Business Owners - New Shocking Trends That Will Make Or Break You 2014

URGENT FACTS YOU CAN'T SLEEP ON IF YOU PLAN TO SURVIVE & THRIVE IN 2014

If you are a business owner or an organization that caters to commerce via the web, take note. These are the alarming trends that you must be aware of if you plan on staying competitive in the future. This information could change your marketing strategy for the new year.

Do you own an ugly website that is not optimized for use with mobile devices? Now is the time to start thinking about these trends which speak for themselves. If you fail to pay attention now, you will risk losing your position in the market. Use these facts wisely, and then act on it accordingly.

If you are a retail store owner, a proprietor of a service based company, or you are responsible for your company's marketing efforts, stop what you are doing and take the time to read each and every oneof these facts. This is critical information you must know in this day and age if you desire to stay competitive.

Now then... let's take a look at what's going on in the world of your consumers, the people that you serve each and every day that make your business profitable and sustainable. Here are the shocking facts!

56% of adults are using smartphones at the close of 2013. That's more than half of your customer base. If you're not serving up your company's presence in an easily viewable way on a smartphone or mobile device, they will bounce (leave) immediately after discovering your site.

75% of Americans take their smartpones with them to the bathroom. While sitting on the can, you can potentially have the undivided attention of your target market! But can your website hold their attention while they are held captive?

27% of companies worldwide planned on implementing location-based marketing in 2013. That means optimizing your website to gain placement in local searching. Is your site optimized for placement in your local market? This is a critical area you must master to remain competitive in your town's market area.

Retailer apps with "store mode" gather 5X more more engagement than regular sites. This means you need a mobile web app that is optimized for veiwing on a smartphone across all platforms. Is your boring traditional website going to cut the mustard when your competitors have mobile apps developed to display their wares to your customers? You must compete in this category.

Mobile devices out-populated the entire human population by the end of 2013. That means your customers own multiple smartphones and tablets that they use for browsing and shopping purposes. Have you tapped into this alarming trend?

46% of "showroom shoppers" still made their purchases in-store in 2013. What does that tell you about the remaining balance? I'm sure you canfigure that out.

Price comparisons weremade on a daily basis by your customers in 2013 by use of smartphones and tablets. Consumers don't need to pick up a newspaper or hit the stores by foot to find the deals they are looking for. You must know your competition, and be able to stand out on the web or you will lose out.

Consumers spent 6X more time browsing retailer web apps in 2013 than what they did in 2012. If you're not set up with a mobile-friendly site, you will have a high "bounce rate" (customers immediately leaving your site after arriving) for your online audience.

25% of marketing executives see mobile devices as the most disruptive force in their industry as of 2013. If the big shots are preparing for this trend, what should small businesses do? Take note immediately before ending up on the losin end of the marketing war.

65% of US shoppers do their research on a smartphone, tablet, or PC before they make a purchasing decision. So you've got a great website... you've won half the battle. But what about the mobile device market? Are you prepared?

54% of consumers would prefer using touchscreen devices right in your store to assist their shopping experience. Is your store equipped with tablet stations to assist them? The trend in small business is to equip retail areas with tablets that have custom catalogs via a proprietary web app, and more are popping up as we speak.

48% of consumers use (or would like to use) their smartphones while shopping in your store. Do you have a poster or sign displaying your webapp to greet customers when they arrive at your location? Those that do keep the attention of thier customers long after they have left the premises. This can prove to be quite profitable.

Nearly 50% of shoppers feel that they are more informed than your store sales associates. You can work with this trend by providing customers a way to allow them to continue learning about your products and services (i.e. a web app), or stay in the dark and let your sales staff argue with them to prove who knows the facts better.

80% of smartphone owners want more smartphone optimized product information while they are shopping in your store. In 2014, you had better serve them with most slick, user-friendly web app possible. This will alleviate the demand on your sales staff to assist your customers.

Within 5 years, half of all smartphone shoppers will be using mobile wallet apps to provide payment for your goods and services. Is this in your future business plan?

Time spent using mobile apps is now challenging television. Your customers are now spending 127 minutes per day on mobilel apps compared to 168 minutes watching television. Are you tapping into this trend by providing the best mobile experience for your business?

24% of consumers used a mobile device to browse Black Friday deals over Thanksgiving in 2012, up from 14.3% in 2011. The numbers are not in for 2013, but it will be highly likely that the percentage has taken another hike.

4 out of 5 consumers have used a smartphone to shop as of 2012. The number is on a steep incline, and this has become the norm. This year, you probably will struggle to find a person who has not used their smartphone to shop at least once.

57% of consumers surveyed said they would not recommend a business with a poorly designed website that is not optimized for mobile viewing and shopping to their friends.

53% of consumers say they have stopped an in-store purchase because they found a better deal online using their smarphone. The only way to combat this behavior is to provide the best mobile optimized website for your customers use.

44% of smartphone owners look for coupon opportunities on their mobile devices to take advantage of special deals and pricing in your store. 17% of consumers have already used mobile coupons at least once as of 2012.

These are enough facts to shock you into the reality of the 2014 consumer mindset, and should more than convince you of how imperative it is to make mobile marketing a focus of your advertising and sales efforts. If you remain unconvinced, which is nearly impossible if you are serious about serving the needs of your customers, stay tuned for part two. I'll have another slew of facts to open your eyes.

Considering all of this information, you might be overwhelmed. But you don't have to solve all of your high tech marketing marketing challenges all at once. Here are a few easy steps you can consider taking to get you on the road to conquering mobile marketing in 2014 and prosper your business.

1. Evaluate Your Website - Pick up your smartphone and pull up your company's website, and take a look at what your smartphone weilding customers are seeing. If the formatting is horrible and it doesn't present well, have an expert evaluate what can be done to have it optimized for mobile viewing. This is your lowest-cost action item on your high tech to-do list.

2. Identify Areas Of Improvement - Even if you have a mobile website, what easy improvements can be made for your customer's experience that won't break the bank?

3. Ask Your Customers What THEY Want - Find out what things your customers would like to have on your mobile website that would streamline their shopping and purchasing experience. Post a sign in your store, hand out a survey to buyers, or post a message on your website asking for ideas. Your customers might have ideas which could have a great impact in increasing your sales.

4. Get A Local Expert - find a local web developer that is experienced in creation of mobile web apps that can work with you in person and coach you to the next level. Beware of online services that claim to provide cheap instant solutions. You might waste your hard-earned money, because many online "consultants" are only out to get your money with no personal interaction or coaching.

Last but certainly not least, if you are located in the Central Missouri area, let me give a shameless plug for Web App Concepts, a locally-owned team of web app developers that can provide you with a complete web app solution for your business at a rate the heavy duty consultants cannot compete with... all while providing a superior prodcut to boot!

Get in touch with me via email at "carlton.flowers@gmail.com" for a free recommendation and evaluation of your current mobile marketing needs.

Carlton Flowers
Partner, Web App Concepts LLC

p.s. Ask about our high-profile web app recently developed for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce "GovWatch" program! See it here ---> http://www.mogovdirect.net/desktop/index.php

How To Make Money With A Blog - My Secret Source!

HOW TO MONETIZE YOUR BLOG THE EASY WAY

One of the biggest struggles people have who are active bloggers is finding the best way to monetize the traffic that it generates.

If you have an active blog and you just haven't found the best way to generate money from your work, I'm about to reveal the best source that I've found to date that pays out the largest margins for affiliate orders... and it's super easy to implement. Read this carefully, and take action!

People often ask me, "how can I make money with my blog site?" I've gotten so many inquiries about this recently that it is necessary for me to write this article to explain the details in full.

I've been blogging for over 5 years, and I've tried several methods. I had great success with Amazon for a period of time, making as much as $500 per month. But the percentage paid for referral traffic is low, from 4% to 7%. But my new source is even easier to use, and pays much better.

The source I am using pays a considerable amount of money when people click through and purchase the specials listed on my rotating banner, and the best part about this company is the fact that they give extreme discounts on brand-name merchandise that is in high demand.

The company that I now use in place of Amazon.com is called Moolala. Visitors to your blog site receive anywhere from 50% to 90% off the price of merchandise offered in stores and online, and they can only get these deals through this referral source.

The deals listed on the Moolala website are normally time-sensitive, ranging from 1 day to a week or more. This gives visitors a sense of urgency to purchase. Once the deals are gone, the deep discount disappears. It is very similar in nature to Groupon, but you get paid well to refer the participants.

For example, there was a recent deal on a smartphone/iPod external charging pack that retails for $40. It was offered for $8 on Moolala, and the referring affiliates were paid $3 for every purchase they brought. That's an unheard of 37.5% comission paid on the already deeply discounted purchase price. That's unheard of in the world of affiliate marketing.

There's an added bonus to the Moolala discount service. You can build your own affiliate matrix and earn income up to 4 levels of depth for others who take advantage of the affiliate program. This could turn into serious income for your blog site.

There are affiliates earning several hundred to several thousand dollars per month using this monetization source. That is significant. The most important thing you can do when you build a blog site that is generating traffic is to connect it with the most profitable source for converting that traffic into money.

Moolala is fairly new, and it is growing. The tools they provide are being enhanced to help you earn money. All you need to do is copy and paste HTML code to add banners to your blog site, and you are done. Plus they offer excellent support to help you with the technical aspects of adding banners to your site.

My best advice to those who want to earn money blogging is to focus on putting out quality content on the topics within your niche and build your readership. This way, you don't come accross as a "spammy" site attempting to take advantage of visitors.

If you create the best content and focus on building your audience, people will passively click on the banners provided by Moolala on their own accord. That's the easiest and least aggressive way to turn your efforts into recurring income.

Click on the banner below and you will be forwarded to the Moolala site where you can watch an introductory video that will give you all the details. I invite you to join my matrix now, and start earning with Moolala. I'm confident that it will be as good for you as it has been for me!

Carlton Flowers
Blogging Strategist

Click the banner now, and get started today!

Moolala Banner

 

"Pinterests" - Pinteresting Things Business Owners Should Realize

SOME PINTERESTING FACTS YOU MUST KNOW AS A BUSINESS OWNER

Business owners, sales professionals, service consultants, and everyone else who works in some type of entrepreneurial profession, there are some "Pinteresting" things you should know about marketing your business with Pinterest. I have made a brief list of "Pinterests" for you that will move you into action.

These are the interesting things you should keep in mind if you aren't yet marketing yourself on the hot new mega pictoria social media site. Enjoy!


TOP REASONS YOU SHOULD HAVE A BUSINESS PRESENCE ON PINTEREST

  • The bulk of users in this online community have a household income ranging from $25k to $75k per year. This is a fertile target market for your business.
  • 60% of the users have a college education, and the majority of them are females. In households, the women are usually the decision-makers when it comes to purchasing.
  • The average Pinterest user spends 88.3 minutes per day on the website. Couple that with the fact that there are 10,000,000 unique visitors coming to the site every single month.
  • Pinterest is the #7 traffic source on the Internet today. That means you can potentially drive massive amounts of visitors to your website. More traffic is generated on a referral basis than from YouTube, Google Plus, and LinkedIn combined.
  • If you have any type of product or service that can be represented in a nice photo, you could get viral exposure, all for free.
  • Because of the visual nature of human beings, Pinterest is a highly effective way to establish and maintain top-of-mind dominance in your niche for your brand by keeping a regular presence.
  • When you post pictures that link to your website, you get powerful backlinks that add to your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) score. That means you’ll have a better chance of showing up on the first pages of Google when people are searching for your product or service.
  • Pinterest isn’t just for pictures… you can also post videos. The possibilities for generating buzz for your business through videos is endless.

Want this in a nice PDF format to keep on your computer, or to post and share on social networks? Then click this link to download the Free report! --> http://bit.ly/YTlHjn

Carlton Flowers
Business Marketing Expert 

Facebook Holdouts In 2012 - Wise Reasoning, Paranoia, or Social Ineptness?

A VIEW OF FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS IN 2012 - THE PHENOMENON EXAMINED

It is the final month of the year 2012, and the global Facebook population is at an astounding 1 billion people. Yet in your community of educated professional people, there are still holdouts.

What are the common reasons for the restistance to participation? Are some of the reasons logical? Are they fear-based, anti-social, or with valid reason?

Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. We have experienced a paradigm shift in the way that we as a people communicate and interact in this society, and whether you like it or not, it's called Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has forever changed the world with the idea he hatched over a decade ago.

But getting back to the topic at hand, the Facebook Holdouts come several different flavors. We'll take an in depth look at each one, and then hold a general discussion. So let's have a look at the variety of the common Facebookless citizens of our world!

THE FOUR FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS - "PROFILES" DEFINED

The Technologically Challenged Facebook Holdout - this holdout doesn't participate on Facebook because they simply don't know how to. They are either elderly or unplugged from all technology, living off the land somewhere deep in the woods. This type of holdout could care less, because they don't have the wherewithall to figure out any type of technology more complex than a feature phone. They get a pass for not participating.

The Paranoid Conspiracy Facebook Holdout - due to an enormous fear of "big brother" watching every move they make, this Facebook Holdout wouldn't dare post a single detail on such a public forum for fear that the government will use it against them whenever they round up all the people and throw them in concentration camps. Forget the fact that this paranoid individual doesn't break the law in any way. That doesn't matter. But the fear of retribution from posting about posting your favorite cookie recipe is real.

The Ostrich Facebook Holdout - this individual is antisocial and would rather bury their head in the digital sand and not be known. They are happy in isolation, and could care less about interacting with people. Facebook would only be an intrusion into this person's perfect quiet life in isolation.

The "I-Don't-Trust-My-Spouse" Facebook Holdout - Infidelity fuels this holdout's funk with Facebook. With the divorce rate as high as it is, and the growing number of affairs that start on social networks, the IDTMS types not only stay off the network themselves, but they also forbid their philandering significant others from flirting with the Facebook family. Sadly, Facebook forbiddance fails to fend off the frivolous behavior.

Enough about the obvious Facebook Holdouts. We've seen these types, and they are no surprise. But what really gets me are those that don't have an excuse to hold out on the world's largest social community.

What leaves me confused are those who would obviously benefit from having a Facebook profile and interacting with people. This would include business owners, sales professionals of all types, those in medical professions, consultants, attorneys, and others of similar nature.

People with these backgrounds have no excuse to hold out on Facebook whatsoever. It goes against the very purpose of their profession - to interact with people and transact business.

Let me paint a scenario...

It's 1975. A new business opens up in a local town. It's a bakery. The owner has the greatest tasting pastries and breads that any tastebuds could ever experience. He wants everyone to experience his award-winning goods, and is excited to open for business.

But before he opens, he tells the phone company that he refuses to have a listing. He chooses to keep his number unlisted. He also is against signs. He will have no part of any signs being erected on his structure.  He also has a beef with the local newspaper, so he refuses to place any ads for his bakery in the paper. Plus he doesn't own a radio or TV, so he can't see spending money advertising with either.

Do you think this would be a wise marketing strategy for a startup business? Of course not! Sure, maybe this guy could generate a fair amount of traffic from the waft of fresh bread baking in the ovens. But he would be turning a deaf ear to the majority of his market by not making his presence known.

I know what you're thinking... that was a stupid example. But it's no more stupid than a professional or business owner in 2012 that refuses to leverage theirself with a Facebook presence.

It is an undeniable fact that the majority of the eyeballs in this world are plastered on Facebook. It's the new town hall, the new phonebook, the new high-tech hangout. Call it what you want, this is where people now live and play.

But for the Facebook Holdout that can find no credible reason for their refusal, what fuels their fight against the most obvious free marketing opportunity on planet Earth?

Carlton Flowers
Self-Proclaimed Facebook King

Coming Soon: How I Figured Out The Golden Path to Facebook Marketing Success Without A Single  Advertisement!

 

Droid Or Android? The Most Confusing/Successful Marketing Campaign Ever

THE SAD FACT ABOUT THE POWER OF THE DROID MARKETING CAMPAIGN

This has puzzled me for years on end. The majority of smartphone users, no matter what brand they use, don't know the difference between a "Droid" and an "Android" phone. Most of you have no clue, and may just now realize there is a difference.

Motorola coined the term "Droid" for the first true competitor to Apple's iPhone. The first generation Droid smartphone ran the "Android" operating system. It was a clunky, heavy, clumsy smartphone with a slideout keyboard. It launched in October of 2009.

The big pitch for the Motorola Droid smartphone was "whatever iPhone doesn't, Droid does". It was a brilliant marketing campaign. So successful, that the masses automatically assumed that all Android devices were "Droid" phones.

The big red robotic eye, the robot arm tapping on a smartphone screen on commecials, and the Star Wars sounding Droid voice made a huge splash and an almost permanent impression with people. But few people realized that these trademarks were only associated with the Motorola device running on the Verizon network.

The Motorola Droid smartphone was followed up with Droid 2, Droid X2, Droid 3, Droid Bionic, Droid RAZR, Droid RAZR 2, and Droid 4. The Droid 4 still sports the slideout keyboard while the Droid RAZR models have gone to 100% touchscreen operation.

Today, the Droid marketing campaign has seemingly lost its steam. Previously, it was in our faces almost constantly. You couldn't turn on the television without hearing the Droid robot sound. Now that the damage is done, it is quite possibly irreversible. The masses of people now associate the trademark "Droid" with any Android device.

That sort of marks the overwhelming success of the marketing campaign. But it also exposes a huge flaw in the outcome. Any advertising for the "Droid" brand is basically free advertising for the balance of Android-powered smartphones by other manufacturers and carriers.

Looking back, I think it was a huge mistake on behalf of Motorola to coin a brand name so close to the name of the operating system created by Google. It's ironic that Google is now in the process of buying out Motorola.

Instead of using a term so closely releated to the general brand name for the operating system, they should have given their flagship smartphones a brand name that would set it apart from all others. Sadly, the term "Droid" does not allow it to be distinguished as unique by the average consumer.

The longer Motorola rolls with the Droid marketing campaign, they'll be doing free marketing for the likes of Samsung, HTC, LG, and every other manufacturer that makes handsets running on the Android platform. People think they are one in the same.

It's too bad that Google didn't jump on the whole robot theme in the manner that Motorola did. Sure, they use the little green robot character, but it's not nearly as strong as the marketing scheme created by the makers of the Droid line.

It cracks me up when owners of Apple iPhones ask me if I like my "Droid" device. They look confused when I tell them I don't own one.

"I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 running on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system", is what I tell them. This only leaves them more confused and scratching their heads.

Did you have any idea that there was a difference between a "Droid" and an "Android" device? Or are you a savvy geek who knew the difference? And if you do know the difference, what percentage of people do you think still remain clueless to this brand confusion?

Do you think Motorola made a mistake in creating a brand name so close to the brand of the operating system? Or do you think they should have created a unique, distinguishable name?

Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Carlton Flowers
Non-Droid Smartphone Owner