Why You Need a Comment Policy on Your Blog

If you’re running a small business blog, you probably treasure comments from readers. Comments on your blog are like the Internet version of gold stars. They mean your blog is effective, engaging and able to generate interest and discussion. Comments say, “You’re doing a good job… keep it up!” But many bloggers are so hardwired to the positive aspects of commentsâ€"any commentsâ€"that they don’t see the need for a comment policy.

Why should you have a comment policy in place? Isn’t it “restricting” your readers from having the freedom to comment any way they want, or making them jump through more of the unnecessary hoops (like Captchas and banning anonymous comments) that discourage them from commenting in the first place?

Well, yes and no.

A blog comment policy may discourage some people from commenting. But the good news is, in most cases, these aren’t the people you want to comment on your posts anyway.

What a Comment Policy Can Do For Your Readers

Spam comments, irrelevant links, advertising and offensive comments aren’t just annoying for you. They can also be off-putting to readers. One of the main purposes of a blog is to foster a sense of community. And long comment trails full of spam, promo and rude statements are like walls full of graffiti, spoiling the neighborhood.

With a blog comment policy in place, your readers are assured that they can comment and discuss in a constructive, civil environment. This acts as encouragement for those with something valuable to say, rather than Web crawlers who are just looking for more places to link to their affiliate programs.

A comment policy also says something about your business. It lets readers know that a real person is monitoring your blog and comment sections. So if they ask a question or offer a compliment, they’re likely to receive a response.

What a Comment Policy Should NOT Do

While you can and should prohibit vulgar language, rude or antagonistic comments, personal attacks and derogatory remarks from your blog comments, you should not place a general ban on disagreements or contradictory views.

Blog owners who delete criticism and rational arguments from the comments section are typically viewed as thin-skinned at best, and may be perceived as unwilling to listen. News that you’re deleting negative comments is also likely to spread and harm your brand.

The idea behind a blog is to connect with and listen to your customers and visitors, even if you don’t necessarily like what they have to say. Negative comments also give you the opportunity to offer a solution and win back dissatisfied customers.

How to Write a Comment Policy for Your Small Business

Comment policies vary as widely as the blogs they appear on. They can range from simple statements to more complex lists of restrictions and consequences (such as deleting comments or, in extreme cases, banning users).

Your comment policy should take into account your target reader and what they’ll expect to see (and not see) on your small business blog, and the type of environment you want to create on your blog.

These examples can help you create a blog comment policy.

Short blog comment policy example:

Here at (Your Blog), we welcome your commentsâ€"supportive, critical or otherwise. We do not censor or delete comments unless they contain the following: Off-topic statements or links, abusive content, vulgarity, personal attacks or spam. Those who violate this policy will be blocked from commenting.

Long blog comment policy example:

We welcome and encourage comments on (Your Blog). However, in some instances comments are subject to be edited or deleted. This includes:

• Comments that are determined to be spam or questionable spam.
• Links within comments that lead to irrelevant content or affiliate websites. Links that are relevant to the post will be permitted.
• Comments using profanity or vulgar language.
• Comments including derogatory language, or language/concepts that could be deemed offensive.
• Statements that attack another person individually.

Please follow our comment policy rules, and help us to keep this blog a safe and constructive place for discussion. We reserve the right to edit or delete comments submitted to this blog at any time without notice. This comment policy is subject to change at any time.

A comment policy can increase your blog readership and encourage more people to join in the discussion. Do you have a comment policy in place?

comment Concept Photo via Shutterstock

Ways the U.S. Government Shutdown is Affecting Small Business

As the U.S. government shutdown enters its 14th day with negotiations over the budget ongoing, how are small businesses being affected so far?

As Scott Shane pointed out last week, the U.S. government shutdown initially affected few small businesses. But as the shutdown continues, small businesses along with the rest of the economy, are beginning to feel the impact.

And if the U.S. government’s borrowing authority lapses near the end of this week on Oct. 17, it could trigger recession or worse, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

Below are ways small businesses are directly and indirectly being affected already.

Small Business Administration Closed for Business

First, the Small Business Administration remains closed for business. A notice on the SBA website indicates the agency is closed for non-distaster related activity. The site further explains that this means information won’t be updated and any transactions made through the site could be delayed.

And, of course, inquiries won’t likely be responded to because the agency is shut down and employees have been furloughed.

The shutdown has also brought a halt to all new applications for small business loan guarantees handled through the SBA.

Shutdown of Parks, Employee Furloughs Affect Some

Shutdown of all national parks and monuments, furlough of some federal employees and delay of pay to others all continue to have a trickle-down affect on small businesses, of course.

For example, lodges and other businesses dependent upon tourism around U.S. national parks are already seeing the impact, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Also, some federal workers have been sent home without pay and others in critical areas, for example in the U.S. military, are working without pay. So businesses depending heavily upon these customers are affected.

Federal Contractors May See Cash Flow Problems

Finally, while lucrative government contracts are usually cause for celebration, small businesses that have them may not feel that way now.

National Federation of Independent Business economist Bill Dunkelberg says this group will also continue to be affected, though hopefully not long term.

Still, delay in payments to government contractors may cause some to experience cash flow problems, Dunkelberg says.

And, of course, if the U.S. defaults on its debt, the situation could be much worse…for everyone.

Shutdown Photo via Shutterstock

Want To Know About All The Exciting New Technologies? Don’t Miss the Twitter Chat on October 16th with HP!

This Wednesday, October 16th, join us for a chat on Twitter to discuss exciting new technologies. This will be a great way to take part of a fun conversation, led by HP and joined by myself and Anita Campbell of Smallbiztrends, where we’ll network, exchange great information and even have a few giveaways!

During this chat we’ll be discussing how to use mobile and cloud technology to allow employees to work when they want, where they want and how they want. We’ll be discussing BYOD and the security issues that revolve around allowing your employees to use their own devices to access business information. We’ll also be discussing how to integrate those devices seamlessly with software and hardware - including printers that allow you to direct mobile print - or cloud services and storage devices, including HP Flow CM, Dropbox or Google Docs. Actually - we’ll be talking about all the latest technologies and how you can embrace IT mega trends to increase productivity in your business.

To join the Twitter Chat follow along at : #NewStyleIT

Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Time: 1pm to 2pm EST

How to Follow: Log into Twitter and follow the @HP_Smallbiz handle and add the hashtag #NewStyleIT to your tweets. You can search the hashtag to watch the full conversation and see who else is participating.

And don’t forget, Anita and I will be giving away two beautiful new HP printers! Click here for the details.

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat before and feel a little intimidated by it, then check out “How to Participate in a Twitter Chat” from Smallbiztrends and then join us on Wednesday!

Want To Know About All The Exciting New Technologies? Don’t Miss the Twitter Chat on October 16th with HP!

This Wednesday, October 16th, join us for a chat on Twitter to discuss exciting new technologies. This will be a great way to take part of a fun conversation, led by HP and joined by myself and Anita Campbell of Smallbiztrends, where we’ll network, exchange great information and even have a few giveaways!

During this chat we’ll be discussing how to use mobile and cloud technology to allow employees to work when they want, where they want and how they want. We’ll be discussing BYOD and the security issues that revolve around allowing your employees to use their own devices to access business information. We’ll also be discussing how to integrate those devices seamlessly with software and hardware - including printers that allow you to direct mobile print - or cloud services and storage devices, including HP Flow CM, Dropbox or Google Docs. Actually - we’ll be talking about all the latest technologies and how you can embrace IT mega trends to increase productivity in your business.

To join the Twitter Chat follow along at : #NewStyleIT

Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Time: 1pm to 2pm EST

How to Follow: Log into Twitter and follow the @HP_Smallbiz handle and add the hashtag #NewStyleIT to your tweets. You can search the hashtag to watch the full conversation and see who else is participating.

And don’t forget, Anita and I will be giving away two beautiful new HP printers! Click here for the details.

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat before and feel a little intimidated by it, then check out “How to Participate in a Twitter Chat” from Smallbiztrends and then join us on Wednesday!

LinkedIn Groups: Your Secret Weapon for Sales Success

Did you know that people who participate or engage in LinkedIn Group discussions get an average of four times as many profile views?

LinkedIn Groups allow you to connect with thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people. Many more than you could connect with via your first-level connections.

There are over two million groups on LinkedIn, with a focus on a variety of topics.  These include:

• Corporate
• College alumni
• Nonprofit
• Trade organizations
• Conferences
• Industry-specific
• Interests - such as skiing or animals

The popularity of LinkedIn Groups led LinkedIn to recently updating the look of Groups pages, more streamlined and visually appealing. That’s good news, because many experts believe that LinkedIn Groups offer your best chance at business development success.

Where Do You Start?

With over two million groups, sometimes it’s hard to navigate successfully in the LinkedIn Groups world.

In the newly launched book, “42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn (2nd Edition): Learning to Generate Results Using LinkedIn for Leads” (by Chris Muccio and Peggy Murrah), the authors offer some advice.  They suggest that you should:

. . .join many groups, participate in a few, manage one.

Joining Groups

LinkedIn currently allows its members to join as many as 50 groups. Of course, it’s important to join groups that match your business focus.

How do you find groups to join?

Here are some tips shared in 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn:

• Check the profiles of your most valuable LinkedIn connections and see what groups they have joined.  Then choose those groups that align with your business focus.
• Use the “Search” function in LinkedIn to find groups in a specific industry, skill set or topic.
• Once you’ve joined a group, spend time determining if the group works for you.  You’ll want to see how active the participants in the group are, as well as the types of posts and value of information being shared.  If you see self-promotion and advertising, these are red flags.

Another reason to join groups (especially those with a large number of potential prospects) is the ability to send a message to anyone in your group, even those people who aren’t first-level connections.  This functionality opens up your ability to connect with thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people you might not have any other connection with.

Participate in a Few

The same rules apply to participation in groups as they do to the rest of LinkedIn:  Provide value.  Blatant sales pitches are a big turn-off.  Instead, provide and share useful information, ask and answer questions, offer comments and recommendations.

In a word:  Participate, and do so in a thoughtful way.

Once you’ve spent time investigating groups, you’ll want to actively participate in five to ten groups.

What kind of results can you achieve through Group participation?

Notes Alison Pruett, Marketing Manager - Client Engagement, for Waco, TX-based Interview Stream:

We have seen quite a bit of success from sharing our content to industry-specific groups, the more tailored the group is to specific interests and occupations, the more quality responses we receive. One of our posts to a smaller (300 member) group tailored specifically to one occupation group resulted in three demo requests. Our activity in various groups has also helped us gain more LinkedIn Company Page followers - about a 5% growth over the last month.

Dan Freyer, owner of Los Angeles-based AdWavez Marketing, offers this example:

Through a Linkedin satellite industry group connection, I was contacted by a company in Germany that was looking to expand in the U.S. and needed a marketing and advertising agency familiar with the satellite communications marketplace. Since we had the capabilities this company sought, they hired us to help them.

Create and Manage a Group

According to LinkedIn, more than 8,000 LinkedIn Groups are created every week. While creating and managing a group requires effort, there are many benefits.

First, it offers immediate credibility.  Similar to writing a book, creating a group means putting yourself out there as an expert in a certain area, especially as you continuously provide value through content and group interactions.

Next, by being the leader of a LinkedIn Group, people want to connect with you.  Group managers usually receive many requests to connect outside of the group, as a first-level connection.

Another major benefit is the ability to send weekly email messages to group members.  This is especially powerful for those group managers who build groups of thousands or more.

Last but not least, Group Managers often get the best sales opportunities.

Notes Charles Krugel, a management-side labor and employment lawyer and human resources counselor based in Chicago, IL.:

About three years ago, I started my own LinkedIn group. It now has 2,365 members from all over the world.

Krugel has gotten business from creating and managing his group, including landing a retainer client and clients that needed project work.

Fred Schenkelberg, Reliability Engineering and Management Consultant, manages six groups, and gets 50% of his revenue from leads generated via Linkedin, up from none three years ago. Most of his revenue is generated from his ASQ Reliability Division group.

Schenkelberg participates in 10-20 groups, and finds the time to do this by working with volunteers who manage the day-to-day activities in several of his groups, and using posting services such as Buffer to post content quickly.

If you’d like to start a group, LinkedIn’s Help Center offers answers to many questions regarding setup and management of groups. LinkedIn Groups offer many opportunities for small business owners to connect with others, build relationships, and get new business.

Sales Photo via Shutterstock

Expansion of Google Wallet Creates More Opportunities for Small Business

Making it easier for customers to pay has long been a dream for small business owners.  The easier it is, the quicker the payment, the less hassle in tracking down clients for payment or fighting back the “check is in the mail” syndrome.  Thankfully, for small businesses, the race is on to develop the best digital and mobile payment systems which mean greater sophistication and ease of use for us and our clients.  One company you may have heard of, Google, recently announced that it has expanded its mobile phone payment system, Google Wallet, to now work with the iPhone.

The Google Wallet is a free app that allows you to see most everything you now have in your wallet such as credit cards, customer loyalty cards, gift cards, and even tickets to events.  The information from these cards can be stored on your Android phone or in the cloud for retrieval for use online or at brick and mortar stores.  The concept behind the Wallet is that it is meant to replace everything in your wallet, including money, and allow you to use your phone or digital device for all your transactions.

The updated version of Google Wallet is supposed to make it more competitive with PayPal and other digital payment systems by allowing the app to be used on all Android devices and on the iPhone.  Google removed the NFC, or near-field communication function (the cutesy tap-and-share function), from the app to give it more versatility.  The Wallet is compatible with MasterCard’s PayPass system with access to over 200,000 merchants including Walgreen’s Macy’s, Old Navy, Subway, and more.  Google does not charge businesses and only normal credit card fees apply.

For the small business owner, it opens up new opportunities for generating business such as offering customer loyalty and gift cards through the Wallet, discounts for paying digitally, and providing convenience for customers.  The Wallet eliminates the fear of losing a credit card or cash, forgetting tickets, and misplacing loyalty or membership cards.  In theory it should be a hit.  But according to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, Google spent about $300 million buying digital payment startups to help develop the Wallet app, and according to Play, Google’s app store, Wallet has been downloaded fewer than 10 million times in the two years since its launch.

Other digital paying systems such as Square Wallet (2.75% per swipe or $275 monthly flat fee), Clinkle (not completely online and recently funded with $25 million), and LevelUp (2% payment processing charge) are all striving to be the best in paying-by-phone service.  All of these systems claim to be safe and reliable.  The one that works best for your business is the one that provides convenience and reliability for your customers and gets the money for your products and services in your hands the fastest.

Google Wallet and most of the others are free to download so it is worth a test drive to determine the one that fits best with your business.

Expansion of Google Wallet Creates More Opportunities for Small Business

Making it easier for customers to pay has long been a dream for small business owners.  The easier it is, the quicker the payment, the less hassle in tracking down clients for payment or fighting back the “check is in the mail” syndrome.  Thankfully, for small businesses, the race is on to develop the best digital and mobile payment systems which mean greater sophistication and ease of use for us and our clients.  One company you may have heard of, Google, recently announced that it has expanded its mobile phone payment system, Google Wallet, to now work with the iPhone.

The Google Wallet is a free app that allows you to see most everything you now have in your wallet such as credit cards, customer loyalty cards, gift cards, and even tickets to events.  The information from these cards can be stored on your Android phone or in the cloud for retrieval for use online or at brick and mortar stores.  The concept behind the Wallet is that it is meant to replace everything in your wallet, including money, and allow you to use your phone or digital device for all your transactions.

The updated version of Google Wallet is supposed to make it more competitive with PayPal and other digital payment systems by allowing the app to be used on all Android devices and on the iPhone.  Google removed the NFC, or near-field communication function (the cutesy tap-and-share function), from the app to give it more versatility.  The Wallet is compatible with MasterCard’s PayPass system with access to over 200,000 merchants including Walgreen’s Macy’s, Old Navy, Subway, and more.  Google does not charge businesses and only normal credit card fees apply.

For the small business owner, it opens up new opportunities for generating business such as offering customer loyalty and gift cards through the Wallet, discounts for paying digitally, and providing convenience for customers.  The Wallet eliminates the fear of losing a credit card or cash, forgetting tickets, and misplacing loyalty or membership cards.  In theory it should be a hit.  But according to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, Google spent about $300 million buying digital payment startups to help develop the Wallet app, and according to Play, Google’s app store, Wallet has been downloaded fewer than 10 million times in the two years since its launch.

Other digital paying systems such as Square Wallet (2.75% per swipe or $275 monthly flat fee), Clinkle (not completely online and recently funded with $25 million), and LevelUp (2% payment processing charge) are all striving to be the best in paying-by-phone service.  All of these systems claim to be safe and reliable.  The one that works best for your business is the one that provides convenience and reliability for your customers and gets the money for your products and services in your hands the fastest.

Google Wallet and most of the others are free to download so it is worth a test drive to determine the one that fits best with your business.

Small Biz Accounting Software Space Heats Up As Xero Raises $150 Million

It’s getting more crowded in the market for small business accounting software. Competition is heating up and is going to get even hotter now that Xero has raised another $150 million (USD).

The company announced the funding in a statement on its website today.  Most of the funding  came from U.S. investors, including Matrix Partners and Valar Ventures.

Added to the $67 million Xero previously raised, it brings the total to over $200 million raised.

Xero, whose tagline is “beautiful accounting software,” was founded in 2006 in New Zealand.  Xero’s offering is cloud-based, and it also has Android and iPhone/iPad apps.  Two years ago it entered the U.S. market.  Today it has offices in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

According to co-founder and CEO Rod Drury, the most recent round of funding will be used to grow its presence in the U.S. market.  He mentioned specifically the 29 million small businesses in the United States and said in a video statement, “We are very determined - we are going to be the global leader in the space.”

The small business accounting software space is changing fast.  Many small businesses and their accountants are still using “box software” although the transition to online software-as-a-service for accounting has accelerated. Large players like Intuit and Sage have millions of customers worldwide using their products.

The space has also gotten more crowded, with competitors that don’t necessarily look like traditional accounting software companies.  One example is GoDaddy, which bought the Outright bookkeeping software and Ronin invoicing app, turning them into GoDaddy Bookkeeping.  Another is PayPal, which when combined with Square and bank records, is used by some entrepreneurs as a quasi-substitute for keeping track of finances.

On top of those options are dozens of scrappy startups and small invoicing and billing companies, such as Freshbooks.  We counted 50 invoicing apps not long ago. While they may not  provide a full double-entry accounting system, some offer enough bookkeeping-related functionality to meet the needs of the smallest small businesses and solo entrepreneurs â€" especially when coupled with downloadable bank and credit card records.  Freshbooks says it has 5 million people using it, and now even calls itself  ”cloud accounting.” (See our recent review of Freshbooks.)

Xero still has a fairly small footprint in the United States, but is growing fast.  According to Xero’s annual report, the company had 157,000 paying customers as of March 31, 2013.  Its annual revenue was reported at $51.5 million and most of that is from customers in New Zealand and Australia.  Only 8% is from “US and Rest of the World.”  However, the company more than doubled its  revenue since 2012.  It now has almost 600 employees.

Image: Xero announcement video still

Will Peer to Peer Loans Replace Bank Loans to Small Business?

The online sites Prosper, the Lending Club, and others offer credit to small business owners in a way that wasn’t available a decade ago - by matching borrowers directly with individual lenders, cutting out the bank as middleman.

While still a miniscule slice of the $1.1 trillion of outstanding small business credit (PDF), peer-to-peer lending, as this type of financing is known, has grown rapidly since its introduction in the mid-2000s. A Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ report (PDF) to Congress indicated that the value of small business loans provided by the two major largest sites - Prosper and the Lending Club - nearly tripled between 2011 to 2012.

While some observers believe that peer-to-peer lending will someday replace much of bank lending to small business, right now it isn’t a true alternative to most small business bank loans. Rather, it’s substituting primarily for credit card borrowing by small business owners.

Replacing credit card debt hits the sweet spot of peer-to-peer lending - swapping cheaper debt for more expensive alternatives. Federal Reserve Board research (PDF) indicates that approximately half of Lending Club loans are for debt consolidation.

Peer-to-peer lending faces several obstacles to becoming more than just an alternative to credit card loans. First, it is expensive. According to the analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the average interest rate paid in 2012 for a small business loan at The Lending Club was 13.4 percent. That’s substantially higher than the average short-term small business bank loan interest rate of 6.3 percent reported (PDF) by the National Federation of Independent Businesses for June 2012.

Because peer-to-peer lenders charge higher interest rates than those on small business bank loans but lower than those credit card debt, peer-to-peer lending is a more attractive alternative to credit card borrowing than to other bank loans.

Second, loans from peer-to-peer lenders tend to be small. The Lending Club caps loans at $35,000, and its average small business loan was $16,200 in 2012, analysis by the Federal Reserve shows. That’s not far off the average small business credit card loan of $11,639 when measured in 2012 dollars, Federal Reserve Survey of Small Business Finance data (PDF) show.

Thus, peer-to-peer lending provides a different way to obtain a similar amount of money that many small business owners get by maintaining balances on their credit cards, but not enough to replace the amounts that they typically tap from banks.

Third, peer-to-peer lenders don’t provide collateralized loans, generally offering only unsecured credit. That makes it difficult for peer-to-peer loans to replace small business bank loans backed by business and owner assets, like vehicles and equipment.

Fourth, getting a peer-to-peer loan is more similar to obtaining a credit card loan than a traditional bank loan. The low-level of paperwork involved, the heavy focus on personal credit scores in the evaluation process, and the quick decision making timeline lead borrows to think of peer-to-peer loans similarly to credit card debt.

Peer-to-peer lending is a new source of small business finance, and is likely to continue to grow substantially in the future. But for now, it appears to be substituting primarily for small business owners’ credit card borrowing rather than the traditional bank loans.

Peer-to-Peer Photo via Shutterstock

Google Plus Could Use Your Profile in Ads by Default

Imagine turning on the TV one day to find your conversation with a friend about your favorite restaurant used in an advertisement without your permission. You talk to the owner of the restaurant. He points to a sign that says any customer comments can be used in advertising unless you specify otherwise.

Well, Google’s new policy to use the profiles of members of its Google Plus social network to advertise for products they have liked, shared or reviewed isn’t quite that bad.

New Google Plus Ads Sell Profile Info

The policy, which will go into effect Nov. 11, will only allow, say, your review of an album to be shown to friends, family and other connections with whom you generally share.

As the company explains in its official terms of service update:

Recommendations from people you know can really help. So your friends, family and others may see your Profile name and photo, and content like the reviews you share or the ads you +1’d. This only happens when you take an action (things like +1’ing, commenting or following) - and the only people who see it are the people you’ve chosen to share that content with.

It’s also true that Google gives users what appears to be a fairly easy way to opt out of having them use your profile in ads.

How Google Plus Users Opt Out of Ads

In order to opt out, users must visit Google’s Shared Endorsements page. Under “Setting: Shared Endorsements in Ads” un-select the checked box that permits Google to use your name and use your profile in ads. Then hit “save.”

The problem is that the company is doing all this without asking first, writes marketing expert and blogger Seth Godin. It’s also without sharing any benefit with users, who are presumably the reason businesses want to advertise with Google Plus in the first place.

As Godin explains in a recent blog post:

The irony here is that in the long run, what the advertisers are telling companies like Google they want isn’t what is going to build it into an even better company (or even help the advertisers) in the long run.

Do you believe Google is wrong to use Google Plus members’ profiles for ads by default? Would you give Google the right to use your profile in ads?

TV Photo via Shutterstock

Anonymous Photo via Shutterstock