17th
APR
Weekend Favs April Seventeen
Posted by cgseo under Social Media
Share Weekend Favs April Seventeen This content from: Duct Tape Marketing My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr. Image credit: iyoupapa Good stuff I found this week Cartoon Me – pretty simple way to take a photo of you an turn it into an animated, cartoon like portrait. MLB At Bat for iPad – I’m a bit of a baseball nut and the MLB app has been built exclusively for the iPad and totally rocks. Best iPad app exclusive app yet and turns my iPad (with optional MLB.tv subscription) into a 2400 game tv set. Top 15 Google products for people who build websites – and people who don’t – I thought I was a Google know it all, but some of these were new to me. Related Posts: Weekend Favs April Ten Weekend Favs April Three My iPad Adventure So Far Weekend Favs March Thirteen Weekend Favs September Twenty Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others
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Weekend Favs April Seventeen
16th
APR
My Road Warrior Toolbox
Posted by cgseo under Social Media
Share My Road Warrior Toolbox This content from: Duct Tape Marketing My friend Guy Kawasaki wrote an article recently about the tools he relies on when he goes on the road. I seem to be doing that quite a bit myself these days so I took stock of the tools that I’ve come to rely on to get work done when I travel and thought I would share them with you – got any you care to share? Sandisk 8GB USB Drive – This is just a great back-up tool, but I also carry portable a version of my Firefox browser that contains all my data such as bookmarks. This is incredibly handy if I even just want to jump on the hotel computer. Vitorinox Swiss Army Luggage – Pretty much love everything from Swiss Army, but love the quality of the carry on luggage and bags. Dropbox – This online file storage service works great and is very easy to integrate into my offline storage. This allows me to grab presentation files and view them on my iPad or send them to event organizers. iPad – This has become my RSS reader and book reader of choice, but I also use it as a lightweight email tool and browsing and bookmarking tool. Of course, it still has coolness factor too. Persol Sunglasses – Polarized crystal lens and the saleslady said James Bond wears them Moleskin notebooks – most of my actual work is done digitally these days, but I still think best in analog. I jot pages of notes at 40,000 feet and love filling these little paper notebooks. Belkin Tune Talk iPod Mic – I can record in the field interviews on this stereo mic and save the recordings as high quality WAV files on any iPod. Mophie Juice Pack Air – Doubles the life of the iPhone battery and acts as a case too Travel Power Strip – Create your own power center with USB chargers for that one outlet in the airport. Good way to make some BFFs for sure. Read and Review file – This one comes from David Allen’s Getting Things Done system. I chuck paper in this file all week and when I jump on a plane I’ve got contracts and reports and other interesting things I can finally get to. Copies of Wired, Inc and Fast Company – I subscribe to a handful of print magazines but seem to save them for travel. Related Posts: My iPad Adventure So Far 7 Virtual Collaboration Tools I Use Daily Foldershare is a useful tool My Favorite Tools and Processes to Automate the Routine The Ultimate Small Business Marketing System Audio Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others
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My Road Warrior Toolbox
15th
APR
How Do You Resell Your Employees
Posted by cgseo under Social Media
Share How Do You Resell Your Employees This content from: Duct Tape Marketing People come to work at your place, you hire for fit, teach them the core value and functions of the job, generally get them fired up for a while and then what? It’s a tough question, but one that is vitally important when it comes to marketing because happy, engaged, sold employees make far better brand advocates than the opposite. In doing some research on referable companies for my new book The Referral Engine , I came across a policy used by the online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos . When Zappos makes a hire, no matter the department, they go through a training class that includes spending time answering customer call center inquiries. (That’s the job that the bulk of Zappos employees fill.) At the end of their training period they are made an offer to quit. They are told they will be paid for the training period + $2,000 if they want to quit. I spoke with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh recently and he told me that initially they put this in place to weed out people that weren’t ultimately committed to the Zappos way of serving customers, but what they found was the more valuable attribute was the impact it had on the people that stayed. (By the way, few take them up on the offer.) People that turn down the $2,000, an amount that is over two weeks pay for typical call center job, go home over the weekend and think long and hard about why they want to stay. The net effect is that they resell themselves on making a commitment to the job at Zappos. (If you’re a blogger and want a free review copy of Tony’s book Delivering Happiness , due out in June, apply here .) I don’t know that I have a host of answers for what or how you should attack this one, I just know it will pay off if you do. Share your ideas for reselling your employees. How do you do it? Image credit: charlie llewellin Related Posts: 5 Ways to Make Culture a Marketing Strategy Small Business Speaker Series at CES 5 Ways to Make Next Year Your Best Yet Making Ideas Happen Why would someone come to work for you? Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others
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How Do You Resell Your Employees
14th
APR
Changes Come to Yelp
Posted by cgseo under Social Media
Changes Come to Yelp This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Luther Lowe (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes The online review site Yelp has come under fire of late for practices that have been described by some small business owners as heavy handed in an effort to use the ratings and reviews process as a tool to sell advertising. Yelp responded recently by formalizing a host of changes aimed at clarifying practices that are much more business friendly. I spoke with Luther Lowe , Business Outreach Manager at Yelp, for this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast and he explains the roots of reviews, and just how hard Yelp is working to make the site valuable to both businesses and consumers. I think it’s worth noting that Yelp does not aggregate its reviews to Google as sites such as CitySearch does. Yelp has carved out an important and independent voice and, despite recent legal woes, is a tool that small business marketers need to embrace. At the center of Yelp’s controversy is something called filtered reviews. Yelp uses an algorithm to help fight review spam. The goal is that all reviews be true reviews from true customers. They’ve developed some ways to spot phony and stimulated reviews and they’ve always filtered these out. As with any automated process, some real reviews certainly get removed. Businesses that saw their positive reviews removed while negative ones remained cried foul. One of the biggest changes Yelp made to address this issue was adding the ability to see reviews filtered by the review filter . The second change made at Yelp was intended to address the notion that businesses that advertised on Yelp were somehow treated better in the review process and the flip side, those that did not advertise were punished. At the center of this was something called the Favorite review. Advertisers on Yelp were offered the ability to pick an existing review of their business and move it to the top as a favorite. This practice fueled the perception that advertisers could manipulate the review process. Yelp has discontinued the Favorite Review feature as part of their advertising package. In the words of Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman – “Lifting the veil on our review filter and doing away with “Favorite Review” will make it even clearer that displayed reviews on Yelp are completely independent of advertising — or any sort of manipulation.” Full post here Yelp has also initiated an series of educational workshops aimed at teaching small business owners how to get more out of Yelp. The Yelp Business Owners Guide is another great place to find more info as well. Additionally, in an effort to more formally integrate feedback from the business community, Yelp created a Small Business Advisory Council whose members will provide Yelp management with guidance and perspective regarding the concerns of small business owners. Some of the changes at Yelp may have come as reaction to the recent allegations by small business owners, but I’ve followed this company for some time now and truly believe they are committed to creating a service that is fair and valuable to both business owner and consumer alike. Related Posts: Local Review Success Hits Speed Bump Yelp! Changing the Local Game Some More Your Pizza Sucks And . . . 5 Ways to Rock Customer Review Sites Social Search Gaining Steam Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others
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Changes Come to Yelp
9th
APR
Follow-up Is the Momentum Building Power Tool
Posted by cgseo under Social Media
Share Follow-up Is the Momentum Building Power Tool This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Woody Allen was attributed with the quote – “eighty percent of success is showing up” but I would add that in marketing it’s all about following up. Most marketers get that at the most basic level – you send out a mailing, someone asks for more information, and you jump on the phone and try to sell them something. That’s not really what I’m talking about when it comes to follow-up. Follow-up is a mindset that must pervade every process and touch every constituent group in your business. Consistent communication by virtue of relevant follow-up is more of a way of life than a tactic. Below are some ways that you can take you follow-up to the next level. With Prospects Use autoresponders to send a series of emails or snail mails to prospects over time. This is fine way to stay top of mind and continue to build trust. Several email services such as SwiftPage and Infusionsoft can change the path of emails based on the recipient’s action so you can deliver the right information. Connect your prospects into your CRM software and add their social media activity. Few things allow you to start connecting faster than follow-up that’s informed. Don’t forget to connect with these same prospects in networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn With Customers Create an autoresonder email series that provides additional training for products and services purchased. Follow up with additional company information in the form of an orientation package Create a follow-up process that allows you to assess with your customer the results you were able to bring Bring small groups of customers together to allow them to network and discuss business challenges Send handwritten notes of thanks to every customer With Referrals A referred lead is a special lead. Design a follow-up process specifically for referred leads. Let them know they are special, make them a special deal or referral gift. They will remember this process when they become a referral source too. With Referral Sources Follow-up to show your appreciation to anyone that sends a referral your way. You can even created tiered responses – movie tickets for a referred lead, giant bouquet for a lead that becomes a client Use the moment that a client tells you about a referral as way to follow-up and ask for a testimonial Follow up with your referral sources by communicating how a referred lead turned out, if it was the right kind of referral, the results they helped their friend get because they referred them. This is what keeps the referral tap flowing and underscores your emphasis on results. With Suppliers Create a communication vehicle to keep your suppliers and vendors in the loop about what’s going on at your business. I’m amazed at how often this can turn up opportunities and referrals. With Staff Add a process that forces you to conduct all hands follow-up (training) that keeps your staff involved in the marketing strategy, tactics, message and results. This once a month or once a quarter event can be the best team building follow-up process you could ever create. Set-up training auto responders that supplement your standard training routines. So, what kinds of follow-up could you add? Image credit: quinn.anya Related Posts: Now That's a Lead of a Different Color Design and Operate a Referral System The Ultimate Referral System in 7 Steps Design and Operate a Referral System - part 2 The Highly Engaged Referral Powered by Contextual Related Posts Like this post? Share it with others
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Follow-up Is the Momentum Building Power Tool
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