Now, before I get all judgmental, I readily admit that I would be very unlikely to recognize a change in a friend’s house color, either. The point is that people often don’t recognize better, they just recognize good – even if they are not sure why.
My house is having a bad week, and it turned to me for help. Being the handy guy I am, I turned to my phone. There was some water reaching my ceiling from the attic, so I called a roofer, who suggested meeting me at home within an hour, but he was turned away at the last minute by driving rain and a little lightning (wimp). He came first thing the next morning. The problem turned out to be AC-related, so the AC guy came the next day, and his name is on the truck.
I was walking through Wal-Mart the other day, when I passed three young kids just kind of messing around. As I zipped pass them on my way to find a phone cord, the biggest one looked around and said, “Hey, where’d Mom go?” After paying attention long enough to make sure they connected with someone, I went on my way thinking about how applicable that question is for business. (Kind of weird, I know.)
While waiting for my 15-year-old daughter to exhaust the rest of her allowance at the mall (with the help of a friend), I sat in the café area at Borders reading the September issue of “Entrepreneur.” I was pleased to come across an article entitled “The Twittering Class,” about the use of social media tools, but was flabbergasted by how far the article missed the mark.
How many experts out there, much less regular business people, are simply missing the point of Twitter as it relates to business?
Running a business well is like riding a bike. Not because you never forget how, but because getting off to a good start does not always ensure long-term success.
Riding a bicycle in a straight line, even pretty fast, is easy to learn, as my son discovered right away. But a couple days ago, we went for a little skills training. Instead of just riding around the block, we spent some time at a nearby cul-de-sac going really slowly and working on fundamentals. I would have him make sharp turns and maintain his balance by shifting his weight, turning the front wheel and pedaling just enough to stay up.
I need a new smartphone. My Palm Treo was the victim of an office mishap and needs to be replaced. Even with my insurance, a new phone will be only $100 more, so the search is on. In posting my quandary about whether to stay with Palm (Pre), slide over to Blackberry or make the jump to an iPhone, the response from my online friends has been quite interesting.
Even though I never directly asked for opinions, one group was very vocal about expressing their affection for their mobile device. You could call it iLove.
Ever notice how many things seem like they should be fun until you actually do them? What is really sad is that we have done most of those things before – and we should know better.
For me, many of those misguided notions of fun involve shopping of some kind. Going to the mall sounds appealing every six months or so, and even yard sales have a certain pull until the reality of sifting through piles of outdated electronics and battered sports equipment while sweating through your shirt sets in.
What role can SMS messaging play in a marketing campaign?
SMS (short message service) messages are text messages delivered to mobile phones much in the same way email newsletters are delivered to inboxes.
At about 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, I tweeted that I was about to head home and was looking forward to being greeted by my youngest three children (ages 9, 7 and 3) because they still run to me with open arms and big smiles when I get home.
After a few minutes of light traffic and sports-talk radio, I was ready for my hugs and “I love yous.” What I got was something far more nefarious. Sending their mother to the front yard to distract me, my three little angels did indeed run to greet me – dressed in swimsuits and armed with an array of water weapons firing at will. With little regard for my sharp, business-casual attire and leatherette portfolio, they proceeded to drench me, much to their delight (as well as their mom’s, based on her snickers).
Running a small business can put us in similar situations at times. We walk in the office door with high expectations only to be attacked with email, voicemail, tweets and updates that can quickly throw our expectations for a loop.
So what do we do about it?
When a client presents a task that challenges your ability to deliver, you can politely decline and refer them to a competitor, hurriedly add a staff member or seek help from a trusted independent contractor.
Clever copy, creative logos (and really cool email newsletters) often are the work of talented individuals or companies hired by managers of companies in need of a specific skill set. While these stealth specialists often remain anonymous to the client, they play a vital role in more local projects than you might expect.
