Biznology

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Recently, I wrote a post that recommended, “Don’t be afraid of fake reviews,” to help business owners know how to respond to an angry post in social media. To make a long post short, my advice was to always treat angry reviews as legitimate (not assuming it is faked by a competitor, for example), because responding that way is best whether the review is fake or not.  That advice was questioned by one correspondent, who asked, “How deeply do you respond in public?” What he wants to know is how to practically manage a conversation in social media, which is a very good question.

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You know that I talk a lot about local marketing. But more and more what I am noticing is that huge changes occur for local websites so quickly in this industry that itself is not very old. Speaking of old, I hate to admit that I know this song, but it’s more because I was a big Bugs Bunny fan growing up rather than me simply being old enough to know the tune and the words to “The Old Gray Mare.” But I do know the song, and it’s got me to thinking lately. Read the remainder of this entry »

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My monthly Biznology® Webinar Tuesday was called “Optimize Your Web Site Search.”  I talked for 30 minutes about how to help searchers find what they want on your Web site.  Did a frustrated searcher just ask again why your site search engine stinks?  Site search foments frustration because you can’t deliver on the implied promise: “Type in anything and we’ll find it.”  You’re not sure whether the problem is the search engine technology you use, the way you’ve set up the search engine, or that blasted content on your site.  Your authors don’t use the right keywords, your Webmasters block the spiders, marketers insist on their precious message, and tech support people write entirely in acronyms.  When you add it all up, it’s a wonder anyone finds anything with your site search engine. Read the remainder of this entry »

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In the quaint old offline world, things move slowly. If you have a good name for your business or your product, you know exactly what to do. You do a trademark search to make sure that no one else is using the name (at least within your industry), you add a the trademark symbol™ to your name, and if you really want to go the extra mile, you register your trademark so you can use the registered trademark symbol®. It was so simple back then, wasn’t it? But it’s a brave new online world now, and you have to worry about all sorts of other names, ranging from domain names to search keywords to social media IDs. How do you protect your trademark in all of those venues? Read the remainder of this entry »

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When it comes to your direct mail campaigns, you’ve probably over-farmed your land. You’ve been emailing and snail mailing the same donors you have done for a decade. It is time to leave the land fallow and let the lists rest. You have probably responded to lower donations and attention by relinquishing too much power to your direct marketing firm and they have been much more aggressive than you’re comfortable with, sending out many more snail mail and email donation requests than ever before. You used to blame the economy for decreased giving but you’re starting to believe it has more to do with the fertility of the donor list than it does with the economic collapse of 2008–or a lot less than you’ve been led to believe. You realize that the nonprofit space is ever more competitive, but your brand is strong and respected and comes up well in Charity Navigator, so what gives?  Read the remainder of this entry »