Susan Finch Solutions

How do you feel about the government deciding who can sing Happy Birthday online?

Governement. There's a word.  When I was in school I was taught WE were the governement, the people, the citizens.

gov·ern·ment/ˈgəvər(n)mənt/

Noun:	The governing body of a nation, state, or community. The system by which a nation, state, or community is governed.
Synonyms:	administration - rule - management - ministry - reign

"The Government" has become this babysitter/boogeyman entity that controls too much, that doesn't always listen if it isn't in "their" best interest.  With the proposed SOPA Bill, there is the potential that smaller start-ups, sites, non-profits will be hunted down because perhaps they actually posted someone singing Happy Birthday on YouTube. Happy Birthday is copywritten. You cannot legally sing it in public in a group - such as a restaurant or bowling alley without permission or paying for the right to sing it.  This bill is along that line.  Learn more here:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

The Feeling is Soon All Shoppers Will Be Mobile Shoppers

AdAge had an article today.  It's a good wake up call for those of us who want to be found online. I guess that would be EVERY business owner that wants to grow their business and customer base.  This article will give you suggestions and eye-opening statistics to better prepare you for your next website revamp and web presence attack.  You need to be listed in the usual sites that typical light mobile shoppers rely upon for information:

Google, Yahoo, Yelp, Amazon and all of their little subservices such as GooglePlaces and the like.

Not all mobile activities are created equal
In the universe of mobile shopping, there are some well-adopted activities and others that are used less frequently. Some of these activities are highly influenced by traditional mobile behaviors, while others are strongly influenced by traditional shopping behaviors.

Based on their origins and influences, and guided by our research findings, we have identified four quadrants of mobile-shopping activities, each with its own keys to success with mobile shoppers:

• Well-adopted mobile tasks. Example: using the phone to look up store addresses, hours, and locations. Key: cover the basics such as optimizing email and search functionalities with technology vendors such as Google.
• Well-adopted shopping tasks. Example: using the phone to compare products and prices, check on order status, and search for deals. Key: create proprietary retailer solutions, customized by category.
• Specialized, less-adopted mobile tasks. Example: sharing opinions or tweeting price deals. Key: partner with industry leaders such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
• Advanced, less-adopted shopping tasks. Example: viewing product demos, preordering for quicker pick-up, using gift registries. Key: take well-adopted shopping tasks and enhance them within your own platform.

If shoppers use a generic app like Amazon price checker instead of your app, you risk losing the sale to a competitor. That's why Target, Best Buy, and Toys R Us built a barcode scanning feature into their own apps. Now they can provide pricing information AND product information that are seen as valuable to the shopper and can potentially keep the sale within their store.

Read the full article here on AdAge.

Then, contact your Web Solutions Provider to see if they can help you get ready to be found on all devices.

Forget Twitter — Facebook is Where the Customers Are

More and more, I'm falling less out of love with the tininess of Twitter and seeing the best way to reach customers, potential customers is Facebook.  Between the ads and genuine community building this is where everyone hangs out.

WEO Connect and Grow SoMe Panel Wildly Successful

Last night a group of around 100 people gathered at Madison's Bar and Grill's meeting space to learn more about the overwhelming topic of SoMe - that's Social Media to most people.  Everyone was eager to learn how to grow their businesses through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogging.  There were a lot of fears tackled, misconceptions tossed out the window and eyes opened wide.  We also heard many "aha" moments at the various panel discussions after the overview presentation by Marlynn Schotland of Urban Bliss Design and founder of ThePowerMOB.com.

Thank you to WEO for inviting me to be the panel leader for blogging.  The four presenters didn't have connectivity - password issues with Madison's network, so we all had our laptops open as props. It worked out better for me.  Our table engaged in a lively discussion firing back questions and answers about the purpose of blogging and how to use it to save time and increase business.

Happy Birthday .Com – 25 Years Old!

Symbolics.com was the first .com registered on March 15, 1985 for the “world wide web.” Today there are over 80 million .Com websites and the domain is a prominent feature of the internet.

The economic impact of .Com has been quantified in a study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The ITIF found that the .Com domain serves as a platform for $400 billion in annual economic activity. .Com domain names drive more than $1.5 trillion in global annual economic activity, more than the global sales of medicine, investment in renewable energy, and government investment in R&D, combined. The ITIF estimates that the economic activity flowing across the .com infrastructure is likely to grow to $950 billion in annual revenue by 2020.

The .Com domain has defined a generation of innovation and entrepreneurism, serving as the launch pad for a new generation of companies that have transformed communications, commerce, entertainment and more.

“My young kids can’t fathom life without the internet. People above the age of 30 realize what a profound change the internet has had on human lives,” said Jason Teichman, SVP, Marketing & Product Management for Register.com.

Did you know?

• The most popular words among .com URL’s today include “home” (1.2 million), “online” (1 million) and “land” (891,000).
• The domain name system is used more than 1 trillion times per day… so in 1 second that is more than 20 million times.
• Policy Impact Forum panelist and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt said the .com domain has become a “common medium for humanity.”

When transforming an original image, when does the original copyright end?

The LA Times covers a current lawsuit over the issues of what is Fair Use of an image. The street artist in question truly muddied the case by originally lying about his sources of the image and fabricating fake sources to cover himself.  The author of the iconic Obama image took an AP Photo, then used only the outline of it, and added his own colors to it. The question is where does the Associated Press copyright end?

Google's SideWiki - keeping us on our toes to respond

I have a  client, sad to say, that would prefer to be removed from Google results and especially Yahoo.  This is because they have a lot of bad feedback, comments, rantings.  I did my job and got them high rankings, traffic - exposure.  This has resulted in more venues for unhappy clients of theirs to sound off.  We have tried to combat with positive feedback received. We don't post anything that isn't true.  It isn't enough to fight this battle.  The client didn't like my solution: be better at what you do.

We should be accountable, not to the gadflies, but to our customers and listen to their feedback.  If they are consistently unhappy with the same issues, those issues need to be addressed and responded to.  Be proactive, be responsive. Do something with the valuable feedback now available everywhere on your company.

Google's SideWiki: Don't Say We Didn't Warn You -Feature Brings Commenting to Your Site, Whether You Want It or Not

Posted on AdAge by Josh Bernoff.

Let's be clear. Sidewiki is a land grab. Google has now set up real estate on every single website for commentary from the masses.

Once a person is signed up (and anyone can -- it's part of the Google toolbar), he or she can comment on any page and see comments from others on those pages. Google uses an algorithm to decide which comments go at the top. And Google, not the site owner, decides which content must be taken down because it's inappropriate.

I know the difference between being a Hispanic Professional and a Professional Hispanic.

I'm a poor excuse for a Hispanic and even poorer excuse for a Mexican, even though I'm half Mexican. Can many members of my family clearly communicate in Spanish? Yes. Do some of those same family members successfully run businesses and employ primarily Hispanic folks? Yes. Am I in either of those categories? No. But at least I know it. I realize not in touch with any particular ethnic segment of the market, unless suburban, professional mom counts. I get embarrassed for companies that think they get it and are in touch with whatever ethnic group they are targeting. I wince at their campaigns. Apparently I'm not alone in my anguish. 

Some Shops Have Painted Themselves Into a Hispanic-Only Corner:
You'll Need to Be a Hispanic Professional, not a Professional Hispanic, to Go After General Market

Humor, simplicity, Pringles made me click - a lot.

Cannes Festival isn't just about movies, it's about creativity in media, advertising and more.  With VERY little budget Pringles - yes PRINGLES - the canned potato chip folks - took the prize for best banner ad.  The story went something like this:

All the followers and fans in the world can't save you from bad customer service

We have all become so focused on Tweets, blogs, and other social media that we have lost sight of where the core focus should be first:  quality products and service.  A company can post all sorts of interesting or humorous tidbits to create a following, but it won't generate nor maintain customers unless you have good products and good customer service.  Scratch that - in order to stay competitive you need GREAT customer service.

With long-standing retailers falling by the wayside, I think it's important to note that the companies who still have a focus on customer service and quality products are doing just fine.  Customer reviews on products and services not only hold more weight, but the companies being reviewed really look at this feedback to correct problems, add new services and make improvements.