Whether or not we have a positive experience in our dealings with a business, we all talk about it afterward. If the business “wowed” us, we tell people, and if they wronged us, we tell even more (until we feel better anyway). Google recognizes this and has changed their algorithm to reflect it accordingly.

 

Why does that matter? Well, Google has always maintained that their primary mantra is about relevance. When you type in a keyword, they strive to bring you the most relevant search results possible. With the Google map listings, a factor of relevance is how many online reviews the business has. Therein lies the need for the business to set up a system to collect reviews.

 

But, here's where the liabilities come in. There are plenty of systems out there that will post reviews for a business by proxy (i.e. you collect the reviews, and we'll post them). The problem with that is that it's against FTC rules. Sure, the FTC isn't running around enforcing compliance right now...RIGHT NOW! But, that could change any day, and the penalty for EACH review posted can run as much as $100,000. That could easily tank a business overnight. It's a risk no one can afford.

 

Here's why online reviews matter:

-More than 70% of browsers check out online reviews before making purchasing decisions

-92% of buyers have more confidence in information found online than they do in anything a salesclerk or other source

-7 out of 10 people who read online reviews share them with friends and colleagues.

 

It's official. Online reviews matter to businesses today. If you’re looking for a system that’s FTC compliant to use to collect reviews, check out www.firstwatchmanager.com. This system funnels negative reviews to the business owner for service recovery and sends the positive reviews online pushing down any negative reviews that may already be there. As the number of reviews increases, the Google map listing can begin to move toward the top which improves the visibility of the business since people want to do business with a company that has positive reviews. The system generates leads as it mitigates negative online reviews.

First Watch Manager is an affordable way to increase leads, improve the visibility of your business in search results and protect your business from negative online reviews. Take the demo today at www.demo.firstwatchmanager.com.

So writing a blog review about a movie is out of the ordinary for Make It Loud, but our owner, John Lehmberg (me!) has always loved the thing, and lots are people are asking me what I think--  so here it is, my review.  

I know that many are going to want to see the movie without spoiling the ending, or talking about specifics, so I will keep my spoilers to the end, and will warn you when they're about to come.  

Let me start by saying this... I LOVE the genre of Star Trek and love most sci fi movies, and even the Star Trek movies that aren't so great I have come to appreciate.  I've loved most of the shows, with the exception of DS9 and Enterprise.

This movie had to be good, and it was good, but it wasn't great.  The first half of the movie, I rather enjoyed.  It moves along well, although the dialog, the first time I saw the movie, seemed a little bit "forced" but was engaging, and honoring of the heart of Star Trek.  There are LOTS of laughs along the way, and the movie balances the serious/tender/and comical moments very well.  

The second half of the movie I had problems with for several reasons, but primarily, instead of choosing to do something NEW with the cast, they chose to re-do an old plot from an original cast StarTrek television show.  Yes, they have a new timeline, and things fall out differently, but what's the use of a new timeline if you don't have a new plot?  And they don't.  This seriously disappointed me.  So the second half of the movie fails, although adventure filled.  There are no surprises, and the movie ending is rather predictable, but enjoyable. The villian is rather aggressive, in an almost terrorist kind of way and it's good to see Kirk and Star Fleet have to deal with these issues.

Because the movie relies so heavily on a prior trek-knowledgy, I would say that this particular movie-- believe it or not--  would be better enjoyed by someone who is not a Trek fan and who hasn't seen much of the movies or shows.  So if you're a "newb" to Star Trek, or you've only seen the last movie, you might really enjoy this movie MORE than someone who hasn't seen any of the others, so this movie was made for you.  

The movie tackles lots of issues well and with emotional depth--  death, feeling, friendship, emotion, father issues, humility, successes, and failures-- all in the 2 hours you will sit in front of it, and by and large, it's all emotionally appropriate without making the movie too heavy, too funny, too somber, or too tongue in cheek.

One thing is also for sure, this movie won't keep you bored.  It moves along so well, it seems like the action is non-stop.  Chris Pine described the movie as "relentless" and it really is--  the action never stops, right up to the final 5 minutes.  On the whole, the movie honors Trek "cannon" well, although it's a reach to watch some stuff rehashed before, and not as well.  

Other than that, I take issue with one other thing, as I did with Ironman 3.  You never see our champion at his best, in the entire movie. In Ironman 3, Tony Stark wasn't in the suit but 15 minutes of the whole movie.  I wanted him to be Ironman, and hardly got a chance to see him be Ironman in the last installment, and honestly, the chick wins the day in that movie.  Likewise here, you never see Kirk at his best.  What takes place around him is a plot that makes him win with reasonable dumb luck, and Uhuru gets a shining moment with the villain as well that uses her character well.  In fact, I don't think the Enterprise fires a single weapon the entire movie, despite the fact that she gets her butt handed to her (as you all have seen in the trailers). 

The other thing I'd say, however, is that the movie is eye candy.  The cinematography is awesome.  The effects are top notch, and I've never seen a movie that uses 3D so well.  In most movies I've seen, the 3D seems like an afterthought--  it seems awkward and forced.  One image is 3D with the rest still in 2D and it just doesn't look right.  In Star Trek ID you see 3D integration at it's best.  It was so good that I'd still like to see it in Imax before it departs. 

The casting in the movie is also amazing--  so good that you don't miss the original cast members from the 60's despite their being iconic and typecast to their roles.  Simon Pegg covered Scotty better in this movie, and I thought channeled Jimmy Doohan's version of the grumpy yet funny engineer from the original series, and Karl Urban WAS DeForest Kelley's portayal of McCoy in this iteration of Star Trek.  The rest, including Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also cover their roles extremely well.  Sulu has a great moment in the movie, but Chekov's character is relatively lost and he has almost no screen time.

So overall, I give it a 7 out of 10.  Enjoyable, definitely worth seeing, but the plot could be better, and could have used a completely original story.  Definitely good enough to see another installment of the franchise.  

 

SPOILERS FOLLOW:  If you don't want details, don't read further.

 

 

 

 

Now about the plot....  right from the beginning the movie channels Star Trek 3-4 where Kirk violates orders (the Prime Directive) to save Spock's life.  And as with ST4, Kirk is demoted, although briefly, to Commander and Captain Pike's first officer.   The villian in this movie is good, but it's Khan.  I'd read almost anything I could about this movie before I saw it, so that wasn't necessarily a surprise to me, but because the story with Khan was so different, it almost seemed out of character for a Khan/Kirk story.  Even having been prepared for it being Khan didn't help.  It felt awkward.  I so wish they hadn't chosen Khan as the new villian. I thought to myself, "really? they're already out of ideas so much that they're redoing a plot they've already done?"  Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan was easily the best of the original ST movies, and redoing some of the scenes from that iconic and great movie, was also a serious mistake.  If you love Trek, you think to yourself, "I've seen this before" when you see it, and it doesn't feel so familiar as it does "poorly executed." There are a few scenes from the movie that are literally ripped WORD FOR WORD from ST2: TWOK.  In particular was the death scene from ST2: TWOK where Spock dies is renacted with a little twist, but the twist doesn't work, and the scene doesn't work emotionally like it did in the original.  And to hear young Spock utter Shatner's iconic phrase  "KHAAAAANNNN"....   from the original movie was simply painful. I think I might have even been able to handle the Kirk dying behind the glass scene if it hadn't been for that phrase.  I was literally rolling my eyes when that happened.

The movie plot itself is not so much a re-enactment of ST2, but a re-do of the "Space Seed" plot which was the original series ST TV show where we first encountered Khan, and ST2 was the sequel to that show.  However, the scenes from ST2 are pulled in, and the movie makes a reasonably feeble attempt to honor that which they just should have left alone.  One nice thing is a cameo by Leonard Nimoy playing old Spock on New Vulcan, giving advice to his younger self.  The scene plays well, and it was a great scene for those of us who are old school ST fans.  It also did not feel forced to have him play a small advisory role in the story.  

So that's my beef.  The story was predictable.  The effects were good, and the movie is good, it's just not great.  I wanted it to be great.  I did like it better the second time I saw it.  Seeing the young cast do the old scenes, and poorly so, was too much of an emotional shock the first time through.  The second time through I found it a more enjoyable experience, which is why I think that being a Star Trek fan is actually a liability when seeing this movie.  I hope you enjoy it.  I did, but I think I wanted something competely fresh, and this really wasn't. 

In the end, Kirk and crew head off on their 5 year mission.   I'm looking forward to that, although I hope it's not another 4 years until the next installment, or they will be pirating from Star Trek 6 next time, which shows the retirement of Kirk because Chris Pine will be old when it comes out.

It's almost ironic--  I think they relied so heavily on Star Trek 2 in this movie to honor the fans, but in reality, because the newer iterations of the same scenes were just hard to embrace, being a Star Trek fan was really more a liability.  Crazy.

 

One last thought--  the tiny Tribble finally gets his day in this movie, and actually winds up being a hero.  I won't spoil it for you, but be on the lookout for the heroic Tribble!  #heroictribble

 

My favorite line from the movie, Kirk:  "Never trust a Vulcan."

 

TL:DR-  John was a little disappointed with this Star Trek movie.  He LOVED LOVED LOVED the last one, so the bar was high.  He thought the new cast was awesome, and they're just as effective in this movie, but the script is not as good.  Special effects are amazing, and it is the best movie I've ever seen with 3D integration.  The plot, particularly in the last half of the movie steals too heavily from prior movies, and was not covered as well, so my opinion is that if you have seen prior ST movies, you might be disappointed.  If you haven't, the action is good, it's adventurous, and moves along pretty rapidly.  You won't be bored.  John gives it a 7 out of 10. 

Often times you will see people post a "chain post" in Facebook asking you to disable this feature or that feature in order to protect somene's privacy.  People ask us about privacy on Facebook all the time, so let me be clear.  

As far as privacy in social media goes...

YOU HAVE NONE.

Those agreements you sign digitally when you register for Facebook or other social media basically enable them to do whatever they want with what you upload or post,   In fact, in many instances, it no longer even belongs to you.  Privacy on social media is a complete illusion.  

In fact, with respect to Facebook particularly, I have to remind people, "You are not Facebook's client.  Facebook's advertisers are their clients, and they use your information to get you to purchase or contact their clients.  Facebook is in business for one reason--  to make money.  Without that, Facebook will not exist.  It would be nice to think that they have some elevated sense of providing electronic community to make it a better world, but the reality is, like most any other website, it is a business, and without money that business will not exist.  Realize and know that Facebook is using you to make money with their clients.  

So if you are going to use social media, know this.  You have no privacy.  If this upsets you, you need to get used to it, because privacy is gone in every area of life.  You can be tracked through your money card, through the cameras on the highways, through your cell phone, through the video cameras in Wal Mart, and even GPS tracking devices that insurance companies want you to install on your car.  To be completely private is nearly impossible, but it is still necessary to go in with your eyes open with respect to technology and social media.  Privacy no longer exists.  

If you want a little debrief on Facebook particularly, this article showed up on Yahoo today.

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/using-facebook-gives-no-privacy-not-really-215002021.html

Be vigilant and know what you are getting into.
Blessings.

John

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but bad online reviews can kill my profit margins". Ok, that's not how the saying went when we were kids, but it sure fits now. Google has recently changed their algorithm to include online reviews. In fact, the average listing in the number one spot of Google search results has 33 reviews. Based on that, business owners today can hardly afford to ignore this aspect of their digital marketing.

Not only that, but since many business owners don't monitor the review sites, bad reviews can sneak in and bleed away business. Around 70% of people ages 20-40 check online reviews before doing business with a company and bounce away if the reviews are bad. No one knows how much money is being wasted on search engine optimization for businesses that have negative reviews out there. That's like hanging a flashing neon arrow over what's wrong with the business.

So, if a business has some bad reviews, what can they do? The search engines won't do anything. The review sites won't help. That's why there is First Watch Manager.

First Watch Manager is a system that helps business owners manage reviews from their customers in a simple way. Customers are asked to select whether they had a positive or negative experience with the company. If they pick negative, the user is taken to a page where they can identfy who they dealt with in the company and fill out a form explaining what went wrong. They submit that form which goes straight to the business owner for a chance at service recovery. Positive selections take the user to a list of review portals that they're already signed into on their smart phone. They simply go to the review portal and type in their positive experience which pushes down any negative reviews already posted. It's that simple.

Besides providing an HR function (where staff members that consistently get negative feedback are quickly identified), First Watch Manager allows the business owner to systematically add positive reviews online which increases credibility with customers as well as search engines, and it improves online visibility. This system is the first aspect in establishing a solid business reputation and the foundation of all marketing efforts from there.

For more information about this online reputation management system, go to www.firstwatchmanager.com.

When it comes to marketing your business online, many professionals still have a "Field of Dreams" mentality along the lines of "If I build (a website), customers will come". With so many things competing for our attention these days, that's risking business obscurity. Instead, it's much more effective if the business owners think of how they can use their online presence to promote what they do, and much of what they do revolves around their business website as the central hub of their social media efforts. Here are some ideas of things to avoid as well as some things to accomplish with a great business website:

Things to Do:

1. Get a great logo. Brand recognition starts with your logo. Arches anyone? McDonald's is around the corner. Swoosh? We're going for a jog. You get the point. While your logo might not get as much attention as that, it's important to help make that first impression.

2. Determine why you want a website. All too often, when I ask that question, the response I get is, "Because everyone else has one". I can still here my Mother, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge..." Ugh. The two primary reasons a business needs a great website is to give credibility to the business or to drive traffic/customers to that business.

3. Identify your target market. Ideally, you have a business plan. Part of that business plan involves the marketing of your business which identifies who you are marketing to. The more you know about this demographic, the more you can identify how to reach your target market with all aspects of your digital marketing.

4. Have a call to action. Research shows that businesses that put the business phone number in a prominent position “above the fold” of their website see their calls increase by more than 40%. It’s smart to have a small contact form above the fold as well for the customers that find you after hours. A strong call to action guides the browser into connecting with the business. Far too often, this element is missing which is one way businesses leave money on the table.

5. Develop a plan for social media. Facebook makes you age faster. Not really, but time flies when you’re reading a good post. It’s essential that every business identifies their goals of using social media. Some experts say engagement should be the primary goal. That may be fine for some professionals, but my dentist has a Facebook page. If I had a root canal today, the last thing I’d want to do is check his Facebook page afterward. I’d be afraid to see how he’s spending my co-pay. There are a lot of excellent ways a business can use social media. Just make sure how you decide to use it fits your marketing goals.

Don’ts

1. Do it all yourself. A lot of people create their own business website using free tools in order to save money. While that’s completely understandable, a large number of these free tools end up costing the business owner time and do not provide the visibility the business is looking for. When it comes to marketing with free tools, it’s common to get what you pay for.

2. Leave your website alone. A lot of business owners load their website with content and never update it. It’s a “build it and forget it” mentality. Google tracks how often the site is updated. Sites that don’t  get new content consistently are seen as abandoned by the search engines and ranked accordingly in the results. Having a blog is a great way to add new content on a regular basis.

3. Forget to establish a keyword strategy. When it comes to providing search engine results, the mantra is relevancy. It’s important to think about what your target market might type into the search box to find your business. Once you have some data on how often those terms are searched for, it’s important to place those keywords on your website appropriately. Putting too many keywords won’t help, and of course, not enough won’t give the search engines enough information to know where to rank your site.

4. Use social media as your private selling platform. Don’t be the business owner that tweets 20 sales pitches a day. No one wants to hear it. A good ratio to follow is 4 out of 5 tweets need to be around providing useful information for others while 1 out of 5 is about you.

5. Have videos that start automatically. Here’s the scenario:  you just got to work and park in your cubicle farm around all your coworkers, but you’re not really feeling motivated. You decide to do a little online shopping for that special someone. You land on an attractive site that blasts, “NOW OFFERING 15% OFF ON ALL LINGERIE ITEMS!” Guess who’s the topic of conversation at the water cooler that day? Now, consider how many users complete the sale with an experience like that. This scenario may be extreme, but the more friction (defined by any extra clicks, pages, noises or choices) you place between the user and the sale, the lower your conversion rate will be.

This list is not comprehensive by far. What are some other do’s and don’ts that you can think of regarding digital marketing? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Gwinnett County has a fantastic local newspaper in the Gwinnett Daily Post.  Keith Farner, sought out Make It Loud's owner, John Lehmberg, about 9 months ago to do a story on him in the GDP to give an overview of his life, and how he got involved in the ministry and also owning a web design company.  That article can be viewed here.  

This past week, Keith wrote another article, this time featuring Make It Loud Web Design, and their transition to their new storefront location up by the Mall of Georgia on Highway 20.  Make It Loud moved into it's new storefront in January and opened it's doors officially on February 5th, launching with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony hosted by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.  Over a hundred business owners and professionals attended the event from all over the Atlanta Metro Area.  The GDP article can be seen here.  

Make It Loud specializes in providing websites for business all over Atlanta, and has a consultative approach.  They will either come out to you, to visit you at your location, or you can come and visit them in their shop in Buford Ga at 2828 Buford Drive, Suite 300.  Buford GA, for a free consultation.  678.325.4007.  

Nowadays, you can find a web marketing company around every corner. Most of them are fly-by-night operations that are infamous for over-promising yet under-delivering. Alot of these companies are a one-man-band operating out of a home office that knows how to "make a website" but rarely exhibiting expertise in marketing. However, a web company in Buford hopes to change the game by taking the risk of opening up a store front after 9 years of outstanding business.
Make It Loud, a company that provides website design and search engine optimization (SEO) solutions for businesses large and small, announces the grand opening of its first storefront on February 5th, 2013.  The company, which has been in business since 2003, is leading the charge in a revolutionary business model for web design and internet marketing services, combining the expertise of an internet company born on the web with the convenience and face-to-face interaction of a retail location.


“Most companies would not risk the overhead [that comes with a brick-and-mortar storefront],” says Web Marketing Specialist, Steven Sukovich. "We hope to see this concept take flight and become the standard for the future of web marketing. People can walk in a store with an idea and walk out with something tangible."  Make It Loud sees big potential in the unique business model, because while in today’s world so much of the marketing of a business revolves around a potent online presence, finding the right company to meet your needs and budget can be tricky.  With so many fly by night website development companies on the web, it can be difficult to get your site off the ground, let alone build the trust and relationship necessary to continue to grow your online presence even after your site is launched.

The storefront, located off of Buford Drive near the Mall of Georgia, boasts a conference room, showroom, and training room.  While the conference room and showroom are geared toward a customer ready to discuss and purchase MiL’s services, the training space offers classes to those interested in learning website design and internet marketing skills from the experts.  The company currently offers seven classes, including several on SEO, which has become the cornerstone for keeping your business top-of-mind on sites like Google and Bing.

Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to start-up a web company or a well-established organization looking to grow your bottom line with the power of Web Marketing, Make It Loud is ready to help you find the right approach to grow your business on the web.
- Marissa Munroe

John Lehmberg was a guest on Gwinnett's Business RadioX today, and talked about Make It Loud, trends in web design, and honestly--  laughed a lot with attorney David Lawler, and the other guests on the show.  It's a great listen, and informative about each of our respective industries.  Here's the link to give a listen!

http://gwinnettbusinessradio.businessradiox.com/2012/11/27/big-dog-productions/