Little Rock, Arkansas web design firm, 1011 Web Solutions, announces the launch of a new website for CenArk Mini-Storage.  The new site offers information about different storage unit sizes, facility directions and helpful storage and moving tips.

CenArk Mini-Storage serves Central Arkansas self storage needs in Little Rock and Cabot.  Their locations have individual gate codes for 24-hour access, 24-hour surveillance, climate control and RV, boat and vehicle storage.

Web services provided by 1011 Web for CenArk Mini-Storage include custom web design and development and website hosting. 

Consumers have choices when it comes to where they spend their money, and people love to shop for deals, especially online. Unless you’re an oil company, you’ve probably already engaged in price wars with your competitors in a struggle to get more customers to buy from you, or at minimum compared your prices to competitors in your area. You may have even considered how to differentiate yourself among your pool of competitors that offer the same products, at the same MSRP price, in the same city. But, another factor plays a role when a consumer chooses to make a purchase from a particular business, and that is the reputation of the business.

Your online reputation is much more than a professionally designed website that reveals that you've made sufficient monetary investment in your website. It's also your time investment that you make towards making a customer's checkout seamless, the cost of shipping, how long they waited, and providing avenues for customers to request support and vent their frustrations. 

Reputable businesses are mostly honest, sincere, and humble in the face of adversity. They are usually transparent and open to customers who want to provide feedback, and they almost always resolve discrepancies when problems occur. They have to be responsive becuase it is incredibly easy for someone in this day and age to post unfavorable content online about you and your business and even recommend others not to buy from you.

Managing Your Online Reputation

I recently consulted a Chamber of Commerce member about our SEO services. While at a computer, we typed in keywords about his business. Not only was his website nowhere to be found, several other websites (including sponsored links) were listed that talked about how the nationwide services he sells is a scam. He was unaware of this situation. This SEO demo abruptly turned in to an online reputation management discussion.

Your online reputation may be just as, if not more, important than your word-of-mouth reputation. It’s also something you can combat, control, and at least minimize your negative exposure online. One thing you should do is monitor your brand. There are free services available that can notify you when information about your business is posted online.

• Google Alerts - google.com/alerts
• Yahoo Alerts - alerts.yahoo.com
• RSS feed subscriptions to search results Technorati, Feedster, Yahoo & Google News, BlogPulse
• Social Media via tags: tagbulb.com, tagfetch.com, keotag.com

If a crisis arises, engage it. Research the situation to find out if is there merit behind the claims or negative statements. If not, tell your side of the story and ask for corrections. If the claim has merit, offer to discuss your side of the situation, and always be honest taking blame when blame is due. And, if you have your own blog, respond with haste, and be sure to list positive testimonials on your website.

Not all people are going to be happy no matter how hard you work to dedicate yourself to customer satisfaction. It is inevitable that someone may just have a bad day. However, being vigilant of your company's online reputation will only increase your credibility in an age of stiff competition.

People have attributed much of President-Elect Obama's success to how his campaign embraced technology in new ways. However, technology isn't that new to political marketing. Political campaigns have used email for at least the last 2 campaign cycles. For almost a decade now we have seen emails circulating that either endorse or distort issues and records of politicians.

However, Obama may have taken it to a new level. NPR recently reported that the Obama campaign amassed a list of 10 million emails from supporters, mostly under the age of 30. Obama also amassed a considerable amount of cell phone numbers along with email addresses to send instant text-message communications to his supporters. This was indeed a ground breaking use of technology. 

Ok, I will admit, I was one of those people who received these text messages. The Obama campaign said they would announce their Vice Presidential pick to supporters first via text message before they announced it to the general media. So, out of curiosity I was enticed to give my cell phone number in order to receive a text message notification of the announcement. I must say that I was a bit annoyed when I received this message at 3:09am. Getting woke up in the middle of the night takes the luster off of the fact of knowing first.

However this wasn't the last text message that I received from Obama. I got what seemed to be one text message a week reminding me that voter registration in my state ended in 1 week. I got a message reminding me it was the last day to register. I got text messages reminding me to tune in and watch before each of the four debates, and of course I got a text message reminding me to vote on November 4th and a thank you message.

This constant contact through personalized text messages indeed may have played a role in the decision of voters. In a way, it almost felt like I was personally involved in the campaign, a key voter and a critical part of the team. As an online marketing consultant, it reinforces the need for business owners to embrace this technology to market their business as politicians have through their campaigns

Building Customer Relationships Through Text Messaging

Social networking isn't limited to myspace and nor is text message marketing limited to political campaigns. Business owners can and should be using this medium to form intimate relationships with their customers the way Obama used it to build a brand with a key constituency. This two-way dialogue between business and consumer has the potential to drastically increase customer retention and loyalty.

Just think of the many times you have wanted to get the word out about a sale you were having. Wouldn't you like to blast a text message this coming "Black Friday" that you have hot Christmas gift items on sale that may not be found anywhere else? There are times throughout the year that you may want to remind customers of discounts, new store items in stock, and promotions that you may run. A personal text message can inspire a consumer to go out of their way on their drive home to pick up something they may or may not need. Just reminding consumers period will show that you care, as long as you don't wake them up in the middle of the night!

To get started, you need to begin collecting your customers information, like yesterday. You can capture information at the point of sale or on your website. An incentive will help, like how Obama used the VP announcement to get people to sign up. You may consider giving customers a discount for signing up, or send promotion codes via text messages to those who sign up.

If you have questions about how to use your website to collect customer information or need help setting up and executing a text message campaign, give us a call and we can help you get started.