Communications

Ten SMB Secret Tips for the Apple iPhone

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by Jonathan Zschau

1.      Be prepared to act fast. If you want the new iPhone, be prepared to act fast on the date of release. After the announcement of the iPhone 4 pre-orders sold out within a matter of hours and those who procrastinated got left out in the cold. Pay attention to Apple news sources and pre-order your new iPhone as early as possible.

2.   Avoid the lines: order online and deliver to your home. There are going to be lines around the block for the new iPhone. Don’t let fear of expensive shipping fees or late deliveries stop you from buying online. Apple has a great track record for getting new iPhones delivered to customers on time and delivery is free.

3.   Buy from alternative sellers. If Apple’s pre-ordering system gets bogged down, buy from Verizon or AT&T. Whenever you buy from authorized retailers your new iPhone will come with the same one-year limited warranty and will be fully serviceable at Apple locations. Be aware, however, that return policies and procedures may differ from Apple’s so you should take a moment to read the retailer’s return policy.

4.   Sell your old iPhone. If you’re upgrading from an old iPhone consider selling your old one for cash on eBay, Craigslist, or other channels such as sellyourmac.com. There’s plenty of demand and a used iPhone can fetch as much as a few hundred dollars. You can also trade in your iPhone with companies like Gazelle.com, which offers hundreds of dollars for well-kept models.

5.   Buy with a credit card that offers additional protection. Many credit card companies (such as American Express) offer additional protection plans on purchases made with their cards. As long as you pay off your card balance so you don’t accrue interest or other fees that offset the benefit, it may be a good idea to take advantage of this service.

6.   Hold off on AppleCare. AppleCare is Apple’s own service plan, which it offers for most of its products. The iPhone AppleCare plan currently costs $69 and can be obtained at any time for up to one year after purchase. Apart from the additional telephone technical support available beyond the 90-day complimentary period, there is little benefit to buying AppleCare before the one-year limited warranty is about to expire. Consider saving a date 11 months after you purchase your iPhone and decide then. It’s a waste of $69 if your phone gets lost, stolen, or damaged in a way that would void coverage (for example, by water damage).

7.   Invest in a good case. Whether or not to equip your iPhone with a case is a matter of personal preference and risk assessment. If you do decide to buy a case take some time to read the reviews and choose one that is both aesthetically pleasing and offers sufficient protection for the types of environments you envision taking your iPhone into.

8.   Learn iOS5. The iPhone 5’s operating system, iOS, is just as important—if not more—than the new hardware features in the iPhone 5. All smartphones, not just the iPhone, are capable of far more than most users give them credit for. Take time to read up on the capabilities of the iOS and pay particular attention to the new features.

9.   Do your research and read the reviews. Whatever iPhone(s) Apple releases this fall it’s important to research whether a new iPhone is really right for you. Online Mac sites are a great place to start because writers will be covering Apple’s release and sharing ideas and opinions for weeks before and after the announcement.

10. Look out for defects and be an informed consumer. Always be on the lookout for defects and get them addressed when they first arise. Stay informed by keeping up to date on problems, issues, bugs and breakdowns other Mac users may be having through Mac web sites (such as Cult of Mac.com).

About the Author:

Jonathan Zschau is not your average Mac enthusiast. He is a Boston-based attorney, a consumer rights advocate, a regular columnist for a popular Mac blog site called Cult of Mac. Two years ago, Jonathan got Apple to agree to replace his MacBook with a brand new model—free of charge. In his new book, Buying and Owning a Mac, he shares what he has learned about how consumers can get what they need and want from Apple.

“It’s a little-known secret,” he says, “but you have the ability to make Apple bend over backwards for you. The onus is on you, the consumer, to make it happen. It’s your job to be an informed and proactive consumer—an advocate for your own interests and rights.”

Buying and Owning a Mac: Secrets Apple Doesn’t Want You to Know is available at bookstores online in print, PDF, EPUB, and Kindle formats

Top 5 ToDo’s for SMBs to GROW online fast.

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by Van Jepson

There are over 500,000 new startups each month according to Kaufman Research, with most of them using the Internet to launch their business. After creating a website, the biggest challenge is attracting new customers at the lowest cost.  SMB owners are stretched for time and don’t have access to the right software or an efficient way to buy and they don’t have the leverage that big businesses do – until GroupPrice came along.

Here are 5 ToDo’s that SMB owners need to GROW online.

1. Know how your audience searches online for your offering: Place yourself in your audiences shoes and find out the words they use to search for your offering, and then carefully build online campaigns using those words in your sites title tags, links and content.

2. Capture 100’s of email addresses to find 1 buyer a day: An email address is the global identifier and the best way to interact with your audience and convert them into paying customers. Your website needs an enticing way to exchange an email address for either a trial subscription to your newsletter, a white paper or to enter a drawing.

3. Build a referral process that becomes viral. Provide an incentive for your friends to email their friends, and when you have a new customer or important news, email it as validation of your offerings value.

4. Send relevant information from your blogs and social media: Beyond email, these are your platforms for broadcasting your message. So, connect a blog to your site and use Twitter to do micro blogging of your message. Post your messages to Facebook and Linked In sites, telling your story of growth.

5. Have fun with it all, knowing that SMBs are moving online quickly. Our service enables the business owner who wants to BUY and also those business owners that want to SELL online. Check us out at GroupPrice.com.

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The first voice on the phone matters!

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Probably the least paid person in any organization is the company receptionist, but having a good person at this post is vital to your business. We have all heard the old adage that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If you are hiring a receptionist for the first time here are some things you might want to consider.

Is this person polite? I don’t know about you, but politeness always works with me. A person could probably tell me to go jump off a cliff, and if it was said with a smile and polite demeanor, I would probably at least take a look at the ledge. Politeness includes good grammar and pleasant respectful tone of voice and demeanor.

Is this person technically adept? There is nothing more irritating to me than a receptionist that mistakenly hangs up on me, or leaves me on hold for more than 1 minute. Another receptionist sin is sending a potential customer call to the wrong person. Doing any of the above wastes your sales and marketing efforts and can cast your business in a bad light.

Does the potential receptionist know the area? This is a very important skill when potential customers are trying to find your business. A good interview question for a receptionist might be “describe to a lost but important potential customer how to arrive at our location.” If he/she can do that, you have a potential winner!

Finally, many customer service trainers will counsel new customer service representatives to smile while they are on the phone. Some companies like GE buy mirrors for representatives, so that customer service people can check to see if they are smiling. It helps to keep a pleasant attitude especially if they are primarily on the telephone which is a main job function of the company receptionist.

Try these tips next time you are looking for a potential receptionist and may your find a winner!

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Best Small Business Books of 2009

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Best Small Business Books of 2009
The editors at Small Business Trends, along with a 27-member advisory panel have put together a list of the Best Small Business Books of 2009. According to the website, the decisions were difficult to make due to the “quality of this year’s business book releases.” Here is a look at the books they chose.

  • Anatomy of Buzz Revisited by Emmanuel Rosen: Learn how to build “buzz” into your marketing strategy with this sequel to Rosen’s best-seller. According to Small Business Trends, you can use this book to “build a community of experts and then let them speak freely about the advantages and disadvantages of your product or service.”
  • Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim: This guide for aspiring entrepreneurs helps get you out of the corporate world and into your own business. This proves that you have to make the change to be successful. If you aren’t happy in the corporate world, chances are you never will be.
  • Greening Your Small Business by Jennifer Kaplan: According to this book, being isn’t just trendy, it also saves you money. This book shows you how to become “green” and proves that consumer are going to see eco-friendliness as a reason to purchase your service or product.
  • Me 2.0 by Dan Schawbel: This book is all about personal branding and how your brand will determine your ultimate success. Here, you’ll get ideas, resources, tips and on how to find your personal brand and use it for new opportunities, from registering your own website to finding a field to become a known expert in!
  • The New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg: Everyone is using social media these days and it can be a great tool to help you build and grow your business. This book, written by a social media consultant, will help you use various social media to market your business online. The best thing is this book doesn’t just teach you how to use the general Facebook and Twitter, it shows you the way to other, lesser known tools, as well.
  • Outrageous Advertising by Bill Glazer: This book points you in the direction of tons of direct marketing and advertising campaigns that will help you grow your business and build a larger customer base. The website calls it an encyclopedia of how-to and advertising ideas and tips.
  • Talk Less, Say More by Connie Dieken: There can be many ways to communicate with customers but this book shows you how to cut to the chase and eliminate the excess. Get your message across and get things done with lots of tips and tricks.
  • Super Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner: Small Business Trends describes this book as “fun and engaging.” It shows how the world works and proves there is a solution for more than you think, unconventional as it may be.
  • Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith: Another social media-oriented book, this one helps you learn social media quickly and use it to help with your brand.
  • Upstarts by Donna Fenn: This book looks at 150 different businesses started by Generation Y’ers. Get inspired as you read how a younger generation overcame challenges to make something of themselves.
  • Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg: This book tells the story of some of the most successful viral marketing campaigns and then shows you how to implement some of it into your own company!
  • You are What You Choose by Scott de Marchi and James T. Hamilton: Make decisions based on more than just demographics, such as time, risk, altruism, getting information, meToo status and stickiness or loyalty with this book. Once you understand how to do this, you can implement it into your own business.

    • CodeRED Emergency Communication Service

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    The CodeRED emergency system is keeping the country safe, one phone number at a time, through its high-speed notification process. CodeRED utilizes unique internet mapping together with a rapid telephone system capable of delivering millions of phone calls per day. The system calls businesses and residents in the effected geographical areas, leaving recorded emergency messages with either the person who answers the phone or an answering machine or voicemail. If there is no answer, the service will attempt to call the number up to three times.

    CodeRED subscribers can broadcast emergency messages from anywhere in the world via a secure website. The website allows users to monitor progress of their placed calls in real time, noting the disposition of each call and allowing users to initiate another round of calls to those that were not answered, either by a live human or an answering service. Also, once a calling job is complete, the user who initiated the call may received a summary at any email account, cell phone, or blackberry. If for some reason, the user cannot access a computer or internet service, calls may be executed from any phone with proper access codes. There is also 24/7 emergency technical support available to all CodeRED clients.

    CodeRED offers their service with the highest levels of security, robustness, performance, and makes it easy to use for government agencies, communities and businesses who need to deliver emergency messages to large numbers of residents in record time. Unlike other telephone notification services, messages do not have to be truncated or looped, allowing full messages with complete instructions to be delivered to their recipients and subscribers do not need to purchase any type of equipment.

    CodeRED is a part of Emergency Communications Network Inc. (ECN) based out of Florida. Originating in 1998, ECN specializes in high-speed communication services to government agencies, businesses, and the private sector.

    The Death of the Yellow Pages

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    I reached and picked up my newly installed ringing phone the other day and I looked at the caller ID and it was a local number. So I clicked it on and said my “hello?” and the small voice of an older woman said “Heather?” I got halfway through “I’m sorry, you have the…” and I heard a click! She had hung up on me. I frowned for a moment thinking of my years of customer service and how social rudeness had become one of my biggest pet peeves. It only takes a moment to be polite I thought. I looked at the ID again musing at the thought of calling the lady back and giving her a lesson in proper telephone etiquette. It probably didn’t occur to her that I could call her back. I had another call an hour later a very nice customer service rep was on the line congratulating me on being entered into a sweepstakes that was supposed to be a “no purchase necessary” and she started on a script about magazines. Before she got too far I said, “Excuse me, but I just bought a house and my budget doesn’t allow purchases at this time.” I heard a click. The 800 number was on my caller ID and she had told me up front her name was “Julie” and her operator number. I had the ability to call her back too.

    Looking for businesses or people has far evolved the phone book and operators. With caller ID’s you know who is calling you, and with search engines you can find the people and businesses you need. No one wants to strain their back picking up the phonebook when they can go to yellow pages on line or search locally through websites like Yahoo or MSN. As a matter of fact, studies show 2008was the first time, search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN were the leading source of information for local customers. This not only changes the face of communications but it also changes the direction of advertising. Advertising on the web is more economical than print and there are many local directories where you can list your small business for free. Other things to consider with yellow page advertising vs. Internet are:

    – Usability – In a culture of internet read cell phones and laptop computers you can find the business you are looking for from any location. No hunting down big bulky books and then returning them to the phone booth or receptionist. All the information you need is right at your finger tips with a map for directions to boot.

    – As a business owner why would you want to give your prospects a detailed list of you and your competitors, including their addresses and phone numbers? That is exactly what the Yellow Pages do. Using search engines, you have the opportunity to differentiate yourself from everyone else and help you stand out to the ideal client. You want them to find you, not all your competitors.

    – Search engines now have the ability to determine where the search is coming from. It can target way down to a city, zip or area code. With a defined geographic area, you have an incredible opportunity to be the top firm that comes up when people use a search engine for services in your area.

    Despite the long years of trusted service that the yellow pages has offered its customers and will remain to do so I anticipate, for many years to come, the times they are a changing and so are the needs of subscribers. The Yellow Pages still offers a little more than nostalgia and the embracing of more technical tools has been a slow evolvement so I would say the Yellow Pages are still alive but wounded.

    By the way… remember the older woman that hung up on me the other day? My phone rang again last night and I smirked when I looked at the caller ID. It read “Heather” so I picked up the phone and said “hello?” and this young lady said, “Is Travis there?” I replied “I’m sorry, you have the wrong number.” She answered, “Ok, Thank you. Have a nice evening. Goodbye.” I said, “You too. Goodbye” and then she hung up and I smiled. Some things should never die.