Customer Reviews Set Consumer Expectations

June 7, 2010

Expectations of your business will literally shape the whole consumer experience for your customers.   This is nothing new. In my post, “Social Media – It’s a Moral Imperative” I wrote about how a movie’s marketing campaign painted an unrealistic expectation of being a comedy – and then delivered scenes of horrific violence and very little [...]

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How to Handle Negative Customer Reviews

May 18, 2010

Whether you’ve found the negative customer review by luck or by setting up a Google alert – you are horrified to  discover that SOMEONE is bitching about YOUR business on the web. Unfortunately human beings seem to be wired to bitch rather than praise, so you’re more likely to find negative customer reviews than positive [...]

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When a Pest Control Company tries to Exterminate Negative Customer Reviews

May 10, 2010

Truly Nolen couldn’t kill the bugs in my house – and they can’t kill my negative review of their service either. Quite a while ago – I created a post where I shared my experience with my pest control company – Truly Nolen.  I was HORRIFIED by the service I received and shared the experience [...]

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Overcome Business Fear of Sharing

April 27, 2010

Learning to share was by far the hardest thing I had to learn to do as a child.  My parents tried to buy my love and as a result, I had some GREAT toys.    Learning to share those great toys was a real challenge for me.  It took me a long time to recognize that [...]

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“insert name here” is not a good beginning….

April 20, 2010

Social media is about authenticity, transparency and making a real connection.   While we have a multitude of ways to connect and interact today, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – the “original” internet tool for social networking was actually email.  In Social Media is Consumer Controlled Conversations I wrote: About a decade ago, there was another [...]

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Are you a young bull or an old bull?

April 14, 2010

“Softly softly, catchee monkey” is an idiom thought to have its origins in the early 20th century.  The saying  is a shorthand way of advocating  patient, careful and stealthy strategic planning. There’s a popular parable which illustrates the importance of planning and patience called “The Story of Two Bulls“. There are two bulls walking side [...]

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Social Media is Consumer Controlled Conversations

April 7, 2010

Ah the “buzz” around social media is burning like a wild fire out of control – it’s the bright shiny bauble of our time.  Everywhere you turn there’s another guru offering yet another “product” promising to provide everything you need to know to harness the power of social media and magically build your business.  The [...]

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Old school “selling” strategies fall flat in a social media world

March 31, 2010

Old school selling strategies were very “push” oriented.  Push – Push – Push: Buy-Buy-Buy. The communication methods associated with “old school selling” are very “one way”.  The business talks AT a prospective customer via traditional media sources – and the customer has two alternatives:  buy or don’t buy. Then – a new school of selling [...]

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Your Business Blog is Good for Business

March 24, 2010

I’ve been saying for a long time that business blogging is by far the best investment of time/energy/resources you can make for your business.  Well’ now it’s official -  a recent study proves that your business blog is good for business.  Emarketing commerce reports: Majority of Business Blog Traffic Comes From First-Time Visitors Two-thirds of [...]

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Creating Authority with Your Business Blog

February 23, 2010

I’ve talked a lot about how your business blog can be used to build trust with prospective clients – especially if you’re in the business of “selling your knowledge.”  However, there’s another term which is emerging which may be an even more compelling reason to begin blogging for your business. That term is AUTHORITY and [...]

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