Thursday, May 17, 2012

Facebook Going Public Tomorrow

Bet those guys at Myspace really wish they had a better business model eh? At $38 a share the company is looking at raising $16 Billion themselves and value at $104 billion. The 2nd largest U.S. IPO in history behind Visa in 2008. A more interesting note. U2 lead, Bono is a heavy hitter in the company and is looking at a bundling of $1.5 billion from the IPO. Making him the richest rock star in the world. This is an interesting story about his failures and finally success in the tech markets. Claiming that he was the worst investor in America at one point.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

How to Protect Your Home if Your Business Gets Sued

HAving a business set up incorrectly could cost you...everything. Making sure that personal assets aren't on the table for a business that is getting their pants sued off is of top priority. You might not be able to keep your office's rustic coffee tables, but at least you will still ahve a place to hide from the weather if things go severely wrong. Here's a quick look at the basic concepts of keeping your personal assets when setting up your business. Making sure your family isn't left panhandling and actually has a home to kick you out of ;).

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Mobile Gaming a Marketing Option?

Everyone has a smart phone, iPod, iPad, or something that plays mobile games on it now. Angry Birds, Tetris, Jetpack Joyride, etc. are real time killers for any time you need to wait for something, or have some "private time". They might even be wasting your employees' time while they are supposed to be working! What about getting into the game yourself and using them to make you money? Some business owners are jumping at the opportunity to use games to improve how they engage with customers and motivate their employees. Adding a game or game-type elements such as rewards and rankings -- a process commonly referred to as gamification -- can keep users active on your site longer and motivate them to share your content over social media. Know more about hem than you would with a gps vehicle tracking device in their car.

Be a better Tweeter for your business

Twitter is one of those websites that I just put off using forever. I always gave the lame excuse that it was silly, and pointless. Buying into the idea that it was just a bunch of idiots posting things that nobody cares about like their dinner, their new rolling racks, or the TV show they are watching. Then I realized that it is the best possible source of sports news that is available today, and I use it religiously now to get up to the second info. So...what does it do for business? How do your tweets actually make an impact? Try some of these tips for making better Tweets and see if you can benefit.

5 Baseball Books For Leisure

Baseball is a very unique sport. The history that revolves around it is just so rich that it really transcends the game itself. If you have ever had the pleasure of watching the fabulous documentary by Ken Burns, simply titled "Baseball", you know just how much baseball plays a role in U.S. Society. I could talk about baseball all day really, but I won't bore you :). Books about baseball can actually be more than just entertaining. Surely you've heard of Moneyball which was a feature film with Brad Pitt in it in the last year. While not exactly brimming with entrepreneurial tactics, it does discuss a bit of the business side of the game. Making the most out of a little. Baseball has many analogies that carry over into aspects of business and the rest of our lives. So...baseball books are surely on the level in this regard too. Here's 5...errr 4 baseball books worth checking out.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Handling Negative Online Reviews of Your Business

IT's really great to get your name out there on sites like "Yelp", "Yahoo!", "Google Business", etc. , but with it comes a price. Negative reviews. Many that aren't even legit complaints, but just plain rude for the sake of it. Not to mention the amount of times I have seen people give glowing reviews, yet still mark it by accident as a 1 star review out of 5 stars.

According to Boston-based strategy and communication agency Cone: "80 percent of consumers said they changed their minds about purchases based on negative information they found online."

That seems a bit high, but may not be that far off. I personally do a lot of research online for things I buy, or places I visit. Not typically for stores, or restaurants I go to "offline" since I don't live in a metropolis, and there just aren't that many places out there I haven't heard the real breakdown on already. For places like Amazon, or when I buy online though, these reviews are pretty important for me. Especially Amazon when I am buying something that has 4-5 different competitors for the same thing. Price might not be an issue, but those reviews steer me to the best one of the 5 most definitely. So if I see positive reviews when looking for flowers for our anniversary on a comparison site I will likely lean towards that store.

Waht can you do about it if you get bad reviews? Personally, I wouldn't want to list on places that didn't allow a business response to reviews. If it is a bad review with legit complaints I'd want to be able to "make it right" and take care of the customer. IF it was a BS complaint, I'd still want my say. Here's a few more tips.

You Want to Annoy People With Text Marketing?

I'm not sure about you, but this is one form of marketing I put absolutely no stock into. I won't even read a spam text if I get one no matter who it is from. Do others? Apparently so since text marketing is being used by many.

I get very few of these, but when I do it is nothing but an annoyance, and the first thing I think of is: "How the hell did this person get my number, and how to I prevent them from sending me more texts?".

Here's an article on how to use them effectively, but honestly, I don't think there is a way to market this way to me. Even if I were looking for some sweet Luminox watches, sending me pics of them is not likely to get me to go onto the website if it is sent to my phone.

Not only is it a hassle to get them, but not everyone has unlimited texting plans so getting a bunch of spam texts is something that could completely backfire for you. Others don't even have internet on their phones still (This is a lot more common than I think people realize). If I got a text and it cost me extra money due to it going over my text limit someone would be getting some serious wrath from me about it. Not just a phone call either. I'd make sure I spread the word about your marketing tactics. So...you still want to text market?

Avoiding Over-optimization For Search Engines?

You don't need to be a search engine expert to know that the higher you appear in Google, the better off you are with your website. That is if it isn't a bunch of links about how your company is a fraud anyways.

Entrepreneur.com is offering ways to not over-optimize, but the thing is, Google doesn't care that much about it unless you break their rules. These are things you should already know before you go out and try to optimize your site. These aren't "new" tricks to stay under the radar. These are the Google RULES. for how they want you to optimize your site.

Mostly it is one rule you need to know about how you run your website. CONTENT IS KING. Everything else is secondary. Google wants informative pages in their index. Not spammy junk that will be a waste of time for readers. If you want to buy say amish furniture the website should have it, and be well presented and easy to use. If it has that you can do pretty much whatever you want afterwards without going completely insane with it like say...running spam programs all over the place and auto-software.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Top 10 Most Trusted Brands and Their Secrets to Success

They might not be the highest market shares in their respective industries for all of them, but they are definitely the most trusted and the ones that have the best advice. Amazon, Coke, Target, Ford, and Nike are among some of them.

This article breaks all 10 down and explains why their particular approach is what makes them such a trusted and well known brand. Nikes's "Just Do It" isn't all about just gym lockers either.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Deals

The Author of this post is Solomon Dejesus

My husband does not think we need a security system. He mainly thinks this because he doesn't think we have the money to pay for it. But, I am saying we don't have the money to buy all new stuff because all of our nice things got stolen. I mean, I know that insurance covers some of it but I know it doesn't cover it all and you may not get the amount that you need to buy all of your electronics brand new again. I think they reimburse you for how much you spend on it when you bought it not how much it would be to buy it new right now. He just doesn't get it. I decided to look at some home security systems comparison and I found the one that we should get. It helps a little if I tell him how much other ones cost and then tell him the one that I want to get and how much cheaper it is than all the others! I usually have to butter him up in this way for whatever purchase I am wanting to make. You should see me when I am planning a vacation! I have to pick a hotel that is double what we can pay and then he feels good when I go with the cheaper one!