Filed under: Business, Design, Open Source, Search

No more excuses: let’s get your small business Website whipped into shape. People who are moderately online use the Web as their first search source. Phone books are dead trees; if your business isn’t on the web with an easy-to-find phone number, I’m clicking elsewhere. People spend money in browser-based shopping sprees and your Web site has to compete.

Let’s whip your site into shape. We’ve already discussed how you can grade your own site; offered tips for upgrading your site; and suggested ways to increase your search-engine ranking. Let’s take the next step and whip your small business Website into first-class shape.

What do your site visitors want most of all from your site?

LET ME SEARCH!
I want a search box, plain and visible, preferably at the top of every page but definitely at the top of the homepage. If you don’t have a site search, you can get a great free search tool in phpDig but you’ll probably have to pay someone to make it work. It’s worth your money. Put it at the top of your list.

TALK TO ME!
Company contact information belongs on each page, preferably in the footer. The footer area should also tell me a mailing address, a fax number and not merely supply a link to a contact page. Think: single-clicking! One click to get where you most want to go should be a navigation goal.

HELP ME!
You can add online help to your site through volusion’s Live Chat (free edition) or through the Open Source PHP Lively at Sourceforge (the holy grail of Open Source apps to try). Of course, you’ve to make an employee available to respond, even if only a few visitors click the icon. Surely, someone sits at a desk during the day. Think how important they’ll feel!

FEED ME!
I want to know what your company is up to and what new products you’ve that’ll benefit me. Send out an RSS feed of new information or products. The nitty-gritty of RSS is here and if you’re not into coding, try one of several free Open Source apps to generate RSS from your Web site.

Pheeder claims to be easy to implement and has loads of documentation. RSS Genesis works on any type of server and is PHP4/5 compatible and RSS Feed Creator claims simply to generate RSS feed.

While you’re at it, how about offering RSS feeds for companion products that might interest me? There are some free RSS services that enable adding feeds to your site relatively easy and, of course, FeedRoll.

While you’re RSS’ing, you can create a feed of any Web page that interests you. Feedity is a free service that’ll create a feed for any page and alert you to changes or updates to any site’s page. Keep on eye on the competition or sites of businesses that impact what you sell through easy RSS reading.

WHOLE PACKAGE ME!
Robert Scoble, an on the web evangelist, lists his ideal practices for your business cards. Why not incorporate these ideas into your small business Web site?

1. Begin the conversation - make your site engage the visitor.
2. Make it a standard size and shape but be different - that’s why you need a Web development firm with creative builds in their portfolio.
3. Make sure the basics are easy to find.
4. Tell us what you do. Unless your business is globally recognized, we need to see what you’re selling in clear language on the home page.
5. Break some rules but stay on the good side of obnoxious.
6. Highlight your corporate tag line. Don’t have one yet? Get one.
7. Use language options if appropriate.

Use the rest of 2008 to build a plan for your small business Web site to move toward as many best practices as possible. A site re-design isn’t free and is also not a silver bullet that’ll increase sales dramatically in the first week. You still have to market your Web site. Stay tuned.

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Filed under: Deals

In a way, Africa is a new frontier for mobile services. The continent is seeing growth from the commodities boom. Plus, there’s certainly a need to build up the infrastructure.

No doubt, Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) sees the opportunity. In fact, this week the company plunked down $900 million for a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom (the remaining 30% will be held by the government).

Actually, Ghana Telecom is the main player in the market, with 99% of the fixed-line segment. There is also a 90% control of the broadband category.

However, as for its mobile, Ghana Telecom is ranked #3 (behind MTN Group Ltd. and Millicom International Cellular SA). There are roughly 1.4 million customers.

But, with the help of Vodafone — which plans to invest $500 million in Ghana Telecom — there should be a ramp in growth in mobile (the goal is to reach a 25% marketshare). Keep in mind that only about 35% of Ghana’s citizens have mobile phones (the population is 24 million).

Yet, this isn’t a done deal. That’s, Vodafone needs to get the approval of Ghana’s parliament. Obviously, this will be a hot topic for debate - and may result in an even higher price for the transaction.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Filed under: Deals, Products and services, Launches, Consumer experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Marketing and advertising, MasterCard Inc’A’ (MA)

Billboard reported Thursday that MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) has launched a new campaign titled “Roots of Rock” that offers free downloads for cardholders from Universal Music Group. Apparently the free aspect of the campaign is limited and after 100,000 songs have been downloaded, MasterCard will start to charge $0.80 per track. Even after the credit card company begins charging for downloads, pricing for tracks is still lower than Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)’s MP3 Store ($0.89) or Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s iTunes Store ($0.99).

Cardholders who also make a purchase by August 31 will be “entered into a sweepstakes with a grand prize of having a meet and greet with Jon Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton or Kenny Chesney.” MasterCard executive Amy Fuller told Billboard with the new campaign, the company has “created unparalleled music experiences with three of the world’s most popular artists, providing consumers with an intimate perspective on these icons that few fans will ever have.” But those fans will have to win the sweepstakes.

MasterCard’s campaign to offer free downloads is like numerous other programs that are linked with music companies, but it offers to take the digital market to a more massive consumer base. Lowered prices (eventually) for the campaign mean that Universal Music Group will continue to hold on to the lead in music sales, if only because the music company is the only one on board with MasterCard. Consumers that might not have ever downloaded a track might be enticed to try out the campaign and the sweepstakes. This type of growth is what the music industry will need if digital sales are ever going to replace physical sales successfully and totally.

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Filed under: International markets, Deals, General Electric (GE), United Technologies (UTX), Eastern Europe

While some companies might be consolidating, others are reconfiguring and expanding. General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has acquired a small airplane engine company in the Czech Republic. Selling it’s appliance business and adding more to it’s portfolio of aircraft and engine ability should be a good move. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported this day that GE hopes to improve its competitive position against Pratt & Whitney.

A response from a Pratt & Whitney spokesman played down the increased competition and stated that even though the company takes this GE move seriously it has a 45-year history producing small engines and holds a solid position in the market place. This type of comment is to be expected and has some validity, but that does not make it good news for P&W.

P&W is a division of another major giant industrial conglomerate United Technologies (NYSE: UTX). Both GE and UTX stocks were up in early morning trading this day.

UPDATE: GE closed at $26.91 up $0.40 (1.51%). UTX shut at $61.05 up $1.35 ( 2.26%).

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of GE.

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Filed under: Deals, Blockbuster Inc ‘A’ (BBI), Circuit City Stores (CC)

Citing unnamed sources, The New York Post reports that Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) could come back to Circuit City (NYSE: CC) to try to acquire the company.

The sources said that Circuit City pulled out because of weakness in the credit markets, but still feel that a deal could have strong long-term benefits. I don’t think it makes sense for Blockbuster to acquire the company but, if it does, pulling out for now is probably a good idea. Shares of Circuit City tanked when Blockbuster announced that it was no longer pursuing a deal, and, according to the Post, Ideal Purchase (NYSE: BBY) isn’t interested because of antitrust concerns. With few indications that there is anyone else bidding for Circuit City, and the company’s fundamentals in a rapid state of decline, it seems like the longer Blockbuster waits the less it will have to pay. Unless another bidder emerges, there’s no real rush.

Back in April, Blockbuster made a preliminary proposal to acquire Circuit City “with an all cash offer in the range of $6.00 to $8.00 per share, subject to due diligence.” With shares of Circuit City down 9% to $2.32 on Wednesday, Blockbuster could probably get the company for considerably less if it made another offer today.

With Circuit City bleeding cash, continued consumer weakness could make it really cheap on the courthouse steps later this year. Maybe then Blockbuster shareholders would be more supportive of a deal.

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Filed under: Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, News Corp’B’ (NWS)

One of Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) plays for showing that it does not need a deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is to find another large partner for a merger or joint venture. It is becoming more likely that the partner might be either Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) AOL or News Corp (NYSE: NWS), which owns MySpace.

The structure of a deal with AOL might look very much like the one the firms discussed earlier in the year. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The two companies are speaking about a structure they began discussing several months ago — an arrangement whereby Time Warner would fold AOL into Yahoo and take a minority stake in the combined venture.”

A transaction with AOL would give Yahoo! three important advantages. First, it would nearly double the size of its user base, giving it by far the largest audience of any company in the US. Yahoo! would also get AOL’s Advertising.com network, the biggest display ad network in the nation. Finally, Yahoo! would get a substantial set of new customers for its search and search advertising businesses.

Wall Street wants to see Yahoo! sold. Any other alternative, including a deal with AOL, is likely to drive its shares down. But, if it wants any chance of staying independent, a transaction with Time Warner may be its only viable substitute.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Time Warner (TWX), General Motors (GM), Market matters, Economic data, Oil

Stock futures were mixed early Thursday morning, the last and shortened day of trading this week — markets will close at 1 p.m. EDT. Oil, again, has reached new highs as investors awaited the ECB decision on interest rate. Wall Street is also anxious about the upcoming jobs report, especially after Wednesday the ADP employment figures were worse than expected. Today’s session will likely be choppy.

Despite starting the day on a positive note Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower after the ADP employment figures damped mood on the Street. Also, crude oil prices rose sharply and an analyst warned that General Motors (NYSE: GM) might have to take into account bankruptcy at some point; GM stock shut below $10 a share. The Dow industrials tumbled 166 points, or 1.46%, entering bear territory — down over 20%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 53 points, or 2.32%, and the S&P 500, fell 23 points, or 1.82% - the only major index still not in bear territory.

Soon, at 7:45 a.m. EDT, the European Central Bank will announce its decision on interest rates. The ECB is widely expected to increase rates, which in turn could further weaken the dollar, driving oil prices higher.

Then, at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department will release the June payroll figures. Economists expect the unemployment rate to fall to 5.4% from 5.5% last month, but job losses are expected to rise to 60,000 positions, up from 49,000 in Might, according to Briefing.com.

At 10:00 a.m., the June ISM services index will be released, and another decline is expected.

Meanwhile, oil prices neared $146 a barrel Thursday, another record high, on reports of declining U.S. stockpiles and the threat of conflict with Iran, as well as concern the ECB’s expected rate hike will weaken the dollar. After closing at $143.57 Wednesday, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $2.28 to a record $145.85 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) continues looking for deals elsewhere while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) pursues it. The Journal said Yahoo is pursuing deal talks with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX).

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares are down over 20% in premarket trading after the chip giant stated it anticipates lower second-quarter revenue and gross margin due to weak demand and heightened competition.

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Filed under: Deals, Blockbuster Inc ‘A’ (BBI), Circuit City Stores (CC)

One of the silliest possible mergers in recent memory (no small accomplishment) is dead in the water now that Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) has announced that it will no longer pursue its previously announced effort to acquire Circuit City (NYSE: CC).

In a press release issued yesterday afternoon, Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO, stated that “Based on market conditions and the completion of our initial due diligence process, we’ve determined that it isn’t in the ideal interest of Blockbuster’s shareholders to proceed with an acquisition of Circuit City.”

Given the shares of Blockbuster tanked when the company announced its initial offer, the company’s shares could be expected to trade up today.

For Circuit City, the situation is more grim. With its stock in the toilet, Blockbuster’s offer represented one of the few exit strategies. Blockbuster’s assertion that its “initial due diligence” was a factor in its decision to withdraw its offer indicates that the company’s financial situation might be worse than it appears to outside shareholders.

In a press release offered in response, Philip J. Schoonover , chairman, president and chief executive officer of Circuit City, said that “Our exploration of strategic alternatives is intended to serve the interests of our shareholders by considering each possible alternative to enhance shareholder value. The board’s review wasn’t dependent on Blockbuster’s participation.”

But Blockbuster was the only suitor to emerge publicly so far and, now that it’s lost interest, there’s little reason to expect anyone else to emerge.

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Filed under: Deals, Blockbuster Inc ‘A’ (BBI), Best Purchase (BBY), Circuit City Stores (CC)

Ever since Circuit City Stores (NYSE: CC) CEO Philip J. Schoonover sliced 3,400 sales people in March 2007 to save money, I’ve questioned the savvy of its management. That’s because many of those fired sales people took their customers over to Best Purchase (NYSE: BBY). As its stock lost 86% of its value, I was surprised that anyone would make a bid for it.

Yet Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), the struggling video store chain, decided to buy. I don’t know what got into Blockbuster’s head to make it think that combining two struggling companies would make an agile competitor. The Richmond Times reports that it wanted to create a one-stop shop for movies, games, and electronic equipment. But that dream died when Blockbuster pulled its $1.3 billion offer after reviewing Circuit City’s books.

Carl Icahn has stated he would purchase Circuit City. But it’s losing money — $164.8 million, or $1 a share, in its fiscal first quarter. This was $100 million more than its Q1 2007 loss. And Blockbuster’s conclusion after a closer look at its financial statements does not bode well for Circuit City’s future. Circuit City stock is down 7.8% in pre-market. Let’s see whether any new bidders emerge.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also instructs management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

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