Local Search Means Business

Even if you have a local business you need a local search marketing strategy. By local search I mean online search and now, more and more, searches using mobile phones.

A couple of months ago I wrote about local search taking over from Yellow Pages.

According to the latest study from TMP Directional Marketing it continues to grow. Local search has grown from 11% to 12% and Internet Yellow Pages usage has grown from 19% to 21% in the last year. Some excerpts from the study are below:

…the growing demand for local business information across interactive search platforms, especially online and mobile, is creating additional opportunities…  In order to reach target audiences, marketers must think locally and focus their messages on local marketplaces where consumers shop.

…in-store purchases decreased across the board since 2007, most likely due to economic factors, half of all local business searchers made purchases [emphasis added].

With 22 million consumers using the mobile Internet through June 2009, the preferred mode to access local business information remains the mobile browser. In fact, 127 percent more users accessed local content via downloaded applications on mobile devices, compared to June 2008.

This means having a web site with hours of operation, address, phone number and a map as a minimum. This means claiming your business in local search engines and signing up in online search directories.

To be successful in today’s interactive community, your local business must be in local search engines and online local business directories..
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Small Business and the Cloud

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “the cloud” and how it affects businesses. First, what is the cloud? The cloud has often been synonymous with the whole internet, so what we’re talking about here is cloud computing. It’s been more commonly called Software as a Service (SaaS) and refers to software applications hosted on the Internet like Salesforce.com and Google Apps.

Technically, in addition to SaaS there is also Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service. For example, Salesforce.com also has Force.com which acts as a PaaS, allowing developers to add on to the basic Salesforce.com software. Amazon Web Services acts as an IaaS for storing data, streaming video and other options in the cloud.

Cloud computing can be public, private or virtual private (you get a private section of a public provider). It’s really like using a mainframe computer in the 60’s – all the outlying parties use one main computer. It’s just that now that computer is on the web, not in the basement.

So what’s the big deal, you ask? You may be a small business owner with only a few computers. But, here’s the rub. What if you grow? How do you scale your business? Read more.
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Windows Mail Problem With Windows 7 Upgrade

If you use Outlook Express (Windows XP) or Windows Mail (Vista) there’s something you should know about Windows 7 – there’s no bundled email client.

The problem is, I don’t know what will happen to your email if you upgrade to Windows 7 before moving your email to a third-party email client. Is it still somewhere on your computer? If you add a new email client after upgrading to Windows 7 will it still import your email and settings? Microsoft doesn’t say.

Which means you should migrate to a new email client before you upgrade.

I don’t know how many people still actually use Microsoft’s built in email client. I’m doing a survey now of all of our clients to see if any of them still use Outlook Express or Windows Mail.

There are plenty of third-party email clients out there. The one we use is Mozilla’s Thunderbird. I’ve also added the Lightning calendar add-on, and there are lots of other add-ons you can use.

You can also try migrating to a web-based email client like Gmail, Windows Live Mail or a ton of others. I have always used a local email client (installed on my computer that downloads my email) to control backups and have better search capabilities.

But, here’s my recommendation. Download and install Thunderbird. When it installs it will ask you if you want to import email and settings from your current email client, whether that’s Outlook Express or Windows Live (or any other  installed email client for that matter). Click Yes.

Once you have Thunderbird installed use it for a few days to make sure everything is working properly, then do your upgrade to Windows 7.

This may also be a good idea if you are buying a new computer with Windows 7 and want to move your email from your old computer. It’s easier to move your Thunderbird email onto your new computer than OE or WM.

Just install Thunderbird on your new computer and move your profile over. Your data is located at C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxx.default

The xxxx is a randomly generated name. Delete the profile  installed on your new computer and replace it with the profile off your old computer..
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New FTC Guidelines On Endorsements and Testimonials

The Federal Trade Commission has just released guidelines (pdf) concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, including Internet ads.

Here are a few excerpts:

“Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser.”

“Advertisers are subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsements, or for failing to disclose material connections between themselves and their endorsers”

“If the advertiser does not have substantiation that the endorser’s experience is representative of what consumers will generally achieve, the advertisement should clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected performance in the depicted circumstances, and the advertiser must possess and rely on adequate substantiation for that representation.”

In the last quote the FTC is trying to quash the “Results not typical” or “Results may vary” caveat that some advertisers use. The FTC says you should include what typical results really are. It goes on in an example about a weight-loss product:

…if consumers cannot generally expect to achieve such results, the ad should clearly and conspicuously disclose what they can expect to lose in the depicted circumstances

The guidelines contain a ton of examples and hypothetical situations and covers customer, expert and organizational endorsements. Read more.
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Google Analytics Rolling Out New Features

Today Google announced new features it will be adding to Google Analytics in the near future. Google Analytics is its tool for use with Adwords accounts to learn which online marketing initiatives are cost effective and see how visitors actually interact with your site.

The first is two new goals available for tracking – time on site and pages per visit. With more and more businesses trying to track “engagement” in addition to plain numbers of visits they try to make their sites more inviting to visitors.

Google is also expanding mobile reporting. Previously, Google was only able to track mobile devices using Javascript but now you’ll be able to track traffic to your mobile website from all web-enabled devices, whether or not the device runs JavaScript. Read more.
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Press Releases Now Adding Multimedia

Your small business can now take advantage of a new trend in press releases by using a Multimedia News Release (MNR). Instead of releasing a text version you release a whole package – it can include 3-5 minutes of video and/or audio, photos, brochures, PDF’s and text.

If you don’t have video you can use photos to create an animated slide show. The idea is to cover all of the bases in one package for prospective customers.

Previously, you would use text news releases through someone like PRWeb.com

For multimedia press releases there are distribution companies out there, the most prominent one being MultiVu at PRNewswire.com, which I believe originated the idea.

They can broadcast your MNR nationally on the PR Newswire, submit your video to online video portals, allow embedding of your video on other sites or blogs, submit links to Social Media sites, add your photos to photo galleries, add it to their email marketing list and provide links to other files like PDF’s or longer videos hosted on your site or elsewhere.

Another company, AtomicPR, has offices in the U.S. and London. A similar company in Canada is CNW Group.

The whole idea of a home office or small business having a web site is owning your own broadcast medium – audio, video, pictures and text – that you control. This has the added advantage of taking your content, in whatever form, and distributing it on the web.

The advantage is disseminating your brand and/or products, drawing in potential customers and adding external links to your web site.

Caution: in the same way that the old text style news releases were supposed to be about news, not sales, your release isn’t a sales come-on. It should pique everyone’s interest and lead them to your site for more information. Your site is where you make your sales pitch..
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Make Money Or Create Wealth?

As a small business owner or entrepreneur is your objective to make money or to create wealth? There’s a difference.

Bernie Madoff made money. The investment bankers on Wall Street made money. A construction worker who built a road paid for with government stimulus money made money. The Federal Reserve printing 2 trillion dollars out of thin air literally made money. They didn’t create wealth.

Capitalism is starting to get a bad name. But, if you are a small business owner you are a capitalist. Whether it’s a bread slicer, an ebook or a wedding cake, you are creating a product. You are adding value.

Steve Forbes wrote a recent editorial called Capitalism: A True Love Story. He decries the theory that

capitalism is fundamentally based on greed and is immoral; that it enables the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor; that free markets are Darwinian places where the most ruthless operators unfairly crush smaller competitors and where the cost of vital products and services, such as health care and energy, are almost beyond the reach of those who need them; and that capitalism unchecked breeds corruption à la Bernie Madoff and Enron and encourages obscene bonuses, excessive pay packages and unwarranted golden parachutes. Capitalism is also being blamed with renewed vigor for a range of social ills, from air pollution to obesity.

He goes on to say that if it weren’t for capitalism there would be no personal computers, no cell phones, no Internet. People of all income levels have benefited from capitalism. Read more.
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Patches From Adobe And MS Coming Tuesday

On Tuesday, October 13, 2009 both Microsoft and Adobe will be releasing patches to close vulnerabilities.

Microsoft will be releasing a massive patch on its regularly scheduled ‘patch Tuesday’. This will include a patch discovered two weeks ago that I mentioned in a post on the New Vista Exploit. Microsoft decided to wait for its normal patch schedule to release the fix rather than coming out with a special patch.

The whole patch download (13 bulletins covering 34 security vulnerabilities) will cover products that include Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Silverlight, Microsoft Forefront, Developer Tools, and SQL Server.

Also on Tuesday Adobe will release a patch to plug a flaw in its PDF Reader/Acrobat software is being exploited by malicious attackers as part of their quarterly update schedule.

The vulnerability affects Adobe Reader and Acrobat version 9.1.3 and earlier..
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