Presence Management
Last week I advised small business owners that first thing they should do is check their business information on the abundance of sites out there. But how do you do that? And is that the best investment of your time?
Professionally (I work for goldenpages.be) I am astonished about the time and effort we invest daily in the contact details of our business owners. We have a long lasting data partnerships with the biggest Telecom provider in Belgium (Belgacom), we have dedicated content teams that have aggressive content KPI’s , we give every Belgian business owner the opportunity to update his/her business information (free of charge), we call our customers if we don’t have the correct details, our sales force is trained to update wrong data if they encountered it, basically it is a huge effort in which we invest time and money on a daily basis. And we still don’t get it perfect. So I am not surprised to see all the wrong data that is out there.
Assumptions are that when consumers search for business, they find listings across many directories of which 40% are incorrect. So make sure that when your business information is shown, it is accurate!
Online Strategy for Small Business Owners
Today there is an abundance of sites where people can find information about your business. Of course there are the GoldenPages and Google places, but are you aware of Yelp, qype, Hotfrog, Sayso, cityplug and Foursquare? And do you know if your business information is shown on one of these sites?
For many business owners keeping up with all these sites is a big challenge. You need to invest time, money and know-how, and these components are not always available for everybody. Managing all these accounts/interactions can quickly become a full time job, even when using some of the social media apps available (check out the social LUMAscape). It becomes even less interesting if you lose the overview and have no idea about what is being said (positive of negative) about your business.
So what should you do?
About Steven Princen (SPRIIRPS)
A brief Bio
Steven Princen is an Online Product Manager at Belgium’s biggest local search company, GoldenPages.be. His passions are online marketing, digital media and (historical) evolution’s.
Steven Princen has over 5 years experience in digital media, social media, online community, and related technologies. He always focuses on the big picture during strategical activities using a logical and analytic approach. He synthesizes all information in clear priorities, and finds a balance between user and business opportunities. Over the years he obtained strong project management skills using clear communications and focus on the end goal when working with vendors and customers.
you can find an overview of Steven Princen his profile on LinkedIn.
Foursquare’s website redesign
Two weeks ago (15th November to be exact) Foursquare updated it’s website. Why pay attention to a desktop update from a mobile checking applications you might think? Because there is one great improvement…
What is this update about?
Foursquare desktop version
easy, two words: map integration. Foursquare changes the map integration, making it larger (and even more when you select to expand the map)
Within the map Foursquare has made use of their user intelligence. It shows your friends on the map indicating their avatars where they made their last check in.
“It shows everything interesting nearby – your friends, places that are trending (in yellow), places on your lists (green), places with Specials (orange), and places that are popular (blue). You can even drag the map around or zoom in and out and all the interesting places update automatically. “ blog.foursquare.com
This combination of user intelligence, friends and trending places, all with a local and time sensitive label creates a unique map. Great to explore (or discover as per Foursquare) you own region, or the region you are planning to visit. With this information a treasure of information is made available, and that treasure will only become richer and richer due to more usage, more places, more offers, … My time spend on this page will increase drastically.
Foursquare place page
There is of course more included in this update besides the map integration. The place pages also got an update. Photos, tips, and information are presented better and improve the user experience.
Also included in this latest release there is the list discovery.
What are you waiting for? Go and check it yourself: http://foursquare.com
Google Street View
Google street view In Belgium
Finally it happened, Google Street View is launched in Belgium.
There were some indications yesterday (there seems to be an official Google press event at Brussels city hall later today).
The street view pictures are taken in 2009, but because of legal issues the launch was postponed. Legal issues because Google was also collecting data on wifi networks. This drew the attention of the Privacy commission that took legal action.
Boardroom members
Last week Media Saturn put the customer in the boardroom, figure of speech of course.
what is it all about?
when a user shares a product on Twitter or Facebook, he can influence the price of that product. Each tweet or facebook post drops the price with 1€.
The campaign will last for three weeks, and each week a new product will be promoted.
Of course there are some restrictions.
- Stock influenced to this pricedrop is limited, the first offer is only applicable to 100 pieces.
- Secondly prices can’t drop infinite. For the first product, a Samsung 43 inch Plasma TV, a pricedrop of 20,8 % is possible.
Google a day
My first google a day.
It is described as You are searching Deja Google – A wormhole inspired time machine that enables you to solve today’s puzzle spoiler free by searching the Internet as it existed before A Google a Day launched.
And I do like it.
