Nitrogram: Analytics for Instagram Marketing

Nitrogram: Analytics for Instagram Marketing
Time to Raise the MBL Cap for Credit Unions?
Santa or Scrooge: The Pulse of Small Businesses This Holiday Season
Insurance Policy Forms: Ignorance of The Commodity Perception
Zig Ziglar, A Great Inspiration to Business Leaders, Dies at 86

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST

Businesses that use social media to promote their products and services often rely on analytics services to better understand their target market and the best practices for using these sites. There are many different analytics platforms to choose from when dealing with popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But now, that more and more businesses are beginning to use photo sharing app Instagram as part of their social media strategy, some of those businesses are looking for ways to dive deeper into their Instagram data.

Enter Nitrogram, the analytics platform that recently raised $1 million in seed funding to focus on building its service.

Nitrogram

Nitrogram offers businesses a platform for tracking different users and topics of conversation.

Once you log into the site, you can add an Instagram user or hashtag to track by clicking the "track a new term" button. The photo above shows what the dashboard looks like, including photos taken by selected users or photos that include a certain hashtag, number of likes and comments, and a stream of recent photos from your selected users or topics.

You can view the most liked photos from your stream or see which users are posting about your company or industry. This type of service, though simple, can give businesses extra insights into both their own Instagram usage and what others are posting about in regards to their brand or products.

The most basic account offered by Nitrogram is free and allows you to track one Instagram user and one hashtag. More in-depth accounts are available starting at $10 per month. Nitrogram also gives brands options for embedding photo galleries on websites and Facebook pages.

Nitrogram is owned by photo search engine startup Teleportd, which has begun focusing more on Nitrogram's analytics service as its main product since the $1 million funding announcement.

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Time to Raise the MBL Cap for Credit Unions?

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST

Fred Becker, President and CEO of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU), is calling upon Senate leaders to pass a bill to raise the credit union member business lending cap (MBL) from 12.25 percent of assets to 27.5 percent. Increasing this cap would allow credit unions to make more capital available for small business loans, which can be a profitable part of a credit union’s portfolio.

MBL cap

The bipartisan Credit Union Small Business Jobs Bill, S. 2231, introduced by Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), and retiring Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), would increase the MBL cap from 12.25 percent of assets to 27.5 percent for eligible credit unions.

When Congress passed the Credit Union Membership Access Act in 1998, it created restrictions on the ability of credit unions to offer member business loans by a credit union's member business lending to 12.25 percent of total assets. Research has proven that the cap hinders credit union lending to small business and does little, if any, harm to banks and other institutions.

In January 2001, the Treasury Department released a study, "Credit Union Member Business Lending" which found that ‘Business lending is a niche market for credit unions. Overall, credit unions are not a threat to the viability and profitability of other insured depository institutions.’

Last year, the SBA's Office of Advocacy also found that bank lending was largely unaffected by changes in credit union business lending, and that credit unions have the ability to offset declines in bank business lending during a recession (James A. Wilcox, The Increasing Importance of Credit Unions in Small Business Lending, Small Business Research Summary, SBA Office of Advocacy, No. 387. Sept. 2011).

Becker suggests raising the MBL ceiling in combination with legislation to extend full coverage of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts. Banking trades are seeking extension of the "transaction account guarantee" program that was implemented under the Dodd-Frank Act. NAFCU advocated parity for credit unions, which was included in the final Dodd-Frank bill. Currently, $1.4 trillion in noninterest-bearing account balances covered under Dodd-Frank are in line to lose their federal coverage. The 100 percent deposit and share insurance coverage for these accounts is set to expire on Dec. 31 at midnight.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Becker wrote:

"This would certainly have unintended consequences on smaller financial institutions and could very well lead to businesses shifting funds away from their community-based financial institutions."

NAFCU believes that combining the two measures into one:

". . .would not be a win-win proposition for the American people and our economy."

I agree. Credit unions have the capital to help America's small businesses thrive. The outdated MBL cap limits their ability to help stimulate the economy by providing credit to startups and expanding small businesses.

Unlock Money Photo via Shutterstock

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Santa or Scrooge: The Pulse of Small Businesses This Holiday Season

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST

Whether a small business is generous or a little penny pinching during the holidays usually depends a lot on how well the company did for the year. If you had a great year, it’s easy to get in the holiday spirit and give clients and employees gifts. But if you didn’t fare as well as you projected for the year, it might be more difficult to appear generous when everyone else is in the giving mood.

office party

American Express OPEN reports each year on where business owners are in terms of gift giving, employee bonuses and holiday parties. In the 2012 Small Business Holiday Monitor, we see that small businesses want to show their appreciation of employees and clients, even if they don’t have large budgets.

Showing Appreciation to Employees

The majority of businesses surveyed plan to acknowledge their employees in some way at the end of the year. The good news for employees is that 35% of small business owners plan to give an end-of-year bonus, up from 29% in 2011. But even if you can’t afford to give each of your staff a bonus, there are plenty of other ways to show your appreciation:

Employee gifts
Holiday party
Group activity
Time off
Gift cards

The purpose in using any of these techniques is to let your staff know that you recognize the hard work they put in for your company. Sure, they would all love to get a $5,000 bonus at year end, but if it’s not in the budget, they’ll understand.

Budgeting for Client Gifts

Another component of the holiday season is often giving client gifts. Small business owners are spending slightly more this year than in the past: last year 43% of small business owners bought their customers gifts, spending an average of $827, while this year, 51% of small business owners will spend about $958 on gifts for their clients.

Interestingly, the highest budget that the Small Business Holiday Monitor recorded for client gift spending was in 2007, when the average was $1,483. It’s clear the recession has had an effect on this budget ever since.

Celebrations and Donations

For small business owners that identified more as a “Santa” rather than a “Scrooge” when it comes to generosity this holiday season, more will be hosting holiday parties, though spending slightly less than in the past. More than half of entrepreneurs will donate to a charity this year, through monetary donations, in-kind contributions or time donations.

Whatever your budget, find ways to show your appreciation of both your staff and your clients. Even something as simple as a holiday card can be enough to show your gratitude, and hosting a staff potluck can be a cost-effective way to add a little festivity to your office.

Office Party Photo via Shutterstock

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Insurance Policy Forms: Ignorance of The Commodity Perception

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST

The idea that insurance is in anyway a commodity is offensive to me as an insurance agent. The very common misconception that insurance is a commodity stems from general public’s gross ignorance that all insurance policies are created the same.

The subsequent inference made by most insurance consumers then becomes that price is all that matters when in comes to purchasing an insurance policy.

If this is your belief, (please understand that I say this with all due respect), your ignorance is a detriment to both you and your family and/or your business and could someday ruin your life.

Harsh… Yes.

But my primary goal in writing this article to bring to your attention the utter FAIL that is – believing insurance to be a commodity.

Insurance Policy Form

What the Heck are Insurance Policy Forms?

When you buy an insurance policy, approximately 7-14 days later you receive in the mail a physical copy, correct? (Some carriers send a pdf version now.) I’m going to assume you’re nodding.

Have you ever taken to time to look through all those pages of black type legal-looking documentation that follow the page with your premium on it?

Its okay to say no, 999 out of 1,000 people reading this post don’t flip past the page with their premium on it. So you’re not alone for skipping the insurance policy forms.

All that legal print that you don’t read, that’s the Insurance Policy Form. The insurance policy form, or policy language, outlines who is an insured, the insuring conditions, what type of loss(es) are coveraged, and what type of loss(es) are excluded.

Seems like pretty important stuff doesn’t it?

A company called ISO provides the baseline policy language that most insurance carriers in the US use for their insurance policies. However, many carriers will make changes, tweaks, and adjustments to the standard ISO Policy Form to meet their underwriting appetite (that means what type of losses they want to coverage and what type they don’t).

Additionally, individual states will mandate certain changes to the standard ISO Policy Form which all admitted carriers in that particular state must abide by (for purposes of this discussion you do not need to know what an admitted carrier is).

So what does all this mean?

Insurance Carrier A sells a product called “Tech Liability” for X dollars.

Insurance Carrier B sells a product called “Tech Liability” for X – $100 dollars.

If insurance were a commodity, then all that would matter is price, and you would have to be remiss to not take the policy from Insurance Carrier B. Right? (Its cheaper.)

But Insurance Isn’t a Commodity

Wait a minute…

Didn’t I just say that many carriers will make changes to the baseline ISO form to match their specific risk tolerance?

Why Yes… Yes I did.

Could that mean that every carrier’s policy is different, and may uniquely include or more importantly exclude coverages that you need to protect yourself, your family or your business?

Again Yes…

So it is within the realm of possibilities to assume that insurance policies ARE NOT COMMODITIES and should be examined in a coverage to price - Value Analysis, (I just made that term up. I like it and will start using it), on each insurance policy’s unique ability to cover your specific risk needs at the most competitive premium?

Yes!

This post ended up way more snarky than I had originally envisioned it. However, I’m hoping that you read through the sarcasm to my point.

The insurance policy form matters, the coverage matters, one insurance policy is not going to cover the exact same risks to same extent as a policy from another carrier even if they call the policy the same exact name.

Protect yourself and your business… it’s a jungle out there!

Insurance Policy Photo via Shutterstock

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Zig Ziglar, A Great Inspiration to Business Leaders, Dies at 86

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:30 AM PST

Call him a motivational speaker, a thought leader, or an early self-help guru, Zig Ziglar was an inspiration to many, including entrepreneurs. As those in the business community said goodbye to Ziglar, who died at age 86 on Wednesday, we look at how attitude, outlook, and personal brand still affect business and success today, just as Ziglar has told us for 40 years.

The Man and the Message

Determine your altitude. As Ziglar said, “Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude.” His philosophies on business and personal success put together might be described as Ziglar’s “personal brand”, developed way back in the 1950′s before this term was in common use. At that time, Ziglar, a salesman, discovered that selling himself was the key to success and a 40 year career as a speaker and author. Your personal brand is a part of your business too. Think about the brand you project to customers. The New York Times

Words to live by. Before entrepreneurs ever talked about producing content and information products, Ziglar built a global business in which his words and message were his only real products. Those products were repackaged in the form of books, cassettes, and eventually podcasts. Here online marketer Nicole Dean shares some of chunks of Ziglar’s wisdom in quotes and video clips of his successful presentations. Think about the information you provide to your customers and what that information is worth. Nicole on the Net

Tips for Achievement

Build your brand. Personal brand is widely recognized today as an important asset for any entrepreneur or business leader. No matter what your product or service, this brand communicates to customers about what you stand for and who you are. Your brand may help others decide whether or not they want to be in business with you. But building that brand may not be as easy as it seems. Here Elaine Rogers examines seven mistakes that can hurt your person brand. Don’t let these mistakes happen to you. Tweak Your Biz

Have a plan. Ziglar often talked about the importance of setting goals. Part of the process was to determine what it would take to meet that goal and then establishing the steps necessary to achieve it. All entrepreneurs must have a plan to move their venture forward and understand the steps needed to carry out that plan, leading their companies to success. Yet some of the greatest pitfalls are not unexpected problems, but totally avoidable mistakes made early on in the process, says startup expert Martin Zwilling. Here are some of the worst, so plan ahead! Startup Professionals Musings

Start with a purpose. Taken together, Ziglar’s philosophies point to the importance of a purposeful life. To avoid being what he called a “wondering generality,” he advocated defining that purpose and steps needed to fulfill it. Entrepreneur Allen Lau advocates the same philosophy when starting any business and gives this same advice to others interested in founding companies of their own. When he started his business, Lau was focused on solving a problem of his own, access to his collection of books on his mobile device, but ended up creating Wattpad, a service that brings readers and writers together, benefiting a much larger community. Sprouter Blog

The Final Analysis

Keep things simple. Ziglar had a few simple rules for his incredibly popular presentations. He focused on easy to remember sound bites of wisdom, injected humor and optimism into his message, and always made his audience’s success at applying his principals a priority. Keeping things simple in your business will pay great dividends too, explains business consultant Susan Oakes. For example, take steps to simplify your marketing message, making it easier to communicate your value to customers and to grow your business. M4B Marketing

Know when to quit. Tom Ewer would add persistence to the principles of optimism and goal setting as imperative in realizing your business ambitions. But don’t forget a dose of realism to help you determine when things aren’t working. Never give up on your overall vision when trying to create your business, advises Ewer. Instead, use reality checks to determine whether your approach is the right one or whether you will need to modify your plan to reach your objectives. MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

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