The Power Potential Of Google+ Pages For Businesses

The original article is from http://www.fastcompany.com
Written BY Nathaniel PerezMon Nov 7, 2011

If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.


New Ad Behaviors

Google will do what Facebook has shied away from doing: integrating social distribution and relevance into ads that can be placed anywhere the display network can reach. This will spark a long-awaited integration of social and direct media, creating brand new opportunities.
More interestingly, the application of +1 to ad placements is disruptive. At its core, the idea of +1 and sharing directly from an ad unit forces advertisers to think twice about engagement intent. While media placements have largely been designed with strict paths to conversion, they will now allow marketers to do what is done every day via social media: tell more compelling stories and encourage users to share. This will undoubtedly revive anemic engagement rates in this category and lead audiences more naturally from direct media into social conversations, a long-awaited change.

Social Media ROI Through Mature Metrics

Google will allow marketers to deliver value through social media, while measuring impact through directly related metrics that are far more mature. A few things that will become possible, at least in ways that won't require too much science, data collection, or expensive tools:

1. Understanding the impact of social content on search and keyword relevance.
2. An integrated understanding of traffic and distribution through search, web sources as well as social propagation (do check out Google+ Ripples and how post distribution can be tracked). 
3. A clear connection between direct media conversion data and social behavior.

It's no surprise that at the heart of this strategy, Google will leverage Analytics to integrate measurement into a single view.

CAN GOOGLE PAGES BE A WIN? IT MIGHT...

 …If Google figures out its launch strategy. Google needs to grab control of its feature release cycle, at least as far as public perception is concerned. A clearer direction can drum up massive excitement (as its initial launch organically demonstrated). Add to that a little more pizazz and commitment to communication (think Lady Gaga for Chrome). A better handshake with partners, especially platform vendors, wouldn't hurt either. Last time we checked, +Pages are not integrated to any social media management platform, there is no sign of an official API, and page-management permission features are too primitive for big brands. Forgiveness can't last forever.
…If there are incentives for engagement. Brands could easily spare themselves the trouble of yet another social channel to manage, with its own set of processes and policies still to be defined, unless Google can create clear ways to show brands that engagement is worth their effort. For example, the launch of a page  should not be another uphill battle towards a large following, but rather a clear demonstration of how the Google network can help social "pay off." The question is how Google will productize this value proposition for the product and how it will aggressively make it happen for marketers.
…If marketers can reach beyond the page. In a world of Facebook marketers shackled to EdgeRank, Google should focus on reach and relevance, enabling +Page marketers to reach far beyond their page, fans and circles and into the Google network, allowing wonderful things to happen. Think about "One Click Video Seeding": allowing marketers to "buy up" on video posts, reaching directly into YouTube and Display Network placements. Or think about Google enabling the idea of YouTube Publishers on Google+, allowing marketers to tap into the right influencers and to watch the impact of social sharing through Google+ Ripples. Or better yet, Google+ providing marketers with the ability to align their page content with the right SEO keywords, also with a "buy up" SEM option. This strategy has endless possibilities if it's considered.
…If brand circles are flexible. More powerful than the idea of brands added to user circles, or even followers added brand circles, is the idea that fans can add themselves to a brand's own circles. A follower that identifies to something the brand stands for is a natural thing. It's also a much richer new basis for a relationship than Facebook likes, or Google+ follows. Let's consider a hypothetical--if I choose to belong to vitaminwater's "Hip-Hop" circle on Google+ Pages, it's very different than saying I dig the "Skaters" circle. It's basically just saying: "I like you because…". Yet, it is a powerfully new concept for both brands and fans.
…If Google focuses on integrated value. It's easy for Google to get caught up in the social network "runner up" game against Facebook. It needs to stay focused on the fact that its first and biggest opportunity is in realizing value across their ecosystem. Content, +Pages, +Ads, Circles, Influencers and the Google ecosystem together are pure power.

Will Google get it right? I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm @perezable on Twitter.

What Every Company Should Take From Barnes & Noble: A Page From Their Corporate Playbook

The original article is from http://www.fastcompany.com
Written BY FC Expert Blogger Aaron ShapiroWed Nov 9, 2011

 If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.

Time and time again we've seen the same story play out: An established industry player ignores digital and ends up in a fight for survival against a brash startup, empowered by a little user focus and unencumbered by the burdens of maintaining the status quo.

I'm not saying that the Nook is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or that it can beat the Fire or iPad. And I'm not even sure if the product will ensure Barnes & Noble's long-term future--after all, its primary business is still the declining business of selling print books in physical stores. But with the “bookseller’s” new tech cred and revenue stream, it could stay relevant, survive, and even succeed. Compare that to Borders, its erstwhile competitor. It essentially watched the digital revolution from the sidelines while its business slid into bankruptcy--a chain of events I highlighted through a recent stunt.


Here’s what Barnes & Noble did to transcend its would-be analog and fruitless future:

• The Right Management: Barnes & Noble hired William Lynch, an Internet executive who had previously worked at HSNi, IAC, and Palm, to run its digital operations. He was soon promoted to CEO--a radical move as he had no prior experience in the book business or physical retail.
• The Right Strategy: Management imagined a digital future where the products it sold (books, music, and video) were all digital, and saw themselves as a big seller of that digital content. Then they took a great risk to make it happen by building an organization that could create, market, and sell what became the Nook. This is no easy task. It means creating a new organizational structure, attracting new talent, and most importantly having a willingness to cannibalize the core business.  

• The Right Leverage: Traditional companies have some things going for them that technology pure-plays lack, namely, "traditional" assets. The smartest companies leverage those assets to create a new solution that's superior to what the technology-only companies can produce. In doing so, they turn their business' legacy from a weakness to a strength. In the case of Barnes & Noble, it's their stores, which they're turning into giant showcases for the Nook, like mini, B&N versions of the Apple store. It's great for sales and customer service, and it’s something Amazon cannot offer.

These are important lessons for any business leader. The only companies that have a chance of surviving the digital revolution must enter the technology fray and compete head-on. Of course, that doesn’t always--or even often--mean the company needs to develop the newest gadget. More often it comes to life as a software business that’s run as a companion to the core, existing business. In either case, though, the technology side must be built and run, as Barnes & Noble has shown. A digital-savvy manager must have enough influence to execute great, company-wide change based on a strategy where technology is used to increase the value and relevance of legacy operations.

When the world is run on software, the only businesses that will survive are technology companies. So learn from Barnes & Noble. Become a great technology company and own your future.

Should You Hire For Skill Or Spirit?

The original article is from http://www.fastcompany.com
Written BY FC Expert Blogger Michelle RandallTue Nov 8, 2011

If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.

Companies spend a huge amount of time and resources crafting business strategies. Even so, most of these strategies end in failure. If employees don’t buy into a strategy, it’s doomed to failure from the start. After all, strategy doesn’t execute itself. People execute it. This is why it’s vital to integrate strategy and people.

Because people represent the potential of the business, high-growth companies need high-growth employees. Employee development is the key ingredient in breaking through to the next level of growth. Employees have to develop new skills that allow them to perform at higher levels so that they can quickly deliver on the potential of the strategy and the company itself.

While it’s certainly possible to hire for new capabilities, there are tremendous benefits of promoting from within. Just a few benefits include: retaining technical knowledge; honoring the informal, social fabric of the organization; and fostering the culture of the company.

Employee development needs to be included in both strategy creation and execution. There are two main ways to assess people and their development: skills and spirit.

Spirit refers to the “soft” skills that can’t be trained effectively. You have to hire for them. These are hard to find but are necessary for a company to function smoothly.

One of these skills is teamwork--the ability to put the needs of the group ahead of personal desires. Another is heart, as in “put your heart into it.” This describes true commitment and passionate engagement. Employees with heart take ownership of their jobs and go the extra mile.

Too often, companies hire for skills without enough consideration for spirit. When that happens, you end up with a bunch of wonks who can’t work together. There needs to be a balance between skills and spirit  across the entire company.

An Expert Tells Us 12 Things You Need To Know About Doing Business In India

The original article is from http://www.businessinsider.com
Written Aimee Groth | Nov. 10, 2011, 9:25 AM


If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.

Today America and India trade billions of dollars worth of goods and services every year.  But it wasn't always this way. In 1985, two-way trading was around $100 million, says Rajiv Khanna, an M&A lawyer for K&L Gates. He's represented U.S. and Indian companies — including Walmart, Par Pharmaceuticals and private equity firm Berggruen Holdings — in deals since then.

Which means he's also seen his fair share of businesses make mistakes while trying to break into the Indian market. "I saw the entire evolution until the present day," he says. "I don’t think you ever know the rules – even I can learn every day. And I had a head start."

Here are some tips he gave us for moving into the Indian market:
Don't assume things are the same, no matter how 'Americanized' your business partners may be
"The general rule that nobody follows: they assume that business is done the same way in their home country. It’s the natural reflex. It gets accentuated in a country like India. If you go to China, you’re reminded more obviously that you’re in a foreign country. In India, you may be lulled into complacency. The differences are still there."
If you expect something to take a week, it'll take a month
"First and foremost, there's the timing perception. If the average American businessman wants to do something in one week, it will take four times as long. If you’re a person who gets impatient, you shouldn’t be the one doing the deal."
You're not that important — even if you're the CEO of a Fortune 10 company 
"The second thing is your perception of your self-importance. If you’re one of the Fortune 10 companies, your assumption would be you’ll be treated in a certain manner, because you’re used to being treated in that manner in your home country. That is not a good assumption. The CEO of a major U.S. company took his private plane to India with his team – and he assumed he didn’t even need a visa. But in India you need a visa. [The authorities] gave him 24 hours and they fetched him and deported him. That’s the way the system works. You can’t assume you’ll be treated with an amount of deference and respect."
If you're like most American corporations, you'll choose Delhi for your Indian headquarters 
"Mumbai is like New York and Delhi is like Washington, D.C. A lot more business is done in Delhi. It's also the most livable city. The government is hiring there. There's better infrastructure; more cleanliness. Lots of American corporations are based there. If you have to travel two times a week to talk to the government, you might as well be here."
But expect to travel all over India to do business 
"You really can’t do business by staying in one city – your base is just where your airport is. Visit the Delhi airport at 6 a.m., and it's filled with people who are going to another city. Everything is two hours away.

There’s not enough business in any city. You can’t just sit in Delhi – you have to go to five cities. You can be a lawyer in New York, and never leave. People travel a lot because they need to capture the market."
Expect to start and end your day late
"Business in the morning starts late – people have more breakfast meetings. Generally around 10, 10:30.
Dinner time in India also tends to be late. At 6 p.m., people are still having evening tea."

Prepare for things to change at the last minute 
"Meetings often get scheduled at the last minute, and often change at the last minute. One of the major management consulting firms I represented wanted to schedule a dinner at 6 p.m. in Delhi. I said, 'Nobody will come to your dinner.' People showed up at 9 and 10 p.m. This guy didn’t listen to me. I told him it's your fault scheduling thinking you have the self-importance to schedule an early dinner."
Even though your Indian counterparts may speak English, there are still language barriers. 
"Most people speak English. That’s an advantage you have – but that doesn’t mean everything translates. People say, 'no problem’ – but there can be a number of problems."
Before booking any trip to India, look at all the religious holiday calendars"There are more religious holidays in India. Don’t plan a trip right in the middle of them. You could encounter four days of holidays."
Address people by their last names  
"You don’t jump to first names quickly. But that can change – people are open to the idea."
Don't go in for a handshake with a woman 
"Generally you would not shake hands with a woman. But no one is getting terribly upset if you do it. That’s another thing you need to know."
And you don't need the perfect handshake 
"In America, you have to have a firm handshake. In India, you shouldn’t read anything into a limp handshake. A full handshake is not as common. They're more relaxed about that."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-do-business-in-india-2011-11?utm_source=Pulse&utm_medium=App?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews#ixzz1fUjur5X5

Leveraging Blog Comments & Reviews

The original article is from http://www.businessinsider.com
Written Lisa Barone, Outspoken Media | Nov. 9, 2011, 8:43 PM

If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.

OMG, I MADE IT! I just hauled serious, well, you know, to get here on time. Luckily, Mike D. held the session for me by stalling and telling stories until I could get set up. THANKS, MIKE!

So up on stage we have Michael Dorausch, Warren Whitlock, Adam Proehl, and Arienne Holland.
Up first is Michael.

He’s checking out reviews for dentists here in Vegas because he likes to keep it local.  If you looked at them, you might say, great, there are lots of dentists with nothing but five 5-star reviews. But he knows better because he knows how to study reviews. He knows their anatomy. If you see that all reviews are written on a Tuesday around the same time, that’s staff.   If you are going to have your staff write you fake reviews (which you shouldn’t do) at least teach them how to do it better.

He shows a particularly nasty review from a guy named Chad and mentions he might want to flag it as inappropriate.  The notes how the owner responded with something that was really impersonal. Mike says I (like, me) would have done it differently. I think he gives me too much credit. ;)  He shows how the business was coming to respond months after negative reviews were being post and were basically cut and pasting the exact same response. It tells us the business is kind of crappy at social media. As a consumer, that’s a red flag for pretty much anyone.

If he has a negative review that is legitimate, he will go online and respond to that.  He’ll take his punches and be transparent about it. If it’s a hater, his approach and his thought is that the person doesn’t exist. Chad’s just a hater and he’s not going to play the game. One of these days if Google is going to clean it up, they’re more likely to get rid of stuff he, as the owner, isn’t responding to. By responding, he lends credibility to the bad review.

After some more research into Chad’s review, Mike find that Chad ONLY writes one-star reviews so maybe he’s just a hater or it’s a Mechanical Turk kind of thing. Most of the reviews he’s seeing in bulk, they’re churn negative reviews that if you really read them, you can tell.

Mike wishes that instead of being able to flag comments as inappropriate we could flag them as moronic. Heh.

How can you Ask For Reviews?
He mentions how Google is incentivizing reviews at the McCarran airport.  When you take advantage of the free Vegas airport wifi, a page jumps up that says “hi, why not review your favorite business while you’re here?”  That’s incentivizing reviews.  That’s also kind of awesome.

• URL Shorteners
• Page w links (your URL)
• Business Cards
• Postcards
• Emails
• Receipts

When his clients ask him what he wants for Christmas, he lets them know he’d love a review. They don’t ask for it, per se, but they do put up a small, friendly flier that asks people to leave reviews.
He mentions how the last time he got a really nasty review, he printed it out and hung it up in the office so that everyone could see it.  The result was that new clients read that review and they felt the need to defend Mike by leaving positive reviews.  He called it Review Bait, heh.
Next up is Adam Proehl.

A review really is user generated content, and that’s what he wants to talk about. Which, is good, since the session is on reviews.
Consumer World

• Usually simple transactions
• Discretionary income purchase
• Reviews not a new thing

70 percent of users trust consumer opinions posted online 80 percent of reviews are positive 97 of customers find online reviews to be accurate upon evaluation B2C Habits -> B2B Behavior

• Also consumers
• Carryover of B2C habits
• Some key differences – cycle length, pricing, approvals, agreements/contracts

Quickbooks Study – 555% Better They did a study about 18 months ago.  They have a Pro Advisors Program and they found they businesses with reviews received 555% more clicks than businesses without reviews. DUDE! When you think about sales, its important to think about the buying cycle and where reviews might come in.  They could come into play in the discovery stage, they could come into play when you’re doing pricing, when you’re telling people about it, etc.  93 percent of B2B buyers start the buying process with search.  What does that mean? It means that Google Instant is making it really easy for people to find reviews since they auto-populate it in the search box. 63 percent of B2B C-level execs turn to search to locate information during the approval process. This is one area where the long tail could  be useful.  You can’t optimize for all of your long tail terms, it’s just too much to put on your product detail page. Your customers can do that for you in their review. They can say how they use your product,  where they use it, etc. This helps you capitalize on long tail SEO. 80 percent of IT decision makers said word of mouth recommendations are the MOST important source when making buying decision. IT touches pretty much everything in your business. You want to win them over. Longer cycle means more due diligence, more touch points and multiple decision makers getting involved. Industry prediction: B2B will take advantage of social commerce tools and adopt at scale within 3 years vs B2Cs 7-year adoption page – Cathy Halligan, Power Reviews 9 out of 10 reviewers say they will find you when they’re ready to buy. You need to be there for your buyer. This may grow bigger than reviews. Some Tactics of the Pros

• Engage with post purchase surveys
• Find your Evangelists/Advocates
• Ask them to write a review

Not To Do

• Don’t Fake
• Don’t keep begging for reviews if you get no response

Next up is Arienne Holland. She starts off talking about her #littledog and all the lessons she’s learned about marketing from her little dog.  Okay, let’s go with this. At some point, we’re all the little dog and we have big dog competition.   Comments are things.  Commenting is an action that you can take on other sites and can benefit you and your business. You need a commenting strategy.  There are strategies you should avoid and strategies you should have. Ball L*cking: If you spend your time on your own site in your comments, you’re just dealing with comments, you are not commenting. You are a ball licker. OMG. Is this really happening. DAD, DON’T READ THIS POST! Puppy  Humping: You go and you just blast everywhere. There are 5 things that little dogs need: attention, attention, attention, attention and toys. In terms of blog commenting there are things you want attention from.  You want attention from potential customers. How do you do that? Go answer their questions. She was at a conference earlier this year and Sony did a presentation about how they  had done two years on extended social media monitoring to find that people were asking questions about how to use the Sony camera. It took them two years to figure them out. That’ show the big dog did it. The little dog can find out where the potential customers are and answer their questions honestly.  You can do it even if you’re recommending a service that is not your own? Why? Because you’re behind a hero and establishing trust. You can use blog comments for social monitoring.  People who have blogs and forums of their own and start creating relationships with them. Use them to get attention for industry influencers. Comment where your customers are, not where you will get the ego boost.  That’s called preaching to the congregation, not the choir. Another way to use blog commenting is to get attention from journalists. A lot of time we think getting noticed is going to cost too much money or take too much time, but it’s actually just about complimenting a reporter.  Be kind, be helpful and be smart. Over time, cycles are long, they will know your name and they will know you as a source. And that’s a very helpful person to be.  Be as specific as possible about who you are when commenting on news stories (not in a jerky way).  Be specific about how you are in terms of your expertise. The final thing a little dog needs is toys. Toys are tools.  Things like MuckRack, Fuego, etc. If you’re looking for places to comment, go where they gather. Use Meetup.com to find people.  If you’re looking for big thinkers, go search whose talking at TED.  Check out trade associations and conference sites. Don’t just look at the speaker list, look at the attendee list. Because you know they’re looking for something. Next up is Warren. He wants to do something different. He doesn’t have a PowerPoint. It’s a session on reviews, so he wants to get some reviews. He asks how many people are here to leverage comments. He asks how many people want to get rid of bad reviews. How many people want good reviews. How many people want a lot more customers to their business. The secret is that each person you interact with wants the same thing. Social media makes a whole lot of difference right now. The reason it’s a revolution is because the future is not about broadcasting out your message better, it’s about listening. The tools we have available today make it possible. You can find out exactly who is saying something. You can find people who are fans. Find out whose not really sure. Most problems can be solved by listening. People just want to be heard. He knows thats true of him. He complains a lot on Twitter.   He talks about Dell Hell…which is the first time I have heard anyone mention Dell Hell is probably four years. :) And he’s done.  He just wanted to make a few comments.

Read more: http://outspokenmedia.com/internet-marketing-conferences/leveraging-blog-comments-reviews/#ixzz1fUiu6ZyM

New Survey Tool is Every CEO’s Crystal Ball

The original article is from http://www.businessinsider.com
Written George Roberts, OpenView Venture Partners | Nov. 9, 2011, 8:39 PM


If you want to read more, please refer to the link above.


Every founder / CEO in the software industry I know would love to have a crystal ball to help them and their management teams make the right decisions when it comes to strategic issues like

1. New product offerings that will grow revenues
2. The right competitive messages that will resonate with their prospects in their current target market segment
3. Identifying the next target market segment
4. Additional customer service offerings that will improve their Net Promoter Score and increase renewal, up-sell and referenceability.

…the list goes on and on.

While a crystal ball would help, we all know it does not exist. The next best thing to lower a company’s risk and help them make better decisions is to make informed decisions. The only way you can do that in this imperfect world with imperfect and incomplete data is to make sure you are talking directly to the people who influence or make decisions.

SurveyBuilder, a new (free) tool just released by USamp, helps you build, promote and analyze your surveys. It is easy to use, fast, unlimited and allows you to analyze survey responses real time. Plus, you can promote your survey through email, your website and social network sites.

Test-drive the tool here. I hope you find it useful. It may not be a crystal ball, but it should help you make better decisions as you build the next great software company.

Read more: http://blog.openviewpartners.com/new-survey-tool-is-every-ceos-crystal-ball/#ixzz1fUhYoDSZ