by chad | Dec 7, 2019 | Social
As a small business, it is important to market your business in order to find new customers. One great form of marketing is online reviews. Research shows that 84% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. We are finding each year the number of people that use review sites just grows. Moreover, which site the review is hosted also holds much importance.
In August, ReviewInc ran a survey to see which site’s ratings, recommendations and reviews are most trusted. We also ran similar surveys in 2015 and 2016. The eight options we offered were Google, Better Business Bureau, Yelp, TripAdvistor, Facebook, YellowPages.com, None and Other.
Like in prior years, Google Maps and Better Business Bureau are still the most trusted review sites. The Better Business Bureau is most popular among users ages 55 to 65+. If you add the top two together, they equal almost 50%. Yahoo Reviews was taken down in late 2018 in favor of Yelp reviews, so now Yelp reigns at number 3. Trip Advisor is not far behind at number 4. Facebook is at number 5, like previous years. Yellow Pages is in sixth place followed by none or other.
Yelp is particularly popular among younger respondents and especially in terms of the hospitality or service industries, such as restaurants, hotels, salons, etc. Trip Advisor is next, popular among local businesses or travel locations that out-of-town visitors are sight-seeing. Facebook started out as a social network, not a review site, so not as popular as the other sites but growing in number due to the popularity of its’ business pages. However, note that it is trusted less by ages 18-35. The social network has lost a lot of credibility particularly among young users in recent years due to privacy issues and personal data breaches.
It is no surprise that the Better Business Bureau holds credibility with older users due to their brand name recognition and legacy as a trusted organization for business.
The takeaway for business owners from this survey is once again that they should encourage customers review their business on as many sites as possible including the ones mentioned in this survey in order to gain credibility and reach the most potential customers.
ReviewInc. Survey
by chad | Dec 3, 2019 | Entrepreneur
Every career has a set of habits that greatly increase the odds of success. The habits necessary for success will vary from career to career.
Fortunately, there are many successful entrepreneurs that we can look to for guidance. It’s not surprising that many of them share the same habits.
There’s no reason why you can’t have the same habits as some of the most successful people in the world!
Increase your odds for success with these habits:
- An incredible work ethic. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow a company. It’s necessary at first to be a jack-of-all-trades. Until you can grow enough to hire others to cover all the required skills your company needs to thrive, you’re going to have to carry a lot of weight.
- Conscientiousness. When you own a business, it’s up to you to ensure that things are done properly and on time. The responsibilities are great. You don’t have the luxury of putting out sloppy work. It will always come back to haunt you.
- Use time wisely. Time will always be a limited resource. How you use your time dictates how successful your company ultimately becomes. That means having the knowledge and experience to make wise decisions and the mental toughness to avoid distractions.
- Have a plan each day. One of the keys to using your time successfully is to plan for each day ahead of time. Avoid going to bed without having a detailed idea of what you’re going to do the following day. When your feet hit the bedroom floor, you should already know what needs to be done for the day.
- Wake up early. There are very few successful entrepreneurs that don’t get up very early. Some get up even before 4 a.m. How early you get up is up to you, but if you’re not beating the average person out of bed, you’re behind.
- Set goals. It’s not enough to work hard and work smart. You also must know where you’re going. Goals help you make wise decisions. Know what you’re trying to accomplish today, this week, this month, this year, and 10 years from now.
- Deal with stress effectively. Entrepreneurs have plenty of stress to deal with on a regular basis, so it’s important to learn how to manage it. Have a process for dealing with stress and anxiety. Learn to recognize what you can control and what you cannot.
- Look ahead for obstacles. Avoid being blindsided by obstacles and setbacks. Be aware of your future. Look ahead for the challenges that you’re likely to face and have solutions in mind.
- Think of all the major challenges in your life and notice that there were plenty of warning signs for all of them. The same is true with your business. Avoid putting your head in the sand and hoping for the best. Deal with challenges now while they’re still manageable.
What are your current habits? Can you see why your current habits have either helped you or harmed you on your path to business success? Think about what you want to accomplish to be successful and build a set of habits that will support those activities.
The person with the best habits usually wins. How far will you go with your habits?
by chad | Oct 21, 2018 | Writing
So many businesses have delved into the increasingly important decision of creating a blog and writing posts. But most people struggle with blogs because they don’t what to write or how to get people to read it.
Lets say you have the information you want to write about.
It’s perfect. You have everything in a logical order, and it flows so well.
But one thing is missing.
The one thing that will make a break you.
It’s the headline.
According to inbound.org, 80% will read the headline and 20% will read the copy. “When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents of your dollar.”
Sounds like you have to make that headline count. One of my favorite copywriters online is Joanna Wiebe, and she is one of the most brilliant copywriters on the internet. She has created a video to show you how to write the headline that gets all the people to read.
Check it out here and follow her blog at Copyhackers.com
by chad | Nov 9, 2017 | Reviews
So by now you have heard of the new iPhone X and maybe even got a chance to play with it at your local Apple store or Best Buy. But the question you may wonder is if this new iPhone is worth the $1,000 price tag. The short answer is — it depends.
Let’s start with the obvious. It’s the best iPhone ever.
There we have that settled.
If you want a quality build and a phone that just stuns in your hand, then this is the phone for you. This is the future. You probably won’t see touch ID on any of the iPhones of the future. So, if you are an early adopter, the price tag will be worth it.
If you are the type that likes to wait a bit, then stick with your iPhone 7. If you behind an iPhone 6, then upgrade. You can legitimately go for the iPhone 8 or the X.
I don’t do long winded reviews. I just want to give you the essentials as I see fit. Engadget and the Verge will give you the long reviews which are worthy of a look if you have the time.
Display
Simply brilliant. Sometimes you just want to stare at it. The fonts are perfect. The OLED screen is 5.8-inch Samsung-manufactured OLED display. The phone is smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus but the screen is bigger. Go figure. It does seem to be the perfect size though. It’s a joy to hold.
Face ID
This is a gutsy move by Apple to remove the touch ID. I was worried about missing the home button and at times I do but face ID works very well. Only on occasion does it malfunction and not enough for me to make a big deal. The learning of new gestures is tricky. I miss the ease of taking screenshots but, in reality, it’s a small adjustment.
The set-up is amazingly easy. I use Apple Pay quite extensively, and it wasn’t an issue having it login with face ID. You just have to remember to hit the button on the side twice to activate it.
Camera
The iPhone X has two optically stabilized 12-megapixel cameras, one with a f/1.8 wide angle lens and the other with an f/2.4 telephoto. The pictures are amazing. So crisp and clear. Amazing.
Battery
It seems that the battery is about a day. Not great. Not bad. But most of us have a charger at our disposal so probably not a big deal. The wireless charging ability is great because if you are in desperate need, find a Starbucks and lay that baby down (gently) and let it suck up the juice.
The Conclusion.
The phone is the future. If you are going to continue down the iPhone path, this is your inevitability. The future looks bright.
My Score 9.2
