Receive Feedback for Your App Prior to Release With PreApps

Receive Feedback for Your App Prior to Release With PreApps
David Naffziger: How Merchants Can Protect Themselves From Affiliate Violators #AMDays
B2B Businesses and the Potential of Social Media Infographic
Small Business Top 100 Podcast List: The 2013 Edition

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST

The amount of mobile applications available continues to grow exponentially each year, but a relatively small amount of these apps actually reach some level of success. Many feel that to fix this problem, developers may need to either find a way to improve the quality of their apps before launching them or find a way for their apps to reach a larger audience – or better yet, both.

Those are some of the issues that Boston-based startup PreApps aims to solve. The PreApps site offers a place for developers to share their apps with consumers before releasing them to the Apple App Store, Google Play or other public marketplaces.

feedback for your app

According to PreApps's Founder and CEO Sean Casto, it gives developers access to potential beta testers beyond just family and friends. So that they may attempt to build a following and receive feedback to improve their apps before releasing them publicly and risking negative feedback.

Said Casto:

“It's like Kickstarter except for feedback, not money. Once an app goes live, app developers get feedback through the comment section on the App Store. Unfortunately, a couple of bad reviews can send your app to the bottom of the rankings, giving it a destiny of obscurity.”

To submit an app, developers can sign up for a free PreApps developer account, then create an app profile. There are four different posting options for developers to choose from:

Free Post
Consumer Feedback
Featured
Featured Elite

Paid options offer more visibility for apps on the site as well as some additional features like surveys and polls.

The photo above shows a selection of featured apps. Users can search for different apps based on device and category. They can then sign up to become a beta tester or sign up to be notified when the app is officially released.

Each app also has its own page on PreApps, which include a lot of the same items as the app pages in Apple's and Google's app stores: longer description, screenshots, pricing and videos or other descriptive media. There is also a section for comments so that beta testers can leave quick feedback or suggestions.

Casto said that he knows first-hand how hard it can be for independent developers to break into the App Store, since he has been developing his own apps for about two years:

“I wished that there was some way that you could promote your app prior to its release to a wide net of people without having major marketing dollars. That’s how I came up with the idea for PreApps.”

The site officially launched at the end of January and Casto has been pleased with the response from both developers and testers thus far. In addition to the mobile app testing platform, the company also offer some additional services such as app development, icon creation, demo videos and press releases.

Since developers have the option to post for free and testers can sign up for free, these services could likely become a key source of revenue for the company.

The post Receive Feedback for Your App Prior to Release With PreApps appeared first on Small Business Trends.

David Naffziger: How Merchants Can Protect Themselves From Affiliate Violators #AMDays

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST

David Naffziger, CEO of BrandVerity, a robust technology platform which enables affiliate managers to combat trademark abuse and advertising fraud, joins us for an interview on merchant protection. At Affiliate Management Days SF 2013 (on Apr 16-17, 2013), David will be speaking on the topic of “Coupon Code Compliance: Protecting Channel-Specific Coupons.”

* * * * *

affiliate violators Question: If you were to emphasize one important issue that every affiliate manager and online merchant should be paying attention to, what would it be and why?

David Naffziger: I’m certainly biased, but I really feel compliance is one of the least understood and under resourced aspects of affiliate marketing. The compensation structures throughout the industry do not typically align with conducting effective compliance. Not only is compliance poorly understood, but it often requires a different set of skills than the relationship focused skill set of many affiliate managers.

That’s why it’s a topic that I frequently speak on. We even put together a 30+ page guide to affiliate compliance that discusses many of its different aspects and helps affiliate managers develop approaches to compliance that best meets their needs.

Question: What do you see as the present day challenge for online and affiliate marketers?

David Naffziger: Getting noticed. Online marketers, in particular, need to find ways of connecting to an audience that has otherwise become increasingly immune to online advertising. Banner click-through rates have dropped well below 0.1% and might be indistinguishable from accidental clicks. Email click rates continue to drop. Even Facebook click-through rates have recently shown decline.

At its best, affiliate marketing provides the antidote to online advertising immunity. Affiliate marketers can be incredibly creative and are often the first to adopt (and develop) new advertising strategies. The best publishers have existing, loyal audiences that trust them and their recommendations. I’d say that affiliates are doing some of the most creative marketing we see today. And the affiliate marketing channel gives marketers the chance to tap into that unique level of trust and engagement that is so difficult to achieve in more traditional forms of promotion.

Question: Online brand hijacking is a major problem for online advertisers/merchants. Some say that resulting misattribution of advertising dollars ranges from 40% to 90% per advertiser. Is this number really this high and what are the areas of vulnerability that advertisers have?

David Naffziger: No, the number is not that high. At least not from paid search issues. It could possibly be true of merchants in certain verticals. Direct response products such as “As Seen on TV” come to mind. But it’s not very likely.

Paid search abuse is a very real challenge and merchants absolutely need to maintain tight monitoring of their brand terms in paid search. The costs can sometimes spiral unbelievably high. However, any reasonably sophisticated paid search manager will notice large drops in the performance of their paid search campaign and can easily uncover enough issues to keep misattribution below those numbers.

Advertisers are typically most vulnerable to affiliates that do an effective job of laundering their referrers. This technique masks the source of a request by inserting an additional redirect link in between the advertisement URL and the destination URL. It can give the affiliate manager a false impression that the source of a visit legitimately earned the traffic. Not only is this technique used by affiliates to hide paid search traffic, it is also used to mask traffic from other prohibited sources such as spam, domain typosquatting, cookie-stuffing, adware, etc.

Question: If you were to give online merchants advise on how to protect themselves from violations, what would be your top 3 tips?

David Naffziger: Clarify the affiliate agreement. In particular, ensure that you identify whether affiliates are allowed to:

Use your display URL.
Run ads on search terms containing your trademark
Run ads on search terms containing your trademark plus another term such as “brand coupons.”

If you don’t allow 2 or 3, require your affiliates to add your brand terms and misspellings to their negative keyword lists.

Second, regularly review your program statistics. Look for affiliates with sudden spikes in sales, unusually high or low conversion rates or promotional methods that you do not understand. I’m a big fan of the TinyPrints affiliate agreement that requires affiliates to be clear and responsive should they request more information about the source of any orders or clicks. As an affiliate manager, make sure you understand how your affiliates are promoting your program.

Third, become familiar with a suite of tools to aid investigations. In particular, we’re fans of HTTPFox for reviewing redirects. Proxies can be a great tool as well. At a minimum, check your search terms every time you travel for business.

Question: At AM Days SF 2013, you’ll be speaking on coupon compliance. Why the choice of topic? What exactly is “coupon leakage” and why would an online merchant care?

David Naffziger: We’ve increasingly learned about the challenges that merchants face with keeping their coupon codes under control and recently launched a service to help merchants ensure coupon compliance. Coupon leakage occurs when a coupon code meant for a particular audience or website spreads to websites that the merchant didn’t intend.

This commonly happens with coupons distributed via email to a merchant’s customers, and sometimes through offline mailing. In other cases, a merchant may give a select affiliate a custom coupon at a higher discount. In exchange for the exclusivity, the merchant gets premium placement and pays a lower commission per sale.

Whenever these coupons leak to unintended destinations, a merchant can lose a lot of money. Some merchants just can’t be profitable with their deepest discounts layered on top of affiliate commissions.

Furthermore, they lose their ability to effectively track the performance of that channel and even risk customer frustration and abandonment if they deactivate a code. Proactive compliance helps merchants stay ahead of these risks, both improving their profitability and increasing customer satisfaction.

* * * * *

The upcoming Affiliate Management Days conference, where you can hear David speak, takes place April 16-17, 2013. Follow @AMDays or #AMDays on Twitter; and when registering, make sure to use the code SBTAM250 to receive an additional $250.00 off your two-day (or combo) pass.

The rest of the interview series from #AMDays may be found here.

The post David Naffziger: How Merchants Can Protect Themselves From Affiliate Violators #AMDays appeared first on Small Business Trends.

B2B Businesses and the Potential of Social Media Infographic

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST

Social media can facilitate customer acquisition and retention for businesses of all sizes. While a good social media marketing strategy promotes credibility and professionalism of a brand, it also offers tremendous potential for networking.

There is nothing better than facts and figures to get an idea about the immense potential of social media and how B2B marketers are tapping into its potential. This B2B social media infographic from Real Business Rescue lays out the case as to why B2B companies should be leveraging the opportunities that social media and social networking offer.

[Click here for full size version]

The post B2B Businesses and the Potential of Social Media Infographic appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Small Business Top 100 Podcast List: The 2013 Edition

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST

small business podcast Podcasts continue to be popular, whether in video or audio. We’re delighted to announce the 4th Annual “Top 100 Podcast for Small Business” — 2013 Edition.

Each year we choose 100 of the most informative small business podcasts. While there are many excellent business podcasts out there, these are ones that we think small business owners, startup entrepreneurs, managers, marketers and budding entrepreneurs will find particularly valuable.

Congratulations to all those listed!

If you didn’t make the list this year, or you don’t see your favorites, leave a comment and tell us who you recommend.

Click the “Start Gallery” button below to begin viewing our Top 100 Small Business Podcast picks.

small business podcast DishyMix – With Susan Bratton. Susan serves up a mix of lessons from individuals from the world of advertising, digital media, marketing, social media and more.

Twitter: @PersonalLife

small business podcast Total Picture Radio — With Peter Clayton. This podcast features career empowerment interviews with best-selling authors, senior executives, leadership coaches and entrepreneurs.

Twitter: @TotalPicture

small business podcast HBR IdeaCast – By Harvard Business Review. A weekly audio podcast, gathering analysis and advice of the leading minds in management.

Twitter: @HarvardBiz

The Digital Publishing Podcast– By Tristan Higbee. The Digital Publishing Podcast is about ideas on infoproduct creation, new media and internet marketing for digital publishers.

Twitter: @TristanHigbee

small business podcast Manager Tool Podcasts – With Mauzenne & Co. This podcast is about new tools and easy techniques you can use to help achieve your management and career objectives.

Twitter: @ManagerTools

The Engaging Brand – With Anna Farmery. A podcast to motivate, inspire and engage people at work.

Twitter: @EngagingBrand

small business podcast The Bottom Line – With Evan Davis. This podcast gives insight into business from those leaders at the top.

Twitter: @EvanHD

Break Through Business – By Michele Price. Giving entrepreneurs and small business owners tools for success in our new business economy.

Twitter: @ProsperityGal

70 Decibels - Home Work. With Aaron Mahnke and Dave Caolo. A podcast for people who work from home, whether freelancer or telecommuter.

Twitter: @amahnke

Twitter: @davidcaolo

Marketing Over Coffee – By John Wall and Christopher Phenn. This podcast stays on top of all that's new in the world of business marketing.

Twitter: @MktgOverCoffee

Duct Tape Marketing — By John Jantsch. John provides interviews with influential marketing professionals and those who demonstrate advanced marketing tactics.

Twitter: @DuctTape

Marketing Edge — With Albert Maruggi. This podcast features insights and advice on public relations, marketing, communication and more.

Twitter: @AlbertMaruggi

Small Business Big Marketing Show – With Luke Moulton & Timbo Reid. Hear how other small business owners from around the world go about their marketing.

Twitter: @TheRealSBBM

Social Media and Sales Strategy Podcast – With Shane Gibson. Shane is talking about sales force leadership, new entrepreneur development, social media marketing and how to close bigger deals.

Twitter: @ShaneGibson

AdVerve – With Angela Natividad & Bill Green. This is a podcast about advertising and marketing.

Twitter: @AdVerve

The Official BNI Podcast – With Dr. Ivan Misner. This podcast is a weekly audio discussion with Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chairman of BNI.

Twitter: @IvanMisner

The BeanCast – By Bob Knorpp. This podcast features a panel of smart ad-biz types discussing news and issues.

Twitter: @BobKnorpp

Managing The Gray – By C.C. Chapman. This is is a marketing podcast that is teaching you and your company about the changing business world.

Twitter: @cc_chapman

Clarity Advantage's Sales Thoughts – With Nick Miller. Gain tips and techniques for prospecting, negotiating, coaching, and managing the sales process.

Twitter: @Clarity_Adv

The Click Millionaires Radio Show – By Scott Fox. Tune in for free online marketing, e-commerce strategy, and lifestyle business-building advice.

Twitter: @Scott_Fox

Wall Street Journal on Small Business – Insights for starting and running a small business, from the Wall Street Journal and Startup Journal and experts in areas such as management and finance.

Twitter: @WSJsmallbiz

I Love Marketing – With Dean Jackson & Joe Polish. Talk show about new marketing ideas, referral marketing, email marketing, etc.

Twitter: @TheDeanJackson

Twitter: @JoePolish

Small Business Bulletin— With Joe Connolly. Observations and anecdotes from the world of the small business.

Twitter: @JoeConnollyWSJ

Accelerate Your Business Growth – Diane Helbig is discussing small business issues – whatever it is that keeps a small business owner up at night, and she is offering input and suggestions for resolution.

Twitter: @dhelbig

Views From the Top – With Adrienne Graham. Adrienne takes a look at the hard hitting issues affecting women in corporate positions and entrepreneurs at the top of their game.

Twitter: @TalentDiva

The Smallbiz Brain – By David Wolf. This podcast features interviews with small business experts and leaders.

Twitter: @SmallBizAmerica

The Passionate Entrepreneur – With Kenneth Darryl Brown. This show is for passionate entrepreneurs who want to take their companies to the next level.

Twitter: @KenE3C

Help! My Business Sucks! – Video podcast by Andrew Lock. A weekly show that helps entrepreneurs to get more done and have more fun.

Twitter: @Andrewlock

Ecommerce Podcast – This podcast interviews ecommerce entrepreneurs who share the lessons they've learned.

Twitter: @slisystems

Accounting Best Practices — With Steve Bragg. Steve covers a broad range of accounting topics and other financial-related matters.

Marketplace — With Kai Ryssdal. Daily business and economics news updates.

Twitter: @kairyssdal

The Clark Howard Show – With Clark Howard. Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs.

Twitter: @ClarkHoward

NPR: Planet Money Podcast – Everything you need to know or want to learn about money and finance.

Twitter: @planetmoney

WSJ's Your Money Matters – This podcast by The Wall Street Journal will help you to keep your finances in tip-top shape.

Twitter: @WSJ

Ernst & Young International Tax Podcast – Business insights by Ernst & Young.

Twitter: @EYIntlTax

Money Box – With Paul Lewis. News of savings and investments, credit cards and loans, pensions, banking, tax, benefits and giving to charity.

Twitter: @paullewismoney

DH Unplugged – With John Dvorak and Andrew Horowitz. Hard hitting commentaries on the financial market and the economy.

Twitter: @andrewhorowitz

Twitter: @THErealDVORAK

Small Business CEO Radio– With Glenn Garnes and Bob Graham. Free flowing discussion of issues affecting entrepreneurship and small business.

Twitter: @glenngarnes

Marketing Mix Man– Marketing Mix Man. By Gary Bembridge. Helping passionate marketers build brands better, bigger and faster.

Twitter: @garybembridge

5by5- Back to Work. With Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin. A podcast on productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, etc.

Twitter: @hotdogsladies

Twitter: @danbenjamin

This Week in Startups – With Jason Calacanis. Video podcast with entrepreneurs of startup companies.

Twitter: @Jason

Work at Home Success – With Leslie Truex. Leslies shares business tips, tools and resources for those who work from home.

Twitter: @ltruex

Home Business Internet Talk Show — With host Paul Stanton. Paul covers all aspects of running a business from home and episodes range anywhere from 2 minutes to a half hour or more.

Twitter: @bigpaulusa

Solo Smart Solopreneur Podcast — With Kelly McCausey. Kelly interviews a successful WAHM (work at home mom) or business owner with an emphasis on Internet-based businesses.

Twitter: @kellymccausey

I Should Be Writing – With Mur Lafferty. Mur shares tips, insights and motivation for freelance writers.

Twitter: @mightymur

The Big Web Show – The Big Web Show. By Jeffrey Zeldman. The podcast show on everything about the web that matters; including web publishing, content strategy, typography and web technology.

Twitter: @zeldman

The Force Field — With Rick Savoia. This podcast is a half hour production dedicated to the small, independent IT service provider.

Twitter: @theforcefield

Entrepreneur's Journey — By Yaro Starak. Yaro provides specific help to those starting and running Internet businesses such as how to take payments online, sell e-books or launch a new product.

Twitter: @yarostarak

The Hobson & Holtz Report – With Neville Hobson & Shel Holtz. This podcast is a twice-weekly show at the intersection of online communication and public relations.

Twitter: @shelholtz

Twitter: @jangles

Tech Chick Tips – With Helen (techchick) and Anna (digimom). Tips and tricks for teaching 21st century students using 21st century skills.

Twitter: @jess_benton

Twitter: @BetterAnnaMac

Quit – Quit. By Dan Benjamin. A call-in show helping people sort out their lives, reevaluate their options, kick their crummy jobs, and start something awesome.

Twitter: @danbenjamin

Practical eCommerce — This podcast is for those attempting to grow their businesses online and provides practical tips, tools and resources including help with ecommerce software and more.

Twitter: @PracticalEcomm

The Boagworld Show – By Paul Boag. A podcast for those who design, develop and run websites.

Twitter: @boagworld

Internet Business Mastery – With Jeremy "Sterling" Frandsen and Jason "Jay" Van Orden. A podcast dedicated to help you escape the 9-to-5 route by turning your life's passion into an Internet business.

Twitter: @jeremyfrandsen

Twitter: @jasonvo

FT Connected Business – By Stephen Pritchard. The Financial Times podcast examines how business leaders can use IT to improve performance and exploit new opportunities for growth.

Twitter: @s_pritchard

Spark – By Nora Young. A weekly podcast of smart and unexpected trendwatching.

Twitter: @nora3000

Wall Street Journal Podcasts – Stay up-to-date on the latest business trends and changes with The Wall Street Journal.

Twitter: @DailyWrapWSJ

Smart Companies Radio – With Kelly Scanlon. A weekly radio show that highlights successful small business owners and small business issues and resources.

Twitter: @IThinkBigger

Small Business Trends Radio — Our very own show with CEO Anita Campbell featuring interviews with today's professionals on a wide variety of small business topics.

Twitter: @smallbiztrends

Business Insanity Talk Radio – By Barry Moltz. This is a business radio show where we talk about all the craziness of small business.

Twitter: @barrymoltz

Blog Business Success – With Wayne Hurlbert. Podcast about business blogging, search engine optimization SEO, marketing, public relations, and entrepreneurship topics that will help your business grow.

Twitter: @WayneHurlbert

Zane Safrit – Zane talks with his guests about small business, innovation, word-of-mouth, leadership, generating positive cash-flows, topgrading, social media, and the economy.

Twitter: @ZaneSafrit

Small Business Advocate – With Jim Blasingame. The Small Business Advocate® Show is the world's only weekday small business radio program.

Twitter: @JimBlasingame

Mixergy – By Andrew Warner. A video podcast with downloadable audio featuring interviews with experts that help teach others from their own experiences.

Twitter: @Mixergy

The Rise to the Top – Video podcast by David Siteman Garland. The #1 non-boring business show.

Twitter: @TheRiseToTheTop

The Human Business Way- The Human Business Way. By Chris Brogan. Discussions and more with today’s top authorities on sales and marketing in a relationship-minded way.

Twitter: @chrisbrogan

The Lifestyle Business Podcast – With Ian & Dan Andrews. Design your personalized worklife with a Tropical MBA.

Twitter: @DansPodcast

Twitter: @AnythingIan

Twitter: @TropicalMBA

The Smart Passive Income Podcast – With Pat Flynn from the Smart Passive Income blog. Learn about online business and blogging strategies, as well as income sources and marketing tips.

Twitter: @PatFlynn

YouCanWorkLess – Entrepreneur Ideas Podcast. By Dean Soto. Tips on how to start a profitable side business.

Twitter: @DeanSoto

From Scratch — From Scratch. By Jessica Harris. A radio show about the entrepreneurial life.

Twitter: @JessGHarris

The Schiff Report – Video podcast by Peter Schiff. Peter provides the market outlook and a dose of current news events.

Twitter: @schiffradio

World Business News – By BBC World Service. This podcast provides in-depth analysis of global business developments and trends that affect consumers, investors and the environment at large.

Twitter: @bbcworldservice

Ambitious Entrepreneur - Ambitious Entrepreneur Show. With Annemarie Cross. Taking your business to next level by using practical tools and mindset strategies.

Twitter: @AnnemarieCoach

New York Times Podcasts — The New York Times offers over a dozen podcasts on topics ranging from personal technology, international news, book reviews and the backstories behind NYT published articles.

Twitter: @nytimes

Marketplace – By American Public Media. This podcast brings you the latest and most talked about headlines in business news today.

Twitter: @MarketplaceAPM

WSJ's This Morning – The Wall Street Journal brings you the morning's top business and finance news.

Twitter: @WSJThisMorning

CNNMoney – This podcast provides a wealth of finance information, advice, tips and tactics to apply to your business and personal life.

Twitter: @CNNMoney

David Allen Company Podcast – by David Allen. David's show, "Getting Things Done" is "a podcast designed to help you win at the game of work and business of life."

Twitter: @gtdguy

Done! – By David Stiernholm. This is a podcast about structure and how to visualize, simplify and get more time at your disposal.

Twitter: @stiernholm

Great Work Interviews – With Michael Bungay Stanier. "Find Your Great Work" by Michael Bungay Stanier.

Twitter: @boxofcrayons

On The Media – From NPR. Podcasts on the Internet.

Twitter: @onthemedia

The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders – Podcasts from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.

Twitter: @ECorner

The Economist – Multimedia content from The Economist magazine.

Twitter: @TheEconomist

Peter Day's World of Business – Insights into the business world with Peter Day.

Twitter: @BBCRadio4

Freakonomics Radio – By Stephen J. Dubner. Explore "the hidden side of everything."

Twitter: @freakonomics

EconTalk – By Russ Roberts. An economics podcast for the daily life.

Twitter: @EconTalker

Six Pixels of Separation – With Mitch Joel. Mitch talks about digital marketing, new media and personal branding.

Twitter: @mitchjoel

The Great Business Project–

The Great Business Project Podcast. By Ralph Quintero. A podcast on how to work "on" your business and not "in" your business.

Twitter: @RalphQuintero

The Social Hour – With Amber MacArthur & Sarah Lane. Amber & Sarah are taking the pulse on what's happening on the social web right now.

Twitter: @sarahlane

Twitter: @ambermac

Revision3– Foundation. By Kevin Rose. Interviews with tech entrepreneurs.

Twitter: @foundationkr

Building 43 – By Robert Scoble. Video podcast by a geek who grew up in Silicon Valley and interviews technology innovators and executives.

Twitter: @Scobleizer

Social Pros Podcast – By Jay Baer. Jay is highlighting real people doing real work in social media.

Twitter: @jaybaer

Online Marketing & Communications – By Jon Buscall. A podcast on how to get the most out of online marketing and communications to help you grow your business.

Twitter: @jonbuscall

Deborah Shane Metropolis – By Deborah Shane. A podcast with information, trends and resources on careers, work, new media, branding and motivation.

Twitter: @DeborahShane

33voices - 33Voices. A global conversation about things that matter in business and in life.

Twitter: @33voices

Ms Ileane Speaks – By Ileane Smith. Get basic blogging tips and learn social media ninja techniques.

Twitter: @Ileane

Foolish Adventure - Foolish Adventure. By Tim Conley. A show for the online-fueled business world.

Twitter: @TimConley

Dave Hall - Business Tip of the Day. By Dave Hall. Quick pieces of advice to help your new business find success.

Twitter: @DaveHallSBA

Inside PR – With Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley and Martin Waxman. A weekly podcast on social media and public relations.

Twitter: @martinwaxman

Twitter: @thornley

Twitter: @ginidietrich

Social Media Examiner- Social Media Marketing Podcast. By Michael Stelzner. A show that will help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.