Last week, the Federal Trade Commission released its final report on privacy. The Commission hopes to bring privacy by design, simplified choice for businesses and consumers, and greater transparency through its recommendations.
As WebProNews previously reported, the White House also released a privacy proposal recently that called for a Privacy Bill of Rights. Both reports show that the government is aware that privacy issues exist for both consumers and businesses.
The FTC report specifically focused on these 5 areas:
1. Do Not Track
2. Mobile
3. Data Brokers
4. Comprehensive Tracking
5. Self-regulation
Jules Polonetsky, the Director and Co-Chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, spoke with us and explained that, while the FTC did ask Congress to pass privacy legislation, it placed a greater emphasis on finding industry best practices for self-regulation. According to him, if a company doesn’t want to be regulated, it should be doing all it can to remove the concerns consumers and the government have.
Since it is an election year, he said it was doubtful that any legislation would go through. However, the issue of privacy is not going away. As a result, he believes businesses should work with customers to find a balance that not only makes users feel their privacy is protected, but that also allows companies to further innovate.
What do you think of the FTC’s privacy framework? We’d love to know.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Apr 3rd, 2012. 
Today, SaaS and mobile company Tello launched a new platform geared specifically toward customer service needs for businesses. The tool, which is simply called Tello for Business, allows both big and small companies respond to user feedback in real time.
As Joe Beninato, Tello’s CEO, explained to WebProNews, the new service helps businesses quickly and easily address customer concerns or other issues. He said the platform could potentially turn consumers into repeat customers.
Tello for Business also offers companies a detailed analytics platform that provides business metrics, employee ratings, and more. Beninato told us that, at a time when consumers can easily post reviews and comments via their mobile devices, it was especially critical for businesses to put a greater emphasis on their customer service strategies.
Meanwhile, Tello additionally announced today that it has raised $ 2.7 million in funding. Beninato said the company plans to use the capital to further develop its platform.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Feb 29th, 2012.
LinkedIn recently released its 2012 Consumer Electronics Report, which revealed some interesting insights about both the business professionals that are on LinkedIn as well as the general U.S. population. The study found that 41 percent of LinkedIn members plan to spend at least $ 1,000 on consumer electronics this year, compared to 29 percent of the general public in the U.S.
The study, which surveyed more than 1500 U.S. adults, also found that LinkedIn members depend on technology for time management, productivity, and efficiency. In addition, these business professionals are more likely to seek product recommendations on social networks, while average U.S. adults get their recommendations from TV and newspapers. However, both sides believe companies should have a social media presence.
With the Consumer Electronics Show taking place this week, this report could give the tech companies the information they need to market their new innovations.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jan 10th, 2012.
Is your Facebook fan page supercharged and utilizing its full marketing super powers? Maybe you’ve gotten so bombarded with “social media best practices,” you’ve taken a break from your Facebook efforts altogether. We don’t blame you, (although we don’t encourage that anti “social” media behavior), but your business can’t afford not to use this flourishing marketing platform. So stop your Facebook frenzy, press the pause button on your optimization overload, and tune into our 5 simple ways to optimize, or rather, help people find your Facebook business page and become avid fans.
1. An Optimized Profile Picture
A profile picture is worth a thousand Facebook posts. It is your presence to the Facebook community and your “face” in all posts and interactions with fans. In order to optimize your picture to its full potential, keep it streamline with your company website logo and any other platforms you have online (LinkedIn, Twitter and blog). Your business profile picture can also be the perfect opportunity to capture three important features: business logo, what your business does, and a call to action.
For our /excelamktg profile picture, we include our branded “mktg” logo on top (which we use as our thumbnail), what our business does in the center, and a call to action at the bottom (we encourage fans to “learn more about /excelamktg!”).
Tip: Remember to keep your profile picture aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Avoid packing in too much imagery and/or wording, as it could be distracting and appear spammy. The masterminds at our excela creative department designed our logo.
2. Custom Photo Row
Your photo row consists of 5 pictures that appear under your page name. These photos will randomly change position each time the profile is refreshed, or a picture added. Many businesses leave their row at random, but when you have the capability to get creative, wouldn’t you? By doing so, your photo row can turn into a great way to keep your branding consistent, professional and streamline.
Tip: Choose 5 photos that will make sense no matter what order they appear. For our client Erica Anenberg’s photo row, we highlight various styles of her popular Twosome™ rings:
3. Appropriate Featured Likes
Facebook pages have the option of choosing 5-featured pages that your brand “likes” and essentially, associates with. These pages appear as thumbnails under your “Featured Likes” column. Normally, these thumbnails randomly list in any order, but in your settings you can set these Featured Likes to 5 pages that will always appear. Customizing your Featured Likes is a quick and easy way to showcase what type of business you are, what kind of message you want to emulate and it gives a custom touch to your Facebook page. After all, you are who you associate with, right? Well, your fans will look at you that way.
For our client Face Place, we chose to include celebrities who embody the type of image Face Place desires, and type of audience they like to attract:
4. Vanity URL
Your vanity URL is your virtual nametag. It will determine the success of how search-friendly you are as a business. With over 800 million ACTIVE users (not counting total pages), you need to be specific to rise above the noise. You want to ensure that your Facebook isn’t, “facebook.com/kjhdsfg123424,” but rather, a URL that is search-engine friendly like, “http://www.facebook.com/sunsettower.” To create your vanity URL, simply click on your page’s “Account Setting” in the top right hand corner and enter your desired Facebook “username” in the box provided.
There are truly endless possibilities to customize your business fan page (FBML, apps, etc.), and while these might seem like daunting tasks, they are a necessity in our social world. We are here to elevate your small business and get you on your way to Optimization Om.
What will be the first change you make to your Facebook page? Visit /excelamktg for further customized Facebook ideas, designs and insider tips for optimizing your Social Media.
Be sure to check out our Social Media on a Budget web series. Each week, our panel of experts will take a closer look into the social media hot topic of the week.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Dec 28th, 2011.
It’s hard keeping up with all of the social media info that’s out there. If you’re a small business owner trying to get a handle on social media, here are some resources to help you make sense of it all.
© Nalaka174 | Dreamstime.com
Nine Social Media Pointers: These are all good tips, with hints for each tip. While I agree with all the points, #5 is worth remembering, especially as you get started: “Success takes time and consistent effort.”
- iContact recently released survey results about small business owners love/hate relationship with social media. Facebook and LinkedIn received the most likes, but a quarter of small business owners hate social media.
- Using social media for business involves more than sending out tweets or posting your updates to Facebook. Should you friend your employees on Facebook? Can an employee take your followers to a competitor? This HR Survival Guide gives you a few things to think about. You can then use these tips for developing your own social media policy.
- Can Home Depot actually teach you anything about social media? Yes, they can. They have five social media lessons for business – and all are worth learning.
- Of course, you’ll also want to learn from the mistakes of others. Social media has now been around long enough that you can avoid making these 10 mistakes and 5 mistakes.
- Is it worthwhile to make time for social media even when you have a business to run? One lawyer thinks so – and he tells his story about how he’s using social media to gain new clients
- Finally, this last link is the one that I think is most important for small business owners using social media: be selective about your networks and don’t try to do it all!
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Dec 5th, 2011.
