Twitter reinvents iPad App |  |
- Twitter reinvents iPad App
- ioSafe Gives Businesses Control of Their Data
- Big Bank Lending Drops While Small Bank Lending Increases
- Company Use of Twitter Is Significantly Increasing
- Small Businesses Get Nearly Half of Traffic from Social Media
- Google Purchase Competes with Instagram
| Posted: 19 Sep 2012 02:30 AM PDT Social media is here to stay with tools introduced regularly to enhance the experience. Large and small businesses use these tools to build branding, get their messages out inexpensively, connect with customers, and drive traffic. Here’s the latest from Twitter and beyond. Twitter TurnaroundTweeting in tablet form. Here is a look at the new Twitter experience for iPad. The new app features a “Discover” tab uncovering top Twitter trends and a feature that helps you easily find who’s retweeted or mentioned you. For more on features, read the full review. Wired The bigger they come. Another major innovation changing the Twitter experience is a redesigned profile page complete with larger Facebook-esque headshot and other information designed to help your followers get more up close and personal with you, writes blogger Cendrine Marrouat. Examiner.com Getting to know you. On a blog post about the redesign, product manager Sachin Agarwal says the new profile page is about empowering users. “New profiles also help you get to know people better through their pictures,” Agarwal explains. “Photo streams now appear below anyone's most recent Tweets on iPhone, Android, and iPad.” Twitter Blog Socially AwkwardThe road to ruin. Simply deciding to use social media for your business or brand does not mean you are doing it right. In fact, there are some big mistakes even pros make when trying to create great social media engagement. Here are some things that won’t work. Communicatto The missing link. Pierre DeBois uses a bicycle chain metaphor to explain why buying Twitter followers or Facebook fans is the worst idea for growing your business with social media. If the strength of your network is determined by the strength of these connections, a network with fake connections will be weak indeed. Zimana The Real DealThe shadow of a doubt. If you doubt the importance of social media to your business, look no further than some of your competitors. A recent survey indicates a third of businesses may be spending at least $845 a month on technology to manage their social media, while another third are spending more than $1,000 a month. Business Insider What the traffic will bear. If you want to know where a full half of your small business traffic is coming from, surprise, surprise, the answer is social media again. See how the numbers break down in our post. Small Business Trends The post Twitter reinvents iPad App appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| ioSafe Gives Businesses Control of Their Data Posted: 18 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT With so many concerns about the security of information stored in the cloud, it could be beneficial for small businesses to look into alternative types of storage. But since so many business professionals use a variety of different devices to access work data, traditional storage methods may be far less convenient for everyday use.
Enter ioSafe, which has just introduced a new private cloud storage solution that aims to allow companies to access their data on a cloud-like network, while maintaining complete ownership and control over everything stored on the network. The ioSafe N2 is said to be a disaster-proof network attached storage (NAS) that allows users to access their data from almost any internet connected device. The ioSafe offers a different pricing structure, starting at $599.99, and some different options that may be beneficial for certain types of businesses, depending on their needs. Says ioSafe CEO, Robb Moore:
The new ioSafe N2 will be partially funded via a campaign on Indiegogo starting September 18, 2012. The company plans to start shipping the new product in January. Founded in 2005, ioSafe is a small, 25 person company that also offers a number of other hardware devices for individuals and businesses. Overall, this type of product can allow business owners to take complete control over their data. Even for those who use the public cloud to store and share data with their employees, a backup system that protects from both physical damage and cyber attacks could mean more secure data for your company. Moore says:
The post ioSafe Gives Businesses Control of Their Data appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Big Bank Lending Drops While Small Bank Lending Increases Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT Small companies pursuing capital during the month of August found mixed results from lenders. In a month where the overall volume of loan applications increased by 4.3%, my company’s Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, a monthly analysis of 1,000 loan applications, revealed that approval rates increased at small banks and alternative lenders, but big banks and credit union approvals dropped in August 2012.
Big banks ($10B+ in assets) granted 10.9% of funding requests last month — a drop from 11.3% in July. This is a setback, as big banks had experienced an upswing in approvals during both June and July. The issue with big banks is a combination of global credit issues and regulatory pressure to keep their underwriting standards tight so that they can meet their underlying capital ratios. It’s no wonder why small business owners are frustrated. In fact, according to a recent Wall Street Journal story, ”Footnote to Financial Crisis: More People Shun the Bank” by Gary Fields and Maya Jackson-Randall, middle class Americans are avoiding banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis. However, small bank lending approvals jumped to 47.8% in August, up from 47.4% in July. The figure represents the highest approval rating percentage for small banks since we began the Index in 2011. The SBA lending program being pushed by small banks has increased their approval rates. The loan approvals by credit unions dipped for a third consecutive month in August to 52.9%, the lowest percentage since June 2011. The slowdown in loan approval is partially caused by the 12.25% MBL ceiling, as well as sluggishness in credit unions’ willingness to book new business. Meanwhile, alternative lenders – accounts receivable financers, merchant cash advance lenders, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), micro lenders, and others – rose. In August 2012, alternative lenders approved 64.5% of loan requests, up from 64.1% in July and 6.5% higher than August 2011 approvals. Alternative lenders recorded their highest approval rates since we began measuring the category. They are offering new products at cheaper pricing, which has helped to increase lending. Month Big Bank % Small Bank % Credit Union % Alternative Lender % Aug. 2011: 9.4% 43.8% 54.2% 58.0% Jan. 2012: 11.7% 47.5% 57.6% 62.4% * Banks with more than $10 billion in assets are classified as “big banks.” As the Presidential election draws near, both parties will be looking at unemployment figures and small business growth as key issues. Mitt Romney and President Obama both want to be seen as the best person to help small businesses expand. Many businesses have begun seeking short-term working capital to prepare for the upcoming holiday season. Of late, the best places to get it were small banks and alternative lenders. Down Up Photo via Shutterstock The post Big Bank Lending Drops While Small Bank Lending Increases appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Company Use of Twitter Is Significantly Increasing Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT When you launch a business, you invest in a branding package – the logo, website, cards, marketing materials, create a sales strategy and a marketing plan. In addition, it's really smart and important to join some local and national professional organizations and blend your online and in person worlds.
Your personal and business brand represents who you are, what you do and whom you serve. Your branding is everything you do to get yourself out there. So are you taking Twitter seriously as an integral part of your social media mix? Reports Marketing Charts:
Social Media Examiner, reports 88% of marketers believe their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses, and Twitter is leading this charge:
Twitter is about attracting the right followers. Followers who have a commonality, mutuality and are active with each other. Smaller more homogeneous, engaged tribes are more effective with Twitter. The amazing thing about Twitter is it has become the go to, immediate, real time source of news, information and announcements for just about anything you can image from storms, deaths, politics and disasters that most of the major media sources get their information from. Considering how many social networking and marketing choices have emerged and died off the past five years, Twitter is still serious, strong, vibrant and relevant. The Pew Report on Marketing Charts reports:
So, how do we convert the "I just don’t get Twitter” and "I don’t have time for it" folks into to users and believers? Here are 8 great ways to use Twitter to build brand, reach and engagement: 1) Link to great information that aligns you with the industry you represent. 2) Promote your blog posts, video, podcasts, email marketing. 3) Meet key people in your industry and connect them to others in your tribe. 4) Promote key people in your networks. 5) Retweet information that shows your support of others and that gets you noticed. 6) Use Twitter #Hashtags to niche specific target topics, people, industries and conversations. 7) Use Twitter to show your fun side and personality. 8) Use Twitter to create immediacy and urgency. Check out 100 ways to use Twitter for job search and 16 creative ways to use Twitter for business. If you are already using Twitter and need a boost, consider a Twitter facelift or learn from others with 137 Twitter tips for small business (PDF) and 7 terrific twitter tips to use today. Nike has it right when they say “Just do it” and Harley Davidson too, when it says, “Screw it, let’s ride.” Twitter Photo via Shutterstock The post Company Use of Twitter Is Significantly Increasing appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Small Businesses Get Nearly Half of Traffic from Social Media Posted: 18 Sep 2012 05:00 AM PDT A study conducted by Northwestern professor Rich Gordon and Syndio Social CEO Zachary Johnson sought out to understand how sites, large and small, are connected on the Web. To get their answer they examined links between more than 300 Chicago based news sites and looked at analytics data and referral sources for 100 of them. The findings were recently published [PDF] and, while meaty at times, it provides a great read. There are a number of important takeaways here for small business owners and some big lessons about why social media may be critical to the success of your SMB site.
Some of the highlights from the study: 1. Smaller Sites Rely on Traffic From the Local Ecosystem More Than Larger Sites Part of what the study sought to accomplish was to understand how sites fit into the larger local ecosystem of the Web. For example, do sites owned and operated by the same organization tend to link to one another more than they do outsider sites? If yes, what percentage of their traffic do those links make up? Perhaps not surprisingly, the data shows that the share of traffic that smaller sites receive from other ecosystem sites (related niche sites) is more than 11 times as great as that of larger sites. Obviously this is partly due to larger sites seeing a greater number of traffic overall, but it also stresses how important it is for SMBs to become part of their local community. If you want to grow an audience in your town, you need to become part of that town's online ecosystem and to contribute. For small business owners, this means partnering with other local companies when you can to form those relationships, looking for opportunities to get involved in your community, and forming links (relationship links, not Web links) between you and the organizations around you. Host events together, throw a block party – just let people know you exist and your part of the community. 2. Social Media Sites, Especially Facebook, are Critical for Driving Traffic Here's a data point to take to your boss: According to the study, Facebook and Twitter drive more than half of all referred visits for small business sites, three times the percentage of larger sites. Facebook, specifically, was shown to be extremely important to smaller sites.
If you're a small business owner still weighing whether or not you should get involved in social media, that's huge. Again, it's also a testament to the power of getting involved in your local community, online and off. If you're taking the time to engage people on Facebook and to create content that is valuable and relevant to their needs, you have a great opportunity to significantly increase the traffic to your Web site, even more than a site much larger than you. As a SMB, if you've ever taken a look at your Web analytics, you've probably already noticed that social sites like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp are your top referrers. That's not an accident. 3. To Get Links and Traffic, You Have to Drive Links and Traffic Link out! Send traffic to other websites. Don't try and trap everyone on your own site, in fear they may not come back to visit you again. Those of us who spend time in the SEO world, have long known this to be true, but it's something small business owners still struggle with. However, the data shows, the more you link to other sites, the more they're inclined to link to you. It all goes back to building those all-important relationships. You have to give it to get it. And the smaller and niche you, the more this applies. The takeaways here for small business owners are clear:
No business is an island. To be successful you need to be social and support those around you. If you have time, I recommend reading the complete Linking Audiences to News II [PDF] survey. It's one of the most interesting reads I've caught in helping us all understand the different roles we all play in the Web ecosystem. Social Network Photo via Shutterstock The post Small Businesses Get Nearly Half of Traffic from Social Media appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Google Purchase Competes with Instagram Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:30 AM PDT Here’s another snapshot of the ongoing rivalry between Google and social media giant Facebook. Picture this: As we reported earlier, Facebook purchased Instagram, the photo sharing social app. Not to be outdone, Google has snapped up Nik Software, maker of photo editing and sharing app Snapseed. Businesses of all kinds must do the same. Embrace innovation to keep up with your competitors. In a race to compete for customers, don’t let the result be a photo finish. You’re on Candid CameraPicturing the future. Google’s acquisition of Nik Software says it all. A week after Facebook’s purchase of Instagram was finalized, Google announced bringing the San Diego-based Nik Software into the fold. The company’s app lets users edit photos, add filters, and share the finished product on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and through e-mail. Sound familiar? PC Mag Innovation at the Speed of AwesomeBringing it all back home. From its inception, Google has used acquisitions of smaller tech startups and even larger established companies like Motorola to fuel its vision. Whatever the company cannot find within itself, it looks elsewhere to acquire. Sometimes innovation is simply a matter of finding new partners. The Verge Fighting for independence. Amazon is innovating in a very different way, trying to develop its own online maps independent of Google. This isn’t the first time the online retailing giant has gone head to head with other tech companies. Its series of e-readers represents an entrance into the tablet market, showing the effort to compete through innovation is live and well. Engadget It’s Your Turn, Small BusinessLooking for approval. Over the last few weeks, Jakarta-based entrepreneur Ivan Widjaya has been rethinking his flagship site, founded back in 2008. Among other problems Widjaya recognized is that his contributors, while numerous and diverse, have not always been of the quality and credentials he might have hoped. Changing this will take his business to the next level. Noobpreneur Counting up the calories. Fast food giant McDonald’s may not be a small business, but the thousands of franchise owners who operate McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. sure are. Franchise expert Joel Libava reports that soon these restaurant owners will display calorie information on all restaurant and drive-thru menus nationwide in response to a more health conscious market. The Franchise King Moving on to mobile. Online businesses that once worried about traditional search engine optimization have been hit with what may be the greatest shift since online marketing, the mobile revolution. But how different is creating a smartphone-optimized Website, and what changes do you need to be sure your Website is ready? Marketing consultant Jacob Dawson takes you through the steps to better mobile SEO. iBlogZone Building up your sales team. If you’re worried your sales team isn’t up to the challenge of a changing business to business marketplace, you may be correct. It turns out many of the old sales techniques won’t work in an era where smoothing out the buying process is the priority. It’s time for successful sales people to focus on a new approach. ASG Group The post Google Purchase Competes with Instagram appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment