GoDaddy Launches Get Found, Google Takes Hit on Motorola Sale

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• GoDaddy Launches Get Found, Google Takes Hit on Motorola Sale
• How To Deal With The Extra Cost of Chinese Currency Fluctuations
• The 7 Best WordPress Alternatives
• Aly Saxe of Iris: PR Today Calls for Efficiency, Scalability and Accountability
• Your Marketing Problems Are Solved
• Linksys Introduces Surveillance Cameras for SMB Premises Security

GoDaddy Launches Get Found, Google Takes Hit on Motorola Sale Posted: 31 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST There’s big news every week that can affect your business. The Small Business Trends editorial team makes sure you get it all. Here’s our weekly roundup: New or Rebranded Services GoDaddy launches Get Found. GoDaddy launches Get Found as a new feature. It’s actually an evolved version of a technology GoDaddy acquired last year. We now see it put to use so large and small business can get attention on the Web. Microsoft renames SkyDrive. Microsoft’s cloud service will soon be called OneDrive. The change is the result of an infringement suit filed by UK broadcaster BSkyB. Acquisitions Google Takes $9.5 Billion Hit on Motorola. In case you haven’t heard yet, Google has announced intentions to sell Motorola to Lenovo. And the company took a big hit on the deal when you consider what the company paid for this business in the first place. But there’s another side to the story. ThinkHR Acquires HR That Works. Actually the two companies claim it’s more of a merger. HR That Works Founder Steve Phin takes a position on the ThinkHR management team and a lot of the two companies’ resources are combined. Social Media Twitter is planning eCommerce move. The microblogging platform is apparently in talks with payment processing startup Stripe to handle the back end. But PayPal was also reportedly considered. Is Tumblr traffic leveling out? Of course, we’re talking about active users here, not accounts, which sources say are still increasing. Still, Tumblr says reports trying to count their active users are missing the mark. Now, animate your Pinterest with GIFs. They are popular files on many sites including social media these days. And now Pinterest has decided to support them too. So how will this change the site’s dynamic? Grants Get your Google grants. If you’re a non-profit, that is. Amanda DiSilvestro provides more information on the funding that’s available from the tech giant and how your non-profit can access it. 12 grant recipients celebrate. These businesses received $250,000 each, a combined $3 million in funding, from Chase’s Mission Main Street Grants. But they’ll also be traveling to Google headquarters in California for a course to help market their businesses better. Security There’s a new contender for worst password. In this  case, making the list is no honor. It indicates your password was weak enough to have already been guessed by hackers. Fortunately, there are some suggestions for making your pass code stronger. Linksys offers cameras for your small business. If you’re responsible for security at your business, these cameras may interest you. Small Business Trends publisher Anita Campbell has more on the new Linksys products. Finance Dealing with Chinese currency fluctuation. If your small business deals with Chinese partners or vendors, be aware. Fluctuations in the exchange between the two currencies can add to the costs. Small Business Trends publisher Anita Campbell reports on some solutions. Profiles Speedzone Performance built from a passion for premium parts. We profiled this Florida business in our first Small Business Spotlight sponsored by iCIMS, provider of talent acquisition solutions for growing businesses. Reading Photo via Shutterstock The post GoDaddy Launches Get Found, Google Takes Hit on Motorola Sale appeared first on Small Business Trends.

How To Deal With The Extra Cost of Chinese Currency Fluctuations Posted: 31 Jan 2014 01:30 PM PST It’s the Chinese New Year, and 2014 is the year of the Horse. If your small business works with Chinese companies, there are some things to know. Although we often think of Chinese currency as the Yuan, the official name is the Renminbi (RMB).  Use of RMB currency is growing. According to November and December SWIFT data, the RMB has broken into the top ten most-used currencies for payments. But if you do business with China, exchanges between the dollar and this Chinese currency may bring risks. According to Alfred Nader, vice president of corporate strategy and development at Western Union Business Solutions, there are some things you can do to decrease the financial risk of currency fluctuations. Here are three strategies: Pay Chinese vendors and partners in RMB instead of U.S. dollars. “Our research shows that one in five Chinese suppliers add roughly 3-4% to invoices to cover FX risk, which is eliminated with RMB payments,” says Nader. Knowing this, U.S. businesses can look to negotiate a discount with their Chinese suppliers by asking if they want to be paid in RMB, he adds. Lock in exchange rates for as long as 9 months. This creates stability on small business' balance sheets.  When you know your expense levels, you can more accurately forecast. Use the offer to pay in RMB to open a dialogue. You can initiate a conversation to change terms and improve business relationships, when you raise the currency issue.  By meeting the other side partway, you begin an important and potentially profitable dialogue. Chinese currency photo via Shutterstock The post How To Deal With The Extra Cost of Chinese Currency Fluctuations appeared first on Small Business Trends.

The 7 Best WordPress Alternatives Posted: 31 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST Once upon a time, blogging platforms like WordPress were only used for blogging. Now, WordPress is commonly implemented for easy, user-friendly website design. But these days, WordPress isn't the only game out there. Below are the best established and up-and-coming WordPress alternatives, both for blogging and websites. WordPress Alternatives 1. IM Creator IM Creator bills itself as "a simple & elegant website builder," and includes mobile-friendly templates that are a far cry from the early days of WordPress templates, which were flat, clunky and difficult to customize. Templates fall into categories like Architect, Wedding, Hotel and Restaurant and use visual imagery that fit each genre. The site offers ample support, including "how to" articles and manuals for those wanting a bit more technical detail but who, perhaps, don't have that level of knowledge. And while designing a site is free, IM Creator also offers white-label services for companies (marketing agencies, as an example) that want to provide their clients with branded website, hosting, email and domain services. 2. SilverStripe SilverStripe is actually two animals. Its content management system (CMS) is used for building websites, intranets and Web applications. It is open source, which means, of course, it's free to use. For most small business owners, that's all you'll need from SilverStripe. But if you're more technical and looking for more complexity in your content management system, its Framework platform might fit the bill. The benefits of using Framework, according to the website are that it "reduces the overhead associated with common programming tasks, and enables developers to write code in a logical and structured manner." 3. Tumblr Tumblr is designed for blogging and social sharing. Stripping away all the scary backend of a blog platform, Tumblr makes it dead simple to share a blog post, video, photo, link or audio file. Its simplicity, combined with the fact that users spend on average 154 minutes a day on Tumblr, make it a resource worth considering to reach a wider audience (especially if that audience is between 18 and 34 and male). 4. Google Sites For those die-hard Google fans, Google Sites offers a simple, no-frills solution to website creation. If you're looking for fancy marketing copy and rich, visual images, you're in the wrong place. Google assumes if you've stumbled upon its unpublicized Sites page, you're already accustomed to the spartan attitude that is Google. The templates aren't frou-frou, but there are interesting add-ons like maps and blogs (using Google properties, naturally). 5. Blogger Another Google property, this one focused on blog development, is Blogger. Consider it Google's response to the massive popularity of WordPress. An obvious benefit of staying in the Google family is that Blogger uses Google Analytics without having to visit a separate site entirely. Blogger, whose hosted blogs are all hosted on Blogspot domains, also ties in seamlessly with Google+, as would be expected. Bloggers can view and respond to blog comments through Google+ rather than having to log into the blog backend. AdSense publishers like Blogger because Google's ad platform is integrated into the blogging platform. 6. GetHiFi Unlike the other WordPress alternatives listed here, HiFi is more targeted to the small marketing agency who designs or updates websites for its clients. It still requires a designer and/or a programmer to customize its visually rich templates, but after that, anyone, technical or otherwise, can easily update content through the CMS. HiFi promises that, even if you don't know what SEO (search engine optimization) stands for, it can help ensure your site is search engine friendly. If you do know what SEO is, you can edit the meta descriptions yourself, which is easy enough to do. 7. Ghost Consider Ghost the antithesis to WordPress in that it removes the clunkiness ("What do I do with this plugin? No idea.") that many less technical bloggers experience with WordPress and focuses instead on writing and publishing. The premise is that bloggers can write in Markdown, a text-to-HTML conversion tool, and see a preview of what the post will look like. Interestingly, the platform is free, but Ghost charges for its server. In fact, Ghost charges based on the number of blogs, as well as the total traffic of all blogs (one blog with 10,000 or fewer views a month is $5 monthly). * * * * * Bottom line:  With more blogging and WordPress alternatives available, it's easier for small businesses to find exactly what they're looking for, based on their technical skill level, how much support they need, budget and type of site they want to publish.  There are alternatives for those who want more of a blog approach (Blogger) to those who want more of a website presentation (IM Creator). Pondering Photo via Shutterstock The post The 7 Best WordPress Alternatives appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Aly Saxe of Iris: PR Today Calls for Efficiency, Scalability and Accountability Posted: 31 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST It's every business' dream to get featured in national publications, popular websites and even television. But getting the attention of important outlets takes a great deal of effort to connect and interact with influential people that can make it happen. In today's over saturated world of tweets, texts and email overload, it also takes a systematic approach to pull it all together efficiently…and repeatedly. PR professional Aly Saxe, founder of the PR management platform Iris, discusses the challenges of modern public relations in the face of rising competition to get clients on the front page, and faster rising customer expectations to make it there. * * * * * Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your personal background? Aly Saxe: My background is on the public relations agency side. I worked for a couple different agencies in their technology groups before starting my own B2B technology-focused agency in 2007. Started it in Phoenix, Arizona, and somehow managed to grow through those years into Silicon Valley areas, like Boulder, Dallas, Austin, a little bit more in Southern California. Also the Phoenix market, where we’re based. Then in about 2011, as a small business owner, things got to be pretty painful with our processes and management and reporting, and that’s when Iris was born. Small Business Trends: Iris is a cloud-based public relations management system. With the growth of social and the latest technologies, the noise that’s getting generated, it must be very difficult for companies to get the kind of attention that they need. Is that why you put together Iris? Aly Saxe: That’s one of the big reasons. PR has definitely changed. There’s more urgency than ever for companies to be noticed. Especially small companies that are competing with large brands that have huge, or even unlimited, marketing budgets. Not to mention the news media landscape, as you know, Brent, has changed a lot. Iris was created to really help on two fronts. One is to help PR teams within companies – small and large or agencies.  Iris helps companies manage everything that they’re doing. The pace of our day to day is so much faster than it’s ever been in keeping track of all the pitching we’re doing, all of the reports, all of the results that are coming in, the different campaigns we’re working on. It’s a lot to manage. Small Business Trends: How does a system like yours that’s focused on public relations and promotions differ from marketing automation? Aly Saxe: Marketing automation is an interesting comparison, because it is a somewhat newer category. It’s also a bit of a misleading category, because it’s meant to automate marketing processes but what a lot of those systems do is actually create a lot more work for the marketing department to manage those systems. I would actually compare Iris more to CRM (customer relationship management). Not necessarily in functionality, but in the idea that it takes what a person would do with a Rolodex, spreadsheets and some notepads and actually build some process around that through a very smart tool. Small Business Trends: How does this kind of system help your clients build the kind of relationships that they’re going to need to in order to get the word out? Aly Saxe: It all comes down to influencers and relationships with those influencers. So whether they are a social evangelist, a blogger, a traditional reporter, an analyst, they’re all influencers that are important to the PR person, clients or company. The difference between now and five years ago is there are about ten times more now that we have to build relationships with versus previously. The way that Iris helps is all of your interactions with those influencers are automatically captured in the software. So if your boss or your client were to say to you, ‘Hey, have you talked to so and so from Small Biz Trends recently? I’d really like to chat with them about what we have coming up.’ Instead of having to wrack your brain, go back to your email, go look in spreadsheets, find your notes and determine when the last time you spoke to them was, you could just pop into Iris and see your entire history with that person. So there’s a huge benefit to having all of that relationship history in one place. Not just for you, but for your team as a whole. Small Business Trends: Do small businesses understand that PR is more science than art and needs these kind of processes/systems? Aly Saxe: I think they are savvier. They’re sophisticated in that regard. But I think that they’re also expecting their PR agencies or their PR teams to step up, and they’re kind of wondering why we haven’t. I think that there is certainly a misunderstanding about the PR process, and there’s always expectation management, which PR people deal with a lot. But I think that we can curb those pains by showing the small business owners not only are we sophisticated, not only is there a science and a method to this madness, but here are the tools we use to help manage that method. I think it can only help us prove that we’re not just out there waving our hands and producing a New York Times piece. There’s a lot of work that actually goes into that. To that point, that was also part of the impetus of creating Iris. I would have clients come to my agency and say, ‘Well, what’s it going to take to get written up in The New York Times?’ And I kept giving them the qualitative answer,’Well, it’s going to take a really interesting news hook, or a trending story, or a great customer case study.’ The client didn’t want to hear it. It took me a long time to figure out that what the client wanted was a number. They wanted to know how many interactions do you have to have with The New York Times over what amount of time? Is it three months, six months, a year before they’re going to pay attention to us? Once I figured out that they were asking a more sophisticated question, that’s when I started thinking about Iris and how I can deliver that answer? And then I had to answer the question, how do I even determine that? One day I had a client that said, ‘What’s it going to take to get in The New York Times?’ This is a true story. I found four of my existing clients that had been in The New York Times recently, and I looked at what it took to get them in The New York Times. From how many months of pitching, how many pitches, how many news items we had to deliver and how many interviews before The New York Times wrote about them. It took me an entire day, and that’s thousands of dollars in my agency’s world to deliver the answer to that client. Once I did, the client never asked again, and that’s when the light bulb went off. Small Business Trends: Wow. That’s a cool story. It will only become more and more of a necessity to be able to answer that quickly just from a standpoint of knowing what it’s going to take and being able to deliver that quickly. Then help them execute it. Aly Saxe: Exactly. I think the data is going to become more and more important. Again, you see other industries utilizing data to set benchmarks, to improve performance, to win business, to set industry standards. I think that in the PR industry, we’re going to start catching up to that and using data like this to do the exact same thing. I think most small business owners are looking for that data from their PR partners. Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about Iris? Aly Saxe: The website is MyIrisPR.com. This interview on systematic modern public relations strategy is part of the One on One interview series with thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This transcript has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click on the player above.  The post Aly Saxe of Iris: PR Today Calls for Efficiency, Scalability and Accountability appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Your Marketing Problems Are Solved Posted: 31 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST Sometimes you underestimate what a cartoon is going to require when you first get an idea. The basic premise here was that someone combines parts of a lot of different social media into something that’s obviously not going to work, but they assume it covers all the bases. But when you get into it and you start piecing it together, you realize you can’t put the + right before the emoticon because then they combine confusingly. And there’s no good way to work LinkedIn in that’s not awkward. And you need a place for the characters to use this Franken-word that’s commonly used, but that’s obviously not going to work. When it’s all done, hopefully you’ve got a good cartoon. But mostly you’re just glad to have gotten it done. P.S. Don’t forget to #Like+Pin:) this! The post Your Marketing Problems Are Solved appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Linksys Introduces Surveillance Cameras for SMB Premises Security Posted: 31 Jan 2014 02:30 AM PST After re-entering the SMB market back in November of 2013, Linksys has launched more products for the small business market. If you are concerned with or in charge of security in your business, the new Linksys products are designed for you.   These Linksys products include four surveillance camera models, including indoor and outdoor models.  Depending on the model, the camera features include night vision, weatherproofing, vandal-proof housing and zoom, pan and tilt features.   Most of us have seen a  television show about how surveillance cameras may not actually record — or else the recordings are quickly written over, making them not quite as useful later in the event of a loss or crime.  Linksys deals with this issue via a new network video recorder.  The recorder can do remote and live monitoring, along with playback and recording.  Up to 8 terabytes of storage can be handled. You can also record up to eight video feeds simultaneously. The suggested MSRP price of the cameras starts at $449.99 and goes up to $699.99, depending on the features. The video recorder will be available starting in February at an MSRP of $799.99. Linksys will be selling the products through dealers and distributors, and provides a locator on its small business site to find a distributor. Linksys is headquartered in Irvine, California. It was founded in the late 1980′s and is currently owned by Belkin, which bought the brand from Cisco back in early 2013. Today Linksys provides connectivity products including routers, switches and WiFi cameras.  The company’s surveillance products are an extension of its mission to assist businesses with security, both digital and on-premises, in a scalable manner suited to growth oriented small businesses. The post Linksys Introduces Surveillance Cameras for SMB Premises Security appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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