At Websmith Group we recently received an email from Aldo Baker, Marketing Director at Bolt Insurance, sharing a new infographic in regards to women as small business owners. This infograph is an excellent resource that provides a way to visually understand “Women Small Buisness Owners” and as “America’s New Job Creators”.

Via: Bolt Insurance

Selecting business software can be a daunting task. The good news is that there are plenty of applications available for supporting most critical business functions. However, at some point you may become overwhelmed with the number of options, features and pricing models. Organizations generally seek technology as a method to increase productivity, solve issues and save money.  Not having a well-defined strategy for purchasing software could result in the purchase of varied software products and services that actually cost you more money in the long term, due to long-term maintenance costs, lack of use or the use of similar systems to fill in the “feature gaps”. You may find that purchasing a more expensive and stable software product will replace several inexpensive and less effective products, which could in turn reduce the time spent maintaining and integrating many ineffective software products. To ensure that you select cost effective software solutions that meet a specific business need, use the following criteria in evaluating software.

1. Why do you need this software application?
The purchase should be closely aligned to an actual business need. Example: We need a centralized tool that would allow a team of up to 50 researchers to collect, validate and report their research data.

2. Identify your priorities.
Your priorities are important in evaluating and comparing the capabilities of various products.  Be specific.  For example,  “It is important that the tool be installed in a central location and available for researchers to enter data ‘in the field’. Also, it is important that we can export data for other uses or to integrate with other reporting tools.”  You may find software packages that offer many features, but do not provide a solution to your primary issues.  However, you should not allow a plethora of less important features (“shiny objects”) to distract you from your solving your more important issues.  Identifying your priorities will help you choose a package that fulfills your most critical need; other less important features should be “icing on the cake.” 

3. Mission Critical vs. Business Critical.
Is this a mission or business critical application? A mission critical application is critical to the proper operation of your business. If the application fails or is unavailable for any length of time, it could be detrimental to your business (ex: financial/banking services). A business critical application is essential for your employees to perform their duties and responsibilities. While it is important that these applications do not fail, a few hours of downtime may not put you out of business. This is important to note as you evaluate vendor credibility, product reliability and support offerings.

4. Vendor Credibility & Longevity.
For obvious reasons, you will want to learn how long the software vendor has been in business. It is also important to evaluate their current customer satisfaction rates. NOTE: This is not to suggest that you should not use software developed by start-ups. However, you should understand the risk to your business if for some reason the vendor does not stay in business. There may be other factors that will make you comfortable with selecting the product, such as extended reference checks and high customer satisfaction rates.

5. Software Reliability.
How often is the software unavailable or offline due to technical issues? On average, how quickly are technical issues resolved? To find this information, you may ask the vendor, browse their support forums or simply contact their existing (and former) customers directly. If this is a mission critical application, you will definitely want to speak with a few of their existing customers.

TIP: Use the criteria noted to evaluate your existing business software. You may find an opportunity to streamline your operations and operational expenses by selecting more effective business tools.

6. Operations Integration.
How does this product integrate with your current operations? Does it replace a manual process? Who will use it? Where? When? How?  Develop a plan for integrating the software into your current operations.   Be specific regarding who will use the system and how they should use it.  This will help you in determining if the software capabilities will meet your existing business need.  For example, if you need staff to access the package while away from the office, you will need to select a package that allows remote  access. 

7. Support Model.
If you or your employees experience an issue using the product, how will you receive technical support? Does the vendor provide phone support or support via email only? What is the standard response-time for responding to technical issues? Is there sufficient documentation and knowledge bases available for self-service? Do you have to pay extra for support?

8. Scalability for Growth.
Does this product remain useful as your business grows? How does the pricing increase as your business grows?   You want to avoid “sticker stock” if it’s necessary for you to add new users and/or features.  Some products offer reasonably priced “lite” or starter versions, however the pricing may increase exponentially if the full/enterprise version is needed.

9. Pricing.
Review pricing once you’ve evaluated the vendor, product capabilities and determined if this is a mission-critical application. The pricing should support the capabilities, scalability, and level of support offered. Also, if it’s a mission or business critical application, you don’t want to trust your entire business in the hands of a start-up offering a free product. Not that free products are bad or useless, but as the old saying goes “you get what you pay for.”

10. How Will You Measure the Return on your Investment?
Does this improve a business process or reduce long-term costs? Before signing any contracts or making a purchase, define how you will measure the return on your investment. Does this product replace another, more expensive, business tool? Does this product improve the speed of a critical business process, thus reducing operational costs? Does this product improve the quality of work or the quality of your product or service offerings?

With the growing number of technologies available for enhancing business websites, it is likely that you will be served by multiple providers as your website grows.   Even if you have a dedicated web services team, is important that YOU, the business and website owner, are informed regarding the number of providers responsible for making sure that your website works.  A Web Information Worksheet allows you to electronically document all information pertaining to your website.

Documenting this information is important for the following reasons:

1.  Become aware of the components that make your website work.

It is sometimes not obvious who to contact for web maintenance needs.  At minimum most website owners are dealing with at least two providers:  a web hosting provider and a domain name registrar.  If you have other technologies installed on your site such as e-commerce, then you can add a shopping cart vendor and perhaps a payment gateway provider to that list as well.  The list can become long, therefore it is important that you’re aware of the components required to make your website work. If you encounter an issue and need to contact the necessary party for support, you can quickly determine who to contact.

2.  Become more efficient on web enhancement and maintenance projects

This is a great resource to provide to your web service team at the start of a web enhancement project or for reference in case of emergency.  At the start of most web enhancement projects, you are generally asked for some information that will allow your service providers to perform the enhancement work.  Information such as your hosting vendor and domain name registrar may be helpful.  Don’t waste time searching through 5-year old emails looking for that hosting account number or even worse trying to identify who actually hosts your website.  This is information that you should know, however having a Web Information Worksheet makes it easier to quickly provide the necessary information to your web team.

3.  Identify opportunities for improvement

You may complete your worksheet and realize that you are relying on too many vendors for your comfort.  Having this information a central location will allow you to identify opportunities for you to streamline and/or aggregate a few of your web services.  You may save money in the process as well.

4.  Identify vulnerabilities

Alternatively, you may learn that you are relying on one single provider for all of your necessary web services.  This could highlight a vulnerability in the event that the provider becomes unavailable to provide service.

Receive a copy of our Web Information Worksheet

A Web Information Worksheet can save your business time and money and also provide timely information in the case of a website emergency or if you’re starting a future website enhancement project. To receive your copy of our Web Information Worksheet and other resources that will help you manage your web and application development projects, subscribe to our Web Resources eNewsletter.

The Websmith Group blog includes over 80 quality posts and resources on topics such as web development, e-commerce, web application tools, social media, hosting etc.  The primary goal of this blog is to provide guidance to business owners on how to effectively meet their business goals and objectives using web, mobile, and social media technology.

In an effort to provide a diverse range of quality topics and opinions to our audience, we are currently extending an invitation to writers to contribute to the following topics:

• Social media
• Business and marketing
• Copywriting
• Technology trends, apps and gadgets
• Lessons Learned: Perspectives from other small business owners that will like to share their experience maintaining their business web and social media presence

What are you getting out of the deal?

Exposure to a diverse audience, permanent links to your website/blog and social media accounts, and the warm & fuzzy feeling that you’ll receive from helping business owners be more effective on the web.

Guidelines

Length:  500-2000 words

Topics:  Social media, business and marketing, copywriting, technology trends, apps and gadgets, perspectives from other business owners

Target Audience: Business owners and key stakeholders

Style:   We accept both informational and editorial submissions.  Blatant self-promotional submissions will not be considered.  However, please do “toot your horn” loudly in your bio.

Images:  Your headshot or professional photo should be included.

Bio:   Include 3-5 sentences about your and your firm.  Also, you may include a link to your primary business website and 1-2 links to your preferred social media page(s).

Post Image:  We reserve the right to select up to 2 high quality photos to be included with your post.  The photo will be relevant to the content in your submission.

Submissions

Interested?  Contact us or shoot an email to kishau[at]websmithgroup.com to discuss your idea or submit a post.

The Fine Print

We reserve the right to select, edit, publish and schedule posts at our discretion.

Online retail spending continues to grow, reaching $32.1 billion for the 3rd quarter of 2010; a 9 percent increase from the prior year (comScore).  One of the important steps to developing an effective ecommerce solution is identifying your return policy.  Whether your policy is “all sales are final” or “100% money back guarantee”, your primary goal should be to prevent refund request.   Listed below are a few ideas for reducing your return rates:

1.    Show the product in context.

You should always provide item details such as weight, color, and dimensions in a designated (consistent) and easily identifiable area.  However, sometimes it’s not enough to simply list product dimensions; make it easy for customers to understand the product size by placing a photo of the product next to a person or another commonly used item.  This will help the customer understand the “scale” of the product and reduce returns based on the customer’s expectation that the product was “bigger” … or “smaller”.

2.  Provide an enlarged view.

Using zoomable/resizable photos of your products will allow online shoppers to review the product closely.   The use of enlarged images may be more effective than simply describing the product.   Many consumers are reluctant to purchase online due to the need to touch or see the item closer and in person.

3.  Provide alternative views.

Photograph items from multiple angles to allow the customer to obtain a complete view. This will improve their ability to make the purchase, as it reduces the number of unknowns (ex: “I wish I could see the back of the item”).  Using well written copy, along with enlarged images and alternate views are very effective methods for enhancing your product descriptions.

4.  Clearly indicate other options such as colors, sizes and textures

Another reason that customers return items is because the color was not what they expected.  Always include color swatches of available colors & patterns. Ensure that the color swatch is accurate and matches the actual color of the item (or very close to it).

5.  Use video to display product usage.

Video is a very effective tool for product demonstrations.  To reduce returns due to customer confusion on how to use the item, use video to demonstrate usage and to answer commonly asked questions.

6.  Offer samples and trials

This is particularly useful for digital products and goods. Allow the customer to view a sample or receive a trial. This is a great way to improve customer satisfaction and reduce return rates, as it effectively manages the customer’s expectations and increases the customer’s knowledge about the product before purchase.

7.   Provide User Support Early

Make it easy for customers to obtain the relevant User Guides, Maintenance and Warranty Information.   Perhaps upon purchasing the product, you may want to include this information on the customer’s receipt.  Provide customer support upon purchase, as opposed to waiting for complaints due to usage confusion.

8.   Develop a customer-friendly exchange policy.

If the customer returns an item and there’s another item available that would meet their needs, offer the customer a quick exchange.  Be sure that you can quickly identify an alternate product and develop an exchange process that doesn’t make the transaction burdensome.

9.   Include a customer review and rating system.

Customer reviews are important for a number reasons.  Not only do great reviews improve your sales, but many times the details provided in the review allows future customers to determine if the product will work FOR THEM.   For example, if the customer is interested in purchasing a pair of shoes, a customer review may help them determine if the shoe is comfortable to walk in for long periods of time.  Perhaps they will decide to select a more comfortable shoe, as opposed to ordering a less comfortable shoe and then returning it due to discomfort.  You want the customer to be pleased with their purchase, so make it easy for them to learn as much about the product as possible; what better way to do this than to display a review from someone that has already  used it?

Many prefer a “set it and forget it” approach to web hosting.  Following the signup process, the top reasons that most people communicate with their hosting providers are:

• To make a change to their package,
• To request a site/server configuration change or
• To request technical support.

Generally if there are no existing issues and the customer doesn’t require a configuration change, many web hosting providers don’t hear from customers until they are complaining or transferring their service to another provider.   When you originally selected your hosting provider, you likely evaluated them using criteria such as pricing, packages offered, testimonials, uptime promises, features included etc.    It is good practice to periodically revisit your hosting to:

1.  Ensure that you’re benefiting from the features offered.

Is your current hosting package sufficient?  Are you wasting money paying for additional features that you haven’t used?  Are you nearing your bandwidth and disk space limits?   You want to ensure that you are receiving the best value for your money.  If you are paying for add-ons that you haven’t used in nearly a year, you may want to reconsider deactivating those options until you’re ready to use them.  Also, if you purchased the smaller package available, you want to ensure that you’re not about to exceed the limits of your package.  If you are approaching your package limits (in terms of disk space, bandwidth used, email accounts etc.), you will want to consider upgrading soon or reduce your usage to avoid any fees related to overages.

2.  Confirm the technical support process.

Poor communication is one of the primary reasons that people become disgruntled with their hosting providers.  How should you contact them if you experience an issue?  If you haven’t communicated with your hosting company in ages (this is usually a good sign that everything is working properly), you may find that some of their communication methods have changed.  You may find that your hosting provider has implemented a new “ticketing” system that requires that you submit an email on online technical support request.   Is the phone option still available?  Is there a fee for speaking to a ‘real’ person?  Do you have the hosting provider’s current email and phone in your contacts database in case you’re away from your machine during a web “emergency”?   What identifying information do you need to provide to them when you make a technical support request (i.e. account numbers, email address etc); do you have this information documented in your files?  It is important to stay current with this information, as you do not want to wait until you have an emergency to learn that the technical support process has changed or that the phone number you have listed for your hosting company only provides a voice mail message requesting that you email your request.

3.  Revisit your (and your hosting provider’s) Disaster Recovery Plan

What should you expect if your web server is down due to a virus attack, denial of service attack, or an act of nature?   Does your hosting provider maintain backups of your site?  How often are backups performed?  Do you have local access to a backup copy of your site and all related databases and third party applications?   Does your hosting company have a disaster recovery plan?   One would expect that a company that specializes in web hosting would have a rock solid disaster recovery plan, however, there are too many examples of hosting companies that did not.  People generally don’t learn about disaster recovery failures until they are revealed during a disaster.  An example of a disaster recovery failure is having your website go offline, then learning that your hosting providers website is down as well … and their phone system is unavailable as well.   Find out the steps you need to take to restore your site with another hosting provider should your existing site become unavailable.   If your hosting company manages your domain name and DNS information, it wouldn’t hurt to transfer that function to another provider.  We’ve seen too many businesses that are unable to transfer their websites to new providers because their domain name information is managed with their former hosting provider.

4.  Update your contact information

Does your hosting provider have your current contact information?  You may have changed email addresses.  Be sure that your new email address and updated contact information is reflected on your account.

5.   Visit the forum

Does your hosting provider offer a forum for customers?  If so, find some time to visit the forum.  This may give you heads up to any recurring issues that other customers are experiencing.  You’d want to pay close attend to how the hosting company responds to those issues.  Are there many issues noted on the forum, but a company representative hasn’t responded to them?  This could be a sign of poor customer support.   If the hosting company offers a customer forum, they should monitor the forum often and ensure that they’ve made a valid public response.  Also, it’s a great sign if resolutions to issues are transparently posted on the forum.  This is a sign that the company is serious about improving their support levels by owning and addressing customer issues openly.

6.  Say thanks

If you’re satisfied with your hosting provider and you’ve identified an effective disaster recovery plan, remember to send a note of gratitude to the company.  Post it on the customer forum, send an email, or tweet it, but make it a great practice to periodically say thanks when things are going well.   Remember that there are real people working daily to ensure that web and data servers stay up and running continuously.

Technology and people fail.  While most companies promote 99% or better uptime, issues will occur.   Often a good hosting relationship goes downhill swiftly not due to the fact that an issue occurred, but due to how the company responded to the issue.  Don’t wait until your website is down before engaging your hosting provider.  Keep your hosting provider honest and be sure that you are prepared for a disaster by periodically revisiting your hosting.

A study performed by UC San Diego researchers estimates that in 2008 approximately 9.57 zettabytes of data was transmitted around the world.  Everyone is collecting data.  Many businesses are offering reward cards, coupons, premium memberships and other discounts in exchange for collecting customer data.  You can barely perform a simple task like purchasing milk without someone attempting to collect your data.  After years of providing my information during business transactions (sometimes unwillingly), I’ve  noticed that I’m rarely contacted by these businesses outside of a generic flyer in the mail or a periodic email mailing.   Once my purse ran out of space to store additional reward cards and other rarely used discount cards, I decided  that I wasn’t receiving any real value and stopped providing my information.

In most cases, signing up for the reward card or membership didn’t influence my purchasing behavior.   It was my experience that I was exchanging my information for insufficient discounts, generic communications and complicated processes for redeeming “rewards”.    And I began to wonder, what are we doing with all of this data?!   I feel that businesses can do more with the data they’re collecting from customers.  Decide the most effective data to collect, then use it as an opportunity to customize your customer’s experience.  Use the data collected and the available technology tools to enhance your customer communications.

For example, my auto mechanic has information related to the make and model of my vehicle, as well as past service and maintenance records.  Each year, they call to remind me that my annual inspection is upcoming.  Then, while they have me on the phone, they ask if I’d like to go ahead and schedule my appointment.  This transaction provides value to both the customer and the business.  That data allowed them to generate repeat business and provided value to a customer by reminding me well in advance of routine auto maintenance tasks (that I always seem to forget until the very last minute).  It’s a win-win.

Another example is a day spa that I patronized.   On my first visit to this particular spa, I’d purchased some facial cleanser and the spa noted my skin type and preferred brand in their system.  I’m not sure how they predict when it’s time for a refill, but they are fairly timely in contacting me just as I’m about to run out of cleanser.  Also, they provide discounts on my preferred brand to sweeten the deal.  If the spa had sent me a generic flyer or email message with information that did not interest me, they may not have retained my business long term.

These are a few examples of how you can use your customer’s data to provide value to your business and to your customers.  Remember, everyone is collecting data.  Everyone is distributing the same generic communications to their customers.  Stand out from the crowd by leveraging technology to use that data more effectively.

Outside of sending an email newsletter or sales flyer, what are you doing with all of that customer data?

Managing the data files and applications stored on your computer(s) can become burdensome, particularly if you have a large volume of data stored across multiple machines.   Cloud computing services allow you to store and access your data and application files online.  Cloud computing providers provide you with the tools that allow you to easily manage the data stored on their network of virtual servers.   Before jumping into the cloud computing arena, it is important that you understand how the service can benefit your business and fit into your existing environment. A good solution should provide you with the ability to easily manage your files, reduce your maintenance time and costs and quickly adapt and scale as your business changes, without sacrificing security. Provided below are a few uses for cloud computing:

1.  File Storage

Have you have outgrown your physical data storage capacity (USB/external drives, secondary internal hard drives, CD/DVD discs etc.)?   A cloud storage solution would offer the ability to easily scale your storage capacity.  You would upgrade or downgrade the storage capacity as needed without having to purchase or setup additional equipment.

2.   File Synchronization

Do you routinely copy files from one machine to another?  Most cloud storage solutions provide the ability to sync your data across multiple machines automatically.  This reduces the risk of having multiple/distinct versions of a file stored in many locations. Also, some providers provide the ability to access files from your mobile phone.

3.   Data Archiving

Are you required to maintain a history of revisions made to files?  There are many creative uses for cloud data storage, such as a simpler method for storing file revisions in a location external to your primary storage.  This could be a simple method for rolling back to earlier versions when needed without managing a confusing file structure on your primary disk drives.

4.  Collaborative Workspaces

Do you need to identify a shared space for collaboration with your project team?  Cloud computing services could offer a central location for your team to collaborate.  The shared “drive” could serve as the primary “workspace” for the team and eliminate fragmenting files across multiple workstations.

5.   Data Backup & Recovery

Do you need to strengthen your existing backup or disaster recovery plan?  In identifying your disaster recovery plan; you may use a cloud backup solution as an alternative backup location to your internal backup infrastructure. A well managed cloud solution can provide the ability to replicate and restore your systems quickly in the event that they become unavailable during a disaster.

These are a few reasons for using a cloud-based data storage and computing solutions.  Depending on your needs, it may be a perfect upgrade for organizations that need to identify a scalable storage, backup and file sharing solution. However, you should identify your needs first and then select a solution and provider.

Take Caution When Selecting 3rd Party Tools

There are many third party tools, applications, and plugins available that will allow you to enhance your web application or improve your website usability. It is tempting to select the most popular free tool available because of the number of existing users and largely due to the fact that it’s free. However, you should take caution when selecting third party tools, particularly tools that your website or application are dependent on to function properly. The following set of criteria should be considered when selecting a third party application to integrate with your business web site or web application.

1. The Vendor

Be sure to research the vendor or person that developed the tool. Is this a well established vendor? What is their area of expertise? If the tool was created by a freelancer or single developer, learn more about their development background. This is important in determining if you are using a product created by a professional development firm or person vs. using a product created by a hobbyist. While there are some really awesome third party tools created by “hobbyist”, there’s a greater chance that the tool can/will be abandoned when the developer becomes overwhelmed with requests or loses interest in supporting the product.

2. The Pricing Model

If the tool is provided for free, determine how the vendor or developer will make money on the product. If tons of individuals are using the product, for free, how does the vendor pay for development and technical support? If there’s not a clear business model, there’s a greater chance that support of the product will be abandoned when the vendor becomes overwhelmed with requests and/or realizes that they can not earn money supporting the tool. Also, the cliche’ “you get what you pay for” applies; if no one is paying for the tool either directly or indirectly, then it’s safe to assume that the vendor is donating their “limited” time and resources.

3. The Technical Support

How does the vendor provide technical support for the tool? Is there a user guide, training video or knowledge base available? Are the technical support tools up to date? Does the vendor provide a phone number or email address for technical support issues? What is the expected response time for service tickets? These are important issues to consider because as a business, you don’t want to have a site or application dependent on a product that has no reliable technical support model in place. What happens if the product breaks? Can someone in your organization provide a solution? Or are you dependent on the vendor for technical support?  You should avoid using third party tools that have no clear technical support model in place; otherwise you will need to determine if someone else can effectively maintain the third party application if the vendor is not available.

4. The Level of Security

Before selecting a third party tool, determine what security measurements the vendor has in place to protect your company’s “environment”, in respect to your information and data? You will want to ensure that the third party tool does not display vulnerabilities that would provide hackers and malware to access your environment.

5. The Risk

Determine the business processes that would be impacted by this third party product. What business processes are impacted if the product is inoperative or unavailable? Also consider if sensitive data is impacted. You will want to access the real risk of using the tool; the higher the risk to your business, the higher the standard you will use to evaluate the vendor(s) and their product.

Have you ever required additional assistance while online, only to learn that the company has provided no phone number or timely method of support? Or perhaps there aren’t any help files or knowledge bases available?  You may find yourself Google’ing a solution or taking your business elsewhere.  Ineffective user assistance can frustrate your customers and create a negative customer experience. Therefore it is important to spend some time ensuring that you’ve offered effective user assistance. In identifying your process for providing support to your users, it is important to understand their needs and preferences. This will help you determine the most effective system for offering user support. As more business transactions take place virtually, using any web browser or mobile device, having a well-defined system for providing adequate and timely user support is critically important.  Provided below are the types of online user support that you may consider:

Self Service

Self directed or Self Service help allows a user to use the resources you’ve provided to find a solution to their issue, without your involvement.  Examples of self directed help are:

1.  Contextual Help

Contextual help or context sensitive help provides user assistance without requiring that the user stop what they are doing to visit another area of your website.  For example, a popup window or tooltip may display when the user clicks on a specific field on a web form.  The information displayed could provide the user with all of the information they need to complete their transaction.  This is a great way to ensure that you user’s experience is not interrupted due to their need for assistance.

2.   Frequently Asked Questions or Knowledge Base

FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions pages are often used to answer the most commonly asked questions presented by your users.  It is a great idea to offer this along with other methods for providing help.  The larger your FAQ and Knowledge Base areas, the less effective it becomes for the average web visitor, as many web users have limited attention spans and would not be willing to spend a lengthy amount of time perusing the knowledge base.  These areas are great for individuals that are comfortable with researching and searching for answers to their questions.  Having a designated area on your site will prevent them from going elsewhere for help.

3.  Training Media files such as video, audio or presentations

According to ComScore’s “2010 Digital Year in Review”,  web video is now the third most powerful advertising medium in the world.  Using interactive media such as video, audio or presentations are great methods for presenting your product, as well as for providing support.  These tools allow you to demonstrate a specific process to your user, as well as communicate information to them as you would in person or by phone.   Also, these tools are great for web users that prefer to ‘listen or watch’ over ‘reading’.

4.  Online User Guides

Particularly in software development, it is still necessary to create user guides.  A user guide is essentially the “book” that provides a user everything they need to know about using your application.  These guides are particularly useful for users that prefer to save and print information for later viewing.

5.   User Forums/Message Boards

Many companies create online forums and message boards for their clients and customers.  The forums are helpful in that your members will often share solutions with the other ‘community’ of users.  This option can help in minimizing the number of support requests you receive.  However, you will need to participate and monitor the forums to identify and respond to any ongoing issues.  If many of your users are experiencing the same issue, don’t allow them to rant and rave about it for months before you provide a solution that will prevent it from happening in the future.  Also, user forums provide an effective method for surveying your users on requested enhancements and desired fixes.  In my opinion, message boards should be offered with another method of support, as you don’t want to place your customer service in the hands of people outside of your organization.

Interactive Assistance

There are times when a user will need to contact you directly. Perhaps the data provided in the self service areas are ineffective or perhaps the user simply prefers to communicate with a human. Provided below are some ideas for offering interactive assistance. Remember to keep in mind your ability to provide a consistent level of support.

6.   Email

Email support is commonly used, as most web users use email.  Email support is generally very effective when your process for responding to support emails is transparent to the user.  Autoresponders are great in notifying the user (by email) that their email was received and providing some indication as to when they can expect a response.  This is often a reasonable method of support for most users, unless your response time is lengthy or if the user has an urgent issue that requires immediate response.

7.   Real Time Chat/Conferencing

Organizations are using real time chat and conferencing to allow them to provide immediate response to customer service issues.  Also, using an online chat tool could reduce your communications costs.  The tool allows you to communicate with your users, online, in real time, similar to a ‘virtual’ phone communication.  This option may be effective for users that prefer to pose a ‘quick question’ to a ‘real person’.  However, another method should be available to prevent miscommunication due to a lengthy chat session or for issues that require an extended or escalated level of support.

8.   Online Help Desk or Ticketing System

Support ticketing systems are great for organizations that provide a heavy volume of customer support.  Also, these systems are great in tracking and monitoring your customer service levels over time.   Most ticketing systems provide users with an incident number that they can refer to when speaking with your customer service representatives.  The incident number does provide users with some level of comfort in knowing that your organization has provided them with confirmation of their issue.  However, this is only effective if your ticketing system is integrated effectively in your customer service process.  It is not enough to implement a ticketing system; you will need to have designated individuals monitoring incoming issues and ensuring that customers are receiving responses to their tickets in a timely fashion.

9. Phone

The phone isn’t going anywhere any time soon.  This is still the preferred method of contact for many web users.  It is still comforting to customers to know that if they experience an issue, they have a phone number that will place them in contact with a real person at your organization that can provide assistance.  Offering a phone number is also a great method to build trust and credibility with potential customers.  In purchasing goods and services online, people most prefer to deal with reputable companies that offer a reliable method of contact.  An effective method for building credibility is to always advertise your businesses mailing address and phone number.  If your organization is a large one with multiple departments, you may want to offer a primary phone number (operator) and list your organization directory as well.   The person that answers your primary phone number should be able to direct your customers to the appropriate party.

Your web project development is completed!   You are visualizing the thousands upon thousands of new customers and clients that will sign up upon realizing that your launch date has arrived.   However, you may realize quickly that marketing your new web application or website is an entirely different animal from implementing it.  If you haven’t a marketing strategy in place already, you may experience some anxiety shortly following your launch, as you listen to the crickets chirping in your area of the internet.   Hopefully, you will have allocated some of your resources (time/money) toward developing a long-term marketing plan for your project. However, here are a few ideas to generate some initial buzz and interest in your project:

Pre-Launch: Activities for Generating Buzz

If you’re approaching your implementation deadline, don’t wait until the deadline date arrives before announcing your project. You will want to generate some initial interest in your project before your launch date (but not too far in advance). As you make your announcement, you will want to focus on how your project will benefit your target audience. You need your target audience to look forward to the launch date because they’ve determined that your new project will provide some value to them. There are many methods for generating interest prior to your initial launch:

1. Social Media

Select the social media tools used most by your target audience and create a profile for your project. It’s not enough to simply create a profile; you will want to connect (friend/fan/follow/fav) with the individuals and organizations that meet your target profile. Then, use your account to provide more preliminary information about your project and to announce the launch date.

2. Press Release

It may be necessary to also submit a press release, which provides more information about your project and announces the launch date. You will want to ensure that the press release is distributed in a publication that your target audience will generally read.

3. Leverage Your Existing Mailing List

If you have an existing mailing list, you will definitely want to inform subscribers of your new project. These individuals have already expressed some interest in your organization. You may want to designate one mailing to announcing the project and ask that your subscribers ‘forward’ the message to any organizations or individuals that they feel would be interested in learning more.

4.  Coming Soon …

Create a web site with a descriptive and professional coming soon page.  The coming soon page need only be one page, but it should be professional in design; you don’t want to turn people off before you get started.  Also, the page should provide a compelling description of the final product and should be setup to collect contact information (email) from individuals that would like to be notified when the project has launched.

5. Blog About It

If you don’t already have a blog for your project, create one or identify an area on your existing blog to promote the project. You can use this as an opportunity to provide information on the progress of the project and to remind your visitors of the launch date. Also, you can use your blog to gather contact information from individuals that would like to be notified via email once your project has launched.

6. Your Email Signature

Your email signature is a great way to constantly remind your existing network of your launch date. You can designate a line in your email signature for a ‘Coming Soon’ message. You should describe the project briefly, but in enough detail that entices your contacts to click for more details.

7. Have a (Virtual) Pre-Launch Party

Identify a date and time prior to your public launch to allow a select group of visitors to login and check out the finished project in advance. You may want to provide free snacks (gifts) for individuals that attend the pre-launch party and provide their feedback. You can use this as an opportunity to gain some real world feedback; there may be issues you can address prior to the real public launch. However, you will now have identified an audience of individuals that were interested enough in your project to attend your pre-launch.

8. Local Organizations

With so much activity around the internet, it is easy to forget tried and true offline methods. Contact your local networking groups regarding opportunities to promote your project at their events or in their communications with members. Pay close attention to the characteristics of members in the organization; you will want to ensure that you’re reaching your targeted audience.

Moving Forward …

Your development project is underway and you’re still revisiting the requirements and tweaking a few things here and there. Meanwhile, the project deadline is constantly changing and there doesn’t seem to be a solid deadline in sight. If you find yourself in this position, now is great time to stop, take a step back and determine the source of the holdup. The danger in continuing to work on a project in this fashion is that, at some point, you loose sight of the goal and purpose for starting the project in the first place. It’s similar to referring to printed directions to a destination, but deciding to take a few detours along the way. If the detours aren’t considered in your printed directions, if you plan to reach your destination, at some point you will need to recalibrate. To move forward, review the common reasons for stalled development projects provided below and plan to make some decisions on how to proceed.

1. Content Anemia

The lack of necessary content is often the reason for stalled web projects. If you’ve developed a project plan that includes content that is not currently available, you may reach a point where the project can’t continue until content is completed. You will need to determine if the information needed to create and complete the content is available. For example, if your project includes submitting the text for your customer support area, but you have not yet determined how you will offer customer support, you will need to schedule some time to make those decisions before proceeding. Often the content is difficult to complete because it has not been well thought out. If you’re in this position, refer to the outstanding items, identify the resources needed to complete the item and determine if you will need to enlist additional support to assist you in getting it done. Then schedule a deadline and stick to it.

2. Too busy

You’re busy. Everyone is busy. There always seems to be too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it. So your development project has started and you find that you simply don’t have time to deal with it. If you find that you’re too busy to deal with the project, you will need to consider a few things. First, determine if this is a priority. It may be that you have other pressing business matters that has made this project less of a priority than you originally planned. If this is the case, take a look at your schedule and determine when you can realistically be available to see it to completion, then put the project on hold. Explicitly placing the project on hold, allows other members of your business and/or development team to reorganize their own schedules accordingly. Also, it relieves everyone from the stress of “waiting” for information and not knowing when it will arrive.

If you determine that you are too busy, but the project is high priority, you will need to consider if you need to enlist some additional support in getting your piece completed. However, the support enlisted should be closely familiar with your business and the project goals and desired outcomes. Otherwise, you’ll find that yourself in the same position; too busy to respond to the support you’ve enlisted.

3. Featuritis

Every evening you think of a new idea or feature to implement. You find that you’re in constant contact with your developer(s) regarding adding to or changing the requirements … ‘slightly’. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as ‘scope creep’ or ‘feature creep.’ Featuritis is a deadly disease and should be avoided at all costs. Those little modifications add up and are the common cause for going over budget and past the deadline because they often fly under the radar as ‘small changes’. To avoid this issue, you should take some time to settle in on your project requirements. Find some quiet time and review the items to be completed during this project.

• Ensure that you can match each of those items to a measurable business goal.
• Determine if the new items should be included now or if they can be added to a second phase.
• Prioritize and identify the most important items.
• Add or update the requirements as necessary.
• Discuss the changes with your development team and work with them to determine the most realistic deadline, given the new items and proposed changes. Also, determine how the proposed changes will affect the project budget.

This process is effective for everyone on the project team because it allows you to understand clearly how the proposed changes will affect the timeline and budget. As opposed to being frustrated that the project is over budget and overdue, you and everyone involved will understand why and be able to make some decisions regarding how to proceed.

4. Baggage

If you’ve started a development project, with the knowledge that a past issue may affect your ability to complete this project, now is the time to deal with it. For example, if you have agreement or contract with another entity that would prevent you from securing a name for your new product, you will need to deal with that first. Or it could be that your business partner or board has not signed off on the project due to some other issue. Or perhaps you haven’t secured the inventory necessary to create your online store. To ensure that the project can be implemented smoothly, on time and within budget, you will need to resolve any past issues that affect your ability to get the project completed. It is preferred that you resolve these issues before starting the project, however, once the issue begins to affect the development process, you should put the project on hold until it’s resolved.

5. Not feelin’ it

Perhaps you’re simply not feelin’ it. You were super excited about the new project and the visual of the final product used to make your toes curl. Now that you’re midway through the development process, you (secretly) feel that the project has lost its appeal. This could be due to a number of factors. It could be that you’re just that type of person. Some people are better at identifying the vision and less concerned about how it’s implemented. That’s okay. However, if your lack of interest in the implementation process is affecting the ability to get it done, you will need to enlist the support of someone else that can take care of the implementation related issues. If this is not your personality, it could be that you’ve had an opportunity to see, in real life, what the final product will look like and you’re simply not feeling it. You may have told the development team that you liked it, but after a few nights rest and a peek at similar products, you’ve decided that you’re not inspired. If this is the case, you should determine the exact items that don’t appeal to you and schedule a discussion with your team to see if it’s possible to make some changes. Having said that, remember that you once signed off on it; don’t be shocked if your vendor updates the project budget to accommodate the additional round of changes.

Going forward, when you are asked to sign off on items, you will need to take some additional time to sleep on it and ensure that the final product is consistent with your vision. If your vision has changed, see item #3.

Your Next Step

Consider each of the above issues carefully and determine if this is the source of your project being stalled. Then make a decision on how to proceed, update your project plan accordingly and stay committed to always working with a well defined project plan.

The desire to make money is not enough to build a successful online business.  While obtaining a space to house your online store is simpler than finding a physical space to open a brick and mortar store, there aren’t any shortcuts to implementing an online business.  You build an online business in the same fashion that you build an offline business.  Provided below are eleven decisions you should make BEFORE  you begin an e-commerce project.

1.   What are you selling?

You will need to be able to clearly describe your product line(s).  While you may have plans to expand the business in the future, you will need to focus on the products you will sell in the immediate future.  It is tempting to spend a great deal of time pondering the “big picture”, however you don’t want to expand your project budget or timeline to focus on things are not currently relevant.

2.   Who are your customers?

You should be able to clearly define your target customer.  “The world” is not enough.  If you can’t define your target audience, your marketing efforts will be ineffective.  You may decide to define your target audience by location, industry, economic class, people affected by a specific problem or supporters of a specific cause or social movement.  However you decide to define your customers, be sure that you can.

3.   Do you have the appropriate copyrights, trademarks and patents in place to protect your products, brand and/or inventions?

To a certain extent, everyone in business risks dealing with imitators. However, you should at least understand the issues that are protected by copyright and trademark law before launching your online store.  Depending on your business, it may be necessary to consult a reputable attorney and take further steps to protect your business.

4.  Who are your competitors?

While I’m sure your business model is unique, fresh and altogether different, it’s safe to assume that you have competitors.  Spend some time learning more about them and what, if anything, gives them a competitive advantage.

5.    What forms of payment will you accept and will you need to process international payments?

This will help you in determining the best shopping carts and payment gateways to use in your online store.  Also, this information is helpful in determining your pricing model.

6.     What is your returns and exchanges policy?

While you desire that all of your customers to be pleased with their purchases, you will still need to consider your policy for responding to a refund or exchange request.  Outline your policy so that it’s easy for anyone to understand.  Also, be sure that you have identified your process for issuing refunds and accepting exchanges.

7.    What methods of shipping will you offer?

You will need to decide how you plan to ship purchases to customers.   This is an important step, as underestimating shipping and handling costs can greatly reduce your profit margin.  Included in this step is determining how the shipments will be packaged and the costs associated with that.  If you are shipping goods digitally, you will determine your method of delivery and licensing requirements (if applicable).

8.   What is your pricing model?

It probably not a good idea to randomly decide on your pricing.  Don’t simply go with what “feels right”.   In determining your pricing, you will want to research the average pricing used by your competitors, as well as consider your own operating expenses and costs.   You should have a clear sense of how much revenue you need to earn to make a profit or break even.  Your business should follow a pricing model that is based in fact and attempts to support a healthy business.

9.   How will you offer customer service?

At some point a customer may have a question or issue that requires your input.  You will need to determine how you will deliver customer service.  Be specific in terms of your available business hours and methods of contact.  Your ability to effectively deliver customer service could become your competitive edge.

10.  How will you measure the success of your online store?

You should identify your business objectives and goals and define the data that you will need to collect to ensure that you can monitor the success of your online business.

11. How will you manage and maintain your online store?

What are your staffing requirements for ensuring that you can update your inventory, ship product goods, provide customer service etc.? If you will handle these tasks, ensure that you understand how you will scale it when it becomes too much for you to handle.

Your answers to the questions above can be used in determining the most effective customer interface and marketing strategy for your online business.  Having carefully thought about the questions noted will greatly improve the success of your ecommerce project.
 

As more businesses employ the use of web based applications to facilitate or automate one or more business processes, it is important to develop an “online” help system for providing effective user support. “How to provide adequate user and technical support?” is often a question that is asked after an application has been developed or upon receiving complaints from users regarding inadequate support levels. As more users are able to access business applications using any web browser or mobile device, giving your users the support they need, when they need it has become critically important.

The Goal: What is an ‘effective’ online help system?

1.  Provide users with the ability to select the type of assistance they prefer

First, you want to provide users with the ability to select the type of assistance they prefer. You will find that some users prefer to read User Guides, others may prefer to watch a video and a few may desire to simply contact a technician via email or phone. Upon developing a web application, you should already know your target audience and how (in general) they prefer to interact. Keep this in mind when developing your online help systems. Many times a web application will be developed and the developer will create a help system that works best for them, not the users.  Example: have you ever needed help on using an application and realized that the only way to receive help is to post your question on a forum and wait for an answer?  Many times you’ll receive an answer from other users, not a technician. While this method will work in some cases, it does not allow you to define a process that will provide a consistent level of support, as it is entirely dependent on the expertise and activity of the community of users.

2.  Easy access to help

You want to ensure that your users can access help tools quickly from any area in the application.

3.   Your help process should not interrupt the users current state.

Have you ever used an application, realized that you needed some additional instruction on how to proceed and learned that you needed to exit your current area to receive assistance (and perhaps risk losing all of your changes and/or forcing you to restart your routine entirely).

4.   The help system should not increase the complexity of using the application

The method that you provide online assistance to your users should not require a help system of its own.

5.   Information should be presented in the tone, style and language expected by the target audience

If the target audience is generally non-technical, you want to ensure that information provided via online help systems is not laden with technical jargon or in a format unfamiliar to the users.

6.  The information provided by your online help system should be current, reviewed often and easily updated.

Provide users with the most up-to-date and relevant information.   Many of us have used help systems that would be effective if the information provided was up-to-date.  Updates to the help system should be included with the rollout of new revisions and versions.

7.  Additional levels of support should be offered.

Ensure that users are able to receive answers to their questions or resolutions to their issues.  Have you ever not found an answer to your question via an online help guide or video, but were not offered an additional method for finding that answer.  It should be standard to offer an additional level of support if, for some reason, the user was unable to obtain an answer to their question.

As nearly 70% of all internet users have either stored data online or have used a web-based software application, it is becoming critically important to ensure that your method for offering user assistance remain effective. Keep the standards listed above in mind as you begin to identify your online help system.

Thanks for following the Websmith Group Blog & Social Media Pages!  We’d like to offer you a free copy of the first revision of “Getting Started: Planning Your Website Content.” The goal for the workbook is to provide a strategic method for planning your web content. In the guide, we focus on:

• How to align your content with your business goals
• How to identify customer focused content
• How to identify content that will build trust and credibility
• How to add your unique voice and identify compelling content

This is the first of several workbooks that will be published in our PLAN series. We are offering the book for free to our newsletter subscribers. In return we only ask for your feedback and comments on how you plan to use the workbook and how we can enhance it in the future.

Thanks again for following the Websmith Group Blog & Social Media Pages!

Some of our regular blog readers and site visitors may have noticed a few changes recently, the biggest of which is that we have decided to refocus our business on software development services and SaaS products, and are no longer offering web design and website development services.  To put it simply, we’re focusing on what we are best at and making sure those clients and our end-users are being delivered the best experience possible.  Going forward we will refer our web design clients and referrals to other designers in our network whom we trust and have worked well with over the years.   We will continue to offer insight and the latest news on what’s new, cool & useful in web technology via this blog and on our social media channels.

Our Background: Getting Here

Websmith Group, originally founded in 2004 as KMEI Systems LLC, was founded as a web application development company.   In 2005, due to a solid reputation in development and user interface design, we were provided the opportunity to provide website development services on so many projects that I decided to offer website development & design as a service.  Over the years, we have been very privileged to provide this service to some awesome businesses and non-profit organizations.   While the diversity and volume of projects is an exciting opportunity, after much reflection & careful review, I’ve decided to refocus our efforts on what we’re best at and most passionate about.   Offering web based business systems and products and providing custom application development services is simply what we’re best at.

Making The Decision:  The Hedgehog Concept

One of my favorite books is Jim Collins’ “Good to Great”.   In this book he presents an idea called “The Hedgehog Concept”; a method used by successful businesses to find their area of focus and apply it to their goals.  The concept is based on the popular parable of The Hedgehog & The Fox.  The fox in the parable knew many things, but the hedgehog knew one big thing.

The Hedgehog Concept is an understanding of what you/your business can be the best at.

Consider the following questions:

1.  What can you be the best in the world at?

2.  What drives your economic engine?

3.  What are you deeply passionate about?

I believe that identifying your Hedgehog Concept provides the best foundation for building a successful business.   This can also be instrumental in ensuring that all of your web/IT projects and resources are carefully focused on consistent, clear business goals.  Also, I believe that this concept provides the necessary foundation for the most successful branding and marketing.

Jim Collins identified this model in his research of the characteristics of the most successful companies.   I’ve read that successfully identifying your Hedgehog Concept takes an average of four years; looks like we’re (kinda) on schedule in identifying our Hedgehog Concept .  In developing & reviewing your business plans, take an opportunity to carefully and periodically review what you’re offering, what you’re most passionate about and what drives your economic engine (profitability).    Your goal is to seek the intersection of your core competency, your passions and your profits.

What We’ve Learned: Our Hedgehog Concept

The Websmith Group’s Hedgehog Concept is “to provide effective web-based business systems at a fraction of the cost and complexity.”  We believe that our Hedgehog Concept reflects the work we are passionate about, the work we are best at and we are committed to attracting and channeling only the resources that support this work. Need an example of our work? Feel free to review our featured application: Time Study.

What’s your Hedgehog Concept?

It goes without saying that the internet has revolutionized the way we meet and stay in touch people and has transformed the way we find, use and share knowledge. According to Nielsen, at least 2/3 of the global population visits social networks. It seems that each day a new social media service is launched specifically to allow you to share more information publicly.

Social media are services and tools that allow you to share information, distribute media and converse with others online.

Blippy:  Cool vs. Common Sense

There is something about a new social media site that encourages people to easily share things about their lives online that they wouldn’t consider sharing with perfect strangers on the streets. Or their neighbors. It’s as if the ‘think twice before sharing’ trigger doesn’t exist while interacting online. The coolness factor always seems to trump the common sense factor. For example, Blippy is a social media service that was created as a “fun and easy way to see and discuss what everyone is buying.” People that use the service have stated that it’s a great way to discover what your friends are buying. Imagine this scenario in real life:

A friend: So what did you buy today?
You: Why?

Yeah, the conversation would end there. In real life, this question would only be asked if your friend wanted information about a specific product that you may have mentioned during your real life conversations. For individuals that share this information publicly, imagine the same conversation with a perfect stranger:

A stranger: So what did you buy today?
You: Who are you?

Foursquare: Cool vs. Common Sense

I believe that some find the idea of a service that can automatically notify your friends of your purchases cool enough that the question “Why?” or “Would I do this in real life” is never considered or answered. Another example is Foursquare. I understand the business uses of Foursquare (particularly related to event & conference attendance), however I have to admit that the value of using the service for personal/social use escapes me. Using the same scenario, imagine having this conversations in real life:

Your Friend: Where are you?
You: I’m at Starbucks.
<15 minutes later>
Your Friend: Where are you now?
You: Why?

Or alternatively:

You: I’m at Starbucks.
Your Friend: That’s nice.
You: I’m at work.
Your Friend: Cool. Call me when you get home.
You: I’m at the gym.
Your friend: That’s great. Call me when you get home.
You: I’m back at Starbucks
Your friend: Twice in one day? After leaving the gym? Call me when you get home.

You get the point. If you’re similar to the average social network user, you may have 120+ “friends”. If each of your 120 friends decided to notify you when they made a move in real life, at some point the stream of information becomes noisy and you won’t notice or care when something really important happens.

Are we sharing too much … of the wrong information

I don’t care if a friend visits Starbucks twice a day, but I do care if an old friend is attending the same conference. I don’t care if a friend or someone in my professional network visits Target, but I do want to know if they’ve recently published an article, launched a product or received recognition. I’m sure many have found great uses for the services mentioned, however I often wonder if we’re sharing too much of the wrong information. Let me know what you think!

Source:  Article Originally posted on Kishau.com

WhoIsHostingThis.com is a tool that will indicate the hosting provider for any website. They claim to provide more accurate results than similar sites such as DomainTools. It’s one of the more straight-forward tools available. Simply type the desired domain name in the text box on the home page, then click ‘Find Host’. The data provided is a very simple display of the name of the hosting provider (as opposed to vague nameservers or IP Addresses).

Why is this important

1. Learn where popular websites are hosted. Although the tool doesn’t provide the hosting plan (shared vs. dedicated) used by the site owner, it does provide some insight on the hosting provider and their capability for hosting large/popular sites.
2. Report malicious activity such as Denial of Service attackers and website thieves.
3. Learn additional data on your competitors.
4. Perform research on popular hosting providers before transferring your hosting service.

Many companies have begun to incorporate social media into their marketing strategy.  Regarding online brand protection, prior to the rapid evolution of social media networks, businesses were mostly concerned with claiming their preferred domain name.  Currently, one of the concerns that business owners face is how to protect and claim their brand across the hundreds (if not thousands) of social media services.   In April, I had an opportunity to speak with Sara Czyzewicz from Claim.io. Sara is the Co-Founder of Olive Interactive, LLC. Claim.io, an Olive Interactive product, allows you to claim your name and protect your brand on 300 social media networks.  Here is the transcript & audio of our conversation.

Audio/Podcast

Transcript

Kishau: I’m really pleased that you were available to give us more information about your product. Tell us more about ClaimIO? Is it a service? Is it a product?

Sara: Absolutely. Claim.io is a service of Olive Interactive, which basically secures your brand or your name across 300 of the top social media and social networking sites. So basically, we register your vanity URL and username as well as upload initial content for your brand.

Kishau:  You’ve said that this is a product of Olive Interactive. Could you tell us more about your company?

Sara: Sure Olive Interactive is an LLC formed in 2008. Myself and Aaron Calenburg are the two current core co-founders. We initially meet and formed this business in Bolder, CO and we have since moved it to headquarter in Providence, RI.

Kishau: Regarding the service Claim.io, many businesses are trimming their budgets and most business owners have two questions when approaching new services: “How much does it cost” and “How does this help me meet my business goals”. Can you provide more information regarding the value for using Claim.io.

Sara: Sure Absolutely, Claim.io is like the social media of domain registration. 10+ years ago it was important to get your name.com, now it’s really important to get your socialmediaURL/yourname; that’s in the URL and claim that username and especially important because if someone claims it before you its really difficult to get it back, if you can even do so. So the prices, you can claim 100, 150, or 300 social networking sites and those go for $129, $179, and $329 respectively.

Kishau:  This is a fixed price point? So those are your packages 100, 150, 300 (social networks)?

Sara: Exactly.

Kishau:  How exactly does the process work? How do you sign up?

Sara: You go to Claim.io and you enter your basic personal or business/company information as well as a profile bio. There’s a short bio and a long bio. Depending on what the social media site allows, we’ll use one or the other, as well as a link to your main website, and a photo of yourself or a logo of your business.

Kishau: What’s your turnaround time?

Sara: Takes about 5-7 business days for the 300 services; so for the 150 or 100 [packages], a little less.

Kishau: When businesses sign up, what do they need to have completed and available in order for you to get this done for them?

Sara: Essentially their profile information which is basically your name and birthday. We will only use that personal information if it’s absolutely necessary for sign up for those sites.  Also, the link back to your website, and the logo of your business, as well as a short and long bio of what your business is or who you are personally will be uploaded on these sites.

Kishau: You mentioned an extended bio, do you simply register the username for the price you quoted, are you actually creating a profile on each service?

Sara:   Many of these sites allow a photo and a link to your website which is great for SEO, and not only are we claiming that vanity URL and that username but we are establishing you on that site so once they go to socialmediasite.com/yourcompanyname they can actually get a brief overview of who you are, your logo and link back to your site.

Kishau: And what happens if your first choice username is not available?

Sara: We actually check up to four usernames. So we check your 1^st and if that’s not available we’ll check your 2^nd; if that’s not available, we’ll check your 3^rd and then your 4^th choice. And then once your order is complete, you get a report saying ‘such-n-such’ usernames were registered on these sites, <usernames> on those sites etc. So if any of them were unavailable, then you’ll see that in your report. If you have any brand name that you want to try to get on another social site which is already registered then you know which ones to go after.

Kishau: How does your company ensure the usernames requested does not violate an existing trademark and how do you protect businesses from identity theft and squatters?

Sara: We do a sufficient amount of research on our clients as they come in to ensure that they actually represent or own the brand that they are claiming. Additionally, it’s very clear in our Terms Of Use that identity squanders will not be accepted or tolerated at all.

Kishau: There are so many social media services available; you’ve mentioned 300 that your company offers.  How did you decide which social media services to include and what are your plans in the future for including new services as they launch?

Sara: So our list of 300 is actually changing on weekly basis almost because it uses social media usage statistics collected from Olive Interactive’s initial product VanityID which basically tracks which social networks are being utilized and which ones are the most popular currently.

Kishau: My last question, just to give our readers a better sense of how they can use your service in their businesses, can you provide some examples of some of the industries that you’ve served?

Sara: Absolutely, we’ve registered friends and usernames for DJ’s and sports teams and individual marketing professionals and lawyers who are representing a company that’s protecting their trademark and it’s all over the board.  Anybody who really has a name or a company name worth protecting.

Kishau: I appreciate you providing this information.  This does seem like a very valuable service for businesses. I would like you to indicate again how exactly they can get started with your service by providing the domain name, spelling it out, and how to sign up.

Sara:  To sign-up, you can go to Claim.io and if you have any questions or just want to say hi, my email is sara@claim.io

Kishau: Thanks a lot Sara! We really appreciate your time and thank you for providing more information.

Many thanks to Sara Czyzewicz, co-founder of Claim.io, for the opportunity to learn more about the service. Visit http://www.claim.io to learn more about their current packages. Also, please note in the comments section if you have used Claim.io or plan to use the service in the near future. ~Kishau Rogers

Today marks the 5th Anniversary of the first video ever uploaded to YouTube. The video features YouTube Co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo (uploaded on April 23, 2005).  By October 2006, Google had purchased YouTube for around 1.65 billion.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

YouTube Stats

• 1+ billion views a day
• Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major US networks created in 60 years.
• More page views every day than the primetime audience of all three networks combined.
• 51% of Youtube users go to YouTube weekly or more often, and 52 percent of 18-34 year-olds share videos often with friends and colleagues.
• YouTube’s user base is broad at age 18-55.

Impressive.  

This is where it started.

Most Viewed Video

As of April 2010, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” is the most viewed video of all time.

Followed by “Charlie Bit My Finger”.

What would we do without YouTube?