You started your dream job twenty years ago. Over the years you’ve been responsible for key changes and advancements in the company. Management sees you as truly dedicated and you’ve worked your way up to a six figure salary.

You’ve tucked away some money for your kids’ college, but also didn’t pass on the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So, this past year, you had that in-ground pool installed, upgraded to a nice, but not too pricey, sports car and picked up annual passes to Disney to put smiles on your childrens’ faces.

You’re living comfortably, even though the bulk of the money you’ve saved is earmarked toward college tuition.

This morning, you wake up, hop in your new car, hitting the local cafe before heading into work. You pull into the company lot, and head for the front door.

But… it’s locked.

There are no lights on, and few cars parked. You and a handful of your coworkers stand outside, wondering what’s going on. Then, your boss pulls up, and gives you the bad news. The company is now closed. Not due to the economy or failing product line, but rather, because he was so intrigued by what the Internet had to offer he decided to take all that hard work you and everyone else has done and offer up the product plans online… for free. After all, information wants to be free, no?

Sound absurd? Perhaps, but those downloading illegal music, movies, books and software are creating a very similar impact. You know who else is? The rest of us.

When did we become a society that thinks others should be offering up their hard work for free outside of charitable contributions? When did it become okay for someone to give up their dream job to put food on the table when that dream job, within all legal limits, would pay the bills?

More importantly, when did we become so expectant and accepting of others’ notion of getting things for free that we made “freemium” a primary focus of our own business models?

It doesn’t matter how (or exactly when) this all started. What matters is what we do with the information we’ve amassed, often at great costs.

How much money does someone who provides a wealth of free content really make selling premium goods? The answer: Not nearly as much as he could.

We’ve taken the traditional “sample taste” and “try before you buy” and turned it into “sample how easy it is to tie all the pieces together and learn my entire business model.” Think that’s an overstatement? For some, maybe, but for most, there’s so much time spent giving “tidbits” away that it’s difficult to keep track of what you actually gave. And if you are holding back (likely not nearly enough), someone else is there to fill the void.

The worst thing about “free” is it totally devalues everything we’ve done thus far. I don’t know about you, but my education was not free. The time I’ve spent researching, analyzing and strategizing came at great cost.

John Jantsch made some pretty bold statements about “information wants to be free” at the AmEx Open Forums. (Read: 5 Reasons Free is Hurting Us All)

When content is consistently given away it loses its value–not only for the producer, but also in the eyes of the content consumer.

- John Jantsch

John’s right. It’s time we step back and rethink things. If that means experiencing a slow season while we re-educate users, we can only benefit in the long run.

I’ve read many articles on this topic, along with comments by those who say we must provide valuable goods, services or knowledge for free in order to attract a bigger clientele or new customers. I’ve heard the arguments that say we need to give and give and give in order to build our lists. And I call foul.

To those who really think all this free content is necessary to bring real people through the door, I can only ask, “Whatever happened to the testimonial?”

With all the advances in technology, one element of business hasn’t changed: the power of “word of mouth” advertising. Therein lies the possibilities of real success. After all, if people aren’t talking about you, even the free content you’re offering is worth just that: zilch.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/05/19.
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Post tags: conversion, freemium, marketing, Mistakes That Kill, social media

There are two factors that can equate to success in the social world: luck and risk.

Luck

Don’t believe in luck? You should. It’s what makes online campaigns go viral. You could argue that it’s really the marketers and producers of content, but, you’d be wrong. Sure, they play a role in the process, but it’s luck of the draw that shoots a video – say, Rebecca Black’s Friday – through the roof.

Consider your own social media accounts. Unless you follow or friend a handful of people, chances are you’re missing more than half of the goods. Even lists and bookmarks can get overloaded with content, and, let’s be honest, you’ll never have enough time to read every article and watch every video your favorite folks share.

It’s more about luck because search results will never return “everything”, so you take the chance that when you look at your stream something important is being shared. You take the chance that you don’t miss a post that’s going to trigger an A-Ha moment.

Risk

Risks are taken by companies and professionals. They put money and time behind a campaign, taking the chance that a certain percentage of followers are going to see posts as they happen. They pray that people will share the content (via RTs and Facebook posts). This includes the media and blogs, which – usually through RSS feeds and search engines – can shine a brighter spotlight on the message.

The ultimate goal is total saturation… Let’s call it the “Charlie Sheen Effect” because his rants and #winning attempts are a perfect example of what companies want to do. Well, most companies aren’t looking for controversy, but they are seeking to become trending topics. Who wouldn’t want to gain a million followers in just over a day? Who wouldn’t want people of all walks of life sharing a specific message? Who wouldn’t want to experience this type of domino effect?

Guy Kawasaki calls “nobodies” the new “somebodies”, because it only takes a few traditional folk to get the ball rolling. The time (and money) spent by companies trying to influence those key nobodies stems from belief in a product or service. Still, the investments are a risk because there are far fewer “viral” success stories than actual attempts.

It’s Not a Fad

Social media, however, is not a fad. We’ve been using it for centuries. Word-of-mouth is a form of social media, as are forums and blog posts. People will always want to learn new things and share information, and companies will always want to influence people to buy their products. We may not always use the same tools (technology allows for new methods), but we’ll always be a social world.

If you’ve been putting off using today’s social tools to engage existing and potential customers, what’s the real reason? Is it the risk factor? Or are you so scared you won’t get lucky you’re not even willing to try?

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/04/18.
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Post tags: facebook, marketing, Mistakes That Kill, social media, twitter

The server is the last line of defense at eateries. Unfortunately, either many managers aren’t enforcing the rule, or the staff just doesn’t care, because I’ve lost count how many times I’ve asked for something to be left off my plate–only for it to be served anyway. (It’s common for them to roll their eyes and lay all the blame on the cook. That’s a shame, and they only get away with it because they aren’t punished for their own mistakes via poorer tips. But I digress…)

If you want the rewards, you have to ensure people get what they've ordered.

Savvy social media users (especially on Twitter and LinkedIn) are less forgiving when it comes to being fed bad information. Useless and inappropriate content isn’t what they ordered when they clicked the follow button, so it’s up to you to ensure they’re receiving the star treatment.

If you want to build and maintain a good reputation, you have to share with care. That is, know what you’re posting and tell others why they need to give it a read. This can be time consuming, because no matter how much you trust anyone, you should be reading articles and blog posts before retweeting links.

Responses like, “OMG, that’s not what I thought it was…” and “I can’t believe he tweeted that…” are excuses only for laziness and disrespect. It tells us that you’re passing information in a sealed envelope, yet you still stamped URGENT on the front.

Expecting (or hoping) others read what you haven’t taken time to read yourself makes you look like a fool. It makes people wonder if you’re actually a bot, or worse, if your account has been compromised (which, by the way, could happen to any accounts you follow).

If you want to be a key tweeter/poster in your field, follow the rules of service:

• Always retweet for a reason.
• Read references (click the link) to make sure the content you’re sharing is appropriate for your followers.
• Tell your followers why you’re retweeting content, even if only to say you love someone’s idea.
• If you don’t agree with the original article but still want to retweet the link, tell your followers why. (You could include a brief rebuttal).

In short, you need to be the ideal server – the last line of defense. Cooks, along with those you follow, make mistakes. It’s your job to cover their behinds. All that matters, really, is that folks are happy with their experience. Ignore the rules and people will react accordingly – most likely by clicking the unfollow button.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/04/15.
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I received Guy Kawasaki’s latest book, Enchantment, as I was wrapping up work on my own recently published commerce manual. I was put on the list* to receive a review copy, and when the release date (March 8^th) passed me by I felt quite guilty. Fortunately I was heading to California on the 9^th for the annual Miva Merchant conference, and what better way to pass the time while at 35,000 feet?

I’ll admit, when Guy announced the title of his new book, I wasn’t impressed. The word enchantment, to me, had little to do with business in our busy world today. When he revealed the butterfly cover, my concerns grew—all I could wonder was, How is he going to push this book to the masses with a weak title and “pretty” cover? Despite the fact he’d already explained the basic concept of enchantment (in the sense of his message), it was still a turn off.

Mid-way through Chapter One I was hooked, primarily because Guy’s writing style is exactly what I hope mine is perceived as… Direct, easy to understand, and sans sugar coating. Yes, Guy’s very blunt about key issues, going so far as to say the moral wrongdoers have no right to succeed in business.

Enchantment is a guide for advancement. From teaching us how to smile and give a proper handshake, to lessons on leveraging today’s technology, Guy’s directives are not only clear, they make sense.

Enchantment is not a guide for becoming an instant hit. It’s about building relationships atop strong foundations.

I was so impressed with Enchantment that I made a last minute change to my presentations, which focused on shopability. During my sessions I explained how small business ecommerce sites shouldn’t try to mimic Amazon.com’s layout and flow. I used the product page for Enchantment as my example (with a side-note suggesting that the audience buy his book. Yes, the entire audience).

This was when I realized Guy used more “pull” than “push” when it came to marketing his latest book and growing his readership (he explains both these methods in the book). I’ve seen more third-party tweets, facebook posts and blog posts about Guy’s book than I have any form of mass advertising. And that’s exactly what Enchantment is about—growing by means of relationships and support—something every business and person needs in order to succeed.

Steve Wozniak says, “Read this book to create a company as enchanting as Apple.”

I say, “Read Enchantment if you want to succeed in anything…”

* This is not a paid review. I was provided the book only for consideration of review, with no agreements made. I do, however, use an affiliate link while linking the book title to amazon.com.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/03/15.
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Post tags: Ecommerce, marketing, Mistakes That Kill, reviews, social media

The bulk of it though, goes right in the trash. So, if you’re trying to come up with some neat giveaways, keep in mind that many people fly, and don’t want to pay luggage fees just to take your branded stuff home unless it’s really, really cool.

Here are 10 crappy giveaways that do little to market your business:

1. 

   Use promo items for branding/marketing. Just make sure those giveaways are keepers.

   Cheap pens. If you want to give away pens, spend the extra money and go for the nice ones. Anything that resembles dollar bin discount stock is better put to use by utilizing the cap as an ear cleaner. The remaining component is promptly laid to rest.

2. Magnets. With so many of us traveling with electronics and gadgets – laptops, portable drives, smartphones – it amazes me how many hefty, fancy magnets are given out. When handed a swag bag, the first thing I do is get rid of these things, no matter how pretty and functional they may be.
3. Plastic cups. Seriously, why are you handing out something anyone can get at McDonald’s?
4. Calculators. They may serve a purpose for other vendors during the exhibit, but I bring home handfuls of calculators each year. They’re promptly donated. Keep this in mind: Most cell phones have a calculator. All computers have a calculator.
5. Cheap flash drives. If you want to make your mark, go for 1GB or larger. Two years ago FedEx offered up drives that stored a scant 128MB, and trashcans were full of them at the end of the day. Sorry, FedEx, it was just an unsuitable giveaway for an ecommerce conference, considering most of the folks there were big on tech and have a need to backup much larger files.
6. Coffee Mugs. Unless truly a local event, avoid these heavy, breakable items. They rarely survive the luggage bin, and often wind up becoming a nuisance.
7. Cheap tote bags, backpacks and laptop bags. Let’s be honest, no one is expecting you to spend loads of cash, but if you’re entire idea is to constantly remind people who you are, you have to give them something they’ll put to good use. I have a few backpacks and totebags that I use while traveling because they’re sturdy and have great zippers. They’re emblazoned with company logos and I’m reminded of those businesses each time I use them. The flimsy ones I’ve donated or tossed? I couldn’t tell you where I got them nor whose logo was imprinted on the front. Out of sight, out of mind.
8. Cheap yo-yos. A hunk of plastic with discount string isn’t fun now, is it?
9. Anything that’s just a modified business card. Save your money, just hand out business cards.
10. Those nasty chocolate bars. Okay, so they look tempting with your company logo on the wrapper, but guess what goes in the trash first? You got it – the wrapper. And that cheap chocolate? It does nothing to make me want to run back to your booth and say, “Hey, let’s do business!”

The right promo item serves more than one purpose. First and foremost, it should be something that others will use frequently. If your target is other business people, consider something they will carry with them, or use on their desk. If it’s consumers you’re targeting, find something unique that they’ll play with often. Never underestimate simple things, like bottle openers (we have one in our house, and it bears PayPal’s logo) or LED keychains (so I can find the keyhole when I’ve forgotten to set the timer on the porch light).

For more niche businesses, offer up branded items you might otherwise be able to sell. For example, a sports equipment store might give out sweatbands with the store logo, and a coffee shop could gain more attention by handing out samples and branded coffee spoons or scoops.

Whatever you do, think beyond the standard, cheap catalog pages. You don’t have to go for broke, but you do need to invest in something useful and, for best results, totally original.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/03/01.
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The checkout page(s) are your last chance to seal the deal and complete a sale. The process itself can make or break the transaction. Confused shoppers may contact you for assistance, but they account for a small percentage of people who have difficulties. The majority of shoppers encountering checkout problems will simply abandon shopping carts and look elsewhere.

Read the full article at Practical eCommerce

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2011/02/24.
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Post tags: conversion, Ecommerce, Mistakes That Kill, practical ecommerce, shopability, usability

On October 6, clothing company Gap unveiled a new corporate logo. It was ill-received by their critics and customer base (not to mention thousands of designers), leading the company to invite the public to propose alternate logo designs. A new wave of negative comments followed, harshly criticizing Gap for its intent to utilize crowdsourcing efforts to come up with their new logo. In the end, Gap nixed the entire project, returning to the logo they’ve used for more than two decades.

What went wrong? Quite a bit… and as a result, Gap’s definitely lost some loyalists over the ordeal.

Customers and designers shunned Gap for selecting a logo so basic and unoriginal.

The first public outcry was over the new logo itself. Many argued it was entirely too simple – Likening it to a design which a 5-year-old could have come up with. Others argued that the original Gap logo was timeless, while the new one was restrictive. The modern aspect of it would be limiting. Gap itself argued it’s blue box logo is outdated, having been used for twenty years.

Then, Gap jumped on the crowdsourcing bandwagon, inviting designers to submit ideas.

Crowdsourcing is a means by which companies and individuals invite others – anyone, actually  – to design logos, create original illustrations, design book covers, etc. It’s widely used by startups and smaller businesses to help cut costs and select designs from a large number of freelancers. The lucky designer can receive a nice chunk of change, while all other entrants receive nothing.

On its Facebook page, Gap posted:

“We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so we’re asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we’d like to… see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project.”

This is when Gap truly got slaughtered. Thousands more designers and a number of firms jumped on the “shame on Gap” bandwagon, accusing the company of expecting designers and loyal customers to provide ideas and design work for free.

In the end, Gap scrapped the entire project, reverting to it’s blue box logo. But the damage had already been done. People are still talking about the company’s efforts to get free input, while charging top dollar for its clothing lines.

What can small business owners learn from the Gap fiasco? Several things the Gap powers-that-be should have already known.

• You need to understand your customers and why they’re loyal. If you’re not sure why? Ask them.
• Your logo helps brand everything about the company. People identify with logos, which is why so many successful companies have been careful to only make small changes and not “shock” consumers.
• Focus groups are a necessity. If that means selecting some key customers and soliciting their feedback, so be it. I’m willing to bet that had Gap done this, the company would have realized just how ill-advised changing their logo was.

Argue all you want about experts and their advice, the only people who truly matter are the customers – they speak for the masses. If customers tell you it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.

Any business – large or small – needs to bridge the gap between the company’s key decision makers and the people who pay the bills. Ignore the ones paying the salaries, and you’re bound to make a fatal misstep. By involving your customers in potential changes, the chances of making this type of mistake decrease dramatically.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2010/10/18.
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Post tags: branding, customer feedback, marketing, Mistakes That Kill

When it comes to business, maintaining records – including store product images and descriptions – is key in the event of unexpected server woes. Backups are also necessary. But, what if you accidentally delete a necessary file?

Upon first noticing a missing document (or other file), fret not. Most of the time the file is still recoverable. Here’s how to find what you fear may be lost:

The first place to look for deleted files is in the trash or recycle bin.

1. Check the Trash or Recycle Bin. On both Macs and PCs, when you delete a file it goes here first (unless the file is way too large for the bin, in which case you’d have been prompted to confirm you wanted to permanently delete it. To recover a file from the trash or recycle bin, simply drag it back to the desktop.
2. Look on the backup drive. If you back your system up regularly (and you should), this process is usually as simple as connecting the drive to the computer and browsing or searching for the file. If you backup your system to the cloud, good cloud services allow you to search not only by file name, but content as well.
3. Check incoming or sent email. Was the file emailed to you? Did you email it to someone else? If you archive your incoming and sent emails, a copy of the file should still be there. If not, and it isn’t too embarrassing, you can always ask the original sender or recipient to send you a copy.
4. Check the server. If the data was previously placed on the server (for review or public display), and you have access to the server (via File Transfer Protocol or some other means) it’s easy to connect and re-download.
5. Check the site cache. If it’s a graphics file, and it was previously live on a web site, check Google’s page caching. If the file is still on the server, a cached page may point you to the exact location. Cached pages are also useful in locating previously published textual content.
6. Run recovery software. There are several free and pay-for recovery programs and any reputable one will likely locate the deleted file as long as it’s not corrupt. Note, however, the best way to recover a file is to restore it to a new folder, and not to the original location.
7. Call in a pro. If nothing else works and recovery of the file is dire, bring in a professional.

While there’s no guarantee that any type of file is recoverable, the majority of actions you perform on your system – especially on a PC – can be undone. The key is to take action as soon as you discover the document or file is missing. Also, it’s wise to always review the files in the trash or recycle bin before confirming their permanent removal. Double checking never hurts.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2010/10/07.
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Post tags: Ecommerce, maintenance, Mistakes That Kill, troubleshooting

A few months back an online marketing company was called out for plagiarism quite publicly. The company had copied textual content – verbatim – from a competitor and posted it as their self-generated description of service offerings.

Lifting content - even just portions - from other web sites - is not only illegal and unethical, it can also land you in hot water across social media networks.

When this happens, victims really have few options:

1. Contact the offender privately and hope he/she removes the offending content.
2. Hire legal counsel and seek remedy from the courts.
3. Let social media take care of it.

The CEO of the plagiarized company opted to go the social media route, blogging about the issue and tweeting a link to the offending content. That’s all it took. Within minutes, dozens of the CEO’s followers blasted the info out to the masses. Soon enough, it wound up in my Twitter feed.

NOTE: I’m withholding identity of both companies because the issue has since been dealt with and there’s no need to re-stir the pot in their professional corners.

Content theft is nothing new. Caching and search engine feedback shows that many companies not only use others’ content, but thousands of “professional” web sites feature a great amount of textual content that is either lifted from other sites, or comes from stock content.

Do you recognize this descriptive?

A verifiable online presence has become indispensable for every company – to lead its competition and to secure a dominant position in the industry.

Sounds professional, right? But original it is not. If you run a Google search on that exact phrase you’ll find that more than 1,600 web pages use it as a means to woo potential clients.

There’s two important lessons here that apply to small business owners:

1. You need to research companies before working with them, and that includes checking their content. You’d be amazed how many service sites describe themselves using business speak 101 copied right out of a book.
2. You need to understand what’s acceptable to actually copy from other sites and resources.

Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

• Manufacturers descriptions are often provided for use on web pages. Check the terms. If it’s stock content, it’s okay to post these. I still recommend, however, that you get creative and expand on those.
• While you may be tempted to use stock content for other pages, don’t. It only takes one person to realize this is what you’ve done and point it out publicly, making you look less professional.
• Many business resource sites provide template content sections like privacy policies and terms of service. Use them only as a guide. While it may be legal for you to simply copy and paste them, these templates are rarely tailored to your particular audience and many times lack key elements you need to address. They’re also, quite often, difficult to understand.
• Original content injected with personal flair (e.g. content that talks “with” visitors rather than “at” them) will garner better results.
• Every piece of writing needs to match the “flavor” of your site and convey the personality of your company.

In the case of the offending company above, word has it an intern lifted content from across several sites, and the owner found dozens of pages that violated the copyright of others. While the owner took action (intern gone, content changed), there’s one critical point remaining:

It matters not who posted the content. The liability lies with the site owner. The powers-that-be should always review any content before it is posted publicly. Many times, the writing style itself is a dead giveaway, but most “copied” content can be validated with a simple online search. There’s no guarantee such a scenario won’t happen to you – and no guarantee one of your own isn’t bending the rules. Still, a  little attention to detail can significantly decrease the chances of your company being embarrassed in front of the public.

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2010/09/29.
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There is no “perfect” automation tool for Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media service. If you want to pay for a service that does everything for you exactly how you want, either do it yourself or hire a human and not a cloud service. Why? Because even the top-rated services can blast out embarrassing posts.

Here are just some of the most common snafus committed by improperly configured and/or less-than-ideal automation services. (To date, I’ve yet to come across an “ideal” service, by the way.)

• Duplicate posts. Tools that auto-post site urls can conflict with each other, especially if you’ve configured more than one tool. For example, I wound up unfollowing an otherwise informative company because they used an auto Twitter and Facebook posting tool, then configured Facebook to auto-post to Twitter, and so on. The result was three identical tweets each and every time they had something to say. It was a nightmare and, despite my directing several posts to them, my complaints were ignored. I finally assumed they used automation for all of it, sans any human interaction.

• Too much personal on a business account. If you’re posting everything you say on Facebook to Twitter, you may be sharing more personal information than you should be, especially if you cater to professionals or store customers. In short, many things you say on your personal accounts – especially to “friends” on non-public platforms – shouldn’t be seen by the masses.

• ReTweets of foul posts. Auto retweeting of others’ posts based solely on keywords or hashtags can come back to bite you. All it takes is one original tweet that’s riddled with foul language or racist remarks. So, steer clear of these types of auto postings – you’re better off analyzing posts to determine which ones merit reposting.
• Competitor promotion instead of simply “sharing”. I’ve seen some corporate brands retweet posts that clearly push users to the company’s own competitors. It’s one thing to share a vision, it’s another to tell your customers to go elsewhere.
• Ignoring user engagement. When you automate it’s easy to kick back and let your accounts run themselves. Be careful, because you may be missing out on engaging opportunities which could bring you more business.

Have you had an auto-posting nightmare? Experienced some other company’s or professional’s downfall? Share…

© Pamela Hazelton, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published on 2010/09/27.
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Post tags: facebook, Mistakes That Kill, social media, twitter