Calling all Entrepreneurs!

Do you know about all of the truly amazing support that is available to you at the SBA?

Recently I attended a Women's Business Expo that was sponsored by my local SBDC (Small Business Development Center), and was reminded of the crazy amount of help they provide to Small Businesses.

• Got a great idea for a new business?  
• Need help drafting a plan? 
• What about financing?  
• Need to learn or brush up on basic management skills?  
• Know what to do for a successful launch? 
• Are there any special opportunities for minority or women-owned companies?  
• Need a Mentor to help you along?  
• Want to know more about Government Contracting?
• Need support after a disaster?

Consider the fact that a little over 50% of SMBs fail in the first four years and only 3% make it five years!  And while there are so very many factors that come together to kill any startup, the tools and support provided by the SBA can be a real lifeline.

Take some time to explore the Resources available to you here.

 

 

Ugh..... Who has time to do all those things necessary for a new Website?

 

You have enough to do!

There are a tremendous amount of things you can do to promote your website that are of no additional cost.  We have all seen those lists.  

"50 Free marketing ideas!" 

"101 simple ideas to boost your traffic!"

That is all well and good, but WHO has time!  Many of the FREE ideas can cost you so much more than $$!  They can cost you your time (and sometimes sanity!) when you have to learn how to get your site in directories, launch business pages in LinkedIn and Facebook, set up your MailChimp account.  There is more!

 

We can help you get started with a bang.  And keep you going!  Included are ideas for promotions, templates for ideas and and starter topics for blogs.

Take a look here to see Jump Start today! 

Flash to Flicker Out

Are you still using Flash on your website?

Did you know that it is being retired by Adobe in 2020?

What browsers will do and what it means:

Mozilla updated its plugin roadmap for Firefox and adjusted it based on Adobe's end of support announcement.

• 2018 Second Half -- Firefox users have to enable Flash on each session they want to use Flash.
• 2019 Early -- Firefox will display a visible warning to users if a site uses Flash.
• 2019 -- Flash is disabled by default. Users won't be prompted anymore to enable Flash, but Flash may still be activated on certain sites by users.
• 2020-- Flash support is removed from Firefox. Firefox ESR continues to support Flash until the end of 2020.
• 2021 -- Firefox won't load the Flash plugin anymore when Adobe stops shipping security updates for Flash in December 2020

Microsoft announced on the Microsoft Edge development blog how it plans to retire Adobe Flash in company products

• 2018 -- Microsoft Edge requires users to enable Flash for each session individually. Internet Explorer continues to allow Flash.
• 2019 mid to late -- Flash is disabled by default in Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Users have options to re-enable Flash.
• 2020 end -- Adobe Flash is removed from Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Flash cannot be run anymore.

There are myriad reasons that this step is to be taken.  Just a couple: Flash is vulnerable to hacks and can impact the security of the website on which it is used.  More recent technology (HTML5, etc.) can more efficiently display video and 3D technology.

For more information check out this article from Reuters.

 

"Google, what restaurants are open near me?"

Recently, Google announced an update to Maps on iOS that will make it much easier for users to find local restaurants. 

The new feature will utilize machine learning to “match” users with new restaurants based on their preferences and the other restaurants they’ve visited. Match scores are not generated for every restaurant, so it’s likely that it’s reserved for the locations with enough data to make a match determination.

Users can simply click on a food or drink venue and their match percentage will display, higher match numbers mean a greater match. The feature also provides reasons why users may enjoy a given place. For instance, those who enjoy sushi will likely see an increase of sushi places within their designated area and a high match percentage.

It could not be more important to ensure that your address information is not only ON your website, but please check to see if it is accurate!!

Why a Mobile-Friendly Website is Proven to be Critical in 2018

Just had to share this important information for Small Business:

Why a Mobile-Friendly Website is Proven to be Critical in 2018: 

Mobile technology has continuously been a part of everyday life for more than a decade.  Unfortunately, not everyone considers the use of a smartphone when it comes to website development.

In today's market, you might as well walk and hand money over to your competitors. That's what a lack of a mobile-friendly site is essentially doing.

Although app use is a vital element for many businesses, it's not the only aspect of mobile readiness. By not having a site that can adhere to smartphones and tablets, you're alienating a vast portion of your audience. This will surely play a part in losing out on revenue.

Read the report from Green Geeks here.

Gotta keep up!

Digital is still growing by leaps and bounds will continue to impact how we reach and interact with customers.

Forrester Research has a new report on how fast the digital space is growing.  You can download it here.

And, Mobile Marketer recently opined that a study from Zenith sees that Mobile Ads will exceed 30% of Market Share by 2020!  They caution however, that mobile awareness for ads is not very good and should probably not be relied on as a single channel of advertising.

September will be an important month for websites.  October will be even more important.  Why?

In September of this year the most recent version of Google browsers will no longer mark as "secure" those websites that are not secure.  A secure website will always have an S after the http in the address bar.

And in October those websites that are not secure will say so!  Imagine the message that sends to potential customers!

An unsecure website means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular ‘unsecure’ language. In other words, it is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

Reminder:  NEVER enter credit card information on a website that is NOT secure!

For more information see any of these informative articles:

• Search Engine Land
• The Verge
• Google  

You are NOT imagining things!  EVERYBODY has a cellphone.  Pew research shows us that 95% of adults have cellphones; just think of how many kids have them!  

This is important to know when thinking about you company website.  Is it optimized to render correctly on any cellphone?  Do you have a "Link To Call" button so mobile users can contact you immediately?   

Google is pursuing a Mobile First approach to search.  This means that they first look at your mobile site and this may result in a marginally better rank in search results.  

Check out your site here:  Google Tester

More Things To Know are Here!

Fun Facts about those Super Bowl Ads!  

This chart looks at the Top 10 Super Bowl ads of 2018 by total views online as of the Monday after the game.  The following list highlights top advertising brands across various metrics – with sources and links provided. Following that list is another with more audience-focused data. It’s worth noting that there’s no clear-cut winner by way of the following metrics – some seemed to do better in some areas than others…

• Most-viewed ad online: Australia’s “Tourism Australia Dundee” (more than 58 million views across top video platforms and websites as of the Monday after the game). The Tourism Australia spot was followed by Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” (53.2 million) and Doritos and Mountain Dew’s “DORITOS BLAZE vs. MTN DEW ICE” (51.1 million). Source: Visible Measures.
• Top ad on YouTube: Amazon: “Alexa Loses Her Voice”. This ad topped the charts on YouTube’s AdBlitz (a hub where fans can watch ads), ahead of Bud Light’s “The Bud Knight” and Groupon’s ” Who Wouldn’t.” Amazon’s commercial also was the most-viewed on YouTube on the day of the game, as reported by Variety. Source: YouTube.
• Most effective ad: Toyota: “Good Odds” (EQ score of 6.1/10). The EQ score is used by Unruly to rank ads on their likely emotional, social and business impact, with “the intensity of emotions viewers felt while watching, brand favorability, authenticity and purchase intent” all also contributing. Toyota’s ad scored well for both authenticity and credibility, with 82% of viewers saying the content came across as authentic and credible. Toyota’s spot also achieved a brand recall of 70%. Budweiser’s “Stand By You” was the 2nd-most effective by EQ score (5.8), closely followed by “DORITOS BLAZE vs. MTN DEW ICE” (5.7). Unruly notes that brand recall for this year’s ads was higher than last year, with viewers tending to also find the ads authentic, credible and relatable. Source: Unruly.
• Best overall ad, per marketers: Amazon: “Alexa Loses Her Voice”. AdAge and Morning Consult teamed up to survey almost 4,000 marketing and advertising industry professionals, who gave the top overall rating to Amazon’s spot. Amazon’s commercial was deemed both the most “entertaining” and the most “effective,” though it only very narrowly beat out Budweiser’s “Stand By You” in the effectiveness rankings. Source: AdAge/Morning Consult.
• Top ad by digital share of voice: Doritos & Mountain Dew: Battle. This spot captured almost one-fifth (17.3%) share of digital voice on game day, with almost 73 million TV ad impressions, more than 1 million earned online views, and more than 78 million social impressions. It was followed in the rankings – which exclude movie trailers and show promos – by Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” (12.5% share of voice) and NFL’s “Touchdown Celebrations” (11.3%). Source: iSpot.tv.
• Top brands by offline brand metrics lift: Netflix, Hulu, and Jeep. These were the only 3 brands among Super Bowl advertisers to place among the top 10 gainers in positive buzz (people who have heard positive things about the brand), word-of-mouth (brands that people have talked about with friends) and purchase consideration. Hulu was the top brand for lift in positive buzz, while the NFL led all with its increase in word-of-mouth, and Netflix emerged victorious in purchase consideration gains. Source: YouGov.
• USA Today Ad Meter Winner: Amazon: “Alexa Loses Her Voice”. The ad took the top ranking with an average rating of 7.18 out of 10, with the commercial proving particularly appealing to women (7.32), people with income of $100-150k (7.28) and those ages 50-64 (7.48). The NFL’s “Touchdown Celebrations to Come” ranked second in a virtual tie (7.18) with Amazon’s spot, favored again by women but finding more appeal among lower-income and older viewers. Source: USA Today.
• Brand with the most social mentions during the game: Tide. Tide easily generated the most online mentions in this report, with almost 164k social mentions during the Super Bowl, of which only 11k related to the #TidePodChallenge. The Mountain Dew and Doritos collaboration was second with 115.1k mentions. Source: Talkwalker.