Monday, August 31, 2009

Why I Don't "Bounce" Spam Emails

Some spam processors, MailWasher is an example, allow one to "Bounce" spam email back to the source.

I think the idea is to make the originator think that the purchased email address is poorly constructed (somewhat akin to the drug user finding that 30% of the white powder is talcum powder), and remove the email address from the list.

Whether the laundering takes place or not is unknown to us, but let us suppose that it is done.

The spam operates in the millions of addresses, so anything that can be done to increase the effectiveness is a Good Thing for the spammer.

Reducing the proportion of fake email addresses would therefore be a profitable exercise (given the millions of email addresses being processed), and if *I* were spamming people, I'd write an automated task to remove bounced emails from my mailing list.

But I'm smart, smart enough to know about spam filters (such as MailWasher) that bounce spam, so *I* would write an extra piece of code that compares the date-time I receive the bounce to the date-time I issued the spam.

If the difference is a matter of a couple of minutes, then the bounce might be a real bounce, and the email address might be a real fake (I love typing that!).

But if the difference is greater than two minutes, then chances are strong that a Real Live Human Being caused the bounce (e.g. because *I* emitted the email at midnight, but the bounce didn't take place until you sat down at 8 a.m. with your coffee), and so I should NOT purge the address; instead I should mark it as a prime "live" candidate, who sees my email and responds with an action.

If laundering via bounce does NOT take place, then bouncing is a pointless exercise.

If laundering via bounce DOES take place, then bouncing is a pointless exercise, because any spammer worth his/her/its salt is probably going to include a simple "lag time" test in the filtering code and ignore my bounce anyways.

(I am purposely ignoring the cost of bandwidth in bouncing emails)

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Throughclock - Cool Tool for Prospectors

I rarely recommend software, but this has proved of value to me in my prospecting and contact phone calls so search the web for a copy of "ThroughClock", and install it if you want to experience what I feel.

The display can be customized, to an almost-transparent clock, positioned anywhere, and all the usual stuff.

Here's how it really helps me:

Voice-Mail

I dial a follow-up or a contact call and get their voice-mail.

I don't want to leave a voice-mail on this issue, so I tell ThroughClock to pop up a reminder every hour, and paste in as the message the contact name and phone number (with extension).

On the hour, the pop-up tells me in effect "Try again; they may be in!".

In a Meeting

Sometimes the person picks up the phone to say that they are in a meeting, call back tomorrow. Sure, What's a good time? Two o'clock.

ThroughClock is set for two-o'clock Friday, again with the name and number.

Batch Processing

If, like me, you have a contact list that displays names to be called ("follow-up") today, you can set one event on ThroughClock with the message "Follow-ups", which will remind you throughout the day to try all outstanding numbers again in an attempt to reach people between-meetings or between lunch breaks.

Cool Tool for prospectors.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Show Me the Money!

The proposal said "Prices in effect until August 21, 2009", and no cheque has arrived. I could use the money. What to do?

Three years ago I made the decision not to start work on a project until a cheque had been received, a deposit, at least. There is no future in agreeing to do a job for someone who doesn't have signing authority. That way madness lies, or at best, starvation.

So I phone Dan (not his real name) and am put through to Bill's extension (not his real name either). I call back and explain the mix-up and reception tells me it's no mistake, that "Dan has asked that all his calls be put through to Bill for the remainder of the week".

I thank her and hang up.

What to do?

It's a small firm and Dan is the owner. Chances are strong that something terrible has come up – death in the family – and I'd hate to be remembered as the guy who demanded his $550 cheque while Dan was at graveside.

On the other hand, Dan has already agreed that he has his heart set on this job; it's something he's been wanting for a long time.

I think I'll wait until Monday and call back. If I get to Dan, well and good.

If not, I can ask Bill to call me, and explain that Dan is not available (Bill knows that, so he'll agree) and that Dan told me to go ahead, but I am waiting on some things.

Like what?

The sample documents, the layout and – a deposit cheque.

What do I lose if Bill says he doesn't have the authority to go ahead? Nothing.

And in the meantime, I'm the guy who didn't let the ball drop. I have made the effort to help the business, even while the owner is away.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Breakfast Networking – a Stapled Diet

This is too good not to share:


What do you think?

Did I throw away the card, or did I keep it?

Head off to your local supermarket and see what non-perishable item you can get to staple to your business cards.

It better be appropriate!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What Do I Look Like to You?

So Ken is taking me out to lunch today, possibly as a "Thank You" for my making available to him, to use as he sees fit, a series of articles.

Ken will pick those articles which he feels improve the content of his email newsletter, and I will get some exposure.

I just KNOW that Ken will ask me "Can you give me a short bio or description of yourself?", and I, mouth full of Caesar salad, will shake my head; "No".

The best person to write the bio is Ken, because it is Ken's newsletter going out to Ken's clients, and surely no-one knows Ken's clients better than Ken.

Who speaks their language? Ken!

Who uses their vocabulary? Ken!

Who retains their interest? Ken!

I am arguably the worst person to write my Bio (of all the people Ken knows); my version would be pompous, arrogant, self-centered. and all the rest.

But Ken can describe me as he sees me, in words that his audience will understand.

That's the best portrayal I could hope for.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Procrastinating for Success

Yes, I know, "Do It Now!"

… but that isn't working!

I have 20 prospect folders lined up (The 1-6-10 Rule)

20 prospect folders in the pipeline.

The first one, ever, has resulted in a dialogue which ought to lead to a visit to head office – a good thing for me.

The second folder is bogged down – I just can't seem to get past the voice-mail obstacle.

I know that there are scripts and side-stepping techniques to overcome the voice-mail gateway, but I just haven't got around to developing those skills. Yet.

And yet, that second folder has been a barrier to me for two weeks now.

My solution?

Procrastinate.


I set the folder aside (or even shred its contents – is it that big a loss?) and move on to the third folder (now the second folder, of course), and get going again.

Apart from tournament play, it's no different from ignoring the golf ball and re-starting with a fresh golf ball. If your aim is to enjoy swinging the club and striding down the fairway chatting with friends, then get on and do that.

It's a golf ball.

Let it slowly rot in the swamp!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Reciprocal Marketing

If I have understood this right, I can do the manager of The Montreal Deli a favor by printing off a set of Gift Certificates that offer business people $250 off any of my training courses.

The Montreal Deli is a popular local diner that attracts local business people for breakfast and lunch on weekdays, traveling business people for supper on weekdays, and families and friends for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the week.

In this recession, business is dropping, although the regulars, like me, still use it as a convenient, cheap and quality place to meet. (And to mete out our dwindling cash reserves).

Armed with a set of Gift Certificates, which cost him nothing, the manager can present the bill to regular business clients with "We value your repeat business and we would like you to accept this certificate to the value of $250 with our compliments and thanks".

Santa Claus!

Total cost to me, cost of cards, ink, time to print them off on my laser printer.

If someone takes me up on the offer, they get me in front of a room full of staff for $750 instead of $1,000. Nice to save money in tough times.

And perhaps I'll get some new business.

Now suppose The Montreal Deli runs off a similar set of Gift certificates, for a five $20-off-your-next-meal at either of The Montreal Deli's two locations, and suppose I include one of those gift certificates with each invoice I mail out.

Total cost to The Montreal Deli , cost of cards, ink, time to print them off on my laser printer.

For each of us, no extra distribution costs; the manager is going to hand out the bill anyway; I'm going to use a postage stamp to mail out the invoiced anyway.

What's to lose?

Our markets are the same , and we are non-competing.

We both want to attract and retain the small and mid-size businesses that bring us in cash on a regular basis.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Time to Call it Quits?

I called the CEO and he said to call her. I did.

Over a period of a month I have made nine phone calls and sent two emails, all by request. The most recent phone call scheduled today at 2pm failed because of another emergency; I am re-scheduled for Monday 9:30, but am not optimistic.

This is an awful lot of time and effort being spent to arrange for me to deliver a free 15-minute demonstration at my expense.

What Are My Options?

(1) Abandon the effort to break into this firm. The CEO has sent me off to a dead-end contact who is not capable of making an agreement and sticking to it, who is rarely at the phone. My time would be better spent establishing prospects who are open to ideas.

(2) Call the CEO back and ask if there is another person I could deal with; offer to send him a link to the testimonials page; let him see that other people rave about it. If she is being recalcitrant, it's his job to get her moving, not mine.

(3) Call the CEO back and express regrets that I was not able to schedule a meeting with his staff. I get the satisfaction of shaking free, and he will never know what his company has missed.

(4) Stop offering free demos; prospects don't value them unless they have asked for them, in which case the onus is on them to schedule me, not me to chase them.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Now You can Have a Professional Email Address

· Is your email address Losing You Business? Probably.
· Does your business card spell "amateur" or "uncertain"? Probably.
· Are you taken seriously after your prospect glances at your business card? Probably NOT.
(10% reduction offer below)
A recent survey of my contact data base turned up 46 names with web-based email addresses using aol, gmail, yahoo, hotmail, rogers, bellnet or sympatico domains.
I took a closer look:
· I'm not Doing Business with any one of them!
Fifteen years ago, to have an email address was to be professional.
Today, to have an email address with a common-carrier is distinctly unprofessional. It shrieks of "I limped as far as my ISP and could go no further".
Would You Pay $9.95 to Build a Professional Image?
That's how much it costs to register your own domain (like www.ChrisGreaves.com) and start using a professional email address (like this):

See how easy it is? Even I can do it!
Get Rid of Your Transient Image Once And For all
When your business card offers a real domain name and a real email address, your prospect will immediately ask you "Can I learn more from your web site", and you will respond stating a specific page that you already know will intrigue your prospect, a page that you have created and you control.
What Everybody Ought to Know About Domains, Registration, Hosting And Email
Yes, scary stuff. Until five minutes ago.
We have put together a three-hour course that will take you from Blah to Wow!
In a single three-hour session you will choose and obtain your domain name and carry out every task essential to becoming a professional entrepreneur.
(10% reduction offer below)
What's in it for You?
We assume that you are intelligent, yet have no familiarity with the real world.
You are running your own business and have a limited budget.
You don't yet extend to a $5,000 web site solution from some high-paid consultant.
You CAN make some time to do-it-yourself.
And you'd like to be in control.
Just like me.
How Practical is it?
YOU will be expected to bring a credit card, because YOU are going to sit at a computer and key in all the details. YOU are going to choose YOUR own domain. YOU are going to submit YOUR credit card details. YOU are going to obtain a Web Hosting service. YOU are going to create YOUR first Home page, and YOU are going to upload that home page to YOUR web host.
At the end of the session, I am going to send YOU an email, to YOUR new professional address from YOUR new professional web page.
And at the end of three hours, on the way out the door YOU are going to shake my hand, look me in the eye, and say "Thank YOU".
· I promise.
10% Reduction Offer
If you would like to receive a coupon for 10% off your first course, please email us your mailing address and we'll pop a coupon in the mail to you straight away. It's that easy to SAVE!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Found! By the Search Engines

So, how long does it take?

It varies.

This morning my narrow search for myself brought results:



When I set up a new series of web pages or a new URL, I place a Google Search in my Daily news set, so that each morning I monitor (or more correctly, "Mozilla Firefox monitor's for me") whether I am found or not.

This morning for the first time I was FOUND!.

I launched Indxr.CA on the 2nd of October and I am found on the 24th, say three weeks.

My shortest I can remember is ten days, but I can live with three weeks.

You will have noticed that my search terms are VERY narrow and that they include a series of key words which (series) is probably unique to my page.

Of course no one will go looking for "The Indxr Web page Aardvark …"; This search is designed with only one purpose: to let me know when I CAN be found.

It does not mean that I have invested the page with sufficient oomph TO be found by my target market.



When I remove my "Special keywords" I am relieved to find that I still show up as the ONLY match when my page title is enclosed in quotation marks, that is, is found as a string of words.



When I remove the quotation marks, I don't appear in the top page.

That tells me that I need to do SOMETHING to have Google (or other search engines) rank me higher.

Either pay Google money (yes!) or add keywords or get more folks linking to me. The theories are as numerous as my friends and colleagues.

I note with passing interest that over 22 MILLION results are available.

How humbling.




Down at the bottom of the first page some encouragement:

First, I'm the number one video!

Second, Google has given me some ideas for other keywords to place in my home page and other documents




Over at YouTube, a similar standing mechanism tells me that still, no-one there has looked at my video. Sigh!

YouTube like Google offers me some hints as to what may help me to be found.



Finally, a second standing search tells me that my YouTube video ranks higher than my home page!

Probably because my home page lacks the keywords of the video.

A quick fix would be to augment my home page with keywords from the video posting.

But note again the theories about which search engines use the meta-tag "keywords", and which don't!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Your Name {Here}!

A good day.
I have been invited to submit some articles on a regular basis to a technical paper. It's not the first time, but it has been a long time since ….
"Anything to do with enterprise IT" says The Editor, and I will comply.
My work rarely involves the latest buzz-words, so my first task was to research what people are talking about.
I have amassed a short list: Enterprise, Information Technology, Enterprise IT, Enterprise Architecture, Cloud Computing, Looking At the Bigger Picture, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Infrastructure, Crucial Data. The list is not endless, but it may as well be.
Crucial Data got to me.
What data is not crucial?
If you own data that is not crucial, why are you hanging on to it?
I liked the joke that circulated three weeks ago "According to recent reports, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are going to merge. The new network will be called YouTwitFace.com.", but I have doubts that The Editor would entertain that.
Everything else seems to be old hat with a new name.
Enterprise is, after all "Between-Take", if you look closely. An entre-preneur is an in-between-taker, a middleman; not very productive except as a link between two parties who would like to exchange assets. My friend Howard shuttles between clients who want printing done and print-shops that do it. Who needs Howard anyway?
Information Technology reminds me of Ian Sharpe, and his definitions: We Process Data to get Information. There was a nice diagram with "Data" on the left, "Information" on the right, and a big fat arrow pointing from left to right. Above the arrow was "Process". Made sense to a functioning mathematician like me. I don't use an IBM 407 any more. The technology has changed. New skills. So what? I don't program in FORTRAN II any more. Soon VBA will be passé, if it isn't already so.
Architecture sounds a lot like Design: what we didn't do forty years ago until we learned that we had to.
Cloud Computing is still a bit of a struggle. My Dad told me in 1959 that HIS dad, a headmaster, had the first crystal set on the street. Big deal! In Southern Cross 1959 I listened to the AM wireless (I never understood that because we had to plug it into the wall), and wanted one of those tinny little transistor radios that Ron Roccicielli had. Now the wireless comes by cable or DSL, I know, because Jazz FM 91.1 tells me to browse to their radio station. But I don't. I have 20+ gigabytes of music playing on an old Big Beige Box 24 hours a day. No announcers, no commercials. But with 20 gigabytes, lots of surprises!
Looking At the Bigger Picture is obvious once you start moving out of a cubicle. In a cubicle your job is to transfer ideas to punched-card coding-forms and compile the program. Outside of the cubicle but in the same room, your job is to make sure that all the cubicles talk to each other, and deliver a, well, a deliverable upstairs once a month. Upstairs, of course, the job is just to see who is behind schedule, aggravate them, and then go for lunch and/or a round of golf – the weather's lovely today.
Time for my bike-ride.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

You Won't Be Hearing from Me Soon

While researching for my latest postcard print run I came across a cute page at Canada Post about personalized postage stamps.
No longer need Elizabeth Windsor smile at you – you could receive mail from me with my grinning face staring off to one side.
What the heck! For just $24.95 you can upload a picture of your choosing and get 20 domestic-rate stamps.
Domestic-rate stamps are on special at Cloverdale Mall. 10% off a book of ten stamps. Pay only $48.6 instead of $5.40.
Let me rephrase that – instead of paying regular price of 54c to mail your letter, you could pay $1.25, possibly plus tax plus tax, but at least your face gets recognition.
Why not!
Off to http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/atoz/picturepostage.jsf we go, read what's there, then to visit the Picture Postage website with its simple 3-step process.
Step 1: Upload your picture.
I click on "Get Started' and am presented with a window that says "You need Java to run the program that will help you design your stamp."
All Capitals.
Bright Red.
What is Grandma going to do when confronted with this? Call Grandpa in from the back porch?
I am puzzled that I, of all people, need to follow a 5-step procedure to install Java. I am on the web all-day every-day, and am twiddling all sorts of web pages, but perhaps Canada Post know more than I.
It is possible.
I decide to
1) Go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp and download JDK 5.0 Update 13
2) Accept the licence agreement.
3) On the download page, click the red arrow adjacent to Windows Offline Installation, Multi-language (jdk-1_5_0_13-windows-i586-p.exe, 51.42 MB).
4) This will download the executable file to your machine. Once the download is complete, double-click this file to start the installation.
And 5) Continue to Step 1.
But sadly, the first step produces a page which bears little resemblance to my expectations in steps (2) and (3).
I call the toll-free number 1-866-742-7678 and speak with an excited young thing who seems to have no idea about the web page, the conflicting instructions, or to care about a customer who is confused.
Her advice: "Just mail the picture in to me and I'll send the stamps to you".
This blows the whole online scam^H^H^H^H scheme out of the water.
Whatever happened to Step 2 "Edit your picture to fit the frame of your choice."?
Whatever happened to impulse buying, and ordering a second or third set once I found out how easy it is?
I hung up the phone, closed my browser, and went back to work.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Waste Not, Want Not!

(Another use for "useless" prospects)

I get the prospect, a assemble the dossier, I work on my plan-of-approach, using the story of the press release to segue into my abilities.

Then I get the contact details – the address of the firm.

And discover it is just a TEENY bit of a way outside my target market area. But still a local phone call.

I was tempted to toss the paper into the shredder and start on the next prospect.

Then I thought: "Why not have a shot at getting a meeting with them anyway; the worst that can happen is that you'll get a call to visit them".

The best that can happen is that I won't get a call – but will have been able to sacrifice them on an experimental script.

These "useless" prospects may be just what I need as I get started; an arena to hone my skills.

Rethinking Prospecting

This morning I rethought my strategy for prospecting. (Please see Time to Call it Quits?).

My method of obtaining the identity of a prospective company is till valid and works well. (Please see The 1-6-10 Rule).

I am getting bogged down in the major objective of a face-to-face meeting with the prospect.

I think that my plan of a phone call leading to an email leading to a visit is wrong.

I should plan a phone call leading to a visit, and cut out the email, unless they specifically ask me for it.

This means that I will not be wasting time making follow-up calls on unlikely prospects, but can instead make my calls as rapidly as I make the calls to Communications people about my 1-click Indxr.

There still needs to be done the research and dossier to obtain data about the company, and I still need a script.

The difference is that for each prospect I will get a much better idea faster and sooner of whether or not it might lead to short-term business contact. There's nothing to stop me maintaining the prospect on a list for regular mailings; I just won't be spending time crafting a careful email if there's no need to do so.

So now my aim is to generate, for each prospect, a customized script that will, within 60 seconds or less, get the President, CEO, CFO or CIO to think positively about having me in for a chat. And I'll be convincing the President, nit a mid-level manager who has little interest in the profits of the company.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Ask not for whom the BELL tolls …

BELL tolls me.
Or taxes my patience.
They haven't actually got RID of Emily; they just told her to stop telling everyone her name
"Hi! I'm (chirpy) Emily and I'm here to help (chirpily) you (in my twit-like voice) ...."
This morning I uncovered a July 6 bill for ~$100
I look through the 5 pages (3 double-side sheets) looking for a real number (I have problems with the 416-301-GRAB and 416-301-PAIN convention) and dial 416-310-2355.
The real number is on the back of page 1 and could have fit quite easily onto the front of page 1.
I mean, using both sides of the sheet makes it look like they are serious about saving paper, right?
But putting everything on Page 1 wouldn't hurt, would save me flipping paper and really WOOD(sic) cut down on paper.
They would have fitted their 5 pages (3 sheets) onto 4 pages (2 sheets).
A 33% increase in trees across Ontario right there!
But I digress.
"To help us better please key in your ten-digit phone number."
I do so, KNOWING that they are going to ask for it again.
"Please choose one of the following four options"
Could they be anything BUT following? There's a 16% saving in that sentence alone.
But I pick nits.
I elect to cut the cackle (operative syllable "cack") and press zero.
That always works.
But not with BELL.
"Before I transfer you to a live representative (as distinct from a dead one?), please select one of the following options ..."
Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
If I wanted to press buttons I'd go to the new casino in Niagara Falls.
I just pressed zero to escape BELL hell.
I press zero again.
At last!
Polly (not her real name!) asks if she can help.
Yes, I just want to know my current balance so I can pay it.
"May I have your phone number?"
See!
She wants to know where I live (Fair enough; there's little to be gained in giving out an account balance unless you are sure that the criminal mind was smart enough to steal the sheet of paper with the victim's address, or use the 411-reverse lookup on the web ....)
She also performed a sobriety test, asking me to read back the long account number (printed near the top of the page) with no formatting or spacing to break it up. You know, the old 8367590274062728456 convention.
(there follows a bit more scripted conversation on her part until ...)
I cut her short.
I just want to know my current balance so I can pay it.
"Oh.
$100.15"
Thanks.
"Is there anything else I can do to help you today?"
I am nothing if not a fast thinker.
$100 is FIVE PAIRS of "Caesar salad with grilled chicken and a pot of tea" for two at The Montreal Deli.
That's lunch (or supper) for two, five times over!
I said "Yes there is", and once she had issued the mandatory anticipatory breath I said "Pay it for me".
She declined, so we both experienced hang-ups.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Another Good-News Story

How the World is NOT Supposed to Work



When you subscribe for services using a credit-card and find that you no longer want or need those services, your telephone requests are ignored, your email requests are ignored, and your written letters asking for a response are ignored.

Your credit card is "dinged" with a series of never-ending $10 charges, any one of which could be shrugged off as the cost of a Small Caesar salad with grilled chicken AND a pot of tea at The Montreal Deli, but taken all together, the amounts add up, and besides, it is not very nice being involved in a relationship with someone who just can't take NO for an answer.

I shan't mention the company's name, because that would only embarrass the folks at www.Netfirms.ca.

Or there again, it probably wouldn't embarrass them at all, given their track record.

How the World IS Supposed to Work



When you phone People's Trust (who will probably blush with embarrassment at this unbridled enthusiasm), you get to speak to a nice lady, "June" I think, who listens patiently until you run out of breath, asks a few questions, and then transfers you to Angela, who asks a few questions, solicits Netfirm's phone number, and starts a 3-way conversation.

Well, 2-way, actually, because by the time I get joined in Netfirms is already conceding defeat.

If I understand what happened, Netfirms has agreed to refund $60 to my account, has agreed to an immediate stop to any future transactions, and the Netfirm's clerk is sounding like a recalcitrant 10-year old.

Angela is starting to sound like a much more forceful mother than I ever had, and I start to tremble that once Angela has finished with Netfirms, Angela will turn to me and tell me to tidy my room.

Once Netfirms is off the line, Angela wraps up the conversation with me, and I realize that for the first time, I am leaning my back against the back of my chair.

I tell Angela this, that I am aware of my body-language going from tense-and-hunched-over to relaxed.

I wish that People's Trust did domain registrations and web hosting.

I really do!


Also furniture, meals, taxis - the lot!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

LinkedIn; Is it Working Yet?

I continue to be bombarded by well-meaning well-wishers who claim that LinkedIn is the professional entrepreneur's best friend.

I continue to use LinkedIn to inspect profiles of the staff and executives of large corporations.

I continue to find that in so many cases (OK, perhaps 1 in 5) the person I'm seeking, listed as working for that company, is "no longer with us".

I continue to fail to believe that there are that many deaths in industry, especially since most senior executives now seem to be younger (and fitter!) than me.

What's going on?

I believe that the recession takes its toll, executives and managers are laid-off, and quite apart from having more important things to do, have it in their best interests to "forget" to update the LinkedIn profile.

Who is going to head-hunt for someone whose profile (like the resume!) says effectively 'Up until nine months ago I was VP in charge of global buying at Boodarockin Enterprises, but I haven't been able to sell my meager skills since then", especially when that gap grows larger by one month every month.

Remember This

The LinkedIn profile is there to serve the owner of the profile, not the user.

Beware!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Web-Mail Backlash

Another good reason for establishing a corporate email address as distinct from a GMail, AOL, Rogers, Sympatico Or Yahoo account):

Take a trip to http://www.varicent.com and try to download one or more of their white papers.

The submission form detects obvious web-mail domains such as gmail.com and asks instead for a corporate email address.

Fair enough. They are delivering to you the results of their hard work; you pay with a real email address.

Traps for young players: The form is reset with the "Yes, I want to receive periodic email updates from Varicent" box checked ON, so if you have a corporate email address, by default, if you are not careful, you are going to receive emails you may not want.

Of course, if your only emails are mailto:me@yahoo.com, you aren't going to be taken seriously by this firm, and that applies not only to your request for white papers, but also to any email communication you may engage in regarding your services.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Two for the Price of One

Have you ever worried about over-emailing your prospects?

Do you have a list of contacts who should be "touched' once a month, and yet you don't know what to say to them?

Consider getting the job done, and getting it done in half the time.

Many of the marketing gurus stress the need to establish connections with other people, "It's WHO you know", which is why we attend networking events and collect business cards.

I have heard that a great way to establish new relationships is to listen to a newcomer at an event, and then offer to introduce them to another member where there is a sound basis for a relationship.

"So you're in Graphic Design? I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine who is a Print Broker. I'm sure that you two have a lot in common".

The same must be true of emails.

If you feel that it is too soon after the most recent touch-you telephone call, consider hunting out someone else in your contact list who might benefit from the contact, and then put the two in touch with each other by email.

I mean, really, it's just another excuse for an email, right? "Ken meet David; David, meet Ken" (Thinks: "There! I've given TWO people value with ONE email" (lies back in contentment ...).

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Give Us This Day Our Daily Blog

I dined (Boston Pizza) with two colleagues last night.

One told me that she started a blog years ago and made one posting. Blogs are not her thing; she is very good at getting her face, name and story into the media at least once a week; TV, radio and newsprint.

The other told me that she posted only once a month because she felt she had so little to say.

Here's my take



(1) A blog entry such as this should take not more than 5 minutes to write.

(2) Use spell-check and eyeball the content, then ship it out the door. It's a blog entry; it's not a $10,000,000 governemnt(*) contract. The people who read your blog will forgive the odd typo. Ignore the baiters

(3) The only people who are going to read your blog are those who feel they can learn something from you; they have therefore already defined themselves as someone who knows less than you; therefore by definition you know more than them. So write what you know. You readers, by definition, won't know what you know. Until you tell them.

(4) Be as specific as you like; a human village is about 200 souls; our brains have evolved to accommodate that many unique identities. There are 7,000,000,000 of us on the planet. Write for your villagaers(*) who love you, not for faceless strangers who don't care to know you.

(5) Write daily. The has to be something that happened to you today. (If not, then get out of bed, shower, dress neatly and face the crowds). No entrepreneur's day is boring. If you aren't meeting a new situation every day, do something about THAT (See? Even realizing that you did nothing novel yesterday is newsworthy!)

(*) Really; how bad is that?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Management Measures – Part 2

… and while we are at it …
Bob Bly (http://bly.com/blog/online-marketing/the-twuth-about-twitter/) came up with this today:
And by positive ROI, I DON’T mean “I now have 1,200 new Twitter followers” or “my latest tweet drove 878 new subscribers to my blog” or other soft metric nonsense. I mean “Twitter generated online sales of X dollars” or “Twitter got me a new account with a $3,500 monthly retainer.”
Bingo!
It isn't just about quantifiers.
It's about Quantifiers that matter.
Quantifiers that define an end-of-game goal.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Strategy vs. Tactics

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/when-tactics-drown-out-strategy.html
"Tactics are easy to outline, because we say, "I'm going to post this." If we post it, we succeed. Strategy is scary to outline, because we describe results, not actions, and that means opportunity for failure"
I am grateful to Seth Godin for this memorable quote.
It's the best differentiation between Strategy and Tactics I've read.
I hope it works for you too!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

More Freebies than I can Shake a Phone at!

I have previously spent some time looking around for free items that I can use to issue to clients. Indxr is one such tool, Color another, ZoomP a third.

Today I realized that my clarified pool of contacts is a source of many freebies that I can use as an excuse to "touch" a contact yet again.

Jim's business is Policy and Procedures Manuals; I would like to call Harry, but I have nothing new of mine since my last call.

Harry is an administrative manager. I can call Harry and tell him that I have a new contact who may be of some benefit, and would it be alright if I put him in touch?

Sure!

Harry gets a potential supplier, and Jim is grateful to me for the contact.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Achieving The Goal

I don't want you to think that is difficult.



This is a carefully-posed picture of my desktop.

Paper and pencil.

I have taken the Ontario Pension Board as my Hot Prospect of the day.

In assembling the dossier I came across lengthy reports with no Indexes .

I also came across a news report that described the re-writing of an employer manual by Lisa Thompson of Information Mapping Canada .

I decide to phone Lisa for a 60-second chat to establish a time for a 15-minute meeting-by-phone (during which I hope to sell her on a meeting & demo). Lisa is a good referral to me, for I have the Carswell Business Publication available to me.

Lisa's voice mail recommends I call Chris MacMillan; I do and he suggest I email Jim Purdy and Chris agrees to be cc'd on the first email.

If at this stage you are thinking I must be fearless, you are right; but I was once fearful, just like you, and a month or so of making the calls has given me the confidence to know that strangers aren't enemies, and that most business people are reasonable, rational, and will tolerate a 6-second telephone enquiry when the purpose (to obtain an email) is stated up front.

The Information Mapping Canada web site provides me with Names and Job Titles . Now I know who I am dealing with.

Back to the sheet of paper and pencil. I have all the data I need to make my move.

Here is the text-version of my hand-scribbled notes:

Goal:



Get to meet & demo with Jim Purdy and Chris MacMillan.

(1) Demo the power of Indxr

(2) List & describe my other documentation tools.

Objectives:



(1) (dossier)

(2) Phone call to sell email

(3) Email to sell a 15-minute conference call

(4) Phone call to set up an on-site meeting

(5) Meet & Demo

Now of course my ultimate goal is take $000's off either OPB or IMC, that is, to do business with them, so the Goal stated above is a subsidiary goal, but it represents a milestone worth celebrating with an ice-cream cone.

I have completed steps 1 and 2.

Now I must compose a brief email based on (a) the facts in my dossier (b) the benefits I have to offer and (c) a statement that I will make a follow-up call to establish a conference call date and time.

That is a short email, and all it need do is prepare them for my follow-up call.

The meeting and demo is easy; I'm good at that.

Set up the laptop, open a document, click once, and smile.

Monday, August 3, 2009

When the Answer is NO

I have just got off the phone with a fellow-member of a networking group.

I have noticed him at meetings, sitting, smiling, talking to no-one when everyone else is chatting before the meeting and during the break.

My first clue was his business card, run off on an inkjet printer and the ink smudged.

I called him this morning as a follow-up chat, since we had sat at the same table.

His view of the networking group is myopic. He is, he states, there to find someone who will prospect and market and sell for him; he offers 20% commission.

Basically he wants to hire a sales & marketing staff, part time, at no risk to him.

Oddly enough, his view of the group is that they are all there to sell marketing.

That was the bell-ringing red-flag-waving signal.

If you are here to find someone to do the non-technical side of your business, and if you think everyone here is trying to do it for you, how come you haven't hooked up with someone after all this time?

To every suggestion, his answer is "No"; there are no maybes; there is no hint of "Well I'll give it a try".

There is no risk-taking at all from his side.

There is no hope that can be realized without risk.

It is true in Love, it is true in business.

I hung up the 'phone …..

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Blogging Bonus

As you may know (if you are reading this contemporaneously) I am experimenting with parallel blogging – recording my diary in both web pages and a blogging vehicle.

To my delight this morning, the blogger engine told me about a superfluous "slash" character in some part of my HTML.

You don't need to know anything about HTML to know that there is a difference between "Comment on this article /a" and "Comment on this article \ /a"

Yes, that's right; for weeks now there has been a coding error in my "Contact Me" hyperlink at the foot of my web pages.

And how is anyone going to contact me if the hyperlink doesn't work because of that errant slash-character?

An unexpected second-opinion or proof-reading from a very popular tool!