OpenTable Offers Restaurants Free Mobile Sites

OpenTable Offers Restaurants Free Mobile Sites
Brian Clark of Copyblogger: Context, Customer Service & Mobility in Content Marketing
Very Nice, Now Do That Thing You Do
Microsoft Launches Windows 8, Now Available on 1,000 Plus Devices

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Mobile-friendly websites are becoming more and more essential for all types of small businesses. There are some DIY platforms out there to help create these sites, but finding the time and the resources can be a challenge.

Now, online restaurant reservation platform OpenTable has launched a new program to give its restaurant partners mobile-optimized websites, free of charge.

The free service is thanks to a partnership with DudaMobile, a DIY mobile website building tool. Restaurants that use OpenTable can customize these mobile-friendly versions of their websites that work on any smartphone device. Sites can include menus, locations, hours, and of course a way to book reservations.

Since so many Americans are using their phones and mobile devices rather than computers to search and look up information, including restaurant hours and menus, having a mobile-friendly site is becoming less optional for restaurants. In fact, according to OpenTable's website, one in five diners who book online reservations now use their mobile phones to do so. So particularly for restaurants that use flash or have downloadable menus or forms, this type of service could greatly increase the usability of sites for potential customers.

And since many of OpenTable's restaurant partners are small and medium-sized restaurants, they might not all have the resources or the skills to put together a mobile site on their own.

For OpenTable, this move not only helps keep their restaurant partners thriving and happy, but it could also make booking reservations online much easier for consumers. Since many still shy away from reserving tables online in favor of calling restaurants, any step to make booking online easier is a positive step for a company like OpenTable.

OpenTable currently has about 25,000 restaurants partners, all of which pay a subscription fee to use the reservation tool. So this extra service is available without any additional cost to restaurants. All businesses need to do is sign up and take their site live before February 1, 2013.

The post OpenTable Offers Restaurants Free Mobile Sites appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Brian Clark of Copyblogger: Context, Customer Service & Mobility in Content Marketing

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT

In this new world of free social media marketing, standing up to be counted can prove difficult. All of the messages, information, education and chatter taking place everywhere makes it all a bit overwhelming and easy for others to overlook you. So what’s a small business to do? The answer is simple – listen first, share next. Tune in as Brian Clark, Founder of Copyblogger, joins Brent Leary to discuss the importance of social listening, context, customer service and mobility in content marketing.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: What's the biggest thing that has impacted content marketing over the last couple of years?

Brian Clark:A few things stand out. When I started in 2006 talking about this stuff, we didn't even call it content marketing. I think Joe Pulizzi and those guys established that as the term that should be used online, and we adopted it. That was the development, agreeing on a term, even though we all kind of don't like it.

Another big development was in 2011, when content marketing went from us Internet guys, to a more mainstream thing. I think that had to do with the mainstreaming of social media. Because people were like, “Oh my gosh, this is the greatest marketing channel in the world!” Except people do not want to be pitched in social channels.

That's how our business was built – by people who shared content in social media. And then, of course, that gets you into a relationship with people over time, where eventually they become interested in your products and services.

The other big thing would have to be Google. The Panda Update of 2011 just destroyed what people thought was SEO up to that point. Then something called Penguin came along and destroyed the other half. Now it has come down to what we have been preaching for 7 years:

“Great content gets shared naturally, and results in organic links and natural social sharing. Google can't take that away. Twitter can't take that away. That is how our whole company was built out of a blog. No advertising, no investment capital, and now we're a software company just shy of 100,000 customers, so it works.”

Small Business Trends: How important is context to content?

Brian Clark: It is absolutely crucial. But I think I just took for granted that it is context marketing not just content. Without context, i.e. in the sense of your business objective, it is not marketing – it is just stuff on a webpage that doesn't work. I think people are short with that. That is why you hear a lot of people talking about context more and more.

Because we shouldn't have taken it for granted. Let's face it, most people aren't good at old style marketing, right? And now we are asking them to do new style marketing, and people are struggling with it. So there is an entire industry being built around content marketing.

Small Business Trends: What role does social listening play today when it comes to content marketing?

Brian Clark: It's everything. You have the greatest market research environment in the world and it is free. It's just overwhelming and we call it social media. But it is has to be responsive to relevant stimuli and that comes in the form of content. So if you put stuff out there first, it is hard to get attention. There's a lot of content out there.

Every day on Twitter, or Facebook, or Google Plus we see something break. Good content always gets attention at the beginning, and I can tell you from my personal experience; the first three months of Copyblogger were the most unknown, lonely, trial and error period ever. Everyone does it. I was absolutely unknown, and everyone starts out that same place. With two subscribers, you and your other email address.

In the early days, people thought if I put some content out there it will just take off. You gotta hustle behind the scenes. But the great thing is, once you get traction, once you get an audience of your own, you put out good stuff and they will share it. It starts taking off on their own. It's simple, it's just not easy.

Small Business Trends: I think the best way to build a brand is to pay attention to customer needs, create better experiences, and then let the customer say how great those experiences are.

Brian Clark: I think you just nailed it. That's the real power of so-called social media marketing. It is not what you are saying about you, it's what they are saying about you.

Small Business Trends: So in other words, content marketing is a great opportunity to show your target audience how much you've listened to them?

Brian Clark: Yes, you are giving them value up front, which people love. You are basically educating them enough to do business with you, but your point is – they are educating you as well.

Small Business Trends: How important is content marketing once you already have the customer?

Brian Clark: I think that's probably one of the most valuable and perhaps under served markets. If you do general content marketing that educates people in the arena of knowledge, they need to know how to succeed with your products or services. That does not end just because they gave you some money.

The most valuable customer is the one that pays you again and again and again. Monthly is my favorite.

Small Business Trends: How is mobile impacting the future of content marketing?

Brian Clark: It wasn't long ago where everyone was saying they've gotta have an app. Then it was about getting people to download your app. Think about how social media works, specifically social media sharing. People aren't going to download an app to read your site. That is why you are seeing the rise of mobile responsive design, which sounds complicated, but all it means is that when I come to your site on my laptop it looks like you would expect it to.

When I go on my iPad, it is different, but it's optimized perfectly. It detects that it is an iPad, it's a tablet. Same thing for a phone. That is where it's at. The open web is going to win this, because the way people share links still rules and apps will work for certain relationships with content. But if you can get the same experience out of a mobile responsive site, then why not? Does the app actually add value you can't get with your mobile on the responsive website?

That is where the terms have been this year, and that's going to continue.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

Whether you’re growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]

Brian Clark – Copyblogger by smallbiztrends

The post Brian Clark of Copyblogger: Context, Customer Service & Mobility in Content Marketing appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Very Nice, Now Do That Thing You Do

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:00 AM PDT

A good way to come up with cartoons is to force yourself into a problem that you need to solve.

For example, I was looking for another Halloween themed cartoon, but, drawing a blank (no pun intended), I drew a vampire in a meeting to see what might happen.

Are they in the red? Is it blood red? Is the meeting in the middle of the night? Are garlic sales down? Up? Are the Twilight movies helping?

In the end, I decided that if I were in a meeting with an honest to goodness vampire, I’d be less interested in our sales numbers and more interested in seeing that “turn into a bat thing” they can do, so I went with that.

The post Very Nice, Now Do That Thing You Do appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Microsoft Launches Windows 8, Now Available on 1,000 Plus Devices

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Microsoft launched its long awaited Windows 8 yesterday. Over the years, the operating system has been a boon for businesses, spurring innovation and increasing productivity. Today there are many other tech tools that can make your business run better and more efficiently. We’ll start with a look at the new Windows 8, then check out other tech you may want to consider investing in soon.

The Big Guns

Have a peek. The new Windows comes in a variety of flavors, including Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows Enterprise for larger organizations, and Windows RT for mobile devices. The new family of Windows products features what Microsoft calls a “fast and fluid” start screen, giving one-click access to applications and other content. The software will be available beginning today. Microsoft News Center

Come in, we’re open. You can use the new Windows versions on a huge number of devices. Microsoft says more than 1000 PCs are certified to operate with Windows 8. The launch of the new Windows also corresponds with the opening of a new online Windows Store, offering downloads of Microsoft apps and a Windows 8 user interface. Tech Crunch

More Biz Tech

Smarter than the average business. If you’re a smart small business owner, you’ll create a brainier business too. Here are some of the tools you’ll need. Guest blogger Carole Bennett provides us with an incredible list of goodies. Some of these tools may be familiar to you and others may be new, but all will help you do more with less. The Work at Home Woman

Improve your social life. HootSuite, a service mentioned in the previous link, is only one example of the tools available to manage your social media efforts and improve your productivity. Social media can be a time sink, as we all know. Management tools help you plan ahead and schedule social media campaigns, but they also help you monitor feedback on multiple channels. TodayMade

Share and share alike. Cool mobile tools are also giving merchants a whole new way of sharing their products. Qwiqq is one such tool. The app combines mobile capabilities with social sharing, allowing businesses to share their products with a social audience. But that’s not all. Qwiqq also creates a virtual of “word of mouth” by letting customers share the products they love with friends. WebSuccessTeam

Other Cool Tools

The key to success. Social media tools aren’t the only marketing resources available for promoting your business online. There are tools to help you find the proper keywords to use in your blog posts, as John Paul explains here. Just be careful when doing keyword research that you don’t create content only a search engine could love. Quality posts are for readers too, not just for Google. John Paul Aguiar

Waste not want not. Productive entrepreneurs and small business owners all have one thing in common: They hate to waste time. But sometimes it can be hard to be productive when running errands or waiting in line. Fortunately, technology has come along to help us get things done even during these periods away from the workplace. Timo Kiander has created a video demonstrating one of them. Productive Superdad

The post Microsoft Launches Windows 8, Now Available on 1,000 Plus Devices appeared first on Small Business Trends.