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By Alan Altman in Featured

SEOptimizationIf you’re reading this, you probably appreciate that I’m not talking about the cuddly bear type creatures, but the algorithm updates by Google that are reputedly designed to increase the quality of the sites ranking near the top of the results pages.

There have been 2 major ones this year and they have stricken fear into the hearts of Internet Marketers the world over. People have lost rankings left, right and center and there has been widespread panic.

First of all, a disclaimer. I don’t know precisely how Google works. Only Google does, and they’re not telling. My points of view, opinions and advice are based on what is currently working for me and other people in the field of SEO with whom I am in contact.

The following very simple thing has made most of my websites Panda proof.

I make good sites.

How simple is that?

Google’s mission is to give their user base the best possible experience, and that means positioning the best possible websites high on search results.

So, it makes perfect sense to create the best sites you can. What constitutes ‘best’ in Google’s eyes however might not mirror your beliefs.

By Chris Bucholtz in Featured

crmYou can use social media and social CRM to build a stronger, more responsive business. But these new disciplines are not without risk. To keep your SCRM plans on track, avoid these all-too-frequent missteps.

Social Media – It’s Not A Broadcast Network

Many companies fail to grasp the two-way nature of social media. So they use sites like Facebook and Twitter to saturate their audience with messages while making no effort to listen to their customers and respond appropriately. It’s the social media version of “shock and
awe.” This is understandable given the evolution of marketing as outbound communication only. But today, such behavior is seen as loutish and clueless.

Your Customers Might Misbehave – You Can’t

You should behave as a peer with your customers, not a pal. Your customer community may be fairly rambunctious, even coarse on line, but that doesn’t mean you should match their behavior. You shouldn’t. Remain the professional, especially in situations where a detractor
becomes aggressive. You can respond to comments and answer concerns without engaging in a verbal brawl. Remember, most social media is not real time. You always have time to craft a response that addresses an issue and reflects well on you and your business.

Don’t Sabotage Your Efforts

Be patient. Social CRM is a new discipline. It will require time for your business to develop effective SCRM processes and for those processes to evolve and take root. If you attach unrealistic ROI goals or timelines to your social CRM efforts, you’ll waste the opportunity that SCRM represents today and dampen enthusiasm for it in the future.

Don’t Be Short Sighted

Skepticism and timidity about social media at a time when its growth continues to outstrip projections almost daily seems incredibly short sighted. Yet, the 2011 Capgemini Executive Outsourcing Survey revealed that 13 percent of executives interviewed at Fortune 1000 companies believed that social media was just a fad and not important to their companies’ success. Not so long ago, the Internet was viewed in the same way. In 1993, none other than Bill Gates said, “The Internet? We are not interested in it.”

Social media and the changes that it promotes are unlikely to disappear. Businesses that ignore this do so at their peril. There will be market share to gain for companies that excel in using social media. Does that mean you should “bet the farm” on social media and SCRM? No, it means that like any business tool–ERP, traditional CRM, business intelligence, supply chain management, and so forth – you should keep an open mind and make strategic investments in SCRM that will enable you to evaluate it thoroughly in the context of your business.

Social Media: The Long View

Since social media is ubiquitous, CRM has no other course but to accommodate and use it. Yes, in the short term, it can strain resources and disrupt the business routine. Most innovations do. But social media, and by extension SCRM, is an opportunity to make sales and service
processes more effective, get closer to the customer, and make businesses more productive, responsive, and profitable.

SCRM is not a replacement for traditional CRM; it’s an expansion of its scope. SCRM takes traditional CRM principles and applies them to a new set of data sources. It has the potential to support product creation, revamp old service processes, deliver rich sales and marketing
data, and foster peer-to-peer relationships with customers. Social CRM is an opportunity to improve your business and the experience your customers have with it.

Editor in Chief of CRM Outsiders, Chris Bucholtz is a founding editor of both Forecasting Clouds and InsideCRM, and a recognized influencer in customer relationship management. To find out more about how to build your business’s outreach and empower your employees with
Business CRM please visit http://www.sugarcrm.com

By Victor Arcuri in Featured

spn_exclusiveWhen the Internet was conceived, it was developed as an ‘information highway.’ It has evolved into an e-commerce solution that is a mandatory component for every business. However, the Rules of E-commerce have changed.

In this article we introduce the new rules and how they impact shopping cart developers.

• In Part 1, we discussed how the new rules impact consumers.
• In Part 2 we discussed how the new rules impact online merchants.
• In Part 4 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone application developers.
• In Part 5 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone application developers.
• In Part 6 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone banking applications.

How the PPOS Operates

The new PPOS is not a storage device, but rather a payment application. None of the data entered on the application is saved or stored within the application. All saved and stored data resides in a cloud computing service, which is usually owned and operated by the bank or the company that issued the credit cards.

Consumers concerned about identity theft need to know that the new digital wallets equipped with a PPOS are guaranteed to protect your identity. The safest place to store your credit card details is with the bank or institution that issues your credit card. The second safest place to store your profile and card data is in one of the cloud computing services designed specifically for that purpose. After all, they already have this information.

When the PPOS is initially launched, you are presented with data collection forms to create your profile and enter your card details. The submit function uploads the profile to the gateway server that encrypts the data, returns an unlock key, and then stores the encrypted file with the appropriate cloud. The returned unlock key is stored within the PPOS, along with a description of the card, but not the card details. For example, the stored description might read Capital One MC Platinum.
Shopping Cart Developers

The introduction of this new technology means that shopping cart developers will need to revise their applications. The new model of shopping carts provides merchants with an enhanced level of security. We have developed a complete set of API’s to satisfy all vendors. In summary, here is an overview of how the PPOS processes online purchases.

When the consumer selects the CQRpay button:

1. The shopping cart software generates and uploads to the processing gateway a file containing the merchant identification as well as the invoice details.
2. The shopping cart software receives confirmation from the gateway that the transaction was received, displays a transaction number, and then closes the invoice.

At this point the merchant has an open unpaid invoice with no knowledge of the consumer’s identity.

3. The consumer then opens the PPOS and retrieves the transaction number.
4. The PPOS displays the identity of the merchant, the invoice number and the invoice details as well as a number of payment options.
5. The consumer selects the payment option and processes the payment.

Once the transaction is processed:

6. The PPOS will display the authorization number and save a record of the transaction.
7. The gateway then sends the authorization to the merchant to complete the transaction.
8. The merchant then sends an e-mail confirmation to the consumer.

The same file, passed to the transaction processor, can also be read by smartphone applications specific to the needs of the merchant. The invoice file passed to the consumer at the time of purchase can include a variety of additional information, including the ability to alert the consumer of up coming events, specials, coupon offers, etc.

If you would like a copy of the developer’s API for shopping carts, click Cart Developers.

Other Requirements

As the PPOS gains acceptance, there will be a heavy demand from merchants for specific smartphone applications, which will allow merchants more detailed communication with the consumer. Interactive smartphone applications will become the norm.

The same file can then be tied to smartphone applications specific to the needs of the merchant. We believe the shopping cart suppliers will be the ideal developers of these new applications, and as such we have a separate API that may be built into these new applications.
Income Opportunities

Once we launch our PPOS application, shopping cart developers who install our API will have about a one year window of exclusivity before their competitors launch a competitive product.

Summary

The digital wallet will protect the cardholder’s identity and will provide a new and convenient way to make purchases, both online and on multiple hardware platforms.

The PPOS digital wallet will be a welcome solution for merchants who wish to save costs on card-not-present sales, chargebacks and fraud attempts. With its ease of implementation for merchants and the inherent acceptance by consumers, merchants will benefit by using CQRPay.

The CQRPay PPOS digital wallet will become the distinct leader and will set the standard in digital wallet technology by meeting the security needs of cardholders, merchants, and card issuers.

Victor Arcuri is a Canadian businessman who, for greater than 10 years, has operated CQRPAY, Inc., a secure gateway for credit card processing for Internet-based merchants. Our independent gateway service is unique in that it is the only application that connects to every merchant account provider and every bank in Canada and the USA.

Our platform enables merchants to use the service regardless of any affiliation they may enjoy with a merchant account provider, bank, POS device supplier or shopping cart software developer.

We invite your questions by phone 403-234-0844 or e-mail.

For more information visit: CQRp@y.com.

By ChatterBox in Featured

facebook_placesFacebook Places, Facebook’s location-based feature that launched in August, allows Facebook users to see where their friends are and to share their locations in the real world. It has also become another powerful Facebook marketing tool for businesses, who can design campaigns around the checkin service to build awareness, grow their fan base and engage and reward customers.

Each time a Facebook user checks into a particular location on Facebook Places, Facebook broadcasts the checkin to that user’s friends’ news feeds. This is not only viral marketing for the company – it also allows businesses to provide incentives for people to come to their physical locations or events.

Although the service has only been around for a few months, quite a few companies have already begun integrating Facebook Places into their marketing programs. Here are five great examples that illustrate different ways companies can use Facebook Places, from offering simple discounts for checkins to multi-step rewards programs.

1. Discounts for Checkins: Westfield Valley Fair

A simple but powerful way to use Facebook Places is to reward fans for every checkin.

Westfield Valley Fair, a premium shopping center based in Santa Clara, CA, wanted to use Facebook Places to bring more shoppers into the center and to promote its merchants. The company worked with social media marketing company Fan Appz to launch a location-based marketing program that gives shoppers valuable merchant coupons when they check in at the Westfield center.

By Julie Ann Ross in Featured

videomktgThere are video SEO tools, techniques, and secrets that all explain how to get videos and their hosting websites to the top of the search engines. These video SEO techniques all focus on winning search on Google, the biggest search engine of them all, as well as Yahoo and Bing.

But the biggest video SEO secret? Forget about winning search on Google, win search on YouTube instead. That is because YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world, behind Google. Furthermore, the fact that YouTube is so popular, also gives YouTube videos high ranking in search results on Google and other search engines online.

Why is YouTube so important? When people have “how to” questions where they need to learn how to do something – how to replace a key on a keyboard, how to defrag a hard drive, how to change a car’s oil – there is a video of it. Or when they want to watch a music video from their favorite band or a scene from their favorite movie, they can find it on YouTube.

Why not take advantage of this?

Think about it. Everyone is focusing all their attention on Google, using onsite search engine optimization techniques, trying to win search for their chosen keywords. But what if it was possible to win search on YouTube instead? Imagine what kind of impact this could have on regular SEO efforts.

Start paying attention to the Google search results page and see what shows up near the top of the search results every time.

Videos!

And not just any videos, but the videos that are most likely to be found during a YouTube search – videos that only have the most basic video SEO done to them will even win search on YouTube, and by default, appear high on the Google search rankings.

Since most people do not even bother to optimize their videos, it is only by luck and happenstance that most videos appear at the top of YouTube’s search in the first place. But by performing some basic video SEO techniques, it is possible to make a video appear high in YouTube’s rankings as well as Google’s.

Video SEO technique #1: Use Keywords in the Video Title. It is not enough to just give the video a clever title. The video needs a descriptive title that people will most likely use during a regular search, like “How to change a keyboard key on a laptop” or “How to change the oil in a car.” This tells Google and YouTube what the most important keywords in the title are.

Video SEO technique #2: Use Keywords in the Description. It is important to use the keywords or key phrase at least once, and possibly twice, in the description of the video. Just like in an optimized blog post, the description tells YouTube (and Google) what the video is about.

Video SEO technique #3: Include Backlinks in the Description. Backlinks are an important part of regular SEO, and should be a part of video SEO as well, being incorporated into the video’s description, which helps boost a website’s ranking. But then, be sure to point several backlinks from other websites to the video.

Video SEO technique #4: Use Transcripts and Subtitles. Another way to include keywords to a video is to include video is one person talking about how to replace keys on a laptop, or is an interview between two people, it is very helpful to include a written transcript as part of the video SEO. When editing a YouTube video, there is a window to upload a transcript or a subtitle file and have it play along with the video. This is additional text that Google and YouTube are able to index and count toward search results, which helps video SEO.

These video SEO techniques allow marketers an advantage. YouTube’s status as the world’s second biggest search engine, will help to ensure your videos show up at the top of the search results in regular Google searches as well as within other search engines, social media and article and press sites online. Follow these steps and begin ranking online!

Article by Julie Ann Ross. With 20 years in marketing, advertising and 10 years in internet marketing, Rostin Ventures has refined video SEO practices for distribution in social media. Rostin Ventures offers video SEO, social media marketing and online reputation management services that are affordable and drive search engine ranking through Social Media optimization, Online Reputation Management, Social Marketing and Mobile SEO marketing.

By EarGlue in Featured

spn_exclusiveAnyone who makes their living in business either as an owner or marketer, has heard the term “niche” marketing. Niche marketing is a concept that is based on the idea that it is the little things (like little pockets of highly interested people) that we should be most concerned about appealing to. The concept recognizes the reality in marketing that you can’t be all things to all people. Nor would you want to.

Juxtapose this philosophy with a vastly different outlook about how to use space and time to deliver your message to that niche. When it comes to delivery frequency, “less is more” has given way to “more and more and more and more.” Previously under-studied parts of the marketing and customer relations puzzle, are now the province of professional consultants and scientific study. The overall idea is to leave no moment or sensory experience free of immersion for your customer. If that is your approach, then be aware there are inherent risks and pitfalls. Perhaps nowhere are these pitfalls more pronounced than in “on hold” marketing.

On hold marketing is simply the use of prerecorded content to convey your message, make offers, and advance your relationship with people who are on hold on your businesses’ phone system. On hold is one of the newer marketing disciplines not found solely on the Internet. The earliest known on hold marketing professional association came into existence around 2000. The reason that businesses can skate on a pretty thin sheet of ice when undertaking the on hold marketing method, is that people hate being put on hold. If you want to market to people during an already annoying time, consider these issues:

1.) Whether you wish to have an in-house system or hire an off-site full service delivery company, explore options with digital pbx systems via internet delivery. For people who don’t know, PBX systems were originally preferred within larger sized businesses because they were the only type of system that would accommodate music and message on hold capability and reduce costs by handling line system switches in-house.

A digital PBX system puts the power of modern digital line technology (with fast decreasing costs and pure sound quality) to work for your business. The internet connectivity aspect makes it simple to preload on-hold music and messages and allows for ease in prior scheduling of when messages play. The time you will invest in understanding the system (or finding someone who does) is offset by the advantages to an auto pilot system to deliver your message in the precise way you want it.

2.) Seek a system for delivering your on hold message that brings the message in a continuous loop. This ensures that a repeat caller will have a greatly reduced chance of hearing a message a second time.

3.) If you are seeking a full-service off-site delivery company, make sure you are comfortable with their music library and ask for a sample played over your business phone to you. You may also want to have a file played for you while calling via your cell phone. Sound quality for on hold is largely affected by the sound capability of the telephone that you are listening on – whether it is a business or cell phone. Make sure you are happy with what you hear.

4.) Be mindful of licensing requirements when reusing someone’s music. Music licensing fees are legally required to be paid. (This goes to thinking seriously about using a professional full-service on hold marketing service if it is possible.)

5.) Establish tracking systems for better evaluation of performance. One of the characteristics that makes the internet downloading of on-hold messages an outstanding advertising platform (beyond the low cost) are the real-time statistics of the performance of each campaign. Any offers or value deals on your messages should be accompanied by an identification code, web link, or other offer information that allows you to track the source of new business.

EarGlue.com is a company enhancing marketing efforts of businesses by providing their customers with a customized on-hold and in-store experience with informative, entertaining, and attentive productions.

By Coen Smith in Featured

spn_exclusiveCan Facebook friends really help brands? The answer may be obvious to some, or not that obvious to others, but online marketers believe that brands doing social media marketing can gain plenty of benefits especially when they invite all Facebook friends of their fans to engage with them. This marketing strategy maximizes the reach of a brand, and globally if need be.

Loyal consumers are what brands desire but one doesn’t become a loyal consumer overnight. It takes some time, and it starts at some point in time. Hence, brands must continue reaching out to new consumers and converting them to repeat consumers. Highly satisfied consumers could themselves advocate for the brand among their friends, a manifestation of the true value of Facebook friends to a brand.

Yes, the value of a Facebook fan is not that easy to determine in terms of money, but attempts have been made by some companies to compute it. One social media marketing platform used the ratio of number of fans to wall posts, and came up with a low figure. At least two companies, however, showed high figures when they identified other key factors such as brand loyalty and product spending.

The formula for assessing the value of a Facebook friend may not yet be discovered but online marketers are working on this. Of course, it’s not all about the number of Facebook friends that a brand gets; this, in fact, could be a negative rather than a positive indicator, as experienced by a couple of consumer brands that had to address a problem in public relations – they were getting plenty of “friends” who wanted to join the other discontented consumers. It’s not also just the number of “Likes” that a brand gets.

Perhaps the key element is not really quantity but quality. Brands that engage their consumers with meaningful marketing conversations have done better sales. And this is where creativity in Facebook can come in for the brands. A Facebook friend that “Likes” a brand for the first time is the first step in making that friend into a loyal customer. Hence a creative approach is needed by the brand to hold the attention of that friend.

How can brands build up loyalty in its fan base and gain more friends from its fans? A few time-tested marketing strategies can still work in the online world. These include providing content that forms habit-forming behavior among consumers so they keep on coming back for more, recognizing fans that help the brand in spreading the good news about it, and rewarding loyal customers with exclusive deals. By thinking like their customers, brands can come up with programs and deals that work both ways. This way satisfaction can also be achieved not only online but in the real world as well.

What’s nice about Facebook for brands is that there are some 800 million users worldwide and starting a brand page entails little or no cost at all. The potentials for a vast audience and good return on investment are there. It’s not uncommon for a brand to have a few million fans especially if the product has a wide appeal and becomes popular. Of course, the brand’s Facebook page should provide useful, and even entertaining, content. This will reach out to the fans and achieve engagement that ultimately leads to sales. All comments on the wall should be read and taken into consideration by the brand.

A brand can win more Facebook friends by being a Facebook friend, socially active and reaching out. This will encourage fans to engage with the brand, making communication easier. Posting photos, sharing news and stories, and commenting on comments are all part of the social media activities. Naturally, a brand that’s just starting out on Facebook won’t have a sizeable number of fans at the outset, so it should collect friends and invite the friends of its friends.

The value of individual Facebook users can’t be underestimated. They are potential customers, as well as potential promoters of the product. The brand that can keep a loyal base on Facebook can reap rewards not found elsewhere, so it’s best to act like a friend to a friend in this social media. Yes, brands should invite all Facebook friends as they can, but they can’t sacrifice quality over quantity. It’s also good to remember that Facebook friends can unfriend a brand if satisfaction is not achieved. Worse, Facebook friends who are unsatisfied may spread their discontent among their friends. There’s now a good deal of interaction on Facebook going on between brands and their friends, and more brands are joining and becoming active in social media marketing. Perhaps a question for Facebook is: Will it be able to sustain a good environment for an ever increasing number of brands?

Coen Smith is into Web site designs, SEO and Facebook Applications (such as Facebook Layouts). His latest exploits are Google Plus Backgrounds and Facebooking101.

If you want to pimp up your Facebook and Google pages, logon to http://fbexpressions.com/, http://www.facebooking101.com/blog/, and http://www.plusbackgrounds.com/ now!

By Chip Cooper in Featured

ftcThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing amendments to the Mail Order Rule that would result in its regulation of all sales made over the Internet regardless of how a buyer might initiate the purchase.

If you’re an online merchant, the ramifications are significant.

The Mail Order Rule

The Mail Order Rule (Rule), actually The Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, was issued in 1975 and later updated in 1993 for purposes of clarifying a merchant’s obligations regarding shipment of merchandise. The FTC passed the Rule to force merchants to consider and state the time of shipment, or at least to ship within 30 days. That’s why the Rule is often referred to as the “30-Day Rule.”

Under the current Rule, a merchant must have a reasonable basis to expect that they can ship merchandise within he time frame advertised, or at least within 30 days of the sale. If the merchant is not able to ship within the time frame originally promised, or within 30 days if no time frame is promised, the merchant is required to get the customer’s consent to a later ship date or refund the purchase price.

The Rule originally covered mail order and telephone sales. In the early days of the commercialization of the Internet the Rule arguably covered online sales because dial-up modems using telephone lines were construed to be telephone sales. Fast forward to today, and the widespread use of high-speed broadband connections has cast doubt on the applicability of the Rule to most online sales.

The Proposed Changes

Concerned that their regulatory authority over online sales has been compromised by changing technology, the FTC recently proposed 4 changes to the Rule by:

* explicitly stating that it covers all sales placed over the Internet regardless of how the purchaser accesses the Internet;

* allowing merchants to provide refund notices and refunds to purchasers “by any means at least as fast and reliable as first-class mail” which could include notices by courier or email and refunds by electronic funds transfer (the current rule requires that refund notices be sent by first class mail);

* expanding the list of covered payment methods to cover debit cards, prepaid gift cards, and online payment services in general; and

* shortening the maximum allowable refund time to 7 working days for third party credit card purchases, and 1 billing cycle for the merchant’s own credit card sales.

Conclusion

The FTC argues that the “proposed amendments are necessary to remedying unfair and deceptive acts or practices and ensuring that buyers receive timely delivery or timely refunds.”

If you’re an online merchant, it’s recommended that you review your shipping policies and procedures now to make sure they are meeting the proposed new requirements, particularly regarding refunds for credit card purchases to be made within the 7 day limitation.

This article is provided for educational and informative purposes only. This information does not constitute legal advice, and should not be construed as such.

Protect your website and your business with near-custom Website Legal Documents. One size doesn’t fit all. Leading Internet and SaaS Attorney Chip Cooper’s “done for you” online legal documents service does all the work for you. No special knowledge required -
http://www.digicontracts.com/whichdocs/.

By Victor Arcuri in Featured

ecommerceWhen the Internet was conceived, it was developed as an ‘information highway.’ It has evolved into an e-commerce solution that is a mandatory component for every business. However, the Rules of E-commerce have changed.

In this article we introduce the new rules and how they impact online Merchants.

• In Part 1, we discussed how the new rules impact consumers.
• In Part 3 we will discuss how the new rules impact web hosting companies.
• In Part 4 we will discuss how the new rules impact shopping cart developers.
• In Part 5 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone application developers.
• In Part 6 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone banking applications.

How the PPOS Operates

The new PPOS is not a storage device, but rather a payment application. None of the data entered on the application is saved or stored within the application. All saved and stored data resides in a cloud computing service, which is usually owned and operated by the bank or the company that issued the credit cards.

Consumers concerned about identity theft need to know that the new digital wallets equipped with a PPOS are guaranteed to protect your identity. The safest place to store your credit card details is with the bank or institution that issues your credit card. The second safest place to store your profile and card data is in one of the cloud computing services designed specifically for that purpose. After all, they already have this information.

When the PPOS is initially launched, you are presented with data collection forms to create your profile and enter your card details. The submit function uploads the profile to the gateway server that encrypts the data, returns an unlock key, and then stores the encrypted file with the appropriate cloud. The returned unlock key is stored within the PPOS, along with a description of the card, but not the card details. For example, the stored description might read Capital One MC Platinum.

New Rules Protect Merchants

The prime concern of all online merchants is cost. The PPOS will be treated as a card-present sale, so its use will reduce discount rates, lower incidents of charge backs and help to fight fraud. In addition, merchants will no longer need to purchase SSL Certificates, additional firewalls, or secure Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance. The average online merchant, with 150 transactions per month at $86 each, will save over $2000 per year.

Once implemented, the PPOS will be the basic building block for the further enhancement of a merchant’s advertising and marketing efforts, as more merchants turn to the deployment of smartphone applications tied to the PPOS to promote sales and build customer loyalty.

In summary, here is an overview of how the PPOS processes online purchases. A consumer visits a website, selects the items he/she wants to purchase and adds the items to the shopping cart. When the consumer selects the check out feature, he/she proceeds to the payment area of the website where he/she is presented with a number of payment options.

When the consumer selects the CQRpay button:

1. The shopping cart software generates and uploads to the processing gateway, a file containing the merchant identification, as well as the invoice details.
2. The shopping cart software receives confirmation from the gateway that the transaction was received, displays a transaction number, and then closes the invoice.

At this point the merchant has an open unpaid invoice with no knowledge of the consumer’s identity.

3. The consumer then opens the PPOS and retrieves the transaction number.
4. The PPOS displays the identity of the merchant, the invoice number and the invoice details, as well as a number of payment options.
5. The consumer selects the payment option and processes the payment.

Once the transaction is processed:

6. The PPOS displays the authorization number and saves a record of the transaction.
7. The gateway then sends the authorization to the merchant to complete the transaction.
8. The merchant may choose to send an e-mail confirmation to the consumer.

The same file, passed to the transaction processor, can also be read by the smartphone application specific to the needs of the merchant. For example, consider how a hypothetical grocery chain might take advantage of the methodology employed with the PPOS. Assume the retailer provides a smartphone application and offers a loyalty card. The invoice file passed to the consumer at the time of purchase could include additional information, including the ability to alert consumers of upcoming events, specials, coupon offers, etc.

Let us assume this grocer includes a meal planner as part of their smartphone application. The consumer can plan meals for the week, select main course items based on the grocer’s advertised specials, and receive suggestions regarding additional ingredients such as seasonings, vegetables for the meal, etc. The app may then offer recipes, appetizer suggestions, beverages to include, and perhaps a dessert selection. Over time, the app could track shopping habits and remind the consumer of purchases made in the past, such as milk or sugar, or whatever the household has purchased on a regular basis.

To register as a merchant and to download the application programming interface (API), click HERE.

Summary

The digital wallet will protect the cardholder’s identity and will provide a new and convenient way to make purchases, both online and on multiple hardware platforms.

The PPOS digital wallet will be a welcome solution for merchants who wish to save costs on card-not-present sales, chargebacks and fraud attempts. With its ease of implementation for merchants and the inherent acceptance by consumers, merchants will benefit by using CQRPay.

Victor Arcuri is a Canadian businessman who, for greater than 10 years, has operated CQRPAY, Inc., a secure gateway for credit card processing for Internet-based merchants. Our independent gateway service is unique in that it is the only application that connects to every merchant account provider and every bank in Canada and the USA.

Our platform enables merchants to use the service regardless of any affiliation they may enjoy with a merchant account provider, bank, POS device supplier or shopping cart software developer.

We invite your questions by phone 403-234-0844 or e-mail.

For more information visit: CQRp@y.com.

By Edwin S Huertas in Featured

google+The Analytics tools for Google+ have many excited about the new Google+ Business Pages.

Businesses know that when it comes to BI and decision making, data is king. Google has had years of experience building and honing its data gathering, analysis and reporting tools within the business framework, and it leverages this competitive advantage by integrating its leadership in search and API development to offer an easy and reliable way for businesses to measure the success of their online initiatives. This is a notable strength of the new social network’s business page features, because the Analytics component has been conceptualized and built from the very beginning. In stark contrast, Analytics and business intelligence seem to have been an afterthought for competing networks.

Search

It always makes sense for businesses to build on and extend their core competencies. Google is the dominant search engine in the online world so it’s no surprise that it brings its search expertise to the social networking table. Google+ Search focuses on allowing users to search through Google+ content, returning information from profiles, member posts and shared content from the Sparks engine.

You can narrow your search down to a specific area and -yes-it’s a great feature, but I’d be willing to bet that Google is tracking your search activities to subsequently provide data and insights that can help you (and others) analyze social business behavior.

Ripples

The new feature launched by Google+ was hardly noticed at first, but those who have used Ripples are astounded by the amount of data the feature can provide to users. The main interface is an interactive info-graphic that summarizes the ripple effect caused by content you produce, visually presenting who among your contacts has been sharing your content with their own circles.

This is an easy way for you to find out and track the “influencers” within your Circles, allowing you to focus on these people for future marketing campaigns and activities.

Social Analytics

How serious is Google about its social analytics? Its recent addition of real time data to Google Analytics and its acquisition last month of social analytics startup SocialGrapple seem to indicate that they are very serious indeed. Users can check out the new social engagement report on Google Analytics and monitor the behavior of users on their Google+ business pages.

Google’s strategy for social analytics also seems to indicate that the company is trying to eliminate the distinctions that currently set “search” users, traditionally identified as Google’s user base, apart from “social” users that are claimed by social networks such as Facebook. Google is instead aiming for a single massive-user population that reaches sites from a variety of sources using a variety of discovery tools.

Google seems to be making a strong push to attract business owners and if they continue to offer tools like these, you might see a shift in population among the top social media networks one day. This is a prize audience that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all vying for, and I’m pretty sure those guys are watching very, very closely. I can see them responding to many of the tools that Google creates in the near future.

API

Perhaps the most powerful feature within the Google+ Analytics framework is the newly available API, which currently allows users to readily access public and Hangouts data. Developers can create tools and objects that work with these data sources to provide dynamic interaction opportunities with end-users. It’s exciting to imagine and anticipate what these new data-driven apps and tools will look like, but these will certainly be game changers for online businesses and social networking.

Article by Edwin S Huertas. At Isis Toolbox we have created our social media marketing tools with a lot of help from Google. We plan to incorporate any and all API tools that Google+ offers into our free tools to help marketers make the most of their social media marketing efforts.

If you know anything about online marketing, it is that SEO, video and social media channels are your best options for delivering high quality traffic to your Website.

That’s why we’ve put together a suite of tools that will allow you to not only improve your traffic, but also help you make the most out of the time you spend branding your business and communicating with leads and clients via social media platforms.

Check out Isis Toolbox at http://www.isistoolbox.com

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