Category: Small Biz Go Mobile

Google Wallet and Google Offers Bring Huge Opportunities to Small Business Owners and Consumers

by Nick Muntean

Today we were at Google’s press conference in NYC, it just concluded, and we have to say, the implications could be huge for small business owners, with Google announcing two key new Android apps that will potentially enable your customers to pay you faster by using their mobile phone. The primary app, Google Wallet, will securely store and communicate financial information from users’ phones to merchants’ NFC terminals. NFC (near field communication) is a wireless technology that has been around but is becoming more popular.  The other app announced was Google Offers, which serves as a complement to Wallet, integrating coupons and loyalty programs to the transaction experience.  Let’s take a look at the features offered by each app, and then consider the implications for small business owners.

Wallet will roll out this summer, though it will initially provide NFC services only with Citi Mastercard and/or a pre-paid Google account.  Google promises that more account types (Visa, American Express, non-Citi Mastercards, etc.) will be added in the future, but they didn’t name any specific partners, nor did they offer up any sort of timetable.  Despite the limited number of launch-time partnerships, the potential for Wallet is huge, as it’s the first NFC system that allows users to maintain multiple credit accounts within the same NFC client.  As Wallet gains wider adoption, more banks and credit agencies will likely jump aboard, which will provide users with an NFC commerce experience as flexible and robust as the current, leather wallet-based transaction process.

For small business owners, Google Offers promises to be a real game-changer.  Google demonstrated how seamlessly Offers integrates with both Wallet and users’ desktop browsing experience; a desktop Google search for “denim shorts” might yield a digital coupon, which can be added into the user’s Offers account through a single click, and then redeemed in person, via Wallet, at the local point-of-sale.  Even more exciting is the integration of location-specific coupons and offers into the Android ecosystem; a phone-based search for “sandwiches” could yield offers from nearby restaurants, generating greater first-time customers for local businesses and international franchises alike.  Offers will also manage and track customer loyalty programs, which could definitely help transform occasional customers into regular patrons.  Google is selectively launching Offers in Portland, San Francisco, and New York this summer, though once the initial bugs have been worked out, the program will likely quickly spread to other cities.

Google also outlined some features that will likely be added to Wallet/Offers over the next several years; digital receipts, transaction-based prizes and games, and eventually the ability to integrate drivers’ licenses, health insurance cards, concert tickets, and hotel keys.  What remains unknown, though, is who will be responsible for securing the data of these para-transactional experiences.  For the financial information of the transaction itself, Google has partnered with FirstData to provide secure transmission and storage of relevant data, but it’s unclear if FirstData would also be responsible for managing loyalty card information and the like.

There’s a lot of potential here, but what can small businesses expect in the short-term?

To be honest, not much.  Currently, the only Android phone sporting an NFC chip is the Nexus S, and it’s hard to build an entirely new commerce ecosystem around a single phone.  More NFC-enabled Android phones will likely arrive later this year, but it will take at least several years before a significant number of consumers have Google NFC technology in their pockets.  And, with rumors circulating that Apple has an NFC platform of its own in the works, it’s unlikely that Google’s initiative will move forward without some competition from its rivals.  The short-term potential of Wallet/Offers is also tempered by the aforementioned lack of launch-time financial partners; how many people have both a Citi Mastercard AND a Nexus S, and how many consumers look forward to regularly refilling a bespoke Google debit account?

Sure, the immediate potential of Google’s announcement is pretty limited, but with NFC terminal readers costing less than $10, merchants won’t be staking a significant financial investment in the technology, should it fail to find widespread consumer adoption.  And the long-term potential for small businesses is absolutely huge; if Wallet and Offers become widely adopted by consumers, smaller merchants and local retailers will be able to engage in the type of targeted advertising and sophisticated customer loyalty programs (with their accompanying analytics…) that are today affordable only for medium-to-large companies.  If you’re a small business owner in one Google’s trial cities, becoming an early adopter of Wallet/Offers could pay considerable dividends down the road, as your familiarity and expertise with the infrastructure could provide a key competitive advantage, should Google’s NFC become the transactional experience of the future.

ShopSavvy Teams with ShareSquare for Easy QR Code Campaigns

by BrothaTech

It looks as if the past couple of weeks have been good for ShopSavvy, the mobile app that lets you scan product barcodes and see if a cheaper deal can be found locally or online. Just last week I did a story about ShopSavvy and Dropbox teaming up to save and sync your barcode scans to the cloud. Now ShopSavvy has announced a collaboration with ShareSquare to make QR Code campaigns simple for your average small business owner looking to market to the always connected, mobile consumer.

Backstory: Last year, ShopSavvy announced its ability to scan QR Codes in addition to just product UPC barcodes with its “Scan with ShopSavvy” program. The program was directed towards small business owners, retailers, and advertisers looking to take advantage of QR Code technology in marketing and advertising campaigns. Any business/organization that signed up for the program, received special QR codes that when scanned, would direct users to the businesses special mobile landing page for more information about the product…and of course, encourage users to download the ShopSavvy reader (if they were using another scanner),

Fast-forward to today: ShopSavvy has tapped ShareSquare, a pretty big deal when it comes to QR Coded mobile marketing campaigns, to give its mobile landing pages more “oomph”. What does all of this mean to you? As a small business owner, retailer, or marketer, if you decide to sign use the “Scan with ShopSavvy” Program, your QR codes will have even greater functionality, as ShareSquare offers an intuitive self-serve CMS that empowers the marketer to craft an effective QR code campaign in minutes.

“Many marketers have experimented with QR codes only to make mistakes that have undermined or crippled their campaigns,” said Alexander Muse, co-founder and CEO of ShopSavvy. “ShareSquare removes the guesswork and enables agencies and brands to deploy a mobile-optimized experience tailored to their campaign objectives.”

Check out a demo of ShareSquare’s mobile capabilities by scanning the QR code in the pic above, or watching the video:

Let’s face it, seems as if everybody is browsing the web via a mobile device. If you want to drive some of that traffic to your business, website…whatever, you need to adopt some sort of mobile marketing campaign or at the very least, make your website “mobile friendly”. QR Codes make it stupid-easy for mobile consumers to find out more information about your business. With apps/services like ShopSavvy, your entire marketing budget doesn’t have to be wrapped up in hiring a brand-name agency just to reach out to those potential clients/customers/consumers who just so happen to have a smartphone handy.

[via: PRWeb]

Get into an exclusive Verizon Demo Event in NYC with Smallbiztechnology.com

by Shy Mukerjee

Join our friends at Smallbiztechnology.com and the Verizon Wireless New York Metro team at Lily’s Bar at the Roger Smith Hotel at 501 Lexington Avenue on Thursday, June 2, 2011 for an evening of demos, networking and prizes. Verizon Wireless will be showcasing its latest solutions for businesses and the latest lineup of devices, including the DROID Charge, Incredible 2 and X2, HTC ThunderBolt, Motorola Xoom, and 4G LTE USB Aircards, among others.

We’ll be raffling off select devices at the event. Space is limited to just 75 single tickets, which are only available here

The New Dropbox for Android is Ready for Business Use

by Nick Muntean

Regular readers of this site are probably familiar with Dropbox, as it’s one of Terrence Gaines’ favorite mobile apps, and with good reason.  The popular cloud-based service provides users with 2gb of free file-hosting storage space (though you’ll have to bribe the company with some real legal tender if you need additional gigs), which can then be accessed and/or modified from nearly any device (so long as that device is powered by Windows, Mac OSX, iOS, Linux, Android, or Blackberry… which it probably is).

For enterprise and small-business users employing Android phones, however, Dropbox has provided more angst than joy over the past couple years, as the Dropbox Android app has suffered from buggy performance and limited functionality.  The company recently released a thoroughly revamped Android app, which promises to finally bring full parity to Dropbox’s mobile offerings; but does it?

One of Dropbox’s most efficiency-catalyzing features has been its ability to automatically synchronize files; if a sales agent in the field secured a new order, a Dropbox-enabled spreadsheet in the central office would immediately reflect the change in inventory.  That’s how Dropbox worked on an iPhone, at least, but until this most recent version of Dropbox, Android users were forced to manually upload files.  I’m happy to report that Dropbox’s Android app finally incorporates full automatic synchronization, which works like a charm over both wi-fi and 3G connections.   As for the erratic performance of earlier iterations of Dropbox for Android, my extensive testing found none of the hang-ups or crashes that plagued earlier builds.  This is a robust, solidly performing app that’s ready for the challenging rigors of business use.

Despite the significant improvements Dropbox has implemented, prospective users should be aware that the mobile app does not have the full functionality of a desktop Dropbox client.  For instance, within the Android app, it’s impossible to move files from one folder to another, and external apps are needed to properly view documents, PDFs, or movie files (QuickOffice is one great doc app, and offers built-in Dropbox compatibility).

For those burned by bad experiences with previous versions of Dropbox’s Android app, the stability and improved functionality of Dropbox’s latest iteration make it worthy of a second look.  While the Android app’s features can’t match those of a full desktop client,  the limitations are unlikely to be noticed by most people working in the field.  Dropbox has finally released an Android app that lives up to the high standards set by the company’s other OS offerings, which makes it easy to recommend this app to any business looking to improve their information-sharing capabilities across disparate devices or users. What are you waiting for? Sign up for Dropbox today, and then get the Dropbox app for Android.

Square Moves Towards Mobile Wallet Reality with Card Case

by BrothaTech

Square was one of the first companies to make mobile credit card payment processing simple and easy for small business owners via its credit card readers and complimentary mobile app. If you’re not familiar with Square, it’s a free device that turns your tablet computer or smartphone into a point-of-sale (POS) device. Just plug in the small, square reader into the headphone jack of your iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet and you’re taking credit card transactions at the low, flat fee of 2.75% per transaction.

Today, the Square team is making it easier for small businesses to accept payments via a mobile wallet that customers use to start a tab, receive their goods and pay without ever touching a credit card or wallet.

Card Case is a new venture by Square that essentially puts a mobile wallet on a consumer’s iPhone or Android smartphone that they can use at any Square-enabled business. Users can store credit card information for each business they frequent. Upon entering the business, users can enter their name, select their virtual card from the Card Case app, order their stuff, and Card Case takes care of the rest.

In addition to the mobile wallet app, Card Case also doubles as a directory that will help users find “Squared up” businesses and help small biz owners reach a larger, more technology-aware customer base. Once businesses and customers find each other, Card Case can also provide customers with a product list, food/product menu, or deals/promotions the business might be offering.

Finally, with Square functionality built into Card Case, receipts are automatically sent to the customer per the email address they added to Card Case. This means businesses that use Card Case can stop fumbling around with those receipt rolls in that POS device that always seem to get jammed at the height of “rush hour” business traffic.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? The fact of the matter is that the future of financial transactions my look something like the Card Case service that Square has devised. It’s only a matter of time before Card Case, NFC technology, and QR Codes make your smartphone the most important tool in your everyday life.

To find participating locations and more information on how to start using Card Case as a consumer or a business, get Squared Up and visit the Card Case website.

Grab Brand Traction with Sponsored or Free Apps

by Justin Alcon

As a guy who makes a video site, I know that a mobile application could help my company reach a wider audience of viewers or bring my site’s functionality to users on-the-go.  But what if I didn’t make a web product?  What if, say, I sold sprockets?  What could a mobile app do for me then?

In short: a lot.  Because of the engaging nature of mobile applications, especially those on touch devices, mobile platforms offer great branding opportunities.  For instance, I like racing games, and I like money, so my favorite type of racing game is the free kind.  I was bored in an airport, waiting for a flight that was again delayed and I decided to pass the time with some mindless racing fun.  As I typed in ‘racing’, I hadn’t gotten to the ‘c’ before I had a top hit of ‘Real Racing GTI’ in the app store.  I downloaded the app and started driving.  As I drove, I noticed two things: 1) this game was a lot of fun, and 2) all the cars were Volkswagens.  This version of the app was apparently the free “demo” version of Real Racing 1, which had been sponsored by Volkswagen to introduce the 2010 GTI  (one of their models).  I’m not sure if it had any influence or not, but my family always considers Volkswagen when shopping for cars

Another example: Again at the airport, I’m on the tarmac at LAX. As I was sitting beside my CTO (who doesn’t enjoy small talk),  I needed something to occupy my mind and I needed it before takeoff.  I had read a lot about ‘Angry Birds’, the super-popular bird-flinging app.  I wanted to know what the hype was about, but again, I also like to keep ducats in my pocket. So, I searched for the free version where  I found something really fun.  Apparently, there was a free version of the app branded for the movie ‘Rio’.  There were not as many levels available as there are in the paid version of the app, but there was enough fowl-flinging fun to get me into JFK without annoying my boss.  Here is the real value; by the end of the flight, I was interested in the movie as well as the free version of the app.  I found out that the cast of the movie included some actors that I like, and so I decided to see it.  Because Rio isn’t the type of movie that I tend to go see, and most of the advertising was targeted at children and parents, this app did a great job of reaching a separate market segment.

The flip side of this is that if mobile apps are your bread and butter, you should consider some branding for your app in the form of a smart sponsorship. Or, at least give the app away for free for a few days.  This gets your install base up quickly and gives your brand more credibility.  And the best part is, as the end user I got my apps for free – it’s win-win!

Foursquare Humanizes your Social Media Presence

by Justin Alcon

Ok, I admit it: I’m one of “those people” who use foursquare.  In case you are not clued-in to the whole ‘checking in’ thing, foursquare is a location-based social network that leverages the power and popularity of GPS enabled portable devices.  Or to put it another way, it’s an app on your phone that you can use to tell people where you are.  Pictured right, you can see some of my favorite types of places to check in (which reminds me, I really should check in at the gym more).  With this said, it is likely that you’re now asking yourself, “why?” or “who cares where you go?”.  This reasonable question was posed to me while drinking at Tom & Jerry’s the other night, when I and a few of my co-workers checked into the venue as we came through the door.

I’ll tell you what I told them (as best as I can remember it).  The first reason is ‘specials and tips’.  I’ve always been a fan of the house special, and I trust professionals to know what sets their establishment apart from the rest.  I like to let them showcase it.  Checking in on foursquare not only tips you off to specials offered by this location, but also other promotions nearby.  Often there are premium specials offered for those who check in or for the ‘mayor’ of the venue (the person who has checked in most frequently this month).  In addition, I get tips from my friends even when they’re not there with me.  For example, I was waiting at Big Bar on 7th street to meet a friend, and as I checked in I saw a tip from my friend Eric that I should avoid the tap beer there and stick to bottles.  Thanks, Eric!

The second reason I use foursquare is because it integrates really well with my other social sites.  Whenever I check in, foursquare sends out a tweet—and then twitter updates my facebook.  This way, friends from all my networks can get an idea of what I’m up to.  This is great for businesses, especially because it highlights that these are real people and not just a faceless company.  The idea that people working at your company are out and doing things is more humanizing and engaging than some other, older forms of marketing.

The third reason that I like foursquare is it’s a great way to meet up with friends.  I’ll give you an example: at Druids in Hell’s Kitchen, I met a friend who pitched me a new web series.  I checked in, and as I walked through the door my friend Charles texted me and asked what I was doing at Druids.  I responded, and it turned out that he was just around the corner. We went, met up with his group, and had a great time.

If I could ask for anything more from foursquare, it would be more gameplay features.  I like it, but I wish that there were more activities at which I could compete with my friends.  For example, I think that it might be fun to have sponsored foursquare-based scavenger hunts, or the ability to build custom scavenger hunts and/or capture the flag-type games and invite your friends.  Think about it: a competitive bar crawl where the first one to drink in all 12 locations is the winner!

So what do you think – is foursquare a good idea? Is it worth it to stalk yourself in reverse?  We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

ShopSavvy and Dropbox Combine for Shopping Productivity

by BrothaTech

Small business owners stay busy—I know because I am one. I mean, juggling a personal life, a family, a 9-5 job, and managing your own business is overwhelming. So finding the time to bargain, coupon clip, comparison shop, and price match may not be in the “I really need to set aside some time to do this” bucket of things to do.

Small business owners can also benefit from using their smartphone in conjunction with mobile apps to help them save money on everyday business needs. The ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner app for iPhone and Android devices is one of those apps that can help you save time and money by finding the best deals locally and online with just a quick scan of a product’s barcode.

ShopSavvy can read UPC, EAN, and QR codes, so it can function as your all-in-one app for all your scanning needs. The cool part of the app is that it will search its database to find the lowest price locally and online from just about every major retailer. If you find a better deal locally, the app will give you directions and other details to the store where the item is available and an indication of whether or not the item is in stock. Find the item priced better online, ShopSavvy will send you to the merchant’s eCommerce site to buy directly, or save your item(s) to buy later.

Speaking of saving stuff, If you’ve ever read just about ANY of my previous articles, you should know that I am a huge Dropbox fan. Well guess what, ShopSavvy integrates with your Dropbox account so you can save your scan history and lists you’ve made in the app to your Dropbox cloud. This is handy because it syncs your data across all of the devices connected to your Dropbox account for anytime anywhere access, no matter what device you are using.

If you are able to free up some time to hit up your neighborhood office supply store for little, but important things for your business like printer ink, download the ShopSavvy app and start scanning those items to see if you can save a buck or two…And don’t forget to write off that ink as a business expense! While you’re at it, see if you can write off the $1.99 for the cost to download the ShopSavvy app that helps you save money for your business.

I may be stretching it a bit on that one!

The World is Going Mobile: Amazon Kindle E-Books Outselling Print Books

by Shy Mukerjee

At first, I didn’t see the Small Biz Go Mobile angle in the news from Amazon today that Kindle e-books are outselling print books. Sure, the Kindle is a mobile device, but compared to an iPad or an Android-based smartphone it’s a relatively dumb device. On a smartphone you tweet out advice to your followers, reply to urgent email, and locate a decent restaurant at the last minute for a business meeting. On a Kindle you can… read e-books. And take notes. And buy e-books. And… you get the picture.

The fact is, the world isn’t simply going digital, it already has. Amazon, founded back in 1995, made it’s name and it’s business by selling books better than not just the “Mom & Pop” stores, but the Barnes and Nobles of the world. That the e-book is now a better selling product for them than the physical book says a lot—the majority of Amazon customers have now gone digital.

So too must your business. Whether you’re accepting credit card payments with an iPhone, taking your meeting notes with a web app, or finding ways to become more productive while on the go, you need to take advantage of the benefits of digital technologies in order to stay competitive in today’s market.

Record and Share Meeting Minutes Online with Minutes.io

by BrothaTech

Me, Myself, and I all in a meeting togetherWho REALLY likes taking meeting minutes? No one (present company included) but it is one of those necessary evils that needs to get done to give meeting attendees a reference as to what were the key meeting points. Now, there are a bajillion ways you could take meeting minutes. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to get done. With the Minutes.io web app, you can make recording minutes painless and sharing minutes instant.

There is no need to set up an account, verify an email address, or subscribe to anything to take advantage of this free little web app. Simply visit Minutes.io, enter the meeting information (meeting name, date, place, attendees, and minute taker) and you’re ready to start. Recording minutes is list-based, and the web interface gives you a couple of options to categorize your minutes:

  • To Do
  • Okay
  • Info
  • Idea

You can then describe the minute, designate a owner or responsible party of the minute recorded, and add a due date. Once you’re done adding minutes, you have the option of printing or sharing the minutes via email. If you choose to email, Minutes.io will populate an email message complete with your name, email address, addresses of other attendees an a nice little message in the body of the email.

The cool thing about Minutes.io is the fact that since it’s a clean and straightforward web app, any device with a web browser can create meetings minutes. So if you are out and about and remembered that you are the designated minutes taker for the meeting you totally forgot about, you can get the job done via your smartphone or tablet device.

Minutes.io is free and ready for you to try out now. So check it out and see how easy it is to record meeting minutes. It just may make recording meeting minutes fun [/sarcasm]