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The Internet and Customer Service – You’re in the Spotlight!

Poor customer service negatively impacts businesses in a lot of ways, and can create irreversible results with both new and repeat clients. First, prospects that you’d like to turn into customers will likely change their minds. Secondly, existing customers will become frustrated and take their business elsewhere. And both have the potential to cause damage when they report their experiences to others. In this digital age, customers share information with the click of a button, making it even more important to head off service issues at once.

Hearing the Complaints

When a disgruntled internet customer makes a complaint, the best thing for any business to do is to have that complaint settled quickly by the company. Normally, having customer grievances “go public” makes it harder to deal with them and harder to effect some damage control. There are however, beneficial third party services that allow mistreated customers to air their valid complaints with the intent that the offending business will listen. Management that wants to stay in business wants to listen. Since you’re not seeing the customer in person, getting a chance to hear and solve gripes this way often allows resolution in a timely manner and with little effort. It’s not hard either to imagine the good PR that comes from being perceived as a big business that listens.

Small Business Catastrophe

Poor customer service is catastrophic for small internet companies because they absolutely rely upon repeat customers to survive. Additionally, if there is ever going to be hope of growing the business, prospects must be nurtured so that they turn into loyal shoppers. Positive word of mouth is always key for growth, especially for smaller firms.

Loss of Repeat Customers

Losing a long-time customer is a danger when poor service is allowed. If consumers arrive to your site and are ignored, treated with disrespect, or left alone to wander through pages and wait for service, the clear message they’ll get is that there could be a risk in spending their money here. As a result, many of these people will leave before even considering making a purchase, no matter what types of deals might be found. In fact, customer service is so important that many people are willing to pay more for it, just to feel like their time was well spent.

Loss of Future Customers

Customers experiencing poor online service almost always tell others about it – it makes for grand conversation. Whether out of frustration or because they don’t want their friends and family to have the same bad customer issue, people will relate details of experiences that upset them. Not only does this cost immediate business, but the lost business potential will be exponential over time. Making amends to a new customer who has registered a complaint often takes more input since they don’t have a positive memory of your company to “come back to.”

Employee Turnover

Great operations attract better employees. After all, no one wants to work in a chaotic environment where they are under-trained or where inadequate staff exists. This type of environment creates an unpleasant morale and leads to high turnover which is hard on everyone. Additionally, it does not reflect well on a company to appear as though it cannot sustain its staff. Thorough training of the entire staff in good customer interaction and company loyalty procedures may be the best investment for any business owner who needs to improve service reputation.

Loss of Profits

Everything connected to poor customer service ultimately leads to bottom line losses. No firm, particularly in a challenging business climate, can afford to lose business due to poor customer service. When it comes down to it, the most important aspect of any business is its reputation. Once that is damaged, it can be very hard to recoup it without a great deal of work.

For any internet business, new or long established, the fears of sudden drops in customer satisfaction, customer purchases, and customer traffic are all too real. Every effort should be made to maintain client loyalty and business reputation at all times by offering the best customer service available. Being dependable to listen to and solve any customer gripes in timely fashion will go a long way toward cementing high satisfaction scores.

Ann Bailey owns a small business dependent on client satisfaction and compiles these situations for consumers and business owners alike. The accessible website Gripevine.com allows consumers a place to voice any customer issue they may have had with poor service and allows the relevant business an opportunity to hear about it and take measures to correct it.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23905174@N00/2438005410/

The Benefits of a Viral Video- Besides Money

Marketing has changed substantially over the past few decades. Advertising has stepped out of the traditional arena of television, radio and billboards and infiltrated the all reaching world of the Internet. Marketers can use methods like social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and many others to get their message out there. One of the most powerful marketing tools to have emerged, however, is online video marketing.The Power of Video Marketing Blogs

It’s an absolute necessity for every business, corporation, entrepreneur or anyone else hoping to gain exposure to have a video marketing blog. Some individuals ask why it’s simply not enough to run television ad campaigns since they’re making videos anyway. The answer is quite simple: exposure. Television commercials are now easily skipped using digital video recorders (DVR), but this, of course, isn’t the only reason.

Most traditional marketing techniques, such as television advertisements, are referred to as “outbound marketing”. This means that marketers are throwing their advertisements out at absolutely everyone with the hope that a few will pay attention. Online marketing blogs, on the other hand, are a type of inbound marketing that entices people to seek them out. A person who actively searches for a company’s content is much more likely to convert than one who just happens to catch a commercial.

Video blog marketing also helps a company build authority, but it’s important that they’re posting the right types of videos. The majority of people are most captivated by videos that offer value. These marketing videos are usually educational. A bait and tackle shop, for instance, could post a video entitled: How to clean a Catfish. This type of video is informative, not overly zealous and even has the potential of going viral.

How Videos go Viral and their Benefits

One of the most powerful factors involved in video marketing is the opportunity to go viral. One company, for instance, that sells blenders decided to start a sort of video marketing blog. It is an ongoing series entitled “Will it Blend?” and showcases their blenders blending several different types of objects (ie. iPods, and other blenders). The campaign skyrocketed the company to success, and their latest video produced over 160,000 views in only four weeks.

There are a few things involved in making a video go viral. The most important factor is that the video must be shareable. This means that someone who watches the video must be tempted to share it with all of their friends. It’s also important that these videos target the right audience. This can be done by using social media and SEO (keyword targeting is especially important). Both of these methods will help increase a video’s exposure and move it up on search rankings.

Viral videos have numerous benefits for a company that’s lucky enough to produce them. The most obvious benefit is exposure. Many viral videos end up having millions of views. An often overlooked benefit, however, is the low investment cost that viral videos and video marketing in general have. The amount of exposure that a viral video can get makes the price of producing them negligible.

Anyone out there with even a small amount of advertising knowledge knows that online video promotion is an absolute necessity in any marketing campaign. The sheer reach that the videos can have is astonishing. With minimal investment, an individual can enlist the services of a marketing video production company and have promotional material that will consistently show a good return on investment (ROI). Plus, if a video is produced well and manages to go viral, the sky is the limit on how much profit the company will turn on their investment.

An art business owner, author Ann Bailey relays these viral video tips for those looking for the best strategies for their advertising. The Washington DC metro firm of 522 Productions acts behind the scenes to help businesses with a video marketing blog by working out all the design, shooting, and editing steps.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebluewig/5775583280/

Duplicate Content Analyzed: What about Block Quotes?

Google has been cracking down on duplicate content rules and penalties more and more each year, so it’s important to really understand what does and does not count as duplicate content. You never quite know what Google is going to pull next, so you can never be too careful or ask questions that seem too obvious. In other words, if you’ve ever wondered about quotes and how they pertain to duplicate content, don’t hesitate to ask.

Matt Cutts Explains Quoting and Duplicate Content

Someone finally did ask Matt Cutts, head of Google’s webspam team, this question, and he had a few different things to say and rules to explain:

Always link back. First, you must always include a link that will send readers back to where the quote was originally published. If you do this, you’ll likely never have to worry about getting penalized. Cutts explained that they have good ways of detecting if you’re doing this without any issues.

Keep the quotes short. Although linking back to the original source is great, that won’t be good enough if you’re quoting an entire article from a site. You want to keep your quotes short to avoid changing your sites reputation in the eyes of Google.

Offer your own thoughts. You don’t want to have a quote, a few words, another quote from somewhere else, another few words, etc. You have to have “attribution and insight” as Cutts would say. You need to have your own opinion that is more than two or three words.

The moral of the story is that appropriate quoting is completely acceptable. Many great sites do this and Google has said it’s extremely legitimate. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the video that Cutts created in response to this exact question:

About the Author: Amanda DiSilvestro is a graduate of Illinois State University. Although she graduated with an English Education degree, she found herself working as a full-time blogger in the SEO/social media department at HigherVisibility SEO, a leading franchise SEO company.

Is Your Small Business Leaving You with Less Energy?

For small business owners that are counting every penny, how many of them do you think worry about their heating and cooling needs during the year for their offices?

While some may check the thermostat every couple of hours, others are more likely to not be on top of how much air or heat they and their employees are actually wasting. As a result, money is essentially being thrown out the window, money that one can never get back.

Although some business owners may think that it doesn’t take much to heat or cool their buildings during the year, they would probably get quite an awakening if they knew the truth. In a day and age where the economy is still proving a challenge for many, saving money on heating and cooling costs is important.

energy saving tips — Image by butkaj.com / Flickr

In order to make your office as efficient as possible, keep the following in mind:

1. Check the thermostat – The easiest and most efficient way to save on your office energy bills is by checking the thermostat on a daily basis. Let’s assume you operate a 40-hour per week, 5-day a week office. With that being said, make sure you keep the thermostat at a reasonable level during both hot and cold weather. If the office will sit empty over the weekend, be sure to turn back/turn up (depending on season) the thermostat when leaving at the end of the day Friday so you spend less over the weekend. Two days may not seem like a great deal, but you should notice savings when doing it on a regular basis;

2. Work with the weather – If your office space has a number of sizable windows, make sure you take advantage of the weather to let light in and out. In the warmer months, keep the blinds or other coverings closed during the warmest part of the day to lessen the need for air conditioning. In the cooler months, keep the light coming in as much as possible during the day to decrease the need for heat, letting the sun warm your office space;

3. Review heating and cooling systems – One of the big money grabbers when it comes to your heating and cooling needs is having air conditioners and heaters that do not work properly. Before the start of winter, check the office heater to make sure it is running at full efficiency, along with it being clear of debris and dirt in any vent areas. The same holds true prior to the start of summer with your office air conditioning. If the appliance is only operating at half capacity, you are losing money by the hour;

4. Shop around for providers – While you may be limited on who provides your heating and cooling needs on where your office is located, that doesn’t mean you can’t investigate if there are other affordable options. Also shop around for office heaters, air conditioners, fans, etc. when possible. As more energy-efficient and environment-friendly products hit the market, you could realize additional savings with the right selections;

5. Sell your employees on savings – Finally, your employees can and should be your biggest proponents of saving money in the office. Remember, the more you save on your heating and cooling needs, the more you have to potentially give to them, increase your advertising and marketing budget to bring in more business, and the more the business can grow over time. Getting your employees to go along with a little higher or lower thermostat and not wasting energy helps them out too.

With the New Year right around the corner, are you energetic enough to see where your money is going?

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics for various websites, including louisville heating and its heating and cooling options.

Tips on Improving Your Business Sales

No matter what industry you find yourself in, there are probably multiple ways that you can improve on what you’re doing. Many companies have a hard time figuring out how to improve sales numbers without spending a ton of extra money to get the job done. If you are interested in improving your business sales, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

sales promotion girl — Image by nSeika / Flickr

1. Motivate the Sales Staff

If you want to be able to improve your sales, one of the best things that you can do is make sure your sales staff is motivated. When your staff is motivated, they’ll be much more likely to produce numbers. One of the best ways to motivate sales staff is to make sure that they are fairly compensated for the sale that they bring in. Come up with a compensation plan that rewards sales and extra effort. If your sales staff doesn’t think that your compensation plan is fair, they won’t be willing to go out of their way to get sales. Besides offering a better compensation plan, you should also consider offering some other incentives along the way. For example, recognizing your top performers were giving them some type of a prize for making the most sales can go a long way toward motivating them.

2. Get Your Marketing Efforts in Line

One of the biggest mistakes that many businesses make is that they allocate too much money to the wrong types of marketing avenues. You will probably need to spend a big chunk of your money on advertising, but you need to make sure that you’re putting your money into the right channels. For example, if you are throwing money away on a television advertising campaign that doesn’t work, it might be in your best interest to try to advertise online with pay-per-click ads or banner ads. Track your marketing efforts to make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck regardless of which channel you choose.

3. Get Pricing and Promotion Right

As part of the marketing mix, every business has to focus on pricing and promotion. If you have your products at the right price point, this will go a long way toward helping you increase your sales. In some cases, you may have your product overpriced just slightly, which can drive business to one of your competitors. In addition to making sure that you have the right price, you also need to offer the right promotions. For example, you may want to offer a coupon discount or advertise a sale periodically.

Once you implement some of these strategies, you should be able to improve your company’s sales over time. Tweak the different variables involved until you have a strategy that works.

About the Author: This guest post is contributed by Debra Johnson, blogger and editor of Liveinnanny.com. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: – jdebra84 @ gmail.com.