Category: business advice

Google+ explained

What does Google’s latest social media platform mean for the ordinary business or home Internet user?

The latest shiny thing in the online world is Google+, the search engine monolith’s latest attempt at a social networking service. What does it mean to the average user?

Google+ differs from most social networks – particularly Facebook – in that you can segment your online connections into different groups called circles so when sharing information such as comments, updates or photos you can choose to only let certain circles or individuals see those posts.

This addresses the biggest problem with social media; that what we share with our family is not necessarily what we want our friends or work colleagues to see, an issue identified by then Google designer Paul Adams, who has since moved onto Facebook.

At the core of Google+ is the Google Profile which is shared with most Google services such as Gmail and Blogger which gives rise to quite a few privacy concerns as those you share with can get access to this information, although this is the same with most other social media services.

Google+ has quite a few interesting features such as Hangouts which allow impromptu video conferences and Sparks which are random popups of things you might be interested based upon your search history and posts.

As a consumer product, Google+ doesn’t have the gaming and the social features that Facebook offers however that’s expected to change as the product develops.

For businesses, Google+ is off limits. Right now it is only open to individuals although we can expect that will change as Google integrate the product with their small business Places platform along with adwords and their online application service.

Right now Google+ is for the geeks and that’s why the tech media is talking about it. For the average home or business users it’s not quite ready to replace or complement Facebook or other social media services although it’s worth keeping an eye on to see how it evolves.

The stakes are quite high for Google with this product as the overwhelming amount of data at every Internet user’s fingertips is seeing people seeking out sources they trust for answers, recommendations and advice. The social aspect of the online world is going to define the web in this decade just as search did in the previous decade.

For this reason, Google are going to be working hard on making sure Google+ is part of the social web, for the average user we’ll be choosing the tools we trust. It remains to be seen if Google+ is one of those tools.

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The quest for virility

Chasing big numbers on the Internet is the most basic online mistake of all.

One of the common Internet traps is a mindless quest for numbers; when we first go online we’re obsessed with gathering Facebook friends, Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections.

For businesses, we get seduced by the prospect of big markets to sell to; which isn’t surprising when there’s nearly 700 million people on Facebook, over 50 million tweets sent every day and the group buying market is growing almost as quickly as the number of new entrants into the industry.

The current holy grail for many businesses is the viral video; a troupe of dancers extolling your business to surprised commuters, a cool ex-football player giving advice from a shower or a tasteful video of your staff doing their jobs naked is seen as the way to get millions of ‘likes’ or ‘follows’ from eager web consumers.

For the successful ones, creating an online clip seen by your mother and a million of her friends is an easy way to get a campaign to worldwide markets without spending massive marketing budgets. Not to mention the trip to Cannes and the accolades for any advertising agency associated with it.

Sadly creating a video that goes viral is harder than it looks as we discussed at the Media 140 Conference in Perth last week; it has to be quirky, entertaining and attention catching which is pretty well the antithesis of the typical corporate video.

To compound the budding viral videographer’s problems, there’s the corporate desire to control the message. Almost every high profile blogger or online editor has stories of struggling to get permission to use an organisation’s clip because of the managerial urge to control distribution.

No doubt those managers have good reasons for controlling the use of their videos but we can be sure those same control obsessed administrators are constantly bugging their agencies to create something viral.

Losing control is a great risk for managers and bureaucrats. Last year prolific wine blogger Gary Vaynerchuk visited Australia and gave the local wine industry some great publicity.

Sadly, in reviewing the some wines from his visit he described a Yarra Valley wine as having “a taste of burned vomit” (at 4.25) probably put the Australian wine market in the US back a decade.

Gary Vaynerchuk is probably the best case of someone who has grown a business through viral video, through adding interesting valuable content with a real character. An equivalent Australian success has been Natalie Tran’s Community Channel.

One of the other points with these is many of the early successes have been because they were early entrants into a new market. Today, the marketplace is a lot more crowded and videos, like any other online content, are struggling to get heard.

That’s not such a bad thing as it takes away the obsession with numbers and makes us focus on the quality of our online audience. Rather than obsessing about raw hits, we start considering where our customers are.

Group buying is a good example of where well targeted campaigns work well. The successful group buying advertisers are thinking about where the offer, product and audience fit in their business plan rather than just fixating on the tens of thousands of potential customers for a quick sales boost.

While a Charlie Sheen tweet might drive page views, the real business objective of the web is about establishing our brand and attracting the customers we want, not just achieving big numbers.

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eBusiness Sample Chapter: Social Media Basics for Business

A look at some of the basic social media tools for business, a free extract from eBusiness, Seven Steps to Online Success

Nothing illustrates the difference between old media and new media than social networking platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Under the old model — newspapers, radio or television — someone owns the platform and publishes information through it. If the audience wants to respond, members send in a letter or call the talk back phone lines. In social media, the audience does the publishing, then members talk to each other about it.

In many ways social media isn’t anything new: it’s the internet equivalent of hanging around the mall or gossiping in the tea room, and even using internet services like bulletin boards and newsgroups pre-date the world wide web.

What the newer social media platforms have changed is how people share information. It’s now much easier for people with similar interests, backgrounds or family links to connect each other from anywhere in the world. By joining these networks you will be able to tap into passionate and motivated communities that might, if you show respect to them and their interests, be interested in your products.

And just as you can establish or enhance your web presence using free online listings, you can extend that presence using the free social media sites.

Talking, not shouting

One of the big differences between the traditional media channels and social media is the way you attract attention. In the older media channels, you had to shout in the hope your product would be seen. This model suited big businesses that have the deep pockets needed to fund a traditional marketing campaign.

For smaller business, the only way to compete with big business campaigns was to be as loud as possible — big billboards, garish print adverts and irritating late night TV commercials were typical ways of being seen. But even if you were big, you had to be big, loud and brassy.

The social media channels operate more like a conversation, and using the shouting techniques of the traditional sectors will kill your site stone dead. Instead, communicating in social media is about cultivating online relationships by getting people, not always customers, to becoming supporters of your business. They may choose to support your business because they like you, they think the product’s funky, or because their friends like you or your products or for any other of a million possible reasons. In many ways this suits smaller businesses that operate on local reputations and word of mouth##—##especially because most of us don’t have the funds, or the brash personalities, to run loud, abrasive advertising campaigns on TV or radio.

Facebook

With more than 500 million users at the end of 2010, and looking at a potential stock market value of over $50 billion dollars, Facebook has become an internet force to be reckoned with. The Facebook platform has a number of quirks and features that make it unique on the internet.

At the core of Facebook is your network of friends##—##not necessarily people you know in real life, but folk you have agreed to become Facebook friends with. Your friends can communicate with you, see information you have chosen to keep private from most of the world and invite you to join their games, groups and causes. Those friends can also post on your Wall, which is the first screen you see when you go into your Facebook account. The Wall keeps you up to date with everything your friends are doing, including what they Like.

The ‘Like’ button appears on every page or update on Facebook: if you like something someone has said or done, you click the button and your likes will go onto all your friends’ Walls.

Facebook does not allow businesses to set up personal profiles. Instead, businesses have to set up a Facebook Page, which is free and can be customised to suit your business.

Probably the best thing about Facebook for the smaller business is that it’s a great channel for announcing events and products. However, the service also has the benefits of building up a base of friends and customers. Using it to track customer complaints and the performance of products shouldn’t be discounted, either, as unhappy clients will post messages to your Wall.

To set up a Facebook Page go to <www.facebook.com/pages> and click the ‘Create page’ button in the top left hand corner. This will take you to the ‘Create a Page’ screen, which gives you the choice of the type of page you prefer.

For most business owners, the choice is between ‘Local business’ or ‘Place of interest’ and ‘Company, organisation or institution’ although ‘Product or brand’ can be appropriate if you are launching an individual product.

When you choose one of the Page options, a sub-screen will appear asking for your basic details, such as location and phone number. Once those questions are answered, you will have your basic Facebook Page set up.

From there, you can upload your logo and any other pictures, videos and links to your or other people’s interesting websites in a similar way to that described for local business directories (see chapter 2). Try to keep your information consistent across the different platforms.

Even if you don’t take social media or Facebook seriously, it’s worthwhile checking the page at least every week, just to see what people are saying. If you have something useful to add, such as a special offer or a new product, make sure it goes onto the page.

You can customise your pages with backgrounds and landing pages, which can be complex to set up but effective. More detailed Facebook stategies are discussed later (see chapter 16), but a basic Facebook Page with regular updates is usually enough to get many businesses started.

LinkedIn

Facebook is the general community site, while LinkedIn is more focused on business and recruitment. At its most basic, LinkedIn is like an online CV, where people post their work experience and make connections with people they have worked and dealt with.

LinkedIn also allows you to set up a company page, and that’s worthwhile, particularly if you stage business-oriented events or if you’re recruiting. A company page gives current and previous employees, suppliers or contractors the opportunity to link to your business and follow your news.

Like Facebook, setting up a LinkedIn company page is a straight forward process of filling in key details about your business. As LinkedIn is checked by Google it’s a good opportunity to improve the business’ search engine visibility. Typing in similar details to those you entered for Google Local and True Local in the previous chapter is the best way to use LinkedIn well.

If your business mainly deals with other big commercial organisations, government departments or professional groups, then you will find LinkedIn is a particularly powerful tool. Having a comprehensive, up-to-date profile is an indicator to big clients that you are serious in the online space.

Flickr

The main purpose of Flickr is photo sharing. Over time,it has also become a powerful social media platform as like-minded people gather online to share photos and interests. Photos posted on Flickr often aren’t directly related to the business, but one landscape gardener actually gets business from his wildlife photos. It’s more typical that a reception hall might have photos of weddings, and an entertainer will have photos of their performances.

Naturally photographers and artists use the photo sharing sites to display their portfolios. There’s nothing to stop you posting pictures of work you’re proud of as a concreter, hairdresser or caterer — just remember to get permission from your client if they can be identified from a photo.

Flickr, and the other photo-sharing sites, can be a very good way to build a community and fan base around your organisation. If you like taking photos, your hobby can become a useful part of your business.

For business, it’s straightforward to set up a Flickr profile by visiting the www.flickr.com , setting up a new account and then posting photos relating to your business. With a link to your website in the profile page you’re creating an online profile that is going to attract the interests of the search engines while spreading the word about your business.

YouTube

Another surprising social media platform is YouTube, the video-sharing service. Many businesses are shooting videos to post on YouTube to promote their products.

Like other social media channels, loud advertisements for the business don’t work on this platform, while instructional and informational videos do well while also promoting the business.

A great example of this is Jim the Realtor, a San Diego–based real estate agent who has become famous for taking videos of his inspections and travels around southern California. As well as being entertaining, he gives many good hints on what to watch for in badly constructed homes, overhanging powerlines and various vendor tricks.

Often successful businesses on YouTube, like Jim’s, don’t spend a lot of money on production — though if you have the budget, skills and equipment to do a high quality video it won’t hurt. However, the experience seems to be that online viewers aren’t fussed about picture quality when watching videos on a computer or smart phone

Twitter

Probably the most hyped social media tool through 2009 and 2010, Twitter has become the darling of the media industry, with marketers, public relations firms and journalists flocking to the service. Twitter allows people to send messages from their computers or mobile phones that are no longer than 140 characters, forcing senders, known as tweeps, or twits, to be witty and concise.

Twitter’s attractions are that it’s a good way to tune into what people you find interesting think, and share their thoughts, ideas and news. As a communication tool, Twitter is as much about listening as talking, so it’s a great news delivery tool.

For businesses, Twitter can be an awkward tool to use, as it’s probably the biggest time sink on the internet. If you do find really interesting people to follow, you can easily find yourself immersed for the entire day reading fascinating, but totally irrelevant, websites.

For startup businesses, it’s usually best to sign up to Twitter as a marketing tool, then check in regularly to check what customers are saying about you and what important people are saying about your industry. As you begin to understand how Twitter works and what your circles are like, you can then start posting product announcements, communicating with customers and contributing to the conversations you find interesting.

Setting up a Twitter account is extremely easy. Click on the yellow Signup button at the top of the Twitter webpage to set the page up; choose a user name##—##preferably your business name or something very close to it; and put in your email address.

Once you have set up a page in Twitter, you can choose to customise the look and feel of your page using the same techniques described for the other social media platforms (see chapter 2). You can also set up your website to automatically feed new information into Twitter as it’s posted.

Conclusion

Social media tools are a good way of getting online for free, as well as being an adequate substitute for smaller or cash-strapped businesses that don’t want their own website##—##although I recommend that every business spends a bit of time setting up a site.

To have a successful presence in social media requires having something useful to say, so you need to have the platform to say something, and that’s a basic website, which can be created using free website blogging tools (see chapter 4).

Checklist for social media

  • Have you chosen a user name close to your business name?
  • Have you included unique pictures and videos in your profile?
  • Have you linked your social media sites to your other web presences, particularly if you have a website?
  • Remember to use social media to listen: your fans and your critics will be there so social media provides a valuable listening post.
  • Remember to take care not to be sucked into spending too much time online.
  • Remember to try to avoid mixing personal and business in your online presence.
  • Remember not to use social media when you’re angry, upset or drunk.
Like to learn more? eBu$iness is available at all good book sellers and online through the John Wiley website.

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Should you join an industry group?

Do industry groups add value for entrepreneurs?

This post is an expanded article on yesterday’s stream of consciousness in Start Up Smart. Hopefully this clarifies my thoughts.

For a new business – be it a high tech startup, a local service like a hairdresser or a manufacturing company – it’s tempting to join an industry group to get your views heard, get access to some useful training and do some helpful networking.

Often though, industry groups don’t deliver for their members. So what should we be looking for when we’re asked to join one.

In their truest form, industry groups should promote the interests of their members with the aim of growing and promoting the industry they represent. Other add-ons are training courses and information on relevant changes in their sector.

While many do this, all too often the groups become locked into self-perpetuating themselves, promoting their own managements or advancing the interests of a small group of their members.

Worth the effort?

For start-ups, the investment of both cost and time in an industry group is something that has to be carefully considered.

To get an effective return on being a member of an active industry group requires participating in the events and being an effective ambassador for your industry.

While an industry group could be useful for your business, there are a few factors to consider.

Before joining, have a look at the events the group holds. If the events are expensive and don’t seem to add value then that organisation probably isn’t for you.

Also have a look at the management of an organisation. There’s a breed of industry group manager that seems to pop up regularly in all sorts of roles.

Red tape woes

Some of these people may be good lobbyists but many don’t have much real understanding of an industry. It’s better to have a large component of industry participants volunteering for key roles rather than a professional.

If there are a lot of employees, then it’s likely that industry group is going to be bureaucratic. This goes hand in hand with professional managers who are remote from the real needs of the organisation’s membership.

Often the reason for a lot of employees or bureaucracy is that an organisation receives a large amount of government support.

This is not necessarily a good thing for industry groups or their members as it may mean the body is better at submitting grant applications than actively looking after members’ interests.

More costly than coffee

Another reason for many employees is that the industry body is on a constant membership drive to cover its operating costs.

This is often a spiral found in business associations; the management need more subscriptions to cover their costs so they hire more sales people to recruit new members who in turn require more managers.

Ultimately, few industry associations deliver useful results for entrepreneurs. Most of us working in our own businesses are more in need of getting away from the office and meeting other people where we can refresh our perspectives.

Often, the best thing for those building new businesses is to get out and have a coffee with their customers or contemporaries at any of the many coffee mornings or informal industry events like Mobile Mondays or Sydney’s Silicon Beach.

If an industry group can offer that then it might be worthwhile joining, but don’t fall for the hype.

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eBusiness Introduction

What is the eBusiness book

Introduction

At the time of writing the e-Business book in early 2011 social media use has exploded, Facebook has raced past 600 million users, Google has offered six billion dollars to buy daily offer site Groupon; and smart phones are outselling personal computers. The way we do business is rapidly evolving as these technologies change our world.

Many businesses feel challenged by these changes. At the end of 2010 some of the Australian retailing industry tried to turn back the tide with a campaign for tax changes to stop people buying online. These shop owners didn’t understand the Internet’s real effects on their businesses are a lot more subtle and powerful than saving a few GST dollars.

Driving most of the change is how our customers, suppliers and employees are becoming more informed by using the web to discover who we are and talking to each other about their experiences in dealing with us. In this environment, having an online presence becomes a business essential.

There are many reasons why businesses haven’t gone online: the cost; the jargon; and the time it takes to set up a website or social media presence. This book will show you how to set up a full web presence in just seven easy steps — it won’t take you more than a weekend to implement a basic but functional and professional look.

eBusiness will help anyone who wants to get their ideas, project or business onto the internet cheaply and effectively. Much of the advice here is for small or start-up organisations that want to get their message out to the world.

You can also visit the book’s website to find bonus resources such as links, frequently asked questions and advice on web consultants.

Towards the end of writing e-Business Google and MYOB launched their Getting Australian Businesses Online project, which also helps local merchants set up a website. The appendix includes an overview as well as the instructions to help you maximise your results through this terrific service.

I mentioned three reasons for why businesses are not online, but there’s also a fourth reason and that is that many businesses think they don’t need a website. Those days are over. In a world where our customers, staff and suppliers are online, we have to be online as well. This book will show you how to create an internet presence quickly and effectively so you can grab the opportunities on offer.

Like to learn more? eBu$iness is available at all good book sellers and online through the John Wiley website.

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Picks and Shovels

A business gold rush a great time for entrepreneurs, are you prepared?

It’s often said the real money in a gold rush is made by those who sell the picks and shovels. A great example of this is yesterday’s announcement that Dealised, who provide software for group buying services, has raised $5 million in investor funding.

Undoubtedly we’re in a gold rush for group buying sites with new services being launched weekly. One thing that many observers don’t understand about group buying sites is they aren’t really technology businesses, but sales driven directory services which have more in common with the Yellow Pages or the a giveaway local newspaper than Google, Facebook or Microsoft.

Technology though is important to these businesses as they need to track and publicise their deals which is what Dealised does. By offering this as an off-the-shelf service, it frees up capital and makes life easier for the dozens, if not hundreds, of group buying services being launched around the world each week.

Reducing barriers to entry is one of the things the tech industries are extremely good at ­– as the early group buying sites like Groupon and their local counterparts have found – and it’s something that all businesses need to keep in mind.

The wave of group buying start ups is part of a broader wave of disruptive businesses that are entering all parts of our economy. As we see cloud services remove the cost of buying equipment and software, it becomes easier for new, hungry entrepreneurs to find opportunities.

Another interesting aspect of Dealise’s business model is that the business itself is a spin off from the Spreets group buying service which was sold to Yahoo!7 at the beginning of the year.

Overlooked in most of the coverage at the time was that the sale only covered the group buying operations and not the Dealise technology. This freed up the founders and their investors to focus on developing the Dealise software without the distractions of running a daily deals site with its troublesome sales staff and pesky customers.

Most importantly, it kept the software platform which is the most scalable part of the business in the hands of the founders. This has given them the opportunity to build something that can be resold to thousands of other businesses.

In the tech industry we’ve seen examples of this in the past, the best example is when Bill Gates and Paul Allen licensed their MS-DOS software to IBM rather than selling it outright which allowed a massive new industry around IBM compatible computers to develop with Microsoft getting a payment for every computer sold.

While we may not see Dealise become the next Microsoft, it’s worthwhile considering some of these lessons, certainly both the gold rush and the licensing aspects show how we shouldn’t jump for what appears to be the easiest money.

Our industries may not appear to be in a gold rush, but those reduced barriers to entry are affecting everyone from booksellers to manufacturers and café owners. Have a look at some of the software your competitors are using, it’s no longer business as usual.

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The Lulz are on us

What can we learn from the recent wave of security hacks?

Last weekend’s announcement that the LulzSec group of jolly hackers was breaking up was met with bemusement at what has been one of the most mysterious, albeit entertaining, chapters in the information wars of 2011.

It’s quite clear that 2011 is the Year of the Hack with organisations ranging from electronics company Sony who now appear to be the joke of the online security world through to major banks, the FBI and even Google’s Gmail service being the subject of serious online attacks.

That many of these attacks were successful is a reminder to all of us how important online security is and it is our responsibility to protect our customers’ and staff details by taking basic precautions.

Take security seriously

Many of the business hacks appear to have been because of slack security practices including out of date software and default passwords being used.

Even if you don’t have a server yourself, make sure your computers have all current updates installed and that strong passwords are in place.

Password Security

A basic precaution is to have robust passwords. A combination of letters and numbers is the best.

One nice little tactic is to use a phrase as a password and separate the letters with a character, for instance using “mary$has$a$little$lamb”, although you might want to choose a more intimate phrase.

Keep in mind too that strong passwords aren’t much help if an incompetent corporation leaks them onto the web, along with your banking details. So use a layered approach where critical passwords for bank accounts are different to those that you might use for an online game or social media site.

Restrict access

The real risk to our security lies with our own staff, many “hacks” are actually employees erasing or give away data, which could be deliberate or accidental.

Don’t give passwords or access to people who don’t need them, keep the business accounts away from your sales staff and lock employment records away from the IT folk. Private client information shouldn’t be shared around the office and particularly not with outside parties.

Backup, backup, backup

The DistributeIT debacle, which one is hesitant to describe as a “hack” as their complete loss of hardware, client data and backups sounds more like an internal problem than an outside attack, shows how important it is to keep your own backups.

As we move our businesses to online and cloud based services, we have to put a lot of trust into those who provide those products. It’s good insurance to have easily available copies of mission critical data in case a problem.

Invest in technology

We’ve all heard CEOs and ministers claim they will save millions in outsourcing their IT departments. Those savings come from somewhere and information security is one of those corners that’s cut when reducing operating costs.

Experienced tech workers have plenty of examples where management cries of “we’ve been hacked” have actually been hardware failures or staff mistakes bought on by poorly trained staff working with inadequate equipment.

Sony appear to have fallen for this, having reportedly sacked many of their security specialists before the hacks began.

Make sure you are making sensible investments in your technology and not going for the cheapest, or free, option simply to save a few pennies.

Obey standards

Nothing is more embarrassing than losing clients’ confidential data, particularly banking details.

If you are taking customer payments, make sure you are complying with the DSS-PCI standards for card payments by giving the work to a reputable payment gateway.

Have a contingency plan

“There but for the grace of God….” is a good phrase to keep in mind when you see another business affected by a hacker, hardware failure or any of the millions of other unfortunate things that could stop your business.

Even with the best planning in the world sometimes dumb luck just doesn’t go your way. You need to have a fall back plan to keep your business running if the unexpected happens.

Be honest

One thing that jumps out in a number of the stories is how some organisations are simply not honest with their customers.

The process starts with misrepresenting how they secure and protect customer data. When an outage hits, they hide behind a call centre and often lie, or at least understate, the effects of the problem.

In an age of social media, blogs and user forums trying to spin your way out of trouble is not the answer. If customers are going to trust you, they need to have confidence you won’t mislead them.

As consumers, the various data breaches we’ve seen so far this year should make us pause before we give valuable personal data to businesses. It’s quite clear that some don’t deserve our trust.

For businesses we need to show that we are worthy of our customers’ trust. The first step of that process is taking their privacy seriously.

LulzSec, anonymous and all the other various hackers, anarchists and general troublemakers on the web are reminding us that we need to take our online responsibilities as seriously as any other others.

Make sure you’re protecting your own business and your customers’ data.

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