5 Mistakes Businesses Make in Social Media

Who wants to make the same mistake twice? No one. Wise entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others...including the wild and crazy world of social media. The following are 5 mistakes that can set your social media campaign back. We don't want that to happen to you so take a moment to "learn" from these tips (we sure wish someone would have mentioned these in the beginning).

Mistake #1 - No Plan
Imagine if you started a business without a mission or business plan. Imagine you didn't know who your potential customer was or what products you were going to sell. Do you think it could be a recipe for disaster? The same goes for your social media. Take the time to plan your strategy BEFORE you dive in to posts and status updates. It will keep you focused in the long run and allow you more success.

Mistake #2 - Picking the Wrong Platforms
You can drive yourself crazy trying to manage twenty different social media sites and the odds are - unless you have a whole social media team - you won't excel at any of them because you are spread too thin. The idea is quality vs. quantity. Part of your Plan (stated above) is to consider where do your potential customers hang out. Is it Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Pinterest, YouTube? Ask your clients  and narrow your focus down to one or two sites.

How to Include Social Icons & Links in Email Signatures

The process of adding social badges and links to your email signature will vary depending on your email provider. This will cover the basic steps but feel free to call us if you have questions.

Step 1 - Gather your social links
You will need to know the URL of the social media pages or website you would like to link to. (hint: URL's start with http:// or https://) Have these handy in a text document so you can copy and paste.

Facebook Page Size Guide (for non-techie users)

Find this infographic at www.Pinterest.com/Qlixite

A Word about Pixels...
A pixel is a unit of measurement used in digital imaging. It is the smallest controllable element of a picture represented on a digital screen. Facebook uses pixels to specify image sizes however they will automatically scale an image down to fit. We have given you image sizes in inches as well that are the proper ratio for easy use.

• Cover Photo 851 x 315 pixels
(you could use an image 6.75” x 2.5”)

Big Name Companies Opt for Simple Logo Designs: Should You Follow the Trend?

EBay recently joined other big names like Microsoft and Apple not for a new release of a mini tablet or operating system but for remodeling their iconic logo. This has many business owners looking at their own brand and wondering if there is merit to this trend.

Deven Wenig, president of eBay, had this to say about the logo:

Our refreshed logo is rooted in our proud history and reflects a dynamic future. It’s eBay today: a global online marketplace that offers a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience, with innovation that makes buying and selling easier and more enjoyable. We retained core elements of our logo, including our iconic color palette. Our vibrant eBay colors and touching letters represent our connected and diverse eBay community – more than 100 million active users and 25 million sellers globally and growing.
 

Obviously when a business decides to change their logo - risk is involved as well as re-branding numerous products including everything from websites to sales materials to the sign on the building. However, as most small businesses look to the big names as examples, it's hard to miss the current trend.

Simple...is in!

Should I hide my prices?

Pricing your product or service can be a tricky task for any business owner but once you do decide on that magic number - you have to put on your marketing hat and decide when to show it and when not to.

Reasons you might want to 'HIDE' your prices from initial 'investigators'...
• You want to build an initial strong desire and demonstrate affordability - this is where your marketing is focused on the features of your product or service to dazzle a prospective buyer with everything they'll enjoy from the purchase.
• You want to show how the personal value of the product or service is greater than just the price value - this is where your marketing is focused on the emotional value of the sale and addresses the needs your potential customer has.
• You want to change the potential client's perception of the price - sometimes referred to as 'price conditioning.' - it can be tough but price conditioning is an art companies like Audi, Tiffany and Co. and Ethan Allen have mastered. Customers of these businesses believe that the special nuances of products purchased from them are WORTH the additional cost. It's still a car, a diamond ring and a chair that does the same things as the ones you could get at Kia, Kmart or Walmart but their customers want to pay more because their perception of the price in terms of value is different.

Situations when you should NOT hide your prices...
• If your price is a competitive advantage - For example, if you are cheaper than your competitors, or you have a special offer that can make even the quick-glancer recognize it as a good price, then you might want to do the opposite and make your price more prominent.
• If your price is low enough that it could be considered an 'impulse buy', then you might want to leave it on display as normal.
• If you are unsure what to do - when in doubt, it is always better to show your prices or a price range than to make the mistake of hiding them because you haven't done your research.

Why you want to be careful at playing too much 'keep-away'...
It should be mentioned that hiding your price can be as simple as offering a new client special, a trial period or making a person click to another screen to see the price. In these cases - you are not eliminating the price from view entirely. However, we have come across several businesses who refuse to put any pricing on their websites or marketing.

We want to warn that this can be dangerous because people like to shop before they buy. If you aren't even willing to show a price range - people might overlook you because your competitor does show prices. You are also making it more work for a potential customer to buy from you because they have to contact you to even discern if they can afford you. Shoppers (on every level) want life to be easier - not complicated, and they definately don't want to spend extra time and energy if it isn't worth it.

So..."Should you hide your prices or not?"
There is no right or wrong answer but here's the real questions you should answer first:
• What do my competitors do?
• Why is it important to hide/show my prices?
• What would my customer want?
• What would I want if I was a customer?

Carbonite Review for Business File Backup

As a company that likes to help small businesses experience more success, Qlixite is now incorporating reviews of products and services.

This review will discuss how Carbonite can help you protect your Small Business files in a secure offsite location in case of computer failure.

Carbonite is a comprehensive and robust online backup service that will keep your important files backed up with a minimum of fuss and virtually no interference. It's all controlled by a simple program that runs invisibly in the background. In fact, the recent release of Carbonite 4.0, makes the whole process even easier. They've simplified the setup and given you more options for restoring your files. But before we get much more into restoring files, let's talk about backing things up.

Backup:
As with all online backup services, the initial backup will take a while. Depending on your Internet connection speed and the amount of data on your hard drive, it could take a day or more. Your computer is completely usable during this time, but you'll need to keep it on and connected. Subsequent backups will take less time as Carbonite will only need to save new files and previously backed-up files that have changed.

By default, Carbonite backs up your documents, email, photos, and music. We like that Carbonite takes care of emails automatically, since many online backup services don't, requiring the user to manually locate these files and add them to a backup schedule. However, it won't back up files larger than 4GB unless you tell it to.

Restore & Remote File Access:
In the event of a crash or any other data loss, you simply use the downloadable Carbonite InfoCenter to restore your lost data. But Carbonite's usefulness goes beyond disaster recovery. While we generally talk about an online backup service as a remedy for catastrophic data loss, there's another feature users will love and use much more often, and that's versioning. Carbonite will automatically save up to twelve versions of every file you back up. This allows you to roll back to a previous iteration of any file to recover lost changes. It's like the ultimate "undo" option. Anyone who's ever made unalterable changes to a large text or graphics file will recognize the value in this feature.

Carbonite can also migrate files to a brand new PC. That functionality is now standard with Carbonite 4.0; a new restore option promises to put all your files in just the right place on your new system.

Carbonite can also be used to access your files from any computer that has an Internet connection. Simply log in to the remote access section of carbonite.com and you'll see all your files, just as you would if you were looking at your hard drive (minus the programs). It's a good feature, and it's one you'll find with many online backup services, although it's not as evolved as it is in a product like SugarSync. You can't, for instance, use it to securely share files with others. They're for your eyes only. A small knock against an otherwise great service.

Pricing:
Carbonite does offer a free 15 day trial version of their product so you can see if you will like and use the service. We wish it was a 30 day option but at least they offer a trial.

Carbonite offers unlimited storage for a single computer in the form of three plans.
Click here to see their online comparison.

• Home $59 per computer per year for Mac and Windows.

• File and folder backup
• Web and mobile access
• Phone, chat and email support
• Manual video backup

• HomePlus $99 per computer per year for Windows only.

• File and folder backup
• Web and mobile access
• Phone, chat and email support
• External hard drive backup
• Mirror Image backup
• Manual video backup

• HomePremier $149 per computer per year for Windows only.

• File and folder backup
• Web and mobile access
• Phone, chat and email support
• External hard drive backup
• Mirror Image backup
• Courier Recovery service
• Automatic video backup

Unlimited backup is a great deal, but note that Carbonite limits you to backing up a single computer. If you'd like to backup multiple computers, you need to purchase a subscription for every computer you need to backup.

Conclusion:
For pure online backup for a single home or business computer, Carbonite is a good bargain. While it may not have all the fancy features other online backup providers have, the setup is simple, fuss free, and comprehensive. The user interface simple and easy to use. You'll just set it and forget it—until the day you need to restore your files

Business Email Signatures are Effective Marketing

When you're a small business, you live by the mantra that EVERYTHING YOU DO IS SALES. Keeping that in mind, email Signatures are easy to do and can help represent your business with personality and professionalism....but it can be easy to get it wrong! Let's get it right with Qlixite!

Why do I need an email signature?

It may seem menial that you need to re-state who you are to the person you are sending an email to but your business email signature will affect the tone of every email you write. Think of it as virtual professional letterhead from your company. Here are some tips to making a professional signtaure that sets your business apart.



Our Qlixite Email Signature through Email Ideas.com

Start Off on the Right Foot

Is your email address professional?
First and foremost, the sender’s header (the “From” field) should have a name, and you should use a company email address if you can. If someone sees stinker747@gmail.com, they’ll suspect it’s spam or a personal email. If the sender’s header reads, “Susan Jones - ABC Enterprises” <susan@abcenterprises.com>, they’ll know it’s a professional email from a business person.

Is your website a link?
Make it as easy as possible for people to get to your website. Many email clients convert email addresses and websites into links automatically, but not always. You may need to make sure 'http://' or 'www.' appears to ensure the link will work properly. Instead of linking text like “My website,” type out the URL, which will be useful for those who want to copy and paste the address.

Is you signature longer than your thumb?
Okay it doesn't need to be an exact measure of your finger but an email signature should be clear an concise (three to four lines is usually enough). Don’t get into your life story here. The purpose of a signature is to let them see who you are and how to get in touch with you - you don't need to give every phone, fax, cell or email you own - give your preferred method of contact.

The Meat of Your Email Signature

Include...
• Your Name
• Your Company Name and Position
• How to get in touch with you

Do NOT include...
• Personal links to Twitter, Facebook, IM or Skype sites
• Your home phone number or address
• Random quotes at the bottom
• Your entire skill set or resume in bullet form

Random quotes are fun for friends, but you risk offending business associates with whom you don’t have a personal relationship. Unless you want clients contacting you while you’re watching Lost, don’t share your home details. Also, don’t share your personal contact information with your business partners. They certainly won’t be interested in it, and you may not want them to know certain details about you. However, mentioning your business Twitter account or alternative means of contact in your signature might be useful, in case your correspondent is not able to get in touch with you by regular email.

Example of an Unprofessional Email Signature


Steve Stevenson, Web Designer
web: http://www.misterstevenson.com/
blog: blogspot.celebritiesneedhelp.com
email: steve@misterstevenson.com

home: 613.555.2654
home (wife): 613.555.3369
work: 613.555.9876
cell: 613.555.1234

55 Drury Lane
Apartment 22
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada

twitter: @stevie_liverpool_fan
skype: stevie_the_man
messenger: stevie_mrstevenson

I specialize in:
Website design
Graphic design
Logo design
Front-end development
UI design

“Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is
worth the price.” -Amelia Aerheart

Images and Logos
As much as you may want to get fancy with your email signature, there are downsides. Your entire signature should not be an image. Sure, it will look exactly how you want, but it is completely impractical. Not only does an image increase the email’s file size, but it could be blocked before being opened.Plus it's impossible to copy information from an image. Any images should be used with care and attention. If you do use one, make it small in both dimensions and size, and make it fit in aesthetically with the rest of the signature. 50 x 50 pixels should be plenty big for any logo. If you want to be taken seriously as a business person, do not make it an animated picture, dancing dog or shooting rainbow!

Most email clients store images as attachments or block them by default. So, if you present your signature as an image, your correspondents will have a hard time guessing when you’ve sent a genuine attachment.

The best way to include an image is to host it on a server somewhere and then use your email client to display the html at the bottom of all of your messages. This can also allow you to make the image linked with a website. Qlixite uses a third party company called EmailIdeas.com which creates easy to use and clickable email signatures. We'll will be reviewing this company very soon as part of our new review series.

Use vCards with Caution

While vCards are useful and convenient way to share contact information, they add bytes and appear as attachments in emails . Using a vCard for your email signature can be helpful the first time you correspond with someone but receiving it every time after that gets annoying. Besides, the average email user won’t know what it is. Look at the example below. Would an average user know what that is?

Personality is OK!
While your signature should be useful and straightforward, it's okay to make your email signature reflect your business. This can also help seperate your email signature from your email content. Whether you use a line, color or spaces - your email signature should be easy to identify.




Working with Your Email Client
Here's a great set of links from Smashing Mag which offers resources to help implement email signatures in Outlook, Gmail or Yahoo etc.

Outlook
Changing Outlook’s signature is a real pain, but here‘s a guide that teaches you a few things. If you use Outlook 2003, here‘s another tutorial on custom signatures.

Entourage
Microsoft’s mail for mac works differently. Here’s a tutorial on how to set it up.

Gmail
Want just one basic signature? Here‘s how to change the text. You’d think Google would allow you multiple signatures, links and a bit of formatting. If you’re looking for something a little more designed or wish to choose between multiple signatures, here are five ways to do it in Firefox.

Hotmail
Tips on custom images and more for Hotmail can be found here. If you use Windows Live, here is a tutorial on adding images and HTML. The detail is helpful, even if the images are awful.

YahooHere‘s how to change your signature using rich text.

Apple MailHere is a pretty decent tutorial, with some inline HTML for formatting. It then explains how to implement it in the application. You even get some hints on how it will look on the iPhone.

Palm Pre
Learn how to customize your message on your Palm Pre here.

iPhone
Customize your “Sent from my iPhone” message here.

BlackBerry
Some information on how to change your message on BlackBerry smartphones here.

---
Steve Stevenson, Web Designer
www.misterstevenson.com | steve@misterstevenson.com

If you do want to provide a vCard, just include a link to a remote copy.

Confidentiality Clauses

If your emails include confidential information, you may need to include a non-disclosure agreement to prevent information leaks. However, good practice is never to send sensitive information as plain text in emails because the information could be extracted by third parties or forwarded by recipients to other people. Thus, including a non-disclosure agreement doesn’t make much sense if you do not send sensitive information anyway.

Keep in mind, too, that the longer a confidentiality clause is, the more unlikely someone will actually read it. Again, check your country’s privacy laws. Some big companies require a disclosure with every email, but if you’re at a small company or are a freelancer and don’t really require it, then don’t put it in. The length of such clauses can be annoying, especially in short emails.

Conclusion
Your email signature is important! Even as I have been writing this article I am recalling all of the times my signature was incomplete, sparse or missing entirely. If you need help or would like some feedback on your business email signature - we're here for you! Let's start 2012 off right by making your business more successful! Call or visit Qlixite 800-596-6218

QR Codes Mean Quick Response for Business

Qlixite's Website QR Code

A QR code (abbreviation for Quick Response code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.

Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. The QR code was created to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes now are used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (termed mobile tagging). QR codes may be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user's device, to open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or to compose an e-mail or text message. Users can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR code generating sites.

QR codes storing addresses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or almost any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking.

Google's mobile Android operating system supports QR codes by natively including the barcode scanner (ZXing) on some models, and the browser supports URI redirection, which allows QR codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. Nokia's Symbian operating system is provided with a barcode scanner, which is able to read QR codes, while mbarcode is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system. In the Apple iOS, a QR code reader is not natively included, but more than fifty free apps are available with reader and metadata browser URI redirection ability. With BlackBerry devices, the App World application can natively scan QR codes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browse this for compliance.

The use of QR codes is free of any license. The QR code is clearly defined and published as an ISO standard. Denso Wave owns the patent rights on QR codes, but has chosen not to exercise them. The term QR code itself is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated.

Standard QR code is the QR code standard for applications that possess the ability to handle large scans. A standard QR code can contain up to 7089 characters, though not all QR readers can accept that much data.

Use in Marketing


Recently, QR codes have become more prevalent in marketing circles and have been integrated into both traditional and interactive campaigns. Media where QR codes have been deployed include: billboard ads, guerrilla marketing campaigns, in-store displays, event ticketing and tracking, trade-show management, business cards, print ads, contests, direct mail campaigns, websites, email marketing, and couponing just to name a few. QR codes are of particular interest to marketers, giving them the "ability to measure response rates with a high degree of precision" allowing for easier ROI (return on investment) calculation, thus helping to justify spending on marketing budgets. QR codes also have been used at trade shows and in conferences.

For years marketers have seen the success of QR codes internationally, but in 2011 QR codes might finally be taking hold in the U.S. as prominent endorsements from Target, Best Buy, Macy's, and Post Cereals are exposing the codes to a broad swath of consumers.

Examples:

A QR code was used to promote Lupe Fiasco's album, "Lasers." The album was launched in the center of San Francisco with a massive QR code which allowed fans to scan it with the Redlaser technology in order to order the album early.

The hip hop collective OFWGKTA used a QR code when they played on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon instead of an album artwork which Jimmy Fallon usually presents. The code redirected to a site on the groups homepage.

QR codes have been used to interpret natural and historical points of interest on nature trails and walking tours, adding to or replacing expensive signs.

QR codes are not necessarily new to the world but they are growing ever more prevalant in the United States. As a small business owner free innovative technology can make a difference between staying in business and growing your business. Have questions about how to integrate QR codes and other technology into your marketing plan? Give us a call 800-596-6218 and connect with the Small Business Experts!