ShawnHessinger commented on the following stories on BizSugar
How to Deliver Effective Customer Service
"Hi Arshad, I don't know if it's possible to put things more clearly. We hear about these principles often but I think looking at the statistics is a wake up call. This isn't opinion about what makes good customer service alone. There are some fairly compelling numbers to back it up."Does Google Know What's Authoritative To A Human?
"Hi Tom, After reading the post, and the comments thus far, I'd have to say that, while I think Google could certainly use more competition in the search engine field, I'm not sure results are really worse or less relevant than they use to be. However, maybe this has to do with what you're looking for. And maybe what I'm really suggesting is that content at the top of searches seems more authoritative and less spammy. I think the great balance for Google actually has to do with the attempt to get content that is both authoritative and up-to-date. An increasing focus on news and the latest posts may be hurting both users and content producers. It's sometimes harder to find the best content if it doesn't also happen to be the latest. I'm curious. In what way do you feel content from searches has become less relevant? "Does Google Know What's Authoritative To A Human?
"Hi Tom, Thanks for the clarification. I think I'd agree in the sense that, if you were to track, say, tech news on an aggregator like TechMeme, for example, you would certainly be missing plenty of breaking news on Google. (And much of that is coming from admittedly smaller websites.) Or at least you might be missing that news unless or until it is picked up by a larger, more established website. That said, there was a time not so very long ago (definitely in my memory) when Google was routinely serving up scraped content who's only possible advantages over the original might have been that it was published more recently and keyworded both on page and off more aggressively/shamelessly. Such results are generally not admitted with Google's new tweaks, or at least are not being shown in search results as high up as they once were. I can understand the frustration on the part of Web publishers trying to get their content found. But from a user's perspective, I think we must all understand that, for their purposes, the results probably seem more helpful and relevant than what they once had. "5 fail-safe tips to improve your chances of getting a small business loan
"Hi Tom, I think one thing many of us have heard when exploring financing for a business is that, for loans, some kind of collateral will be needed. Essentially lenders, at least to me and others I know, have always explained that funding of this kind is dependent upon you having some tangible asset you can use as a guarantee. Are there exceptions to this basic fundamental principle? And, if not, why aren't more discussions on business finance prefaced by mentioning this basic fact? It would be helpful for entrepreneurs starting with little or no potential assets to know from the beginning that they will most likely need to seek another source of funds. "How to create your online marketing strategy: the list
"Hi Veronica, This is a great list (even if it is a bit bare bones.) I'm wondering if you could put some meat on these bones. For example, when we say "define your target audience," is this the audience we want, or, in the case of a brand that already has a following, who we believe that audience to be? How do we make sure we aren't deceiving ourselves about the people who would truly be interested in our brand, business or product? When we say "define your message," how? Can you suggest some steps or a best way to go about this? It can be deceptively complicated. What are your recommendations for defining an effective marketing message that says exactly what you want it to say? "Find your channels." What's the best way to decide what channels are best for our business or brand? Should we use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, all of the above? Or are there some of these channels where we might just be wasting our time? I think it would be great if you could fill in some of the details here for the rest of the BizSugar community. Thanks!"The Ultimate Google Plus Posting Guide
"Brian, Thanks so much for sharing this post with the BizSugar community. One of the biggest benefits I've seen with Google Plus is that the posts seem to rank very well on the Google search engine...as do the posts on your own site that you share. Has this been your impression as well? Thanks to Reginald Chan for sharing his experience with Google Plus over on BizSugar. Brian, if you have any further thoughts on the SEO benefits of using Google Plus, I'd love if you could share them in the comment section of the BizSugar community where all our members could benefit."MicroMessaging: Management Communication
"Heather and Cecil, My practice in the management realm has always been to always seriously listen to grievances no matter how small they seem and to let it be known that they can and should be brought to me. I've taken some heat from other managers for doing this in the past, of them saying it is either coddling or will simply take too much time. But experience has taught that, if there is something I am doing, I can modify my approach and generally get rid of 95 percent of the difficulties with certain employees, sometimes even boosting productivity in the process. If there is not, and the employee is simply a bad fit for the team -- something that certainly has happened -- there is no faster way to determine this definitively."10 Tips for Preventing Online Credit Card Fraud
"Hi Steve, Incredibly detailed information here. I've left this comment here and on Small Business Trends so perhaps you could answer it both places for the benefit of both communities. In the case of point number one, I suppose it's always possible that, even in the case of a legitimate order, you could end up having difficulty reaching someone by phone, especially overseas. I'm wondering. What do you do at that point? What's your next step or process to try to assess the validity of the order?"Subscribe
How to start a successful global business without investors [podcast]
"Hi Martin, What a fascinating topic (and humorous product!) I love hearing about bootstrapping on products that are not digital. Here's a product that had to be mass produced and physically sold. Yet, there was no big budget, no investors and the principles of the business are still debt free!"