Be Like StarBucks

Liz Kittell thinks you can have your business be like Starbucks. Check out her New Years Resolution post.

Can your business do these things?

1. Consistency and Image
2. They are always available
3. They have a plan
4. They are focused and good at one thing

Getting the Most Out for Twitter

For those who are new to social media in general and Twitter in particular, here is a good post on getting the most out of Twitter.

I would say you should think about this list with all forms of social media.

http://www.twitip.com/10-traits-of-highly-effective-twitter-users/

The list is...

1. Be welcoming & friendly
2. Engage people
3. Be humorous
4. Inform
5. Regular time
6. Monitor self-promotion
7. Promote others
8. Link in post
9. Listen
10. Be human

Working with Your Customers Through Mobile Devices

I fly commercial often. MediaPost had an interesting observation about trends with travelers and mobile devices.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&art_aid=97743

As they point out, commercial flyers are often the leading edge of trends. True over and over again.

They focus on TV and Movies being watched on mobile devices - not just phones, but also the i-Pod Touch - as opposed to on laptops.

I found myself taking the next logical step this past summer. I quit traveling with my laptop altogether. I use my mobile device to get online with a real browser - in my case Apple's Safari. Then I do all my work online.

What do you need to do to be able to interact with your customers not just online, but online through mobile. With cell phones finally moving to full browsers you do not have to do as much as you think.

Mobile is not just phone calls and texting anymore. Full, rich customer interaction is the idea to focus on for this year.

Yellow Pages Death Watch?

Most agency owners I talk to tell me they are either dropping their yellow pages ads or cutting them way back. When I owned agencies the yellow pages were at best break even on the monthly cost versus the monthly sales generated through them.

Personally, for the past several years, I have just been mad when I come home and another set of phone books is lying in the puddle of rain water at the head of my driveway. To me it is littering. They go straight in the recycling.

The folks over at SearchEngineLand have a great post on the state of the Yellow Pages. You can read it here...

http://searchengineland.com/what-can-save-yellow-pages-industry-15808

Are you still using the Yellow Pages? Do you think any of these ideas can save them? More importantly, do you think your business faces some of these same issues?

Social Media for Small Business

John Jantsch, of Duct Tape Marketing has released a free e-book with sponsorship from Microsoft titled Social Media for Small Business.

Here is a link.

http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/socialmedia/ebook

This is a pretty good 101 type tutorial for those just learning. Thanks to Rick Morgan - Twitter rickjmiv .

For a Moment I Thought It Was 1999

Today I read an article in the January 2009 print issue of Insurance Networking News titled "Online Sales Aid Insurers". Whoa! Blast from the past.

Since about 1999 the insurance industry has been in a struggle with itself about selling directly online. The issue is always - always - about the insurance company saving money by cutting out the sales agent's commission. Those rascally agents are just all getting rich for doing nothing I suppose.

I tried to find this article on their site with no luck. So instead of linking to this I am going to quote it - sorry.

"Given the state of the U.S. economy, the competitive marketplace and ever-changing customer habits, U. S. insurers have begun to invest in online sales strategies."

"...by developing an online sales strategy, insurers are able to lower customer acquisition costs as well as gain control of the customer relationship." (Emphasis mine)

"..customer acquisition costs can be dramatically reduced, due in part to low or no commissions." (Emphasis mine)

"...insurers can conquer the policyholder relationship...". (Emphasis mine)

I thought this was a settled issue. How about you?

All I have read about in the past few years is how "Real Time" was going to save the independent insurance agency. I have never believed that myself, but that's just me remembering that I have been hearing this same line for the past 30 years and it has never, ever, ever made any real headway. For me, if something doesn't work after 29 years of the industry pushing it, I start to have reasonable doubts and look for alternatives. Call me crazy.

Both direct sales by most insurance companies and agency Real Time are beautiful dreams and emotionally satisfying myths. I hope you will spend your time and build your future on realities you can control and implement yourself.

The best part of these two myths is that they let you off the hook. After all they are completely dependent on almost everyone else agreeing to do the same thing. If I remember correctly there was a Tower in Babel about a similar issue a few years back.

Looking at my calendar I see that it is in fact 2009 - I also checked the atomic clock, CNN, Google, and for old times sake a paper copy of the Raleigh News and Observer.

The problems that these two issues address are real. Your customers do want to have better service and if possible lower cost. They do want you to be available in some form 24/7. They know it is all about their experience with you.

This year, instead of waiting, there is a tremendous amount you can do right now to address these problems. You can...

• Create interactive communications on your website, with email, with texting, etc.
• Create collaborative space for you customers to work privately and securely with you online.
• Let your customers pay you online.
• Learn how to follow and participate in online forums for industries you do business with.
• Don't ever send you customer to the insurance company if you can provide that same information or service on your own site.
• Host an online video competition for your customers for the best insurance commercial and give a great prize to the winner.

You will think of many more things.

Personally I can't wait for 2010 to come around because of all the great things that will have been accomplished in 2009. I hope you feel the same way for the same reasons.

Happy New Year - Obsession and Sucess

Happy New Year!

Here is a late holiday gift - a video of Adam Savage of Mythbusters showing his level of obsession. It makes him happy. It makes him successful. It makes Mythbusters one of my favorite TV shows.

Are you this obsessed about anything you do?

Enjoy.