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Why Pinterest Should Be of Interest to Small Businesses

Why Pinterest Should Be of Interest to Small Businesses
By Erin McDermott.

Lynn Carlson may have America’s most famous new bathroom.

Last April, she redid the bath in the Fitzgerald Suite of the 1900 Inn on Montford, the Asheville, N.C., bed and breakfast she’s owned with her husband Ron since 1997. They added dazzling glass tile, a two-person jetted airbath tub filled from the ceiling, fiber-optic lighting from above and on the floor, and a thermostatically-controlled shower that rains water and light.

Guests raved about it. Then BedandBreakfast.com posted a photo of it on its Pinterest.com boards.

Since January, that picture has been “re-pinned” some 60,000 times on the Pinterest’s virtual pinboard that lets users “share all the beautiful things.” The website has seemingly come out of nowhere in recent months to now claim more than 11 million users, 80 percent of which are female. Among the pinners’ comments on the Carlsons’ bathroom: “want want want.”

While the thought of a bathroom “going viral” may have sounded unpleasant a few years ago, these days it means business. Though winter is normally their quiet season, the Carlsons have had about a dozen bookings from guests who said they saw them on Pinterest.

Dismissed by some as a “ladies’ Facebook” for crafters and recipe collectors, Pinterest has caught the attention of the business community as a place to connect with customers. (And check out this fascinating graphic from TechCrunch about Pinterest’s explosive growth, too.) It’s been a godsend for aesthetically oriented companies, such as restaurants, architects, landscapers, real-estate brokers, and fashion and interior designers. The site is highly visual, highly addictive for users, and proving to be an effective way to communicate in a world with ever-shorter attention spans.

“You need to stop asking your customers to get engaged with you—you need to be engaging,” says Lynn Carlson. “Stop emailing them. Everyone’s life is really cluttered, and the frightening thing is that it’s empowering for them to just delete you.”

So how can you best utilize Pinterest? Here is some advice from small-business owners on what’s worked for them:
PQ_Pinterest.jpgMore social media—seriously?

Here’s why it’s smart to get on the Pinterest bandwagon now: Facebook is overrun with status updates and links; Twitter trims that to 140 characters; Pinterest is almost entirely visual. Even if the site is a flash in the pan, what it represents may have staying power. “It’s an evolution,” says Erica Orange, vice president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown Inc., a New York futurist consultancy that looks at long-term global trends. “Whether it’s advertisers, marketers, brands, or small-business owners, more people all around the world are speaking in images. In many ways, we are witnessing a profound shift in communication styles. Instead of getting bogged down in language, images may depict a clearer vision as to what the company stands for.”
Build your brand

Hilary Rushford says Pinterest is a big driver of traffic to her style blog and her personal-styling company, Dean Street Society, in Brooklyn. She says the site gives her a unique ability to give her clients (and potential clients) a 360-degree view of her work and her personality. “Even less-obvious businesses—bakeries, yoga instructors, pet shops—can engage their audience by demonstrating more of themselves, through boards that build out their essence,” Rushford says. “Sharing spots you want to travel to, inspiring quotes or favorite places in your neighborhood can deepen that ‘know, like and trust factor’ that’s so important to standing out in the online world today.”
Share your creativity, but be careful on copyrights

The site’s posting rules are in flux, as Pinterest shifts liability to the user to be sure they’re not in violation. Help visitors to your site by including the “Pin It” widget on the images that you want to circulate and link back to your site. Always include your full URL for your images, which makes it easier for others to properly link to you. (Confused? Many people are. Here’s how one blogger is doing it now.)
Build trust

Pinterest’s social aspect means your customers can get an intimate glance at your design sensibility and where you get your ideas. “People want to know that you’re secretly a Star Wars fan—it helps them connect and relate to you,” Rushford says. But play it cool: Pinning too many shots of your own, say 40 in 15 minutes, can come off as overly commercial and turn off followers.
Think SEO, and timing

Google’s search-engine algorithm shows results based on traffic numbers. Clicks to an interesting image on your site can quickly add up and lift you above your competitors. And be sure to watch the clock: The most-recent pins show up at the top of Pinterest, so aim to post at lunchtime or early evenings—both peak times on the site.
Think local

Patrick Kennedy’s board reflects what drives his work at Superior Woodcraft, in Doylestown, Pa. The custom woodworking company has worked to help other local small businesses, and Kennedy displays not only his personal influences and projects, but other events the company has held to benefit local farmers and green businesses. Vendors and even the county government have repinned images from his board, so users who do a search on their town come across the local businesses organically.
Be a David vs. the Goliaths

For small businesses, Pinterest is a huge resource for viral content sharing, says Clay Goetz, a digital-media strategist in San Francisco. Large brands may appear to have the upper hand, with the funds and staff to explore the platform. “However, social media levels the communications playing field,” Goetz says. “A small business publishing the right kind of content can quickly trump the thousands of dollars in resources and campaigning that a larger business might pour in.”

That’s something the Carlsons quickly learned with their B&B’s popular new bathroom. “There’s something about it that captured people’s imaginations,” Lynn says. “The rules of the people participating online have really changed.”

April 14, 2012 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , , 1 Read more >

Patent Upending: What Small Businesses Need to Know About Recent Patent Law Changes

Patent Upending: What Small Businesses Need to Know About Recent Patent Law Changes
By Sherron Lumley.

Vast changes to U.S. patent law—the most sweeping since 1952—are rolling into effect through 2013, and for small business owners and inventors with patents, it’s time to get in the know. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is working under a new law, called the America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA). It was signed into law on September 16, 2011, with some elements taking effect immediately and others being phased in over an 18-month period.
PQ_PatentUpending.jpgGet that patent filed

John Boyd is a patent attorney in New York and he also holds five patents himself that he sold to Apple in 2010. Historically, the first-to-invent system relied on various methods to prove the date of the invention. “This is no longer the case,” says Boyd, a partner at Rimon Law PC in New York. “Now it’s whoever files first, and this harmonizes us with international law,” he says.

Indeed, getting the U.S. in line with the times was a key motivator behind the patent law reform, seen by many technology firms as long overdue. Supporters of the new law included the likes of 3M, Apple, Dell, eBay, Facebook, General Electric, Google, IBM and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council representing more than 100,000 members.

“There’s been a lot of concern in the small business world about the changes to patent law,” says Boyd. As an inventor and an attorney, he is not only interested in the current law changes, but can see the pros and cons clearly from different perspectives.

The core AIA change to patent law is to do away with the old system that gave preference to first-to-invent dates and adopt the international standard of first-to-file. This means for all patent applications having a filing date on or after March 16, 2013, the new patent law takes effect and the first person or entity to file will be granted the patent regardless of who can prove they invented it first.
What’s to like in the new law for small businesses

Judith Szepesi has been a patent attorney for 15 years and is a partner at Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP in Sunnyvale, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley. She works primarily with start-ups and small businesses and focuses on intellectual property protection in the software, hardware, security, and telecommunications industries. And for fun, “I do write the occasional bicycle seat, manual toy, or other mechanical device patent,” she notes.

Szepesi follows patent law carefully for her clients large and small, and points to one piece of good news for small businesses. The AIA has added a micro-entity status for very small inventors with no more than four patents (not including those assigned to an employer) and with gross income of less than triple the national median household income. Although a 15 percent patent fee increase went into effect with the new law on September 16, 2011, Szepesi says a file fee reduction of 75 percent is on the way for micro-entities, pending further definition by the fee setting authority of the U.S. Patent and Trade Office.

One part of the AIA law that has already gone into effect—which, according to Szepesi, can be an key advantage to small inventors—is that the Patent Office now permits virtual marking of products. “Previously, whenever a new patent was issued or a patent expired you would need to change your packaging to reflect the updated patent coverage,” she explains. “Under virtual marking, the product can be marked with a URL (such as the company’s website) and the company can simply update the website when patent coverage changes.” This can be a big plus for a small manufacturing company, as they would no longer have to spend money reworking or buying all new dies when their patent coverage changes.
Potential concerns

Some in the patent industry, however, worry that the impact of this patent reform might weaken the rights of patentees and, as a result, patents owned by startup companies, research institutions, and solo inventors might be easily encroached upon by large corporations. Alexander Poltorak, CEO of General Patent Corporation and founder of the American Innovators for Patent Reform, suggests small inventors and small business owners have their patent attorneys regularly review their current inventions to determine which will require patent protection, and then file a provisional application as soon as possible under the new first-to-file law. And if a small business does suspect a patent infringement Poltorak says it’s imperative to hire a good patent attorney who is experienced in litigation.
Additional links from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

AIA timeline and effective dates

Independent Inventors Newsletter

Patent Forms (web-file)

Inventor Resources

Scam prevention

For more information regarding specific patent law changes and potential impacts to your business, you should consult an experienced patent attorney.

April 7, 2012 Today's Business, , , , , , , , 7 Read more >