Ad AgeDIGITAL – NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The 186 responses that Old Spice pitchman Isaiah Mustafa recorded for fans of his beauty, intelligence and outstanding physique took just a week to eclipse the original TV ads themselves in total views, according to new numbers from Visible Measures (full article here at AdAge.com).

Flipboard for iPad – Designed from the ground up for iPad, Flipboard creates a magazine out of a user’s social content. Launch Flipboard and “flip” open the cover – readers can view their sections and personalize the magazine. (Flipboard Press Release here).

“With over 1 billion messages posted every day, social networks are quickly becoming the primary way people discover and share content on the Web. The result is a huge influx of incoming messages and links people must sort through across multiple web sites just to stay up to date,” said Mike McCue, Flipboard?s CEO. “We believe the timeless principles of print can make social media less noisy, more visually compelling and ultimately more mainstream.”

Youth, Business, and Podcasting – SitePoint talks with a couple of veteran podcasters about the medium and have an interesting discussion about youth and entrepreneurship. This is the SitePoint Podcast #70: Youth, Business, and Podcasting with Dave Moyer and Jeff Chandler. (SitePoint Podcast here).

Any additional suggestions for small business owners? Drop us a comment – thanks.

Greg Magnus, Richmond SCORE
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Follow me on Twitter – @gregmagnus, or check out my blog

Last Friday, July 16, at 5:04 am an earthquake shook the SCORE headquarters. It was strong enough to be felt in two states plus Washington, DC. The earthquake measured a 3.6 on the Richter scale and was one of the largest to hit the DC metropolitan area in decades.

An earthquake in DC. What an unexpected event. That’s why so important to have a disaster plan in place. Whether it’s a natural disaster like a flood, or man-made disaster like the recent oil spill, you always need to be prepared to protect your business. Review the simple steps you can take to safeguard your investment. Then, visit SCORE’s Disaster Preparedness page to get more tips, tools and resources.

•Use an online data back-up service. These companies routinely save all the documents on your computer securely off site. So, if your computer is damaged, your files are still safe.
•Buy a fireproof and waterproof safe. Make copies of your most important business documents and keep them stored for safekeeping. Make sure to update documents as necessary.
•Make sure you have insurance coverage. If your area is prone to floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or other natural disasters, make sure your covered. Also, check the fine print. Some policies will cover wind damage from hurricanes, but not the resulting flood damage.

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After experiencing extremely poor customer service from a firm that provides email marketer software, I realized how important it is to connect with your customers, respond to the customer’s needs and address his or her concerns in a timely manner. The company in question not only lost our future business but they also lost a source of referrals while creating another source of dissatisfaction that is shared openly on the Internet about their company.

Don’t repeat this mistake; get a handle on customer service from the beginning and make it a priority for your company. Here are a few things to consider:

• Customer service starts by first taking the time to get to know your customers, his or her situation, vision, frustrations and goals. The best way to accomplish this? Communicate with your customers on a regular basis. Conduct surveys and ask for feedback on your invoices, blogs and websites. Make it easy for your customers to share their visions and goals.
• According to Tom Peters, the majority of customers (about 70%) move on to another company not because of price or product quality, but because they didn’t like the human side of doing business with the provider of the product or service.
• Train “every employee” and hold “every employee” accountable for delivering world-class service.
• Listen to your customers and realize when they are complaining. And, don’t take it personally. A customer complaint is a blessing in disguise. The customer is taking the time to help you improve your business instead of just moving on without providing feedback. Understand that you have an opportunity to create a customer for life by addressing a complaint. Also, you’ll more than likely obtain referrals and positive reviews by engaging with your customer and making them part of the solution.

Tell us about your experience with customer service management. Any suggestions?

Greg Magnus, Richmond SCORE
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Follow me on Twitter – @gregmagnus, or check out my blog

New Bloggers
Have you noticed our two new bloggers at the SCORE Women’s Success Blog, Steve Strauss and Jeanne Rossomme?

Steven D. Strauss is a lawyer and author who is one of the world’s leading small biz experts, and is also the founder of Mr. All Biz. He has been seen on CNN, CNBC, The O’Reilly Factor, and is a regular guest on MSNBC’s Your Business. His latest book is titled, Small Business Bible, and his column, Ask an Expert, appears weekly on USATODAY.com. He is also a regular contributor to AOL Small Business and the American Express OPEN Forum. Read more about Steve.

Jeanne Rossomme, founder of RoadMap Marketing, has 20 years of marketing know-how. She has an MBA from the Wharton School and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she held a marketing positions with DuPont and GE in both the U.S. and Mexico. Read more about Jeanne.

July’s Guest Blogger
This month’s guest blogger at the SCORE Women’s Success Blog is Constant Contact CEO, Gail Goodman.

Gail Goodman is the CEO of email marketing giant, Constant Contact. She holds a BA degree from The University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth. Gail was named “Executive of the Year” at the 2009 American Business Awards and was the 2008 New England Regional winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Make sure to welcome all of our new bloggers by leaving a comment on their posts.

Upcoming Live Webinars
Join SCORE and The Company Corporation  for a free webinar on How to Really Start Your Own Business. Learn more and register.

• Date: Tuesday, July 13
• Time: 12:00 ET

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Sam’s Club announced that for qualified customers they will be partnering with Superior Savings to begin offering small business loans of $5000 to $25000. Their  emphasis  will be towards minorities, women and veterans.

Sam”s Club members who apply for loans during the pilot will receive a $100 off the application fee, a 20% discount and a 20% discount off the borrowing interest rate.

Businesses will be able to join Sam’s for $35 per year and receive three membership cards that entitles them to access at over 600 Sam’s nationwide. Normal membership costs up to $100 annually depending on features provided.

Steve Bloom, SCORE Atlanta writing from Thailand.

Steve Bloom, SCORE Atlanta
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SBA last week announced that a pool of loans will be established to jump start its 504 loan program.

The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the first nine loan pool originators authorized by the agency to assemble and sell pools of 504 program first mortgage loans, a major step to jump-starting a secondary market that should make fixed asset financing more widely available for small businesses.  

The new program was approved under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

Prior to the recent disruption in the credit market, a private secondary market for these loans existed, but has not revived as the economy has started to rebound.  SBA expects this new program to breathe new life into that secondary market and improve access to credit for small businesses by providing a resource that can help boost liquidity to small business lenders.  

“With the resources provided in the Recovery Act, we have engineered a turnaround in its SBA lending, putting nearly $30 billion in the hands of small businesses across the country,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.  “This added support now to re-launch the 504 first mortgage secondary market builds on that success and will help leverage even more capital for small businesses to support their growth and create new jobs.” 

Under the program, the SBA will provide a government guarantee on pools of portions of eligible 504 first mortgage loans assembled by approved pool originators to be sold to third-party investors.  Lenders will retain at least 15 percent of each individual loan, pool originators will assume 5 percent of the risk, and the SBA will guarantee the remaining 80 percent. 

Steve Bloom, SCORE Atlanta
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I facilitate a business round table at a local Chamber of Commerce and our discussion last week centered on an employee at a company, not one of our participants’ firms, that had been indicted for a criminal act and was still employed.

I’m not an attorney, so no legal advice is offered, but this situation can occur at any time and we all need to be aware of how we can potentially be proactive in discovering past challenges and problems a potential hire may have experienced.

I have attached a link that discusses many of the issues pertaining to gathering information on current and future hires. An important part of the process is to make sure that the prospective employee is aware of your intent to do a back ground and credit check and signs a release permitting you and/or your agents to secure any and all information about them. 

These reports are inexpensive and by googling ”background checks” you’ll find many sources that offer this service.  

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs16-bck.htm

Your comments on this information and any experiences that you have encountered would be helpful to others.

Continued Success.

Steve Bloom, SCORE Atlanta
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It is estimated that upwards of 75 percent of all small business owners use email marketing. Unfortunately, industry experts often report that few use it effectively. Here are a few tips for getting it right and increasing your marketing ROI.

First of all, it is rather well known that more than 90 percent of all email sent today is SPAM. Therefore, it is critically important to differentiate your emails from the spammers. Most email marketing software now includes a SPAM analyzer. Basically, the software checks your content for common SPAM words and phrases. The more SPAM words used, the less likely your email will ever get read. Only use email marketing software that includes basic tools that allow you to increase your marketing effectiveness; tools such as SPAM analyzers.

Relevant Messaging

By far the most important thing to do is only send relevant messages that are highly targeted as well as to the point (short and sweet). First and foremost, spend some time generating a “real” contact list and segment that list. Otherwise, you are sending emails that certain customers and prospects really don’t want. Far too many small business marketing staff are sending emails to his or her entire list, which in many cases hasn’t been updated in months, if not years. This practice breaks a fundamental rule of email marketing – don’t send irrelevant information to your contacts using email. List segmentation is easy but it does require you to understand your target market and characteristics of your buyers whether you are selling products or services.

Consistent and Persistent

Next, be consistent as well as persistent. Email marketing takes time and human resources. Be prepared to devote the necessary marketing budget to prepare campaigns, track your results, and update your contact lists on a regular basis. I’ve heard far too many small business owners say email marketing doesn’t work for their business. But, when asked simple questions such as, “how frequently are you sending emails? Do you have dedicated staff assigned to the task”? What’s your budget? The answer is usually, “we don’t have a specific schedule or one person responsible for the task, we send emails when we have the time and we don’t have a specific budget for email marketing.” Sound familiar? If so, consider that your situation just might be more of a management issue than a low return concerning email marketing.

I could go on and on about the effectiveness of email marketing and all of the details associated with increasing your ROI. However, focusing on the simple tips above will help you rapidly improve your marketing effectiveness while you grow your business. Keep it simple, short and sweet.

Tell us about your experience with email marketing. Any suggestions?

Greg Magnus, Richmond SCORE
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Follow me on Twitter – @gregmagnus, or check out my blog

Today’s the first day of summer. Start it off right with tools and tips to succeed.

Starting a Biz?
Workshop: Can You Afford To Start?
Expert Advice: Avoid these Mistakes
eGuide: Biz Tips from a Financial Insider

The Company Corporation & SCORE provide  a FREE start-up workbook. Get your copy at your local SCORE office.

In-Biz and Growing?
Workshop: Promote Your Business
Biz Questions?: Ask a SCORE Mentor
Webinar: Reach Your Business Potential: 8 Pitfalls to Avoid

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A recent CitiBank survey of small business owners found that most are not taking advantage of social media and online tools. However, it also showed that younger entrepreneurs (those under age 45) were more skilled at online marketing, giving them an advantage.

Here are some of the most notable survey results:

• 81% of entrepreneurs still don’t take advantge of social media
• 84% don’t provide for e-commerce
• 62% don’t use email marketing
• 40% of small biz don’t have web sites
• 47% don’t think that Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn are beneficial to their business

Why is Social Media Relevant to Your Business?

It’s time to start taking advantage of all the web has to offer. As a business owner, you have to go where your clients are. According to Google, Facebook is the most trafficked site in the world, with Twitter ranking #18 and LinkedIn coming in the top 100 at #56. Facebook alone has more than 400 million active users who spend over 500 billion minutes per month on the site. Twitter has over 100 million registered users and adds an average of 300,000 new users a day. Similarly, LinkedIn has over 70 million members with a new person joining every second.

Web Business Basics

Even more important than your social media involvement is your business web site. With all the site creation tools and hosting options, there’s no excuse not to have a professional site. This dramatically increases your business’s chances for growth and success. Not convinced? Here are the stats to prove it.

• Online retailers are acquiring new customers at a 15% annual rate versus 2% for traditional brick and mortar retail outlets.
  Deloitte & Touche USA, 11/2006
• Consumers are 50% more likely to be influenced by blogs and e-mails than TV or radio advertising.
  EPM Communications, 04/2006
• 54% of consumers referred a friend to a vendor found online.
  Nielsen/Net Ratings, 11/2006
• Online sales are growing at a rate between 20 and 25% per year. Online sales (including travel) are projected to reach $211.4 billion this year.
  Shop.org, 07/2006

Get Started Today

In this Internet age, you can’t afford not to be more engaged online. After all, your competitors are already making online connections. To get help developing your web presence and marketing online, visit your local SCORE office or ask a SCORE mentor for help online.

Jacalyn Barnes, SCORE
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