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It’s an age old adage in real estate that the three most important factors for success are “location, location, location”. Well, it seems that may be the most important factor for mobile searches also. A new study released by AT&T Interactive and Nielsen conducted in March 2011 indicates that location is a key part of the mobile experience, that an incredible 43% of local mobile searchers actually walk through the door of the establishment, and upwards of 22% made a purchase. That is a significant number to consider.

As you might expect, restaurants top the list of establishments being searched, but also ranking high were entertainment, grocery, and retail stores. Localized mobile ads that were presented as part of the search results increased the likelihood that the searcher would visit and make a purchase. One thing is evident in the study: mobile users tend to act quickly in the “search; find; purchase” process and younger mobile users, especially men under the age of 45, are more prone to share their location on social networking sites.

What’s all this mean for you? Continue reading “Location is key in mobile searches” »

Arguably, the Godfather movies are the greatest films ever made, begetting some great “wise guy” proverbs. And since I’m one of those guys who could communicate entirely in movie quotes and being a “web-wise guy” to boot, I wondered how Don Corleone might run the online “family business.” Here’s some memorable Godfather wisdom – and nobody even has to get whacked!

“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Studies show that it takes less than a second for visitors to pass judgment on you based on your website. Impress them immediately before the Back button becomes public enemy number one.

“It’s business, not personal.” If that’s your website’s vibe, remember: People make decisions intellectually, but they buy emotionally. It’s always personal; touch something sensitive.

Continue reading “The Godfather’s Guide To Doing Business Online” »

Can you imagine living in a world filled with great and terrible beasts like the dinosaurs? What a world it must have been! I’m guessing that movies like Jurassic Park don’t even come close to depicting these awe-inspiring reptiles! If you’ve ever stood before the intimidating skeleton of a T-Rex in a museum, or a colossal Brachiosaurus, you might have gazed up at it wondering what that amazing animal must have been like in real life. You might have also wondered, Just how did such mighty creatures become extinct? You might be closer to the real answer than you think.

Continue reading “If Dinosaurs Lived Today” »

I try to live my life on the healthier side. It’s funny; I’m convinced that we spend millions of dollars on fitness gimmicks only to discover time after time that the Holy Grail of healthy living is in fact… diet and exercise! Bummer. But doesn’t everything work that way? Aren’t we endlessly in search of that one secret ingredient promising us the fat-free, sugar-free, full-flavored business we’ve always wanted – one that makes customers descend on us like wave upon wave of demented dieters on a taco wagon? But alas, just when we were finally resigned to the painful truth that success is measured by how much good ol’ fashion work we were willing to put into it, along came the Internet, which changed everything!

Continue reading “Eat Right & Keep Your Site From ‘Biggest Loser’ Status” »

Industry leaders know that content marketing and social media campaigns are crucial to success on the Internet. However, given that content marketing is a qualitative, rather than quantitative concept, how can you measure the success of something that, at first glance, can’t be measured?

That’s where this article comes in. Let’s take a closer look at the intricacies of deploying your content marketing and social media campaign, including how you can measure its contribution to your company’s bottom line.

Launch Your Content Marketing and Social Media Campaign

One of the most crucial aspects of launching your content marketing and social media campaign is to ensure that you don’t lose interest in the progress you’re making, particularly in the earlier months when you might not be seeing the results you’ve been expecting. Remember, content and social media marketing is a qualitative concept, not a quantitative one – you won’t be able to immediately measure ROI within the first months of use. Therefore, be sure to continue with your content marketing efforts even when you feel as though your readers aren’t paying attention to what you have to say. Believe us, they are!

Monitor Your Chatter

While you should have a dedicated team to monitor your content and social media marketing efforts, there’s no denying that you can’t monitor your efforts 24/7. That’s why it’s important to invest in resources that allow you to automate some of the process, including tools that monitor activity, engage with your readers and aggregate content. This will allow your social media team to keep on top of your progress without feeling overwhelmed by all there is to do.

Keep It Fresh

Ensure that your content marketing and social media campaigns remain fresh and relevant to your readers. Stale and uninteresting platforms will cost you valuable customers.

Measure Your Success

Finally, be sure to measure your success in terms that make sense to content marketing and social media. For example, rather than focusing on dollars, focus on client satisfaction and brand loyalty, and how your campaigns have contributed to these vital components of running a successful business.

SPAM

With all due respect to Monty Python’s hilarious skit, as well as that most-favored canned meat that Hawaiians seem to love so much more than the rest of us, SPAM is basically any email or message you receive that you didn’t ask for and don’t want. As much people hate it, most SPAM is fairly innocuous, merely wanting to sell you something that may or may not make you richer, better looking, or otherwise more attractive to either or both genders. It can easily be relegated to the trash bin, assuming your SPAM filter didn’t already catch it and put it there before you even looked at it. Most SPAM filters are getting pretty good at that and, while it does waste a lot of time, it doesn’t usually cost you more than the time wasted to deal with it.

Continue reading “Spam, Scams, and Flim-Flams” »

As a leader in your industry, you understand that content marketing offers loyal clients relevant information that pertains to your specific industry. When it comes to delivering that content, nothing disseminates more efficiently than social media platforms.

When providing your clientele base with highly valuable information, how do you ensure that your content marketing efforts match your business goals and objectives, all while forming genuine connections with your targeted audience?

The key to successful content marketing is to define your company’s goals and objectives before building your social media strategy.

Not sure what we mean here? Don’t worry – this article will examine why defining your company’s goals and objectives is key to successful content marketing.

What are your company’s needs?

Before you start using social media platforms to pass on highly relevant content, it’s important to understand your company’s overall objectives and missions. For example, if you’re a Fortune 500 company that offers investment advice, what are your main goals? Do you want to expand your clientele base? Do you want to attract more high-value clients? Do you want to increase brand awareness?

Understanding your own needs before focusing on that of your readers will help you not only use the right marketing platforms for your business, it will also help you develop the kind of genuine content your readers will be thrilled to get their hands on.

Look at your current online presence.

Content marketing and online marketing go hand-in-hand; therefore, to deliver the kind of content your readers expect, you need to assess your own online marketing efforts. To accomplish this, you must look at this from three different angles:

• Look at your current online marketing efforts;

• Review your current social media uses;

• Research how you’re using your company’s website.

With this online research, you’ll begin to understand what kind of information your readers are looking for – and if your company can deliver. Additionally, it will give you a better idea of where your content marketing needs to go to be considered successful.

By defining your own content marketing goals and objectives, you can provide the kind of highly engaging and relevant information that will transform readers into loyal clients.

At Powerserve, we combine creative design with custom programming. Because these are two sometimes opposing forces, it can be tricky explaining the extent of our abilities with these great assets. To serve as an example, we’ve recently launched totalforce.com, a website that sells custom made guidons for the military.

Continue reading “Custom Programming + Creative Design = An Ecommerce Site That Works” »

Did you know? You can access your Gmail account from any mobile device. Just type in m.gmail.com into your mobile device’s internet browser, sign in with your account information and you’ll be taken to a slimmed-down version of Gmail that’s perfect for checking email on the go. (If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll have a slightly different interface.) If you’re using a Blackberry device,  go to m.google.com/a and download a free application for checking Gmail on it.

Email, File Transfers, and Spam 

PowerServe has always maintained a policy of offering email service at no additional charge for all of our Web hosting clients. These free email services include many features like spam identification and anti-virus filtering.These basic level email services have certain restrictions to help ensure that all our clients can get important messages through our servers and across the internet as quickly as possible. The limitations for basic email accounts are:

• 2 MB per email
• 20 MB per day

Several options exist if you want or need more than these basic email services. We have options for every level of need. Powerserve’s support team will be glad to help you transfer your email to any of these providers. It is perfectly acceptable to maintain your current Powerserve Web hosting and support contract but transfer your mail services to one of the providers below. We will even help you make the switch for free! This is another example of the quality of service we provide our Web hosting and design clients.

Email Providers

• Google Mail - Google provides free business email hosting with no preset user account limit. In addition, you get access to their online applications such as a shared calendar, instant messaging, and shared spreadsheets. They allow file attachments up to 20 MB. Learn more about Google Mail.
• GoDaddy Email - GoDaddy, our premier partner for domain registrations, offers a premium email service for only $29.99 per YEAR – that’s only $2.50/month! You get up to 100 email addresses AND you can send files up to 30MB in size. This plan also includes an online group calendar and free GoDaddy Ringtones for your cell phone. Learn more about Godaddy Email.

File Transfers

Let’s face it. The email infrastructure was simply not built for transferring large files. Large attachments slow everything down because of the internet protocol email uses.If you need to send large files to customers, the overall best option is to use a service that is designed for it, such as DropSend. It allows you to send files up to 1GB directly from your desktop and also serves as online storage space. They even have a free account that may serve your needs perfectly. Learn more about DropSend.com.

SPAM

SPAM (not Spam®) has become such an incessant plague on Internet traffic that the Federal Trade Commission has been empowered to enforce the recent changes in U.S. law concerning it. Read more about the FTC and Spam. Learn more about SPAM SCAMS.

Need more help?

Visit our interactive help site for tips configuring email software like Microsoft Outlook.

Here’s a short excerpt from an article on Forbes.com that discusses why Internet Spam won’t be going away anytime soon:

This is why spam is such a hard problem to solve. For each e-mail, the spammer pays a cost and receives a benefit. But there is an additional cost paid by the e-mail recipient. Because so much spam is unwanted, that additional cost is huge–and it’s a cost that the spammer never sees. If spammers could be made to bear the total cost of spam, then its level would be more along the lines of what society would find acceptable.Read More of “Why Spam Won’t Go Away”

It’s unfortunate that spam has become the issue that it has, but there’s little to no downside for those responsible for sending spam. Even if only one person responds to an offer they mail out, it’s worth it to them, because it only costs fractions of a cent (if even that) for a spammer to send messages out.