Twitter recently deployed a killer new feature called “lists”. Basically, it’s their version of groups that can either be public or private (and you don’t need to be currently following someone to add them to a list). For example, Robert Scoble created a list of Tech News Brands that I really enjoy. It’s features like this that allow a more functional real-time web (and it’s one of the reasons that I’m finally using my twitter account).

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and explain it myself… go to Mashable’s article on HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists

CitySourced was introduced today as one of the finalists at TechCrunch50. CitySourced is a realtime mobile civic engagement tool. CitySourced provides:

• a free, simple, and intuitive tool empowering citizens to identify civil issues (potholes, graffiti, trash, snow removal, etc) and report them to city hall for quick resolution;
• an opportunity for government to use technology to save money and be more accountable to those they govern; and
• a positive, collaborative platform for real action.

The platform is called CitySourced, as it empowers ordinary citizens to crowdsourse solutions for common civil issues. CitySourced is powered by FreeomSpeaks, the leader in interactive civic engagement.

It’s cool to see new products like this coming on the scene. I wouldn’t expect to see this level of innovation coming out of city hall so it’s cool to see it being done by civic entrepreneurs (civic is the new green). The question is, are the civic leaders savvy enough to implement this type of system or will they be resistant to change?

Now that we live in a flat world (see: The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century) you’ll start to see more organizations (entrepreneurial, non-profit, government, etc) that no longer act like “small businesses” but rather “quasi-small businesses”.  They use the leverage, manpower, and distribution systems of  large multinational organizations and media channels to accomplish their goals.

They may have some attributes that resemble a small business like a corporate office with “4 dogs and 12 employees”. They will have some, but not all of the features of, what we traditionally know as a small business.

Small business is traditionally defined as 500 direct employees or less. Yet, with collaboration between people utilizing various legal entities to protect their assets (including intellectual property) it is becoming the norm to have small business silos that operate cooperatively without engaging in a corporate merger or acquisition. Leaders are moving with ease between multiple organizations utilizing the power of their worldwide networks to accomplish their tasks without the need to obtain a passport or work visa.

It no longer requires a corporate structure, a board of directors, or a shareholders meeting to get things accomplished in this flat world. Yet when they are used it is not a surprise to find out that the board of directors meeting was actually just a foursome on the golf course or a conference call between people who have never met in person.

Quasi-Small Businesses, business mashups, and the hiring of the “majors” is occurring every day. It is being done by smaller and smaller organizations as the barriers to entry are getting less and less. The power brokers are the ones who represent talent and creativity. It’s the innovators, the out-of-the-box thinkers who will be successful in this new world. These are the people who don’t observe and design in the same breath; who don’t accept “business as usual”; who think big and get other people excited about their visions.

Find people like that and become like them. You no longer need to work for the large multinational to accomplish your career goals. Let the large multinationals work for you!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to check out the Pinkberry challenge and provide feedback online and off. There were a lot of professionals who were unable to participate due to their production schedules (which I understand). However, I think that some others were scared to show how they do their magic (which is a little short-sighted).

Danny Kern provided me with the most detailed description of his process and the best resulting image. He is a photographer from the San Francisco Bay Area and is very knowledgeable about post production work. Check out his comment on the original post to see how he went about getting the best out of the raw image. P.S. Don’t forget to call him when you need professional photography in the Bay Area. Not only is he a very talented photographer… but he is also a really nice guy. Thanks Danny!

PROCESSED BY DANNY KERN

UNTOUCHED CANON G10 IMAGE

At various times I have used the wrong strategy. (Honestly, it has happened more than I care to admit). I had no one to blame as it was a strategy that I came up with all on my own.

Stop trying to be clever and original. Instead look for the best strategy for accomplishing your goal and copy it. Except in the cases where this is a violation of intellectual property rights it is the best way to quickly identify the right strategy for right now. Build in feedback mechanisms to identify trends. Then watch for the unexpected success or unexpected failure. That is the market saying the strategy is right or wrong!

Basically: Follow the leader and listen.

The little that I know about photography is that you’re goal is to capture good light in a way that tells a great story.

As mentioned in the previous post I purchased a Canon G10. This camera has got me excited again about photography because it’s basically a professional’s point-an-shoot. David Studarus recommended that I buy it and I’ve liked it so much that I also bought a second one as a gift.

Here is the problem… Now that I have great high-resolution images I don’t know what to do with them in post (i.e. photoshop, lightroom, etc) to make them look their best. Without the ‘processing’ step I’m missing out on the best representation of the story.

Here is the challenge to all you pros… The raw image of Pinkberry at The District in Tustin, CA is here. Download it and show me how you would make it look and give me a brief description of what you did in your workflow. You have my permission to post your results on your own blogs, websites, or forums but I just ask that you link back to this original post and tell me when it’s been done. If you have photoshop actions or something that you sell go ahead and mention that too.

This is your opportunity to expose an entirely different audience to portion of your workflow. Hopefully you’ll all get some additional work or sales out of it but at a minimum you’ll be teaching someone who is interested and willing to learn.

Next weekend, August 15-16, 2009, I’ll chose my favorite version and post the results here at paulmobley.com

Thanks in advance… and have fun.

Photo: © 2009 Paul Mobley, MBA in Orange County, California

Did you know that search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing don’t search active websites but rather their saved copies? This is one of the reasons that it can take a while have your results show up on thier websites. It takes time for them to visit (or crawl) your page so they can index it and include it in their rankings.

Often you can view their cached page instead of the one that is live on your website. Today this saved me from losing a webpage that was accidently destroyed in my database. I was able to find the cached page, open up the source code, grab the missing data, and re-publish the page.

Last year I wrote an article titled, Elephant in the Room. This post described how webpages can continue to live on even after they’re deleated from your servers. Today I found another example (and short-term archive) that exists on the web.

I’m glad that I was able to find an unplanned online backup of my data. However, it’s also an important reminder that what is published online never truely dies. It might be hard to find but it might not be gone.

Yesterday Microsoft launched is new search engine Bing with an expensive advertising campaign. I bet the owners of bling.com are super exited as the value of their domain has increased the chance that they can convert that domain into real bling.

Of course the first search that I completed was for “Paul Mobley”. I’m happy to say that Microsoft got that right by putting me up on top. =)

Yet, for me that will likely be one of the last times that I use the search engine. Is it me or is this new launch of little or no importance? How much market share will they be able to capture from Google and Yahoo? Do they honestly believe that a major marketing campaign will change the ingrained behaviors of millions of internet users? Even if their system was good why would we want to give them another monopoly?

I predict that Bing will go Bust.

On of those house keeping things that all small business owners should do is to make sure the copyright information is up to date for your intellectual property. For our web-based world that means doing a double check of the fine print for your websites, blogs, etc.

(Note: This is not legal advice. You may wish to consult with an attorney)

I don’t recommend replacing an older copyright like “© 2008″ with “© 2009″. Also, you shouldn’t update the copyright if you haven’t updated or added to the content. However many sites add new content every year that should be protected.

For multi-year works I like to use something like: “© 2008-2009 Owner, Inc. All Rights Reserved” This should go in the footer on all your pages. Additional credit should be given on individual pages if content is used by permission (i.e. license, authorized reproduction, etc)

Finally, if you’re having a problem with infringment you’ll need to register your copyright in order to be eligable for punitive damages. Yes, you can register websites and there are expedited methods available.

In an information economy copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property are important. As a small business owner you need to keep an eye on these things because nobody else will.

I was looking at the stats recently and noticed that the amount of spam that I’ve received on this blog is slightly greater to 1:1 (spam to posts). What is the strategy behind all of the effort that is made to build either fake community, blatantly stealing original content, or promoting illegitimate business activities? The amount of creativity and energy that is wasted on these efforts is amazing. I know it’s sometimes hard to tell when something is spam but the best thing that you can do to stop this stuff is to:

1. fight back with your own automated defense, and
2. stop giving them money by buying stuff.

We need to be smarter and more creative than them to protect our community.

On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, my wife and I needed to go grocery shopping. We had just finished moving to our new home in Tustin, CA and needed somewhere close. A quick Google map search on my iPhone revealed that there was a Stater Bros just north on Redhill about a mile.

The place was really busy being the day before Thanksgiving but we needed the stuff so we braved the crowd. We wound up filling a cart with $250 worth of items including some perishables and frozen foods and proceeded to check out.

Let me start off by saying that the cashier that helped us was very nice. The rest of the story is an example of bad management, bad marketing and bad systems. So here is where things went bad… When I went to pay (and complete my fist shopping trip in a new area) I discovered the hard way that their credit card system was not working.

The first attempt with my American Express card resulted in an error something like “transaction count exceeded”. The cashier asked one of the other employees what it meant and what to do. They asked me to try it again. After my wife and I tried 3 different credit cards issued by different banks I decided to try to use my debit card (which I never do). The same error occurred for this one too. The only proposed solution was to go to their ATM and pull out enough cash to pay for the order.

At this point I asked for a reasonable concession. Not only had they wasted my time, with something that should have been working seamlessly, I was also going to save them money for credit card merchant fees and I would incur additional fees myself from two banks for a problem that was not mine. Therefore, I asked for commitment from the cashier to discount the order by $5 or $10.

Up to this point I was very understanding. Like I said before, the cashier was nice and it was not his fault that the merchant account provider had limited the store’s transaction limits. When the cashier was unable to authorize this accommodation I asked to speak with the manager. The store was so busy that the manger was working a register and my guy had to switch with him so he could talk with me.

Apparently the manager was having a bad day. He made it clear that my only two options were to either get cash from the ATM and pay or to leave the cart in the store and leave. He did not care that it was our first time in his store and that the failure in the system and management’s response was hurting their brand and costing them more than the $5-10 requested. He claimed that he did not have the authority to provide the discount.

At that point we left and we don’t plan to return. As we walked out of the store some other vocal person, who only had a few items, was telling everybody coming in that they would not accept credit cards. Apparently she had the same problem but she had enough cash in her pocket to cover the tab.

We still needed to buy stuff so we searched for another grocery store. We went to Ralph’s and discovered that they had a better selection, cheaper prices, and they accepted my AMEX card the very first time. The contrast between the two was clear and they’ve increased their “share of customer” with us.

I talked about the Stater Bros issue with my Dad and brother the next day (one is in marketing and the other public relations). We all agreed that it was Stater Bros fault for not having a credit card system that worked. They didn’t have a backup strategy or if they did then the staff was not trained (including the manager). The result was a negative brand experience, the loss of a sale, incurring additional costs for restocking, etc. The one thing they did do was get people talking (but not in a good way).

Your brand experience is impacted every day by good and bad experiences. If things don’t go as planned then be prepared to backup systems and policies that are able to restore things to normal with the least amount of damage. If done really well a problem solved can turn a normal customer one that is extremely loyal.

LESSONS LEARNED

1. Don’t shop at the Stater Bros at 14171 Red Hill Ave in Tustin, CA
2. Make sure your systems are operating properly before a high volume day
3. Give managers enough authority to operate the business
4. Teach every employee that the brand, and the story of the company, is being written with every transaction
5. Get people to talk about how your business exceeded their expectations
6. Even if you can’t solve the problem at least pretend like you care.
   

eFax innovated faxes for small business giving mobility and efficentcy. This allowed business owners the freedom to be out in the world instead of tied to the office waiting for a fax.

PhonePeople.com has done the same thing with large scale PBX phone systems and streamlined them to match the collaborative and mobile world of the modern entrepreneur.

I discovered them this week and while I wasn’t intending on buying anything I ended up signing up for their standard plan with virtual office and setup assistance. So far they’ve been great and exceeded my expectations. If they don’t it’s only a month-to-month commitment.

This is another example of innovation being used to enhance our business not complicate it or make it more expensive.

Often the first tool new online merchants use is PayPal. It’s easy to setup, there are no monthly fees, and you can package up an order and send it over to them for payment. However, once you get to a certain level of business most people graduate to a full online merchant account for several reasons:

1. The PayPal discount fee of about 3% is higher than normal accounts
2. Most shopping cart systems require more than provided by PayPal
3. It won’t integrate with Google Analytics e-Commerce reporting
4. The reporting on the credit card statements misses your name & phone

eConsultancy has a good overview of the various components of an online merchant account. One thing excluded from the conversation about other merchant accounts is the “integration”. Prior to going to your bank or other providers you first need to identify the needs that you have for the data management. To me this is more important than the fees, discount rates, etc.

When looking into integration it gets pretty technical so you may need to consult with your marketing agency or web development firm. Basically, you’ll need an API to communicate between your shopping cart software and the bank. Your cart will not work with all systems. Those that do work are not all created equal. Before reviewing merchant accounts based on price you should find out that it is:

1. Compatible with your cart system
2. Fits your processing needs like recurring monthly transactions
3. Has reporting and search tools work well
4. Great reputation for their customer support and documentation is solid.

Start with your needs and work backwards. The price can be re-negotiated as your volume grows. However, a bad fit is only going to get worse as you grow.

[Note: PayPal acquired VeriSign in 2005 and has since offered full merchant account services. Yet, most people when talking about PayPal do not mean full merchant account services]

E-Mail marketing is a wonderful tool a small business to use. You can communicate like the big boys with inexpensive tools to create and send mailings to your clients and prospects. These systems allow messages that are not only targetable but also accountable (you can see who opened the e-mail, when they did it, and what actions they took). Just keep in mind that there are some things that are ok (when creating your lists) and some things that are not.

DEFINITELY NOT OK TO USE

1. You obtained the email addresses from a third party: Whether you purchased a list, were provided one by a partner or bought a bankrupt competitor’s customer list, those people never gave YOU permission to email them and they will consider your email spam.
2. You scraped or “copy and pasted” the addresses from the Internet: Just because people publish their email address doesn’t mean they want to hear from you. (see Seth Godin about permission marketing)
3. You haven’t emailed the recipient’s address for more than 2 years: Permission doesn’t age well. Even if you got their permission legitimately, they won’t remember giving it to you. If you haven’t sent something to that address in the last 2 years, you can’t start now.

OK TO USE

1. Opted in from your site: Each subscriber opted in from your own web site where you explained when and what you would be contacting them about.
2. Purchased a product from you: This person is a customer that purchased from you within the last 2 years.
3. Handed you their business card at a trade show or other event knowing you would contact them: If you told the card owner you would be in contact, you have permission. If you did not suggest either with a sign or verbally that you would be contacting them, you do not have permission.
4. They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed: If someone completes an offline form like a survey or enters a competition, you can only contact them if it was explained to them that they would be contacted by email AND they ticked a box indicating they would like to be contacted.

Follow these rules and maintain an automated “suppression list” or “blacklist” and you’ll do fine. Often people who are truly interested in what you have to say are happy to receive your e-mails. Think about the e-mail you like to receive (i.e. local show announcement from a comedian or musician that you like, a discount or special offer from a company that you often buy from, etc).

Small Businesses are tough to grow. Mainly because you need to hire people and they naturally do things differently than you. So in order to have everyone new do things the same way as the founder you need to define the process. This is a tough thing to sit down and do. Often it will require multiple meetings with the leaders of the company to work through each little thing.

You’ll want to determine the process for lead generation, sales, purchasing, fulfillment, invoicing, reception, etc. The goal is to put things down in a clear way so anyone in the company, new or experienced, can jump in and do thing the same way. If you manufacture items, you’ll need to figure out the process for production so every product is the same. The same applies to services but it’s done less often because manufacturing a product often requires specifications where as a service does not.

Defining how a product or service is made will shed insight into how much time, materials, and energy are required.  This may show you that you need to charge more for the service, discontinue the offering, or innovate.

Defining how you do things will enable you you create benchmarks for how long it takes to do them. This will make your proposals more accurate and highlight employee successes or failures.

After looking at your work flows, you’ll also want to dig into the ways you present yourself. Do you have a style guide for your brand? Do all letters from your company look the same even if they are written by different people? How do you answer the phone? Is it consistent?

If done right, all of this hard work can make the difference between owning a business and having a job. After all even executive management should be able to be defined. Realistically, this is where much of the value of a company is held. It creates good will. It makes it scalable. It makes it profitable. It creates the experience. It makes you unique.

There are many different types of systems that are used to operate a business. They are designed to automate or improve the effectiveness of the practices that you do normally. These “best practices” shouldn’t change but the method for implementing them might. CRM is on of those buzz words in business today.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broad term that covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer information. By combining sales (using a type of Sales Force Automation), marketing, and customer service into a single software-driven technology, CRM optimizes revenue and enhances customer service. Customer interactions are recorded and that information can be used to manage, measure, and keep track of the sales, marketing, and customer service processes. Several commercial CRM software packages are available which vary in their approach to CRM. However, CRM is not just a technology, but rather a holistic approach to an organization’s philosophy in dealing with its customers.

How Can A CRM Program Help You?

One of the advantages of CRM is that everyone has access to what’s going on with customers and knows what is needed to keep them happy. This is even more important when your organization grows or has high employee turn-over as customer knowledge tends to be lost. As you build relationships and address customers needs quickly and efficiently you will benefit from greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Setting up the System

The objectives of a CRM strategy must consider a company’s specific situation and its customer’s needs and expectations. First, you must review your workflow and identify the strengths and weaknesses. Then, determine how you will change the workflow utilizing new technology and automated process systems. Set up procedures and protocols for how information will be received, reviewed, and utilized. Once a structure has been identified and laid out, schedule a time to thoroughly train your sales and support teams prior to deployment.

Establishing a CRM System is a process that has to be managed in order to be effective. Set up an accessible resource for future questions and suggestions. Many companies have successfully implemented CRM systems. While there are reports of “failed” implementations of various types of CRM projects, these are often the result of unrealistic high expectations and exaggerated claims by CRM vendors.

Companies that I’ve consulted for have been successfully utilizing CRM systems and techniques for years. I’ve found that the CRM system is can no longer be just a stand-alone system or processes but rather needs to be an integrated component that supports the entire company. Some systems even merge CRM, Accounting/ERP, and E-Commerce.

What’s the Point?

When it comes down to it your customers expect you to know who they are. If you have a large staff or customer base you’ll need some sort of process to compile and distribute relevant data so your customer experience is maintained. People make emotional connections to the products and services that they use and this can often be heightened when you make efforts to personalize their experience. Everyone wants to be remembered, even if they’re not a VIP.

References:

• Wikipedia
• How Stuff Works

Resources:

• ACT
• Goldmine
• Microsoft Dynamics
• NetSuite
• Quickbooks CRM
• SalesForce