I’m always enlightened when I meet business owners and entrepreneurs who are challenged to define the core scope of their businesses. Often I hear, “Well, I sorta do this…”, or “and I also do a little bit of…”. Not suprisingly, there are hundreds of business owners who just don’t know what they do.

In this economy, people have been forced to start businesses doing whatever they can – many times a hodge podge of things – just to pay the bills. Most have no business cards, or have ones with generic sayings like, “We do it all!”, and “Whatever you need done!”.  If you can’t explain what you do, how is anyone else supposed to know?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not one to knock anyone’s hustle, but at least know what your hustle is. Sometimes we can get so overwhelmed by our own skillset that we are too busy doing the work to slow down enough to be able to sort out what we are offering to the public. As my grandfather used to say, “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” This isn’t an uncommon situation, but you still have to think for the other side of the coin. Is anybody going to remember the list of 15 things you do? Probably not, and you won’t be the first to come to mind when they need help, or are in position to refer you.

I came across this situation myself decades ago, when I was asked that infamous question, “What do you do?”. I remember standing there grasping to explain that I was sort of a web developer but really more of a business consultant who does whatever the client needs to get exposure online and take the stage for a niche platform. A mouthful of mush that didn’t make sense to me, so I know it didn’t make sense to the questioner. It took me a minute or so to collect my thoughts, and I could tell the person was losing patience with my answer. Pushing a business card and saying “Check out my web site” wasn’t going to be enough to land the contract. I was so embarrassed.

That weekend, I took a hard look at my entire body of work. I picked it apart, tossed it up, flipped it, shook it out of my head and got it all down on paper so “I” could see what I do. Then I came up with an elevator pitch. A few lines I could rehearse, and rattle off as necessary so that I wouldn’t sound like a bumbling idiot EVER again. (At least not regarding that question.) The next time that question, “What do you do?”, came up, I was in a position of power! I was comfortable and confident, and it rolled off my tongue as if I’d said it a million times. My elevator pitch was spot on, and the person was very clear about how I could influence their business, and their visibility in the online world.

The lesson here, is that we all need to slow down and make sure our business efforts are not in vain. Some of us are stuck at start because we’re too busy doing the work, and not able to effectively communicate what we can do. Staying in that frame of mind might snag you a few dollars, and might even pay a few bills, but it won’t position you for long term growth as a company.

If you’ve identified yourself as a business owner or entrepreneur who needs to lock down your core services, paper and pen is a great place to start. Make a list of everything you think of, then cross out anything that just doesn’t make sense. (Think Sesame Street. Which of these things does not belong here? Which of these things are kind of the same?) With whatever is left, you’ll have a high-level view of your business focus, and you can begin to formulate your own 3-4 sentences that describe what those things are – your own elevator pitch.

The first time you say it in public, you might feel a little self-conscious. You’ll tweak it over and over again until you’re comfortable that people are getting an accurate picture of what you do, and how you can help them.

By the way…

I’m an internet business strategist. I help business owners and entrepreneurs establish an interactive platform online to market and promote their products, services and themselves.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ask Customers Their Opinions.
Even if you already have ideas, asking your customer’s opinions helps to build rapport and demonstrates your concern for the customer’s needs. Upon receiving your customer’s input, you can put your ideas into motion. Customers will feel inclusive in your decision-making process, and you’ll win their business!

Create an unbeatable offer.
Not many people can resist an unbeatable offer. By dropping prices for a day, giving away something free, or creating some other promotion that has value to your customers, you can recapture or hold their attention and strengthen your relationship. Exclusive discounts give customers that warm and fuzzy feeling.

Get Personal.
Building customer relationships is an ongoing process, and personal communication strategies (ie., online chats, social media, individual blog responses, personal responses to emails, etc.) open the floor for a level of discussion with your customers that might not happen otherwise. Inclusion is key!

A simple “Thank You” still works.
In doing business, it’s important to say “Thank You for Your Business.” Some crafty business owners choose pens, calendars, t-shirts and other creative memoirs that spark a customer to reconnect with you. (Discounts and free downloads work too!) Even the sorest of customers will soften their hearts when you reach out to them and thank them for their business.

If there is, or was, a problem…FIX IT!
Admitting a mistake or flaw in your business process and then fixing it, shows you care about your customers. People who do business with you want to know that their satisfaction is important to you.  Not to mention, shows your humanity. In fixing the problem, you also gain an excellent opportunity to send an email blast to your mailing list (or create a press release) and create a draw to the information that addresses the issue. Customers will love you for it – It shows you heard them.

March Contest!
“What techy things did you do today?”
Make your list, and tell me your most INTERESTING and UNIQUE techy thing you did to win a prize!(Winner to be announced on the March 27th Show.)
Post on My Facebook Page, Tweet it on Twitter, or call in to the show!

Every 60 Seconds, People are Doing Something Techy!
Global Online Population of 2,095,006,005 equals 30% of World’s Population. A normal Internet user spends around 22% of its time on social networking sites, 21% on searches, 20% on reading content, 19% on emails and communication, 13% on multimedia sites and 5% on online shopping

Global Time Spent Online Per Month is 35,000,000,000 hours (35 Billion) which is equivalent to 3,995,444 years
More than 56% of Social Networking Users have used Social Networking Sites for spying on their partners.

Infographic by go-gulf.com, Sources:

168 Million Emails are sent
694,445 Google Searches
695,000 Facebook Status Updates, 79,364 Wall posts, 510,040 Comments
370,000 Voice Calls on Skype
98,000 Tweets, 320 New Twitter Accounts
20,000 new posts on Tumblr
13,000+ iPhone apps downloaded
13,000 Songs streaming on Pandora
12,000 new ads on Craigslist
6600 photos uploaded to Flickr
1700 Firefox Downloads
600 New Videos on YouTube
100 Questions Asked on Answers.com (40 Answers given on Yahoo Answers)
100 New Linkedin Accounts
70 Domain Names are registered
1500+ Blog Posts, and 60 New Blogs
1 Associated Content article posted (Yahoo Associated Content)

…And Doing Even More Techie Stuff

710 computers are sold worldwide and 555 of these computers are sold with Intel processors
1,820 TB of data is created; that’s enough data to fill up 2.6 million CDs
232 computers around the world get infected by malware
450 Windows 7 Cds are sold worldwide
925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads are sold worldwide
11 Xbox 360 consoles are sold worldwide
18 Amazon’s Kindle Fire are sold worldwide
4,000 USB devices are sold worldwide
2,500 ink cartridges are sold worldwide
2,100 checkins happen on location-based social networking website foursquare
1.1 million conversations take place via instant messengers
Around 950 purchases are done on eBay, out of which 180 purchases are done using eBay Mobile
12 websites get hacked
1,400 movie discs are rented from Redbox

———————————————

Google Street View Privacy Concerns » More info
Beware the Street View Cars! People worldwide are concerned about photographs that show people engaging in activities visible from public property in which they do not wish to be photographed and have published online.In the law of the United States, the general rule (with some exceptions) is that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place, thus implying that Google (and anyone else) is usually free to take photographs in public places.

Google’s response to concerns about public privacy has been a pledge to blur the faces of people who are filmed in Street View photos. (License plates are also blurred.) Is blurring the face enough?

How to Report a Concern (» More from Google)
If you’ve found an image that you would like further blurred, or an image that you believe contains objectionable content, just follow these steps:

1.Locate the image in Street View.
2. Click “Report a problem” in the bottom-left of the image window.
3. Complete the form and click “Submit”
———————————————

Facebook’s Facial Recognition System
Facebook users are automatically included in the database, but you are allowed toto choose whether to be identified within your privacy settings settings options. Go to Privacy Settings -> How Tags Work

March is Women’s Month!
This week, celebrating Ursula Burns, the first black woman to be CEO of Fortune 500 company. She is the Chair and CEO of Xerox. Burns earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.

In addition to the Xerox board, she is a board director of the American Express Corporation. Burns also provides leadership counsel to community, educational and non-profit organizations including FIRST – (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), National Academy Foundation, MIT, and the U.S. Olympic Committee, among others. She is a founding board director of Change the Equation, which focuses on improving the U.S.’s education system in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Timeline for Business & Fan Pages
On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will get a new design.
Before then, you’ll then enter a curation period where only your Page’s admins can see Timeline, while everyone else including your fans will see the old design. Walk yourself through the features detailed below, and when you’re ready, click the “Publish Now” button atop your Page to start showing off Timeline to everyone. More info here…

Buh Bye Android Market, Now it’s Google Play!
Google’s Android Market has undergone some tremendous changes over the last year or so. What started as just a standalone app store has quickly grown to encompass e-books, music, and videos.

Mac get better Skype with v5.6
Skype 5.6 also brings with it the ability to auto-update when new versions are released (which the Windows version has been able to do since last September), as well a new full-screen app mode that comes seven months after Apple’s Lion update added support for the feature. Better late than never, as they always say.

Throw in a new dynamic layout for video calls that puts the current speaker at the top of the window and the ability to combat background noise by fiddling with Automatic Gain Control, and that’s a wrap for the 5.6 update. Mac users will probably want to jump on this one, and fortunately they can download the new version of Skype – www.skype.com

By the way…
– On Thursday, March 8, Facebook celebrating International Women’s Day – 2012 theme, “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.”
– Google acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion…
– Play with Google Plus Photo Editing…

Mentioned on the Show: Jitterbug Phone

The man set up his account for ebill and autopay. Nothing wrong there. When his ebill came he paid it, only to find that the water company made two deductions for the bill amount from his payment account. That’s enough to make anyone flare up but what he didn’t understand is that his autopay service with the company had already paid the bill.

In trying to explain to the service rep that there had been a mistake on his account, he made claims that “Your system is stupid!”, and “Your computer is wrong!”. That’s the nice version. You can imagine some expletives were in there. Unfortunately, it was HE who was wrong. He scheduled the autopay service to pay the bill, so there was no need to pay it again when he received the ebill. This was confusing to him and made him only more irate. He kept yelling. Police were called. Bye, bye, customer. No refund for you.

Here’s where the confusion is – If you have auto-pay set up, you do not need eBill. Here’s the difference:

eBill (or autobill as some companies use) is an email notification of your bill. It replaces the paper notice that you get in the mail, which lessens the use of paper. It’s more environment friendly, ie., less trees to cut down.

Auto-Pay is an automatic payment that is electronically deducted for the amount of your bill, when your bill is due. The payment is usually set up using a checking or savings account, or a debit/credit card. You should receive an email once the system captures the payment.

So the customer set up both. His ebill notice was sent to him, and he paid it. Then his receipt for autopay was sent to him, and he flipped out. To him, it was a problem on the part of the water company. But, not really. Just like some people double up on their mortgage bills or a car note, you can do that with utility companies. Most companies don’t stop you from making a payment, even if your bill is already paid or scheduled to be paid.

I see his point from one perspective. If the company hadn’t allowed for both eBill AND autopay, this man would not have been escorted out by the police. His payment would have been made and he would be enjoying his President’s weekend. On the other hand, if he had read the details of both services, he would have known he didn’t have to pay the ebill notice. UGH! Either way, the water company isn’t at fault, the bill is paid twice, and he’s not having a very good weekend, I’m sure…

Lesson Learned: Reading is fundamental.
If you don’t understand what you’re signing up for, don’t sign up until you do. Ask questions.

Years ago, I was talking to a business owner about her web site and noticed a few things in odd places. Like, the mailing list was on the bottom, the navigation was under some ads on the left, and the main focus of the site was a one-liner stuck on the right side of the page, next to some more ads. Hmmm. A teachable moment, yes?

Her chief complaint was she was getting traffic, but that people weren’t “using” the site.
Honestly, there’s no wonder why. The usability of the site was low. Beyond low, even. “Usability” is one of those words you hear in the tech world but then it’s kind of mumbo jumbo because most people don’t explain it. Basically what it means is that you have things on a web site, and those things have logical places if you want people to use them. When a site has low usability, it’s kind of like when someone puts the paper towels in the freezer. You’re not going to look for them there. On a web site, you have to put things where people would expect them to be, or they won’t find it. They just move on.

So I explained it to her, but her answer to me was “It’s right there!”
Unfortunately, you can’t be a moderator in someone’s surfing session. You’re a million miles away doing something else, and your web site has to do the pitch for you. Even though it’s “right there”, it doesn’t mean that where it is, makes sense for it to be there. Trust me, this isn’t a Chris Curtis rule. It’s just the way it is. Have you ever been annoyed looking for something around the house, only to have someone say, “It’s right there!” Frustrating. Well, the web isn’t different in that regard.

Overall, the site was in much need of a redesign.
Yep. The dreaded sentence that business owners hate to hear. Often, a redesign means starting over, undoing hours of work done, and repositioning a thought process. The reality is, if that’s what needs to be done then, do it. It hurts your business to have paper towels in the freezer, when no one is going to look for them there. YOU wouldn’t look for them there, but you’d hold on to a design concept that does little to help your sales pitch and makes everyone else work to find information that should be readily available. Doesn’t make sense.

Willie Crawford, said “Don’t be in love with a bad idea.”
I value his opinion, and I really love him for saying that. It has made me think twice in my own endeavors as well as with my client projects. When a web site isn’t doing its job, it must be fixed. Period. The only discussions should be moving the overall concept forward and how to get there from where you are. You may need to let go of some emotional ties to your bad design, and you may even step on a few toes doing so. In the end, what really matters is a web site that does it’s job and does so without hiding the paper towels in the freezer.

Behind our computers we are anybody we want to be. A new confidence comes over us and there’s nothing in our way to connect to the massive universe at our fingertips. We are super-people. We are opinionated. We are invincible! For some, that influx of confidence hinders the balance between Id and Ego, and often manifests as Tweets, Facebook posts and blog topics that could prove embarrassing or fan flames later on.

No worries. You can always turn over a new leaf.

Read the rest and make comments, over on Kris Cain’s blog. Enjoy!

Somebody mentioned this today and I darn near choked on my coffee. Being a technology professional I sometimes take for granted that the skills and expertise needed for a social media campaign are understood. Clearly, they aren’t.

I agree social media campaigns are not rocket science. All you have to do is create a ton of carefully crafted posts, using correct grammar, punctuation and tone. Then you have to schedule the posts using some social media management software, and make sure they post when they’re supposed to. Not difficult at all.

Of course there’s “the strategy”. Random posts that don’t have an underlying message, push, or call to action might be fruitless efforts in the online space but hey, as long as you’re tweeting and posting and people are reading everything should be alright. It’s all about getting attention.

Wait. There’s the audience too. I mean, we aren’t just blasting to the masses to just anyone who will listen. Social media isn’t a street corner per se. Add targeting a specific audience to the list, so that your message doesn’t fall upon blind eyes. Or maybe you don’t care who reads as long as ‘somebody’ sees it.

Measurements have to weigh in somewhere. After all that tweeting and posting, you should know how many people are responding, re-tweeting, re-posting and clicking on your stuff. Those numbers could prove to be pretty important, but if you don’t care about the numbers or the effectiveness of your campaign you can skip this part. Who needs numbers anyway…

Overall, the statement above applies completely IF you have a phlegmatic approach to social media.

For those who can navigate a simple Mavis Beacon exercise, you’ll probably be fine in the social media arena as long as you know how to type. Good luck with any “real” results. For those who want to have an effective, profitable or rewarding campaign you should take a harder look at the requirements for social success, and invest your time and money into people and tools that foster direction, focus, strategy and a plan to measure the results.

Not that difficult, right? LOL