Sunday, May 13, 2012
How to Clone an AdWords Campaign to Target Mobile Users
As more and more consumers adopt mobile devices, it makes sense to look at mobile advertising as a viable way to get in front of potential consumers. Fortunately, Google AdWords provides the capability to target different platforms for paid search advertising. In particular, Google allows you to separately target desktop and mobile visitors in paid advertising. This article will walk you through how to adapt a separate mobile campaign from an existing campaign set up in Google AdWords that currently lumps desktop and mobile platforms together. In order to quickly clone the campaigns, you will need to first download and install Google AdWords Editor desktop tool. AdWords Editor is one of my favorite "power user" tools for managing larger or more complicated campaigns. The tool will allow you to make bulk changes, global find-and-replace, etc. For this effort, we will be concentrating on the copy-paste options that AdWords Editor brings to the table. We will be using AdWords Editor to do the heavy lifting.The basic approach here is to clone an existing campaign, then customize the original and cloned campaigns to properly target the relevant audiences. Once the software has been installed and your account has been loaded into AdWords Editor, here are step-by-step instructions. We will need to make changes at the Campaign, AdGroup, and Ads level.The following nine steps should be performed for each campaign that you want split into desktop and mobile versions.1. Copy the campaign. Select the "Campaigns" tab in AdWords Editor. Highlight a specific campaign and copy with Ctrl-C (or Edit/Copy from the top navigation).2. Paste the campaign. Use Ctrl-V to paste the campaign into the account to create a new campaign. This will generate an error since the new campaign has the same name as the original. Ignore the error message for now; we will fix this in Step 4.
3. Edit the Target Devices. Under the Campaigns Tab, Choose the "Edit" link in the Devices section (you may need to select "Let me choose..." first), then uncheck the "Mobile devices with full browsers." We have chosen to include "Tablets with full browsers" as a type of desktop, since the screen size is such that a desktop design should render properly on these devices.Now it's time to clean up the new (cloned) campaign to make it distinct from the original campaign.4. Rename the Cloned Campaign. I recommend you develop a way to differentiate mobile campaigns from desktop campaigns so at a quick glance you know whether a campaign is mobile or not. For example, at KeyRelevance we like to start mobile campaigns with an "X" prefix so that they all show up together in the campaign list, down towards the bottom. (For what it's worth, we also use "Z" for Display/Content Network Campaigns for the same reason.)5. Edit the Targeted Devices List in the Cloned Campaign. This is done like in Step 3, above, except we are flipping which devices are and are not targeted. In this case, we will uncheck the Desktop and Tablets and select the "Mobile Devices with Full Browsers" option. No changes should be needed on the options on this page (unless you are specifically targeting Android or iPhone users).The next two steps need to be performed for each AdGroup within the cloned campaign.6. Rename the AdGroups (Optional). Again I like to have the AdGroup name reflect the Mobile focus as well, so I'll prefix an "X" onto the AdGroup name.7. Set up Bidding. You may want (or need) to adjust bidding. If the original campaign was using Cost Per Action (CPA) bidding , the new campaign will still need to start with Cost Per Click (CPC) bidding. You will need to a) set a reasonable CPC bid, and b) set the CPA Bidding to "Auto." AdWords Editor will complain if you skip this step.You may need to perform some additional cleanup at the Ads level in the campaign. For example, you may want to point visitors at a mobile-friendly landing page or use a "Call us" call to action rather than a long survey form. There may also be some obsolete ads from earlier experiments that got cloned from the original campaign. 8. Delete Paused Ads/Keywords. Earlier test ads. from the original campaign should be cleaned out of the cloned campaign. You may also want to do some housecleaning on your keyword list in the cloned campaign.9. Retarget landing pages. We like to have a mobile-friendly landing page for mobile visitors, so we modify the Ad landing page Destination URLs to point to those new pages. Assuming a one-size-fits-all mobile site, you can edit one ad and trim/modify the URL to match the mobile home page, then copy the URL, select ALL ads in the cloned campaign, and paste the copied URL into the Destination URL field, replacing the "
3. Edit the Target Devices. Under the Campaigns Tab, Choose the "Edit" link in the Devices section (you may need to select "Let me choose..." first), then uncheck the "Mobile devices with full browsers." We have chosen to include "Tablets with full browsers" as a type of desktop, since the screen size is such that a desktop design should render properly on these devices.Now it's time to clean up the new (cloned) campaign to make it distinct from the original campaign.4. Rename the Cloned Campaign. I recommend you develop a way to differentiate mobile campaigns from desktop campaigns so at a quick glance you know whether a campaign is mobile or not. For example, at KeyRelevance we like to start mobile campaigns with an "X" prefix so that they all show up together in the campaign list, down towards the bottom. (For what it's worth, we also use "Z" for Display/Content Network Campaigns for the same reason.)5. Edit the Targeted Devices List in the Cloned Campaign. This is done like in Step 3, above, except we are flipping which devices are and are not targeted. In this case, we will uncheck the Desktop and Tablets and select the "Mobile Devices with Full Browsers" option. No changes should be needed on the options on this page (unless you are specifically targeting Android or iPhone users).The next two steps need to be performed for each AdGroup within the cloned campaign.6. Rename the AdGroups (Optional). Again I like to have the AdGroup name reflect the Mobile focus as well, so I'll prefix an "X" onto the AdGroup name.7. Set up Bidding. You may want (or need) to adjust bidding. If the original campaign was using Cost Per Action (CPA) bidding , the new campaign will still need to start with Cost Per Click (CPC) bidding. You will need to a) set a reasonable CPC bid, and b) set the CPA Bidding to "Auto." AdWords Editor will complain if you skip this step.You may need to perform some additional cleanup at the Ads level in the campaign. For example, you may want to point visitors at a mobile-friendly landing page or use a "Call us" call to action rather than a long survey form. There may also be some obsolete ads from earlier experiments that got cloned from the original campaign. 8. Delete Paused Ads/Keywords. Earlier test ads. from the original campaign should be cleaned out of the cloned campaign. You may also want to do some housecleaning on your keyword list in the cloned campaign.9. Retarget landing pages. We like to have a mobile-friendly landing page for mobile visitors, so we modify the Ad landing page Destination URLs to point to those new pages. Assuming a one-size-fits-all mobile site, you can edit one ad and trim/modify the URL to match the mobile home page, then copy the URL, select ALL ads in the cloned campaign, and paste the copied URL into the Destination URL field, replacing the "Christine Churchill is the President of KeyRelevance.com, a full service Dallas search engine marketing company that specializes in helping businesses succeed online. Christine and her experienced team of online marketers provide a holistic approach to marketing: increasing a site's visibility online, improving the user experience on the site, and maximizing the site's conversion potential.
Dr. Ralph Wilson Announces Sale of Web Marketing Today
LOOMIS, CA and GRAND JUNCTION, CO, April 23, 2012
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Founding Editor, Web Marketing TodayDr. Ralph F. Wilson, creator and long-time editor of industry-leading e-zine Web Marketing Today (www.wilsonweb.com), today announced the sale of this historic website and newsletter, effective May 1, 2012, to e-commerce publishers Kerry and Joy Murdock of Practical eCommerce."Web Marketing Today is one of the best-known Internet marketing resources and has been in publication since the start of the commercial Internet in November 1995," says Kerry. "Web Marketing Today taught an entire generation of marketers how to promote their businesses on the Internet."
Kerry Murdock, editor and publisher, Practical eCommerce"We're delighted to add Web Marketing Today to our group of publications focused on the needs of small to medium online businesses," he says. Kerry and Joy Murdock launched Practical eCommerce in July 2005 to help smaller online retailers. It has since grown to include a dedicated staff of editors, contributors, and advertising consultants. A companion site, Ecommerce Developer, was launched in December 2009 to help developers and designers of ecommerce sites. Practical eCommerce and Web Marketing Today have worked together for several years, since they both serve small to medium online businesses and attract advertisers that seek to reach this important demographic.While Kerry Murdock will take over day-to-day editorial responsibility for Web Marketing Today, Dr. Wilson will stay on as Founding Editor. "We're excited that Dr. Wilson will continue to contribute his popular video interviews as part of our regular content," says Murdock. Dr. Wilson applauds the arrangement. "Web Marketing Today will be in capable hands when Kerry Murdock assumes the editor's chair in May," he says. "My passion for nearly two decades has been to help online small businesses in the United States and abroad. I know that Kerry shares this passion."Wilson previously published two newsletters in addition toWeb Marketing Today, the popular question-and-answer e-zine Doctor Ebiz, and the highly respected paid publication Web Commerce Today (1997-2008, later renamed Web Marketing Today Premium).Dr. Wilson is the author of numerous books, including the foundational Planning Your Internet Marketing Strategy (Wiley, 2002), as well as many of the seminal works on Internet marketing topics, including: The Shopping Cart Report, The E-Mail Marketing Handbook, Guide to Search Engine Optimization, How to Develop a Landing Page, 10 Steps to E-Business on a Shoestring, How to Promote Your Local Business on the Internet, and How to Write an Ad that Clicks. Over the last five years Dr. Wilson started adding video content to his publication. These five- to seven-minute video interviews have featured the world's top experts explaining various aspects of Internet marketing and e-commerce, and Dr. Wilson's lights and video camera have been common fixtures at Internet marketing conferences. Nearly 250 of these interviews are currently available.Dr. Wilson won the Tenagra Award for Internet Marketing Excellence in 2001. For five years he brought the one-day Doctor Ebiz Internet Marketing Seminar and Best Practices Internet Marketing Briefings to 20 U.S. cities. He has spoken on Internet marketing at universities, trade shows, at Internet marketing conferences, and to corporations worldwide."The last 17 years have been an amazing ride," says Dr. Wilson. "I think God put me in the right place at the right time so that I could help make a difference for thousands of aspiring online businesses."Dr. Wilson currently serves as the Interim Pastor of First Baptist Church of Nevada City, California. He has also been a pioneer in helping to bring Christian ministries on board the Internet. His Internet based-Bible studies typically draw 5,000 to 6,000 students from up to 130 countries. He is the director ofJoyful Heart Renewal Ministries and the author of 29 books in the JesusWalk Bible Study Series. The most popular of these isJesusWalk: Beginning the Journey (JesusWalk, 2009), a video-based, mentor-led approach to developing new Christians in the faith. Dr. Wilson and his wife Jean live in rural Loomis, California.For more information, photos, and interviews see:Web Marketing Today (www.webmarketingtoday.com)
For historical survey Doctor Ebiz Press Room (www.doctorebiz.com/press)
Original release
You may contact Dr. Wilson personally at
www.doctorebiz.com/contact/Kerry and Joy Murdock
Practical eCommerce (www.practicalecommerce.com)
518 28 Road, Suite B-203
Grand Junction, Colorado 81501
(970) 257-0606
Mobile Marketing Tips for Small Business. Part 1
There's no denying the growth in the use of mobile devices. Mobile's growth isn't just big news for big business; there are new marketing opportunities for small businesses too. As exciting as the new frontier of mobile marketing tools and technologies are, the uncharted territory can leave many business owners and marketers lost and uncertain. New marketing journeys are less overwhelming when you know how to navigate, so here are some mobile marketing tips to help you get on the best road for a rewarding trip.
Example: Tax problem resolution company TaxResolution.com has an extensive website full of information to help people with tax problems. They saw how this big site looked on a small mobile screen and realized that this breadth of information was overwhelming from a mobile perspective. They wanted to better help people read their site (that was one of their "where do you want to go" goals). To optimize, they built a mobile-specific site that has their most commonly viewed pages and an easy to access phone number. The true meaning of marketing is maximizing exchanges, new customers, referrals, upselling/reselling existing customers. Mobile marketing, like all marketing, is not a destination, it is an ongoing journey, so get in the habit of using the:Assess - Optimize - Newmarketing model to make the journey more navigable. Mobile marketing is a new tool in the web marketing toolbox. Remember that it is not the tools, but how you use the tools that will increase brand, build, and boost business. There are many aspects that go into making your mobile marketing campaign a success. Starting with a strategy is a healthy first step. Now that we have a mobile marketing foundation to work from, we can look more at new creative ways to do mobile marketing, which I will share in my next article.
There's no better place to start your mobile marketing journey than from your current location -- if you know where that is! First things first: get clear on where your mobile status stands. Get your hands on a smart phone and type in your website address in the address bar. How does your site look? It is your site on a mobile device user-friendly? Does it work as well as it does on a computer browser? Does it need improvement? Would a mobile-specific website be a better option for you? Look at your site on different devices (iPhone, Android, etc.) and note the experience. Think about it from the perspective of your current or potential customer -- are their needs being met? Know your mobile site options -- there are mobile-functional sites, mobile-optimized sites and mobile-specific sites. Next, go to Google from a mobile device and type in some descriptive key phrases that describe your business. How are your search results from mobile search? Starting any marketing journey from a place of knowledge (essentially, knowing where you are) will help determine smart next steps to help you get to where you want to go.
Example: Tax problem resolution company TaxResolution.com has an extensive website full of information to help people with tax problems. They saw how this big site looked on a small mobile screen and realized that this breadth of information was overwhelming from a mobile perspective. They wanted to better help people read their site (that was one of their "where do you want to go" goals). To optimize, they built a mobile-specific site that has their most commonly viewed pages and an easy to access phone number. The true meaning of marketing is maximizing exchanges, new customers, referrals, upselling/reselling existing customers. Mobile marketing, like all marketing, is not a destination, it is an ongoing journey, so get in the habit of using the:Assess - Optimize - Newmarketing model to make the journey more navigable. Mobile marketing is a new tool in the web marketing toolbox. Remember that it is not the tools, but how you use the tools that will increase brand, build, and boost business. There are many aspects that go into making your mobile marketing campaign a success. Starting with a strategy is a healthy first step. Now that we have a mobile marketing foundation to work from, we can look more at new creative ways to do mobile marketing, which I will share in my next article.Lorrie Thomas Ross, MA is The Marketing Therapist and CEO at Web Marketing Therapy, a marketing firm that diagnoses, prescribes and guides healthy marketing solutions for small businesses. Her team of Wild Web Women (and men!) diagnose, prescribe and guide healthy marketing solutions to help make small businesses big with the web. She is the author of the 36-Hour Course to Online Marketing for McGraw Hill.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
What SEO Ranking Signals Are Important Now - with Mike Grehan (5:36)
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson , Web Marketing Today - Apr 17, 2012 In this video interview, SEO pioneer Mike Grehan reviews how keyword placement, then links, and now social signals have affected rankings on the search engines -- and what you should be doing now to boost your rankings.
In the early days of search engines the primary signal for rankings was getting keywords in the right places on a webpage. Then, beginning with Google, links became the primary signal.
Now search engines are looking for signals from end user behavior to deduce what users want. One such user behavioral signal is time on a page or the bounce rate. With a tool bar installed, search engines can now track what you do after the click to gauge engagement.
When it comes to social signals, there's a lot of confusion. It isn't about who generates the most tweets. Rather, user-generated content included in 'rich snippets' -- such as reviews and ratings -- are become important social signals.
Mike Grehan is an SEO pioneer. Now he is Global VP of Content for Incisive Media -- over content in SES Conferences, ClickZ, and Search Engine Watch. This video interview was recorded at the SES Conference in Chicago on November 15, 2011.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Recent Internet Marketing Articles for 10 Apr 2012, Annotated Links
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson , Web Marketing Today - Apr 10, 2012 Ray 'Catfish' Comstock, 4 SEO Recommendations to Target the Long Tail, Search Engine Watch, 6 Apr 2012. Explains why long-tail SEO is so important. Then recommends: (1) Understand the keyword landscape, (2) create meaningful, descriptive page titles, (3) infuse your content and internal links with keyword variations, and (4) leverage user-generated content.
Derek Edmond, How SEO & PPC Can Help Build Your Email Marketing List, Search Engine Watch, 6 Apr 2012. Suggests: (1) Make e-mail subscription a conversion benchmark, (2) create more visibility to e-mail subscriptions in page templates, and (3) contact AdWords about communication extensions beta that contains a brief subscription form.
Derek Edmond, Competitive SEO Analysis: Data, Creativity & Understanding the Competitive Landscape, Search Engine Watch, 4 April 2012. Comprehensive article on analyzing your competitors from an SEO perspective.
Garrett French, Link Equity Salvage: 7 Steps for Finding Your Long-Lost Links, Search Engine Watch, 3 April 2012. Explains how links can become out-of-date and how to freshen them up.
Josh McCoy, Internal Linking, the Other Linking, Search Engine Watch, 2 April 2012. Explains how to make both search engines and human users happy with your internal links.
Ken Lyons, 63 Free (or Almost Free) Ways to Market Your Business, Search Engine Watch, 30 Mar 2012. Lots of marketing ideas, some great and others passable.
Tim Ash, Rotating Banners? Just Say No!, ClickZ, 3 Apr 2012. The large rotating banner that slides, fades, or otherwise transitions from one promotion to the next across a website home page hurts conversions. Reasons: large file sizes, inconsistent messaging and look, lack of editorial responsibility, wasted time, motion-triggered reassessment, and pushing navigation down.
Rebekah Henson, 3 Steps To Writing A Better Subject Line, Marketing Land, 4 Apr 2012. Suggests: (1) Get into your customers' mindset, (2) use snippets, and (3) don't over-stress about spam filters.
Conrad Saam, Do It Yourself A/B Testing, Search Engine Land, 4 Apr 2012. Discusses the statistics of A/B testing. Recommends using a tool called AB Tester http://abtester.com/calculator/ to determine confidence levels.
Stephanie Hobbs, Four Key Reasons To Reconsider Today’s Yellow Pages For Local Marketing, Search Engine Land, 2 Apr 2012. Sees Yellow Pages as important for (1) non-print directories, (2) long-term relationships with local businesses, (3) partnerships with search engines, and (4) print isn't dead.
Matt Van Wagner, Simple Tips To Make Miracles Happen In Your PPC Campaigns, Search Engine Land, 2 Apr 2012. Suggests: (1) use ad Sitelinks, (2) add punctuation, fix capitalization, and (3) update your adCenter campaigns.
Bryan Eisenberg, Designing Effective Pricing Tables, ClickZ, 6 Apr 2012. Explains the psychology behind package pricing. Suggests, show them your pricing table above the fold. Emphasize one option. Lay out your features/benefits intelligently. Make your call to action stand out. Provide social proofs such as testimonials.
Simms Jenkins, Mobile's Pending Revolution of the Inbox, ClickZ, 5 Apr 2012. A look at what mobile means for email marketers, smartphone trends, and ways to ensure your email stays relevant in the mobile generation. Part one in a two-part series.
Jeanne Jennings, The Honeymoon Effect, ClickZ, 2 Apr 2012. Notes that new subscribers tend to perform better than older names on your e-mail list.
Mike Hotz, More Tactics to Grow Your B2B Email List, ClickZ, 4 Apr 2012. Recommends: (1) build a working relationship with your sales team, (2) organic list building is still the best method, (3) don't buy lists.
Articles for this section are selected by Dr. Wilson on the basis of their appeal to small and medium businesses. He especially looks for articles with a how-to bent.
Recent Internet Marketing Articles for 17 Apr 2012, Annotated Links
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson , Web Marketing Today - Apr 17, 2012 Here are some articles that will help you this week.
Matt McGee,More Than 27 Percent Of Emails Are Opened On Mobile Devices, Marketing Land, 13 Apr 2012. Knotice reports that phones accounted for 20.6 percent of e-mail opens, and tablets made up 6.8%.
Krista Neher,9 Steps to Building a Content Marketing Strategy, ClickZ, 9 Apr 2012. Steps are: (1) set objectives, (2) target your audience, (3) identify triggers, (4) develop an editorial strategy, (5) decided what content to create, (6) consider content formats, (7) see how you can make your content better and more creative that your competition, (8) consider who develops the content, and (7) decided how it will be promoted or syndicated.
David Daniels,Email Marketing for Local Business, ClickZ, 9 Apr 2012. Explains how e-mail marketing might be implemented by a local camera store with two locations, a grocery store, a book and music store, and an upscale wine shop.
Sage Lewis,Content Theft: What to Do When It Happens, ClickZ, 9 Apr 2012. Suggests that people stealing your content is a wonderful event. Don't send a cease and desist notice! Explains why.
Nathan Richter,4 Ways to Use Email to Improve Website Conversions, ClickZ, 10 Apr 2012. Suggests exploring segmentation, consistency of messaging from the e-mail to your landing page, provide consistent visual 'badges,' and target users based on the technology they use to read the e-mail.
Aubrey Beck,10 Online Shopping Personality Traits, ClickZ, 11 Apr 2012. Distinguishes between shoppers by 10 designations: distracted, premium, determined, active, free shipping hunter, thrifty, loyal, methodical, impatient, and wish-list. Explains how to close the deal with each.
Lee Rainie, et al.,The rise of e-reading, Pew Internet, 4 Apr 2012. Reports that 21% of Americans have read an e-book in the past year, with a spike in both tablets and dedicated e-readers in the past holiday season. E-book readers tend to be the more avid readers of books.
Matt McGee,About Half Of The Top Blogs Use WordPress, Research Shows, Marketing Land, 11 Apr 2012. According to Royal Pingdom, 49% of the top 100 blogs are using WordPress as their publishing system. Of these, 9% use hosted WordPress, while 40% used self-hosted word press programs. The next contenders are 14% custom and 7% Moveable Type, 6% Drupal, 5% Gawker, 4% BlogSmith. Of course, these proportions won't hold for the less popular blogs.
Eric Ward,Signs Of Linking Over-Optimization, Search Engine Land, 10 Apr 2012. Talks about the fuzziness of defining off-site link over-optimization.
Pablo Palatnik,8 SEO Pointers for Ecommerce Product Pages, Practical eCommerce, 5 Apr 2012. Recommends careful use of titles, description meta tags, image alt tags, keywords in URL strings, robust product descriptions, linkworthiness, social media buttons, and user-generated reviews.
Tom Schmitz,11 Considerations For International SEO, Search Engine Land, 12 Apr 2012. To get good SEO overseas remember: to target countries, not just languages, use a country-specific domain name, set the language meta-tag properly on your webpages, host locally if possible, rewrite for each country, localize content, review design and usability in each country, provide appropriate XML sitemaps. register each site with local search engines, and refer to local activities.
Articles for this section are selected by Dr. Wilson on the basis of their appeal to small and medium businesses. He especially looks for articles with a how-to bent.
Most Retailers Saving Big on Debit Card Processing Fees
Amid a relentless battle between the nation’s biggest banks and the retail industry, a Federal Reserve report shows merchant processing fees for debit cards have been cut nearly in half, thanks to federal legislation that took effect last October. But some small retailers are not seeing the benefit.
Retailers have to pay a fee, often referred to as a “swipe fee,” when a customer pays with plastic. As part of the sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill signed into law in 2010, card giants, like Visa and MasterCard, are more limited on what they can charge. For small retailers, these swipe fees can really add up and cut into an owner's already razor-thin profit margins.
In the last three months of 2011, the average debit card swipe fee for large banks affected by the Fed’s rules plunged to 24 cents, down from an average 43 cents prior to the reforms. Banks with $10 billion or less in total assets (such as community banks) are exempt from the cap so they can still charge more, with the average fee remaining around 43 cents, the Fed reported this week.
The idea behind the exemption was to prevent community banks from taking too severe a hit to their debit-card revenue stream. But the Independent Community Bankers of America, an industry group representing small banks, says the exemption really won’t protect them very much because community banks will find it harder to compete with the bigger banks that now offer lower fees.
Related: Gas Prices, Health-Care Law Keep Small Businesses from Hiring
In June of 2011, the Federal Reserve set the cap at 21 cents per transaction, plus 0.05 percent of the value of the purchase and a 1-cent fraud-prevention fee for the big banks. While better than the average 40 cents retailers had been paying, the fee is still significantly higher than the 12-cent cap retailers hoped for.
“It is good for most merchants, but there are a couple of subcategories of merchants that are still having difficulty,” says National Retail Federation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan.
For retailers selling mostly small-ticket items, the cost of a debit-card swipe has in some cases gone up. For example, on a 99-cent purchase, a merchant that previously paid 8 cents to process that transaction, now has to pay 22 or 23 cents, according to Duncan. To be sure, many small retailers have worked around that by establishing a minimum purchase requirement for customers choosing to pay with plastic. And last fall, the NRF filed a suit against the Federal Reserve in an effort to get the central bank to amend its rule. The case is still pending.
Related: Small Business Hiring Slows, But Still Adding More Jobs Than Large Companies
Meanwhile, Mallory says that some retailers are unwittingly being taken to the cleaners by debit-card fees charged through their third-party processing company, known as a merchant account provider or acquirer. These companies will set up the terminals and process the transactions for retailers, in exchange for a percentage of each transaction. In some cases, Mallory says those third-party processors are not passing along all of the savings from the lower bank fees to the merchants in the wake of the reform. Mallory says one way to make sure you're charged the correct processing fee is to shop around.
At least one processing company, Heartland Payment Systems, is turning the problem into an opportunity by openly advertising on its website a tracker of the number of “Durbin Dollars” it has saved its clients, named after the Senator who proposed the amendment to the legislation.
Talk to us: Have you seen any savings in your debit-card processing fees since the reform took effect? Leave a comment below.
Related: On Capitol Hill, Battle Over Small-Business Loans Grows Fierce
Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.
Catherine Clifford is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.
Fresh Founders on How to Partner with a Big Company (Video)
When entrepreneurs partner with an industry giant, it's not uncommon for the founder to leave what he created when he no longer has majority control. On the other hand, some entrepreneurs have learned to work well under the umbrella of a large company.
For example, Fresh co-founders Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg spent nearly a decade building their beauty brand before partnering with French luxury-goods giant LVMH Group in 2000, as a way to continue growing Fresh on a global scale. LVMH is now majority owner, while the pair remains as co-presidents.
In this 'Trep Talk Extra, Glazman and Roytberg share their advice for other business owners looking to grow by bringing on a company partner.
Fresh beauty products include skincare, haircare, bodycare, makeup and fragrances, which are sold around the world through 15 Fresh stores and 400 retail distribution outlets.
Related Video: Fresh Founders on Bringing a Vision to Life
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Women Are More Social -- When It Comes to Social Media, That Is
Women are much more likely than their male counterparts to engage in blogging, follow brands and celebrities online, and buy products online that they’ve seen featured on television, according to a new report from Nielsen.
Nielson's latest State of The Media (PDF) report shows that women are 8 percent more likely than men to create or update their own personal blog. They're also 18 percent more likely to become a fan or follow a brand on a social site such as Facebook or Twitter.
When it comes to who has at least one social networking profile up and running, the women are 6 percent more likely to have accomplished that task. Same holds for users who actively follow a celebrity online. Again, women took the lead, proving to be 15 percent more likely to follow the stars. Women were also more likely to have used the Internet to buy a product they saw on television (12 percent) than men.
So the women are the alpha players on the social media playground. The question for entrepreneurs and small-business owners who depend on social media in their marketing is: How best to take advantage? Here are some of my thoughts:
Using a celebrity to endorse your product, business or brand makes the most sense if your target audience is made up primarily of woman.If you’re involved in the creation and marketing of blog-related software and solutions, such as widgets and plug-ins, it’s good to know that women are your target audience due to their propensity to build and be active on their personal blogs.The fact that women maintain more social networking profiles speaks to the need for multichannel marketing campaigns when attempting to reach this audience. Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.
Mikal E. Belicove is a market positioning, social media, and management consultant specializing in website usability and business blogging. His latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, is now available at bookstores. For more information, visit MikalBelicove.com.
5 Critical Questions Facebook Must Answer in Its IPO Roadshow
The "roadshow" is a time-honored ritual of initial public offerings (IPOs), when a venture's top executives meet with institutional investors and explain why they should buy shares. Facebook is expected to step into this fray early next week and, to paraphrase TV icon Ricky Ricardo, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has some splainin' to do.
Before getting into the details of what Zuckerberg needs to make clear, it's worth noting whom he'll be meeting with at these roadshow presentations. Despite a company's supposed quiet period before going public, institutional investors get unfettered access to the firm's top management right before shares are issued. They discuss the company's prospects and try to generate a buying fever.
So when Facebook executives, with or without Zuckerberg, fly to Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore and possibly Los Angeles, you might think everything would go swimmingly. But that might not be the case. Facebook wants to sell shares for a price between $28 and $35 a share -- that if it went public at the midpoint of that range -- would value every dollar of Facebook's $1 billion in net income at 86 times that amount, or about $86 billion.
One rule of thumb I use to value publicly traded stocks is the Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio. If a stock's P/E exceeds its earnings growth rate, then it's too expensive. And if its P/E is lower than its earnings growth rate, the shares are attractive.
Related: Why Instagram Won't Be the Last Startup Facebook Buys Before Its IPO
On this basis, Facebook shares are enormously overvalued, especially since first quarter earnings fell 12 percent. What's more, Facebook's annual revenue growth rate, while still 45 percent, is half of what it was in 2011. And therein lie the challenges Zuckerberg will face if he attends the roadshow presentations.
Here are five critical questions Zuckerberg will need to answer to win over investors and get the monster valuation he's looking for:
1. How can Facebook grow as its novelty wears off?
Facebook's novelty is gone, and growth has been steadily slowing. That social networking site attracted 8.39 users per second from July 2010 through March 2011, but only five per second from September 2011 through December 2011, according to Facebook ad testing and management system Optim.al.
2. How will Facebook deal with faster growing competitors?
It isn't as if the rest of the world is standing still. After all, Pinterest, the new kid on the block, reached 10 million users in December 2011 -- a faster growth rate than that of any other social network. And those users spend more time on Pinterest (77 minutes) each month than on Twitter (36), LinkedIn (17), and Google+ (6) combined. But to be fair, it'll be a while before any of them catch up to the large amount of time (6 hours and 33 minutes) users spend on Facebook.
Related: The 10 Things Facebook Got Right Pre-IPO
3. How will Facebook grow if users hate advertising?
An informal survey I conducted with about 80 Babson College juniors and seniors found that almost all of them do not want to see advertising on Facebook. Moreover, many of these students told me that if Facebook increases advertising, they will stop using it. This is not exactly a scientific analysis, but it does beg the question of how Facebook is going to increase advertising revenues if more ads cause users to defect.
4. How can Facebook grow as young users move into the workforce?
Considering that many of Facebook's younger users hope to be moving into the workforce soon, many of them will likely spend a lot less time on the site. After all, with the U.S. unemployment rate still above 8 percent, wasting time reading so-called newsfeeds might not be advisable.
5. Will Facebook lose users who fear their pages will disqualify them from a job?
The career risk of being on Facebook could be another impediment to its growth, given the difficulty of protecting your private information and the barriers to erasing your Facebook footprint. With many recruiters now snooping on Facebook pages, sensible people may decide that posting pictures of drunken revelry isn't worth losing a job opportunity. One-fifth of applicants "disqualify themselves from an interview because of content in the social media sphere," according to the U.K.'s DailyMail.
Facebook shares should be heading to $60 or higher when it goes public later this month. But unless Zuckerberg can answer these questions in a convincing way, the average investor might want to steer clear.
Related: The Business Model for Disruption
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Social Media Tips for Professionals
Specific industries have specific challenges when it comes to social media. Below, we will examine some useful tips and techniques for those of you working in the financial planning, real estate and legal professions.
Financial Planners
Financial planning is a tough industry when it comes to online posting and building a reputation, but there is a way to still engage and kick some major financial industry butt online. Here are the top four things you can do as a financial planner to make some magic happen online.
1. Post in your status box using more of your personality. Share more of you and your thoughts. People like to relate personally to the people that they hire as financial consultants. They want to know that their financial planners are real people. Do not complain about sales rates, discuss investment opportunities, or tell what you did for other clients -- that is a no-no. You will build your presence online by being more transparent (yet professional).
2. Hold a free teleconference once per month and invite prospects or even clients. This is a great way to give prospects and target market contacts a sneak peek into what you can do for them. If you are too nervous to hold your first few calls, just have someone interview you for the first 20 minutes, and then turn it into a Q&A discussion so you can help callers for the remaining 20 minutes.
3. Offer a free 15-minute assessment of their situation or business. Also give them two different solutions that they can put into place right away. This is a great offer that you can post online, starting with your website or even a Facebook fan page.
4. Post industry specific stats and what is happening in the financial world specific to your niche. But take out your industry lingo and put it into English. Start a conversation by asking, "What do you think about that?"
Real Estate
Although real estate doesn't necessarily have as many restrictions, there are a massive amount of realtors online and off. However, most real estate agents and brokers aren't sure how to build their reputation online because it's difficult to stop a career habit of pitching properties with photos and MLS (Multiple Listing Service) links. These people have prided themselves in being online since desktops could first access the internet and have been using it primarily as a sales tool for a very long time. The social wave requires a more side-ways approach.
1. Utilize video instead of copy. Tell more of a story about a listing or a deal just closed. Forget the static pictures and copy. Instead, put some life into real estate and do a quick, 60-second clip on why a listing is great for the neighborhood. Be transparent and truthful.
2. Get your office involved. Whether you are an agent within an office or the designated broker, you should get your office involved with some online marketing fun. Partner up with another agent and do some back-and-forth video or blog posts to get a few different perspectives on the community and local industry, or each specialize in one topic. There is plenty of business for everyone, even in real estate. You just need to get out there and grab it, even by collaborating with another agent.
3. Write blog posts for community online outlets. This is a great way to get more exposure in your community and build your credibility. Pete Baldwin set out to do just that. Within six weeks, he had a consistent column in the most popular real estate outlet online in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is still killing it online to this day.
Related: 5 Easy Steps to Measure Social Media Campaigns
Attorneys/legal
In this industry, there is great caution regarding what is posted due to client-attorney privilege, as well as establishing a client-attorney relationship. Because most legal professionals know what they can and can't post as far as messaging, we'll skip over that and head straight to a few tips on how to build a legal brand online.
1. Turn laws into light conversation. Without giving legal advice, of course, this is an excellent way to get people to connect with you on a deeper level. So many people get overwhelmed by the legal talk that they tend to shut down because they are confused. Remember that confusion equals "no" in most situations. So post explanations of legal terms, approaches and laws in plain English. You can be the legal translator. Make sure that you include your legal disclosures in a sidebar.
2. Produce legal videos and updates. This is a great way to provide an overview on a legal topic without giving legal advice. Keep these brief and to the point, under one minute. Make sure at the end of the video to add your website URL and always end by asking the viewer a question. For example: "Have you checked your will lately to make sure that you are covered in this area?" or "Does your house title have the proper ownership noted and legally documented?"
Related: When Outsourcing Social Media Marketing Makes Sense (Video)
No matter what industry you are in, there is always something of concern when it comes to online marketing and being social. Just do what you would do in person: Be professional, have fun, be respectful, and you will be just fine.
This article is an adapted excerpt from The Social Wave: Why Your Business Is Wiping Out with Social Media and How to Fix It (Entrepreneur Press, 2011) by Starr Hall.
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Starr Hall is a social media strategist, international author and speaker and Associate Partner- Search & Media with Level, A Rosetta Company
www.StarrHall.com
New President, More Overseas Investment on Yum's Menu
Changes are on the menu at Yum! Brands, the parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
Yum!, which operates more than 37,000 restaurants in 125 countries, announced Tuesday that CFO Rick Carucci has been promoted to president of the Louisville-based company.
The announcement follows a recent report that the world’s largest restaurant operator is selling many of its U.S. stores to franchisees and channeling investments to emerging markets.
Carucci, 54, will oversee Yum!’s U.S. and international divisions and report to Chairman and CEO David Novak, who had also been president. Patrick Grismer, 50, becomes CFO.
Novak, who teaches and writes books on leadership, offered assurances that he will remain involved in overseeing the company. With Carucci’s promotion, the company is in a position “to best leverage scale and capitalize on our aggressive growth opportunities in emerging markets including China, India, Russia, Africa, France and Germany,” Novak said in a statement. “These opportunities simply did not exist when we started our company 15 years ago.”
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reported last week that YUM plans to sell hundreds of U.S. restaurants to franchisees and use the proceeds to open new stores in countries with faster-growing economies, such as China and India.
The story cited a recent investor presentation in which Carucci said YUM tends to reduce ownership in low-growth businesses and boost investment in higher-growth ones. The company’s restaurants outside the U.S. produce a majority of its profits.
Restaurants in emerging markets have expanded from less than a third of YUM’s company-owned stores in 2007 to approximately 60 percent today and an estimated 70 percent by 2014, according to the Dow Jones article.
U.S. sales dipped last year and YUM has been working on a turnaround in its domestic operations, the story noted. A restaurant chain advisory firm principal told the wire service that so-called refranchising isn’t uncommon for “mature” businesses, as they can achieve higher return on capital elsewhere and protection from rising domestic commodity prices and other outside risks.
More on YUM: A new QSR Magazine profile of Novak noted that none of the half-dozen “major KFC owners” who were asked to comment on the CEO’s leadership responded to the quick-service restaurant industry publication.
QSR quoted Andrew Selden, attorney for the Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, as saying, “They’re all terrified.” The franchisees “don’t want to get on the targeting radar.”
The magazine notes a history of strife between KFC and franchisees, and says Novak wrote in his book that when he became KFC president, he inherited a business that had financial problems and was “full of animosity.”
A new franchisee, Tabbassum Mumtaz, did comment for QSR, saying Novak’s leadership class helped save his business, which includes 90 KFC restaurants.
Of note, QSR quotes Novak as saying YUM is “100 percent focused on making sure we grow the U.S. brands,” and that KFC remains YUM’s biggest challenge.
'Breastaurant' Battle Ends With Pair of Press Releases
A legal battle of "breastaurants" has ended with little more than a pair of press releases.
Dueling announcements this week from Hooters of America LLC and La Cima Restaurants LLC put different spins on the out-of-court settlement. La Cima, led by former Hooters CEO Coby G. Brooks, plans to develop 35 Twin Peaks restaurants in the southeastern U.S. over the next decade.
Hooters, which franchises and operates more than 430 restaurants known for buxom "All-American Hooters Girls" waitresses, had sued La Cima after another former Hooters executive, Joseph W. Hummel, resigned last year and joined Brooks there.
La Cima, which formed in 2011, plans to open its first Twin Peaks franchise in Atlanta in July. The 7-year-old Twin Peaks chain, which has the slogan "Eats, Drinks, Scenic Views," also features scantily clad, big-bosomed waitresses. Currently much smaller than Hooters, Twin Peaks' website says it has "busted out" to more than a dozen locations and that the business "is about you, 'cause you're the man!"
In its federal lawsuit, Hooters claimed that Hummel downloaded "confidential and proprietary" company information when he resigned last July and later became La Cima's chief operating officer.
Hooters says it was able to secure "the return and/or destruction of all of its misappropriated information" through the now-resolved litigation.
For its part, La Cima issued a press release proclaiming that it was letting Hooters "walk away" without any compensation. The company added that Hooters "conceded" it had no evidence to support its claim.
"La Cima has never had any intention of using any Hooters information," Brooks said in the release. "[We] have over 117 years of combined Hooters restaurant experience. We don't need their documents; we wrote them."
Meanwhile, with more so-called breastaurants popping up across the land, it's no wonder that a niche has developed for a business like Breastaurant Uniforms. The company says its "Nicole Tops," "Buffy Dresses" "Dixie Shorts" and other outfits are all made in the U.S.
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Networking Asian Style
Understanding cultural differences is becoming more important in our increasingly interconnected global economy. That's especially true in fast-growing, emerging markets like China and other parts of Asia.
I recently asked experts on networking in several Asian countries to share advice on how to network effectively in their markets.
"Face is everything to the Chinese," says Jihong Hall, one of China's leading experts on networking. She means "face" in terms of dignity, prestige, honor, respect and status. For example, she notes that Westerners often make jokes at their own expense or at other people's expense. But she strongly recommends against such joking with Chinese individuals until you know them very, very well. If you cause them to lose face, she says, you will lose their business.
Hall offers three additional recommendations for dealing with Chinese businesspeople:
When negotiating, always keep plenty in reserve. A deal must be a compromise in which you have given enough ground so that the need for "face" is satisfied.Numbers are very important to the Chinese. For example, if your company was formed in 1944, it is best to not mention it because that means "death, death" in their culture. Even prices are guided by the meaning of numbers.How you look is significant. Smart, casual dress is fine, but wear stylish clothes.Ho Quang Minh, a Vietnamese networking expert, also recommends that you "look formal" when doing business in Asian countries. He says:
Westerners should be aware that some Asian businesspeople may talk less because they do not feel comfortable speaking English. Don't assume that they are not driven business professionals because they come across as quiet or reserved.Discuss business over a meal, but do not get right to the point at the first meeting.Related: Five to Follow for Doing Business in China
Avryl Au, a Thai and Malaysian networking expert, offers these additional recommendations:
When doing business in Thailand, don't expect to shake hands. Instead, Thai individuals will put their hands together—palm-to-palm—and place them just in front of their face, close their mouth and bow slightly. It is acceptable for foreigners to do the same.In Malaysia, Au says, a handshake is the official greeting, but after that you put your right hand on your heart. Again, foreigners may do the same. Westerners may have a firm handshake, but in Malaysia, it's generally softer. This is not a sign of weakness, but simply the cultural norm.Although Americans and Japanese have been doing business together for decades, some entrepreneurs may not be familiar with some of the cultural nuances. For example, "one big difference between the Japanese business culture and Western business culture is an activity the Japanese call ‘nominication,' which means drinking communication," says Asato Ohno, one of Japan's top networking experts. "In order to build any kind of meaningful business relationship with your associates, you must go out for dinner and drinks."
While socializing for business purposes is certainly common in Western cultures, too, it is much more important in Japan, Ohno says. "People believe they can build deeper relationship with others more quickly by drinking together. It is almost like having casual one-to-one's regularly."
Related: 5 Steps for Keeping Data Safe When Traveling to China
Exchanging business cards is an essential part of most cultures. But it's more ceremonial in many Asian countries. In Japan, for instance, this ceremony is called meishi. The card is presented with the front side facing upward toward the recipient. Offering the card with both hands holding the top corners demonstrates respect to the other person.
The business card is admired much more in the Asian culture than in Western society. It is viewed as an extension of the individual and should be treated with respect. Tucking it into a pocket, writing on it, folding it or even looking at it again are considered impolite and could insult your Asian contact.
Most networking basics are universal, and with some care, you can factor in these and other cultural nuances to get a leg up. You can rest assured that your networking etiquette and respect will be greatly appreciated as your business increasingly takes you into other countries.
The old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," is very appropriate. However, one thing I'd strongly suggest: Don't just "do as the Romans do," ask a few Romans in advance. I have had amazing suggestions from local businesspeople. Their counseling and coaching made a huge difference in my ability to connect in an appropriate way in many of the countries I have visited.
Related: Hong Kong: A Business Traveler-Friendly Destination
5 Tools to Take Your SEO to the Next Level
There's no doubt that search engine optimization is vital for online businesses. How can you expect to sell your products and services online if your customers can't find your website?
While there are numerous layers to SEO practices, you don't have to drive yourself crazy learning every single detail and implementing every tactic. Good news is that there are several online services that can help minimize the effort you put into SEO while improving your website rankings on search engine results pages and amplifying your traffic.
Here are five tools to consider for taking your SEO to the next level, with minimal effort:
1. SEOProfiler
SEOProfiler provides a single platform to organize keyword research activities, link-building promotions, competitive intelligence research and more -- all of which can substantially improve a company's SEO campaigns. In addition, the program offers detailed, aesthetically pleasing reporting features that are useful for displaying data generated by this software suite.
The program offers a free 30-day trial for users to explore its features. After the trial, monthly membership fees will be assessed, ranging from $29 for beginner-level accounts to $249 for professional SEO agencies.
2. Optify.net
Optify.net offers a number of web data tools, but the two most useful for webmasters are the search engine optimization and social media optimization programs.
The SEO program offers many of the same functions as SEOProfiler, but its link-building module suffers from one weakness in that it only tracks created links, instead of providing opportunities to uncover new potential back-linking partners.
Optify.net's social media optimization suite, however, provides more features than SEOProfiler and most other SEO programs. You can monitor social media traffic in real time, as well as gather the data needed to increase conversions from these traffic sources and determine social media ROI.
With more features comes a higher price tag. After a 30-day free trial option, monthly fees range from $250 to $500.
3. LocalVOX
While most SEO tools focus on traditional tasks to improve a website's showing in search results, small-business owners should also consider local SEO to target customers in their area.
In addition to keyword research and back-link building, practitioners of local SEO also spend time connecting with followers on social media, optimizing local "place listing" websites including Google Places and Yelp, and monitoring customer review sites for feedback.
But for many small-business owners, the demands of both traditional and local SEO can be overwhelming. That's why some people turn to services such as LocalVOX, which automate the process of local website optimization. LocalVOX offers users a number of local SEO services, including automatic social networking site updates, "daily deal" style services, and place listing management.
But keep in mind the added services come at a price: Monthly charges range from $199 to $749, plus setup fees.
4. Raven Tools
Like Optify.net, Raven Tools offers both SEO and social media measurement programs. What's most notable is that it provides tools that can be of interest Google Adwords pay-per-click advertisers. Raven's "Google Adwords + Google Analytics" tool easily merges data from these two accounts, providing a simple way to determine PPC campaign effectiveness.
After a 30-day free trial for its complete web advertising and analytics package, monthly rates jump to $99 for a personal account and $249 for larger, agency-oriented packages.
5. Traffic Travis
If the fees charged by SEO management companies fall outside your price range, take a look at the free version of the Traffic Travis software program.
The free version contains many of the same features as the programs above, including optimization analysis, back-link prospecting and competitive research that "spies" on your competitors' PPC ads.
While Traffic Travis can be attractive for some cash-strapped startups, the no-cost option has some limitations. It is missing some features provided by the other SEO tool suites listed above, and doesn't provide the same depth of data in terms of results reported within many of its market research features. Still, Traffic Travis can help beginning webmasters make progress on their sites before upgrading to a full-featured SEO tool.
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AJ Kumar is co-founder of Single Grain, a digital marketing agency based in San Francisco. Single Grain specializes in helping startups and larger companies with search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media and various other marketing strategies.
An Inside Look at How Teams Create Great Business Ideas When Subway Meets 'Mad Men' in AMC's 'The Pitch'
Great ideas are the stuff of which successful businesses are made. Without good ideas that customers respond to, on the other hand, your business is doomed.
That's the business drama on view in the newest reality TV show, AMC's The Pitch. In the show, two ad agencies compete for a chance to land a big account, while viewers get to watch their brainstorming process.
The challenge in the debut episode: Create an edgy breakfast campaign for top fast-food chain Subway aimed at luring young diners -- but don't go too far outside the bounds of Subway's established brand.
The show apparently had a tough time getting agencies to appear on the show, with many big agencies passing on the chance. It's easy to see why, as the show features both copywriters' harebrained ideas as well as their best. Fortunately, some agencies did sign on, providing a fascinating opportunity to see business teams who live and die by their ideas in brainstorm sessions.
The first episode features two name-brand firms, McKinney in North Carolina and WDCW, which has offices in Seattle and Los Angeles. The two firms get a brief from Subway together, and then regroup at their respective offices with a week to come up with their presentation.
Over at WDCW, which is known for quirky, attention-getting campaigns, the team presented an idea about zAMbies -- morning zombies -- who can snap out of their funk by eating breakfast at Subway. It was definitely creative, but ultimately didn't hang together. It was too out there for the Subway execs, who passed.
In the end, McKinney triumphed by being more tapped into youth culture. Setting two teams of its youngest junior copywriters on the project, one pair comes upon Irish rapper Mac Lethal, who's a YouTube sensation with a widely viewed video about pancakes. The team creates a video with him and brings him live to their pitch meeting, helping to clinch the account.
McKinney won a big account, but being in the ad business WDCW execs no doubt understood the law of publicity when they decided to make this show. Far from hiding after its loss, the agency is plugging its Pitch appearance on its website. No doubt it will be hearing from brands looking to do something real grabby that will keep viewers' fingers off the fast-forward button.
Bonus for those who'd like to know how the big companies tick: The show offers online "Why They Won" segments in which the company dissects why the winner got the account.
How does your company brainstorm? Leave a comment and tell us your approach.
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When the Product Is the Marketing, and Vice Versa
Not that it happens often, but sometimes the product itself is the marketing. And in those rare cases, businesses thrive without organized marketing.
Normally, great marketing beats great product. But these are those beautiful "if you build it, they will come" cases that can be especially exciting to watch.
As I write this, I'm reviewing a startup that looks to me as if it could be one of those product-driven successes that thrive without much focus on marketing planning. Yesterday, the founders showed me their video-rich and design-rich web building platform. It looked incomplete, but really good. And the creators had very little to say about marketing.
So there's the rub. If this is as good as I think, users will like it and recommend it. Then, the user excitement will show up in Twitter and Facebook and Google+. And that means buzz. And buzz becomes marketing. Plan or not.
Related: Secrets of the 10 Most-Trusted Brands
These people do have some general marketing ideas. They are looking at attending some key conferences, leveraging off strong references in online media and getting some influential names and companies to use their product early on. In short, they are counting on word of mouth, which today means social media buzz.
While the startup seems headed in the right direction, there are no clear responsibility assignments, no dates and deadlines, no metrics and no budgets. So as investors, do we write them off for lack of a marketing plan? What would you do? I'll tell you what I think, after I review some other examples.
Let's start with Facebook. It began as a website for university students to check out other students. In interviews, founder Mark Zuckerberg talks about programming; he's all about the product and very little about marketing. He says Facebook's success is about "making bold decisions about the products." Do you think investors sneered at Facebook because it didn't have a marketing plan? If any did, I bet they regret that now.
Related: 5 Tips for Surviving Your Startup's First Year
My second example is Twitter. Twitter took off in 2007 when usage tripled during the South by Southwest conference. True, attending a conference is marketing, and there may well have been a plan. Steven Levy of Newsweek wrote that, "The Twitter people cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages." Of course, that's marketing, but it's all about great product, too. Do you agree?
My third example is from almost 30 years ago. I was on the founding board of directors of a company called Borland International that became enormously successful because of great product. It was in the 1980s, before the Internet, but the general idea still applies.
Entrepreneur Philippe Kahn started Borland on a shoestring budget, with no outside investors, and turned it into a public company with annual sales of $60 million in less than four years. His first product, Turbo Pascal, was sensational, so everybody with a PC wanted it. Less than a year later, he released Sidekick, and everybody wanted that, too. It wasn't that Philippe didn't care about marketing. Full-page direct response ads were vital to Borland in the early days, and direct mail became important later. But for Philippe, marketing was always second to product. Yet, Borland was a huge success.
Related: Branding 101: Five Tips for Solopreneurs
So, getting back to my earlier question, do we discount this company for lack of a strong marketing plan? I don't think so. Do you?
I believe planning is about decisions and good management and that every business plan and every situation is unique. Despite the common lists of what a business plan should include, there are always special cases where the focus on product makes sense—at least until the product is finished, released and getting its own buzz.
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BlackBerry Makes a New Play for Business Users
ORLANDO -- After years of rumors and false starts, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has pulled back the curtain on the BlackBerry 10 operating system, a mostly touch-based OS which is expected to work on smartphones and tablets. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced the system today here at the BlackBerry World 2012 event.
The question, of course, is whether BlackBerry 10 will offer something unique for business owners. From the touch-based keyboard to a dramatic new program for app developers, there are some interesting new features.
Here's what we found live from the show floor at RIM’s annual developer conference, attended by more than 5,000 BlackBerry enthusiasts, system administrators, developers and small-business owners:
Related: 3 Tips for Choosing the Right Smartphone for Your Business
BlackBerry 10 is coming, but we don’t know when.
Actual deployment dates of the new OS have not been announced. There is no scheduled timetable for the launch, according to RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, “because we want to get it perfect.”
The action here was about demonstrating capabilities for potential developers rather than showing actual products. Company executives touted new features: less emphasis on the physical keyboard and a dramatic new program for app developers.
Additionally, RIM said it will guarantee a minimum of $10,000 in annual revenue to certified app developers. Apps must be officially accepted into the BlackBerry App World, RIM’s online software market place. And if the app doesn't make $10,000 in its first year, the developer will receive payment for the difference.
Touch keyboard to be gesture controlled.
The yet-to-be-released platform will be based on a software development language called QNX. The language will enable a new concept called “flow” in data entry for mobile devices, according to Heins. That means small, touch-based gestures can let users move from app to app and type in ways traditional QWERTY-based keyboards cannot.
But for business users who prefer a physical keyboard, the BlackBerry 10 platform will still support devices that run traditional QUERTY inputs, Heins said.
Related: Dumping Your BlackBerry? Join the Club
RIM claims the “flow” will enable cutting-edge personalization algorithms that potentially could not only finish the word a user is typing, but could predict the next word that person intends to type. It expects data entry to be faster and more intuitive the more businesses use the phone. Users will be able to stack several running apps on top of each other and controls are expected for how to use screen space.
It should be particularly useful for switching between a document and an email, for instance. Copying-and-pasting should be easy.
Real business potential remains to be seen.
The consensus among many developers and app companies here is that there is plenty of potential interest in the new software but aren’t sure yet if devices, plans and functionality will offer value to business users. For RIM’s efforts in building new partnerships with developers to succeed, the line of BlackBerry 10 phones and devices must compete with the major mobile players including Apple, Motorola and Samsung.
What do you think of this early look at BlackBerry's new operating system? Let us know in the comments below.
9 Ideas for Health-Care Reform
Though it will be many weeks likely before we hear the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on whether the health-care reform law is constitutional, business groups are already promoting their favorite alternatives to help cut costs.
Here's a look at different ideas on health-care reform -- from the National Federation of Independent Business and from the Kauffman Foundation.
NFIB has five health-care initiatives it would like to see:
1. Self-employed people could be allowed to fully deduct their insurance premiums when they buy an individual policy.
2. Business owners could contribute a flat amount to employee accounts, which workers could then spend to purchase their own health plan.
3. Small-business owners could pool funds across state lines to purchase insurance in a market of their choosing.
4. Health-care portability would encourage more startups by allowing entrepreneurs to stay on a former employer's plan.
5. Medical liability (tort) reform to cut back on frivolous malpractice cases.
Of those, the third option is perhaps the biggest long shot. I can hear state insurance regulators screaming from here. And tort reform is something the medical professionals have long agitated for to little effect.
The problem with the second option is having every worker purchase an individual plan results in higher rates, as there's no group discount. Portability is something every consumer would like to see, but another one that's been talked about forever. The full deduction for premiums might be a fairly easy break to achieve -- maybe the best bet on this list.
By contrast, Kauffman's focus is on big changes to health-care infrastructure to create efficiency. Here are four ideas out of a study it commissioned on how to improve health-care efficiency and quality of care:
1. Increased data-sharing between medical researchers, the pharmaceutical industry, insurers and doctors; encourage "a new corps of data entrepreneurs" to better collect and analyze medical data to discover best practices and new therapies.
2. More research funding for larger, more collaborative teams with members from multiple institutions.
3. Streamline new drug approvals and remove "counterproductive" restrictions in health-care coverage, all by medical malpractice reforms.
4. Providing more unbiased information to patients on treatment options and lifestyle changes.
Some of Kauffman's ideas are part of the current health-care reform plan, especially advances in data sharing. And some of it is in line with NFIB's agenda, particularly malpractice reform.
As a solopreneur who has paid a lot for several types of small-business insurance for the past six years, I'm one of many business owners hoping that state discount pools for small businesses planned under health-care reform survive the High Court challenge.
Given all the ideas out there, this option still seems like the most immediate way to reduce small-business owners' health-care costs. Give us access to the kind of discount rates the corporations enjoy. There's no logical reason why we can't have them. Keeping it a state-by-state solution works within the existing order, so it's easier to roll out than allowing cross-state policy purchasing, as NFIB would prefer.
What do you think should be done to cut health-care costs? Leave a comment and let us know.
Related: What an End to the Health-Care Law Could Mean for Small Business
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Hackathon Hiring: How to Scout for Coders with Confidence
In this competitive software market, finding a great developer for your startup can be a bit like dating.
You can try searching online sites such as TechCofounder and CoFoundersLab, which match entrepreneurs to software engineers. But it might be best to meet face-to-face to find someone who understands your goals and meshes well with you. One of the simplest ways is by attending coding events called hackathons.
These marathon programming sessions, which happen most weekends throughout the world, are the digital equivalent of a jam session: Programmers team up to write software, solve a specific problem or just test their development chops.
There are similar events, such as those sponsored by Seattle-based Startup Weekend. These aren’t technically hackathons but do bring people with different skill sets -- coders, designers, marketers, managers and others -- to collaborate on new business ideas.
If you are in the market for a great software engineer and are game for going to a hackathon, follow these five steps to start mingling with coders with confidence:
1. Know the language.
Coding expertise isn’t a must for every entrepreneur, but familiarity with programming language will enable you to talk software engineering with a modicum of confidence. Written guides can be a surprisingly comprehensive way to dive into a software topic if you’re starting from zero knowledge. They range from general surveys such as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Programming Basics to programming-language specific books like SQL for Dummies.
There are also online resources for learning the basics of the common Web programming languages, including w3schools and Codecademy.
Related: Do You Really Need to Code?
2. Know what -- and whom -- you are looking for.
There are hackathons for mobile apps, websites and open-source tools. Some are sponsored by big companies, and others, by small businesses or nonprofits. The list goes on and on.
Before you invest in face time, have a concrete idea of the product you want to develop. And, based on your programming research on your product, you should have at least a basic feel for which development works best for your business. If you don’t know the kind of software talent you need for your business model, you’re wasting everyone’s time.
Once you know which software solution suits your project, there are several lists of appropriate events you may want to attend, including Hackatopia and Meetup.com. Google also sponsors technology meetups called Google Technology User Groups, which range from small gatherings to hackathons to lectures. Attendees talk about everything from designing full programs to simple Android apps.
3. Don’t be a digital wallflower.
Once you’re at the event, use the time to get a feel for which people you'll be most comfortable with. Only speak at length with developers willing to explain what they do in detail. Remember, they are coding right there before your eyes. If they can’t explain how they are engineering a problem -- literally command by command -- then they are probably not worth the time.
Once you think you’ve found a match, be ready to explain your idea. That’s the moment to pitch your “next big thing.” In doing so, present yourself as who you are -- the well-prepared entrepreneur. Don’t overstate your computer acumen.
Related: How to Find a Technical Co-Founder (Video)
4. Get real as soon as you can.
Once you have found a match, offer your potential partner a paid assignment on a simple project. This way you get a feel for how your programmer works, how well he meets deadlines, and whether you get along.
The fee can be as high as $100 an hour for an experienced developer. But $40 an hour is more typical.
This experience should be similar to working with an architect or contractor. If a contractor can’t explain exactly how to fix the kitchen and you aren’t seeing progress, then that person isn't your solution.
5. Rinse and repeat.
Software engineering is an iterative process. So is finding the right technology partner. Once that initial project is under way, hit the books again and study up on how your software is getting engineered. Then go back to your developer with questions to confirm that you’ve made a good choice.
If you feel you should look around for a different partner, you will probably have developed contacts with several other developers at this point. And it can't hurt to keep making more tech connections.
Related: Why and How to Host a Hackathon
Jonathan Blum is a freelance writer and the principal of Blumsday LLC, a Web-based content company specializing in technology news.
Why Innovation Dies
Editor's note: A version of this article previously appeared at SteveBlank.com.
Faced with disruptive innovation, you can be sure any possibility for innovation dies when a company forms a committee for an "overarching strategy."
I was reminded how innovation dies when the email below arrived in my inbox. It was well-written, thoughtful and had a clearly articulated sense of purpose. You may have seen one like it in your school or company.
Skim the abridged version, and take a guess why I first thought it was a parody. It’s a classic mistake large organizations make in dealing with disruption.
From: The Strategy Committee
To: Faculty and Staff
We believe online education will become increasingly important at all levels of the educational experience….it is of paramount importance that we develop an overarching strategy that enables and supports online innovation.
To this end, we are convening a Strategy Committee that is charged with overseeing our efforts and accelerating implementation. The purpose of the Strategy Committee is to provide guidance and coordination, and to enable innovation….
A Policy Team, which is charged with coordinating detailed implementation plans for specific projects, will report to the Strategy Committee.
The Strategy Committee will be meeting for a half-day retreat in the coming weeks to begin work. Stay tuned for further updates.
We Can Figure It Out in a Meeting
The memo sounds thoughtful and helpful. It’s an attempt to get all the "right" stakeholders in the room and think through the problem.
But a more useful purpose for a university committee could have been figuring out the goal of going online. It could have said "the world expects us to lead so let’s get together and figure out how we deal with online education." Our goal(s) could be:
Looking good Doing good for all Doing well by enrolled students Fixing the business model to fix a budget crisis Having a good football team -- or at least filling the stadium Attracting donations Attracting faculty Oh and yes -- building an efficient, high-quality education machine
But the minute the memo started talking about a "policy team" developing detailed implementation plans, it was all over.
The problem is that the path to implementing online education is not known. In fact, it’s not a solvable problem by committee, regardless of how many smart people in the room. It is a "NP complete" problem -- it is so complex that figuring out the one possible path to a correct solution is computationally incalculable. (Click here to see my diagram that explains more.)
Innovation Dies in Conference Rooms
The "let’s put together a committee" strategy fails for four reasons:
My bet is that there will be more people involved in this school’s "strategy committee" than in the startups that find the solution.
In a perfect world, the right solution would be a one-page memo encouraging maximum experimentation with the bare minimum of rules (protecting the school’s brand and the applicable laws.)
Lessons Learned
Innovation in new markets do not come from "overarching strategies"It comes out of opportunity, chaos and rapid experimentationSolutions are found by betting on a portfolio of low-cost experiments, with a minimum number of constraintsThe road for innovation does not go through committee Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.
Steve Blank is a professor of entrepreneurship and former serial entrepreneur. His latest book is The Startup Owner's Manual.
Fresh Founders on Partnering, Branding and Bringing a Vision to Life (Video)
While growing up in Russia, Lev Glazman sensed the happiness that a fragrance brought his mother, and the thought of bringing that joy to others was one that would linger for many years. After emigrating to the U.S. to follow his dream, he met design-savvy Alina Roytberg and together they turned it into reality.
"For us the effective part is that we weren't doing the same things in the company. Lev was the nose and I was the eyes," Roytberg says.
With $10,000 borrowed from their parents, the husband-and-wife team opened their first store, Nuts About Beauty, in 1991. They then changed the name to Fresh and launched a line of artisanal soaps. Today, Fresh beauty products have expanded to include skincare, haircare, bodycare, makeup and fragrances sold around the world through Fresh stores and other high-end retailers. In 2000, the couple partnered with French luxury goods giant LVMH Group, which is now majority owner. The pair remains as co-presidents.
With their products sold through 15 Fresh stores and 400 retail distribution outlets, the global brand continues to hold cache in the beauty industry after more than two decades.
For this 'Trep Talk interview, I sat down with Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg at their home in Brookline, Mass. They share the challenges and rewards of going into business with a spouse, why having too many ideas is not always a good thing, and the most important element you need to start a business.
Did you find this video helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.
Lowering Taxes on Manufacturers Won't Help Small Business (Opinion)
President Obama wants to help American manufacturers by allowing them to pay lower taxes than other businesses. His tax reform plan sets a maximum corporate rate of 28 percent, but proposes a maximum rate of only 25 percent on manufacturers, and even less if the business qualifies as "advanced" manufacturer -- a term that the President's proposal fails to define.
His plan is bad economic policy and is particularly bad for small-business owners.
Economists generally believe the tax system should treat all industries equally. Giving special treatment to one industry leads to misallocation of resources to that favored business sector. The administration seems to agree, at least when discussing the incentives the tax code currently creates for overinvestment in oil and gas drilling. The President's Framework for Business Tax Reform states, "Currently, tax expenditures in the tax code vary dramatically by industry. ... The result is a tax system that distorts investment decisions."
Yet in the same document, the White House argues that we should create a new distortion by allowing manufacturers to pay lower taxes than other businesses. Perhaps I haven't spent enough time learning "Washington economics" because I am left wondering: If the current tax code creates distortions because it favors one industry over another, then how does changing the tax code to favor another industry do anything other than produce new distortions?
Related: Four Ways to Write Off Health-Care Expenses (Video)
The Obama administration argues that manufacturers deserve special treatment because they conduct more research and development, making them more innovative than other industries. As the President's Framework argues, "Manufacturing contributes disproportionately to U.S. innovation; manufacturing firms conduct more than two-thirds of the private sector research and development (R&D) in the United States and employ the majority of scientists and engineers in the private sector." Investment in manufacturing, therefore, is more beneficial to the economy than investment in other sectors, the President's team argues.
But there is little consensus among mainstream economists that manufacturing is special. In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Christina Romer, the President's former chief economic advisor who is now a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said there is no evidence that expansion by manufacturers provides greater benefit to the economy than expansion by any other businesses.
The President's plan for a lower corporate tax rate on manufacturers does little for small business because it helps only manufacturers that are set up as C corporations. Most small businesses are structured as pass-through entities -- sole proprietorships, partnerships and Subchapter S corporations. As the National Association of Manufacturers, which represents companies in the industries with the most to gain from the President's plan, said in response to the proposal, "The two-thirds of manufacturers who file as individuals will receive no relief from the current burdensome tax system."
Related: Senate Offers Its Own Small-Business Tax-Cut Plan
Favoring manufacturers over other industries is problematic for small businesses in other ways, as well. First, small business is underrepresented in manufacturing. The latest available data provided by the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration shows that manufacturers account for 22 percent of large companies but only 5 percent of small ones.
Second, the plan will encourage businesses to try to be reclassified as manufacturers -- or "advanced" manufacturers if they can -- a process almost certain to favor big companies. We all know that big companies, with their large staffs of lawyers, accountants and consultants, will be more successful in getting reclassified. Small-business owners are too busy running companies to spend much time on economically unproductive paperwork.
Rather than proposing tax plans to benefit his favored industries, the President would be better off suggesting ways to help all small businesses. In case White House economists haven't yet noticed, another arm of the Obama administration -- the Small Business Administration -- notes that small businesses "employ about half of all private sector employees" and account for "more than half of the nonfarm private GDP."
Related: Three Tips for Maximizing the Meals Write-Off (Video)
Scott Shane is the A. Malachi Mixon III professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University. His books include Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live by (Yale University Press, 2008) and Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary Opportunities for New Businesses (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005).
How to Share Documents in the Cloud, Securely
The mobile-device revolution and proliferation of image-fat documents have led millions of workers to use consumer cloud-based services that make it easy to access files from any device and get them onto the screens of coworkers, partners and clients.
But all the high-flying documents stashed in free services such as Dropbox and SugarSync are becoming a concern to many companies. Customer information and trade secrets are sitting in servers outside managers' control -- often without their knowledge. It's sort of like oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, says Michael Suby, vice president of research at New York City-based Frost & Sullivan. "If you don't plug the holes that tap the well, you're not being responsible."
The problem is destined to grow as cloud file storage and sharing go more mainstream, experts say. The major Internet giants are all pushing into the market. Last week, Google announced a service dubbed Drive. Microsoft already has SkyDrive, and Apple has iCloud.
Related: Why Google Drive Won't Be a Dropbox Killer
But alternatives with more security and business-like features are readily available. Dropbox and SugarSync are expanding their offerings to provide low-cost, if basic, business versions that provide some additional controls. And a growing list of companies offer more sophisticated and secure services for business users, among them Accellion, Box, CX.com, Egnyte's HybridCloud, Oxygen Cloud, Wuala and YouSendIt. While some offer free starter accounts, paid services range from $15 to $500 a month or more, depending on the number of users and amount of data storage needed.
Jim Andersen, president of Foundation Management Associates, a financial consultancy to charitable organizations, stopped using Dropbox a year ago after two troubling incidents. First, an employee at a Haitian hospital client accidentally deleted a year of financial records from its computers, and Andersen's, with a single keystroke. Then, he almost lost a large new client because a state government it was tied to had blacklisted Dropbox.
Andersen switched to Citrix's ShareFile, which lets him bar clients from deleting files and allayed the state government's security worries. Meanwhile, ShareFile provided a branded portal that boosted his credibility with clients, he says. "I've built my business around it."
Dropbox said Andersen could have recovered his files using the service's version history or Pack-Rat features and that many small businesses successfully use its Teams product.
Related: New Dropbox Service Is Tailored for Business Teams
Figuring out which service to use can be tricky. With many startups in the mix, consider who has staying power and guarantees a high level of availability of your data. Ease-of-use is paramount to success with your employees, as are features that fit the way they work. You also may want special features for your industry or an option for your IT department to do customization.
It's easy to switch providers, says Guy Creese an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based technology research firm Gartner. Check security and privacy practices, list the features you need most and go with the service that matches your needs most closely. Here are four key security considerations as you explore the options:
1. Encryption
All credible services encrypt data while it travels through the Internet and sits in data centers. They also have vital security systems to keep hackers out and are audited by third parties to confirm they're up to snuff.
Because tablets and smartphones are easily lost, stolen or accessed by an unauthorized person, check the steps a service has taken to protect data temporarily stored, or "cached," in employees' devices. For example, YouSendIt encrypts cached files on mobile devices, and ShareFile lets you remotely wipe its apps from missing devices, along with all log-in information and cached files.
2. User authentication
Businesses need control over user accounts so that ex-employees no longer have access to company information. Look for a service that lets an administrator manage accounts and define which users can read, edit and delete which files and folders. Also, look for such security features as the ability to set passwords for individual files and to wipe cached data in mobile devices if someone repeatedly fails to enter the right password.
3. Audit trails
Consider selecting a service that keeps detailed logs of which employees downloaded, uploaded and shared which files with whom and when. The information will give you better visibility into your operations. And if you should have a security breach, it can help you figure out what happened.
4. Subpoena protection
Documents stored with a cloud provider can be subpoenaed by the government and other parties, and may be turned over without your consent. If you find this prospect troubling, two services offer special protection.
Oxygen Cloud provides a two-part system that lets companies store files behind their own firewalls, while users access them on any device through a cloud-based user dashboard. You respond to any subpoenas.
Related: Three Reasons Apple's iCloud Isn't Ready for Business
Waula, a unit of Zurich-based LaCie AG, takes another approach. First, it encrypts files on your computer, so not even Waula can read them. (Steganos Software's Elefile does this, too, and CX is building this capability.)
Then, Wuala breaks the encrypted files into chunks and creates redundant fragments that it stores in scattered locations. All of its data centers are in Germany, Switzerland and France, where privacy regulations are stricter than in the U.S.
Riva Richmond is a freelance journalist who has covered technology for more than 10 years. She writes regularly on electronic security and privacy for The New York Times and its Gadgetwise and Bits blogs. She has also written extensively about small business for The Wall Street Journal and was previously a technology reporter at Dow Jones Newswires.
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