Categories
Online Business

How to Screw Yourself Up on Social Networking in No Time Flat

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Have you heard any of these?

* A guy who works part time for the Eagles Football team updates his status report by saying something to the effect that the Eagles suck due to a trade they made. The Eagles fire him.

* A woman gets a job offer from Cisco. She tweets “Got a job offer from Cisco. Now have to decide between a fatty paycheck versus a long commute and hating my job.” One of Cisco channel partners sees it on Twitter and comments. I didn’t hear how it turned out but I’m fairly certain Cisco rescinded the job offer. (And chances are she’s going to have a heck of a time finding another job since this story was all over the place to such an extent it will take awhile to get it out of Google.)

* A guy who I think is the agency owner travels to the headquarters of one of his biggest customers for a presentation (ironically on social networking). He tweets an unflattering tweet about the city where his client is headquartered. The employees spot it, call him on it and he ultimately loses the account.

I’m sure there are more of these stories, but you get my point. Social networking can give you credibility, visibility, leads and can help grow your business. It can also lose you jobs and customers.

So what do these stories have in common? Simple — the person forgot social networking was public.

And that’s the point of today’s article. What you do on social networking is public.

Now, I know that sounds obvious but, like most obvious things, it gets overlooked. And it’s easy to see why. I mean, half the time (or even more) you get no response to things you do on Twitter or Facebook. So it’s easy to start thinking no one’s watching.

And the moment you slip and think no one is watching, no one cares, that’s when it bites you. You think you can say whatever you want, and you do. Only to discover much to your dismay that people really ARE paying attention.

The same thing that makes social networking such a powerful networking tool is the same thing that can ruin you.

Remember, your biggest strength is your biggest weakness. And that’s true here as well. The power social networking has to get your name out there in a big way can also replicate your unfortunate choice of tweets or posts in a big way and ruin your reputation faster than you can say “to tweet or not to tweet.”

Now, I’m not saying you should run scared of social networking. This isn’t about you agonizing over every comment, tweet, post, etc. you put out there. This is about being smart. It’s about never forgetting you’re dealing in a public arena and people are paying attention, even if there are days where you wonder where all that social networking love went.

And if you DO screw up and say something you shouldn’t? Well, depending on what exactly it was, you might have to do some damage control, and/or just come to grips you’ve put a black mark on your reputation and have to do some cleaning up. You CAN come back, it might not be easy or fun, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world either.

Categories
Newsletter

BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 90

BIZNESS! Newsletter
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Cover Story
Sunglass Contact Lenses
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Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 90 >>>
Top Stories From CoolBusinessIdeas.com
– Ecocards
– PackageTrack
– SpartX Virtual Business Cards
– Commercial Finance Comparison Service
– Pepsi on Twitter
– Healing Power of Pie
– Digital Scales
Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>
Top Stories From GetEntrepreneurial.com
– How Strong is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You
– Do You Invest In Growing Yourself And Your Business?
– Top 5 Automation Tools for Online Solo Service Business
– How True Leaders Execute Plans Without Fail & Celebrate Their Victories
– Franchise Direct reveals the list of Top 100 Global Franchises for 2009
– 5 Things Every Stay-at-Home Entrepreneur Needs
– 3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Making Money From Multiple Streams of Income
Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

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Categories
Franchise

Franchise Direct reveals the list of Top 100 Global Franchises for 2009

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Article contributed by Franchise Direct
Franchise Direct, one of the world’s top franchise portals, has released its first-annual list of the Top 100 Global Franchises. Franchise Direct arrived at these rankings after examining thousands of franchises worldwide. Franchising plays a major role in the global economy, and this list highlights the franchise businesses that have best-invested in international development. Combined, they make up some of the world’s most best and beloved franchised brands.
Franchise Direct is perfectly positioned to examine the global franchise market, as it is a prominent player in international franchising and operates popular national portals in seven major economies in North America and Europe. Their exclusive study has wider ramifications for the franchising industry. The list was compiled according to an objective methodology that factored in a range of commercial matters alongside issues of corporate citizenship and best practice. Franchise Direct examined each franchise’s units, revenue and market position. It also weighed in its support and financing for franchisees, as well as its policy regarding environmental and social matters to arrive at its list of the Top 100 Global Franchises.
The Top 100 Global Franchises provide an insightful glimpse inside the state of the franchising industry in the current economic climate. For instance, the Top 100 is largely dominated by the top performers in the quick-service restaurant industry, with McDonald’s and Subway coming first and second. But the list also shows the diversity of the franchising system, with cleaning, internet and senior care franchises represented in the Top 100.
Franchising is seen by many as an American concept, but these rankings are also unique because they indicate the rising success of franchises outside of America. Fifteen franchises that are not based in America have cracked the Top 100, with franchises from Japan, Australia and Britain represented.
This list provides a blueprint for franchises considering international expansion.
While each franchise on the Top 100 has developed a clear brand identity, they all share a number of similar traits. Each has built its success on a clear business model that’s easy to replicate, a strong support apparatus, an ability to innovate and a sensitivity towards environmental issues..
Franchises are certain to play a greater role in the globalizing economy. Despite the global credit crunch, the world’s top franchises remain cautiously optimistic. This list shows that franchising continues to remain a vibrant economic force in America and beyond.

Categories
Branding

How Strong is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You

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Apple or AT&T?

I’ve recently run into an interesting dilemma — will my loyalty to Apple win out against my disgust with AT&T?

I admit it. I’m been a lifelong Apple lover. My parents bought the family an Apple 2E in high school. (Remember those)? The first computer I bought was a Mac Classic. I own an iPod, not a MP3 player.

It’s Apple all the way. There’s been no turning back for me.

So of course I’ve been salivating to get my hands on an iPhone. However, to get an iPhone means I need to do business with AT&T.

Hence my dilemma.

I actually tried to order the iPhones and had such a horrible experience with AT&T’s customer service what I really want to do is cancel the entire order and do something else while I wait for Apple to (hopefully) open the iPhone to more carriers.

So this ends up being an interesting business lesson. Will my loyalty to Apple win out? Or will my anger with AT&T win out?

But the real question is where are YOU with your business? How loyal are your customers to you?

And what kind of experience does your customers get with you? Are they happy or just putting up with you?

Clearly the idea here is to build customer loyalty like Apple and avoid customer service issues that turn you into AT&T.

So how can you be like Apple? Well one (big) way is to give your customers what they want.

Apple’s customers want cool. They want innovative. They want a product they can rely on. Apple gives them all of that and more.

Your customers may not want cool and innovative (although I’m sure they want to rely on it). I mean, a computer company should be innovative, right? If you’re not a computer company then innovation may not be at the top of your customers’ list.

Your job is to find out what your customers want and give it to them. Do that, and you’ll be on the first step to creating powerful customer loyalty.

Now what about the flip side. How do you NOT create the AT&T experience? Well, amazingly enough it’s the same as creating customer loyalty — listen to what your customers want and giving it to them.

When you boil it down, people aren’t getting what they want from AT&T. What do they want? To make it easy to do business with them.

Right now, it’s not. You have a problem and it’s very difficult to get it resolved.

How easy is it for your customers to resolve problems with you? Do you listen to them? Are you hearing the same problem over and over again or is it always a different problem? If it is a different problem, what is the common dominator?

And, most importantly, if you KNOW that, what steps have you taken to fix it?

It’s a 2-step process. First, find out what your customers want most and give it to them. Second, find out what your customers AREN’T getting from you, and fix that. That’s how you can create an amazing experience for your customers and have them keep coming back to you again and again.

Categories
Work Life

Do You Invest In Growing Yourself And Your Business?

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Let me clear in what I am asking so we’re on the same page. I mean do you put time, energy, and money into your own personal growth and in the growth of your business?

Why am I asking this question?

I’ve seen a trend over the years developing as a result of marketing with so many free giveaways. Offering free teleseminars, bonus gifts, intros to upcoming programs, sample sessions.. are all important ways we introduce ourselves to new people. It’s a viable marketing practice that has merit.

In a conversation with several colleagues on new business paradigms, we wondered:

1. Are we giving away too much for free? The more people give, the more people want. Without having a boundary of, “Enough is enough!” that you stick to, many people will come back for more and more and more. Each time you give more, you raise the bar of other people’s expectations that can become insatiable. What was initially offered as a gift now becomes an expectation that is often discarded as having real value.

Do you treat the things you pay for the same as the things you get for free?

2. Have we educated potential clients and customers to expect receiving high value freebies all the time just to get something for free? Personally, I stand behind creating high value in anything that has my name on it whether it is free or not. It’s also one of the ways I market my business and many people get on lists just to get something and then opt-out. I’ve been guilty of that myself. Attracting the right and perfect clients who are the right fit is the goal of everyone who is in business.

3. Do people feel a sense of entitlement to receive what others have invested years of learning and cultivating for free? A good friend of mine relayed a story of a client who told her she registers for programs and at the end of each program, she asks for her money back for a variety of reasons. This tactic allows her reap the benefits of the programs without paying for it. Copying and distributing proprietary material without permission or compensation to the owner is another form of theft. What goes around….

4. Have we become a society of takers; looking to get as much as we can for the least amount of time, energy, and money? Do you joyfully pay people for their services, products, and programs knowing that you’ll benefit in the end if you take advantage of what they have to offer? Do you always look for the discount or try to bargain the person down like a nickle and dimer? Approaching life from “what’s in it for me” is one of the surest ways to block the flow of abundance into your life.

5. How are people assessing value? By the dollar amount or by the potential of having a life-changing experience? That’s the difference between looking at things as a cost and expense or as a value and investment in themselves AND their future.

Can you relate to these questions?

Several years ago I was contemplating registering for a program that a good friend of mine told me about. I was at a turning point in my business and I had been bumping up against some emotional blocks that were rooted in old beliefs. When I calculated the total amount of airfare, hotel, and registration costs, the figure was around $3500 for the 8-day program. Let’s also add in traveling, meals, and time away from my business. My initial reaction to my friend was, “WOW that’s expensive.” because I was looking at the program as a cost and expense rather than an investment in ME, the potential healing and personal transformation, and the benefits to my business. I realized that was the largest investment I ever considered making in myself. That was eye-opening. Wasn’t I worth it?

She replied, “What is the investment clients make when they hire you to coach them individually or to register for one of your programs?

Would you expect them to pay for what you have to offer if you don’t value the skills, talents, and experience others have cultivated?” Yikes.

Her questions caused me to look at how I judged the value others placed on their programs and services. How could I expect potential clients to value my services if I begrudged others prosperity for their contributions?

So, I registered for the first program and went on to do two more over the next six months. Saying yes was one of the biggest and best investments I ever made in myself.

On Facebook last week here is what someone wrote in response to my invitation to one of my Compelling Conversations interviews, which is FREE:

She wrote: ”There are much too many of these teleseminars out here on FB and not one of them help! It is all about the money.”

Here is my answer: “The really good ones offer a lot of content value. Being of service to others to improve the quality of others’ lives is at the heart of most presenters I know AND we are also running a business. It’s what each person does with the information that makes the difference. The question I would ask you is, How comfortable are you in marketing your own business and asking people to pay you?”

To grow yourself, you must invest in yourself.

To build a thriving business, you must invest in growing it.

To have a great life, you must be investing in growing yourself and your business

Making wise choices in where you invest your time, energy, and money is prudent. When someone has a potentially life-changing service, product, or program that calls to your heart, invest in yourself and say YES. Do it because you are worth it and because everyone you know will benefit for the person you become.