Uber Offers You “Green” Options for Hassle Free Business Travel |  |
- Uber Offers You “Green” Options for Hassle Free Business Travel
- How to Thrive On and Beyond Small Business Saturday
- Survey: Small Businesses Still See High Medical Costs
- What is the Difference Between AdSense and AdWords?
- McDonald’s Says No to Heinz, Apple Ramps Up and More
- Epic Content Marketing: Get Your Content Marketing Strategy Together
| Uber Offers You “Green” Options for Hassle Free Business Travel Posted: 04 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST
Cutting down on travel expenses, even if it’s to a meeting across town, is still important for small businesses. And sharing a ride is a way to cut down fossil fuel emissions. In this respect, companies like Uber and other “online-enabled transportation systems,” as they are now being called, are green businesses themselves. But they can also enable other businesses using their services to become more green too. Uber began as a service allowing people to call luxury cars to pick them up in San Francisco. Customers use the Uber app on their smartphone to connect with a ride. But soon the service had spread to many other cities and the company’s website now says you can use the Uber app to call a driver in 20 countries around the world. More Vehicles, More Small Business OwnersUber drivers have begun to expand their fleet to include SUVs, hybrid cars and even taxi cabs. Uber drivers are small business owners who connect with their clientele through the app and sign up with Uber to participate. As part of their participation, drivers must meet Uber’s standards for customer service and are rated by previous riders and licensed and insured in accordance with local regulations. Some worry they are competing with another group of potential small business owners, traditional taxi drivers, who are considerably more regulated. But even critics concede the barrier of entry for Uber is low as far as small business startups go. Hassle Free Business Travel and A Greener RideWith the launch of the new UberX app this year, the company has introduced a fare splitting concept allowing people with similar destinations to connect and share expenses. Imagine small business owners with similar regular destinations sharing expenses and also contributing less greenhouse emissions while traveling? Of course, not everyone is convinced. In a recent post in Environmental Leader, Lori Anne Dolqueist and Tara S. Kaushik insist the jury is still out on Uber’s status as a greener travel option. They point to huge efforts being made by traditional taxi services to become more fuel efficient. It may be true that not all Uber drivers are currently using fuel efficient hybrids. But it’s hard to understand how splitting a ride for hassle free business travel wouldn’t benefit the environment as well as your budget. Image: Uber The post Uber Offers You “Green” Options for Hassle Free Business Travel appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| How to Thrive On and Beyond Small Business Saturday Posted: 03 Nov 2013 06:00 PM PST
In between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting local small businesses. The movement has inspired thousands of Americans to shop locally and it's making a big impact. Last year, consumers spent an estimated $5.5 billion with local retailers on Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is an opportunity for small businesses to gain visibility, attract new customers and grow sales. But one day of strong sales a year is not enough. You need a game plan that sets you up to thrive every day. Flourishing Beyond Small Business SaturdayUnlike big companies that can leverage extensive marketing departments to prepare for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping frenzy, small businesses have to be more resourceful in their marketing to get noticed. The Lifecycle Marketing process provides a systematic approach for promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services on Small Business Saturday … and beyond. There are seven stages that make up the Lifecycle Marketing process:
The stages can be applied in any business. regardless of size, industry or business model. Attracting InterestAttracting Interest is the stage that sets your plan in motion. The purpose of this stage is to increase visitors to your business location. During this stage you'll employ various tactics such as sponsored ads, pay-per-click advertising, websites, social media, telemarketing calls, signs and banners to name a few. Capturing LeadsIn this stage, your job is to encourage visitors to share personal information and give you permission to market to them. Lead magnets are key in this stage. A lead magnet is something of value that can be exchanged for contact information, such as a drawing, discount, VIP pricing or priority purchasing. Online businesses can employ the use of ebooks, webinars and contests. Nurturing ProspectsIn the Nurturing Prospects stage, you'll work to build the relationship with the visitors that gave you permission to market to them. Send them information and updates that they value so that you can stay top-of-mind when they are ready to buy. Convert SalesIn this stage, businesses use the information that they've received in the nurturing stage to provide a relevant offer to the prospect with the goal of making a sale. The key is to analyze past interactions that have led your customers to purchase your product or service. Then replicate the buying process with other similar customers. Deliver and SatisfyIn the Deliver and Satisfy stage, you'll go above and beyond your customers' expectations. Provide great customer service, offer additional discounts or gifts to loyal customers or send a simple hand written thank you note. This additional step will set your business apart from your competitors and gain customers for life. UpsellFor your Upsell strategy, consider products that you offer that pair nicely with each other. You may want to review previous purchases that were made by your customers to determine if there are any products that are usually purchased together. Communication is key so continue to develop the relationship through consistent nurturing. ReferralsThe easiest way to gain additional referrals is to simply ask happy customers to refer their friends, family and acquaintances. Businesses can establish reward programs, which work well in almost any business type. Thriving 365 Days a YearThe real value of Lifecycle Marketing is the integration of the individual actions into a single system, which leverages the interconnectedness and interdependencies of each stage. Implementing a sales and marketing plan based on this process will help your business thrive beyond Small Business Saturday, 365 days a year. Small Business Saturday Photo via Shutterstock The post How to Thrive On and Beyond Small Business Saturday appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Survey: Small Businesses Still See High Medical Costs Posted: 03 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST
Most U.S. citizens will need to sign up for healthcare by 2014. Businesses with 50 or more full-time employees will need to provide heathcare for those employees or face a penalty by 2015. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) wanted to learn what impact the Affordable Care Act (PDF), a.k.a. Obamacare, would have on costs associated with that insurance. The answer, according to a survey conducted by the NFIB this summer, is none at all so far. The survey (PDF) included a total of 921 small businesses around the country with between 2 and 200 employees, NFIB officials said. The NFIB says 64 percent of these businesses paid more in premiums per employee this year than in 2012. The survey is part of a three year study intended to map the impact of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses. Commenting in an official release, NFIB Research Foundation senior fellow and study author William J. Dennis explained:
The NFIB has advocated a delay in the individual mandate of the law for at least a year. The organization also seeks relief on what it says are the more onerous aspects of the employer mandate set to go into effect in 2015. For example, Dennis estimates about 150,000 small businesses in the U.S. will be impacted by the so-called aggregation aspect of the employer mandate. Dennis says federal officials can count all the employees in multiple businesses operated by a single owner when determining whether that owner falls under the mandate. The NFIB also wants to see the definition of a full-time employee in the law changed. The law currently defines a full-time employee as one who works 30 hours a week instead of the 40 hour a week definition they say has been the standard in most industries. Image: NFIB The post Survey: Small Businesses Still See High Medical Costs appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| What is the Difference Between AdSense and AdWords? Posted: 03 Nov 2013 12:00 PM PST
Google started as a simple but powerful search engine with a minimal homepage layout featuring nothing but a search bar and the company’s distinctive logo. The company has certainly come a long way since then and today, it's an online behemoth. Its additional Web services include email, Web based tools, SaaS applications and a variety of other products. What distinguishes Google is the simple way it approaches everything it touches, like it’s simple logo still alone and unadorned on the main Google search page. Its popular two part advertising program is no different. Split into Google AdSense and Google AdWords, these seemingly unassuming features have really gotten Google where it is today. But some people still don’t quite get the Google AdSense and AdWords models. Many ask themselves, “what is the difference between AdSense and AdWords” and don’t really understand them. Below is a simple explanation of what each does and what makes them different. The Difference Between AdSense and AdWordsThe first thing to understand is that Google’s search engine makes no money on its own, at least not directly. The search engine may have redefined, for a whole generation, how information is researched and retrieved. But it’s Google AdWords that helps Google make all the money that enables that free search tool to operate. Meanwhile Google AdSense helps Google distribute the ads for those AdWords campaigns to online publishers (anyone with a website and AdSense code) and to its partner networks. Google AdSense is also available on mobile, tablets, and on YouTube — Google's premier video network. Gradually, the company has even started showing its ads via its other products like Gmail. But how, exactly, do Google AdWords and Google AdSense work? Google AdWords
There was a time when businesses and everyone else who needed to promote or market anything had only a few choices. One was to approach leading newspapers (local, national, or global – depending on what customers they needed to reach) and buy an ad. Newspapers decided what to charge for their ads based on circulation — how many thousands or hundreds of thousands of readers they had. Generally, the greater the circulation the higher the cost for running the ad. Enter Google and now the game has changed. The search engine doesn’t simply charge for the number of people reading a page. Instead, it displays your ad on a page next to information specifically relevant to your product or service. And it charges either when your ad is displayed on users’ screens or when a prospect actually clicks on your ad and sees your offer. The company even allows businesses and others to open free accounts with Google AdWords without obligation and provides tools to create ads. These tools help advertisers choose relevant keywords. And the keywords allow their ads to appear alongside Google's main results each time a user searches for something related.
For instance, if you search on Google for “New York Service apartments” (as pictured above), you'll see both organic results and paid ads associated with those keywords. Users then choose the content most relevant to their search. That could be websites or news stories related to the topic or ads offering related services like moving or rental. Google gives businesses the benefit of reaching a huge number of users seeking information related to their products or services. But it also allows users to find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently. Google AdWords is simple and efficient. It allows businesses to promote their products, services, or brands for as long as their budgets allow. Google gives businesses the option of paying for their ads on a CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions) basis or on a PPC (Pay Per Click) basis. It also allows businesses to run, maintain, measure, and track results from their paid campaigns. Google AdSenseThink of Google AdSense as a distributor for the ads Google AdWords sells. For all the businesses who pay to promote themselves on Google, Google AdSense helps place those ads in the most relevant locations. These locations might include the sites of individual bloggers who write about a related topic. They might also include an online publication, forum or online community where AdSense is displayed. Google AdSense is free for online publishers. Once publishers sign up and submit their websites, Google evaluates the sites based on the overall quality of content. Approved publishers are then provided a code allowing them to display ads on their websites. It's up to the publishers how and where they display Google ads. Once they embed the code on a page of their website, Google starts automatically “serving” ads consistent with the site’s content. That's where the "Sense" in AdSense comes from. Here's an example:Let’s say you have a webpage specifically on the topic of “business insurance.” Once visitors arrive on your site, Google AdSense immediately starts working, displaying relevant content in ads. (See the image below:)
When visitors click on these links, two things happen:
ConclusionThink of Google's AdWords and AdSense as two complementary parts of Google’s advertising program:
Any questions? Difference Photo via Shutterstock The post What is the Difference Between AdSense and AdWords? appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| McDonald’s Says No to Heinz, Apple Ramps Up and More Posted: 03 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST
Another news week has come and gone. And what a week as some major new products and tools from Apple, Nokia and others emerged. If you’d like to find out what happened — especially news that might be relevant to your business — here are the high points. The Small Business Trends editorial team recaps all the news for this past week. Let’s get started. Strategic Business RelationshipsMcDonald’s and Heinz part ways. It’s either the end of an era or the beginning of a fascinating new one. The two brands that once went together like … well, like ketchup and fries, are calling it quits. And it’s all about competition. Is this a big deal? Apple UpdatesApple has a new operating system. We’ve shared a video and some basic features. If your business uses Macs or other Apple tech in your office, this could be a big step in changing the way you work. The new Mac Pro is here. If it looks a little weird and futuristic, that’s because it is. Here are some of the details about Apple’s new desktop. Is it right for your business? And the new iPad mini won’t be far behind. This one has a Retina display. So if you’re looking for a slightly smaller tablet experience at a slightly lower price, check out this post first. You may be happy about the prices on the latest MacBooks. Apple products have always carried a premium price tag, especially for small businesses conscious of their budgets. But, if you are an Apple fan, you may be surprised what you get for the money. Nokia NewcomersNokia unveils its long-awaited new Windows tablet. It’s only been buzz and some leaked photos up until now. But its very, very real. Here are some features you’ll want to check out. A smartphone for just $69? It may not be your mobile device of choice. But that’s not important. There’s another group who may be interested. And they could be your customers. This phablet introduces a larger screen. For a phone, that is. For a tablet, it’s actually quite a bit smaller. It’s a Windows Phone device with a six-inch display. But the price tag may not be for every business. Startups and ShutdownsJeans made to order. Ask entrepreneurs Mark Lynn and Corey Epstein for the concept behind their line of jeans. They will tell you it is that their customers help them design every pair. Do.com is shutting down. Salesforce.com is closing the digital task manager. If you are still a user, you have until the end of January to transfer your data off the site. Here’s more information you may find helpful. Taxes and TrendsWatch out for the latest scam. Have you received a phone call from the IRS demanding money? If so, it may not be the IRS you were talking to at all. Check this post for more on the latest scam that’s plaguing small business owners and others. Amazon tax law struck down in Illinois. It’s been a long contentious struggle. But Nellie Akalp is here to tell us a bit more about what this means. Now, what comes next for affiliate marketers? Your customers still love you. Anyway, they do if you happen to be a small retailer. That’s good to know too, with all the other concerns you have to face this holiday season. Rieva Lesonsky has more. More TechNexus 5 is here. The long awaited successor to Google’s Nexus 4 arrived amid online photo leaks and other buzz. We’ll have more about the new phone once the dust has settled. Dell has some new laptops too. And that’s not all. There’s also a cross between a laptop and a tablet here. And Dell has equipped these devices with XPS screens for your documents. Reading Photo via Shutterstock The post McDonald’s Says No to Heinz, Apple Ramps Up and More appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Epic Content Marketing: Get Your Content Marketing Strategy Together Posted: 03 Nov 2013 07:04 AM PST
Content marketing is a powerful strategy today for getting new customers, building loyalty with existing customers, getting found online, branding and much more. If you are looking for a nuts and bolts guide for marketing through content, look no further than Epic Content Marketing. This is a book that can help you come up with a well-thought out strategy for employing content marketing. But it goes well beyond strategy. It does a masterful job of helping you line up the tactics you will need to execute your content marketing. And that’s what I love most about Epic Content Marketing. It’s got equal focus on the “why” for doing content marketing — the strategy — and the “who, what, when, where and how” — the tactics and execution. Help for Your Content Marketing StrategyThe book follows a logical layout. It starts with about 50 pages giving you a brief history of content marketing and the business case for content marketing. For instance, there’s an engaging story about John Deere and its use of content marketing. The company’s been using content marketing since the late 19th century. But most of the examples are much more recent. And the focus is not on history, but on how content marketing can help your business. From there it quickly gets into how to define your content marketing niche, and how to establish your content marketing mission and strategy. This part is excellent because there are terrific examples (including screenshots) to draw on. Unlike with some books that spend a lot of time discussing grand concepts using $40 words, all concepts in the book are laid out in everyday language that is easy to follow and understand. The most useful part of the book in my view is the part about managing the content process. This part contains about 100 pages laying out in detail how to create and/or find content. It gives you insider tips – such as how to hire the right people and agencies to execute content marketing strategies. You’ll get nuts and bolts guidance on how to plan out your work, including spreadsheets and lists to use. Next up is a section about how social media fits in with content marketing. Pulizzi writes,
And that is what this section, called ”Marketing Your Stories,” aims to give you. It covers specific social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and more. This section is not as detailed as the earlier sections — in part because each social network itself requires a specific strategy. But if you’re confused by all the social networks out there, and want to put it all in perspective, this section is a good starting point. You will need more, but it helps bring your social media promotion strategy into focus. The final section of about 20 pages is all about measuring your content marketing strategy. This is a very helpful section with lists of key performance indicators to track. It helps you with advice on how to calculate the return on your content marketing, along with exact formulae. There’s even an interesting section at the end on how to bring it all together with a visual content marketing plan (and image included). While you may be able to find many articles on the Web about content marketing, the beauty of this book is that it puts it all together in one place. You get a cohesive approach to creating and executing your content marketing strategy. That is very hard to get just from reading articles here, there and everywhere. This is a book that primarily targets corporate readers — i.e., marketers in large corporations. For instance, there is some fascinating information about how to get buyin for investing in content marketing in your organization. There is even advice on how to sell it internally. And many of the case studies and examples are of very large corporations. Some of them will be out of your league when it comes to establishing a budget or staffing for a content marketing program. But don’t let that stop you from reading this book as an entrepreneur or small business owner or marketing person. Because then you would miss out of lots of helpful advice about setting up and executing a successful content marketing program that in fact is directly applicable to smaller enterprises. Content marketing in some ways is a great equalizer. It’s equally within reach of small businesses and even solo entrepreneurs, along with large corporations. Pick up Epic Content Marketing and you can maximize your efforts, regardless of your company’s size. The post Epic Content Marketing: Get Your Content Marketing Strategy Together appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
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