A Great Reason to Clean Up Your Shop: Google Street View (Business Photos)

By now, most people are familiar with Google Street View.  This is the service that lets your virtually drive / walk down just about any street. 

Well did you know that this can now extend to the indoors?  Google's photographers are busy mapping out the insides of famous places such as many museums, NASA and all sorts of places.

Right about now you might be thinking, "Hey it would be pretty neat if Google were to take photographs of the inside of my store."  Well, that is now well within the realm of possibility.  

Prices will vary as they hire local photographers, you choose from their vetted list, and they are supposed to offer you a reasonable rate for their time.  Some businesses have even been lucky enough to have been approached by Google so they can have a few showcase reference customers in their portfolio. 

To see what it looks like try the Street view of a local wine store, Vino 100 of White Plains, NY.  Click on the picture below and you should be taken directly to the storefront.  

Note:  This will take about 10-15 seconds.  First you'll see a regular Google Map (of somewhere's else), then a few seconds later, you should see the store front. 

Storefront of Vino 100 White Plains in Google Street View

Now, just go on in and have a look around for yourself!

Getting Google Business Photos for Your Business

As the heading just up above implies, Google's chosen brand name for indoor version of Street View is called, "Google Business Photos."   Click on that link and you'll be taken to the Google's Business Photos page website.  You can read all about the service and when you're ready, click on the [Get Started] button.  

First, don't forget to tidy up a bit .

Say, "Cheese!"

Tools of the Trade: Evernote

Everyone has ideas.  Some great, some not so much.  But often the many thoughts that run spontaneously through our heads never get a chance at greatness due to a common affliction know as CRS (can't remember stuff).

Fortunately, there is no shortage of apps to help provide that mental Spackle that most of us need all too often.  While there are many, few have risen to the top of many lists, including our as one of the best overall note taking programs as Evernote.

System Requirements

The first thing to know is that Evernote is about as cross-platform as you can get.  This means for pretty much whatever device you're using, there's at least one, if not more than one way to run Evernote, so that stream of consciousness stays flowing no matter what.

• Native Mac app
  
• Native Windows app (including Windows 8 touch)
• Native iOS apps (different for iPhone and iPad)
• Native Android app
• Native BlackBerry app
• Native Windows Phone app
• Even native HP WebOS app (talk about trying to make everyone happy)
• Web (with extensions for Apple Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox)
  Just in case everything else above doesn't cover you, or if you need to see your stuff on someone else's device.

Lay of the Land

Next, structure.  There are two basics units of measure at play here, Notebooks and Notes.  The former contains one or multiples of the latter.  Notebooks are your high-level buckets, and the notes are the specific containers of your thoughts, lists, etc.

Furthermore, notebooks can be "stacked," meaning to have one notebook be a sub of another notebook (i.e. a folder within a folder). Click on that previous link for more details from the Evernote Knowledge Base.

Rich Content

Each note does not have to simply be plain text.  It can be formatted rich text (e.g. you can use fonts, bold, italics, etc.); have lists, hyperlinks and much more.  It's also very good at helping you embed rich content such as audio, pictures and more. 

Critiques

If there is one major critique we have of Evernote, is a lack on feature and design consistency.  For example, the web and Windows versions of Evernote look and act pretty much identically, but the Mac version, while more visually appealing has a very different layout.  We expect their to be design differences between desktop and mobile (e.g. iOS, Android, etc.), because the core underlying user interfaces are different.  Furthermore, on mobile devices, one has to really manage screen real estate, which is a precious commodity, whereas on a desktop, one does not.   

Related, there is a lack of feature parity between the platforms.  For example, one cannot create the aforementioned, and very useful Notebook, "Stacks" on a mobile device.  One must use one of the "desktop" supported platforms (e.g. web, Mac, Windows) to create a stack.  

But overall in the grand scheme of things, Evernote has very few peers; especially when one considers the cross-platform functionality.   

Pricing

For most people, the good news, it's free to use.  How do they make money?  Well, they use a "freemium" pricing model. 

The base product is free, and certain things cost extra ($5.00 / month or $45.00 / year).  Their "Premium Product" gives you, among other things, the following: 

• Greater upload bandwidth - They meter your bandwidth and give you 60 MB / month.  Plenty for text.  If you start adding multimedia content (which they make it very easy for you to do), it can start to add up.  Premium users get 1 GB / month of bandwidth.
• Offline notebooks - For iOS and Android.  Great if you're not connected for long periods of time and need access to your notes all the time.  A subtle reminder about the Internet's one endearing flaw:  You have to be connected to it.
• Collaboration - Allow others to edit your notes.
• Document search - Evernote's searching will reach inside of PDF and "Office" type documents.
• Priority Support - An automatic bump in line ahead of all the freeloaders.
• Revision History - Have the ability to view prior versions of your notes.

Business Version (called Evernote Business) 

Evernote Business takes Evernote Premium, one step further by adding shared notebooks.  We like it, except for the price, $10 / month / person.  $120 / year  / person is fairly expensive for note taking software.  It's great note taking software, but we're just not convinced it's $10 / month great.  

Conclusion

The free app is a no-brainer.   Just get it.  You'll start winning the war against CRS almost immediately.  The premium and business accounts are something to think about.  You have to be able to justify the extra expense.  By themselves, they are very low cost.  But when one considers that just about every app out there is trying to get that modest $5 - $20 / month, it can add up quickly.  Put another way, what was the last traditional off-the-shelf software program that cost $50 - $100 that you upgraded every year without fail?  Because, remember, with cloud, subscription based software, if you don't pay the bill, the app goes away.  That's what makes us pause about Evernote's pricing levels; which in our opinion are about twice what they should be.

Tools of the Trade: Freetalk Connect•Me

If like many entrepreneurs, you use Skype, then this little gizmo is for you.  It's a small appliance that will provide VoIP via Skype and your telephone(s).  

Meaning it connects your regular telephone(s) to the Internet so they can use Skype without having to use a computer.  It supplies dial-tone just like a regular telephone line.  Just like with Skype on a computer, so long as you have a solid high-speed Internet connection, no one can tell how you are making calls.  

One of the wonders Skype is that it is a true ecosystem.  It works on so many different hardware platforms that it gives it ubiquity.  Setup is fairly simple.  The are three (3) ports on it:

1. Ethernet / RJ-45:  Internet Connection
2. RJ-11:  For your telephone
3. RJ-11:  For traditional telephone line (optional)

The second RJ-11 telephone jack allows to you to combine your existing telephone line with Skype.  You can configure it to route local calls over your existing telephone line and International calls over Skype.  If you're just starting out, you can probably skip the traditional telephone line and just use Skype for everything.

To configure the device, simply connect all the cables, plug it into the wall, wait about a minute for the LED light to turn green.  From there, follow the instructions to configure it via a web browser much like you would configure a router.  

In a nutshell, you need to provide your Skype credentials (username and password) and tell it how to route domestic and International calls.  That's about it.  It takes all of about 10 minutes from the time you open the box.

http://freetalkconnect.com/me

Freetalk Connect•Me

Required Reading: Blue Ocean Strategy

This book has been around for quite a while now, first published back in 2005. The target audience would be the product manager or anyone involved in the development of a new product or service. Blue Ocean Strategy will require you to focus on what is important, and what is superfluous.

What the authors mean by the term, "Blue Ocean" is an analogy for peace and tranquility. That tranquility comes from having no real competition around you for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see.

This is contrasted against the notion of a, "red ocean," which gets its name for blood infested, shark filled waters. This is what happens when there is extremely intense competition, particularly with a focus on price. 

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne study many companies and provide insightful analysis into how they redefined their respective industries.  Two prominent examples in the book are Cirque Du Soleil and Southwest Airlines.

Each in their own way redefined their respective markets.  The latter of which has now spawned new competitors like JetBlue; which provides and another important lession:  You cann't just innovate once and call it a day.  You have to constantly evaluate and adapt to changing markets and swim back toward the bluer waters.

Cirque Du Soleil figured out there was one very expensive component to the circus that yielded very little value:  animals.  Their care and feeding costs a small fortune.  By eliminating this aspect they were able to dedicate many resources toward the performer, which is what they thought and have thus proved are what people really want to see - a good show.

Blue Ocean Strategy is crammed with many examples that will above all make you think about what your customers truly value, and what is not worth your resources.

A Window in to Your Business

This is a great video about creating effective display windows.  If you have a retail store or are thinking about one, this is a must watch.  They talk about getting your store noticed; what it takes; the effective and proper use of space as well the meanings of different colors.  Multiple "Mom & Pop" store fronts are examined up close.

The video is from the show, "Your Business" which airs Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. on MSNBC.  The show is sponsored by American Express, specifically their, "OPEN" small business division.  We'll be talking more about this show in general in a future post.  For now, enjoy the video.

Length:  10:19 

What's in a Directory Listing? (Your Future Business)

You spent some time and money building a website, but the phone is still not ringing any more than before the website.  In the old days (15-20 years ago) things were pretty simple: Just make sure you have a listing in the phone book. 

Now, amazingly, phone books are still delivered to our doorsteps.  But the books are most likely never opened; and that's making the huge assumption that they even make it inside your home and do not go straight for the recycling bin.

Those few print directories have been replaced by various on-line directories.  The good news for you is that there are many different ones and most of them offer at least some level of basic listing for free.  And they all capture a different audience.

The big question for you is:  How many listings do you have?

There's pretty much no excuse since as we just mentioned, the price is right for any small business.

Prepare Yourself

Below we'll provide you with a pretty healthy list of directories to get you started.  But first, you'll want to do a little prep work and have some information ready and at-hand.  Each listing can take 15-30 minutes to complete.  This depends on the depth of information you provide, not to mention how fast you can type!

Some of the directories have very basic listings, some get quite detailed.  This is one area where the old "less is more" minimalist approach does not work.  In this case, more is more.  If you have information to provide for a question, by all means, enter that information!  Those details in all likelihood become additional keywords for the search engines.

This is a project that should take the average small business a couple of weeks to complete, assuming you complete 1-2 listings per day, a few days per week.  We would not recommend trying to bang all of them out at once simply based on fatigue error rates.  You want the listings to be accurate.  Treat each one as if it were an application for a job.  And with every "job application," there are a myriad of standard questions to answre.

A high-level list of the basic information you'll want to have ready (where applicable):

• Name of business
• Physical Address
• Telephone Number(s)
• Fax Number
• E-Mail addresses for sales, service, etc.
• Website
• Blog
• Contact page on website (URL - e.g. mycompany.com/contactus.html)
• Hours of Operation, by day
• Directions (some will allow additional information beyond what gets generated by the automatic mapping programs)
• Parking information (e.g. street parking, municipal lot, etc.)
• Methods of Payment (e.g. cash, check, credit cards (be specific), net terms, etc.)
• Type of Business (e.g. Italian Restaurant, Law Firm, Dry Cleaners, etc.)
• Specialties within industry (e.g. catering, real estate, silk garments, etc.)
• Technical contact information for listing (e.g. who is responsible for the information being provided) - Usually name, e-mail address and telephone number.
• EIN / Tax ID number as well as any other relevant license numbers
• Brief description / elevator pitch of your business.  Somewhere in the listing there will usually be a free-form text field where you will typically be allotted 100-500 characters to sum up your business in just a few words.
• Pictures - This is vital if you have a retail business.  Make sure you at least have a picture of your front entrance.  Additionally, applicable product pictures.  This is vital for the restaurant business and many others.
• Company Logo

Tip:  Type all this up in your favorite note taking software or word processor so you always have it ready.  This way new listings become largely a copy and paste exercise versus a remedial typing lesson.

Prepare To Be Verified

Many local listings (Google and Bing to name just two) have a physical verification process to ensure people who are less than scrupulous do not create fake / spam listings.  They do this by mailing you a postcard a week or two after you submit your listing.  The postcard will have a simple code to enter.  When you receive the postcard you will log back into the respective account and enter the randomly assigned code.  

I have to claim my own business? (Yes, you do.)

In many instances, and this is actually an idea case, the most basic listing (meaning name, address and telephone number) for your business will already be in the directory in question.  By "claiming" your business you are stating that you are the rightful legal owner of that business.  

The reason that this is a good thing is it means that without any effort on your part, people were already finding your business.  

By claiming the listing you'll be able to add all the additional details and manage those attributes as the situation warrants.

The aforementioned verification process may be a part of the claiming process.  Meaning said directory will likely mail you a postcard and / or call your main number.

Start with the big search engines.  

All of them have "local" sections.

Google Places - http://www.google.com/places

Yahoo! Local - http://local.yahoo.com

Bing Local - http://www.bing.com/local

As of right now, the big three, which is really a big one with two other somewhat well used brands comprise over 90% of the search engine market.  Google has just over 80% of the market, with the Yahoo and Bing at approximately 6% and 4%, respectively.  Everyone else has less than 1% market share.  

Now the rest...

SuperMedia - http://www.supermedia.com

SuperMedia is the reincarnation of one of the "Baby Bells" (Verizon) yellow pages business.  It should be one of your first stops, especially if you have local Verizon telephone service.

YellowPages - http://www.yellowpages.com

YellowPages is from AT&T, but not for much longer.  They recently announced the spinoff of their advertising division.  Regardless, a very worthwhile listing.

infoUSA - http://www.infousa.com

This listing cuts both ways.  They are marketing company.  Their primary business is selling mailing lists for lead generation.  So go in with the understanding that you may wind up on a few more cold calling lists, but as a small business owner you're probably already used to that reality of life.  You get in many directories and people can find you and that's the point, getting your name in more places.  It's another means of feeding the directory ecosystem.  Many companies will buy / license their lists for their initial data loads.  Meaning when some smart cookie thinks they've got the next great local advertising website in their head, they'll probably hit infoUSA first to build their initial list.

Note:  All of the following sites have local sites within them.  Meaning the webpage listed is for the mothership, the parent organization, the HQ, etc.  In many cases you'll need to go to the local site for your geographic area then find the registration link.

Yelp - http://www.yelp.com

Yelp is very important, especially if you have a restaurant.  Their "secret sauce" is their review process.  They work very hard to quantify trust.  Meaning they have developed a means of eliminating garbage reviews.  Garbage on both ends of the spectrum, from the ridiculously shameful plug that is coming from a relative of the owner or a marketing company or on the other end the ranting lunatic who doesn't like anything.  Additionally, their mobile apps for iOS and Android are must haves and are pretty much "the" directory of the smartphone for now.  While they become most famous for their restaurant reviews, they have category breakdowns for just about every business type.  As smartphones become more and more ubiquitous, their value goes up and up.

Patch - http://www.patch.com

Patch is a division of AOL.  They are primarily a hyper-local news organization.  Their unique offering is that they are focused on small towns; over 800 of them all over the United States of America.  They are now in 22 states, plus the District of Columbia.  

To give an idea of how local they are, in Westchester County in New York State, just north of New York City there are over a dozen "Patch" sites covering close to 20 different municipalities.  (Some sites cover two towns bordering each other.)  Patch has a free directory service, complete with reviews.  If your town is listed, you need to be listed in that directory.  

Related Tip #1:  Complete a personal profile for yourself.  In the profile reference your business.  When appropriate make a few non-controversial comments on stories that capture your attention.  You would be suprised how many people will click on your name, read your profile and find your business.  

Related Tip #2:  Since they are so relatively new, the quantity of review are relatively light.  If you can convince a few of your biggest fans to say some nice about your business, chances are you'll move to the top of the list, being that Patch's default sort order is by rating, not by name.  

CitySearch - http://www.citysearch.com

This is the company whose lunch was eaten by Yelp.  They pretty much started this space, but got lethargic and forgot about making the customer first.  They paid a heavy price for it.  Over the years they've essentially now followed in Yelp's footsteps, somewhat clawing their way back to respectability.  Still, they have enough traffic and a mobile app to make a listing worth your time, assuming your business falls into one of the categories they cover.  Their primary focus is entertainment / expendable income, so this means restaurants, salons, spas, theaters, etc.  They are in larger cities.

Timeout - http://www.timeout.com

Timeout only covers the largest of the large cities.  They are a magazine and travel guide publisher.  As their name implies, they are focused on leisure.  While their basic listings are free, they do not guarantee inclusion.  If you have a sizeable noteworthy business in one their covered metropolises, then this would be worth your time as well.

Wrapping Up...

This should be plenty to get any small business started on their quest for more name recognition.  We'll post an addendum to this list from time to time.

Coming in a future posting - social media listings.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) - The Catch-All Security Appliance

As promised, a follow-up article on security.  

So you've done the right thing, you installed anti-virus / malware / everything software on all your PCs (Windows, Macs, Linux, etc).  You've even gone the extra step of installing security software on your company cell phones.

But what about people who bring in devices that are not company owned?  (e.g. Smartphones, tablets, etc.)  The notion of "BYOD" (Bring Your Own Device) is a reality of today's world, and stifling the creativity of your employees is also counter productive.

What's a small business owner to do?  The answer is quite simple, and as iluded to in the title of this article, Unified Threat Management (UTM) is the answer.  Think of a UTM appliance as your router on steroids.  

It will do everything that your router does today such as acting as a firewall to prevent intrusion attacks as well as managing IP addresses.  But UTM appliances generally have multiple software programs running inside them that inspect the traffic going in and out.

For example, if someone were to click on a link in an e-mail, or on some website that leads to a phishing site, the UTM appliance will catch that and give you a warning or block it entirely (depending on the configuration options selected).  

There's nothing to install on any device.  It's simply placing itself "in the way" of all traffic, sitting quietly in the background.  

Additionally, some devices will have VPN (virtual private networking) abilities built in, allowing for remote access and / or site-to-site access.  Meaning if you have two more locations, they can be on one big "wide area network" (WAN).

Cost of such devices start around $500 (give or take) and can go up from there.  Like most networking hardware, the cost will depend on the size of the network.  But for a small shop with a dozen or so devices, an entry level device should usually do the trick.  Warranties of such business class devices are generally much better than consumer routers.  For example, Netgear's UTM appliances come with lifetime hardware warranties.  Meaning you'll never buy it again in the event of a failure.  

Required Reading - Presentation Zen

This is the first in what will be an on-going series of book reviews.

Up first is "Presentation Zen," by Garr Reynolds.

  

This was his first of now many books, but it was this book, first published back in 2008, and now in its second edition, that set the standard for how to give meaningful presentation.

Even if you do not give formal presentations, this is still a worthwhile read for any small business owner.  It teaches the importance of clarity, simplicity and being succinct.  Many of the principles in this book can easily be translated to the world of retail and merchandising.

A very easy read with many picture-filed pages.  Garr Reynolds breaks down not only the components of what goes into a good presentation (and what should be left out), it lays out in excellent detail the best practices of how to design, build and give a meaningful presentation that will be remembered after the lights come back on and you leave the stage.

In addition to his own words of wisdom, Mr. Reynolds includes the advice of many other notables in this field.

One of the best quotes in the book actually comes from one of these contributors within the book, Nancy Duarte, president and CEO of Duarte Design:

"If you feel tempted to use a picture of two hands shaking in front of a globe, put the pencil down, step away from the deck and think about taking a vacation or investigating aromatherapy."  -- Nancy Duarte

Well worth your time to read, study and most importantly, learn.

Publisher:  New Riders

List Price:  $29.99 (significantly less on-line)

ISBN:  13: 9780321811981  (Standard 2nd Edition)

ISBN:  13: 9780321820204  (Barnes & Noble Exclusive, 2nd Edition)

Free Anti-Virus - Good in a Pinch, Not the Best Strategy for the Long Run

Before delving into the free vs paid argument, let's get one subject out of the way up front:  You need anti-virus and other "anti" threat protection measures.  It's not a want.  It's not a nice to have.  It's a need, period.  You're simply putting your data at great risk without it.

The lure of free software is of course always tempting.  After all, it's pretty hard to beat the price.  Products like AVG's Free edition of their anti-virus program provides very good protection.  And in a pinch, we highly recommend it for any unprotected PC.

However, once a small business gets beyond counting the number of computers on one hand, it's time to look at the "corporate" offerings.  Why?  What's the difference between the corporate and consumer offerings?  They protect against the same viruses, don't they?  

Yes, they do.  A virus does not know what kind of computer it is attacking.  It just attacks when given the opportunity.

The corporate editions protect against the humans.  Both you, your employees and anyone else that uses one of your computers.  Basically the corporate editions protect against the proverbial self-inflicted gun-shot wounds.

Have you ever had to disable your anti-virus software when you were installing a new piece of software or installing a device driver for a new piece of hardware?

There's the danger window.

Most anti-whatever (virus, malware, etc.) programs will allow you to temporily disable itself.  Usually for a defined time like 15 minutes, 1 hour, etc.  Other options can include, "until next restart," and of course just disabling until you remember (operative word) to re-enable it.

And there inlies the rub.  

First, who is making the decision to install what program(s)?  Next, do you want to leave it to chance that someone could disable the program permanently either on purpose or simply by accident?  Probably not.

Corporate editions, among many other features can enforce uniform policies, and passwords for usage.  Meaning in order to disable the anti-virus program, a password will first have to be entered before doing so.

BYOD

Many companies are starting to embrace a "BYOD" (bring your own device) approach to I.T.  This started with smartphones and tablets (largely iPhones and iPads) but has now expanded to traditional laptop computers. 

Even though a company may allow employees to use any devices they see fit, that does not mean that all policies governing security get thrown out the window.  In fact, it usually means other aspects need to get tighter.

Taking a Comprehensive Approach

This is where the corporate versions of security programs help close those gaps.  Even though the user will most likely have administrator control over a computer, these programs have their own added security so they cannot be easily disabled or removed without a separate password.  Additionally, the corporate anti-virus tools come with administrator consoles.  This means you can see who has their security installed and who does not.  Additionally, it can monitor each computer to ensure they are fully up to date, fully enabled, and fully compliant with your security policies.  

Having tools such as Symantec Endpoint Protection, our tool of choice on this subject, can help protect your company's data and remove a large level of worry.

Where to buy?

Once you get beyond consumer level products, you will typically not find such products in retail channels, even such chains that cater to small businesses like Staples.  They are available on-line via various channels as wellas most managed service providers and consulting firms.

Have questions?  Please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

How to guard against devices without any software installed? 

What about all those tablets, smartphones and the occasional "rogue" PCs?  How does one add that extra layer of protection?

Coming soon in a not-so-distant future post:  Unified Threat Management.

Lower Your Operating Costs and Go Green in the Process

You may have seen the flyers in your ConEd bill (or promptly ignored them), urging you to "Call the Green Team."  The fact is, this is one of the easiest things you can do to determine if you are leaving money on the table each and every month.  Money that could obviously be put toward other things like your business.

Among other things, they offer free energy surveys and there are incentives in place that can cover up to 70% of the cost toward upgrading heating, cooling and lighting systems.  Meaning the time to 100% ROI is greatly reduced compared to having to pay for the upgrades entirely on your own.

Even the call is free. 

Contact Information: 

• Telephone:   +1 888 945-5326
• Website:  http://www.coned.com/greenteam

 Other Resources:

• ConEd Commercial Energy Calcucator
• ConEd Commecial Lighting Calculator

For Future Reference:

When it comes time to replace your computers, especially if you have desktop computers; remember you can consume a lot less energy with proper planning. 

Desktop computers, especially ones that run extended hours (for example point-of-sale (POS) terminals), consume large amounts of power simply because they are on for long hours each day.  Often times, they are "over bought."  Meaning far too much horsepower for the task at hand.  Many manufacturers have models that consume very little electricity and yet still have more than enough "horsepower" so you customer are never keept waiting for the system to catch-up.

Have questions?  Please reach out to us.