Life in the Yellow Lane

After many months of development, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new site! The team here at BrightPages.com is thrilled to bring the masses an intelligent local search tool that is both functional and visually appealing. Special thanks to our development team for doing such a great job on the redesign, and to our friends over at Google Groups for providing us with such insightful, valuable feedback. In the coming months, we will be introducing additional functionality that will allow individuals to create feature-rich profiles for their businesses. Stay tuned…

Twitter is a free service that allows individuals and organizations to connect and communicate. It is the world’s leading micro-blogging platform and currently one of the most popular social sites on the internet. The basic premise of Twitter is astonishingly simple; you have 140 characters to answer the question “What are you doing?” It’s very much like the status update function on Facebook, but your updates are being shared with the world at large as opposed to just your friends. To many, this may sound like little more than a glorified instant messaging platform…but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In the past year alone, Twitter has witnessed over 600% growth in their user base with over three million “tweets” being made each day. An astonishing number of businesses have embraced Twitter as a marketing and communications channel, and it may be something worth exploring to help promote your business online. You would be surprised at the communications potential contained in 140 characters of text. Here’s a short list of companies and organizations that are using Twitter to connect and communicate with their customers:

Media Companies

BBC http://twitter.com/BBC
NY Times http://twitter.com/nytimes
Reuters http://twitter.com/reuters
CNN http://twitter.com/cnnbrk
Associated Press http://twitter.com/APNews

Technology Companies

BrightKite http://twitter.com/brightkite
Digg.com http://twitter.com/digg_feeds
Reddit.com http://twitter.com/reddit_agent
WordPress http://twitter.com/wordpress
Pownce http://twitter.com/pownce

Airlines and Travel Companies

BrilliantTrips http://twitter.com/BrilliantTrips
Carnival Cruise Lines http://twitter.com/CarnivalCruise
Delta http://twitter.com/deltaairlines
Jetblue http://twitter.com/JetBlue
Southwest Airlines http://twitter.com/SouthwestAir

Hotels and Resorts

Luxor Hotel and Casinohttp://twitter.com/LuxorLV
MGM MIRAGE http://twitter.com/VegasConcierge
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino http://twitter.com/Mgmgrand
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino http://twitter.com/VegasDV
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino http://twitter.com/Robert_Hoffmann

Retailers

Whole Foods http://twitter.com/wholefoods
Zappos http://twitter.com/zappos
Wine Enthusiast http://twitter.com/WineEnthusiast
Dell Outlet http://twitter.com/DellOutlet
Amazon.com Deals: http://twitter.com/amazondeals

As you can see from the list above, more and more companies and organizations are using Twitter to spread the good word about their products and services. It also provides companies with the ability to interact with their customers in a fresh, new way. To message directly to another user on Twitter, one simply has to include the “@” symbol in front of the user’s name. The following article was published in the New York Times just the other day, and it is well worth a few minutes of your time! It explores the ways in which Comcast has been leveraging Twitter for new customer service initiatives. Without a doubt, Comcast is taking customer service to another level. Maybe you can too

Ciao for now!

A few short weeks ago, our company was the subject of a press release distributed by the Office of the New York State Attorney General. As we have received a number of inquiries regarding the story, we feel obligated to bring clarity to the issues highlighted by the press release and the subsequent news items. The press release in question contains a number of misleading and sensationalist statements about our company, and we have no intention of allowing these claims to remain on the record uncontested.

Back in February, we were notified that an investigation was underway regarding our business solicitations. The vast majority of the complaints received were in relation to the use of the “walking fingers” logo on our direct mail solicitations. Over the last couple of years, we have received approximately 400 complaints. In the same time frame, we have mailed over 25 million solicitations to businesses throughout the country. The number of complaints we have received, in relation to the number of solicitations we have mailed out, is very minor; quite literally a fraction of a percentage. If you take the time to review the complaints lodged with the Better Business Bureau, it will become boldly apparent that the majority of the complaints have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. It should also be noted that these complaints were resolved prior to the initiation of the Attorney General’s investigation.

In many ways, the investigation provided us with valuable insight into the minds of consumers. For example, it would appear that very few people understand the trademark status of the “walking fingers” and the terms of use for the “Yellow Pages” moniker. If interested, you can learn more about it from the Yellow Pages entry at Wikipedia. We would also recommend that you review the legal archive at Georgetown University, which thoroughly details the case of Bellsouth Corporation v. Datanational Corporation. This landmark case states unequivocally that no single business entity in America has a proprietary claim to the use of the “walking fingers logo” and the “Yellow Pages” designation. The crux of the issue is that the general public is simply not aware of this information, which in turn led to the claim that we employ deceptive marketing practices. There are literally hundreds of companies operating in America that employ the “walking fingers” logo, and refer to themselves as the “Yellow Pages”.

On the advice of our legal counsel, we opted to reach a settlement agreement with the Office of the New York State Attorney General as opposed to entering into costly litigation. We decided that it would be better for our customers, and for the future of our business, to avoid a drawn-out legal battle with one of the most powerful legal offices in the country. We have agreed to pay a penalty of $150000 to cover the costs of the investigation. By agreeing to the terms of the negotiated settlement, we are in no way making an admission of guilt. We have never claimed to be something we are not, and we have always maintained a liberal refund policy.

The Office of the New York State Attorney General has stated that we are free to continue doing business in New York. We have agreed to make minor changes to our direct mail solicitations, which were redesigned in close consultation with the Office of the New York State Attorney General. The issue that seemed to concern the AG the most was the strength of our disclosures, and we have addressed this concern to the very best of our ability. Admittedly, we are troubled that the Attorney General chose to use such colorful language when describing our company in their press release, boldly suggesting that we defrauded thousands of small businesses and non-profits across the state of New York. This statement is simply false. We are not in the business of defrauding other businesses, and we only want to work with businesses that want to work with us.

Ultimately, we are pleased to have this matter resolved. We will continue to provide advertising value and online visibility to businesses throughout this great nation, and we feel that the local search product that we have developed is one of the best in the industry. In the coming weeks, we will be introducing a number of new features on our website that will further distinguish us from our industry peers. For the time being, please take a few minutes to watch a video we had commissioned on behalf of one of our customers. This is the future of BrightPages.com.

Many native New Yorkers scream in despair as their old fashioned family owned businesses and downtown artists’ watering-holes are one by one transformed into a street mall of department chain stores and chic coffee shops meant for being seen rather than enjoying the company of friends and connecting with new ones.But nestled along the beautifully brick laid Crosby street in SoHo is a bookstore that brings back the New York charm that made the city a magnet for intellectuals and artists.

Housing Works Bookstore is a two story book store/coffee shop that feels more like the living room of an old friend than a corporate bookstore. Perhaps the charm comes from the fact that everyone who works there wants to be there as it is completely staffed by volunteers. All the books, music and movies are donated. The coffee shop is populated with professors, artists, students and social activists… all kept under a whisper with one or two free tables to join in. Their weekly guest speakers and live musicians provide added dynamic to the store.

But the most unique thing about this business is its mission statement: “Fighting AIDS one book at a time.” All proceeds and profits gained go towards housing and providing legal and medical need to homeless New Yorkers with AIDS. I for one enjoyed my time in Housing Works. It reminded me of why I moved to New York in the first place. Its the New York City bookstore that not only fills your mind but makes you feel a little better when you dodge the street solicitors on the street on your way back to tiny apartment with three other hipster roommates.

Demetrius signing on to another great NYC hotspot with my Bright Pages seal of approval. Check it out!

HOUSING WORKS BOOKSTORE

126 Crosby Street, NYC 10012
212-334-3324

Visit their website

As we were scanning the front page of Digg.com the other day, we came across what might be the most disturbing article about small business that we have ever read. The story goes a little something like this: A restaurant owner from St. Louis, MO discovered a less-than-favorable review of his restaurant on Yelp.com. Instead of interpreting the review as a form of constructive criticism and working to improve his business, the restaurant owner responded with all manner of threats and intimidation directed at the author of the review.

The attempt to deal with the issue in this manner completely backfired on the restaurant owner, and the story of his underhanded attempt at reputation management was spread far and wide over the internet. It’s fair to say that this fellow has a very limited understanding of the power of social communities. While this story may seem like it was taken straight out of an episode of the twilight zone, it is certainly not uncommon for businesses to discover that their products and services have been reviewed unfavorably. The story above is a near-perfect example of what a business owner should NOT do in response to negative online criticism.

If you are concerned about some of the things being said about your company online, here’s a few ways that you can deal with them:

1. Engage the naysayers.

By engaging your customers in an honest, open, transparent manner, you can establish a meaningful business relationship. By listening to and acting upon the concerns of your customers, you can develop a sense of reciprocal goodwill that will go a long way towards limiting any damage to your brand. If you give people a reason to write something remarkable about your company, in most cases they will.

2. Balance the good with the bad.

This is public relations 101. By making the broader internet community aware of the good work your company is doing, you can counter-balance the negativity that has been published. Do something newsworthy. Do something meaningful. Do something for the greater good. Then make your customers aware of it, by mentioning it on your website or in your next newsletter. If your good works are truly newsworthy, don’t be shy about submitting to press release services such as PRWeb.com.

3. Leverage social media.

There are literally hundreds of niche social communities on the internet today. In many cases, those communities are passionate about the same things you are. If you are a restaurant owner, consider joining Yelp.com. If you are the owner of a computer repair shop, consider sharing your knowledge and insights at Yahoo! Answers. If you have products or services that would appeal to the youth demographic, consider setting up a page on Facebook.com or MySpace.com. Here’s a tip: be sure to link to your social media profile pages from your main website. Eventually, the profile pages will rank higher than the negative reviews at search engines like Google.com. Ciao for now