To blog or not to blog is no longer the question for entrepreneurs, small businesses and many individuals. It seems as if almost everyone is blogging, so the real questions are how to blog, where to blog, what to blog, and how to use the blog to drive qualified traffic to the website. Well executed and publicized blogs can be the path to entrepreneurship for bloggers who find the right audience.
Who Is Blogging
The blogosphere is exploding with over 181 million personal and business blogs tracked at the end of 2011 by NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/buzz-in-the-blogosphere-millions-more-bloggers-and-blog-readers/
Blogs encompassed almost every conceivable topic from AARP articles to zoology. To find out who is blogging, the Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2011 survey collected data from 4,114 bloggers worldwide from September 13 to October 4, 2011 http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2011-introduction/
The survey found that 60% of the respondents were hobbyists blogging for fun, 18% blogged full- or part time for income, 8% are corporate bloggers who blog for the companies that they worked for as part of their jobs, and 13% of the respondents are entrepreneurs who blog for the companies that they own.
Blogging has spawned a whole group of entrepreneurs who blog for profit, such as the “Mommy Bloggers” who are paid to review products and affiliate program members who receive commissions for products that their readers buy after clicking on links.
Where They’re Blogging
There are three major free blog hosting services.
Blogger.com, which is now owned by Google, does not release statistics on the number of users. The State of the Blogsphere study 2010 http://technorati.com/social-media/article/how-technology-traffic-and-revenue-day/ found that Blogger and Blogspot were more popular with hobbyist bloggers.
According to the wordpress.com website on March 16, 2012, there were over 72 million Wordpress sites internationally, and Wordpress hosts about half of those blogs. Wordpress.com and wordpress.org are available through free downloads. There is user documentation on their websites and free tutorial videos are available on www.wordpress101.com which also has paid membership material.
Although it is the newest dedicated free webhost, Tumblr – www.tumblr.com - has shown explosive growth and now hosts nearly 44 million blogs. One interesting feature of Tumblr is that it allows a blogger to call in and create an audio blog entry.
According to NM Incite, during the third quarter of 2011, Blogger got 46.3 million unique visitors, Wordpress blogs had 20.4 million, and tumbler had 13.8 million.
Some businesses integrate blogs into their existing websites as a separate page or tab. Provided that new articles are uploaded on a regular basis, this is a good way of adding fresh content to the website and obtaining better search engine rankings.
Some bloggers use dedicated domains for their blogs with top-level domain names. Many affiliate marketers use this strategy for better search engine rankings for their keywords. Some companies use a separate domain to create backlinks to their main business sites. And some companies have both a page on their main websites and a separate domain for their blogs.
What They’re Blogging About
Some of the most popular blogs are used to disseminate information, express opinions, talk about hobbies and pets, review products, discuss politics, and provide updates on technologty.
Delivering the right material to the right audiences is very important to bloggers, and they closely follow their readership through web analytics. There are many free services that enable bloggers to determine who their visitors are, where they originate, how many are returning visitors and what keywords were used to find the blog. Among the most popular we analytic services are Google Analytics – the most widely used service, Feedburner, Yahoo! web analytics, Histats, and Clicky.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Credibility: A Vital Component of Success
By now almost everyone has read about Bernard Madoff‘s $50 billion Ponzi scheme that swindled his customers, employees, friends, and relatives over a period of approximately 20 years. During this time, his operations received a “clean bill of health” from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the auditor. This fraud has received national and international publicity because of its widespread repercussions including the demise of charitable foundations and the suicide of a well-known international money manager, but there are many other lesser known money managers who have scammed investors out of significant sums.
In South Carolina, Albert Parish, a respected economics professor at Charleston Southern University and owner of Parish Economics, received a 24-year sentence for defrauding his customers (including the university) of an estimated $134 million, some of which was used to fund his $1.2 million pen collection.
High-profile C-level executives of companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and Tyco received prison sentences for misappropriating funds and defrauding shareholders and employees of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to prevent such future scams and legislate greater transparency.
How were these well-respected men able to fool sophisticated investors, and in some cases regulatory agencies, for so long? The answer is that each of them had a great deal of credibility. Bernard Madoff was a former head of NASDAQ, Albert Parish was a university professor and Kenneth Skilling, Bernard Ebbers, John Rigas, and Dennis Kozlowski were CEOs of large corporations.
On a much smaller scale, I recently found an ebook that I wanted to order until I checked the contact information on the website. There was no company name, address, telephone number or email address. Instead, the only method of contact was to fill out a form on the webpage and wait for a response. I won’t enter my credit card information on a website that I do not consider trustworthy (but I’m from New York and I lock my car in my own garage).
Obviously, credibility is one of the most important criteria for the success of both businesses and individuals. Following are ways to create and maintain credibility.
1. Acquire acknowledged expertise and obtain licenses and certifications to verify your credentials.
2. Ensure that the products, services, and/or work that you provide are of consistently high quality. Remember that a warranty or other guarantee is no substitute for quality control.
3. Provide outstanding service to effectively prevent and/or rapidly resolve problems.
4. Create and maintain the proper image and positioning.
5. Use advertising, marketing, and public relations to inform your existing and potential customers of your capabilities and successes.
6. Obtain and publicize testimonials and references.
7. Develop a code of ethics and act accordingly.
In South Carolina, Albert Parish, a respected economics professor at Charleston Southern University and owner of Parish Economics, received a 24-year sentence for defrauding his customers (including the university) of an estimated $134 million, some of which was used to fund his $1.2 million pen collection.
High-profile C-level executives of companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and Tyco received prison sentences for misappropriating funds and defrauding shareholders and employees of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to prevent such future scams and legislate greater transparency.
How were these well-respected men able to fool sophisticated investors, and in some cases regulatory agencies, for so long? The answer is that each of them had a great deal of credibility. Bernard Madoff was a former head of NASDAQ, Albert Parish was a university professor and Kenneth Skilling, Bernard Ebbers, John Rigas, and Dennis Kozlowski were CEOs of large corporations.
On a much smaller scale, I recently found an ebook that I wanted to order until I checked the contact information on the website. There was no company name, address, telephone number or email address. Instead, the only method of contact was to fill out a form on the webpage and wait for a response. I won’t enter my credit card information on a website that I do not consider trustworthy (but I’m from New York and I lock my car in my own garage).
Obviously, credibility is one of the most important criteria for the success of both businesses and individuals. Following are ways to create and maintain credibility.
1. Acquire acknowledged expertise and obtain licenses and certifications to verify your credentials.
2. Ensure that the products, services, and/or work that you provide are of consistently high quality. Remember that a warranty or other guarantee is no substitute for quality control.
3. Provide outstanding service to effectively prevent and/or rapidly resolve problems.
4. Create and maintain the proper image and positioning.
5. Use advertising, marketing, and public relations to inform your existing and potential customers of your capabilities and successes.
6. Obtain and publicize testimonials and references.
7. Develop a code of ethics and act accordingly.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Domain Name Sales Indicate Continuing Value of Internet Real Estate
Three domain names were sold for over $1 million in 2008, including one whose sale price was nearly $10 million according to DN Journal, the Domain Industry News Magazine. The journal listed a total of 57 six- and seven-figure domain name sales through August 10 of this year. The complete top 100 sales list for 2008 can be viewed at http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm.
I have two domain names for sale at sedo.com ( http://www.sedo.com/), one of the largest and most prestigious international domain brokers, which sells approximately 19,000 domains per month. These domain names — http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ and http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ — are designed to capitalize on two of the hottest niche markets today.
According to the U.S Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007) published by the American Veterinary Medical Association, cats are now the most popular pets. There were more than 82 million pet cats and 72 million pet dogs in the United States in 2006, with nearly half of pet owners, or 49.7%, considering their pets to be family members.
As a result of the large number of cat owners in the US alone, the website http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ can be used to showcase a wide variety of goods and services pertaining to cats, such as veterinary services, health and wellness products, medications, food, treats, toys, litter and litter boxes, clothing and accessories, print and e- books, cat care, and carpet and upholstery cleaners and deodorizers.
The domain http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ can also be used as an ecommerce site. It can easily profit from the current popularity of wizards attributable to the Harry Potter series whose worldwide sales topped 400 million (www.thebookseller.com). The wizard frenzy will probably continue for the foreseeable future with the scheduled release in December of JK Rowling’s The Tales of the Beedle the Bard and a new Harry Potter movie in July 2009. The website could also be used for the sale of games, fiction and nonfiction books, magic related items, costumes, Halloween products, artwork, and other similar products.
US retail ecommerce sales, adjusted for seasonal variations, for the second quarter of 2008 were estimated at $34.6 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent over the first quarter of 2008 (US Census Bureau). I believe that ecommerce is a win-win situation. Online websites are convenient for the consumer and allow the retailer to do business 24/7.
For further information about www.kingdomofcats.com or http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ contact Norma Wolpin of Strawberry Tiger at 954-829-6266.
I have two domain names for sale at sedo.com ( http://www.sedo.com/), one of the largest and most prestigious international domain brokers, which sells approximately 19,000 domains per month. These domain names — http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ and http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ — are designed to capitalize on two of the hottest niche markets today.
According to the U.S Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007) published by the American Veterinary Medical Association, cats are now the most popular pets. There were more than 82 million pet cats and 72 million pet dogs in the United States in 2006, with nearly half of pet owners, or 49.7%, considering their pets to be family members.
As a result of the large number of cat owners in the US alone, the website http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ can be used to showcase a wide variety of goods and services pertaining to cats, such as veterinary services, health and wellness products, medications, food, treats, toys, litter and litter boxes, clothing and accessories, print and e- books, cat care, and carpet and upholstery cleaners and deodorizers.
The domain http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ can also be used as an ecommerce site. It can easily profit from the current popularity of wizards attributable to the Harry Potter series whose worldwide sales topped 400 million (www.thebookseller.com). The wizard frenzy will probably continue for the foreseeable future with the scheduled release in December of JK Rowling’s The Tales of the Beedle the Bard and a new Harry Potter movie in July 2009. The website could also be used for the sale of games, fiction and nonfiction books, magic related items, costumes, Halloween products, artwork, and other similar products.
US retail ecommerce sales, adjusted for seasonal variations, for the second quarter of 2008 were estimated at $34.6 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent over the first quarter of 2008 (US Census Bureau). I believe that ecommerce is a win-win situation. Online websites are convenient for the consumer and allow the retailer to do business 24/7.
For further information about www.kingdomofcats.com or http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ contact Norma Wolpin of Strawberry Tiger at 954-829-6266.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Improving Your Search Engine Rankings
According to a June 2008 Netcraft survey (www.netcraft.com), there were 172,338,726 Internet websites, an increase of 3.9 million sites for that month alone. Of course, your website doesn’t compete with all of these, but how many sites offer the same products or services and how many of them are attracting visitors that comprise your best target markets? Here are some tricks of search engine optimization that should improve your rankings in major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
It’s important to appear as close to the top of the listing for your products or services because few searchers look beyond the first few pages. So here are some relatively simple methods that should increase both the number of your website listings and their rankings.
Page Title
The page title appears in the top bar of your Internet browser and should inform search engines about the main topic of your website.
URL
The url is your unique website address and may contain keywords that search engines will categorize.
Keywords
The selection of keywords is one of the most important steps in optimizing your web pages for search engine listings. Keywords are the words that are input into search boxes to find websites that contain the information, products, and/or services of interest. It is generally most effective to use phrases as keywords rather than merely single words because of the tremendous competition for single words and the tendency of searchers to use phrases rather than only one word when seeking information.
After you prepare a list of potential key words and phrases, the next step is to determine the demand for each, its potential to obtain good search engine positioning, and suggested additional keywords which you might have omitted. Here are some sites which will assist you in selecting the most effective keywords for your purposes:
The keyword tool at SEO Book http://www.tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
Wordtracker free keyword tool http://www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
Google http://www.google.com/provides the number of results for each term searched
Google traffic estimator https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox
Site Description
The site description is a summary of the content and purpose of your website written in html code that does not appear on your website. The description should be short (generally a maximum of 25 words) and factual and include your main keywords. However, it should be informative rather than a mere collection of keywords.
MetatagsMetatags are keywords in html code that are not visible to website visitors. While metatags are less important than in the past in obtaining good search engine positioning, well chosen metags reflect your content and assist the search engines in driving qualified traffic to your web pages.
Content
A content rich website using effective keywords is one of the most important factors in attaining good search engine rankings. For approximately 6 months, a web page that I wrote for a local CPA firm was the first result in a Google search for “cost segregation Florida” even though much larger national firms also offered the service in that state. I attribute this partially to the depth of information on that page which included an enlightening PowerPoint presentation.
In general, each webpage should use your keywords approximately four or five times, contain high-quality content, and be no longer than 250-300 words. Flashy graphics may add some sophistication to your website, but graphics are not indexed by search engine spiders.
Search Engine SubmissionThere are many websites, both fee-based and free that will submit your url to search engines for listings. Submit Express, http://www.submitexpress.com/submit.html, will submit your website url at no cost to approximately 20 search engines including Google, Yahoo and msn.
Site Map
A good site map will not only improve the navigation of your website, but will also use the keywords that you want to appear in search engine rankings.
Links
Search engines also decide on your website ranking by its link popularity. Links on other sites that direct traffic to your website improve your search engine listings. You can help to create these links by several methods. DMOZ is a large directory that is used by Google and other search engines. You can obtain a DMOZ listing by going to www.dmoz.org/add.html and following directions to submit your url.
I also find that online public relations can be a major factor in obtaining higher rankings. Press releases can be submitted for free to http://www.pr.com/ or for a fee starting at $80 to http://www.prweb.com/, both of which sites distribute the releases to many other online sites. Be sure to include your keywords in the summary last paragraph of the release and upload the release onto your own website.
You can exchange links with other sites, but be sure that the sites are reputable and not merely “link farms.” Joint ventures are one way to increase the number of exchanged links.
Finally, you can write articles for sites that are exclusively online or for publications that offer both print and online versions. Of course, the articles must be informative and well written and include a short biography.
It’s important to appear as close to the top of the listing for your products or services because few searchers look beyond the first few pages. So here are some relatively simple methods that should increase both the number of your website listings and their rankings.
Page Title
The page title appears in the top bar of your Internet browser and should inform search engines about the main topic of your website.
URL
The url is your unique website address and may contain keywords that search engines will categorize.
Keywords
The selection of keywords is one of the most important steps in optimizing your web pages for search engine listings. Keywords are the words that are input into search boxes to find websites that contain the information, products, and/or services of interest. It is generally most effective to use phrases as keywords rather than merely single words because of the tremendous competition for single words and the tendency of searchers to use phrases rather than only one word when seeking information.
After you prepare a list of potential key words and phrases, the next step is to determine the demand for each, its potential to obtain good search engine positioning, and suggested additional keywords which you might have omitted. Here are some sites which will assist you in selecting the most effective keywords for your purposes:
The keyword tool at SEO Book http://www.tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
Wordtracker free keyword tool http://www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
Google http://www.google.com/provides the number of results for each term searched
Google traffic estimator https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox
Site Description
The site description is a summary of the content and purpose of your website written in html code that does not appear on your website. The description should be short (generally a maximum of 25 words) and factual and include your main keywords. However, it should be informative rather than a mere collection of keywords.
MetatagsMetatags are keywords in html code that are not visible to website visitors. While metatags are less important than in the past in obtaining good search engine positioning, well chosen metags reflect your content and assist the search engines in driving qualified traffic to your web pages.
Content
A content rich website using effective keywords is one of the most important factors in attaining good search engine rankings. For approximately 6 months, a web page that I wrote for a local CPA firm was the first result in a Google search for “cost segregation Florida” even though much larger national firms also offered the service in that state. I attribute this partially to the depth of information on that page which included an enlightening PowerPoint presentation.
In general, each webpage should use your keywords approximately four or five times, contain high-quality content, and be no longer than 250-300 words. Flashy graphics may add some sophistication to your website, but graphics are not indexed by search engine spiders.
Search Engine SubmissionThere are many websites, both fee-based and free that will submit your url to search engines for listings. Submit Express, http://www.submitexpress.com/submit.html, will submit your website url at no cost to approximately 20 search engines including Google, Yahoo and msn.
Site Map
A good site map will not only improve the navigation of your website, but will also use the keywords that you want to appear in search engine rankings.
Links
Search engines also decide on your website ranking by its link popularity. Links on other sites that direct traffic to your website improve your search engine listings. You can help to create these links by several methods. DMOZ is a large directory that is used by Google and other search engines. You can obtain a DMOZ listing by going to www.dmoz.org/add.html and following directions to submit your url.
I also find that online public relations can be a major factor in obtaining higher rankings. Press releases can be submitted for free to http://www.pr.com/ or for a fee starting at $80 to http://www.prweb.com/, both of which sites distribute the releases to many other online sites. Be sure to include your keywords in the summary last paragraph of the release and upload the release onto your own website.
You can exchange links with other sites, but be sure that the sites are reputable and not merely “link farms.” Joint ventures are one way to increase the number of exchanged links.
Finally, you can write articles for sites that are exclusively online or for publications that offer both print and online versions. Of course, the articles must be informative and well written and include a short biography.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Your Website is Speaking to You – Are You Listening?
Do you know who your website visitors are? How they found your website? How long they stay? Which pages they read or land on and exit without reading? This kind of information can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your website, individual web pages, online and offline marketing campaigns, keyword search terms, and the techniques you use to drive traffic to the site.
Many website owners look at the number of hits and believe that their site is attracting much more traffic than it actually generates. A hit merely indicates the number of files sent to a user when the user lands on the page. So, a single visit to a page which contains ten separate graphic files will show up as ten hits. However, tracking hits over a period of time may indicate whether your website is attracting an increasing or decreasing number of visitors.
Here are some other statistics that can assist in determining the strength and weaknesses of your website and the changes required to attain your company’s marketing and sales objectives.
You can obtain a breakdown of the total visitors to your site by unique visitors and returning visitors. An effective search engine marketing program will enable qualified new visitors (those potentially interested in purchasing your goods or services) to find your site, provide reasons for repeat visitors to come back to your site, and encourage all visitors to advance in the sales cycle (i.e, make a purchase, request additional information, fill out a registration form, etc.).
By examining your visitors’ paths through your site, you can find out the number of pages viewed, the order in which they were viewed, the time spent on each page, any actions taken on particular page (such as clicks on specific links), and the entrance and exit pages. If you examine the data carefully, you might find that patterns emerge, such as a specific landing page that attracts most visitors. Where are you losing your visitors? How sticky is each page? (Stickiness refers to the amount of time that visitors spend on your web page). How many visitors landed on a particular page and then exited immediately? How many visitors exited from the same page? All of these statistics are highly relevant in evaluating the usefulness of your website in your marketing and sales mix.
Another important issue is where your traffic originates. Web analytic software indicates whether your visitor came from a company or an Internet Service Provider such as ATT or Comcast. It can also indicate whether your traffic came from a search engine, which specific search engine, the terms that the visitor used, and where you appear in the results for that search. Sometimes you’ll find some peculiar results. For example, in one search that I found, the number one result for the search for Rob Jones was Rob Smith of Jones & Co.). Although I changed Rob’s last name and the name of the company, you can see how search engines can sometimes return unexpected results, and it’s good to know about these potential deviations when developing your keywords.
Free basic statistics are available from a variety of sources including your web hosting company, Google analytics (www.google.com/analytics), StatCounter (http://www.statcounter.com/), and Gostats (http://www.gostats.com/). Companies such as WebTrends (http://www.webtrends.com/), Index Tools (http://www.indextools.com/) and OneStat (http://www.onestat.com/) sell more robust software that can provide in-depth information. I suggest that you take advantage of trial offers and compare several software applications before you purchase.
While this article includes only a brief overview of the information available from your web analytic statistics, the following books provide more complete pictures of how you can best monitor your website usage.
Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions
Web Analytics For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning
Many website owners look at the number of hits and believe that their site is attracting much more traffic than it actually generates. A hit merely indicates the number of files sent to a user when the user lands on the page. So, a single visit to a page which contains ten separate graphic files will show up as ten hits. However, tracking hits over a period of time may indicate whether your website is attracting an increasing or decreasing number of visitors.
Here are some other statistics that can assist in determining the strength and weaknesses of your website and the changes required to attain your company’s marketing and sales objectives.
You can obtain a breakdown of the total visitors to your site by unique visitors and returning visitors. An effective search engine marketing program will enable qualified new visitors (those potentially interested in purchasing your goods or services) to find your site, provide reasons for repeat visitors to come back to your site, and encourage all visitors to advance in the sales cycle (i.e, make a purchase, request additional information, fill out a registration form, etc.).
By examining your visitors’ paths through your site, you can find out the number of pages viewed, the order in which they were viewed, the time spent on each page, any actions taken on particular page (such as clicks on specific links), and the entrance and exit pages. If you examine the data carefully, you might find that patterns emerge, such as a specific landing page that attracts most visitors. Where are you losing your visitors? How sticky is each page? (Stickiness refers to the amount of time that visitors spend on your web page). How many visitors landed on a particular page and then exited immediately? How many visitors exited from the same page? All of these statistics are highly relevant in evaluating the usefulness of your website in your marketing and sales mix.
Another important issue is where your traffic originates. Web analytic software indicates whether your visitor came from a company or an Internet Service Provider such as ATT or Comcast. It can also indicate whether your traffic came from a search engine, which specific search engine, the terms that the visitor used, and where you appear in the results for that search. Sometimes you’ll find some peculiar results. For example, in one search that I found, the number one result for the search for Rob Jones was Rob Smith of Jones & Co.). Although I changed Rob’s last name and the name of the company, you can see how search engines can sometimes return unexpected results, and it’s good to know about these potential deviations when developing your keywords.
Free basic statistics are available from a variety of sources including your web hosting company, Google analytics (www.google.com/analytics), StatCounter (http://www.statcounter.com/), and Gostats (http://www.gostats.com/). Companies such as WebTrends (http://www.webtrends.com/), Index Tools (http://www.indextools.com/) and OneStat (http://www.onestat.com/) sell more robust software that can provide in-depth information. I suggest that you take advantage of trial offers and compare several software applications before you purchase.
While this article includes only a brief overview of the information available from your web analytic statistics, the following books provide more complete pictures of how you can best monitor your website usage.
Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions
Web Analytics For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Some Frequently Overlooked Deductions That Make Tax Time Less Taxing
It’s that time of year again when businesses and individuals are organizing their expenses for tax deductions. While there are a myriad of potential deductions, following are a few of the most frequently overlooked.
Business Deductions
New equipment. Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code allows businesses to deduct in one year, rather than capitalizing them over several years, the total cost of new equipment up to a maximum of $125,000. However, this deduction is subject to being phased out if a business places over $500,000 of new equipment in service during that year. Assets that do not qualify for a Section 179 deduction include real estate, property purchased from a close relative, and inventory purchased for the purpose of resale.
Business Deductions
New equipment. Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code allows businesses to deduct in one year, rather than capitalizing them over several years, the total cost of new equipment up to a maximum of $125,000. However, this deduction is subject to being phased out if a business places over $500,000 of new equipment in service during that year. Assets that do not qualify for a Section 179 deduction include real estate, property purchased from a close relative, and inventory purchased for the purpose of resale.
Software. Although computer software generally must be depreciated over 36 months, there are two notable exceptions. If software is placed in service between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2010, it is eligible for a 100% deduction in one year under Section 179. For software included as part of a newly purchased computer system that cost no more than $125,000 in 2007, the entire cost can be deducted in one year under Section 179. For further clarification, see IRS Publication 946, How to Depreciate Property.
Insurance. The necessary and ordinary cost of insurance for your business, trade, or profession is usually deductible.
Repairs and maintenance. The costs of repairing or maintaining business equipment, buildings, and office space are deductible as business expenses.
Startup costs. Up to $5,000 in startup costs for a new business can be deducted in the year that the business is established.
Disabled access credit. Small businesses with revenues of $1 million or under and fewer than 30 full-time employees may be eligible to deduct expenditures to remove barriers to accessibility by disabled individuals (in buildings constructed before 1990) and to acquire or modify equipment or devices for individuals with disabilities. The maximum credit in 2007 is $5,000 (See instructions on IRS form 8826 which can be found at www.irs.gov).
Deductions for Individuals
Education. Generally, the cost of education necessary to maintain or improve your job skills is a deductible expense.
Job-related expenses. Certain unreimbursed job-related expenses, such as travel, uniforms, and union dues, are deductible.
Medical expenses. If your medical expenses amount to more than 7.5% of your income, the following costs may be deductible: medical transportation expenses, eyeglasses, hearing aids, equipment for disable or handicapped persons, salaries paid to nursing personnel, and the cost of alcohol and drug abuse programs.
Long-term care insurance premiums. The amount of qualified long-term care premiums that can be included as medical expenses ranges from $290 to $3,860 depending on the age of the insured.
Any tax information contained in this article should be reviewed with a tax professional before taking any of the deductions or credits discussed.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Loyalty Programs: Do They Create Customer Loyalty or Program Loyalty?
As I was having my hair styled last week, I realized that I was the epitome of a loyal customer. I have followed Lynn to three different salons within the past year without incentives such as coupons, frequent customer cards, or discounts after so many visits. Moreover, I have recommended her to several of my friends.
If I had been merely a satisfied customer, I might have found someone else at the original salon which was offering discounts to retain its clientele. When you think about it, how many satisfied customers has your business lost lately?
Many companies conduct satisfaction surveys, believing that satisfied customers will also be loyal customers. However, in a 1995 Harvard Business Review article, “Why Satisfied Customers Defect,” T.O Jones and W. E. Sasser, Jr. found high rates of defection among customers who were merely satisfied while only those customers who were identified as highly satisfied were likely to purchase again.
According to a businessweek.com article by Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey(NPS: The Next Six Sigma?, September 22, 2006), customer loyalty can be gauged by responses to the question: "How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?" Those customers who were most likely to recommend a company “bought more goods and services, bought them more often, gave the company a greater share of their wallet, and were more likely to talk up the company to others.”
If you are typical, you probably belong to several loyalty programs, but your loyalty may be attached more to the program rewards than to the company providing them. Here are some measures which have been identified to promote the consumer behaviors that are valued by companies:
- Engaged and empowered employees who provide high levels of service
- Customer feedback that enables companies to understand and reward their best
customers
- Products or services that are perceived as high quality and tailored to
customers’ needs
- Rewards that are desirable, attainable within a reasonable amount of time,
and renewable
There’s also a downside to loyalty programs. As a University of Florida study (Steven Shugan, 2007) points out, when businesses promise future giveaways, they trade immediate cash benefits for future liabilities. In addition, some programs may reward new customers more than existing ones through various enrollment incentives or special offers.
Developing customer loyalty requires a lot of motivation, focus, and work.
If I had been merely a satisfied customer, I might have found someone else at the original salon which was offering discounts to retain its clientele. When you think about it, how many satisfied customers has your business lost lately?
Many companies conduct satisfaction surveys, believing that satisfied customers will also be loyal customers. However, in a 1995 Harvard Business Review article, “Why Satisfied Customers Defect,” T.O Jones and W. E. Sasser, Jr. found high rates of defection among customers who were merely satisfied while only those customers who were identified as highly satisfied were likely to purchase again.
According to a businessweek.com article by Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey(NPS: The Next Six Sigma?, September 22, 2006), customer loyalty can be gauged by responses to the question: "How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?" Those customers who were most likely to recommend a company “bought more goods and services, bought them more often, gave the company a greater share of their wallet, and were more likely to talk up the company to others.”
If you are typical, you probably belong to several loyalty programs, but your loyalty may be attached more to the program rewards than to the company providing them. Here are some measures which have been identified to promote the consumer behaviors that are valued by companies:
- Engaged and empowered employees who provide high levels of service
- Customer feedback that enables companies to understand and reward their best
customers
- Products or services that are perceived as high quality and tailored to
customers’ needs
- Rewards that are desirable, attainable within a reasonable amount of time,
and renewable
There’s also a downside to loyalty programs. As a University of Florida study (Steven Shugan, 2007) points out, when businesses promise future giveaways, they trade immediate cash benefits for future liabilities. In addition, some programs may reward new customers more than existing ones through various enrollment incentives or special offers.
Developing customer loyalty requires a lot of motivation, focus, and work.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Who Moved My Cheese (Again)?
At a recent networking event, a friend was discussing how the nature of her work has changed. As a software and human resources trainer, she has observed and participated in several workplace evolutions and revolutions.
When I first worked on a computer, I learned WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 for dos and struggled to master Harvard Graphics without a users’ manual because the printed copy could not be located. There was no Internet connection at work, nor did I have email. The introduction of Windows revolutionized the way that I worked then and now. And the increasing influence of the Internet and mobile connectivity means that I must always learn new ways of doing business.
In other words, if I were one of the characters in the book, Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
For me, the value of this book lies in its implied challenge — to incorporate its message into my own situation and respond appropriately to what can become positive changes rather than to oppose all deviations from the existing “norm” without thought. I have to admit that I don’t embrace all change equally and without any resistance. But after reading this book, I consider carefully the broader impact of change rather than just its effects on my particular circumstances.
There is an abundance of extremely valuable classic business and management books, including the following: The One Minute Manager
What is your favorite business or management book? I plan to use the selected entries in a future blog, so email me at nwolpin@hotmail.com with the name and author of the book along with one or two sentences explaining why you found it influential. Include your name and any contact information that you would like to see mentioned in the blog. I’m looking forward to your response.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Measuring the Success of Your Email Campaigns
Only 57% of marketers measure email campaign results within 24-48 hours after the email is sent and only18% measure email results on an annual basis according to a report by Email Stat Center (http://www.emailstatcenter.com/). The survey found that deliverability and clickthrough rates were considered to be the most important metrics when evaluating results.
I find these statistics surprising. One of the major advantages of email marketing is the rapid feedback, so I monitor these metrics carefully to determine which email campaigns are successful and which need improvement. Here are definitions of some of the metrics that I consider to be important.
Deliverability is the percentage of emails that Internet Service Providers allow to be placed into one of the addressee’s boxes. Some larger email service providers boast deliverability rates of 96% - 99%. It does not, however, necessarily indicate the percentage of emails that reached inboxes rather than the junk mail or spam boxes.
Hard bounce means that the email could not be delivered for a reason such as a nonexistent email address in which case sending it again will not remedy the situation.
Soft bounce is created by a temporary situation, such as a full inbox or a problem with the recipient’s email server.
Open rates refer to the percentage of emails that recipients click on and actually open. Open rates are obtained by obtained by dividing the number of emails opened by the number of emails sent and multiplying the result by 100. .
Clickthrough rates refer to the percentage of links clicked on by recipients. The clickthrough rate is obtained by dividing the number of clicks by the number of emails opened and multiplying the result by 100. Unique clickthroughs are the percentage of clickthroughs from different recipients. Total clickthrough rates reflect the percentage of clickthroughs from both unique and returning recipients.
Conversion rates are considered by many to be one of the most significant measures of success. The conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of email recipients who actually clicked through to a website and took the desired action (purchased something, competed a registration form, provided information or whatever purpose the email was supposed to serve) divided by the total number of people who received the email multiplied by 100.
However, the Email Experience Council (http://www.emailexperience.org/) found that it is impossible to establish industry standards because of the lack of consistency in the calculation of these and other key performance metrics (March 2007).
I find these statistics surprising. One of the major advantages of email marketing is the rapid feedback, so I monitor these metrics carefully to determine which email campaigns are successful and which need improvement. Here are definitions of some of the metrics that I consider to be important.
Deliverability is the percentage of emails that Internet Service Providers allow to be placed into one of the addressee’s boxes. Some larger email service providers boast deliverability rates of 96% - 99%. It does not, however, necessarily indicate the percentage of emails that reached inboxes rather than the junk mail or spam boxes.
Hard bounce means that the email could not be delivered for a reason such as a nonexistent email address in which case sending it again will not remedy the situation.
Soft bounce is created by a temporary situation, such as a full inbox or a problem with the recipient’s email server.
Open rates refer to the percentage of emails that recipients click on and actually open. Open rates are obtained by obtained by dividing the number of emails opened by the number of emails sent and multiplying the result by 100. .
Clickthrough rates refer to the percentage of links clicked on by recipients. The clickthrough rate is obtained by dividing the number of clicks by the number of emails opened and multiplying the result by 100. Unique clickthroughs are the percentage of clickthroughs from different recipients. Total clickthrough rates reflect the percentage of clickthroughs from both unique and returning recipients.
Conversion rates are considered by many to be one of the most significant measures of success. The conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of email recipients who actually clicked through to a website and took the desired action (purchased something, competed a registration form, provided information or whatever purpose the email was supposed to serve) divided by the total number of people who received the email multiplied by 100.
However, the Email Experience Council (http://www.emailexperience.org/) found that it is impossible to establish industry standards because of the lack of consistency in the calculation of these and other key performance metrics (March 2007).
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Web 2.0: You and Me and an International Village
Like many of you, I have evolved from a passive web user to an active participant in web communities. I network on linkedin, check products on ebay, comment on photos on Flickr, view videos on YouTube, search MySpace and Facebook, create tags for technorati, read the South Florida Public Relations Network message board, and encourage emailed comments on my blog.
With Web 2.0, the Internet has evolved from a static collection of websites that were basically a library-like repository of information and a showcase for public, private, and municipal organizations into a collection of communities where users are encouraged to participate and join. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia which allows almost anyone to post or edit articles, defines Web 2.0 as follows:
“Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity…, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004… Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.”
Folksonomies are tags or methods of organizing and bookmarking information into meaningful categories that add value and enable groups to easily find relevant documents, graphics, photos, products, or data. Because of the proliferation of information sharing on the web, folksonomies on sites such as technorati, delic.io.us, and flickr have become increasingly popular.
Web 2.0 websites share certain characteristics. They:
• Are interactive and dynamic with user-friendly interfaces
• Enable users to interact with each other as individuals, communities,
networks, or friends
• Allow users to access web-based applications through a variety of web
browsers
• Have long tails that enable narrow niches to reach out through the entire web
• Encourage user participation because users add value
• Facilitate cooperation rather than control
I recently attended a presentation sponsored by IBM that illustrated the use of social software in a corporate community. The employee directory features employee photographs, locations, contact information, job descriptions, interests, and pertinent information that the employee wishes to disclose. Employees in far-flung locations can work together in groups by uploading and sharing information or can join non work-related special interest online communities.
There is no doubt that Web 2.0 has changed the way that we live, work, shop, entertain ourselves, obtain information, and acquire new friends. And the power of Web 2.0 is that it enables all of us to leave our footprints on the Internet.
With Web 2.0, the Internet has evolved from a static collection of websites that were basically a library-like repository of information and a showcase for public, private, and municipal organizations into a collection of communities where users are encouraged to participate and join. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia which allows almost anyone to post or edit articles, defines Web 2.0 as follows:
“Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity…, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004… Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.”
Folksonomies are tags or methods of organizing and bookmarking information into meaningful categories that add value and enable groups to easily find relevant documents, graphics, photos, products, or data. Because of the proliferation of information sharing on the web, folksonomies on sites such as technorati, delic.io.us, and flickr have become increasingly popular.
Web 2.0 websites share certain characteristics. They:
• Are interactive and dynamic with user-friendly interfaces
• Enable users to interact with each other as individuals, communities,
networks, or friends
• Allow users to access web-based applications through a variety of web
browsers
• Have long tails that enable narrow niches to reach out through the entire web
• Encourage user participation because users add value
• Facilitate cooperation rather than control
I recently attended a presentation sponsored by IBM that illustrated the use of social software in a corporate community. The employee directory features employee photographs, locations, contact information, job descriptions, interests, and pertinent information that the employee wishes to disclose. Employees in far-flung locations can work together in groups by uploading and sharing information or can join non work-related special interest online communities.
There is no doubt that Web 2.0 has changed the way that we live, work, shop, entertain ourselves, obtain information, and acquire new friends. And the power of Web 2.0 is that it enables all of us to leave our footprints on the Internet.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Email Marketing: The Numbers Behind the Buzz
Despite the ascent of Web 2.0, IMs, and text messaging, email marketing is still growing in importance in the marketing mix. And according to Datran Media Research (“The 2007 Email Marketing Survey”), 83% of the marketers who responded thought that email ROI will increase over last year. Statistics collected from a variety of additional sources indicate that email marketing still has a bright future.
The Direct Marketing Association’s 2006 Response Rate Trends Report finds that the highest direct marketing response rates result from telemarketing (2.6%) and email (2.45%). Email’s ROI index is 70% higher than any other method of direct-response marketing. The organization also estimates that marketers in the United States alone will spend $500 million on email marketing which is expected to generate almost $22 billion in sales.
Following are some statistics cited by Internet Retailer (2007) as a result of its monthly surveys:
- 18.7% of internet retailers indicated that email generates 1% to 2.5% of sales
- 37.4% of online merchants find that email generates between 2.51% and 15%
of revenues
- For 11% of online merchants, email drives more than 25% of total sales
- Nearly three-quarters (73%) of chain retailers, catalogers, virtual merchants, and consumer brand manufacturers report spending only 5% or less of their total marketing budgets on email marketing
Compared to other forms of online marketing, email delivers sales at an average cost per order of less than $7, compared to $71.89 for banner ads, $26.75 for paid search and $17.47 for affiliate programs. - Shop.org, State of Retailing Online 2007 report (Sept. 2007);
For additional email marketing statistics, you can visit the following websites:
http://www.emailstatcenter.com/
http://www.internetretailer.com/
http://www.the-dma.org/
http://www.mediapost.com/
The Direct Marketing Association’s 2006 Response Rate Trends Report finds that the highest direct marketing response rates result from telemarketing (2.6%) and email (2.45%). Email’s ROI index is 70% higher than any other method of direct-response marketing. The organization also estimates that marketers in the United States alone will spend $500 million on email marketing which is expected to generate almost $22 billion in sales.
Following are some statistics cited by Internet Retailer (2007) as a result of its monthly surveys:
- 18.7% of internet retailers indicated that email generates 1% to 2.5% of sales
- 37.4% of online merchants find that email generates between 2.51% and 15%
of revenues
- For 11% of online merchants, email drives more than 25% of total sales
- Nearly three-quarters (73%) of chain retailers, catalogers, virtual merchants, and consumer brand manufacturers report spending only 5% or less of their total marketing budgets on email marketing
Compared to other forms of online marketing, email delivers sales at an average cost per order of less than $7, compared to $71.89 for banner ads, $26.75 for paid search and $17.47 for affiliate programs. - Shop.org, State of Retailing Online 2007 report (Sept. 2007);
For additional email marketing statistics, you can visit the following websites:
http://www.emailstatcenter.com/
http://www.internetretailer.com/
http://www.the-dma.org/
http://www.mediapost.com/
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
PURLs –The Newest Treasure of the Internet
What may be hotter than Web 2.0? Personalized URLs (PURLs). Although they have been around for several years, they are suddenly exploding and take one-to-one marketing to new heights. Consumers have seen their names on digitally printed newsletters, postcards, letters, and other similar materials. Now, they can have their names on their own Internet page populated with their information and containing items especially designed for them.
PURLs don’t come in gift wrapped boxes. They are generally sent via direct mail or email. In this age of digital printing or mail merge, each recipient can receive an individual PURL in a letter, newsletter, postcard or other printed material. It is also easy to generate dynamic emails with a link to each person’s PURL in the message.
PURLs are rapidly becoming the gems of the Internet because they provide:
1. Higher response rates with better quality leads
2. Lower cost per lead
3. Opportunities to provide customized offers
4. Real-time statistics about consumer behavior
5. Integration with CRM systems
6. Better insights into consumer behavior
The uses of PURLs are limited only by your imagination. They can be used to obtain email addresses, to update or verify consumer information, for surveys, for special offers, to provide customized coupons, as triggers for certain events such as a reminder to renew a subscription, and to provide relevant content. The uses are almost without limit, depending on a company’s creativity and knowledge of its markets.
Here are some examples of PURLs that you might find interesting:
Sample direct mail piece that delivers the PURL http://www.powerpurl.com/images/email_lg2.gif
A magazine subscription offer with audio https://www.expresslandingpage.com/TrackingSystem/AG_938/TMP_1016/VERIFYPAGE.aspx
A b-to-b marketing PURL with an incentive http://powerpurl.l2soft.com/images/webpub.gif
If you have a particularly interesting example of a PURL, you can email the link to me at nwolpin@hotmail.com.
PURLs don’t come in gift wrapped boxes. They are generally sent via direct mail or email. In this age of digital printing or mail merge, each recipient can receive an individual PURL in a letter, newsletter, postcard or other printed material. It is also easy to generate dynamic emails with a link to each person’s PURL in the message.
PURLs are rapidly becoming the gems of the Internet because they provide:
1. Higher response rates with better quality leads
2. Lower cost per lead
3. Opportunities to provide customized offers
4. Real-time statistics about consumer behavior
5. Integration with CRM systems
6. Better insights into consumer behavior
The uses of PURLs are limited only by your imagination. They can be used to obtain email addresses, to update or verify consumer information, for surveys, for special offers, to provide customized coupons, as triggers for certain events such as a reminder to renew a subscription, and to provide relevant content. The uses are almost without limit, depending on a company’s creativity and knowledge of its markets.
Here are some examples of PURLs that you might find interesting:
Sample direct mail piece that delivers the PURL http://www.powerpurl.com/images/email_lg2.gif
A magazine subscription offer with audio https://www.expresslandingpage.com/TrackingSystem/AG_938/TMP_1016/VERIFYPAGE.aspx
A b-to-b marketing PURL with an incentive http://powerpurl.l2soft.com/images/webpub.gif
If you have a particularly interesting example of a PURL, you can email the link to me at nwolpin@hotmail.com.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Email Newsletters: Different Strokes for Different Folks
Some of us enjoy receiving email and some of us consider it an annoyance. But regardless of whether or not we like it, email marketing is here to stay. According to a recent benchmark study by Marketing Sherpa (http://www.marketingsherpa.com/), email marketing has the highest ROI of any direct marketing technique.
Email (electronic) newsletters are being used by more and more businesses to keep in touch with their customers and prospects, and there are several types of email newsletters.
Dynamic email newsletters can be customized to the preferences or demographics of each recipient. After opting in for the newsletters, recipients receive email messages that provide a list of topics and allow them to select any or all of those topics that are of interest. Their newsletters are populated with articles about those topics. At any time, the recipients can change their preferences and can unsubscribe to the newsletter.
Non-dynamic email newsletters can be customized but to a lesser extent. You can have different versions for various types of recipients (e.g. clients, prospects, vendors, employees). While each group receives a version designed specifically for it, all group members receive the same articles.
Email versions of print newsletters can be sent via email and/or placed on a website where visitors can view or download it. While this may seem to be merely a duplication of effort, different people prefer different methods of delivery. The same people who read the print version may not read the email version and vice versa.
Mini email newsletters or articles consist of one or possibly two articles which can be informational or promotional. Just as non-dynamic newsletters, you can have more than one version, but each group of recipients gets the same version.
Why should you use email newsletters? Here are some of the benefits:
1. Their costs are lower than those of print newsletters.
2. They provide real-time reporting statistics (delivery, open, clickthrough
and bounce rates).
3. Working with your web monitoring software, they can track conversions.
4. Email newsletters can drive traffic to a website.
5. A library of articles from the newsletter can be made available on the
website.
6. You can easily forward them to friends or colleagues.
Email (electronic) newsletters are being used by more and more businesses to keep in touch with their customers and prospects, and there are several types of email newsletters.
Dynamic email newsletters can be customized to the preferences or demographics of each recipient. After opting in for the newsletters, recipients receive email messages that provide a list of topics and allow them to select any or all of those topics that are of interest. Their newsletters are populated with articles about those topics. At any time, the recipients can change their preferences and can unsubscribe to the newsletter.
Non-dynamic email newsletters can be customized but to a lesser extent. You can have different versions for various types of recipients (e.g. clients, prospects, vendors, employees). While each group receives a version designed specifically for it, all group members receive the same articles.
Email versions of print newsletters can be sent via email and/or placed on a website where visitors can view or download it. While this may seem to be merely a duplication of effort, different people prefer different methods of delivery. The same people who read the print version may not read the email version and vice versa.
Mini email newsletters or articles consist of one or possibly two articles which can be informational or promotional. Just as non-dynamic newsletters, you can have more than one version, but each group of recipients gets the same version.
Why should you use email newsletters? Here are some of the benefits:
1. Their costs are lower than those of print newsletters.
2. They provide real-time reporting statistics (delivery, open, clickthrough
and bounce rates).
3. Working with your web monitoring software, they can track conversions.
4. Email newsletters can drive traffic to a website.
5. A library of articles from the newsletter can be made available on the
website.
6. You can easily forward them to friends or colleagues.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Employee Performance Reviews: A Two-Way Street
Although we might no be aware of it, we have been evaluated from the time of birth when our length and weight are compared to those of the average newborn. In preschool and school, we are evaluated for our academic performance and social development. Our teachers are judged for their educational skills and interactions with those in their classes, and school administrators are likewise evaluated for their own accomplishments and the accomplishments of the entire school.
We continue to be evaluated throughout our working lives. From CEOs whose actions and results are commented on by a variety of stakeholders, to employees in the mailroom, we all want our performances to be judged fairly. And managers should realize that the employee performance evaluations that they use to judge their staff also reflect who and what they are. They are not only judging their employees but also being judged by them.
I believe that we should be accountable for achieving goals that are attainable and for which adequate resources have been allocated, but that we should not be criticized for our inability to adhere to unreasonable performance demands.
Many of us are familiar with the SMART principles of establishing objectives for employees:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Reasonable
Timely
I would also like to see reviews that are FAIR:
Fruitful
Accurate
Informative
Responsible
Employee performance evaluations can either create positive and productive working environments or negatively impact company objectives and employee morale. As an employee who is a manager and has a manager, I want to provide and receive reviews that are knowledgeable and insightful. Although I have to admit that I dislike being criticized, I know when the criticism is warranted and when it is based on inaccurate perception. If a review is a true dialogue rather than a manager's monologue, it can help both parties.
We continue to be evaluated throughout our working lives. From CEOs whose actions and results are commented on by a variety of stakeholders, to employees in the mailroom, we all want our performances to be judged fairly. And managers should realize that the employee performance evaluations that they use to judge their staff also reflect who and what they are. They are not only judging their employees but also being judged by them.
I believe that we should be accountable for achieving goals that are attainable and for which adequate resources have been allocated, but that we should not be criticized for our inability to adhere to unreasonable performance demands.
Many of us are familiar with the SMART principles of establishing objectives for employees:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Reasonable
Timely
I would also like to see reviews that are FAIR:
Fruitful
Accurate
Informative
Responsible
Employee performance evaluations can either create positive and productive working environments or negatively impact company objectives and employee morale. As an employee who is a manager and has a manager, I want to provide and receive reviews that are knowledgeable and insightful. Although I have to admit that I dislike being criticized, I know when the criticism is warranted and when it is based on inaccurate perception. If a review is a true dialogue rather than a manager's monologue, it can help both parties.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
How Much Connectivity Is Too Much?
Is constant connectivity crucial to modern business? According to a recent commercial on television and You Tube, “connectile dysfunction” is more than just a competitive disadvantage - it is a social embarrassment.
While I was having lunch with a friend a few weeks ago, I realized just how connected we are today. Every few minutes, he stopped to check new email and telephone messages on his Blackberry. Another friend told me that her company is installing a VOIP telephone system which will forward messages from an employee’s office phone to that person’s PC, laptop, cell phone or other mobile device. And another friend of mine is constantly receiving business calls outside of normal working hours on her cell phone.
When instant messaging, text messaging, Internet video and music, and social networking are added to the mix, the landscape of 21st century business is changing significantly.
Before this technological explosion, basically only members of occupations such as law enforcement, medical, and other emergency workers had to be available 24/7. Now, this situation has been extended to a much larger segment of the workforce. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, entrepreneurs, accountants, lawyers, salespeople, engineers and many others seem to be constantly on call.
What effect does this connectivity have on employees? A recent study performed at the MIT Sloan School of Management found that ninety percent of employees at an unnamed financial services firm felt a “compulsion” to constantly check their Blackberry. I know that when I am at a conference or on vacation, I check the messages on my work telephone and my email as do many of my friends and colleagues.
What about future connectivity? As Dr. Alan Kay, one of the developers of the modern workstation, aptly stated, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." And the future is being invented as you’re reading this article.
While I was having lunch with a friend a few weeks ago, I realized just how connected we are today. Every few minutes, he stopped to check new email and telephone messages on his Blackberry. Another friend told me that her company is installing a VOIP telephone system which will forward messages from an employee’s office phone to that person’s PC, laptop, cell phone or other mobile device. And another friend of mine is constantly receiving business calls outside of normal working hours on her cell phone.
When instant messaging, text messaging, Internet video and music, and social networking are added to the mix, the landscape of 21st century business is changing significantly.
Before this technological explosion, basically only members of occupations such as law enforcement, medical, and other emergency workers had to be available 24/7. Now, this situation has been extended to a much larger segment of the workforce. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, entrepreneurs, accountants, lawyers, salespeople, engineers and many others seem to be constantly on call.
What effect does this connectivity have on employees? A recent study performed at the MIT Sloan School of Management found that ninety percent of employees at an unnamed financial services firm felt a “compulsion” to constantly check their Blackberry. I know that when I am at a conference or on vacation, I check the messages on my work telephone and my email as do many of my friends and colleagues.
What about future connectivity? As Dr. Alan Kay, one of the developers of the modern workstation, aptly stated, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." And the future is being invented as you’re reading this article.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Here are ten common marketing mistakes that attorneys and other professional service providers make:
1. Market sporadically without a plan.
2. Fail to differentiate yourself from the competition.
3. Overlook valuable speaking and publishing opportunities.
4. Lose touch with qualified new prospects.
5. Abandon your marketing effort when you get busy.
6. Focus on only one or two marketing channels without a fully integrated program
7. Waste too much marketing time talking to other industry professionals.
8. Limit PR to the announcement of new hires.
9. Ignore state bar or industry guidelines on advertising best practices.
10. Terminate a long-term marketing program after the initial campaign.
Avoid these simple mistakes and you will see a dramatic improvement in your marketing efforts.
This is an excerpt from the book Courting Your Clients: The Essential Guide to Legal Marketing (http://www.legalexpertconnections.com/courtingyourclients.html) by Margaret Grisdela, President of Legal Expert Connections. You can visit her website at www.legalexpertconnections.com and her blog at www.rainmakingclub.com. She is a well recognized consultant with a national clientele of legal and litigation support providers.
Note: Although this article was written for members of professional services firms, her advice is applicable to a broad range of industries.
1. Market sporadically without a plan.
2. Fail to differentiate yourself from the competition.
3. Overlook valuable speaking and publishing opportunities.
4. Lose touch with qualified new prospects.
5. Abandon your marketing effort when you get busy.
6. Focus on only one or two marketing channels without a fully integrated program
7. Waste too much marketing time talking to other industry professionals.
8. Limit PR to the announcement of new hires.
9. Ignore state bar or industry guidelines on advertising best practices.
10. Terminate a long-term marketing program after the initial campaign.
Avoid these simple mistakes and you will see a dramatic improvement in your marketing efforts.
This is an excerpt from the book Courting Your Clients: The Essential Guide to Legal Marketing (http://www.legalexpertconnections.com/courtingyourclients.html) by Margaret Grisdela, President of Legal Expert Connections. You can visit her website at www.legalexpertconnections.com and her blog at www.rainmakingclub.com. She is a well recognized consultant with a national clientele of legal and litigation support providers.
Note: Although this article was written for members of professional services firms, her advice is applicable to a broad range of industries.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Comments and Suggestions
I never realized how many people that I know have friends, relatives, or acquaintances who were victimized by employee theft. Because my objective is to make this blog relevant to as many people as possible, I welcome your comments and suggestions for future articles.
If you have expertise in a business field that would be of interest to the readers and would like to write an article, please let me know. If I believe that the article should be published on this blog, I will also include a few sentences about you and your company and links to your website or any appropriate books of yours that have been published and are on Amazon.
You may contact me at nwolpin@hotmail.com.
If you have expertise in a business field that would be of interest to the readers and would like to write an article, please let me know. If I believe that the article should be published on this blog, I will also include a few sentences about you and your company and links to your website or any appropriate books of yours that have been published and are on Amazon.
You may contact me at nwolpin@hotmail.com.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Who's Minding Your Company's Business?
Are you watching you company’s finances or are you trusting your employees to do it for you?
No matter how trustworthy you consider your bookkeeper or accounting staff, you must establish some system of checks and balances. Answer “yes” or “no” to the following questions to give you some idea of how vulnerable your company is to employee fraud.
1. Your bookkeeper has the authority to approve invoices for payment.
2. Your bookkeeper issues checks and reconciles your checking account.
3. You don’t have a policy to flag unusually high amounts on employee expense
reports.
4. You believe that your employees are honest and never conduct surprise audits.
5. Your employees would be uncomfortable reporting suspicious behavior.
The more “yes” answers you have to this quiz, the more likely you are to be victimized by one of the three most prevalent forms of employee fraud — misappropriation of assets, corruption, and financial statement fraud. While Enron, Worldcom, and other large corporations have received a great deal of publicity for financial statement fraud, in smaller companies the most frequent type of employee theft is misappropriation (payments to fictitious vendors, overpayment to vendors with kickbacks, or checks for unearned overtime).
How can you protect your business? There is no simple answer because each situation is different, but here are some internal control practices that can minimize the opportunities for employee fraud:
1. Separate responsibilities so that:
the person who opens mail with payments doesn’t record receipt of payments
the person who approves invoices doesn’t issue the checks
the person who issues the checks doesn’t open and reconcile the checking
statements
2. Have all financial transactions reviewed and approved by an appropriate
manager
3. Conduct surprise financial audits
4. Develop and enforce a code of ethics with appropriate penalties
5. Encourage employees to report suspicious behavior
6. Establish an anonymous employee hotline if possible
7. Create an atmosphere in which employees feel valued and fairly paid
Fraud can hit your company where it hurts the most — in the bottom line. So, if you don’t mind your business, someone else may do it for you.
No matter how trustworthy you consider your bookkeeper or accounting staff, you must establish some system of checks and balances. Answer “yes” or “no” to the following questions to give you some idea of how vulnerable your company is to employee fraud.
1. Your bookkeeper has the authority to approve invoices for payment.
2. Your bookkeeper issues checks and reconciles your checking account.
3. You don’t have a policy to flag unusually high amounts on employee expense
reports.
4. You believe that your employees are honest and never conduct surprise audits.
5. Your employees would be uncomfortable reporting suspicious behavior.
The more “yes” answers you have to this quiz, the more likely you are to be victimized by one of the three most prevalent forms of employee fraud — misappropriation of assets, corruption, and financial statement fraud. While Enron, Worldcom, and other large corporations have received a great deal of publicity for financial statement fraud, in smaller companies the most frequent type of employee theft is misappropriation (payments to fictitious vendors, overpayment to vendors with kickbacks, or checks for unearned overtime).
How can you protect your business? There is no simple answer because each situation is different, but here are some internal control practices that can minimize the opportunities for employee fraud:
1. Separate responsibilities so that:
the person who opens mail with payments doesn’t record receipt of payments
the person who approves invoices doesn’t issue the checks
the person who issues the checks doesn’t open and reconcile the checking
statements
2. Have all financial transactions reviewed and approved by an appropriate
manager
3. Conduct surprise financial audits
4. Develop and enforce a code of ethics with appropriate penalties
5. Encourage employees to report suspicious behavior
6. Establish an anonymous employee hotline if possible
7. Create an atmosphere in which employees feel valued and fairly paid
Fraud can hit your company where it hurts the most — in the bottom line. So, if you don’t mind your business, someone else may do it for you.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
How Safe Is Your Company's Wallet
When I was 18, I went to a dance at an Ivy League University. I remember dancing a lot and speaking to several people. Of course, my purse would have been in the way while I danced, so I put it down on one of the chairs without a second thought. It was a nondescript black purse surrounded by many others, and it never occurred to me that it would not be safe.
At the end of the evening when my friends and I were ready to leave, I retrieved the purse. Nothing looked amiss, and it was only when I opened the wallet did I realize what had happened. All of the bills were gone, but fortunately there was enough change to get me home. I felt stupid for being so trusting, and now I guard my wallet much more carefully.
What happened to me happens every day on an even greater scale to businesses. My $30 loss pales in comparison to the losses sustained by businesses every day. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners http://www.acfe.com/ over $650 billion was lost by US businesses in one year as a result of employee fraud.
And it’s not only big businesses such as Enron, WorldCom, and Adelphia that are hurt. An employee of the Miami-Dade Florida Water and Sewer Authority pled guilty to defrauding the agency of $1 million dollars earmarked for bulk mailings. A former bookkeeper for a Scottsdale, Arizona, cryonics company was accused of stealing $177,000 from the company to invest in a bar. In a Chicago suburb, an office manager embezzled $143,000 from an auto parts dealer.
Statistics show that small businesses are more vulnerable and more likely to be hurt by employee theft, and the person most likely to embezzle is frequently the most trusted employee — the employee that comes in early, stays late, and rarely takes a day off. What is perhaps the most horrifying statistic revealed by the ACFE is that most cases are discovered by accident rather than by any system of controls.
How can business owners protect themselves from employee fraud? Read my next posting on this blog for some practical advice.
At the end of the evening when my friends and I were ready to leave, I retrieved the purse. Nothing looked amiss, and it was only when I opened the wallet did I realize what had happened. All of the bills were gone, but fortunately there was enough change to get me home. I felt stupid for being so trusting, and now I guard my wallet much more carefully.
What happened to me happens every day on an even greater scale to businesses. My $30 loss pales in comparison to the losses sustained by businesses every day. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners http://www.acfe.com/ over $650 billion was lost by US businesses in one year as a result of employee fraud.
And it’s not only big businesses such as Enron, WorldCom, and Adelphia that are hurt. An employee of the Miami-Dade Florida Water and Sewer Authority pled guilty to defrauding the agency of $1 million dollars earmarked for bulk mailings. A former bookkeeper for a Scottsdale, Arizona, cryonics company was accused of stealing $177,000 from the company to invest in a bar. In a Chicago suburb, an office manager embezzled $143,000 from an auto parts dealer.
Statistics show that small businesses are more vulnerable and more likely to be hurt by employee theft, and the person most likely to embezzle is frequently the most trusted employee — the employee that comes in early, stays late, and rarely takes a day off. What is perhaps the most horrifying statistic revealed by the ACFE is that most cases are discovered by accident rather than by any system of controls.
How can business owners protect themselves from employee fraud? Read my next posting on this blog for some practical advice.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Whose Web Page Is It Anyhow?
Have you ever wondered whether anyone else is using your website material for their own purposes? Or whether your web writer(s) have used any verbiage from someone else’s web page? With all of the information available on the Internet and the millions of web pages available for public view, finding violations of copyright and enforcing them may be difficult.
From time to time, I have found plagiarism on the Internet and I’m sure that there are many undiscovered examples. Last year, I decided to compare the website content that I developed for a previous employer to other web pages. I was surprised when I found that a page on another company’s website was exactly the same as mine with one exception. I mentioned the name of my employer, and the other company substituted the word, “we” for a company name.
You, too, can find out whether your web content has been copied. Just go the http://www.copyscape.com/ and enter the url of any web page that you want to compare. This is the free version and it will return a limited number of similar pages but includes those that are most similar or even identical.
If you do find another web page that is suspiciously like yours, the date of publication on the web becomes important. You can find out approximately when pages were uploaded or changed at the Internet Wayback Machine at www.archive.org/index.php. After you enter the url of the page(s) involved, you will be given the dates that changes were made to that page.
As you can see, it’s easy to use material from one page on another, but it’s also easy to get caught.
From time to time, I have found plagiarism on the Internet and I’m sure that there are many undiscovered examples. Last year, I decided to compare the website content that I developed for a previous employer to other web pages. I was surprised when I found that a page on another company’s website was exactly the same as mine with one exception. I mentioned the name of my employer, and the other company substituted the word, “we” for a company name.
You, too, can find out whether your web content has been copied. Just go the http://www.copyscape.com/ and enter the url of any web page that you want to compare. This is the free version and it will return a limited number of similar pages but includes those that are most similar or even identical.
If you do find another web page that is suspiciously like yours, the date of publication on the web becomes important. You can find out approximately when pages were uploaded or changed at the Internet Wayback Machine at www.archive.org/index.php. After you enter the url of the page(s) involved, you will be given the dates that changes were made to that page.
As you can see, it’s easy to use material from one page on another, but it’s also easy to get caught.
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