How to Make Your Online Content “Twang” with Mark Twain

How to Make Your Online Content “Twang” with Mark Twain
Salesforce.com Acquires ExactTarget, Fills Void In Marketing Offerings
6 Steps to Help You Get Started in Exporting
Reaching the Cloud: Dedicated Ethernet vs Public Internet Connections
StraightTalk: Are Prepaid Cell Phone Plans Good For Small Business?

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 04:00 PM PDT

With so much content being published on a daily basis, it's no wonder that content creators and marketers are always looking for ways to make their online content twang. Not the annoying type of twang, though. Think more along the lines of a guitar – content that resonates and sticks with you like a good, catchy song.

Though he never wrote for the Internet, Mark Twain's writings have the twang of Southern charm and timelessness. Ask anyone what the Great American Novel is and I bet they're going to answer “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

Collective wit and power is what made Twain's writing so memorable. By incorporating some of his techniques into your content creation, you'll be on your way to making your content resonate with readers.

Mark Twain suggests, "The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say."

In other words, sometimes it takes you writing a piece to completion before you realize the point or meat of it. Once you know your point, you can revise the piece to focus on that point clearly from the get-go. Keep in mind that revision doesn't mean that you have to re-write the whole thing. Some online content needs to be tweaked while other content will require a total over-haul. Either way, you won't know until you've "finished."

"I don't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead."

When writing online content, it can be tempting to keyword stuff or focus on SEO practices. However, focusing on true value and meaning for your readers is what will make your content successful – and oftentimes shorter. Practicing good word economy is difficult. It's easier to write 400 words of fluff than 200 words of meaningful content, but the latter is what drives subscriptions and repeat readers. And that's what we all want.

"To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement…Anybody can have ideas – the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph."

Mark Twain is absolutely right on this. Remember, the Internet is shifting toward short form online content, folks. Writing that is clean and crisp is much more effective. It also gives your brand a distinguished voice that readers will appreciate. Better yet, instead of a "glittering paragraph," glittering one-liners make incredible social media fodder.

By taking Mark Twain's advice into account, online content creators will have a better shot at garnering a loyal online readership. Tweak your online content like Twain.

The post How to Make Your Online Content “Twang” with Mark Twain appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Salesforce.com Acquires ExactTarget, Fills Void In Marketing Offerings

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 01:30 PM PDT

Salesforce acquires ExactTarget, expanding marketing software

Salesforce.com is acquiring marketing software company ExactTarget for $2.5 billion. This is Salesforce.com's biggest acquisition in its history. It also makes Salesforce a player when it comes to marketing software.

Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO, emphasized the importance of software in marketing. He said in a prepared release, "The CMO is expected to spend more on technology than the CIO by 2017."

ExactTarget is an email marketing and marketing communications software provider. Its 6,000 clients include brands such as Nike and Coke.

The acquisition fills a void in Salesforce.com's marketing offerings. Salesforce.com previously acquired Buddy Media and Radian6, gaining a foothold in social-media marketing software. But up until now it has lacked a full-range marketing suite that goes beyond social media marketing. ExactTarget — with its emphasis on email marketing, marketing automation and mobile marketing — fills a large gap in what was missing.

CRM analyst Paul Greenberg writes at ZDNet, "What makes this one of salesforce’s most important acquisitions ever is Marc Benioff’s proclamation last August on the Q2 2012 financial results that the Marketing Cloud is their next 'billion dollar' … business. That was a lot of pressure for a company that had only a strong social media monitoring platform and a Facebook advertising platform under the rubric 'Marketing Cloud' and nothing else, even though what they did have was outstanding quality within its class."

Now, analysts say, Salesforce.com has much more of what it needs to offer customers a broader “marketing cloud” — instead of a narrower “social marketing cloud.”

Aimed at Enterprise Market, But Can Benefit SMBs

This acquisition is mostly about the enterprise market. But eventually it can benefit small and midsized businesses that are developing an appetite for marketing software.

According to analyst Brent Leary, Salesforce.com's marketing offerings up until now largely have been aimed at enterprise buyers. Larger companies have demanded solutions because they face increasing complexity in marketing.

"But SMBs also face a complex marketing environment," he says.

"As I see more SMBs looking to change the way they market to today’s customers, I also see them taking advantage of social, mobile, and cloud technologies," Leary wrote in an article earlier this year in CRM Magazine.

The subtext here is that there’s benefit for the SMB market, ultimately. That’s because ExactTarget had earlier acquired Pardot, a marketing automation software suitable for small to midsize business. This means Salesforce.com will gain marketing automation software for SMBs in the 25 – 500 employee size category, Leary says.

Salesforce is paying a 52 percent premium on ExactTarget's share price. ExactTarget had $292 million in revenue last year, with a $21 million loss. The transaction is expected to close by July 31, 2013.

The post Salesforce.com Acquires ExactTarget, Fills Void In Marketing Offerings appeared first on Small Business Trends.

6 Steps to Help You Get Started in Exporting

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT

exporting

Are you interested in growing your business in a global economy?

Today, nearly 96 percent of consumers and over two-thirds of the world’s purchasing power reside outside the United States. Small businesses now constitute 34 percent of total export dollars, and comprise approximately 97.8 percent of all exporters.

If you're considering exporting as a way to expand and grow your business in new markets, where should you start?

Well, there are a number of free government tools, resources and programs that can help you plan your strategy, market to overseas customers, find buyers and finance your exports. A great place to start is Export.gov. The site brings together resources from across the U.S. Government to assist American businesses in planning their international sales strategies and succeed in today's global marketplace. It's a great one-stop resource to help you navigate exporting and get the right help as you go.

Below are six essential steps any potential small business exporter should follow as they get started.

6 Steps to Help You Get Started in Exporting

1. Determine Your Readiness

From committing staff and resources to developing an international marketing plan, is your business really ready to start exporting? Take this online questionnaire from BusinessUSA.gov and see how your business rates in terms of its exporting readiness. The tool also serves up useful resources based on your responses and readiness.

Once you register with Export.gov, you can start planning your entry with market research tools, track global demand for your product and more.

2. Get Free Advice

Ready to explore more? Contact your local U.S. Export Assistance Center. These centers provide free training and counseling to export-ready small businesses. There are 165 offices nationwide and overseas, staffed by pros who can offer in-depth industry and trade counseling and access to a variety of services, including financing programs and connections to international buyers.

You can also find the names of local and international U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialists, in the United States or overseas.

3. Conduct Market Research

What potential does your product have to sell in a particular international market? Who's the competition? Are there any barriers to trade?

Using Export.gov's market research guides and tools like Trade Stats, you can take a step-by-step, structured approach to doing your research and identifying potential target markets.

4. Create an Export Business Plan

Here's another great free government tool that can help you plan your export strategy – the Small Business Export Planner. The planner is customizable and can be worked through as your exporting activities grow.

In addition, Export.gov also offers a free sample outline of an international business plan.

5. Find Potential Buyers

The government can even help you locate and connect with potential buyers overseas. Opportunities range from meeting foreign buyer delegations at select U.S. trade shows to signing up for a foreign trade mission or trade show overseas. Export.gov will even help you with your marketing efforts.

6. Finance Your Exports

Whether you are entering the export market, looking to upgrade your equipment or facilities in preparation for exporting, or even help your international buyers do business with you—there are a number of U.S. government financing program that can help.

Use BusinessUSA.gov's Financing Wizard (select "Exports" in the third step) for a breakdown of financing programs from across the federal government.

Export Photo via Shutterstock

The post 6 Steps to Help You Get Started in Exporting appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Reaching the Cloud: Dedicated Ethernet vs Public Internet Connections

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:45 AM PDT

Ethernet fiber connection

Cloud computing or "the cloud" is one of today's hottest computing concepts.

It's increasingly how small and midsize businesses take advantage of automation and improve operations and effectiveness. The Cloud makes it easier for the distributed workforce, with remote employees, to operate as a team and share information. The Cloud provides a central place for proprietary databases and applications.

It saves money too, because the Cloud typically requires less investment in capital equipment. Computing operations can be hosted virtually in a central data center, reducing maintenance costs of maintaining equipment on premises.

And the cloud is also an integral element of backup and disaster recovery plans for many organizations. If one location is inaccessible (such as when Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast U.S. last year), organizations with cloud-based backup systems can continue operating with minimal or no interruptions.

But how does your organization connect to cloud applications and data stored in the cloud? We don’t mean how individual users connect necessarily, but rather how your network connection is set up to pass information among your systems and access applications.

You may think there's only one practical choice: use a regular Internet connection. Many small companies start out that way.

But one of the trends we are noticing is that a dedicated Ethernet connection for accessing the Cloud, is now within reach for smaller businesses. In the past these dedicated networks and connections were available mainly for large enterprises — and too pricey for smaller businesses. On top of that, they were often complex to set up and maintain.

But as technology takes on a central role in smaller organizations, and demand for secure access increases, ISPs are coming out with new offerings at price points designed for small and midsized companies. And not only is the price within reach, but the setup and maintenance can be outsourced now to your ISP.

Here are some advantages of a dedicated Ethernet network to access your cloud assets:

Security

As we’ve pointed out before, small businesses are now being targeted by cyber attackers. Smaller organizations are perceived as soft targets.

Let’s say you need to back up sensitive customer data to your cloud system. With public Internet connections, there is greater risk of intrusion. Information is passed along a route in the public Internet, and your service provider probably will not take responsibility for an intrusion that happens with another company along the way. Dedicated Ethernet connections are more secure by their nature, because that “handing off” of data through the public Internet doesn’t happen.

Losses Minimized, Opportunities Gained

In the above scenario, less security means more potential liability for your company. A security incident can mean considerable expense to investigate, mitigate issues, notify customers, and potentially pay damages — not to mention a public relations nightmare in the making.

Also, if your company is involved as a subcontractor to a larger organization, you may be required by contract or policy to take certain security steps, or indemnify against them. If you company is not able to meet security requirements, you may not be able to take advantage of opportunities.

Less Complexity

There was a time when setting up an Ethernet connection to the cloud would have been challenging. But today they are much less complex.

You can basically outsource the private Ethernet connection. An ISP that is set up to serve business clients can deliver a more-or-less “plug and play” dedicated network, meeting your requirements, to connect to the cloud. You don’t have to support the Ethernet connection either — ongoing support gets handled by your service provider.

Reliability and Availability

When your cloud assets are mission critical, reliability and availability are key issues. Ethernet is typically based on fiber and can be switched to a redundant path almost instantly, eliminating interruptions. Public Internet connections can’t guarantee that your systems will be available consistently with the level of performance needed.

With a dedicated Ethernet network, your offsite cloud data and applications can offer the same level of performance as if they were located within your local are network, but still maintaining the advantages of cloud computing.

Shutterstock, Ethernet fiber

The post Reaching the Cloud: Dedicated Ethernet vs Public Internet Connections appeared first on Small Business Trends.

StraightTalk: Are Prepaid Cell Phone Plans Good For Small Business?

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 05:00 AM PDT

Cell phones have practically become part of our anatomies. We show off our newest cell phone like it was a new baby. We carry them everywhere. We cannot live without them, as consumers, but especially as business owners. Mobile phones are mission critical. The Pew Internet project reports that 29 percent of cell owners describe their cell phone as "something they can't imagine living without.”

Forty five percent of American adults are smartphone owners. My guess is that a good portion of those must be business owners. Smartphones supercharge your productivity. But they also supercharge your cell phone bill. If you have been searching for options, this review is for you. StraightTalk, a provider of prepaid wireless service, provided a short term loaner iPhone 5 for this review.

My purpose in this review is not to extol the virtues of the iPhone 5 — the awesomeness of Apple’s latest phone is not to be under-rated, though. It is a sweet and powerful device and you don’t need my recommendation if you are already an Apple fan. However, if you are not, StraightTalk has a variety of phones on their prepaid plans.

The purpose of this review is to highlight that there are other options to have an affordable cell phone plan without a long-term contract and the subsidized phone you usually get along with a long-term contract.

Here’s a quick look below at my “cell phone minutes” dashboard. If I had the $30 plan, I’m sure it would show more detail. You can also top up your prepaid balance here, of course.

The benefits of prepaid:

No long term contracts. You go month-to-month.
Generally, lower monthly cost.
You can buy an unlocked phone and move from one provider to another. It does take some patience and tech chops, however. For example, the elegant Nexus 4 phone from Google is reportedly possible to put on the StraightTalk service. I’ve read mixed results, though.
Smaller carriers score better in the customer satisfaction arena, as reported by the American Customer Satisfaction Index that rates the wireless phone industry (among others).
You can walk into a Walmart and many other retailers, and buy a phone and a plan.

The downside of prepaid:

You have to buy a phone at full price. There is no major carrier subsidizing your phone for you with free or low prices to entice you. The loaner iPhone 5 retails for about $650. However, to be fair, if you crunch out major carrier plans that are usually more per month, you will likely find that you are paying more over that two-year contract.
Month-to-month prepaid plans can be a bit confusing. Your minutes run out in 30 days usually.
In this case, there was no report on calls made or received. I would like to see a way to pull that kind of report. It would help with some tax requirements, I’m sure.

StraightTalk (owned by TracFone) offers two plans:

The "ALL YOU NEED" plan for $30 a month to receive 1000 minutes, 1000 text or multimedia messages, 30 MB of data transfer for data phones and 411 calls at no additional charge. $30 per month.
The unlimited plan for $45 a month to receive unlimited talk, text and data nationwide anytime with calls to 411 at no additional charge. There is an international version of this for $60/month.

Overall, I find the no-contract, prepaid type phone carriers to be one of the best ways to save money in my small business. Although StraightTalk provided a loaner phone, I did not receive any special customer treatment. I found the signup process to be painless and had good customer support throughout my review period.

StraightTalk offers a range of smartphones (and not so smart ones, too — feature phones) starting from free. There were a few nice LG Optimus phones for $149, a Blackberry Curve for $129, and a Samsung Galaxy Precedent for $79.

And for those of you that fall into the category of describing your cell phone as something you “can't imagine living without” as I’d mentioned previously, here are 4 ways to tell if you are addicted to your iPhone 5.

Just in case you’ve been sleeping with your phone and are beginning to wonder if that is a problem….

The post StraightTalk: Are Prepaid Cell Phone Plans Good For Small Business? appeared first on Small Business Trends.