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It’s Not Business, It’s Personal

January 29th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

That’s right, it isn’t business as usual anymore, and it hasn’t been for a few years now. Rating sites and social media – the internet – has changed things forever. Yelp, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ – this is the new frontier and these sites require attention and demand relationships with others. Yes, relationships. That means listening and chatting.

If you are a B2B business, meaning you don’t sell to consumers but provide products and services to businesses, this article is for you. My company doesn’t provide web design and marketing services to other companies. I, together with my team, design and build web sites and provide marketing services to people at companies. People are ALWAYS involved in making the decision and people are ALWAYS involved throughout the project and beyond. So it is not about business – it is personal because if those folks didn’t think we could do the job, didn’t know what we were talking about or didn’t trust us – it is doubtful we would have gotten the contract. Read more…

Going Mobile: QR Codes and Snap Tags

January 23rd, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

The buzz for 2012 is MOBILE. Everything is mobile; everything has to be mobilized.

First go to your mobile phone and if you have the ability to access the Internet, check your website.

If your phone doesn’t have this feature – first put it on your list to upgrade your darned phone already; second – borrow a friend or colleague’s phone to perform this test.

How does your website look? How does it perform? If you can’t easily see, read or interact with your web site then next on your to-do list is update your website or have your web designer create a mobile version.

Now for a little 2012 Mobile Marketing: QR Codes and Snap Tags. You probably have heard of and seen QR Codes by now but Snap Tags might not have gotten on your radar yet. These are slow to take hold since a lot of consumers and B2B prospects are not yet familiar, but a lot are, so getting started now is a good idea. There is nothing wrong with being new to the game if it can put you ahead of your competitors.

First I’ll address QR Codes – those square boxes you see that have bizarre Escher style markings. See this example. If your phone has a camera and one of the many readily available (and some free) QR reader apps, feel free to snap a shot of this and activate – surprise! Admittedly the process is a bit cumbersome but some consumers find them fun and efficient. You don’t need to jot down a phone number anymore, just snap a picture and activate – you have what you need.

With this digital example you may be thinking “What’s the point,” but where a QR Code really shines is converting an inanimate printed piece such as a sign or product packaging into an interactive tool for spreading your message or offering value. Basics are you offer folks a direct link to your website – think mobile business card. Food and other packaged items that have a QR Code might take you to a recipe if it is food, or instructions if it is a gadget, or to a fan page. Real estate agents and car dealers can put them on “For Sale” signs to later take an interested passersby to an informational mobile site to learn more. My favorite QR Code is when I buy travel or event tickets online. They email me a QR Code receipt so when I go to the venue I just bring up the QR Code on my phone, they scan and I’m in.

While you currently have to pay for this service, Snap Tags are more attractive and have the added feature of being able to show off your branding. Think interactive logo. These are circles you might see on a package, poster, magazine cover or an advertisement. Within the circle you can put a message, add your logo and brand how you see fit. There are codes that make up the circle that work a lot like the QR Codes above and a phone number to text. Here is an example. The really cool thing about Snap Tags that trump QR codes is that these images are ‘sent’ via your phone and so from a marketing perspective you know exactly who interacted with your tag. This is unbelievable data capture for target marketing and value analysis. Even more exciting, especially for not-for-profits and other fundraisers, you can set it up so that users can send the snap tag along with a donation that is billed right to their phone. Cool huh?

Think fun, think interactive, think personalized and you are thinking mobile marketing. Text, QR or Snap – how do you plan to mobilize your marketing this year?

Staying Connected

January 20th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

In an industry such as mine that increasingly takes place virtually, you’ve got to find new ways to stay accessible, collaborate and communicate. I thought it might be helpful to share with you some of the tools that we use to keep connected, so in no particular order here are some of the Hive’s most valued communication tools. I hope that you’ll speak up and share some of yours too!

The phone is your friend, except when a sales person is cold calling you but really, the phone is sometimes forgotten or set aside in our digital lives. It is so much easier to text and far more polite to shoot off an email. I’ll even shoot off a quick email to ask for a good time to call. Even with team members – when typing into Skype gets to be too much I’ll ask for a call with an emoticon. Although the phone is rarely used, when used properly, a voice to voice can almost be as good as a face to face. Phoning has gone out of style and for good reason, however, a planned call can have great results. Today, the telephone is not the first go to tool and if you are still a phone first kind of person we would like to suggest reading this New York Times article on the topic.

Text messages. This is a mixed bag. I look at my text messages as an urgent response required although I know that is not always the case. Text messages are perfect when you don’t want to intrude or interrupt with an unscheduled phone call but want to ask a quick question, get a piece of information, status update or even a heads up out to someone. Sometimes I’ll text that I’m in the area and ask if a quick meet is an option. You’d be surprised how often this is a great connect for an impromptu meeting. Naturally you will need their mobile phone number to use this service. I would caution you to use this service with discretion so as not to become an annoyance, especially with regards to business acquaintances. However for companies who provide services or ship goods, asking your customers if they would like a text status update is a great tool to keep in touch and open the door for greater communications. Read more…

Adios Muchacho

January 16th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

January 2012 and bookkeeping is my life. Closing out the 2011 books and getting ready for my accountant as well as finalizing our 2012 budgets and projections has me looking closely at our numbers. Much to tell but for the moment I’d like to focus on what losing an account, a really large account, did to us in 2011.

There is no other way to say this; losing a really big account is just out and out painful. When you lose a really large account while the economy is tanking, thoughts of going out of business can come to mind.

The worst part about losing a large account is the dent in the cash flow. All of a sudden the numbers in the checking account look like tumbleweed in an abandoned town.

You can’t have been in business long if you have never lost an account. It is bound to happen. An account can be lost to a competitor, because you are no longer needed, or you messed up. Take your pick.

Last year we lost not only our biggest account but also an account that had been with us for nearly 18 years. We were told that they brought the work in-house and so our services were no longer needed. I can live with that, I don’t feel as bad as if we had majorly dropped the ball but a loss is a loss.

This departed account impacted our cash flow. The impact was financially about as hard as you can imagine. Our financial foundation was attacked and we had to scramble. So….. Read more…

Google+ Or Minus?

January 9th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

I haven’t really addressed this topic yet. Like so many of us who are working our other profiles and accounts such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, plus blogging; another social media service to keep up with just seemed less than appealing.

I have been paying close attention and did start to dabble with Google+ feeling obligated on two fronts. The first is that we promise to deliver search optimized web sites. Second, I write, speak and teach about social media and do my best to stay current.

I’ve been following well-known experts to learn about their insights, tips and beliefs about Google+ and there is controversy. Some experts remain excited while others have a rather ho-hum take on the new social platform. Interestingly enough since this is a new platform most of the webinars, seminars and articles are fee based. Learning options for the other platforms that have been around longer tend to be free for at least the starter versions.

Google+ has had an impact on other social media sites. Facebook quickly made changes that mirrored Google+ and one can assume they might be a bit worried. In the meantime, Twitter continues to grow both in membership, usage and has rolled out updates and new features as well. Obviously Facebook hasn’t exactly fallen off the map, however I am meeting and speaking with several people who just flat out quit Facebook – ‘they had enough’ and that is that. Each mentioned momentary withdrawal symptoms but quickly overcame.

So to Google+ or not seems to be the question at hand. Read more…