Misunderstood Tweets

Ahhh the resurgence of the “why is Seth Godin a Twitter hater” conversation in the past 48 hours.

As he explained to @jimconnley (www.jimsmarketingblog.com), Seth's made a point to say that we as individuals and businessmen and women, should take care to ensure we’re not misunderstood.

Think about an email. Even with the great benefits of sending emails, those conversations that are important enough and possibly “touchy” are best reserved for face-to-face or phone conversations. Too much emotion and tone are lost in email and too many times, written words are misunderstood. If you have an important conversation, try your best not to have it through email. More than likely, you’ll be misunderstood.

Seth’s on to something here. I use Twitter as an individual but my company has dabbled in this new realm as well @clarisnetworks and we’re very cognizant and careful about what it is we say and what we write. There is a danger to social media if you’re not careful enough to be well understood.

It’s like an interview I did with Tucker Carlson, at the time of CNN’s Crossfire, a couple of years ago when he said that people shouldn’t vote just because they can. I agree. We need informed voters. Businesses shouldn’t use Twitter just because they can. Any social media strategy takes planning, foresight and diligence. Don’t be misunderstood.

I really don't see why this is such a big deal or so hard to come to terms with...

Admitting when you make a mistake

Why do so many businesses point fingers when something happens that affects their service to their customers? Wouldn’t you rather know one of your local utility company’s transformers bit the dust instead of them blaming the power failure on high winds? I’d rather know the truth. Why? Because the truth reminds me that the company is honest and when the issue is resolved, obviously competent to get the job done.

Why is it so hard to admit when we’ve made a mistake?

Businesses worry that being imperfect in the minds of their customers will somehow lead to a mass exodus – and it will – if mistakes aren’t learned from and occur repetitively. But generally speaking, businesses make mistakes occasionally, and most of the time those mistakes aren’t linked to the same cause. Still there is a hesitation to admit when we’ve made a mistake.

What do you have to gain from admitting a mistake?

For starters, your goal to clients is to provide them with excellent service, whatever it is that you’re selling or supporting. How can you provide excellent service to your clients if you fail to admit your mistakes? Like the poet and philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

This is the first lesson in admitting mistakes in business: to learn from them so that they don’t occur again.

Second and maybe most profitable of all, admitting your mistake to the customer automatically diffuses any possibility of a confrontation between your company and the customer. Wouldn’t your time be better spent admitting the mistake, working with the customer to find a solution and ensuring that your organization doesn’t spend valuable time and money trying to explain away what happened? Sure it would. Be honest on the front end, diffuse the situation and your customers will thank you for it.

What do you have to lose from not admitting a mistake? Customer loyalty and that could be the exodus you’ve been waiting for.

Admit when you’re wrong, communicate how you fixed the issue and ensure the customer that changes have been made to prevent the situation from occurring again. This is how to keep a customer.

Successfully marketing your event

This past Friday evening, our company held its 10 year anniversary party for clients and employees. We had more than 100 attendees, the best sushi in East Tennessee, beer from a local brewery, and a live band (www.vibraslaps.com). It was a great event.

As folks mingled around, networked with each other and congratulated our CEO and owners, I did what most marketers and event organizers do. First, I talked to every person I could, thanked them for attending and asked if there was anything I could do to make their time at our office more enjoyable.

Second, and maybe more importantly, I recalled my role as the event organizer, not just as the director of marketing. It’s a hard battle to keep your head in the game when you could be letting loose and taking it all in. Co-workers will wonder if you’re having a good time, why you aren’t having a couple of drinks, etc. You have to make an important decision before the event begins.

Will you take complete ownership for the success or failure of your event or will you be too distracted having a good time to be credited with any of the blunders or successes that may develop?

Here are the six core keys that I hold for myself and event staff when hosting an event.

1. Possibly the most important rule to event planning and marketing an event is to set an example for those working with you. You set an example by first setting expectations. Meet with your staff prior to the event and establish guidelines for dress code, arrival and departure times, and what specifically they are responsible for throughout the event. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

2. If there is alcohol being served at the event you’ve planned, don’t drink. You’re the organizer, the go-to person and sometimes you have to make the sacrifice to ensure everyone else had a good time. If you want a drink, have one when you get home or go to an event you haven’t organized.

3. If you have an opportunity to directly participate in the event you’ve planned (like a charity golf tournament), think twice. What if you’re needed? What if there is a problem and you’re not immediately available? Have you ever seen a seasoned wedding planner? They look like they’re having fun (always smiling, very inviting, etc.) but they know they have a job to do and the job at hand is what they’re there for.

4. Smile, be approachable and ensure your attendees know you’re the event planner. If someone has a question, you’re the most qualified to answer it for them. You’re the “answer man” for the time they’re in your care.

5. Remember names. This is an old trick, but you’d be surprised how bad many event planners and marketers are at keeping up with names, especially if you have a large crowd. Take a pen and paper with you, write down names and any characteristic you can to remember the person. When they come back to you in an hour for assistance, you’d be well served to remember their name and make that personal connection that makes them feel like you’re their best friend.

6. Look the part. Most events take last minute set-up and planning. Take an extra change of clothes to accomplish the set-up and then give yourself 30 minutes before the event to change into your attire and freshen up. The last thing attendees or your boss wants to see, is you sweating it out in the clothes you’ll be wearing to the event. Planning effectively prior to the event will ensure you have just enough time to freshen up and catch your breath.

Articulating cost-savings for clients with green practices

One of my primary purposes each day as a marketer is to find a way to reinforce the value of our services to clients and to show them cost-savings whenever possible.

Most "green" initiatives that you see today don't have much weight behind them. You have businesses telling their clients they have a recycling bin or use recycled copy paper. Short of being "green" certified, it's really a hard sell.

The naked truth: your clients don't care if you implement green practices if it doesn't save them money and protect their bottom line.

It doesn't matter whether or not your clients are green-minded, if you can find a way to articulate cost-savings for them through your green practices, you'll have the one-up you're looking for.

For example, at Claris Networks, we started a program called ClarisCares, which reduces our clients energy consumption and saves them money at the same time by using virtualization technologies in our data center.

Let's say we have a business with 17 locations who wants to invest in constructing their own mini-data center onsite at their headquarters.

Here are some initial costs they would consider:

1. Purchasing the hardware, software licenses, etc.

2. Purchasing a cooling system.

3. Purchasing a back-up power system.

4. Constructing the facility to house the equipment.

5. Hiring employees to manage this equipment.

6. Hard-wiring all 17 locations to the equipment.

Initial capital expenditures would be estimated at around $300,000. The sad part? Infrastructure is notoriously under-utilized and is one of the most depreciating assets a business can own.

Servers on average only use 20 percent of their capacity at any given time. That's a 20 percent efficiency rating, which is far worse than the 40 year-old windows we have in our home.

This equipment will also have to be replaced in three to four years as it becomes antiquated in today's market.

The Cost-Saving Pitch

Talk money first, not the environment.

By virtualizing a clients infrastructure we remove the need to invest in this large capital expenditure, cluster their information in a safe and reliable environment with hundreds of other businesses and use resource distribution technologies to host multiple businesses on the same server.

This technology maximizes the efficiency rating to 100 percent and reduces the overall number of individual servers needed if these clients all owned the same hardware, separately.

The Environmental Pitch

Each server that is virtualized saves an estimated 7,000kWh of electricity and removes more than four tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year from the environment.

The cost-saving, burden-reducing and environmental impacts of virtualized infrastructure solutions are very apparent today.

Virtualized Infrastructure. Protecting your bottom line.

Saving the Environment. Priceless.

This is your message.

Selling to existing clients will protect your business in this market

Yesterday, we held our monthly Lunch and Learn entitled “The Big Switch: Technology as a Service”. These are educational lunches targeting a specific demographic. We have existing clients who are interested in learning more about additional services we offer, and we have prospective clients who received our invitation and are interested in not only learning about the services we offer, but as well, more about our company.

Something struck me during the lunch as I sat back and watched our CEO field questions after his 15 minute presentation on hosted infrastructure and how the “cloud” is changing the way businesses will view and purchase IT now and in the future: prospective clients are much harder to convince than satisfied existing customers.

I once read a Gartner whitepaper that stated it takes 80 percent more time, money and sales-related labor to gain a new client than it does to sell additional services to existing clients.

It seems simple enough, but it’s a truth that is often overlooked in today’s marketplace.

Most companies work hard to get a signature on a contract for services and then move on, forgetting that as they develop new service offerings – and if they’ve served their existing clients well – that they have a ripe base of support to which they can more easily sell those new service offerings.

It’s a fundamentally flawed process. To serve clients well is to continually educate them about the services and products that will improve their business and protect their bottom line. By not focusing on an existing customer base, service providers deny their clients the ability to improve their businesses with new and innovative products and in turn, set themselves up to invest large sums of time and money to convince someone else (the prospective customer) all over again.

This is not to say that businesses shouldn’t be networking and prospecting outside their customer base. But today’s market conditions demand, very simply, two things from businesses across the nation: cash preservation and aggressively growing your business. Preserving cash and growing your business in this market is paramount and both can be done at the same time by looking to those that already trust you and believe in the value proposition your new services/products will bring to their businesses.

The Online Season

It’s no secret that consumer confidence is low and is expected to continue its slump through the 2008-2009 holiday season. Retailers are looking for ways to sell their products to weary consumers whose wallets are a bit pinched.

If folks are smart, shopping centers and retail stores will be empty this holiday season…they’ll buy online.

Although online shopping accounts for billions of dollars in goods sold throughout the holiday season in the United States, consumers on whole are still weary about shopping online.

First, there is the nostalgia factor. Walking down the street, all bundled up, store fronts aglow, and shopping for the holidays. People like to be out and about and get the feeling of what has become an American tradition of early morning and late night shopping at malls and retail centers across the nation.

Second, many consumers are still hesitant to enter their personal information (credit card number, checking account information, etc.) to buy online. Great strides have been made in securing personal information online and there are plenty of helpful tips on how to shop safely online that I’ll discuss a bit later.

Not all of your shopping has to be done online, nor do great deals limit themselves to the digital world. Shop a bit in person, throw a scarf around your neck and get the nostalgic experience you so desire. Then, shop online.

This is the online season, if there ever was one.

Retailers are notorious for offering deals online: deals that can’t be found in-store. In fact, many items sold today are only available for online purchase. Retailers offer little-known promotional codes and coupons, only redeemable online and they also provide perks like free shipping and gift wrapping.

I must admit, I was the guy who liked to spend Black Friday running around town, sipping a cup of Starbucks, but last year, I purchase approximately 80 percent of gifts for the holiday season online. I was a bit skeptical. What I found was that deals were great, I found things that I couldn’t find in-store, and shipping was like clockwork. A UPS or FedEx truck delivered my gifts with care, sometimes even gift-wrapped for free, at least once a day for two weeks before Christmas.

I’ve been converted. Trust me, try it once, and you will be as well.

There are many ways to find great deals online, but I’ll only discuss the two most important tools in my opinion.

Coupon and Promotional Code Sites

Retailers offer coupons and promotional codes for their goods and a couple of savvy Web sites compile them in one place for you to conveniently access.

Try visiting www.promotionalcodes.com for great deals. Promotional Codes catalogs great deals for almost everything purchasable online. This site will save you money.

eBay (dot) com

Ah eBay…seems like it won’t go away. That’s because it probably never will. It’s cliché but it works. You can find great deals at www.ebay.com. Deals range from brand new, refurbished and used products at a great price. Pay attention to the sellers “rating” to ensure they consistently provide what they promise. Visit eBay and save tons this holiday season.

Lastly, as you make the move into the world of digital shopping, make sure you do it safely.

Online Shopping Safety

There are plenty of online scams and spoofing sites (sites that mimic a real retailers site to trick you into entering your financial information online) on the Web.

First, make sure you’re visiting the official retailers site by Google-ing the retailer. For instance, if you want to buy something from JC Penny, Google “JC Penny” and you’ll see the retailers official site as the first search result. Second, ensure the site is “secure”. Look at the top of your browser window for the security seal or for the “VeriSign” seal on the payment information page.

Third, read the retailers privacy policy and understand your options to “opt-out” of any future communications from the retailer. Consider creating a temporary email address. Enter this separate email address to ensure communications from retailers aren’t clogging your real inbox. Fourth, keep a record of your purchase by printing a receipt and finally, make sure you close your browser when you’re finished shopping.

These are just a couple of steps you can take to ensure your online safety.

Happy shopping and saving.

Obama: the greatest product-placement politician ever

Well, I guess you can’t blame the guy for trying.

There is no doubt that Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is tech savvy. After all, he’s used his savvy to raise an ungodly amount of money online, uses his campaign Web site in ways never done before by a presidential candidate, has a significant presence on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.

These mediums have been tapped before, but never to the degree that Obama has succeeded in. There is one medium that I hadn’t thought of before…and maybe that’s why I’m not running for president: video games.

You have to admit, it’s a pretty neat concept. Using a video game to campaign for the presidency of the United States. Who else but Obama would have 1. thought of this and 2. actually go through with it? Certainly not Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain. It’s just not his style.

A couple of weeks ago, some proud Xbox 360 owners were wasting their lives away (J) playing a racing game and while driving down the virtual interstate, noticed an Obama billboard encouraging players to “vote early”.

EA Sports, producers of some of my favorite NCAA Football games, confirmed this week that the Obama campaign purchased ad space in the game and that the billboards would appear in the game through the November election.

Though, the billboards only appear in certain games located in certain states: hint, swing states.
So what’s the rationale behind this innovative move by the Obama campaign?

First, it probably didn’t cost the campaign a ton of money. The game, entitled Burnout Paradise, which I hadn’t heard of until seeing the story on this matter, isn’t exactly a hot ticket item.

Second, Obama realizes that demographics for video games and consoles have shifted in the past five years. No longer are video games solely for lonely and pimple-ridden 14-year-olds. Console manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo and game makers are marketing their products to a broader audience which includes many 18 to 25 year-olds who grew up playing Tetris.

This 18 to 25 year-old demographic is much sought after by both campaigns. Obama has energized many young voters, troubles with the economy are benefiting him in the polls and he wants young voters to vote now, and not wait for election day, as the tides could quickly turn for whatever reason.

It’s innovative alright. Will it gain votes? Who knows? Will it generate buzz? Yes, and sometimes word-of-mouth carries more weight than the casting of a few votes.