Business Blog for Company Owners

This year, I’ve been talking a lot about how we’re featuring Diamond Certified Expert Contributions in more places than ever before. From more experts on our homepage to geo-specific Expert Banners on KTVU.com to Expert Ads in Bay Area News Group (BANG) newspapers, we’ve worked hard to expand the reach of Diamond Certified Experts and make sure consumers throughout the Greater Bay Area have access to the Helpful Expertise® of Diamond Certified companies. Indeed, providing Helpful Expertise® is crucial for the long-term success of your company, but have you thought about what the phrase really means?

Nowadays, there’s so much information pouring forth from the internet that consumers feel they should know more about the subjects that impact them. Read more

When I was in school, it was always exciting when the first semester report cards came out. Some of my friends dreaded this time of year, but I liked it because it gave me an idea of how I was performing and what I could do to improve. I kept that mindset with my two daughters—as they went through high school, first semester report cards were good indicators of what college opportunities would be available for them.

So, what does the first semester report card of 2018 look like for Diamond Certified? As you’ll see in this letter, we’re proud that we’ve met our goals for continually improving the Diamond Certified Resource. Read more

Recently, I discovered an app that allows me to interact with people in my neighborhood who are looking to buy or sell things like electronics, furniture and clothing. The concept isn’t exactly groundbreaking (craigslist has been around for a while, after all), but there’s something about this app that sets it apart from the others I’ve tried: the community aspect. Since everyone who uses it lives and/or works in the same area, there’s a real sense of fellowship in the interactions I’ve seen. I mostly use the app to share Diamond Certified companies with neighbors who have specific needs. For example, if someone is looking for window coverings, I’ll give them a link to a nearby company’s Diamond Certified Company Report page—it makes them feel confident in my referral and I usually get thanked for my advice. Read more

Spring is a season of renewal. In nature, new grasses grow, flowers bloom and birds nest. For consumers, moods brighten, home improvement projects are planned and winter-delayed health appointments are booked. For company managers, it’s a time to achieve performance numbers, optimize employee skills and generate more referrals.

For the Giants and A’s, spring is a great opportunity to work on perfecting the fundamentals. As the MLB season gets underway, I can’t help but reminisce about my own history with America’s pastime. Here’s something you might not know about me: from the age of 19 to 25, I was a semi-professional baseball player. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it’s true—I played on a number of tournament teams that competed across the United States and even played against international teams like Australia and Japan. Read more

The other day, I watched a documentary about the making of Pink Floyd’s groundbreaking 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It’s an album I’ve heard countless times over the course of my life, but as I watched the band members go into detail about the techniques they used to record those classic songs, it occurred to me that I only knew part of the story. Sure, I know most of the words to “Money,” but I didn’t know that in order to achieve the cash register sounds at the beginning, they had to stretch their reel-to-reel tape across the studio to make it fit with the song’s unusual time signature. Read more

We have exciting news! This year, if you qualify for Diamond Certified, your Diamond Certified Expert Contributions will be presented in more places, so Quality Customers in your community will see you more often as their (famous) local top rated expert who cares. You can see we’re determined to help you beat your competitors by giving you a big Deep Info advantage. We’ll help you get the best articles, photos, videos, ratings, tables and your project presentations, boosting your company with Quality Customers. Your company website is a must check-in point for potential customers shopping your business. So, we’re going to help you upgrade your own website by adding Diamond Certified Deep Info inside your key pages to prove your team delivers High Quality and Helpful Expertise, Read more

We’re really excited about our plans to build your company in 2018 (if you qualify for Diamond Certified). We’re doing it by heavily investing in four main areas:

1. Your Company Report Page Crushes Competitors with Design and Deep Info
Who your company appears to be is completely driven by your Deep Info. It’s the totality of info accessible about you and your company. Optimally presenting your best Deep Info is key to your success. Your Deep Info presentation influences every potential customer to choose you or…someone else. That’s why we’ve newly designed each Diamond Certified Company Report page to beat all other presentations on the web, giving potential customers all the info they need in the format they want to maximize their confidence in choosing. Read more

Strength matters.

Your strong quality brand attracts those who care about quality and are willing to pay for it.

Your strong customer loyalty bear hugs your customers so they return and refer you.

Your strong digital helps your best prospects find and engage with you on their smartphones.

Your strong Deep Info makes more of your best prospects choose you over your competitors. Read more

With the launch of your newly designed Diamond Certified Company Report page, your “Best Page Ever” just got even better (if you qualify for Diamond Certified)! It beats all other presentations of your company for high trust and influence, so you’ll attract and sell more to quality-seeking customers. Starting on the very first page view of your Company Report, your prospective customers instantly see that you’re top rated and guaranteed, and they connect emotionally with your company through your video and lead article. Plus, this gives them easy scroll-down or simple NAVIGATION menu access to Deep InfoTM on your company. Read more

If you run a company, you face problems. They come with the territory and change with market conditions and the flavor of staff issues. People may say you have “good problems” if you have too many potential customer inquiries to handle, but we both know you face a big challenge if you’re also dealing with severe capacity issues due to a shortage of quality staff. If you can’t do the work, having inquiries can be frustrating and, if you don’t follow up well, lead to an erosion of your brand image. “Bad problems” may be times when you lack Quality Customers and have thin margins and/or face new competition. These problems kill financial performance, and left unresolved, Read more