Social media marketing has quickly become one of the most efficient, cost-effective, and popular ways to make your home care business known. Even if you offer quality services, potential customers have little to no chance of finding your company’s p…
Social media marketing has quickly become one of the most efficient, cost-effective, and popular ways to make your home care business known. Even if you offer quality services, potential customers have little to no chance of finding your company’s profile. An online presence is the key to success for any type of business. Introduction to [...]
A new social media study released by Market Force Information suggests that companies are more influential on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter than many think. The study found that 81% of U.S. consumers are influenced by their friends
A new social media study released by Market Force Information suggests that companies are more influential on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter than many think. The study found that 81% of U.S. consumers are influenced by their friends’ social media posts, while a comparable 78% reported being influenced by posts from businesses. One [...]
Google Wave has been a hot topic among the tech community. It appears that either people understand the functionality which Wave can provide users, while others have met the app with skepticism. Until now, only a select few have been invited to test Google Wave but it is now available to the public. I’ve given [...]
Google Wave has been a hot topic among the tech community. It appears that either people understand the functionality which Wave can provide users, while others have met the app with skepticism. Until now, only a select few have been invited to test Google Wave but it is now available to the public. I’ve given the service a once over, have tested many of its functions and have personally begun to understand the various opinions which have run the gamut.
The most important question you probably want answered is – ‘Will Google Wave help my small business?‘
If utilized properly, I think Google Wave could be a wonderful boon to many small businesses out there. The trick is knowing what you’re getting into before starting up Wave. First, you should know that I haven’t seen anything completely revolutionary out of Wave thus far. Google Wave isn’t going to balance your budget, bring in new customers/clients, or pay your office lease.
However, Wave does provide some tools to help optimize communication within your small business. The service takes various forms of communication and condenses them into one tool. You have email, instant messaging, document posting, meeting memos, and more. All of which update at a quick, almost real time pace. The amount of tools provided will allow you to scrub other programs which might only provide email, while making you use something else for hosting documents.
Along with the amount of standard tasks available, Wave has the option for downloading extensions. These extensions provide even more function, expanding Wave’s use even farther. Here are some of the useful extensions I found so far:
TimeBridge Conferencing – Allows phone and web conferencing through Google Wave.
Travel WithMe – Provides groups on Wave the ability to plan trips in real time.
Likey – A Wave extension providing a like/dislike feature, to help gauge ratings for topics.
Requesty – Adds security to Wave by requiring permission to join a certain discussion.
Chart Gadget – Allows users to insert charts into Wave.
Those are five extensions, which are part of what is a total of 60 extensions as of now. As with all things Google, Wave’s API is open allowing developers to create extensions which should help to grow Wave’s significance even farther.
If you’re on the fence as to whether or not Wave would be good for your business, answer these questions:
Are you struggling to keep everyone on the same page within your business?
Are the employees who work for you spread out at various locations?
Does your business require quick, and efficient real time communication?
If you answered yes to any of those questions then I’d recommend at least trying Google Wave. If used properly, I could see Wave increasing efficiency for business communication. As with all tools though, its effectiveness is only as strong as those who are using it.
About the Author: John Vinson, staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network.
When you are making new resolutions to train for a marathon, eat better or to improve your mile time, do you wake up the day after you start with all your goals met? No? Why not?
During training you experience pain, sore muscles and how some trainning is trial and error. Socail media is the same. [...]
photo by teamtinybike
When you are making new resolutions to train for a marathon, eat better or to improve your mile time, do you wake up the day after you start with all your goals met? No? Why not?
During training you experience pain, sore muscles and even failure. Social media is the same. It takes practice, repetition, dedication and the understanding that not all the same tactics will work for everyone.Before you start tweeting or facebook fan page-ing why don’t you take a step back and think about some things:
1. Why? That’s right, why? What are some solid reasons you are wanting to jump into the social media landscape? Make a list, then do it again with other members of the company- especially with other departments. It helps you realize where you should start and you see additional issues or problems that social media could address.
2. What are my goals? Meaning, where do I want to be in my training in 2 weeks, a month, six weeks. Make sure to be specific and realistic. If you are new to social media, don’t expect to have the fan page up and ‘fanning’ in 2 hours. That strategy takes time and effort. Take a peek at other companies in your field and your area. Anything you want to mirror?
3. Do you need a gym? In social media it’s important to know all of the resources available. Do you need a Hootsuite account and Tweetdeck on your desktop? Do your research, know what’s available. Tryout some tools and see what works with and for your needs (see what tools best align with your budget and goals-see above).
4. What BOUNDARIES do I need to set? -This is critical. When you are working out- you can’t just decide to run 13.1 miles after not running since your 5th grade mile run challenge. You have to set a pace and boundaries. It’s important to recongize a great running day. Instead of running yourself into the ground, take a step back, appreciate the victory and keep moving.Remember that 50, 100 or 1,000 facebook fans can be terrific milestones. By just thinking that you need more all the time can get you clouded on the reason why you started in the first place (see #1).
5. Don’t be afraid to fail. This is the most important. Trial and error are equivalent to growing pains, they will be worse for some and not too bad for others. Embrace your failures and learn from them. Don’t bury them as if you were ashamed for trying. Social networks like Facebook, MySpace and the microblogging site Twitter take some time. Accept it and move on.
When I was growing up I’d always hear:
‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.’
What are you doing to gain endurance and a steady pace in the social media world? What have you failures have you learned from? What have you done that’s really worked?
Kristina is based in the Twin Cities and eats and breathes social media. Her love for technology’s influence on culture can be found here.
Your domain name is very important. It is a brandable item and should be used with great care and forethought. Your domain name should align directly with your company and business goals. It is used more than for search engine optimization, it is your entire brand online. There are times when you might [...]
Your domain name is very important. It is a brandable item and should be used with great care and forethought. Your domain name should align directly with your company and business goals. It is used more than for search engine optimization, it is your entire brand online. There are times when you might want to purchase domain names that cross over into multiple TLDs and then there are times when you shouldn’t bother.
Let’s say that you are starting a new business in the UK and you purchase the domain name newbusiness.com. Should you also purchase newbusiness.co.uk?
There are plenty of reasons why you should. If you know that your business will operate primarily in the UK then having the regional TLD will benefit you. You could redirect one of the domains to the other or build two websites and increase your chances of ranking in the search engines for your search terms – just don’t use duplicate content!
The dot com TLD has a lot of potential to rank worldwide for your search terms, but it may be easier to go for the regional rankings instead. In fact, one strategy is to build two sites – one that targets your region and the other that is focused globally. When you start to rank in your local region for your important keywords then you can take advantage of those rankings by capitalizing on them. When your business grows to an extent that the business you get from outside your region matches that from within your region then you can redirect your regional TLD to the dot com site and keep on trucking.
That’s just one strategy. Here’s another:
You are starting a business in the U.S. that will have a global outreach, but you know your business will remain a small business forever. Should you snag up every newbusiness dot TLD on the planet? Probably not. That could get costly. But a multinational corporation with a presence on every continent might want to do just that.
What’s the moral? Analyze your business goals. If you are a regional business that you see may expand into a global outreach some day, buy up the dot com and the regional TLD for your site’s name and focus on regional sales until you deem it is prudent to go global. If you are starting out globally but staying small then don’t bother with regional TLDs unless you think you may run into copyright or trademark issues.
In today’s SEO world there are some definite best practices and some things you want to steer clear from. You might think that one hosting company is as good as another, but that’s not the case. Your choice of hosting company can make or break your search engine optimization and Internet marketing initiatives. I [...]
In today’s SEO world there are some definite best practices and some things you want to steer clear from. You might think that one hosting company is as good as another, but that’s not the case. Your choice of hosting company can make or break your search engine optimization and Internet marketing initiatives. I am not talking about whether your should choose a company such as Go Daddy or Network Solutions. Your just as likely to get good service from one as you are from another. What I am talking about is your server configuration choices.
We know that hosting your website on a server full of spam sites is bad. It’s like living in a predominantly drug-infested neighborhood and expecting that your children won’t be exposed to drug usage. If your site sites on the same server with spam sites then you will, by association, be considered a spammer. Your site’s SEO will be sub-par. That’s putting it mildly.
But that’s not the only issue your should concern yourself with in terms of your hosting company. Obviously, a shared hosting plan can be a bad deal for your website, but not all shared hosting plans are risky. Still, you are much better off with a dedicated server. No risk of bad neighborhood there.
When it comes to selecting a hosting company for your website, you are much better off with a hosting company that at least offers dedicated servers. Your website may not use the dedicated server option, but if your host offers it then you know they do take proper server configuration somewhat seriously.
Other issues you’ll need to consider for proper server configuration are:
This isn’t all that you should concern yourself with regarding server consideration and choice of hosting companies, but it does give you a basic list of questions to ask of your host before you select one. Most hosting companies will answer these questions either on their sales page or FAQ page. If you don’t get the answers there then talk to a rep on the phone or in chat. If a sales pitch is evasive and doesn’t provide you with firm answers to your questions the hosting company probably is not trustworthy. Find another one.
Arizona ranked 16th for its business climate in a report from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, a lobbying and policy group.
Arizona ranked 16th for its business climate in a report from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, a lobbying and policy group.
Many small business groups oppose the House’s 1,990-page health care reform bill, contending it would raise insurance premiums for many firms and create disincentives for hiring new workers.
Many small business groups oppose the House’s 1,990-page health care reform bill, contending it would raise insurance premiums for many firms and create disincentives for hiring new workers.
The nation’s small business lending program could be expanded as a result of an announcement Wednesday by President Barack Obama.
The nation’s small business lending program could be expanded as a result of an announcement Wednesday by President Barack Obama.
