Our customer experience service isn’t about right and wrong, good or bad. We actually talk to them about the ten different times that the customer interacts with us, and we ask them, ‘What do you want us to focus on improving for the year 2013? If you have to pick one area that we can make better for you what would that be?’

Once we have their priority, we do a second level of deep dive into that topic and say, ‘What part of that business experience and interaction with you is broken or needs improvement?’ That sets the 2013 priority.

It is a very focused way of getting the rest of the customer’s voice into the boardroom and driving improvements.

This interview on customer experience is part of the One on One interview series with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To see the full interview, view the video above.

Using Customer Experience to Drive Future Improvements

Enjoy this panel discussion on the topic of customer experience from the Social Biz Atlanta Conference. The participants are Ashish Bisaria, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Manheim, along with Rob Houser, Senior Director of Product Management for Sage Software.  As well as Esteban Kolsky, Founder and Principal of ThinkJar and host, Ginger Conlon, Editor-in-Chief at Direct Marketing News.

* * * * *

Host Ginger Conlon: Can you talk a little bit about what customer experience means in your company? Esteban can you give the broader definition, if there is one, of customer experience? Ashish, you want to start us off?

Ashish Bisaria: Manheim is the world’s largest used car auction house. So we take all of the used cars and bring the buyers and sellers together in a B2B.

Customer experience for our company is about driving full behaviors from our customers. The behaviors are buy, used, site and direct. At the end of the day, those are the four things that drive all customer experience decisions for us.

Rob Houser: Customer experience has changed our business model to annual contracts. So for us, that is the “stay” part. It is especially important, because every year customers have a new chance to go. So we want to make sure that at that decision point, they are already very engaged with us and we have engaged with them throughout the year and provided value to them and demonstrated that value through our Sage Advisor projects.

Esteban Kolsky: Essentially, there are a few points in there that do matter. First of all, experience could be what the customer experiences or the employee experiences or what the partner experiences or what somebody else experiences.

It is not only what they see or what they hear. But it has to do with everything. The customer experience is what happens to the customer from the moment they first hear about the company to the moment they don’t want to hear about it anymore.

Host Ginger Conlon: That is a great point. Customer service is just one part of the customer experience. Customer experience may be marketing communications you receive or the Tiffany Blue Box as you open it. All of the different ways that you interact and all of the different touch points.

Rob Houser: The experience is not the big part of where we are transitioning now, because we have had a lot of really good successes in individual areas across the company and improving customer experience. But they are not tied together, they are not consistent and they sometimes don’t even seem like they are from the same company.

That is our big revolution right now. It is trying to take the Sage Advisor umbrella and use that to pull together that ending experience.

Host Ginger Conlon: Ashish, you were saying you have those four stages. How does that actually work for the customer?

Ashish Bisaria: You have to view everything from a company’s viewpoint and a customer’s viewpoint. If you take the filter of the company viewpoint, there is a theory of what the company wants to be, how they want to deliver the services, the brand and the experience but there is the reality.

A customer experience job is to take the theory - which is the design aspect, the reality, the execution aspect - and minimize the gap between design and execution.
If you use the same concept from a customer viewpoint, the customer has a theory of what doing business with us is. That is their expectation. But then there is the reality of when they do business with us and that is the perception.

When their expectation is lower than perception, we have done all of the right things. When their perception (which is their reality) is lower than their expectation, that is the experience gap.

We look at those four boxes on every thing we do to minimize the execution gap and to minimize perception gap.

Host Ginger Conlon: That’s great. So Rob, can you talk a little bit about how Sage Advisor works and how you are using that to retain your customers?

Rob Houser: We have lots of data about how customers are using the products, how many ways they process payroll and how often they process payroll. Transactional kind of stuff that you talked about earlier. But also how long they spend on each screen, whether they use the slow way or the new faster way of doing things or if they customize the application. We can see how many times they call support, what those issues were about on support, what other services they have bought, what industries they are in.

We start to take all of that data and create a common place for our employees to go. When they are talking to that customer - be it is sales, support or user experience, people trying to provide productivity tips and training suggestions - we make sure that they start from, ‘I know what you need. We know you are a manufacturing company, we know you have four users who are sort of new to the system, here is some training that helps them be more productive.’

It is that personalized kind of experience that we are trying to strive for by leveraging the data that helps us to know who they are from the time we start interacting with them.

Esteban Kolsky: The experience is not only about what the customer gets, it is about how both entities get to win and how you get a win/win situation.

Host Ginger Conlon: There has to be a better fit for the company. You can’t just do it because you want to be nice. That’s great, but it is not going to be long term.

Esteban Kolsky: Instead of, ‘Oh we have to deal what the customer says,’ and you just rush and try to do everything without considering what the benefit to the company is. That’s where we come in - to get a better balance.

Ashish Bisaria: If I may add to this, one of the typical challenges for customer experience is what we should focus on. What is the customer asking us to change? Traditional customer experience surveys have a focus on scales - 1 to 10 - right and wrong, good or bad, etc.

Our customer experience service isn’t about right and wrong, good or bad. We actually talk to them about the ten different times that the customer interacts with us, and we ask them, ‘What do you want us to focus on improving for the year 2013? If you have to pick one area that we can make better for you what would that be?’

Once we have their priority, we do a second level of deep dive into that topic and say, ‘What part of that business experience and interaction with you is broken or needs improvement?’ That sets the 2013 priority.

It is a very focused way of getting the rest of the customer’s voice into the boardroom and driving improvements.

This interview on customer experience is part of the One on One interview series with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To see the full interview, view the video above.

New Study Finds Pinterest Can Get You Clicks To e-Commerce Site

In terms of social media outlets, Pinterest is a relative newcomer, and one that is growing fast. Reaching ten million users faster than any other social network, it revolves around the metaphor of a pin board; users “pin” photos they find and organize them into topical collections. Users can also follow one another a re-pin, like, and comment on other pins.

Eric Gilbert, a professor at the School of Interactive Computer at Georgia Tech, has done a first-of-its-kind study concerning Pinterest. Using statistical data, the study sought to examine the driving forces behind the activity on Pinterest. His study finds that female users have more re-pins, regardless of geographical locations, men typically have more followers than women, and that four verbs set Pinterest apart from Twitter: “use,” “look,” “want,” and “need.”

According to Gilbert, these verbs uniquely describe Pinterest, and say a lot about the intent of people and the motivation for their actions. These verbs illustrate the consumption that lies at the heart of the site, and many press articles focusing on the potential for commercial applications for Pinterest back this.

One of the factors for looking into Pinterest, according to Loren Terveen, a co-author of the study, is the difference of Pinterest compared with other social media. Pinterest focuses on pictures, products, and boasts a large proportion of women users. Examining the statistics of the pins allow Gilbert and his team to provide a basis for understanding the motivation for people on the site.

How will this impact your business? A recent market survey showed that a higher proportion of Pinterest users click through to e-commerce sites. Not only that, but when they do they are more likely to spend significantly more money than users who come through Facebook or Twitter. “There are several social networking sites that marketers and advertisers can take advantage of these days,” said Gilbert. “After conducting this research, if I had to choose where to put my money and marketing, Pinterest would probably be my first choice.”

New Study Finds Pinterest Can Get You Clicks To e-Commerce Site

In terms of social media outlets, Pinterest is a relative newcomer, and one that is growing fast. Reaching ten million users faster than any other social network, it revolves around the metaphor of a pin board; users “pin” photos they find and organize them into topical collections. Users can also follow one another a re-pin, like, and comment on other pins.

Eric Gilbert, a professor at the School of Interactive Computer at Georgia Tech, has done a first-of-its-kind study concerning Pinterest. Using statistical data, the study sought to examine the driving forces behind the activity on Pinterest. His study finds that female users have more re-pins, regardless of geographical locations, men typically have more followers than women, and that four verbs set Pinterest apart from Twitter: “use,” “look,” “want,” and “need.”

According to Gilbert, these verbs uniquely describe Pinterest, and say a lot about the intent of people and the motivation for their actions. These verbs illustrate the consumption that lies at the heart of the site, and many press articles focusing on the potential for commercial applications for Pinterest back this.

One of the factors for looking into Pinterest, according to Loren Terveen, a co-author of the study, is the difference of Pinterest compared with other social media. Pinterest focuses on pictures, products, and boasts a large proportion of women users. Examining the statistics of the pins allow Gilbert and his team to provide a basis for understanding the motivation for people on the site.

How will this impact your business? A recent market survey showed that a higher proportion of Pinterest users click through to e-commerce sites. Not only that, but when they do they are more likely to spend significantly more money than users who come through Facebook or Twitter. “There are several social networking sites that marketers and advertisers can take advantage of these days,” said Gilbert. “After conducting this research, if I had to choose where to put my money and marketing, Pinterest would probably be my first choice.”

An Innovative Way Out Of This Mess

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” right? I think, however, a good case could also be made for panic being the father in that equation.

Being a cartoonist means having deadlines be they from a client or self-imposed. Early on, they really stressed me out. But these days, I’m pretty comfortable with them because I recognize them for what they offer us creative folk - a good kick in the pants.

In fact, just last week I was completely out of ideas and had just two days until I had a new batch of cartoons due.

Funny how all of a sudden - the ideas started flowing.

3 Good Reasons for Small Businesses to Implement Accounting Software

For those who missed this news, April’2013 was declared by President Barrack Obama as the National Financial Capability month, encouraging individuals and businesses alike to improve their understanding of all aspects of financial management that impact them.

In an extremely well timed survey Sage Software, a leading provider of software solutions for businesses, has recently concluded a survey among more than 700 small American businesses, 54% of which were users of its accounting software.  The March 2013 survey throws up some interesting comparisons between businesses that were using the Sage account software and those which were not using any accounting software.

Concern on financial management knowledge

While both users and non-users expressed confidence in being able to manage financial aspects of their business, more businesses that had not implemented any accounting software felt that they needed greater knowledge in managing accounts receivable, accounts payable as well as invoicing. On the other hand, accounting software users felt they needed more knowledge on other aspects of their business such as payroll and inventory management.

Higher time spent on accounting tasks

The starkest difference in the responses between the two groups was when they were asked to evaluate the time spent on accounting activities.  Majority of businesses that were non-users expressed the need to spend lower time managing all aspects of their accounting which included payroll, inventory management, invoicing and accounts receivables and payables. In contrast, only a small percentage of users of accounting software felt that they needed to reduce time spent managing their accounting activities. Clearly, users are able to focus on other aspects of their business, while non-users seem to be left handling core accounting issues.

Higher time spent on taxes

This is the other major category of difference between the two groups. Non-users were found to be spending much more time trying to do their taxes compared to the group which were users.  As per Connie Certusi, executive vice president and general manager at Sage Small Business Solutions, “The tax system over the past 13 years has seen an astonishing 4,400 legislative changes”.  The growing complexity of the tax system also translated to concerns on compliance, with 29% of non-users expressing concern about income tax compliance of their business versus only 17 % of Sage users.

Clearly, by implementing an accounting software businesses save productive time which, can be used to manage other aspects of business.  Computerized accounting also reduces the risk businesses face due to changing taxation rules since most of these are incorporated in the program upgrades issued by companies such as Sage ( it has just released the Sage 50 Accounting 2014 product line).

At Smallbiztechnology.com we have often reviewed topics, such as cloud based accounting apps, tax deductibles for business and  prepaid cards for managing expenses, that can help growing businesses be better equipped to manage financial aspects of their company. If you would like more information on any particular aspect of financial management of your business then do let us know and we will dig out the most relevant information.

Citrix Launch New Video Conferencing Tools With GoToWebcast

California tech company Citrix has launched its latest video conferencing tool for businesses, GoToWebcast, which allows professionals to efficiently broadcast large scale events. The webcasting tool is available on subscription and gives the user access to unlimited live audio and video presentations as well as making the content available on demand.

GoToWebcast, which can reach an audience of up to 5,000, can be accessed on a variety of devices including smartphones, tablets, and desktop devices. This is a key component of the tool, allowing for on-the-go events.

Setting up an eventis kept quite simple. The administrator simply has to set a date and the size of the audience, after that they’ll need to decide on whether they are broadcasting live or simply recording a notice or meeting to be streamed on demand for their clients, colleagues or whoever it may be.

“Audiences are becoming increasingly dispersed as a result of mobile workstyles,” says Bernardo de Albergaria, the VP and GM of SaaS Products & Markets for Citrix. “It’s becoming ever more important for organizations to find new and engaging ways to connect with geographically distributed audiences.”

He continued: “Video is proven to make meetings more productive and attendees more involved and attentive. The launch of GoToWebcast and addition of HDFaces to GoToWebinar and GoToTraining, alongside our award-winning GoToMeeting tool, gives users the widest range of options for connecting with a mass audience including customers, partners, employees and extended team members.”

Citrix previously released GoToMeeting with HDFaces in 2011 , a videoconferencing platform that allows for crystal clear webcam meetings with your colleagues. This was followed up by GoToWebinar and GoToTraining, where people working in the teaching or training professions also found use for the tool in further communicating with students.

The subscription-based GoToWebcast also leverages high definition video capabilities for a stunning visual for your meeting and has received many endorsements from different professionals.

Pamela Slim is an author, public speaker and business coach, who is a big advocate of Citrix’s development, commenting “The very best presenters make audience members feel like they are talking directly to them. With the new video capabilities in GoToWebcast this powerful, personal connection will be amplified. I can’t wait to use it for my webinars, live events and training sessions.”

New Service Helps Cut Through the Stack of Resumes To Find Qualified Hourly Employees

Online job hunting is more popular than ever, with job seekers heading to the Internet to search job openings on Monster and Indeed. For most businesses, this means a pool of easy-to-reach workers who search online job listings daily. But for small businesses in need of hourly workers, these sites can be frustrating, as workers scroll through pages of salaried and contract positions looking for one local job that fits their needs.

Traditionally, small businesses have relied on walk-in applicants and classified ads to fill open slots. But these methods seem dated by today’s standards. Small businesses need a way to reach all of those hourly workers without forcing them to weed through all those other postings. Those business owners also need a way to narrow down the field of candidates to only those most qualified to fill a posted position.

In late April, Jobaline stepped up to help businesses reach the 74 million hourly employees in America today. But the site goes beyond simply offering job postings. Jobaline provides a screening service that ensures each candidate meets a business’s basic criteria. Since many hiring managers spend hours going through job applicants, screening candidates, and conducting interviews, Jobaline’s service is able to free up time by doing some of that pre-screening work for businesses.

“Jobaline is a platform specifically designed for the needs of the hourly jobs segment, where actual interviews are a better pre-screening tool than stand-alone resumes and application forms,” said Jobaline co-founder and CEO Luis Salazar. “During our one-month beta period, which ran from mid-March to mid-April, we found that for businesses posting across industries â€" from fast food chains to retail sales and business administration â€" hiring managers received hundreds of applications, each within 2 days of posting a job. That volume of applicants can be completely overwhelming for a store or program manager who is tasked with hiring in addition to doing his own job.”

Jobaline found that during the beta trial period, Jobaline was able to save hiring managers hours of work by conducting thousands of interviews each week. Because Jobaline is bilingual, Spanish candidates can apply, as well. Jobaline has also built in the ability for workers to apply via tablet or smartphone, integrating with social media sites and job boards to help employers find candidates through referrals and connections. Job postings and pre-screenings are free. Employers only pay for contact information on those pre-screened applicants that have captured their interest.

Currently, Jobaline is being tested in Seattle and Miami, with plans to expand in the near future. Job seekers can use Jobaline for free-they need only go to https://www.jobaline.com/ and search through jobs created using the Jobaline platform. Those jobs may be aggregated from online classified ads, job posting sites, or even traditional print media. Workers can even apply for a job via text message or online without having to worry about ads.

To learn more about Jobaline, visit https://www.jobaline.com/ and click “Try it now.” You’ll be able to choose from a selection of pre-screening criteria to ensure you hear from only those applicants who meet your minimum requirements.

Finally: A Simple Solution for Preventing Fraud

In today’s economically challenged environment, businesses are getting more and more creative in what they offer in the way of discounts to targeted groups such as the military or college students.  Unfortunately, these types of special offerings open the doors for some people fraudulently claiming to be a member of the discounted group.   Thankfully for small businesses there is SheerID, an Oregon-based verification software technology company that offers small businesses the ability to instantly verify consumer credentials at the point of sale.  This system allows small business owners to continue to build their customer base without the risk of losing money to fraudulent claims.

“Using SheerID, retailers can aggressively target groups like students, teachers, military families and small businesses without worrying about discount fraud or margin erosion,” says Jake Weatherly, CEO.  “The more targeted and compelling your campaign is, the more strategic and efficient your messaging and reach are, and the higher your ROI.  The big picture is that businesses that support the student community, recognize teachers, and honor military service establish remarkable brand equity through goodwill, and these brands are heavily evangelized by word of mouth and in social media.”

By accessing exclusive government databases, SheerID provides real-time information that allows small business owners the opportunity to offer discounts and retain certain customers without having to deal with fraudulent claims and thereby losing profits.  SheerID acts a bridge between secure databases allowing commercial enterprises to accurately and instantly verify whether or not their customer qualifies for a special discount like student, active duty military, veteran, or teacher discounts.  SheerID can be used for free and comes with a verification plug-in that can be configured for any e-commerce website, internal customer sales system, mobile application, or POS.

SheerID helps to take away to burden of verifying the target groups of a business so that business owners can focus on providing great customer service without worrying about getting ripped off.  As Weatherly puts it, “By using SheerID to instantly verify eligibility for exclusive offers, e-commerce stores and businesses can be confident that only customers in their target market can redeem their exclusive discounts and special offers.”

Tech Thursday (5/23): News From Kaufmann, LegalZoom, Zoho, Palo Alto, and HP

It’s Tech Thursday from Smallbiztechnology.com. Each week we take a quick look at business and technology news and updates for the small business community and share them with you in a quick and simple round-up.

Startup Business Owners Optimistic About Growth in 2013, Kauffman/LegalZoom Index Shows

Entrepreneurs’ confidence reaches the highest level since the quarterly survey was initiated

Early-stage business owners’ confidence is climbing, according to the first-quarter 2013 Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index, released April 30th, by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom. Eighty-four percent of entrepreneurs said they are confident or very confident in their companies’ prospects for profitability in the next 12 months, which is the highest confidence level since the survey launched early last year and reflects a 1 percent increase over the fourth-quarter 2012 survey. Furthermore, confidence levels of the youngest entrepreneurs - those 18 to 30 years old - started to rebound, as 96 percent reported they were confident or very confident that their businesses’ profitability will increase in the year ahead, a 3 percent jump over fourth quarter 2012. Confidence levels among other age groups fell as the entrepreneurs’ ages increased. Nevertheless, even entrepreneurs aged 61 and older - the oldest category - expressed 73 percent confidence in 2013 profitabilty.

For all the statistics, click here. 

 

Zoho Launches Card Scanner App for iPhone

Zoho launches of Card Scanner, an online business card scanning application for Zoho CRM. 

Zoho announced the launch of Card Scanner, an online business card scanning application for Zoho CRM. Now, users can take a photo of a business card and Card Scanner intelligently converts the image to text that is automatically saved either as a new contact or lead in Zoho CRM or as a new contact in Card Scanner. Card Scanner currently supports the iPhone and will support iPad and Android devices going forward. With the launch of Card Scanner app, Zoho users can now eliminate the process of manually entering data into their CRM module. The Card Scanner extracts names, company information, phone numbers, email addresses, Twitter handles and other card information â€" regardless of business card size, font and format. Users who don’t use Zoho CRM can store card information in the Card Scanner’s native contact manager.

For all the card scanner functions, click here. 

 

Palo Alto Software Collaborates with MasterCard

Providing Innovative Lean Planning and Management Software Solutions to Small Businesses. New relationship aims to better serve the small business market.

Palo Alto Software announced at the Finovate conference in San Francisco a new relationship with MasterCard that will help drive small business success.
LivePlan, a business management tool from Palo Alto Software, will be available at an automatic discount to enrolled members of the MasterCard Easy Savings® Program. In addition, LivePlan will be integrated into the MasterCard Business Network, an online resource designed to streamline business operations and enhance productivity for small and mid-sized businesses.

LivePlan includes a pitch builder tool that helps business owners create a visual summary of their business model and market opportunity, a template for developing a lender-ready business plan, and a Scoreboard feature that allows a business owner to track their actual financial performance against their plan. If a company uses QuickBooks for Windows they can also connect their QuickBooks data to their LivePlan Scoreboard and see how their business is doing with a single click.

For all the details on LivePlan, click here.

 

HP Expands x2 Detachable PC Portfolio to Enable Ultimate Flexibility

New two-in-one detachable PCs with Android or Windows 8 offer mobility and productivity.

HP announced the HP SlateBook x2 and the HP Split x2, two detachable PCs that offer the full functionality of a notebook with a removable screen that also is a sleek tablet.
Powered by the Android and Microsoft® Windows® 8 operating systems (OS), respectively, these versatile two-in-one devices combine power and portability, giving customers the flexibility to create, consume and share content in more places.
HP’s unmatched portfolio of next-generation PCs is designed to enable users to connect with their information on devices that easily adapt to their needs. By releasing the magnetic hinge, users can move elegantly between the two form factorsâ€"tablet and notebook PCâ€"all in one device.
The HP SlateBook x2 and Split x2 join the award-winning HP ENVY x2 as part of HP’s detachable PC portfolio. The HP SlateBook x2 also joins the HP Slate7 as part of HP’s push to offer access to the Google experience, and to provide access through multile operating systems. 

For all the information, click here.

Who Needs a Web Designer? These DIY Services Put You in Charge

At one time, building a website was as simple as slapping a logo and some information into FrontPage. But today’s websites are far more complex, integrating with social media, allowing for online purchasing, and even incorporating graphics and sliders for visual appeal.

All of this can have small business owners feeling as though they have to pay thousands to a professional web designer to have a competitive site. But do-it-yourself services give business owners the chance to set their site up the way they want it to look. Updates are immediate and business owners save money-everyone wins.

But with so many DIY services, small business owners are challenged to pick the one that’s right for them. To help determine which site helps your own individual needs, here are a few recommendations from small business owners in a variety of industries.

Casey Armstrong, online marketer: Squarespace blows everybody out of the water. They are the best DIY website-building software. They offer an easy-to use platform to create custom websites with many professional templates, plus they include hosting. It is a no-brainer for small businesses to get their site up and running in days versus weeks or months. Also, they offer the capabilities for complete customization if/when you are ready for that.

Steven Hausman, professional speaker: I am a professional speaker and created my website using RVSiteBuilder, which is provided free of charge by my web hosting company. In my opinion, it does a good job and enables anyone from the novice to advanced level to put together a website without a lot of trouble. One advantage is that it can be accomplished either using WYSIWYG or by going directly into the HTML if you want to do something fancy.

Ruben Ugarte, IT training business co-founder: I have two go-to tools when I’m looking to build a new website. If I’m looking for something that will be simple to set up and simple to maintain, then my go-to choice is Wix.com. If I’m looking for something that is a little more flexible but harder to maintain, then I go for a self-hosted
installation of WordPress. They are both great tools, but they have very different technical requirements and uses.

Diane Hamilton, managing partner, app development: We had wanted to rebuild our company website for a couple of years, however we kept putting it off. We knew it was going to require a lot of time and effort if we did it ourselves and cost more than we were willing to pay if we contracted out. That was until we found a website theme on mysitemyway.com and realized how easy it was to implement and support a website using WordPress and our new theme. With these tools, we were able to get the bulk of our new website done in just about a week and were so confident with it, we launched it in March along with a major release of our most popular app.

Sean Gibson, rotary club PR consultant: I created and continue to manage the Franklin Rotary Club’s website. We recently were awarded the best rotary website award for our district! I use SiteDart.net and their DIY web presence builder. The builder is intuitive, but I took their class on how to use the software and that really kick-started my progress in getting the Rotary Club website up and running. Once you learn the basics of the web presence builder, changing and adding content is as easy as drag-and-drop.

When it comes to DIY web design, businesses have numerous options. WordPress templates are available both through the WordPress site and through WordPress template providers. Drag-and-drop services may be easier for those business owners who want to be more in control of how everything looks. But for some small businesses, the best option may be a hybrid between DIY and hiring a development team: hiring a designer to customize a template of your choosing to fit your own particular needs.

Whatever you choose, be sure your website is set up to allow you to easily update content, like your blog and news section. If yours is an e-commerce site, also be sure you’re comfortable uploading new products and changing prices. A regularly-updated site keeps customers coming back and helps improve search engine visibility. The right DIY service will give you the ability to update your site as often as you’d like without requiring extensive technical know-how to create.

It’s Tumblr Time! 10 Tips For Using Tumblr To Market Your Small Business

Yesterday was a big day in Yahoo‘s quest to remain relevant. They purchased Tumblr for $1.1 billion and significantly revamped Flickr. And in buying Tumblr, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promised its millions of users that they wouldn’t “screw it up.”

Tumblr users are full of fear over the acquisition, but Forbes has a number of reasons why Yahoo + Tumblr will be good for users.

So, what is Tumblr and what made it worth that hefty chunk of change? Tumblr is a microblogging platform, but it’s not like Twitter. You can write long posts, short posts, or just post pictures, audio or video, and if someone else likes what you’ve posted, they will “reblog” the post to their own blog. Their followers will see the post and if they like it, they’ll also reblog it, and so on.

When a Tumblr user follows you, all of your posts appear on their Dashboard. They scroll through, look at all their followers’ posts and reblog what they really like.

There are no comments by default on Tumblr posts (though some Tumblr themes offer Disqus integration). If users want to say something about a post, they can reblog it and add their own text to the end of the post. The bottom of a Tumblr post will frequently have a discussion unfolding:

So as you can see, Tumblr has built-in engagement and built-in viral potential. It’s very, very easy for something to go viral as it’s just two clicks for a reader to share your post with their followers. But is Tumblr worth $1.1 Billion dollars? Well, Tumblr just may be worth the money because of how active and engaged their community of users is. And then add in the fact that the users love Tumblr. It’s not like Facebook, where a lot of users don’t really care for the way things are run at the top and are constantly annoyed by privacy changes. Tumblr users love Tumblr.

When it comes to marketing, if you’ve done any marketing on Pinterest, you have a leg up. The same sorts of things that work well on Pinterest work well on Tumblr. Let’s get into it:

1. Be visual. Animated GIFs, and funny or interesting pictures are a great way to get out there. If you have a visually interesting product, a well-designed, beautiful product, or a way to integrate your product into something that makes it topical or humourous (preferably both), that’s the way to go. Tumblr loves cats, Benedict Cumberbatch, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, etc. To recap: Be beautiful, animated, or funny, or all three.
2. Use Tags. This is key to getting found. If you’re using something topical, tag it. If you’re posting a well-designed product, tag it ‘design,’ or ‘art.’ If you’re posting about your ad firm, tag it ‘advertising.’ If you’re posting about Benedict Cumberbatch, tag your post ‘Benedict Cumberbatch.’ But remember: only the first five tags count. If your sixth tag is ‘chicken,’ anyone searching for ‘chicken’ will not find your post. Tags just stop working for those purposes after the fifth, so choose five tags very wisely.
   
3. Reblog others. Engage with others on Tumblr by liking and responding to their posts. It’s quite difficult for Tumblr blogs to gain any traction without reblogging as much as they blog.
4. Be new and fascinating. The major business successes on Tumblr are actually news organizations or magazines like the New York Times Style Magazine and Rolling Stone. Publications that are posting pictures, news and article excerpts. In addition to the frivolous content I mentioned in the first tip, people on Tumblr also like to share the news, and interesting trivia.
5. Focus on a niche. You don’t necessarily have to, but it helps! You could blog about specific kinds of software, electronics, or tips related to your service business.
6. Post smart. Tumblr’s using skew young, so the best times to post are before 7 AM (before school/work), around noon, and before suppertime.
7. If you want analytics, you’ll have to find them elsewhere. If you want to know who is visiting your Tumblr, you’ll have to install Google Analytics or something similar, because Tumblr doesn’t have any analytics features or hit counters.
8. Keep it short and sweet. A blog post like the one you’re reading is rare on Tumblr. Short posts are the most rebloggable. Pictures and GIFs are even better.
9. Connect. There is an option to automatically tweet a link to your Tumblr post upon publication. Connect your Twitter and your Facebook and anything else to your Tumblr. You want your potential customers to be able to see your content everywhere.
10. Don’t be a dashboard-to-dashboard salesperson. As I said in this article about social media marketing, you must be tactful in your foray into social media. You don’t want potential customers thinking you’re invading their social space with unwanted and unsolicited advertisement. Wrapping your message in a palatable wrapper is difficult, but it pays off big. Look at K-Mart’s Ship My Pants campaign. The ad’s been seen over 17 million times, and it’s because they used humor to educate their audience on their business’s newest features. It was all over Tumblr.

Are you on Tumblr? I am! Post a link to your Tumblr in the comments! And let us know what you think about Yahoo’s latest acquisition!

‘FindTheBest’ Becomes A One-Stop Decision Shop For Small Businesses

When looking into buying hardware, software or services for your business, often the sheer number of options is overwhelming. Which laptops are better for your business? What corporate credit card is the best fit for your employees? What is the cheapest all-in-one printer that still offers all the features you need? For many, each one of these questions would boil down to hours on the internet, running to the closest electronics store, and the pressure of wondering how to outfit your business.

FindTheBest.com is a comparison site that seeks to eliminate the stress involved with buying for your business. FindTheBest aggregates information from credible sources, such as CNET, PC World, PC Magazine, as well as copious amounts of user reviews to provide relevant,
personalized, unbiased information that helps small businesses easily make well-informed decisions.

Testing out the process, I chose to look for a budget laptop that will fit my budget for under $1000, with enough hard drive space for anything my employees may need and a long battery life. FindTheBest found 41 different options, which I then narrowed down by selecting screens larger than 15 inches. I’m then left with 22 options, one of them receiving a 97 “Smart Rating.” Upon clicking it, I can see comparative prices from various stores, user ratings, and reviews from credible websites.

And laptops are just the tip of the iceberg. FindTheBest delves into nearly anything you could need, from computer to tablets, to software and printers. And it doesn’t stop at business. FindTheBest can help you to choose a dog, college, resort, or motorcycle, and dozens of other things. Helpful in and out of the office, FindTheBest is a great one-stop-shop when looking for find just the right thing in your life. With comparison lists, “Best of” sections, buying guides, and blogs run by knowledgeable people, FindTheBest is easily one of the most comprehensive and hassle free websites to assist in your buying needs.

How Appointment Scheduling Software Helped A Fitness Business Triple It’s Revenue

Do you ever wish you had the skills of a master juggler when it came to scheduling and keeping track of appointments? Or better yet what if you had a genie to help you get the day’s work organized? I simply couldn’t help but draw these comparisons when I read about this next technology success story.

The business is Body by John, a progressive training company and the technology is an online appointment scheduling software called Appointment- plus.

John Edmond, Founder of Body by John, started his business as a sole fitness trainer in 2007. Not surprisingly as the client base grew he found it increasingly difficult to schedule appointments, having tried a paper appointment book and even turning to his Blackberry. John realized that he was spending several hours a day trying to manage bookings, losing valuable productive hours.

In 2010, he deployed Appointment-plus to help schedule his business appointments. As per John, using Appointment- plus scheduling software helped to grow his business in the following ways:

• Tripled business revenue
• Increased his client base from 60 to 160
• Expanded business operations to a staff of nine

Rather than having a dedicated staff to manage appointments, the software allows Body by John clients go online and create their own profiles and exercise schedules.  Customers can track sessions and update contact information on their personal profiles. This ensures that text / email reminders sent from the scheduling software have a higher hit rate, thereby lowering session drop outs and improving business revenue. John also added a ‘Book Now’ button to the company website, newsletters and Facebook and Twitter pages.  New customers booking through the scheduler were offered a free assessment session.

Starting out from a 740 square-foot studio, Body by John now operates out of a 2,400 square-foot facility. They were able to revamp their fitness sessions to include boot camps, spin classes, yoga, kettle bell training and group events.  Not having to keep a staff to manage appointments meant lower salary expenses, allowing John to invest the money instead in more critical aspects of the business.

Prior to choosing Appointment-Plus, John tested several other appointments scheduling software. His decision to go with Appointment-Plus was based on its unique features, such as repeat customer reminders (which are sent automatically after a specific length of time has expired between appointments), online credit card processing, the ease of navigation on the site and the customer support received.

Appointment -plus can be used not only to manage the external customers, but also internal teams. Use it for scheduling team tasks or meetings, with email/ text reminders being sent to all concerned. The software works in sync with email accounts, allowing customers and staff to revert on reminders received via email. If your staff is constantly on the move, the Appointment-plus software is also available as an app for android and Apple mobile devices. Some of the bigger enterprises that have used Appointment -plus include the likes of Nike, American Red Cross, CISCO, the U.S Army and John Hopkins University.

The Appointment -plus basic package starts at $39 a month and includes multiple round the clock scheduling, online booking by clients and access on mobile devices.  Most of the monthly plans on offer have a free trial period of 15 days.

For small businesses an appointment scheduler can be an effective way of reducing overheads, adding to revenue and delivering value for clients - just as it did for Body by John.

NYC Events: Upcoming NYC Business and Technology Events (5/24 - 5/30)

Here is a listing of NYC Business and Technology Events for the upcoming week (5/24 - 5/30) that we thought would be beneficial to our small business community in the Greater NYC area.

Have a business and/or technology event coming up in the New York City area that you’d like us to add to our weekly post? If so, email us at eve...@smallbiztechnology.com.

How To Build A Million Dollar Site With Chris Broadway

May 24, 2013, - 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, WeWork Labs, 175 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014

Our May Meetup will consist of a 40 minute talk followed by a 20 minute Q&A with Chris “Broadway” Romero, who was previously the Co-Founder of Thisis50.com. We are always picking Broadway’s brain about making moves in the Hip Hop world. After creating Thisis50.com, Broadway has been able to work with some of Hip Hop’s biggest names in different capacities, but makes his mark on the creative and visual side of things. That video you like, chances are Broadway had something to do with it.

Besides being your favorite rapper’s go to technology guy, Broadway is a serial entrepreneur. He has served as an adviser to many startups in the Music Technology world and is always looking for a way to add value and put a dent in our world. When not working on BWAY Creative or taking on clients, Broadway is busy working as a VP at 212 Decibels as he builds out the future of Music Discovery.

 

Marketing, Trademarking, and Strategic Planning - The Next Steps for Your Business

May 29, 2013, - 6:15 PM to 8:00 PM, 33 Nassau Ave, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY

Have you started a business? Great! What’s next?
Come learn from a panel of experienced professionals how to grow your business and what the next steps are towards meeting your goals. This cohort will discuss marketing, branding, trademarking, and strategic planning. In addition, we’ll have a open Q&A session at the end of the seminar, where you can ask questions about your specific business. Free business advice? Yes, indeed.

 

How To Get Prospective Customers To Say ‘WOW’ and Close MORE Sales!

May 30, 2013, - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Regus Office Suites, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10106

What you offer is amazing, but too often prospective customers just don’t“get it”! They don’t buy or they aren’t willing to pay what you know your product or service is worth. In this seminar, we’ll show you how to overcome that so you can close more sales!

Using marketing techniques taught at Harvard Business School, Evan will show you how to dramatically increase the number of people who buy. He’ll show you a way to talk about your product or service that makes prospective customers say “WOW!”
Ramon will show you how to use the 7 steps of Lifecycle Marketing to capture leads, nurture prospects and turn customers into loyal, lifelong customers.

 

dd:IMPACT Conference Groundswell: The Next Wave of Content (presented by Digital DUMBO)

May 30, 01:00 PM to 8:30 PM, Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main St, Brooklyn 11201

At the first dd:IMPACT of 2013, “Groundswell: The Next Wave of Content,” we’ll explore how the most successful companies and brands in the world are using content and platforms to spark movements and increase their bottom lines.

We’ll examine how content allows creatives to work more closely with digital teams to create new products, partnerships, and businesses through the next wave of campaigns, experiential activations, curators, storytelling, media formats, platforms, and more.

The panel discussions will feature industry leaders from brands like The New York Times, VICE/Virtue, The Onion, MINI USA, Pulse, Digg, R/GA, Artsy, Cowbird, Narratively, Fohr Card, and more!

Google announces deployment of 2048-bit SSL certificates

Google has announced that it is to strengthen its SSL certificates, implementing 2048-bit certificates.

According to a blog post by Google director of information security engineering Stephen McHenry, the updates will be completed by the end of this year, with the new 2048-bit certificates implemented on 1st August to ensure adequate roll-out time. McHenry also said that Google will change the root certificate that signs all of its SSL certificates, as this has a 1024-bit key.

He said: “Most client software won't have any problems with either of these changes, but we know that some configurations will require some extra steps to avoid complications. This is more often true of client software embedded in devices such as certain types of phones, printers, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and cameras.”

McHenry said that client software that makes SSL connections to Google must: perform normal validation of the certificate chain; include a properly extensive set of root certificates contained; and support Subject Alternative Names (SANs).

He also recommended clients support the Server Name Indication (SNI) extension because clients may need to make an extra API call to set the hostname on an SSL connection.

Commenting, security researcher Troy Hunt said: “This looks like just an organic part of on-going efforts to strengthen their implementation, I'm sure we'll see the same thing again in a few years and they do point out ways to ensure future transitions are smooth.

“Interesting point on SNI SSL, which is not supported by Internet Explorer on Windows XP, don't know if it means those clients will be excluded and will fall back to an alternate implementation.”

Last summer, Microsoft also announced that it would be rejecting any certificates with fewer than 2048 bits, even if they were currently valid and signed by a trusted certificate authority.

Google announces deployment of 2048-bit SSL certificates

Google has announced that it is to strengthen its SSL certificates, implementing 2048-bit certificates.

According to a blog post by Google director of information security engineering Stephen McHenry, the updates will be completed by the end of this year, with the new 2048-bit certificates implemented on 1st August to ensure adequate roll-out time. McHenry also said that Google will change the root certificate that signs all of its SSL certificates, as this has a 1024-bit key.

He said: “Most client software won't have any problems with either of these changes, but we know that some configurations will require some extra steps to avoid complications. This is more often true of client software embedded in devices such as certain types of phones, printers, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and cameras.”

McHenry said that client software that makes SSL connections to Google must: perform normal validation of the certificate chain; include a properly extensive set of root certificates contained; and support Subject Alternative Names (SANs).

He also recommended clients support the Server Name Indication (SNI) extension because clients may need to make an extra API call to set the hostname on an SSL connection.

Commenting, security researcher Troy Hunt said: “This looks like just an organic part of on-going efforts to strengthen their implementation, I'm sure we'll see the same thing again in a few years and they do point out ways to ensure future transitions are smooth.

“Interesting point on SNI SSL, which is not supported by Internet Explorer on Windows XP, don't know if it means those clients will be excluded and will fall back to an alternate implementation.”

Last summer, Microsoft also announced that it would be rejecting any certificates with fewer than 2048 bits, even if they were currently valid and signed by a trusted certificate authority.