Leave it to my new friend Bob Cassin (Entrepreneur and Mobile Marketing Guru Guy — more on that later) to come up with the most logical, common sense rule on mobile call ettiquette!
Are you ready? Here is the new rule on how to deal with a dropped call — PASS this one on!!!
Dropped Call Rule:
If you’re on a call and the call drops — the person who INITIATED the call is the one responsible for calling back.
There you go – it’s that simple.
How often have you been on a call and it drops. Then two of you waste valuable time trying to call each other back and get voice mail. Then each of you waits thinking the other person is going to call you back.
STOP THE INSANITY – follow the rule!
Pass on this wonderful rule of cell phone etiquette!
What about YOU? Do you have any mobile mobile phone etiquette tips? Leave them in the comments below!
This is a great time in the year to start looking into what new opportunities you can bring into your business. In order to help you in this respect, I’d like to share some useful link love that you may have missed around the web that can help you build your brand and market your small business.
Trends
There has been a flurry of activity around the hottest trends that are coming up this year. Check some of these fantastic articles. Then pick out a few trends (Opportunities or Threats) and see how you can incorporate them to build on your existing strengths or minimize your weaknesses.
Rural Business Trends by Becky McRay – I had never thought that business trends would be that different for the rural sector but Becky brings some real insight. If you’re running a business that serves the burbs, then you need to check these out.
iPhone Apps for Small Business: If you’re using an iPhone, check out these apps. If you’re an entrepreneurial and savvy technical type or have access to a techie — then look at translating some of these apps for other mobile devices or maybe even facebook. Apps are BIG business.
Web Trends: If you’re still only toe-deep in the world of the web. Jump in or you’ll be out in the cold.
Must to Marketing: These 10 easy tips will get your customers heading in the right direction — toward you.
New Applications
Guy Kawasaki’s Favorite Apps: I was inspired by this article to write another trendy app article. I’m still doing some research on mine – but this one will pique your interest while you wait.
Use crowdsourcing iPhone Apps: Crowdsourcing is a trend that is still up and coming – the QuestionPro version is on an iPhone app now.
Interesting Stuff
Get an online Presence: Here are 6 ways to build your online presence.
Best Books of 2009: On Small Business Trends, we’ve been taking advantage of doing tons of book reviews. Our readers are readers so we asked them to vote to pick their best books. Here’s how we did it and here are the best books!
If you haven’t already, be sure to register for FREE over at www.DIYMarketers.com because we’re launching some awesome new programs with some of the best business authors today along with special DIY Marketing tools and classes.
Leave a comment and tell me what DIY Marketing tools and tips YOU want in 2010!
As a part of the Small Business Trends expert group, I get to write articles that are posted on the Open Forum blog. My last article “10 Must Do Marketing Tips” got a lot of traction, so I thought I’d do another kind of list article that people could use in the coming months as they put together their marketing plans.
My idea was to pull together a list of hot applications; some that I use a lot and some that I wish I could use more. Well, in the process of doing the research I found that Guy Kawasaki did a post on his Favorite Apps on the Open Forum blog. “RATS!”, I thought. ”He beat me to the punch.” Undaunted, I started looking for another twist.
So now, I’m exploring the top trends and apps that YOU think marketers and small businesses can’t do without!
Leave a comment below with your ideas.
So far, I’m listing Google Wave (c’mon people register and start using it, it’s no fun being there all alone!) Virtual collaboration will only start getting bigger and better.
Location-based applications like BrightKite were floundering and maybe before their time. Now FourSquare has gotten into the mix. I’ve registered and posted a couple of things, but still don’t see how it will replace Twitter.
Augmented Reality Apps are getting popular on the Andoid systems and iPhone. I’ve been asking around about how a small business can be sure that they are included when potential customers are scanning the area with their phones.
So there you have it — send me your ideas and links. Don’t forget to leave a link to your blog so I can give you credit!
We’ve spent the last few years getting our feet wet with social media tools. This year, it’s time to make all that learning pay off. I got this cool presentation link from my social media measurement guru, Adam Henderson.
I love this fun presentation about social media ROI. There are so many things to learn here:
- Social media is a marketing tool and not a toy.
- I think of social media as being in the PR family – it builds brand and reputation and gives you the opportunity to put stories and a human face on your company
- It has spawned a new “Manager” to add to your team – the social media manager. Doing it right requires time and effort.
- All is worth NOTHING (I like to say the big ‘Nishta’) if you’re not making money and generating customers.
- You have to know what to measure: transactions, new customers and dollars per transaction
What have you learned from social media and ROI this year and what will you do with it in 2010?
I’ve been wanting to add multi-media to my DIY Marketers site for months. But I hadn’t because I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the number of choices out there around teleconferences, webinars and all manner of multi-media ways to get your content out there.
I absolutely can’t stand to see or hear myself on video or any recorded device. And so to teach myself to “get over it” I’ve started putting a couple “flip” video book reviews on the site. It wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. It wasn’t as easy as I originally thought either.
The important thing was to actually do it.
If you’re in the same boat, try these easy ways to get started:
Free Conference: I’ve used Free Conference as a conference call planner, and now they also offer recording and transcription services for as little as $9.00 per month for unlimited recorded calls. I just used it for my interview with Adam Penenberg and the results are great! It was easy to use and I got the recording in a couple of hours. I also ordered a transcript and I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
DimDim: This is a free webinar service that I’ve used several times. The latest upgrade also has a web cam feature so that you (the host) can be giving a presentation on camera and your audience can actually see you — as well as any screen shots. Another nice interactive feature that DimDim has is a white-board so that your entire virtual meeting can brainstorm and draw on the white board.
Kodak Zi6 HD Video Camera: I bought this camera a few months ago when Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Mike Michalowicz asked me to do a “quick 25 second testimonial.” I ran out and got this little baby and in less than an hour, I had the video testimonial on its way. It’s terrifically easy to use, the quality of the videos is outstanding and my favorite part is that it has a slot for a removable SD card!
Don’t wait forever like I did, use these tools and spice up your web site with multi-media content.
This is a guest post sent in by Kevin Baker is my1voice Product Marketing Manager for Protus (www.protus.com). Kevin has come up with some fun ways to play around the holidays and make your business more memorable.
Ah, the holidays. That wonderful time of year when families gather ‘round the fireplace to drink a little eggnog, trim the tree, and experience the joy of being together.
For most of us, the holidays are also a very hectic time of year. Especially the 12 days leading up to Christmas. And that’s true even if you don’t happen to celebrate Christmas, because it still sets a very short deadline for getting business done since most of the business world seems to come to a stop from December 25 until around January 3.
How do you reconcile the high-pressure needs of your small business with your family’s desire to roast chestnuts on the open fire? Having a virtual phone service can help. Toward that end, we offer up these 12 small business phone tips ‘til Christmas. Hope they help make your season a little brighter.
1. Pre-record a message and make it an option on your phone system’s virtual receptionist. It’s great for businesses with a small staff and different hours during the holidays.
2. Use an extension to tie to ads and/or direct mail/email promotions. Encourage customers to call a specific extension you set up to promote the door buster of the day.
3. Give Santa an extension. Let kids call to listen to Santa directly at the North Pole. This will work even better if you have an 800 number through your virtual phone service provider.
4. Instead of having personnel on the phone when they could be helping live customers, set up your phone system to post updates on current inventory levels of hot items. Add the date and time so customers know how current the information is.
5. Create an FAQ recording with answers to common questions for customers. Just remember to leave them a way to opt out and talk to someone live if they want.
6. Customers often gather information on the Web then use other means to make the purchase. Make it easy for them to call by adding a Web call button (a “Call Now” type button) to your Web site.
7. Make a quick business call while you pick out a Christmas tree. With virtual phone services for small business, customers will see your caller ID and will likely assume you’re calling from the office.
8. Instead of missing out on holiday parties you can step aside with your peppermint hot chocolate in hand and finish-up last minute business with the your phone’s conference call feature.
9. Don’t stay behind waiting to receive a fax in your home office while your family heads out to the in-laws for a pre-holiday feast. Treat your virtual phone service as a fax delivery the same as you do with your voicemail messages, and receive your faxes via email on your cell phone or laptop. Never wait around for a fax again!
10. Use smart call forwarding to offer 24×7 customer support. Smart call forwarding connects to any phone you choose. Have each person on staff take a night to provide that support during the holidays – then advertise it’s available.
11. Use smart call forwarding to carve out a little time for yourself. With smart call forwarding you can sneak out to do a little extended shopping, trim the tree with the family, or a holiday lunch without losing touch.
12. Make your holiday bright. Not a phone tip just good advice. Take the time to relax, enjoy and refresh yourself for 2010. Happy holidays!
Kevin Baker is my1voice Product Marketing Manager for Protus (www.protus.com), provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service that travels with the user from phone to web, award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service and Campaigner, an email marketing solution with advanced automation features. Kevin can be reached at kbaker@protus.com
I recently read a quote that said that “The most important people in your life are the ones that care the most.” This isn’t just true in our personal relationships, it’s also true for our customer relationships.
Consumers are loyal to companies that care about their experience. Jeanne Bliss outlined five decisions that a company can make that would make them “beloved” by their customers.
- Decide to Believe: Beloved companies trust their employees and their customers. They suspend cynicism and create policies that assume honesty. My favorite example is of Zane’s Cycles, a Connecticut retailer that sells over $13 million worth of bicycles annually from one location. They encourage their customers to take test rides with no questions asked. That includes their $6,000 bicycles. Of the 4,000 bikes they sell each year, only five are stolen. It just doesn’t make sense to start a customer relationship on a note of distrust for the sake of the five people who are dishonest.
- Decide with Clarity of Purpose: Companies who decide to focus their operations on why they exist for the customer are rewarded with loyalty and love from their customers. Trader Joe’s agonized over the decision to get scanning equipment because the pinging sound might interrupt their employees chatter with customers. Apple spent a lot of time and money creating a retail environment that encouraged “hanging around” so that the store would be a gathering place. You can see how unyielding focus on the customer experience is rewarded by happy customers.
- Decide to be Real: To what degree do you “get” your customers? USAA decided that all their new hires should eat like soldiers. USAA offers home and auto insurance to a customer base that’s largely military members and their families. It’s clear from this example that USAA knows they can’t be real if they don’t know what it’s like.
- Decide to be There: Beloved companies are “there” by giving their customers what they want. Zara, a trendy fashion store invests in getting fashion into the store within 15 days – instead of investing in advertising. Zane’s Cycles gives away parts that cost less than $1. Find out what’s important to your customers and then BE THERE and give it to them.
- Decide to Say Sorry: At some point, things will go wrong. It’s how a company says “I’m sorry” that makes them beloved by their customers. Netflix decided that honestly was the best policy. In 2008, they notified all of their customers about a glitch that might have caused shipments to be late. Most customers never noticed the shipment, but they noticed the apology.
If you look closely at each one, you’ll see that each of these is rooted in caring; giving special attention to how the customers will experience the product or service.
See in what ways you can create marketing strategies around each of these caring decisions and you’ll see your profits go up!
Are you looking for a super cost-effective way to reinforce your marketing message? Come up with a theme to hang your marketing message on all year long.
In my most recent article on the AMEX Open Forum, I give some brand-building recommendations that you can use that are easy on the budget and really get your message across to customers.
Here are some more tips around themes you might find helpful:
- Have FUN. Pick a theme that you and your company can have fun with. A fun theme is infectious and will get your customers smiling whenever they see anything that comes from you with that theme. Don’t underestimate the power of a smile paired with your brand. Smiling releases endorphins and relieves stress and if you can tie your product to happiness, you’re half-way to a loyal customer.
- Engage in shameless promotion. Because you’ll be running your theme across multiple channels, it’s going to feel like you are repeating yourself. And that’s good because that’s the point. Remember, your audience isn’t as immersed in your message as you are. Just when you think you’ve over done it — keep going. You’ve hit the right frequency when your audience finally starts commenting and looking forward to what you’ll come up with next.
- Use Competitive Advantage. Don’t just pick something out of thin air. Choose your theme based on your competitive advantage. What is your brand promise? What can you do differently or better than anyone else? Pick a real and defensible competitive advantage and then load your theme up with proof and evidence that feature that advantage.
Picking a theme to hang your branding message on is a wonderful way to save money and penetrate the message clutter around your customers. Try it this year and see what happens for you.
Over the last couple of years marketers have been advocating blogging, articles and getting published in as many places as possible to build your brand. That means that many of us are writing for our own blogs as well as other blogs that can ultimately increase our audience and visibility. While this is certainly a valid strategy, if it isn’t managed properly you could end up overwhelmed at best and degrading your brand at worst.
The solution to helping you control your time as well as the message of your brand is developing a content or editorial calendar. Here’s how:
- Set up a Code. If you write for multiple blogs or sites, then you might want to set up a code for each type of article that you’ll be writing.
- Pick Milestone dates. Pick standard dates when articles appear. You might decide to have an article three days a week across all your blogs. Say you choose Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays that your articles will post.
- Get a Calendar. I’ve been using my Google Calendar because it allows me to create multiple calendars in different colors. So I keep a Calendar for every blog I write for (including my own). This way I can look at one, two or ALL of my calendars and blog deadlines. Of course, you can also use a paper calendar or desk calendar as well. Don’t forget to use a calendar that has holidays marked on it — you’ll use those.
- Insert Deadlines. The next step is to write in any deadlines that have already been set or determined. Some third-party blogs may specify what dates they want you to post on – so consider that as part of your milestone dates,
- Set Themes. Now that you’ve done that – look at opportunities for themes. Use holidays as inspiration for articles. Just like a magazine; each month can be a theme and you can make all your articles across multiple blogs mimic that theme. It will save you time because you’ll re-purpose content and it will build your brand message across a variety of blogs
- Outline Programs and Series. Another easy way to generate content is to set programs or series that post at a regular time. Think about doing book reviews or product reviews as a regular series. Another program or series option might be to break up a large topic area into smaller chunks.
- Check for gaps. Now that you’ve done that, check for gaps and see if you can recruit other writers to help you fill them in. Recruiting other writers is a win-win situation because you will BOTH increase your exposure across all your audiences.
How did you develop your content or editorial calendar? Share your tips!
If the mere thought of doing a marketing plan makes you shiver and want to hide under a rock — relax. It doesn’t have to be that hard or ominous a task. When you really stop and think about it, a marketing plan is really nothing more than a goal setting process.
Wouldn’t it be great if your marketing plan just came naturally, almost organically? It can be. It can be as much fun as planning a party or a vacation.
Here is my magical 9-step process for creating an inside-out organic marketing plan.
- Start with a goal. What is it that you really want to accomplish? Is it a certain amount of money? Maybe it’s to build a list with a certain amount of members. Either way – it’s ok for it to be general, we’ll narrow it down later. But give yourself the freedom to dream and focus on what you really want. Here’s the truth. You can write whatever you want – but you will spend your time and energy on what you REALLY want. What is that?
- Narrow the goal into objectives. Take the goal you wrote and write down some things that you think will get you there. If it’s general, make it more specific. If it’s long-term, make it more short term. Say your goal is to build a million dollar business. You can narrow it by saying you want to build a list of 10,000 people in the next year.
- What actions do you need to take? This is where you make your list. Start from the end and then tell the story of how you got there.
- What resources will you need to help you? Most marketing plans talk about budgets – but there is more to great marketing than money — besides, when was the last time you had all the money you needed? For each action item, think about skills, talents and resources that you’ll need to help you. Now start thinking about the people you can reach out to for help. Are there software solutions out there that might help you achieve your goal? Get creative about resources; time, people, skills, knowledge, talent, software, etc.
- What obstacles will stop you. This is a step many miss. Stop and think about what might stop your progress. You might say something like “I don’t know 10,000 people.” Just that statement alone can really put a hamper on your progress. List everything you think is an obstacle. No time, no money, no contacts, etc.
- Come up with 5 solutions for each obstacle. Another step everyone misses that can really make a difference. For each obstacles challenge yourself with the following statement “In what ways can I…(build a list of 10,000)? Don’t ask “How can I” ask “In what ways” because it prompts your brain to come up with a list instead of just one solution. You won’t believe how much fun this process is. It opens you up to creating opportunities you hadn’t considered.
- Pick the best solution. Now you’ve got ideas and solutions – pick the one you’re going to start with.
- List the affirmations that will inspire you. “People sign up for my list and invite 3 more to do the same” is a great example of an affirmation for building your list. Simply focusing on this affirmation will give you even more ideas and action items.
- Track your progress. Set milestones for yourself and see how you do in meeting them.
How You Know If It’s Working
You can tell what’s important to you by tracking your money and your time. For everything you sit down to do ask yourself if it’s going to take you closer to your goal or not. If yes – then get to it and if it won’t, then stop and get yourself back on track.
What’s worked for you? Share your goal setting success!
