WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK: Make your business easy to find

Yelp launched in Australia this week, and chief executive Jeremy Stoppelman told SmartCompany the firm hopes to make a dent in the local market by making it easier for offline businesses, along with online companies, to find new customers.

This is a great opportunity for local businesses. Although many might have already filled out their Google Places data, this is a totally new platform that could become extremely popular, allowing you to find totally new customers.

Upgrading your Yelp data – which should already be on the site – is crucial. You can get some great SEO benefits, and if you offer a great service then a community will start building around your offering.

It won’t take much time, and Yelp has dedicated business tools to make sure you get the best out of the platform. Get cracking!

Keep on top of social media outbreaks

One of the big issues businesses have to face with social media is that whenever you open a Facebook page, or a Twitter profile, you’re creating a platform for customers to complain about you – no matter the topic.

Video Ezy found that out the hard way this week after customers started complaining on its Facebook page about the fact it continued advertising with Austereo. Many felt the business should sever its advertising relationship after insulting comments made by radio host Kyle Sandilands about a News.com.au journalist; several other advertisers have dropped their relationship with the show.

While Video Ezy responded well and produced a statement quickly, it nevertheless demonstrates how you need to be aware of what’s being said on your profile so you can respond.

SMEs need to constantly watch their activity online. They also need to remember to wait before responding – too many mistakes can be made by jumping into a debate too soon.

Privacy is still everything

Facebook announced a settlement with the FTC this week, with the regulatory body also releasing a multi-page complaint about the social network and its various practices regarding privacy. In numerous cases, it said Facebook told users one thing regarding privacy, and did the opposite.

And while Facebook has come out a little scarred, the incident serves as a great lesson for SMEs in that privacy is an issue for all companies using customer data.

Just as security experts explained on SmartCompany last week, when you hold onto customer data it is imperative that you use it responsibly. Otherwise, you’re opening yourself and your business up to a lot of trouble.

Keep on top of your data, and be open with your customers – they’ll reward you for it.

Don’t dismiss Cyber Monday

In the past week, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday have seen millions of bargain-hungry customers head online to find great deals. And although these are American shopping events, every year they are becoming more popular for international retailers to take part.

You should definitely start paying attention to these types of events. If you want to take part, do so. After all, the internet is global, and if you’re offering unique products you may find you get some sales from North America, where more people are spending time online anyway as the weather gets colder.

Don’t just dismiss the American shopping events. Instead, feel free to take part.

Can you get tax assistance you don’t even know of?

Late last week, arts minister Simon Crean said the Government should consider extending the current tax breaks available to the film industry, to the video game industry, which has been suffering badly over the past few years.

While there are few video game companies in Australia compared to other industries, the whole debate about tax assistance represents a significant issue for other businesses – assistance they may not even be aware of.

There are plenty of businesses which aren’t applying for grants, when they could be eligible for dozens. Furthermore, you could be available for tax breaks that you don’t even know of.

Talk with your accountant, financial planner or a grants specialist about what type of assistance you can get. There are specific breaks available for online companies as well, so don’t feel you’ll be ruled out just because you’re online.