When you run a business, image has a big role in whether you succeed or not. You spend money for building goodwill among your existing clients. You spend money for marketing in the aim of getting new customers. But sometimes, one wrong move might prove to be disastrous, especially if word about certain failures spread virally online. These may be in the form of bad product reviews, bad customer service experience or even rants pointed toward your direction.

The litigious route

We live in a litigious society after all, and oftentimes businesses resort to the law when they feel they have been bad-mouthed. I’ve experienced this one time or another in the course of my involvement with several blogs and new media networks. There was one time when I received a demand to take down some content on a blog that was allegedly libelous to the complainant’s company. Thing is, the blog in question wasn’t even mine. It had been submitted to a blog directory that the company I work for owned. In some cases, the content in question is not even a blog post, but sometimes a comment posted by a third party.

Sometimes these legal cases do prosper. But most of the time, they not. This would only go to show that the business entity involved may not necessarily be well-versed in social media. Being quick to do damage control through the courts would give the impression that you are a bully, and that you are using lawsuits as a tactic to scare off anyone who dares talk or write about you in a bad light.

Filing lawsuits left and right can also be very costly and time consuming. So unless a blog post or any online content consists of blatant, baseless accusations against you with the intent of being malicious, then litigation is probably not the best way to deal.

Fighting fire with fire

I think the better way to deal with complaints found online is to address these online, as well. If you already run a blog or other social media presence (like a Facebook profile or a Twitter account), then by all means you can use these mediums to air out your side. If not, then it’s high time you set up a blog or other social media account of your own. I suggest you also post a comment on the original source of the complaint, be it a blog post, review, tweet or any other content online.

Don’t just be outright defensive, though. That also gives the impression that you’re too quick to the draw. Here are a few things you can do to help clean up your image and also build up goodwill along the way.

• Identify yourself. Are you the business owner? The customer service manager? Tech support? People will believe you if you have clout, and if you have direct affiliation with the brand, product or service in question. Most small businesses have a small operation, with only a few staff. It’s a good idea to respond if you can speak for your business yourself. If a business owner himself engagse the audience, then this would be viewed as being more sincere than if it were the PR manager (or even a hired PR firm) who would be doing the talking.
• Check and double-check the facts. Don’t be a victim of fraud or online bullying. Be sure that the complaint is valid. Was the product wrongly shipped? Was the product really defective? Was there a problem in the production line? Was someone in your staff rude?
• Identify possible problems. Nobody’s perfect. And while any business strives to give the best to its customers, chances are there will be some clients who will not be satisfied. Sometimes, it’s a defective run in your production line, and you might have to recall and replace a few items. Sometimes it’s a design flaw, and you would really have to redesign from ground up. Maybe you do have a rude customer service personnel (or at least someone who has had a bad day) and you need to take action. Be sure to identify the source of the problem. This way, customers won’t view your brand or product as a failure in its entirety. There’s always room to improve and grow, after all.
• Apologize. Issue a personal and a sincere apology, if you feel that there was some shortcoming on your end.
• Offer a solution, or at least an explanation. Some problems can be easily solved. Products can easily be recalled and replaced. Services can be re-done. However, if it’s something out of your control, then be sure to state this also.

The essential factor here is communication. Connect with your audience. Engage your audience. It’s even better if you are proactive, and if you are connected with a community of your patrons and customers from the start. This way, people will also feel more comfortable in alerting you to potential problems. Your audience might also be kinder to you if they know you’re part of the community.

Connect. Engage. Communicate. That’s what social media should be, from a business standpoint.

image credit: flickr/cocraetr

Freebie Images by Crestock

From one of the best stock photography sites out there comes this Wordpress plug-in aptly named “Freebie Images”. Basically, what it does is allow you to use any of the free stock photos in their library. Once you’ve installed the plug-in, simply search their library from within Wordpress, and if you see something you like, simply drag and drop it into your blog post. You can also search according to image orientation (portrait or landscape)and filetype. Because Crestock has such professional, high-quality images, this one’s my favorite.

Photodropper Plug-In

Photo Dropper works almost the same way, but it searches Creative Commons-licensed photos in Flickr. You also have the option to only search for photos that can be used commercially, which is important when you’re running a commercial or business blog.

PicApp

PicApp also makes it easy to find high-quality photos and use them legally. What I like about PicApp is how easy it is to search for either “Creative” or “Editorial” images, depending on whether your blog post is a news item or a feature. Once you select a photo you like, PicApp gives you a snippet of code to use in your post- and voila! To show you how quick this is, I just did a search for “Business”, and got this picture on my first page of results:

Faster Image Insert Plug-In

Finally, if you want to use your own photos but aren’t too happy about how slowly Wordpress inserts your images, check out this plug-in, which works simply but can make a world of difference if you use a lot of photos. It gives you full control of the built-in Media Manager, and allows you to insert multiple images, or edit mass info in one-shot.

A big reason bit.ly has risen in popularity is, of course, because it’s Twitter’s default shortener- but it’s also an awesome service. For example, bit.ly will not only shorten a link for me, it will keep a history of all the links I’ve shortened (provided I’m logged in to my bit.ly account), and give me statistics on those links as well- how many people clicked through, when they clicked, and from where. And to see all that, I need only add a plus sign (+) to my bit.ly shortened URL, for example, this link points to a previous post on BusinessLogs:

http://bit.ly/B3dqD

To see stats on the link, I just have to add the plus sign:

http://bit.ly/B3dqD+

and here’s a screenshot of what I see:

Then there’s the bit.ly Sidebar, a browser bookmarklet that shortens your link, shows you the link’s traffic, conversations and history- and allows you to share it on Twitter, Gmail, Email or Facebook. Here’s a short video clip showing how it works:

Two other bit.ly-like services I’ve used with good results are is.gd, which I like because- well, because it says it’s “gd”!- and u.nu, which is fairly new to the game, but offers the shortest URLs (apparently, nothing’s shorter than u.nu) and refrains from using “look-alike” characters such as l, 1, I, 0, and O.

Do you use URL shorteners?

Simplify search.

Your blog should be easy to search, with an accessible search box and button on every page. Make sure you tweak your Search Results pages, as well- with links to your Site Map and other important pages, just in case your visitors can’t find what they’re looking for.

Install a Unique Favicon.

A Favicon is a graphical icon that is attached to your website when viewing on a browser. It’s a good idea to use a unique image for this, such as your logo. Here’s a quick video tutorial on creating and adding a Favicon to your blog.

Don’t neglect the About page.

Most first-time visitors will make your About page their first stop. Fill it with important details about yourself and your business.

Make it easy to contact you.

It’s good practice to put your contact information on every page of your blog. If you don’t want to include your email address (for fear of spambots), create a contact form for visitors to use.

Say no to “Under Construction” areas.

Pages and areas that simply say “Under Construction” or “Coming Soon” are frustrating to visitors. If you don’t have any content to put in a particular area of your website, it’s better to just leave it out until you do. Another option is to include a sign-up form for people who want to be alerted when certain content is available.

Scheduling your blog posts is different from simply writing post drafts. The latter requires you to login and publish the posts on a certain date- which is fine if you want to make last-minute changes to your posts- but scheduling means your blog software will publish your post automatically, on whatever date you set it to. If you’d like to get started doing this, here are some quick ways to schedule your blog posts:

On Blogger

If you write for a Blogger-powered blog, it couldn’t be simpler:

• In the New Post window in the Posting tab, write your post as usual, but don’t click the “Publish Post” button just yet.
• Click on “Post Options” at the bottom of your post, and in the right side you’ll be able to put in what date and/or time you want the post published.
• Then click “Publish Post”.

On Wordpress

It’s easy to schedule your posts on a Wordpress-powered blog. Simply:

• Write your post as usual, but don’t click Publish yet.
• In the “Publish” window in the upper right hand area of your dashboard, click on the “Edit” link next to “Publish immediately”.
• From there, you can choose what date and/or time your post will be published.
• Click the “OK” button, then hit “Publish”.

On Typepad

If your blog is powered by Typepad, note that you must be a Plus, Pro, Premium or Business class user to use this feature. Here’s how to schedule your posts in Typepad:

• Write a post as usual in the “Compose a New Post” page, then look for the area titled “Posting Status” .
• The dropdown beneath that will let you choose between Draft, Publish On… or Publish Now. Select Publish On…
• Enter the time and select the date you want your post published. Click “Set Time”, then save the post.

Do you schedule your blog posts?

Hence this post. If you’re looking to set up an online store, here are some alternative services to check out:

Etsy

I mentioned Etsy earlier, and am listing it first with good reason. Etsy is a community of online shops that sell handmade items- and that includes everything from t-shirts to soaps to toys. Setting up a shop is quick and easy, and there is a listing fee of 20 cents per listed item, and a 3.5% sales fee. But from everything I’ve seen, shops on Etsy do very well because they’ve built a good, active community of buyers and sellers.

Shopify or BigCartel

If something like Etsy isn’t for you, you might want to consider one of these “all-in” hosted solutions. These services take care of everything from hosting your shop to handling payment transactions for you. Set up is usually very simple, and both of these services offer great-looking shop templates, so you won’t have to worry about having an ugly shop. BigCartel has a free plan, limited to 5 products, and Shopify offers a 30-day free trial on any of their plans. BigCartel does not take any percentages of your sales, while Shopify takes anywhere from zero (for their highest priced plan) to 2% per transaction.

Wordpress with a Plug-In

That’s right, you can set up an online shop using our favorite blog software. It’s as simple as installing a shopping cart plug-in such as WP e-Commerce (free), Shopp ($55 for a single shop), or Quick Shop (free and very lightweight).

eBay

Of course I couldn’t ignore eBay. Because it’s so well-known, your customers might be more comfortable buying from you- and a lot of people do have success selling on eBay. Their Basic plan is $15.95 a month, with a variety of fees depending on what items you’re selling and how.

How do you power your online store?

Dashboard Custom Menu

This plug-in makes it easy to add a custom menu to your blog dashboard. As you can see from the screenshot above, you can add your own links (for example, other company sites or frequently accessed resources). You can also select who sees what, according to different user roles.

Dashboard Post-it

A must if you’re managing a multiple-user blog, this one gives you the ability to write short notes to other editors and authors. For something a little more powerful, there’s…

WP Task Manager

WP Task Manager takes the post-it note idea a step further, allowing you to create tasks for all authors of your blog, including yourself. The plug-in comes with a special page that lists all tasks, and includes support for comments and discussions on each task.

Theme Test Drive

It’s always a good idea to test new WP themes- or changes to your current WP themes- before going live with them, especially on a business blog. This plug-in makes it easy to test drive themes from within your dashboard, so only you see the changes.

Easy Admin Color Themes

Finally, this one’s more for aesthetic reasons, letting you create and change the color schemes of your WP dashboard. Its settings include options for setting site-wide schemes, forcing schemes for certain users, and the ability to import pre-made admin color schemes. It’s a nice way to personalize your company blog dashboard in a small way.

What are your favorite Wordpress Admin Plug-ins?

Use the weekend for planning and drafting posts.

A useful tip especially for professional bloggers, who must turn out a certain number of posts during the week. With less distractions, and generally less going on online, weekends are perfect for researching material for your posts. It’s also a good time to discover interesting posts you might have missed in the past week- I’ve discovered many new posts- as well as blogs I never knew existed- on lazy weekends, simply by browsing through blogs I already subscribe to.

The weekend is great for scheduled posts.

If you’ve completed planning and drafting, and are ready to post but afraid no one will be around to read what you wrote, why not schedule the post for the upcoming week instead? Most, if not all, blogging platforms offer scheduled posts, and it’s easy to do once you know how.

Despite less traffic, people are still online.

Yes, the Internet is quieter on weekends, but there are definitely still people online- and if these people are in your niche, then you just might see a nice jump in traffic on weekends. For example, food blogs usually get visited on weekends by people searching for recipes to try out on weekends, or for dinner parties they might be throwing. Another thing to consider would be a “Weekend Roundup” of your favorite posts or links from the previous week.

Do you blog on weekends?

But to set your blog apart, you’ll want to tweak that theme- and when I say tweak, I mean make small changes here and there. To make these tweaks to your theme of choice, a tool like the Firebug extension for Firefox can be very handy- but, really, any text editor will do.

1. Tweak your header
   Usually the first place new visitors will look, and a good place to start. Some themes include “theme options” pages that show up when you’ve activated the theme, and others include banner photos or graphics that can easily be replaced with your own. If you’re using the default Wordpress theme Kubrick, the aptly named Kubrickr will automatically find photos on Flickr for you to customize your header with. To get more in-depth, I recommend reading through Wordpress’ official codex page on Designing Headers.
2. Play with your widgets
   Most Wordpress theme designers “widgetize” their themes, and for good reason: widgets are probably the quickest way to personalize a Wordpress theme. Built-in widgets, available in every fresh installation of Wordpress, include widgets for displaying your Archives, Calendar, Recent Comments and so forth- and And if the theme you love isn’t widgetized, you can do it yourself.
3. Experiment with color
   Even slight changes to the colors on your site can have a big impact. Online tools such as the Color Scheme Designer can keep you busy for hours, or you can check out pre-made color schemes at sites like colr.org and GenoPal.
4. Change your fonts
   We used to have just two choices when it came to web fonts: serif or sans-serif. Today, we have methods like sIFR and FLIR, which replace your fonts using Flash, the newish Cufon, which doesn’t require Flash, and CSS3’s @font-face, which works by downloading the specified fonts.
5. Personalize your About page
   This one, which requires no CSS tweaking at all, just might be the most important way of all. Tweaking your About page, the only page that comes pre-built with Wordpress, is where you can truly let your personality shine through. A photo of yourself is always good, but you should feel free to add anything here that shows the world- or your readers, at least- who you are. You can read more about tweaking your About page in a previous post of mine.

Of course, we’ve only barely scratched the surface of the ways you can tweak your Wordpress theme. For more ways, the Wordpress Codex is an excellent place to start.

Pay for it.

Yes, there are some fabulous free blog hosting services out there, and in fact some of the services I’m about to recommend also offer free plans- but while those are fine for personal blogs, you do want the control that a paid plan gives you.

Go tried and true.

For the least headaches, use one of the hosting services that are made for blogs. Wordpress.com, for example, is hosted Wordpress that’s run by Automattic. Typepad is by Six Apart, the makers of Moveable Type. These companies are experts in the blogging industry, so they’re your best bets for managing your blog platform. They also usually have wonderful communities (forums, user groups, etc.) filled with other bloggers who are very helpful.

Use your own domain name.

The average cost of buying your own domain name is around $10 a year. This is affordable (I remember when it was $35 a year!) and a must for any business online. If you already have a domain name you use for your business (e.g. waldoswinches.com), you can use a subdomain for your blog (e.g. blog.waldoswinches.com) or get a new domain name just for your blog (e.g. waldoswinchesblog.com). Make sure to use your own domain for your email address, as well- it’s a little embarrassing to use a free email address (yahoo.com, aol.com, gmail.com, etc.) on your business cards.

Research web hosts.

If you decide not to go with a blog hosting service, and would rather go with your own server, VPS or shared account with a web host, please do some research first. A good place to start is Web Hosting Talk, where you can search for reviews on different web hosts. Or you can consider using one of these hosts- all of which I’ve tried, and highly recommend:

• WiredTree – I’ve been using them for close to three years now, with zero problems. Customer support is blazing fast.
• HostGator – Another good one, I’ve used them for my smaller hosting needs. Quick service, and a good customer forum.
• MediaTemple – Some of the biggest names in business are hosted with MediaTemple, and with good reason. They’ve been around for a while, and have a great (read= stable!) infrastructure, although I’ve found that their customer service isn’t as quick as the two hosts I mention above.
• Colorteck – Owned by the publisher of this blog (& where we’re hosted), you’ll get really fast, solid and personal service that the bigger companies don’t offer. Contact Will Vacher: will[at]colorteck[dot]com and tell him that you are a Biz Logs reader for a 20% discount off quoted rates.

At the end of the day, you want a host that you don’t have to think about, or even contact much once your blog is up and running.