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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Want To Hear About Your Business Complaints? There’s An App For That.

May 29th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Business, Small Business, Stature Projects, Twitter | No Comments »

We live in an app-crazed, social networking world folks.

I thought I had heard it all last week when the “drunk dial” app was unveiled for the Apple iPhone. Now comes word of a yet another new app –  one that could really help small businesses.

Introducing “Salesforce CRM for Twitter.”

When people talk about you and your business – Salesforce let’s you know.

Here’s how is works:

Salesforce plugs into the Twitter API, and customer care reps can start Twitter searches from within Salesforce’s service, bypassing search.twitter.com. If a company discovers someone tweeting about them (good or bad), a button click can import the entire Twitter thread into Salesforce’s software. From there the Twitter user is notified via software, giving them the precious opportunity to respond to the original Tweet.

This is a brilliant idea, given that Twitter users can’t possibly monitor what is being said about them in real time and respond to people’s questions. Twitter is just too large now. Too powerful.

Thankfully, Salesforce can help business owners sleep at night by giving them the tool they need to track complaints – and compliments.

This is beyond better customer care. This is could very well be the life jacket that saves many of our small businesses.

Twitter.

What would businesses do without it?

 Tags: business complaints, salesforce for twitter, Small Business, Twitter

CRMs – A Blessing For Small Business

May 8th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Small Business | 1 Comment »

It’s a dog eat dog world out there and small businesses are doing just about anything they can to save – and build – their client base.

While various cost-cutting measures have hurt some business-customer relationships – CRM applications have taken some of the edge off in at least a portion of the business sector.

Small businesses have embraced these applications and, for some, they’ve become their bread-and-butter.

Stefania Viscusi of TMCNet.com writes that CRMs are the key to success simply because they can leverage overall benefits of better customer relations. CRM applications, like Highrise and Kapture, can also help sales professionals target potential customers, and help them keep track of their interactions with customers.

Bottomline: CRMs save time. They save money. And, even better – their user-friendly interfaces make data entry a breeze. 

Customers want loyalty, quality and personalized service.

With CRMs, small businesses can give them that.

Seriously, they’re all that – and a bag of chips.

 Tags: CRMs, customer relationship management, Small Business

Small Business Finance | Banks Dig Deep For Insight

February 26th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Small Business | 2 Comments »

Is it an act of desperation?  Or a sign of the times?

Some banks – Fortune 500’s mind you – are embracing the world of social networking to finally gain insight into the financial needs of small business owners.

Banks like Bank of America, Capital One, and Visa, Inc are barrowing a page from Facebook to really get at the heart of their small business customers.

B of A – a leader in the banking world of social networking – launched its Small Business Online Community web site in October ‘07.

There’s no advertising – no user fee – just a good old fashion forum on all things small business finance. Kudos to B of A for not trying to generate revenue here.

While business owners won’t find a “status update” feature, the site does give them a place to get tips and feedback from their counterparts.

Some of the more popular topics include: how to start a home-based business, how to convert online traffic to sales, and how to develop successful marketing plans.

The other guys are using their social networks a bit differently.

Instead of just one site, Capitol One has created a network of sites as a way to reach more small business owners online.

Visa, Inc has even gone so far as to set up a Facebook business network. And get this – as part of the effort, Visa promised to give away $2M of Facebook advertising to small-business owners. 

I checked the Visa Business Network this morning. It has nearly 23,000 active monthly members – no telling, though, which of them won the $2M in advertising.

It seems to me some of these banks may be grasping at straws here.

You would have thought they had this small business insight already –  right?

Banks – I offer you this one piece of advice:

Loosen up the purse strings and start lending again.  Small business owners – and the economy – will thank you for it later.

 Tags: facebook, home based business, Small Business, small business finance, small business online, small business owners, social networking

Twitter vs LinkedIn: The New Face of Social Media

January 6th, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn, Small Business, Twitter | No Comments »

Something stinks in the world of social media.

There are too many sites. Too many profiles. Too many friends, followers, and contacts.

In the beginning, MySpace and Facebook were the end of the social media line. Not anymore.

Enter LinkedIn and Twitter.

Both are in a head-to-head fight over popularity and validation, especially in the world of small business.

True both can help generate links, forge relationships, and generate direct sales. But, like in any race, there is only one victor – and this case, I believe it will be Twitter.

Here’s why.

Twitter. It’s all the rage lately. It offers the unique ability to connect with a ton of people you normally wouldn’t have access too – and it all begins with a simple one line update, or tweet.

Here’s a real life example.

A recent Wall Street Journal article featured a woman named Alexa Scordato. When Alexa was looking for a job she didn’t email her LinkedIn contacts about possible openings. Instead, she sent a tweet via Twitter.

Her brief message: “Hey there! Looking for a Social Media job up in Boston. Are you guys doing any entry level hires?”

Within a week, according to WSJ, Alexa had an interview. Within two weeks, she had a job.

Twitter also has the potential to drive some serious traffic to your site. Simply enter the URL into your tweet and your site is golden.

Now Linkedln, on the other hand, is whole different ball game. The site is all about e-mail invitations, connections, and building a professional network.  You build your profile, then invite people (or friends) to join your network. While LinkedIn does have the one line update feature- like those found on Twitter and Facebook – it’s not the driving feature on the site. In my opinion, you really have to know LinkedIn to use it to your advantage. Think of it as a meet and greet arena; users must set up a profile and start introducing themselves around.

Seems to me Twitter can maximize your brand with minimal effort. For LinkedIn users, well, that could take a while.

Go ahead. Give a tweet on Twitter – and see where the next big thing in social media will take you.

Sorry LinkedIn.

 Tags: LinkedIn, self branding, Small Business, social media, Twitter