The Social web– how to use Facebook Twtter or MySpace to grow or KILL your business?

1st you NEED to realize that your business is complete different and should be treated as such then your personal pages. People put up profiles on social websites for a few reasons– get new friends, keep in touch with old friends or have a place to voice your thoughts and opinions among people they like and or trust. HOWEVER– Your business should only be on Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace for  ONE pure Goal– To make money !!!!

This is extremely important because many business owners are  running their personal and business profile the same way and it can ruin your business forever!

and you work this utilizing these methods

3  REASONS–and only 3– 1)To get people to spend more money when they buy (if they buy $10 use it for promos to get them to spend $12 next time) and  2) How to get them to buy what you have more often (if they buy once a month to get them to buy once every two or three weeks ) and lastly 3) how to get one customer to bring in more customers (what is going to cause one person to tell the people they trust or trust them that you exist and they support your business as well — growing a customers circle of influence to benefit you)

For you business realize this what you put on on the web is permanent one and you can NEVER retract it. It is called Caching of a webpage in which your browser saves every version of a website to see this use achive.org the home of Googles Wayback machine.  And what your thing as a funny , cool or neat idea or opinion your OTHER visitors might not  agree with and THEREFORE my chose to NOT use your business because they read such things even though you do. This is a HUGE point for those people that have never used your business in the past and are searching the web to determine IF they are going to use your business today. Think about how often you use review sites to purchase a product to see generally how people feel about it. Its great because they are people you don’t know and there for are mostly just speaking pure about their experience. PEOPLE ARE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING WITH YOUR BUSINESS .

HERE IS THE KILLER OF BUSINESS ON THE WEB YOU WILL never FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT IS CAUSING PEOPLE TO DECIDE NOT TO USE YOUR BUSINESS . SO LOOK AT YOUR REVIEWS, FEEDBACK AND POSTS VERY CAREFULLY EVERYDAY BECAUSE THEY ARE DICTATING THE REAL OPINIONS .

 

IF YOU WANT POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO CHOOSE YOUR BUSINESS OVER YOUR COMPETITION email me at tom4change@gmail.com and will show you how exactly drive the web, social media and review sites in your favor .

13 Great reasons why Apple WILL be announcing the Verizon Iphone on Friday

What this company is doing to every industry is phenomenal and you will never see something this amazing again. I will be the happiest person on Friday because I will finally know when I getting my Verizon Iphone  after 3 VERY long years.  Why am I so sure? Apple history will teach you that at least since 2000 this company follows an really solid pattern and we are about be amazed again.

1. Apple has NEVER and will never hold a press conference to fix something they hold press conferences to astound your life. Apple is not Lebron James, Toyota or BP has everybody completely forgotten that when they invite the press it is to somehow figure out to positively alter the quality of your life when it comes to computers. Steve Jobs would never hold a press conference to fix issues there is no value there. So stop assuming this event is for an Antennea or any other issue. Apple have not stated what this is about at all which is really neat to me.

2. When have Apple given literally one day to announce and hold a press conference? I don’t think ever. They love the hype of people trying to guess at what they are going to do so this is against their character to hold it so fast and on a Friday not Tuesday (but thats further down the list) They doing it fast so there is no time for things to slip out.

3. There was a email sent to stores saying “its coming” and  ”its going to be really big” and I think that email and this event are definitely connected and they didn’t have time to send out paper invites so that to me is the teaser. “Its” has only been the number one request all employees have  been getting at the store whicj is Verizon Iphone and “Really big” is giving 96 million or more  people access to your best selling product. I used to work in retail and we used the terms to describe Xmas “Really busy”or  ”Really Big” means all vacation time is blacked out and there is lots of OT to be had. So it could mean all employees need to prepare for the massive influx of business. Estimates are over 3 million in a weekend which it double what brought all ATT and Apple servers to a halt a few weeks ago for preorders on the Iphone 4.

4. That email part two– Do you realize that the Apple stores have never been given a heads up before an event? I know these might not be connected but just stay with me on this one. Why? They don’t want anybody to say something to soon. Some retail employee announcing before Steve Jobs would definitely kill all the clout they have but they need to give them a warning without telling them the what and that has to be why the email showed up. Again they know that email would be scrutinized but they can’t pull this off without major support from the stores. My guess they will offer it through their own retail first this time (remember the fiasco of ATT’s approval process with the first Iphone) this is if he announces and releases immediately which is  a long shot

5. Do you realize that if you go back just two years in Apple history and overlapped the announcements with 2008 and 2010 the timeframes are almost identical.

6. There have been ONLY two announcements in July (not June) in recent Apple history this is the 2nd.  What was the first? July 11 2008 –the App store you know that little thing that has over 1 Billion transactions in just 2 years was the first.

7.Why is this so Fast? PART 2 because verizon Management is under a gag order from Steve Jobs and they are not about to make the same mistake twice so they can’t tell their employees until Steve’s announcement. Remember the less people that know the better

8. How did Steve get these agreement(s) in place without anybody figuring it out? He used the Ipad and meetings with media companies mixed with telecom too. Remember how it was rumored that they were meeting with Verizon  and Sprint for the Ipad but then they announced ATT to everybody’s dismay and anger? That was the plan all along.

9 Why the heck did they chose Friday and not the normal Tuesday? Instant Gratification, speed and sales.  What if they did a announcement with an available immediately people would be standing in line immediately. I will. Weekend are the best time to release the product people shop most. Again they have to do this fast before somebody like me pieces the whole thing together

10 How they will use Friday to get Tuesday? Again go back 2 years July 2008 and Steve used the Earnings release as a way to highlight the brand new  revolutionary app store 10 million apps downloaded in 4 days and 1 million 3g Iphones sold  first weekend Believe you me when I say if Apple can do something to announce a brand new product or category for tuesdays call he will even though its not in the previous quarter but in the current one

11. Breaking the exclusivity –How did both sides break up and nobody heard about it ? Steve traded the Ipad exclusivity for time. The Ipad was never a part of the original agreement  and Steve gave it to ATT not because of the rates but 3 reasons–1 He gave them  IPAD first  them in exchange to amend the original agreement without penalty by say I’ll give you this for income if we agree to shorten the term    2 Always test a new product on what you know if has issues there are less variables 3 It works in Apple’s favor to have one way to get a new release and not 4 networks that way he builds desire among those who won’t or can’t get it. He probably tier the IPAD 3 g and WIFI for two dates not for manufacturing as much as being able to separate profitability for each company easier. Why was it in the middle of two huge releases? Does you “exclusive partner” change their DATA rates drastically for the Ipad and iphone and in the same week raise their early termination fee. It’s little like they took those intial Ipad customers and screwed everybody after them  over. You can ague the Iphone 4 release was the reason why but losing exclusivity has a much bigger impact on your bottom line (ask Sprint and Samsung)

12 Why would ATT give up the exclusivity before the term is up? They can’t handle the bandwidth, Steve already insured existing customers don’t run for the exits by getting probrably over 2 million of them back to ATT for the next two years by announce Iphone 4 on the existing network before opening it up to other vendors(Apple needs this as well cause it reduces Churn)

13 Steve loves being able to shock people into what they LEAST expect or don’t expect at all. That radically grow the companies market share Examples moving to Intel chips, the iphone announcement, the app store and developer models, I ad and finally the Non ATT Iphone. Rememer when everybody expected the original iphone to be 3 different devices NOBODY thought it would be one and Now everybodys expecting a minor hardware fix and they are going to get a MAJOR dose of Freedom.

PS Don’t worry he will fix the antenna issue but will be small time compared to what he has in store

Have you taken this sales tool for granted lately?

Your website–you know that thing that sells for you when your sleeping or off doing other things. Most people feel that they can just put it out there and thats it. NO!!! You have to check on it everyday . Look at it from an outside perspective– like your a customer not the owner– Do all the links work and are still relevant? If you have a store front change the format pictures, layout a little or even figure out way to make the ordering process even easier for your customers (think Apple App easy). Just remember your website only  works as hard as you do to keep it quick, fast, relevant to keep it going your business. Remember –It’s not a static object even though it may feel that way when you are doing the backend work to it.

Turning over the new leaf for the new year–

I’ve been noticing lately that many small business are really leaving money on the table. How much do you spend in advertising to get a customer to make a first purchase with you? So after you make that sale and what is the time frame that you reach back out to them to make sure they are happy with your product or service? 3, 5 or 7 days or do you at all ? So many business owners say they never reach out to the customer because they are afraid of uncovering a problem that a customer has but hasn’t told you about yet. Let me be the first to tell you that YOU WANT to uncover a challenge if the customer is having one. WHAT?!?! have I lost my mind. Nope. Here’s why you want to find the challenge– take a wild guess at the customer that is also MOST willing to refer you to their family and friends to the point of becoming a raving fan of your business (it’s not the one that you gave a great price to )? Yes it is the customer that had problem with your product or service and you called them PROACTIVELY because you care about their satisfaction and happiness. They are by far and away they MOST like to make multiple purchase and tell others how great you are because you stuck you head out and were looking to do what ever it took to make them happy. So start being proactive during the new year and start calling all your customers and asking them if they are happy but make the call under the premise that you forget to tell them when they were in the store or with you last that if they are happy with you that if they refer you that you’ll give them a gift certificate to _______. or the next time they make a purchase you going to give them 30% that purchase. Your going to find that nobody has a problem and that they are so glad you called to make sure they are happy just because nobody else called them to do the same thing you are. Think about it when was the last time you got a call or even a hand written thank you card? I promise that your sales will grow because people want to do businesses that care about them.

the Next big thing in business — Advertising revolution

Marketing and advertising is going thru the biggest changes right now you just don’t see it yet.  Within every failure there is a greater opportunity that rises from the ashes. Right now there many failures that are happening as our world transitions from a physical world into a purely virtual one. we have literally destroyed the value of many of the products that we used to own are now a completely invisible medium. your going from a world where you used to touch and feel things in order to understand their value to a world that is going to completely become dependent on how companies communicate to us why and how things will be valuable. Think about that because it is by far the most mind blowing thing I have  ever written in this blog. You used to judge the value of things by their physical medium and look at this list of the things where  you used to literally “judge a book by its cover” but can’t anymore, CD’s books, newspapers, balancing your checkbook, faxes, hand written letters, waiting AT HOME for a phone call or walking through a shopping mall. Now how are you going to judge the value of things because you are not personally invested? The less involved and invested you are the more dependent you become on the world around you to show you what the value of things are. You want proof –the housing crisis. This is crazy but the whole entire thing was predicated upon changing your belief of what your house was actually worth. Up until that point the value of your home was based on what you could afford with your paycheck but at some point we stopped believing in living in our housing and value of  a lifetime of memories it become a tool of which we could just make incredible money fast. All of the sudden we went around and started looking at looking at how much money we could be making and here is the key we somehow bought into the belief that housing prices were going to continue to accelerate like an Ebay auction. The whole time our income never double but our cost of our houses did and we believed that somehow we were going to be able to afford it. We trusted  what everybody around us was doing and saying we stopped trusting ourselves and what we could afford. So we learned our lesson hopefully but it still brought to the surface a much bigger truth that our lives are going to become more and more or new ways of perceiving value. True value is built on trust and since we learned a huge lesson in who we can’t trust the opportunity  NOW is in learning who we can. The new business model will be based on TRUST since being able to touch is no longer the medium we can judge products on. FOCUS on building TRUST in your communication. Thats why Apple has Microsoft scared. APPLE is based on one thing TRUST of the customer by delivering products that do one thing they ALWAYS work better then you expect.

The real simple reason why Circuit City deserves to be bankrupt

I just goes to show you that no matter how big you are as long as you give terrible customer service you will go broke even if you beat (supposedly) you competitors prices. I have never heard anybody tell me a positive experience they had at Circuit City but i’ve seen all there associates ignore customers. I think of all the places i’ve  ever shopped I have never understood why it was alway so hard for their associates to do on simple thing that every other business did. Greet me and ask me if I need assistance BEFORE I have the need for you. From what I’ve seen they mastered the art of IGNORING their customers and look at them now just goes to show you that PRICE isn’t everything but great customer service is cause BEST Buy is still around now aren’t they.

Getting customers to act on what you say… NOW!!!!

What is the one thing that all people have in common in communication?   Often times we NEVER think of HOW we want to say something we only think of WHAT we want to say. However as business owners we are all in competition for what we want to say to our customers. We all want to say that we have the best service, lowest prices, best quality, or fastest delivery. However everybody says those things but very few deliver and when others don’t deliver it loses it’s magic. Sure you have never tried to use power words just to get a potential clients attention however others have and it cheapen the value of what you are trying to deliver on. One of the things that I like to say is that “you don’t need a degree to start a business”. When I say that to my own clients they know that there are thousands of people that are are trying to make a buck no matter what the cost or implications to your market share. These people are no where near the high caliber of  business owners that you are. You have to realize that in the end you may end up getting the customer after they have ruined their chances( you know those horror stories customers tell about the last guy I went to). HOWEVER they have done major damage in your customers willingness or desire to believe the words that you say because of their actions.

So you have to find more ingeneous ways to communicate your potential and true value to them in ways that those bottom feeders would never be able to understand. don’t try and use the same devalued words find ways to put yourself at a higher level

Let me give you so monumental examples of business that have used this

Fastest Delivery— 30 minutes or your pizza is free {domino’s}

Storage on a MP3— 1000 songs in your pocket–{Apple}

Convenience-We do it just a little bit better WAWA–{Wawa}

U R L—-Ubiquity now –Revenue Later–

URL– early internet term had a hidden meaning during the dot com days that I feel is unbelievably relevant with the state of the economy to every small business now.

 

I was on the phone with a client of mine and we we talking about the fact the everybody is in complete budget lockdown right now. No company is will to spend any money they can’t recoup immediately that line –cash is KING is the only truth in business right now. He said I remember this speaker years ago when the internet was first taking hold and it was all about getting people to remember your URL or (website address) and people just beginning to see the possibilities of making money online. He had this great quote that literally became the foundation of the “dotcom” era — URL–Ubiquity now –Revenue Later.

The idea making a business that people not only remember its so strong they can’t forget it if they tried.  

 

As a pure statement it is great but it also allowed bad investments in that era cause nobody knew what the financial payback of what that ubiquity was worth caused alot of turmoil. However on the flip side you could  never forget the pets.com puppet that now staring in in car insurance commericals–now that ubiquity. Great companies use downturns to exploit mindshare and marketshare of their customers. It was the companies that didn’t go broke and those that  came in right afterwards that reap the greatest benefits of that ubiquity.

 

Now to the present day when the nobody is going to be making money now is a great time to build the uniqueness of your business so that when consumer confidence does come back you’ll be the first business of your kind to make money ask yourself “what do I really want this business to be remembered for ?” Use the bad economy to build brand share, customer service excellence, going above and beyond for the customer BEFORE they have to ask you too, or heck ask your customer what times works best for them to shop be there, or personally deliver the product when they would never expect you to. Build the Ubiquity is easy now because everybody is so focused on their fears that when you go above and beyond for them you are literally saying “I still have a lot of faith in you right now” EVERYBODY needs to hear that right now. When you say it with your deeds customers Hear you big time!

Five Guys Burgers — How to Absolutely ensure Customer Happiness

 In yet another great and revolutionary statement “5 Guys Burgers” does it again!!!!   This is the sign in the famous eatery.YOU DESERVE TO BE 100% SATISFIED– If not please inform the manager who will make things right.  I love that last part “WHO WILL MAKE THINGS RIGHT” there is no doubt to what their intent is when it comes to your satisfaction. All small business should adopt this very strong stand when it comes to the customers experience while they are guests in your establishment.

5 steps to the BEST customer service EVER!!!

Do these SIMPLE things and customers will rave about your business to their friends.1. DON’T make them wait AT ALL — people that already own your product take precedence over everything because they have the most to gain from your expertise in solving their problem and you have the most to lose if they aren’t happy(that sale, customer and risk anybody they talk to about it). When you are agitated already WAITING just makes it worse.2. Understand how they are feeling because of this complaint. Identify then empathize with how they are feeling now. NEVER EVER act , say or think that it is their fault(unless you really want to lose a customer without any chance EVER of getting them back and a badly bruised reputation too). Remember the more they feel YOU APPRECIATE what they are going through the more willing they will be toward letting you solve their problem3. Your goal is to build the trust that has been destroy as quickly and STRONGLY as possible. You want them to feel GLAD for having this complaint because it make them a better more informed customer of yours. You want the customer to see you as a friend that is trying to help you instead of connected to the product they are having an issue with. Here’s a simple way to build trust — be humble enough to take the blame (whether your wrong or not) while giving the customer all the credit for all the right decisions. People trust those who allow themselves to be willing to take on fault and don’t to those who always act like it’s never their fault but yours. The next part is your can never genuinely build peoples worth in themselves without them inherently trusting you. In both cases your putting the customers first and yourself second which is rule#1 for earning trust in any area of business.4.Separate out their emotions and the actual challenge that you are both facing. Should be mostly done if you did the last two steps correctly. Ask them specifically what the problem is. Ask if its okay if so your both clear if you can repeat your understanding of it back to them. It’s unbelievable how many complaints remain unresolved just because of mis-communication. Remember if the customer feels like you don’t understand they can’t and won’t let you resolve their issue(s). 5. Solve the problem to the customers expectation not yours. Give them something above and beyond they don’t expect for their inconvenience. Call them to make sure that they have made the right decision. A week afterwards send them a gift certificate or exclusive coupon for them to use the next time they make a purchase. The most important thing is to give them a great reason for them to comeback into your store so that they can remember again why it is that they love doing business with you. If you have the ability to go out of your way to make them feel special when they make that next trip in.  

Yet another reason why Steve Jobs and Apple are the best ever

I love the Apple stores I always have. However I was walking through the mall today and I saw one of the greatest ways of show potential customers that we have plenty of staff here to serve you , they are easy to find(even from clear across the mall), and even with a completely packed store potential customers saw there was plenty of staff on hand that are HAPPILY serving their current customers in the Store. So the million dollar question is how did I get all that information will just a GLANCE at the Apple Store on my way to the Food Court at Christiana Mall. I’ll give you a hint it has to do with topic that I wrote about four weeks ago on this blog about Macy’s Department Store and their utter stupidity of how they present their employees. Do a quick read I’ll wait here if you haven’t yet you’ll understand what I’m about to share. So as I was saying before what colors your eyes use to make decisions on what to pay attention too.

Now NOT only did I pay attention but it ALMOST drew me into the store just because all the employees looked like they where having so much fun helping customers I wanted to feel like those customers felt– positive and relaxed (did I mention the store was PACKED– It’s less than 4 weeks till Christmas on a rainy Sunday at the mall ). SO I have 4 questions for you about my experience that I help to see why this was so amazing. First how was I able to see ALL the employees from across the mall? Second How could I tell that they had enough staff help a packed store? Third what the employees attitude was before I entered the store? and Fourth How could I have gotten all that info with just a quick glance? The answer was the color that all the employees where wearing got me to do that in like two seconds flat. I one of those colors that gets you to stop what you are doing and say whats that. With the backdrop of the apple store being clear it easy to see through.

The color is RED yes Stop light RED. We all do what we are taught as consumers or people. The rules that we have been taught when it comes to that color are plentiful. Our mind makes INSTANT associations when we see fire engine RED. It SCREAMS pay attention to me –your life my depend on it. So they used the color to send the same message but for a different reason. Who ever in Apple designs these little strategies is an absolute genius. Your eyes also reflect off of RED when you see it to determine its meaning. in other words you look for whats around it to determine its meaning. That’s how I was able to see the smiles because my eyes pulled off the shirts. It also allowed me to see how many employees where there compared to customers. Now that’s a Message that display ultimate shopping confidence– the one thing we are all looking for this holiday season–a reason to believe and trust in ANY retail business.

Do this one thing and your customers will become “Raving Fans”

Take personal responsibility for giving your customers the best experience possible.  Simple sounding but hard to transfer to Real Life you say? Yes and no. Yes because it will have you make fundamental changes in every aspect of your business to get started. No because once you go from ‘delivering customer service to creating an positive experience for your customer no matter what the circumstances are the mindset the work takes care of itself. Most people don’t stop and notice that changing your perspective about any aspect of your life is completely free and all you have to do decide to. Just remember this –there is nothing a customer appreciates more than somebody that understands THEM and seeing the world from their perspective. People love to talk about experience that they were expecting a negative and you create something positive for them where there wasn’t something previously. So step out and take RESPONSIBILITY for them and then watch all you gain from it.

Why you need to look at Apple retail stores if you want to run a great(and hugely profitable)business

Here are a list of just some things that you need to incorporate into your business Right NOW. I have picked them all up from Steve Jobs design of Apple retail business but they run a better business then anybody on the planet and it’s not because they make great products(wait that’s another post). Instead they understand what all customers want more than anything. An experience that literally transcends any other business (or human) interaction you have had before. Just look at this ever growing list of things they have given society.

1. The close when the last customer(s) leave not when a clock tells them to<shows customers they are #1>

2. The don’t sell they educate <people are mature enough to know when they are ready to buy>

3. They have instore classes all the time <even though you own their product that are not satisfied until you are in using it>

4. The use the clearest and lightest colors in their store <to make it some place you want to come in for the atmosphere and show you they HAVE nothing to hide>

5. You can stay as long or as little as you want with or without an employees help<please make yourself at home and I’m ONLY here if YOU would like me to be–to make your visit more ENJOYABLE >

6. All employees are armed(literally) with a credit card device that is ready where ever you are WITHOUT HAVING TO STAND IN ANY LINE(that’s a 1st–no waiting in line imagine that one)

7. They make ALL APPLE Store grand openings the EXPERIENCE of a life time. <Just like Disney World once in your life you have to attend an Apple store grand opening —you WILL feel the same emotion that YOU are KING>

8. If you Ipod breaks under warranty they replace it <they Don’t make you suffer because their product is defective or breaks–others try and find a way to put the blame on your actions and not honor the warranty–They feel it’s more important doing whatever it takes to keep the customer happy>

9. All employees are HAPPY to be there <makes the fact that you might need help less threatening because they WANT to give you anything you desire, instead of making you feel that they are only there because it’s their job requirement(ahem WALMART excuse me).

I’ll continue this list as I think of more great ideas

How can you make your customers lives easier this time of year?

we all how extremely stressful this time of year can be. However for small business owners it can create several opportunities that the benefits of can last the whole next year though. People remember the intangible things you did to create VALUE in their lives. what did you do out of the ordinary for them? What did you give they they couldn’t find anywhere else?( ex muscle relaxation through having a massage therapist on site as a free service on busy days, holding your customers gifts until they find a way to hide them or having a gift wrapping party –you supply the wrapping paper free of charge they get to wrap their presents in a fun environment where they are away from home and getting to network with other customers) I have tons of other ideas for you just email me. The overall idea is this–

In what completely UNIQUE ways can I make my customers lives more fun, less stressful and /or more productive during the holiday season?

NOW the busiest time of year don’t forget this

Most business pass or fail for the WHOLE year in the next few weeks. i’m sure that you’ve prepared for the busiest time of year. However I just wanted to share a big hint that business owners forget about or think they can live without(the Superman principle). SALES Support or Support in ANY busy area of your business during the holiday rush. Your goal is not only to have what your customer needs but to make your customers lives as easy as possible. Why? because everybody else is stressing them out.

Then there are your employees they matter most because if the are stressed it shows straight thru to your customers almost immediately. So the people you have that are supporting your frontline staff are extremely important to your success. The reason why is simple when things get crazy and hopefully they will they will be the silly putty that holds it all together. You have to make sure they are strong and cross trained in all area of your business customer service, sales, etc. So many times its the littlest things during those rushes that completely back things up  the last thing you want is lost sales this times of year . You never will get the chance again.

Great support will cover breaks, replish register tape, or answer phones when everybody is busy and the list goes on. They can’t truely make your break your best selling season.