Yelp Got You Frustrated? Fight Back and Win!

Are you frustrated that the good reviews you’ve collected on Yahoo or other websites are gone, thanks to a deal with Yelp?

While it might be a challenge to understand how Yelp works, here are a few things you can do to ensure you are in control of your reviews and not Yelp, or anyone else.

Capture Reviews Elsewhere

Train your staff to capture reviews from customers via video, email or other wise.

Request Them Via Email

Encourage your customers to email in their reviews or write them down by hand.

Use Form Collection

Capture reviews through a form on your website and display them prominently there.

Encourage More of Them

Ensure you encourage your customers to regularly and frequently send good reviews to Yelp and other online local directories.

Keep Things Up to Date

Update your local search directory listing and ensure the telephone number, address and link(s) are up to date.

Happy Photo via Shutterstock



2014 SC Awards Europe Winners

Check back soon to download the Book of the Night from the 2014 SC Awards Europe.

Best Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Protection

Winner

CyberArk Privileged Account Security solution (v8), CyberArk,

Highly Commended

Lumension Endpoint Management and Security Suite, Lumension Security

Zscaler for APTs, Zscaler

Finalist

FireEye Security Platform, FireEye,

Lancope StealthWatch® System- Best APT Solution, Lancope,

Trend Micro Deep Discovery, Trend Micro,

Websense TRITON Enterprise, Websense,

 

Best Cloud Computing Security Solution

Winner

Global Cloud Intrastructure, Blue Coat

Highly Commended

GFI Cloud, GFI Software

Finalist

Cloud Security Futures, British Telecommunications,

CipherCloud Platform, CipherCloud,

Rapid7 UserInsight, Rapid7,

Trend Micro Deep Security, Trend Micro,

Vormetric Encryption, Vormetric,

Best Computer Forensics Solution

Winner

EnCase Forensic v7, Guidance Software

Lancope StealthWatch® System- Best Computer Forensics Solution, Lancope

Websense CyberSecurity Intelligence On-Demand, Websense

Best Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) Solution

Winner

Websense Data Security Suite, Websense

DeviceLock, DeviceLock

DME, Excitor

Prot-On, Prot-On

WatchGuard DLP, WatchGuard Technologies

Best Email Security Solution

Winner

Proofpoint Email Security, Proofpoint

Highly Commended

Mimecast Email Security, Mimecast

Finalist

AirWatch Mobile Email Management, AirWatch,

Boldon James Email Classifier, Boldon James,

Dellâ„¢ SonicWALLâ„¢ Hosted Email Security, Dell SonicWALL,

Halon E-mail Security, Halon Security,

McAfee Email Security, McAfee,

Websense Email Security Gateway Anywhere, Websense,

 



Why Are Etsy Customers Happy? Etsy Buys Grand Street. Small Business eCommerce Grows.

Grand St. is online marketplace for creatively-designed technology goods. Etsy is a marketplace for local artisans to sell their hand made goods.

In a deal valued at $10 million, as reported by Crains, Etsy bought Grand St.

This acquisition gives Etsy a larger platform for it’s merchants to sell and adds value to Grand St. merchants as well.

The value of any marketplace is two fold a) the products within the marketplace (aka Amazon.com) and the customers who are browsing and buying in the market place.

For small business owners who are creating awesome products, there are a variety of options to sell their goods. Etsy, Grand St. Amazon.com, eBay and more are some of the big marketplaces.

Beyond just listing your products on these marketplaces it’s also important that your listing is done right - use good photos, be very descriptive, offer awesome customer service and do your own marketing (don’t just rely on the marketplace)



10 Things to Prepare Before Attending a Conference

I’m starting a time of year when I will be travelling to key conferences that I’m really looking forward to attending. I have learned over the years that preparation, organization and flexibility greatly enhance my conference time and experience.

Conferences can be very productive and fun or totally overwhelming and a drain depending on those factors. The investment of time, travel and energy required to go to conferences, makes it more important to be prepared before you go so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute or worse yet - while you are there.

The 21st century conference attendee has a lot more technology, social media and content options that can be used to share and highlight their experience and their takeaways. The rule of thumb is

  • Prepare
  • Be flexible
  • Enjoy
  • Follow up

Below are 10 things to prepare before attending a conference that can help you get the most out of your commitment and experience.

Mindset, Attitude, Energy

It’s important to tie up loose ends, finish tasks, projects and deadlines so that you can go away clear minded and caught up. Whatever can wait until you return, let it wait.

Focus on looking forward to the event, meeting people and being positive and accessible. Read some positive and motivational content and download an app or take some with you.

Your frame of mind and heart can set you up to have an awesome time and be someone awesome to meet. Smile, be pleasant, be polite and show your enjoyment.

Documents, Schedule, Sessions

Gather all your travel documents, airline confirmation numbers and flight itinerary and have it all accessible. Get a good picture of your overall travel needs and experience. There are several travel apps that help you organize this on your smart phone including Tripit, TripCase and GateGuru.

In addition, there are apps that offer city guides, things to do and see, restaurants, special events, and connectivity apps to connect you with people and sessions at the conference. These are all very helpful and fairly simple.

Meeting Specific People

The whole point of going to certain conferences is the chance to meet colleagues, speakers or presenters you follow, engage with and that influence you. Don’t forget why they should want to meet you, too.

Be confident in your expertise, know their background, current activity, books, so that you can create good conversations. Google people you want to meet, visit their blogs, websites, social media and learn as much as you can about them.

Cards, Handouts, Branding Statement

Have a current simple, but branded, card with your contact info and logo and make use of both sides. When we make impressions with people, a business card will have more meaning after. It’s a marketing tool.

Make sure you prepare your “professional branding statement” when someone asks, “What do you do?” One sentence that opens the door and offers them something they can remember about you.

Opening Questions, Conversation Starters, Chit Chat

Prepare some ice breaker questions, or statements that can establish commonality or a personal connection. Is this your first time at this conference? What was your favorite takeaway last year? What’s your biggest accomplishment so far this year?

Random Time

Build in some random, free, unexpected meeting people time. Truthfully, I have met some really cool people in bathrooms, airports, lines and lobby’s.

Social Media Strategy

Whatever the focus of the conference is should play into your social media strategy. Use LinkedIn to connect to people you meet. Use Twitter and Google+ to tell people who you have met and share a link to their work or website. Use Facebook to post great pictures and videos of you in action and the experience you are having.

Content Marketing Plan

What are the content marketing platforms and tools that you are known for and have the most activity on and results with?

Use your website to highlight people, sessions and ideas that resonated with you. Take lots of pictures of some of those “specific people” that you got to meet and some short form videos and put them up on Google+, YouTube and Facebook.

Use your social media strategically around the platforms used by the attendees and presenters.

Technology, Cords, Batteries

Pay attention to battery life on different devices that you use and be sure to recharge them when you see them getting low so you don’t miss capturing anything when the moment arrives. Most conferences have charging and power stations now.

Follow Up Plan

Sort out your cards and the connections you have made. I usually plan about 4 days after a conference to follow up with specific people I have met and include some specific things we talked about via email and phone.

Connect with them immediately on LinkedIn with a note about meeting them and any other primary social media they use. If people are in proximity, take the initiative to invite them to meet in person.

The opportunity to meet people in person at major industry conferences is golden. Be prepared, have fun and make the very most of it to make an impression, enhance relationships and create new ones.



Ready To Pick Mobile Prospects For Your Next Mobile Marketing Campaign? 4INFO and Acxiom Make It Easier.

Sure, there’s lots of eyeballs fixed on computers - but the audience of mobile customers and prospects is much larger and growing.

It’s time you consider how you can best target mobile users for your next marketing campaign.

A successful marketing campaign is of course much more than a list - it’s also about your marketing copy as Danny Inny of Firepole Marketing said at #ICON14 and drawing your prospects through a sales funnel - until they buy from you and then wowing them so they buy from you again and tell others. (see Lifecycle Marketing for more information on this)

Acxiom works with very large companies to take their lists and add more data to them. For example, Acxiom can take an email address and add a phone number to it, or a postal address and an add email address to it.

The MyAcxiomPartner.com is a self-serve, marketing platform for small businesses to conveniently order direct mail lists and email marketing services, and most recently, mobile advertising campaigns - all in on portal.

Based on their web site, here’s how Acxiom’s new mobile advertising platform works.

1)     Choose from 3 mobile campaign packages starting as low as $297 â€" A 14-day mobile campaign option is ideal for one-time events; 30 and 90-day campaign options work well for multiple or ongoing promotions.
2)     Choose a target area â€" Select the geographic area of the targeted individuals (mobile campaigns require a minimum of 9,000 records)
3)     Define the target audience â€" Businesses select from robust targeting options using Acxiom’s trusted customer data including demographics, lifestyle interests and purchase behavior.
4)     Create a banner ad with Mobile Ad Creator tool â€" The no-skills-required tool enables small businesses to design professional-looking ads to fit the common ad placement dimension (320Ã-50 pixels) or upload an existing ad.  Businesses have the flexibility to change creative images and promotional messaging throughout a campaign.


Alexa Has Gone Back To The Drawing Board

alexa redesign

There’s good news for those who rely on Web analytics to negotiate website advertising deals. Alexa Internet Inc. has completely revamped its daily updated Web traffic analytics services for $9.99 a month.

The company, which is owned by Amazon.com, is targeting digital marketers and content publishers for their new service. This new service will focus on four main areas, which Alexa feels are the most important for their clients.

First off, it will benchmark two sites against one another and show how they are performing one-on-one, and against the rest of the Web. Second, it will tell you what your rivals are doing that you are not, which will hopefully show you why you are lagging behind while they are surging ahead.

Third, it will give you suggestions on how to improve your site, including how to optimize it better, get more traffic, and improve your search engine rankings. Finally, it will tell you if you are doing all of the recommended optimizations the right way. Are your tweaks having the desired affect?

In an official release on the new update, Andrew Ramm, Alexa president and general manager explained:

“We are constantly innovating on behalf of our customers, and the launch of our service for digital marketers and publishers is a huge step forward for our offerings. We understand the need to provide real insights to our customers quickly, with fully usable answers that don’t require a data scientist or a black belt in analytics. The new Alexa delivers data so customers can get the exact answer they’re looking for at a glance.”

Alexa has been around for a very long time, providing basic analytical information to webmasters for free (which it still does). It also does its Top 500 Sites On The Web list.

alexa redesign

The redesign may also be to rebuild confidence in the brand’s technology. As early as  2012, for example, SEO Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz expressed doubts about the platform’s reliability in terms of ranking. Others have expressed similar concerns.

Images: Alexa



Event Audience Q&A Tool Makes It Easy To Ask and Vote For Questions. Social Q&A Has A Great Solution.

If you organize events, one of the important aspects of the event is enabling the audience to ask questions of the speaker.

There’s a new tool from Social Q&A which enables the audience to ask their questions and vote on popular questions. When the speaker is ready for Q&A he or the event organizer knows which questions are most popular by the audience.

Instead of having an awkward silence or lines of people at microphones - a tool like Social Q&A helps.

It looks simple to use, check it out.



Health Care Trends to Watch the Remainder of 2014

Rising health care costs and greater employee benefits responsibilities continue to be a steady concern as the health care landscape evolves. The new health care trends and changes bring new worries for employees and employers alike.

As a small business owner, you are faced with HR issues, such as greater employee benefits responsibility in the face of increasing health care expenses, and must learn what topics are most important to communicate back to your workforce.

Below, we’ve simplified a few key trends to watch as Q2 2014 really gets under way:

1. Increased Focus on Accountability to Control Health Care Costs

With health care costs continuing to soar and no end in sight, consumer and provider accountability are gaining attention as potential solutions to controlling rising health care costs. Although the road ahead is long, companies are already taking steps toward solutions. The continued development of accountability strategies could mean more predictable and controlled costs for employers and employees may truly begin to see lower or no-cost health care services. The onus is on both parties to see through these aspirations.

On the consumer side, three of four (79 percent) employees would be willing to change their lifestyle habits if their employer rewarded them with lower premiums. An example of this type of program would be employees who do not use tobacco having lower insurance rates than their smoking counterparts.

When it comes to provider accountability, hospitals and insurers are working together to move their pricing models to value-based outcomes and companies are beginning to make strides with bundled pricing to keep costs under control.

2. Emergence of Private Insurance Exchanges

Privately run exchanges are steadily gaining momentum and offer a one-stop shop for buying employer-provided health insurance. These exchanges present employers with a simpler way to offer comprehensive worksite benefits.

With private exchanges, small businesses can designate an amount to pay for coverage and employees can compare insurance plans and purchase one that is right for them. This type of delivery model helps employers control costs by giving employees a fixed stipend toward benefits. Once employees choose their benefits, remaining costs are paid by the employee through their paychecks.

3. A Growing Need for a Strong Consumer Safety Net

In 2014, rising health care costs are expected to take another (PDF) $181 (6.9 percent) out of take-home pay, but only 11 percent of small businesses are planning raises for their employees.  Even if employees are covered by a comprehensive major medical plan, out-of-pocket costs - both medical and non-medical - can be substantial if the employee or a family member has a serious injury or illness.

The need is evident: Two in five (43 percent) U.S. workers at least somewhat agree they will have a difficult time managing their own health care coverage and decisions because they already have difficulty saving and sticking to a budget today.

As a small business owner, it’s up to you to use effective employee education and consumer-directed benefits tools to help workers make smarter benefits decisions. Voluntary insurance benefits will continue to be a key way to help employees protect themselves from increasing out-of-pocket costs that could result in unexpected debt.

4. Tailoring the Employee Value Proposition to the Next Generation

Millennials are on their way to being the most educated generation in American history and are undeniably defined by their use and affiliation with technology. The majority (83 percent) say they have placed their cell phone on or right next to their bed while sleeping - compared to 57 percent of the total population (PDF) saying they have done so.

Smart small businesses will adapt to the newest generation. Increased technology use is already taking the stage with 43 percent of employers planning to deploy digital technologies such as Web tools and mobile apps in 2014, and 31 percent are considering these tools for 2015 or 2016.

In the years ahead, employers must continue to take measures to adjust retirement, engagement, training and communications programs to account for a changing and more transient workforce.

Onward and Upward

Needless to say, these are only a few of the trends that will take place as the health care market continues to evolve. However, keeping your eye on these will get you started down the right path for the rest of the year.

Trend Watching Photo via Shutterstock



Marketing, Sales & Networking - 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Miss Market New York Expo on May 29th

Are you a small business owner who wants to take your marketing skills to the next level in order to build your brand, increase sales and gain customers? Then you’ll want to attend the upcoming Market New York Expo, taking place on May 29th, 2014 in the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.

Market New York Expo is a trade show, conference and networking event geared specifically toward sales and marketing for small businesses. It’s a one day event that is jam-packed with insights, tips, tools, technology and strategies to help your small business grow.

There are three main parts of the Market New York Expo, which will keep you busy all day.

  • Exhibits - The exhibit hall will be open all day, to all expo participants. There will be more than 100 exhibits this year! The exhibits are a way for companies to demo and introduce the latest products and business services to small business owners. You’ll find that it’s a highly efficient way to learn about the top technology and tools to help your business grow.
  • Seminars - The expo will also have 20 business seminars, and participants are welcome to attend one or more of these sessions. The seminars focus on different aspects of marketing and sales including: Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Building Your Online Presence, Local & Mobile, and Making the Sale. These are hour-long sessions that run from 10:30 to 4:00.
  • Social Media Lab Sponsored by Facebook - Finally, Facebook is sponsoring a Social Media Lab for the expo. The focus is on social media tools and management, with 20-30 minute demos running throughout the day. You can also get a direct consultation for your business.

The Market New York Expo is an informative and customizable event for small business owners. You can tour the Social Media Lab and exhibits at your leisure and choose the seminars that are right for you and your business. It is also an excellent networking opportunity, since the event attracts small business owners, entrepreneurs and executives from all over the region.

Ramon Ray is honored to be a speaker at one of the expo seminars, joining executives from companies like Facebook, Constant Contact and Yelp, along with many other small business owners and entrepreneurs. The list of speakers has been posted, but more speakers will be added as we get closer to the event.

The best part of the Market New York Expo is how affordable it is. If you pre-register and use code Speaker50 then you’ll get your ticket for 50% off - just $25, which is unbelievable for the wealth of information and networking opportunities this event will bring you. Pre-register now, because tickets on-site the day of the event will be $75.

We hope to see you at the Market New York Expo on May 29th, from 10am to 5pm. It’s an event you won’t want to miss.



EC3: Darknet & cloud the barriers to prosecuting cyber-criminals

Troels Oerting, head of European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), spoke about the difficulties of catching cyber-criminals during his keynote speech at the Infosec exhibition in London earlier today.

In his talk entitled ‘Combating crime in a digital age', Oerting said that cyber-crime is changing the ‘world as we know it' and said that this is down in part to the growing number of internet user base - which is predicted to grow from 2.7 billion online users to 4 billion in the next few years.

He also said that cyber-crime investigations have been harder by the leaks from former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, perhaps on the basis that cyber-criminals have look to increase their anonymity.

“The Snowden revelations seemed to, one way or another, have made it more difficult law enforcement to clamp down on [internet] rules,” said Oerting.

But, poignantly, he said that criminal investigators across borders are still struggling to bring cyber-criminals to justice.

This, he said, is because cyber-criminals are using darknet tools - like Tor - to anonymise

their browsing habits, as well as cloud services to stream attacks and avoid detection. 

“The problem is that criminal groups are using the same tools [as the investigators]. You can't see the attack, don't know the motive...you need to do some homework.”

He added: “Not even NSA can infiltrate the darknet, cyber-criminals are utilising Bitcoin and the darknet, it makes it even more difficult for us to follow the money.”

Another problem, he said - as National Cyber Crime Unit deputy director Andy Archibald pointed out earlier this year - is that cyber-crime is a global phenomenon and that the bad guys can do their business from their bedroom, while pointing domain proxies to countries across the globe.

Oerting referred to it as ‘anyone, anytime, anywhere attacks' and said that it was ‘old fashioned' to think that borders had any great importance in the digital world.

Terrorists dip their toes into cyber warfare

He added that state-sponsored activity is ‘not a surprise' but intriguingly added that terrorists will soon use the Internet as a medium to carry out a large-scale cyber attacks.

“We see loads of terrorists preparing for a big cyber attack now,” he said. “But I still think that terrorists like bombs - they're more visible - so we have to keep an eye on this area.”

He said that the key to winning this battle is industry collaboration, and maybe some controls being put around an open internet.

“We need to understand this is combined task, not just for the police and law enforcement but for society,” he stated- noting the new trend for the Internet of Things (IoT).

“We will win, we will prevail but it'll be a tough ride.”

Following shortly after the talk, Alan Woodward - independent advisor and Visiting Professor at the department of computing at the University of Surrey, agreed that criminals are taking to darkweb and cloud to hide their trail, and said that there's a “real problem” as far as cross-border jurisdiction is concerned.

“Ultimately there is no international law...we're struggling to govern the internet as it is let alone [implement] international law.”

And on the issue of the cloud, he told SCMagazineUK.com that the industry needs to develop tools so that criminal investigators can deep dive onto any illegal activity taking place on cloud services like Amazon's AWS.

“It's very easy to set-up a cloud service anonymously, and who knows what you're doing?” said Woodward, who is now also a special adviser to EC3.

He added that cyber-criminals are developing their own distributed peer-to-peer cloud services services to spread their digital identity, what with cloud services often hosting data in numerous countries.

“Criminals are the tree in the forrest. For them, they derive security through obscurity."



CEOs still don\'t get cyber security, study finds

A new study reveals that boardroom executives are still unaware of cyber threats, much to the chagrin of those working in information security.

In the first of a two-party study sponsored by Websense, Ponemon Institute surveyed 4,881 experienced IT and IT security practitioners across 15 countries across the world, and found that not only were C-level executives unaware of the security risks, but that infosec practitioners themselves were finding it hard to keep up with cyber-criminals.

Approximately 80 percent of respondents said that their company's leaders "do not equate losing confidential data with a potential loss of revenue", despite Ponemon indicating that the average cost of an organisational data breach is approximately £3.2 million ($5.4 million).

In addition, just under half of global respondents (52 percent in the UK) said that their board-level execs had a subpar understanding of security issues. Although this number has not been measured in previous studies, analysts believe that “cyber security awareness has most likely increased over the last few years."

Despite this, Websense EMEA strategist Neil Thacker admitted that there is work to be done in order to get C-level onside with cyber security.

"I see a lot of professionals in the dark at the moment," he said generally, an observation backed up by the report's finding that less than half (41 percent) of respondents (35 percent in the UK) believe they have a good understanding of the threat landscape.

"We need to bring them out [of the dark] so they understand what the latest threats are," he added.

On the C-level awareness, Thacker further added that the 80 percent figure is a "huge worry" not least with the EU Data Protection Regulation changes just around the corner. That said, he expects the proposed changes - which will see data breach fines of up to  5 percent of global revenues - to raise awareness.

"This will make it more of a discussion at boardroom level. Data and data losses will become a top-line level," he told SCMagazineUK.com.

He goes onto added that it's up to CSO and CISOs to establish what is the confidential data, and the likelihood that being lost, in order to get budget and resources from the boardroom. He advises that spending goes on 'layered' security and improved threat intelligence, something he says remains an issue.

"There is a general lack of knowledge on the best place to get threat intelligence," he said while noting that researchers at Websense - as well as ENISA (where he is a member) have noted "some improvement" in this area. The Ponemon study finds that over half of respondents (59 percent worldwide, 58 percent UK) do not have adequate intelligence and, perhaps as a result, are unsure about attempted attacks.

SIEM solutions are however not the way forward, according to Thacker, who adds that most businesses are ‘struggling' to find its value on a return on investment (ROI) basis. Instead, he says that firms are looking at big data security analytics and other solutions that do more than just detect threats.

Other headline figures from the study including the finding that 57 percent of IT pros do not think that their organisation is protected from cyber attacks, with 63 percent doubting if they can stop the exfiltration of data.

Forrester analyst Andrew Rose is not surprised by the finding that companies don't feel protected from cyber attacks.

“This is unsurprising as systems have evolved to be multi-layered and complex. Many organisations will be using multiple systems including mainframes AS400s and UNIX systems to process their critical business transactions, often all working together and hidden under a nice Windows GUI,” he told SCMagazineUK.com.

“As the systems interact, across different operating systems and protocols, there are bound to be inconsistencies, translation errors and an acceptable level of deviance from standards, all of which enable the threats to interject.”

In response to this news, Clive Longbottom, founder and analyst at Quocirca, in part blamed the C-level disconnect to those in the information security industry.

"My take is that [the report] isn't worth the paper it is written on," he said in an email to SCMagazineUK.com.

"Why? Because security issues have been worded in arcane language since they first came about - and this has led to the emergence of the Chief (information) Security Officer," he added.

"This means that the rest of the C-level staff can carry on as they want - cyber security is someone else's responsibility. Unfortunately, CSO staff tend to be security specialists - not business specialists, and so get in the way of business happening, with more of an approach of “don't do this”, rather than “how can we do this securely?”.

 

"Security has to be baked in to the business - and not just at a cyber level.  Security is a business issue, and has to include how people operate; how information is used (including via telephone, paper and any other way)."

This study follows another by Turnkey Consulting, which revealed that one in six IT security pros believe that their organisation sees security merely as "an unnecessary expense only undertaken to  keep the auditors happy."

Richard Hunt, managing director of Turnkey Consulting, said at the time: “It is concerning to see that IT security is still not perceived to be an integral part of the business.”



Are Your Publicity Efforts Failing? 3 Surefire Ways to Find PR Success

The lines between advertising, marketing and public relations have always been a little blurred, with many firms providing a combination of two or more of the services. But the Internet has almost removed the lines completely, as advertisers reach out to customers on social media and press releases begin to make appearances in search engine rankings. In this article, we are going to show you three surefire ways to find PR success.

Brought to you by PRWeb, a leading online news and press release distribution service used by 40,000+ organizations. From Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, companies are using PRWeb to increase their online visibility, improve search engine rankings, drive traffic to their site and increase sales. To get a free expert guide on writing press releases and 25% off your first release, go to PRWeb.com. 

3 Surefire Ways to Find PR Success

Today’s marketers find themselves tasked with covering a wide territory. Ad placement, analytics, customer engagement, and pitching stories to journalists can all fall within the same campaign, requiring professionals to be a “jack of all trades.” This can often lead marketers to apply a tried-and-true approach in a new area, only to find it doesn’t work.

For marketers who deal with publicity, there are a few tips to help increase the return on your investment.

Personalize Your Approach

Press releases and personalized email marketing are both popular ways to reach out to customers. To save time, many marketers adapt a “spray and pray” approach to their efforts, but this can easily backfire and is generally a bad idea. While it might be a great way to get your release in search engine results, it probably won’t win over any journalists. Many reporters’ inboxes are full of generic news releases on a given day. To stand out, supplement your PR blasts with targeted news releases to a small group of influencers.


Create a free account with PRWeb!

Focus on Value

The world can tell you’re excited about your product or service. You want the rest of the world to be excited about it, as well. To find success with any campaign, marketers must create value by both knowing the customer base and finding ways to reach out to it. Simply announcing the opening of a new store in an area isn’t enough, for example. Marketers must provide information on how that business will benefit the local economy. Customers want to know how any given news item will impact their own lives.

Form Relationships

Instead of alienating journalists by spamming their inboxes every week, marketers can get further by directly reaching out to journalists in a way that helps them. Instead of sending a canned press release where the only personalization is the journalist’s name, consider pitching a story idea that meets that reporter’s needs directly. Offer to help with an ongoing series the reporter is writing or let the journalist know you’re available to provide quotes or expert tips on an ongoing basis. The tips should be related to your industry, but they don’t have to be specific to the work your business does. A restaurant chain could speak about tips for dining out with children, for example.

Marketers and PR professionals have many tools available to help them reach out to both customers and journalists. By taking the time to do a little research before directly pitching a reporter, they can make a greater impact and potentially build the foundation for an ongoing working relationship. When combined with careful campaign tracking through analytics, marketers can quickly refine their campaigns to maximize ROI.



People Who Want to Visit Your Business Can Tell Their Friends Via Superb

superb app

The problem with consumers constantly being glued to their smartphone screens is that sometimes they forget there is a real world around them. A new iPhone app called Superb aims to show them what is in their area. That could mean bringing your local business to their attention and allowing them to tell their friends about it too.

In typical iPhone fashion, users swipe a location in their area with their finger - such as a restaurant, cafe or retail store - as a place they would like to visit. The Superb app then lets them see other people in the area who might also be interested in visiting the same location. This would be their friends on Facebook or anyone in their phone’s contact list that are also using Superb, and who they specifically designated a “friend.”

superb app

The actual act of swiping is a bit difficult to master as it is a bit clunky. But eventually it does start to work. The Superb app receives a users GPS, and using this, it calculates their current location. When it sees where they are, it starts making suggestions on where to go. Users swipe left to trash the suggestion, right to say they want to go there, and up and down to move through each suggested location.

Co-founder Eddy Lu recently told Gigaom:

“We wanted to take a step back, reduce the social barriers, and get people offline and connecting in the real world.”

When they see a place they like, users can tick the option “I want to go” or “I’d go again.” They can also leave a comment about what they thought of the place and upload their own photograph of the business.

Lu told Reuters:

“With Facebook and Foursquare it’s all about ‘This is where I was’ or ‘This is where I am’ but we’re all about future intent - not the present or the past.”

The Superb app also arranges places to see under different categories. So users can break down attractions to things like food and drink, arts and culture, health and beauty, travel and transport, and a few more.

It isn’t actually completely tied to a users location though. So they can enter any destination in the world they like and it will give them suggestions on what to visit there. So Suberb represents another word-of-mouth option for your customers to  share their thoughts on your business with their friends.



How Are Customers Treated When They Call Your Business?

Is your small business paying enough attention to incoming calls?

Today, with so much focus on social media, email and online marketing, it’s easy to believe that providing customer service through live chat is all you need to do, or that customers are content to contact you by email and wait to hear back from you.

In reality, human behavior hasn’t changed - just the technology.

When customers are frustrated about something, have questions about your product or service, or are ready to buy, their first instinct is often to pick up the phone and call your business. In other words, customers who take the trouble to call you are primed - to buy, to vent, to ask questions.

What’s more, if your business is involved in any kind of inbound marketing program - whether using SEO, click-to-call buttons on your website or in your ads - you’re spending good money to generate those calls from interested customers.

How callers are treated can make all the difference in whether they move to the next stage in the purchasing process, get over their anger, actually make a purchase…or get turned off of your company forever.

So how are customers and prospects treated when they call your business? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Do They Get Through Right Away?

Set standards for employees to answer the phone on the second ring (third ring at the absolute latest). Make sure all employeesâ€"not just the receptionist or office managerâ€"know it’s their responsibility to answer the phone if necessary.

Are They Greeted Pleasantly?

Do the employees who answer your phone sound excited to talk to customersâ€"or like it’s an interruption in their busy day? Remember, customers are the ones who pay your bills, and they have plenty of options to go elsewhere.

Do Employees Have the Tools They Need to Help Customers?

Internal FAQ lists can help employees quickly find answers to questions customers may have. Make sure all employees know how to transfer calls to the proper person.

When Customers are on Hold, Can They Tell?

There’s nothing worse than being put on hold and hearing dead silence, so you don’t know if you’ve been cut off or should continue to wait. Use on-hold messages or music so customers know what’s going on.

Are Calls Returned Within a Reasonable Time?

The faster you can respond to a customer’s inquiry, the more likely you are to make a sale. If you can’t answer all calls, strive to return all calls within 30 minutesâ€"yes, 30 minutesâ€"for best results. Outgoing voice mail messages should state how quickly customers can expect their calls to be returned.

By paying as much attention to incoming calls as you do to your social media outreach, you’ll rapidly see resultsâ€"and increased sales.

Phone Photo via Shutterstock



One Third of Microbusiness Owners Rely on Second Jobs

If you own a microbusiness, defined as a business employing five or fewer people, you occupy a very important part of the economy. Yet chances are, at least early on, you aren’t able to make a full time living at it. If not, you’re not alone.

Nearly one third (33 percent), of microbusiness owners depend upon another job as their main source of income, a recent Gallup Survey says. This is especially the case early on, the survey suggests.

The reason for dependence on outside employment obviously has to do with the levels of revenue many of these businesses bring in, especially during the early years of their operation.

For example, the majority of microbusinesses (62 percent) bring in $100,000 or less, the survey indicates. In the first year of operation, almost half (48 percent) brought in $10,000 or less. No wonder owners need a second job in the early days to keep the electricity on and pay the rent.

But while these microbusinesses may be quite small and their revenues quite modest, the survey also suggests their owners make up a majority of U.S. entrepreneurs, making them an important force in the economy.

In fact, as a group, they make up approximately 81 percent of all U.S. business owners. Over time, the percentage of these businesses with revenues adequate to become the main source of their owners’ incomes increases.

For example, only 26 percent of microsbusiness owners depend on outside jobs for their main income after operating their business for more than 11 years. Only 19 percent depend on outside employment after operating their businesses more than 20 years.

The survey also does not separately track the number of microbusinesses that grew to larger small businesses over time, so these are likely being left out of the equation.

Finally, the poll numbers suggest microbusiness owners who rely on their businesses for the majority of their income worry more about the cost of taxes, complying with regulations and even hiring the right employees.

The survey was conducted by interviewing 868 U.S. microbusiness owners over 18 years of age between Feb. 18 and March 2, 2014.

Rushed Photo via Shutterstock