Apple is always making waves. Last week we were informed of Steve Jobs’ medical leave of absence, leaving everybody to wonder where the future of Apple lies. Tim Cook may not have to make drastic changes quite yet; Apple is booming and just posted record revenues in Q1 2011. However, despite the good news Apple still has plenty of uncertainties. Will they continue to innovate their products? Will we see a perfect tri-fecta of iPad, iPhone, and Macbook synergy? A lot is left unknown, and despite the departure of Jobs, the future of Apple still remains bright on speculation of 2011 products.

iPad 2

The iPad was a major hit for Apple in 2010. With virtually no competition the tablet posted roughly 16 million sales. Android is making a hard push with tablet innovation, with the first “honeycomb” OS tablet, Motorola Xoom set to release in early 2011. On the other hand, Apple has never stood by the wayside and submitted defeat. They will begin marketing services on their new iPad 2.  The iPad 2 is garnering specification speculation, a thinner design, 1.2 GHZ processor, front and rear facing camera, and a Micro SD card slot are all rumors floating around. We are expected to see the iPad 2 somewhere close to mid February.

iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 is rumored for a May 2011 release date according to Apple Insider. The iPhone 5 is said to be thinner with potentially, a new design all together. Rumors that the iPhone 5 and the iPad will not have a “Home Screen” button seem a bit crazy, right? Even though the powerful mobile phone is still almost 4 months out, we expect to see a new A5 processor in the iPhone 5, making it faster at rendering video and web content.

Macbook

Tablets and mobile devices aren’t the only thing that contributes to Apple’s record-breaking revenues. Computers, specifically Macs have pushed Apple from an $11/ share company in 2003 to a $320 / share company 8 years later. The Macbook is set for a refresh; the last update of the product was last May. Apple rarely will let a product go for a year without an update. With this update we are likely to see a new, Sandy Bridge processor that can process video up to 50% faster and offers superior gaming technology. We will likely see the Macbooks hit the market next month, but it could be as late as April according to iTWire.com.

The forecast for Apple products look sunny, but under new leadership will we see the same unique product innovation that has pushed Apple to the top?

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Big business is finding unique ways to use social media and social media networking companies are looking to become big businesses. This week we recap how some big business thought leaders are using social media, how social media is changing and what we are doing wrong. Here is Everything Business’ Top 5 Social Media Stories of the week.

1. Lessons from the Dominos Pizza YouTube prank [The Globe and Mail]
This article focuses on lessons that we, as business owners, can learn from Domino’s Pizza. The article touches on social media policy within big business. It also mentions the notion of corporations not just using social media by employing one person to tweet from an office, but the idea that everybody involved with the company is a brand ambassador.

2. 4 Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make With Social Media [The Huffington Post]
What’s a top 5 social media stories column without an article about what we are doing wrong? The great thing about social media is that a ton of companies are doing it wrong. Mistake number one, many businesses forget that they are dealing with real human beings. Mistake number two, many businesses don’t take time to plan or set goals.

3. Twitter Launches ‘Connections,’ Its Own Version of Facebook’s ‘Mutual Friends’ [TechCrunch]
“Twitter has collapsed its “Followed By” and “You Both Follow” features into one area called “Connections” which allows you to see what users you have in common with other Twitter users. While you still can’t see the number of users you have in common, the individual features are now expandable and you can see complete lists of mutual follows and people you are both followed by for any given user, when you click “more.’

4. Taco Bell Uses Social Media To Ward Off PR Crisis [Mashable]
Taco Bell side stepped a potential public relations disaster with social media response. Taco Bell was recently hit with a class action lawsuit that claims they misrepresent the contents in their beef. The fast food chain responded with a YouTube video that explained the beef is 100% USDA inspected and is seasoned with spices and water.

5. LinkedIn IPO May Be First in Wave for Social Media [Businessweek]
“LinkedIn Corp.’s plan to raise as much as $175 million in an initial public offering may be the first in a wave of share sales for U.S. social-networking companies. The largest professional-networking site plans an IPO after turning a profit in the first nine months of last year and more than tripling revenue between 2007 and 2009, it said in a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Two weeks ago over 140,000 people showed up as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) rolled through Vegas. The function showcased the newest designs and developments in the technology industry. This event acts as a barometer for consumer and small business tech products.

2011 is the year of the tablet. As tablets begin to shift from novelty items to functional business tools, more and more tech companies are innovating and planning for the future of tablets.

Motorola Xoom

It would be hard to not mention this years “Best in Show” gadget, the Motorola Xoom. The future iPad competitor has a slew of features that make it a formidable small business solution. The new product will feature 4G speeds, a front and back facing camera and a 1280×800 resolution. For business functionality, the Xoom may be the closest gadget to an actual laptop computer. Not to mention, the added flexibility of the tablet’s ability to act as a mini retail POS system. It allows flash support and 1080p video playback. Xoom will run on the Android OS and scheduled for release on February 17, 2011.

Samsung Central Station

The Central Station is an IT hub that looks like a computer monitor. It works by simply bringing any of your devices on to your workspace, and the station automatically reconnects to your USB peripherals, Ethernet, and external display. An excellent feature of the Central Station is the ability to use it as a wireless external display. According to Samsung, “with Central Station you no longer have to plug and unplug your mobile phone, MP3 player, tablet, or external storage drive—not to mention your mouse and keyboard. They stay connected to Central Station and ready to use as soon as you bring your PC back to your desk.”

Iomega Network Attached Storage

Tablets and desktops were not the only ones showcased at this year’s CES. Iomega released Personal Cloud, a product giving over 250 applications and devices access to stored data. The Personal Cloud will be released in a 1TB model for $169.99 and 2 TB model for $229.99. Jonathan Huberman, President of Iomega believes, “Utilizing the expertise of [parent company] EMC, the world’s leader in cloud technology, we have transformed our next-generation NAS devices into cloud servers that users can access anywhere, anytime. In addition, by buying two or more of our NAS products, you can remotely backup your onsite data to an alternate location — be it your office, home or some other location.”

Image Credit : Cepro

Internet Marketing is like sail boating across the ocean, you may know what the weather is now, but it will likely change. Your website is your boat, a well laid out website will take you much further in your marketing endeavors than an outdated website. If you plan on reaching the other side of the ocean (online marketing success), you must take a few things in to consideration when developing your web marketing plan. Since this plan is a living, breathing document, adaptation to your environment will help you succeed in your journey.

Your Website
You can have the best SEO link building program in the world, but  if your website is hard to navigate, than people will leave. A great website is easy to navigate, aesthetically appealing and gets “the point” across. Once your website is built, you must find your target niche’ and customize your meta tags, and image alt tags with keywords that are contextually relevant.

SEO Plans
What are you trying to rank for? One of the most challenging parts of your web marketing plan will be finding relevant sites to link and advertise on. One helpful tool to use is the SEOQuake Mozilla toolbar–it can determine your websites common search phrases. Try these phrases in Google to see who is already competing for your space. Find sites relevant to these competitors that will link to your site, whether it be guest blogging or PR coverage.

Promotional Efforts
There are thousands of different tools that your company can use to get the word out. If you are looking for brand awareness, try Facebook and Google search ads. Since most companies focus on building brand loyalty, try blogging, email newsletters, and interacting on social media channels. Showing your potential customers that you care, and are active within your industry is sometimes enough to gain a lifetime customer.

Track & Analyze
Track your efforts on Google Analytics, as well as the myriad of analytic software available to help you make decisions on what is working and what isn’t. If your primary goal is e-commerce conversion rate, it may take months to understand if your efforts are working. Typically SEO efforts can take around 2-3 months to take effect.

Image Credit: Flush Rush

Google is hurting, numerous failures in 2010 and an unsustainable business model will lead them down the same path as Microsoft and Yahoo! According to a TechCrunch article by Jon Evans, “Can Google Get Its Mojo Back?” the company is on verge of collapse stating, “they could conceivably lose 90% of their business in the space of a few months, if a qualitatively better search engine comes along. That’s not likely to happen, but it could.”

It seems very unlikely that Google will fail, because it is so entrenched in almost everything we do online. Whether it is making money, connecting to people, or just browsing, Google is at the forefront. Even with products like “Google Buzz” which failed, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are crumbling from the inside out, it could mean they are shifting their focus. It seems the future of Google is going after local and small businesses, according to Erick Schonfeld, with TechCrunch, “It is promoting Google Places any time someone does a local search, it tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion, and it put star exec Marissa Mayer in charge of local products. Since the middle of December, it’s been running a $100 million marketing promotion aimed at small and medium-sized businesses to try to get them to sign up for AdWords.” Google is investing a lot of resources directed at small business, whether it is out of goodwill or business opportunity will remain to be seen.

Google has a significant commitment to the local market that is almost in direct contrast with their previous, “spend more, get more” business model. One of the most blatant examples of this is development of Google Boost. We feel that Google Boost will help small businesses stand out amongst the crowd with a cheaper, simpler advertising solution.

For the Google Empire to continue to thrive, it needs to stay true to its roots by offering integrated web browsing solutions; and proceed with caution when entering new industries unrelated to Google’s expertise, like automobile manufacturing or payroll services. The need for innovation is still urgent and if anybody can forecast the future, it’s Google’s team. Although some products haven’t taken off like hoped this past year, (Google Buzz & Google TV) Google still dominates the market in online advertising. Whether they will follow the likes of Apple, (continue sustainable growth and innovation), Microsoft (fall off the map only to be revived by totally new products), or Yahoo! (always trying but rarely succeeding) will remain to be seen. One thing is for certain, they need to find their next leg of growth; and that seems to be in the mobile market tying closely with local, small businesses.

Image Credit: Rob Scoble Flickr

It’s time for small businesses to take a flame to that hiring freeze, and start investing in their most valuable assets. According to Kate Rogers at  Fox Small Business Center, “The U.S. unemployment rate fell from 9.8% to 9.4% in December with the economy adding 103,000 jobs.”

The economy has hit small business the hardest, and unemployment has been an indicator of the overall economy as of late. But this news is a positive indicator that small businesses are beginning to hire and create jobs.

The economy has forced businesses to find new ways of hiring employees. According to Businessweek, “Josh Frey, chief executive officer of On Sale Promos in Washington, fired six of seven full-time salespeople in 2008. When he offered to keep the employees on as contractors, all accepted, he says. Since then, Frey has cut costs on benefits administration, payroll taxes, trash removal, electric bills, and an office lease for his business, which puts corporate logos on T-shirts, mugs, and pens.  He’s unlikely to add full-time workers even after business improves because, he says, “I’ve never been more profitable.’ For workers, contract positions allow them to keep their jobs, but it comes without benefits. Businesses are finding ways leverage the economy, allowing them to keep their employees at abbreviated costs to decrease overhead.

However, some businesses are beginning to offer health benefits that did not do so in 2009, a Kaiser Health Benefits study saw a, “13 percentage point jump in the percentage of firms with 3 to 9 employees offering coverage, from 46% in 2009 to 59% in 2010.” Whatever the economy is holding for small businesses, it seems a positive indicator that unemployment is falling and benefits are increasing.

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2011 will bring about major budget shifts for many marketers. In 2010 we could never have anticipated the rapid growth of social media. In 2011, marketing budgets will include a heavy dose of social media, but to eMarketer, it will be for the wrong reasons. Companies are moving from cautious experimentation to full implementation for much of their social media marketing.

Many companies saw success at social media marketing in 2010. With that success, many competitors are fearful of losing more ground so they are investing more heavily in to their social media marketing, even if it has not proven successful. According to eMarketer, this is not the reason that businesses should enter the social media arena. They claim that, “things have changed. Social media sites have matured, and you can’t do much for free anymore. A Promoted Trend ad on Twitter can cost $100,000 per day. Top social media agencies are in demand, and they charge premiums for their work. Social media is too expensive—both in actual dollars and in the cost to your company if you do it wrong—for businesses to spend for the wrong reasons.”

There are few key tips for social media marketing given in the article; integrate social media with other marketing efforts, start with social media instead of adding it, and try to measure ROI. Integrating social media with your offline and online marketing efforts such as SEO is very important to the success of your social media campaigns. Starting with social media instead of adding it, means that when starting each marketing effort you should at least keep in mind the social component. Lastly, businesses should try and measure ROI, even if it is “impossible” try to tack something with your social media efforts and use analytic tools.

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So you need a logo for your business? A logo incorporates everything your business is about;  from the color to the emotional design elements. On your search for a logo designer, it may be the most cost effective solution for you to outsource your design. Whether you are entrusting your logo with a single company or hosting a design contest, a logo can help the success of landing pages and online marketing. Here are some online resources for your logo design.

Contest

1. 99 Designs 99 Designs gives you the ability to choose hundreds of different logos. Logos start at $295 and with this, you will typically get from 150-700 logo submissions. 99 Designs has a staff of professional designers that work for their company and they each compete to earn your winning logo design.

2. Crowdspring Same concept as 99 Designs, except logo design starts at $200. There is a $39 listing fee, and depending on your business you will see very similar design quality to 99 designs. Crowdspring typically serves larger budget corporate logos, and companies like Dish Network and Doritos have used this crowd-sourcing site for logo and graphic design.

Design Company

3. The Logo Company This site offers inexpensive logo design options. With your logo you will get a few features, unlimited revisions, minimum of 5 designers, a minimum of 5 initial concepts, and a 3-day turnaround. There also is a 100% money back guarantee, and you can reach customer service through Skype!

4. LogoBee This graphic design company offers a variety of packages from $199 to $499. The $199 package will get you 6 designs, where the $279 package gets you 8 designs. After you choose your package you will be directed to a logo design order form where they will gauge your companies logo design needs.

Freelance

5. Freelancer This is form of crowd sourcing but with Freelancer, you are hiring an outsourced logo designer. You will basically fill out a brief summary of what your company needs, and logo designers will contact you and bid on your project. Some may include logo briefs, and some may just include their portfolio. You will be able to see wider variety of options with your logo design for free.

These online resources should be all your company needs for its logo design process. Before proceeding, make sure you know the basics of your design needs; color, target market, and emotion are all important elements to know before hiring a logo designer.

Image Credit: 1st Web Designer

Banner ads are getting no respect these days. As rich media and video ads are intruding on to websites and annoying visitors, banner ads are the humble underdog in webpage advertising. According to an online AdweekMedia-Harris Poll, 43% of respondents said that banner ads are the medium they ignore or disregard the most. With most marketers shifting their focus to rich media and search engine advertising, banner ads offer a chance to play where others aren’t playing. However, the only way you will reap the benefits of banner advertising is to make sure your banner ads are optimized to draw more clicks.

According to an eMarketer estimate, “standard banners will increase 11.4% in 2011, to $6.56 billion, and will continue to grow to $8.63 billion in 2014.” There are still ways to draw pertinent clicks with display ads; it just requires knowledge of banner ad optimization.

People Click on Actionable Ads

Content that promotes your company’s ability to directly benefit a visitor works best with banner ads. Simple, “market to me” ads draw in fewer visitors, and more importantly, fewer relevant visitors. Increasing your click thru rate requires a specific ad that will guide a potential visitor to something that will please them. According to an eMarketer banner ad study, 77% of respondents indicated that coupons, discounts and online incentives motivated them to explore further. In addition to this, only 21% of respondents said that they would interact with a banner ad that employed a simple “market to me” strategy.

To stand out in the online space, your ads must be relevant, specific and actionable, however it doesn’t stop here. Banner ads effectiveness is highly tied to both interactivity and functionality.

Interactivity: Rewarding the user for clicking through, interactivity increases brand recall 63% more than non-interactive ads, according to a 2010 Barnum Sulley Research study.

Functional: Make your banner ads useful. Long gone is the banner ads that are simply trying to increase brand awareness, successful banner ads have shifted to focused content with a specific use.

Online marketing has many different techniques and tactics. Knowing the way to measure effective display ads is almost as confusing as deciding what content to use. Every business advertises differently but knowing what works with your business and optimizing your banner ads can really help your companies marketing effort.

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Business plans may provide a strong backbone for your company direction, but the customers are the legs of the operation. End users may provide your business some of the most valuable insights.

New business ventures are an exciting mix of emotions. From turning ideas into actionable goals to sizing up vendors; launching a new business is tough. A business plan is a reference for everything about the business. Business plans however, may burden your startup and lead to failure. Traditional formatting of business plans include long term goals based on industry reports, census data and historical materials. These all are great, but they fail to account for the most important part of your business, the customers.

One of the biggest obstacles in starting a new business is perception vs. reality. Marketing reports, historical data and schemes are all perceptional information, where as customer data is reality. Before bogging yourself down with strategic direction, your startup should test the waters. Launch a simple structured, “sample business” and see how the market reacts. You will be able to use your customers to test your current business model.

Since your business has not invested extensive time and resources in the existing business plan, you will be able use the customer reactions to adapt. Engaging your market, and listening to them is important. Chances are, you wouldn’t buy a car without giving it a test drive and listening to it run. Same concept applies here; feedback loops should guide your strategic direction.

From here you begin drafting a business plan after you have sufficient knowledge of the market. So remember, before you and your startup decide your business plan, get your hands dirty and listen!

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