A Dallas firm may soon replace traditional corporate call center operators with social media agents who handle Facebook, Twitter and more. By using high-tech web-scanning tools to monitor bloggers, YouTubers and Facebookers, Working Solutions home-based customer engagement agents have the opportunity via text, chat or Tweet, to handle angry callers or bloggers who want to vent. In business since 1996, Working Solutions’ makes your grandmother’s call center a thing of the past! This Dallas-based corporation provides more than 70,000 home-based customer service agents, trained to be proactive problem-solvers, to corporate clients who want to improve customer contact and reduce their costs. With agents monitoring up to 180 million unique websites and blogs looking for pertinent corporate names or terms, this service is a win-win for clients who also get a guarantee they will achieve an 8-14% increase in ROI while meeting or improving current service levels – or Working Solutions will make up the difference! On an upcoming Small Business Hour Show.
Salesopedia Post
These guys posted my articles with nice graphics HERE
Transformational Leadership
Transformational Leaders overtly change organizations with an implied promise to followers that they also will be transformed in some way. When practiced effectively it enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. In order to create followers a leader has to be very careful in winning genuine trust. Their personal integrity is a critical part of the package that they are selling. The following are some of the ways to practice of transformational leadership:
- Become the chief learner and inspirer
- Listen to understanding rather than respond
- Set the example
- Learn the art of self-reflection
- Share the leadership role
Process Follows People
Today business leaders have no choice but to be focused on proactive, income sustaining activities. This is of course critical in a market where demand is short and discretionary spending is compressed. As important as execution I most leaders become hyper fixated on the “process” and the “work.” The result of this may mean that our “people” take a backseat to the processes. People are the element which most distinguishes one product or service from another. While Products are becoming more homogeneous, people and relationships are becoming more integral in producing business results. My advise is to take caution in your relationships both with internal stakeholders (employees, team members, leaders) as well as clients and external partners. Let’s face it there can be no effective process without dedicated, focused people!
Beyond Search Engine Optimization
Internet Marketing is essential for businesses of all sizes in today’s economy. At this point, most business owners have engaged in at least a normal Search Engine Optimization plan based around finding external sites to link back to their own site, and having employees or an outsourced provider writing unique content to place online. A few years ago, this would have been sufficient to ensure a high ranking for nearly any search term. With recent advances in search technology, however, it is no longer good enough to rely on traditional Search Engine Optimization techniques. Below are some non-traditional ways of generating search traffic that can have an even bigger impact on your bottom line than link trades and content building.
- Use Landing Pages
- Ensure that local sites from Google and Yahoo are being used:
- Review sites
- Community Pages
- Create video content and You Tube Channel
- Explore referral sites
- Expand your use of social media sites
- Explore the possibility of using a group buying site
- Measure your results – Use the data and refine your efforts
We hope these tips help you refine your Internet Marketing efforts, and please contact us with any questions about how you can apply these techniques to your business.
We will expand on each of these topics over the coming weeks, so please be sure to check back for a further discussion of these topics.
When SEO Isn’t Enough
Internet Marketing is essential for all types of businesses and professions today. At this point, many businesses are already engaged in at least a typical Search Engine Optimization plan based around finding external sites to link back to their own site, and having employees or an outsourced provider writing unique content to place online. A few years ago, this would have been sufficient to ensure a high ranking for nearly any search term. With recent advances in search technology, however, it is no longer good enough to rely on traditional Search Engine Optimization techniques. Below are some non-traditional ways of generating search traffic that can have an even bigger impact on your bottom line than link trades and content building.
Use Landing Pages:
Construct simple lead generating pages on your website that allow for detailed reporting on the results of your online efforts. These pages should be designed strictly to capture leads- it can look much different than your normal website, and you may even wish to have it on a separate domain name. Effective lead generating pages often look look less “polished” than full-fledged websites, and should focus on real images of your products, the benefits someone receives from using your services, testimonials from actual customers, and a call to action.
Ensure that local sites from Google and Yahoo are being used:
Google Places and Yahoo Local results are another area for you to generate web traffic. Go to google.com/places and yahoo.com/local to claim your business listings. You can add your hours of business, location, and web address. When you have ensured the accuracy of your listing, contact some clients and ask them to post honest reviews and comments on your profiles. You may wish to offer an incentive for them to do so.
Review sites:
Sites such as Yelp allow the Internet community to rate and comment on the work done by specific companies. Search for your company on Yelp.com, and see what existing reviews you have. Communicate with some existing clients to ask them to add their honest feedback. Again, you may wish to offer an incentive to get a significant number of responses.
Create video content:
Changes in search results pages now show videos by default, and if you don’t have any video content, you’re missing an opportunity to rank highly for some potentially valuable search terms. Videos that tend to work well are: before/after, testimonials, product maintenance, buying tips, and installation instructions. Creating one or two videos of each type will give you a good chance of having your site receive visits for your desired keywords.
Explore referral sites:
Sites such as Angie’s List and Service Magic act as lead referral services, and they can be useful for some industries. Research referral sites for your business type and contact the sales departments to obtain a proposal for inclusion in their directories. Once you receive this information, evaluate their services and determine if they offer enough value to be included in your marketing campaign.
Expand your use of social media sites:
Crate profiles and log in to Twitter and Facebook daily and comment on interesting posts that other people put up. Being an active member of the community will raise your value on-line. If all you do is post your own content without interacting with others, they have no reason to engage with you when you do post content. Mark Cuban is a billionaire that runs a few highly successful companies, and he finds time to post to twitter and respond to blog comments every day, and he’s probably busier than just about anyone in the world of business. That’s one reason he’s so well liked- he interacts with anyone when he feels he can add something to a conversation. Interaction is what will help you turn connections on these sites into actual business.
Explore the possibility of using a group buying site:
The popularity of sites such as Groupon, Living Social, and Social Buy is at an all-time high. Contact a few of these sites and find out what type of deal you can offer that makes sense for both you and their network. If you can put together a reasonable offer and still be profitable on the deal, it is a way to reach a huge untapped audience. One note of caution- these sites are so popular these days that it’s possible you could become overwhelmed by responses, so make sure that you can handle the rapid influx of business if you use one of these sites.
Measure your results:
Create some metrics and reports that allow you to track and draw conclusions from your efforts. Use the data and refine your efforts, determining which initiatives should be continued, which should be dropped, and what your next steps should be.
We hope these tips help you to refine your Internet Marketing efforts, and please contact us with any questions about how you can apply these techniques to your business.
This article was provided by SBA Network Technology Specialist Matt Walker. You can reach him at mwalker@sbanetwork.org.
The Right and Wrong Way to Lead
The quality of leadership is often the deciding factor between healthy or dysfunctional corporate cultures. When effective leadership is exercised, organizations leverage the very best performance from their people. This significantly increases their chances for gaining market advantage and maximizing profitability. We can usually spot ineffective leadership by observing a brief interaction between the leader and a team member. The short video below demonstrates precisely what I am talking about.
I made this little video to help us to be reminded of how important our language is in winning team performance. Effective leadership really boils down to adopting some very simple communication behaviors:
- Try not to let your frustration show. It is not only a sign of weakness but it often telegraphs your lack of confidence or control.
- Refrain from making judgments about your team members’ liabilities. As leaders it is our job to encourage them to reach for a higher level of performance not become fixated on their mistakes.
- As my good friend Dr. Mitchell Perry would say, “Speak in the language of inclusion.” That means we should be talking about what they can or should be doing rather than focus on what they are NOT doing.
- Be aware of your facial expressions and body language. Words only account for just 7% of the meaning in our communication. Far more critical is our tone of voice, non-verbal cues and facial communication.
- Ask plenty of open-ended questions and LISTEN for what your people are REALLY trying to say.
- Assume that your people can and WILL perform above your expectations rather will assuming they cannot.
- Be willing to invest time with your people helping them through difficult situations or projects.
I hope this has been helpful to you in your quest for a higher level of leadership. I am interested in your ideas. Please give some feedback and I will share with all of our readers.
The Gap in “Learned Leadership” – America’s biggest impediment to organizational growth
Today business leaders are struggling with a number of impediments to organization growth. These are often identified as economic conditions such as a lack of capital, cash flow, increased regulations, softening demand, price erosion or predatory competition. While economic aspects do often hinder business success, it is the unwavering commitment and cohesive spirit of the people within the organization that enables the achievement of a competitive edge despite all economic conditions. This has been proven on numerous occasions. In fact we are seeing some of the most unlikely enterprises gain market dominance in the harshest of economic conditions. This is evident in observing the unprecedented entrepreneurial growth occurring in third world countries. Winning the collective and enthusiastic commitment of the entire organization is easier said than done. This must be accomplished by engaging team members in a way that they willingly volunteer their disposable time and discretionary effort to the enterprise on a continuing basis. This requires that business leaders overtly practice functional leadership as never before. Yet effectively modeled leadership is a rare commodity, particularly in America today. We need only look at the world of sports, politics, and global business to see that even our most revered leaders are disappointing us at every turn. They consistently display a lack of honesty, integrity and commitment, coupled with a pervasive self-interest. It is interesting to note that organizations can sustain themselves for years or even decades even with a “gap” in leadership due to sheer momentum or market force. Unlike adverse economic conditions a leadership gap can go unrecognized and unaddressed for many years. But it is difficult to cultivate growth and nearly impossible to sustain a functional corporate culture without effective leadership. The eventual symptoms are silo building, political infighting, accelerating employee turnover, stunted upward mobility, stymied succession planning and the eventual lack of market advantage. All of this paints a bleak picture for continued business dominance and innovation in America. But recognizing this challenge is the first step in defining a solution. Business leaders must stop focusing on just the economic or market conditions facing their organizations. They must first and foremost confront their own behavioral issues. We cannot teach, train or coach our people to bring about change if we are not modeling the necessary behaviors ourselves. Often times leaders are so involved in the day-to-day minutia of running the enterprise that they lose sight of the mirror of self-reflection. We must be deliberate in demonstrating the critical traits of leadership in everything we do. They are honesty, humility, vision, competence, inspiration, communication and being others-oriented. If we are to properly lead we must integrate these into our personal value-set in a genuine and transparent way. I don’t know about you but if I hold the mirror up-to-myself I often find that I too am lacking in one of more of these areas during daily interactions. It is not just what we SAY as leaders that win people to our way of thinking it is what we DO! Our actions define our intentions. Is leadership an inborn trait or can it be learned? While for some this may be inborn but the good news is YES, it can be learned! With a clear assessment of our leadership competencies, an open mind toward development, proven training, coaching and applied in a practical way with our daily interactions, leaders CAN be made! This will be a first in a series of discussions on “what makes leaders great.” Stay-tuned for more and I’d love to hear your feedback.
Business Success Quick-Tips
This week, we wanted to provide you with three quick tips that can help your business and expand your thinking. They revolve around your cash flow, thinking non-traditionally, and becoming a master at collaboration.
- Know your cash position at all times! More important than your profit and loss statement is your cash flow statement. Many companies can operate at a loss for years if they’re able to manage their cash flow. Know your projected flow at least 3 months from now. If you have a solid grasp on your income and expenses, you have a much higher chance of survival!
- Think non-traditional sales and marketing. Most advertising does not work. Think of your last encounter with a salesperson. Traditional selling often pushes more people away than it attracts. Use the Internet, social networks, search engines, affiliates and alliance relationships to effectively build your business rather than running ads.
- Become a master of collaboration. You may not have the right answer or solution for your clients but chances are someone within your organization or within your sphere of influence DOES. When we collaborate we broaden our expertise and are able to deliver more effective products and services to our clients.
Whatever product or service you are providing the above advice will create greater market impact, win more loyalty and sustain your business for years to come.
Guidelines for Mission Statements
The following are some very practical guidelines for mission statements: 1. Present Tense – This helps the reader to perceive that the mission statement is already being fulfilled rather than intimating that it is an event which MAY occur in the future. 2. Active Voice – In an active voice the subject is DOING the action. For example rather than; “Our company mission is to deliver…” say; “Our company delivers…” 3. Straightforward Language – Eliminate superlatives, modifies and unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. These often water-down the message. 4. Motivating and Clarifying – The mission should be written in a way that motivates team members, clients and referrers to participate. It should also clarify the vision of the company. 5. Verbal Economy – The mission should communicate the reason for existence of the entity in as few words as possible. This promotes readership and comprehension.