Email Etiquette For Your Business Communications

August 5, 2010 // No Comments »

When it comes to online communication, it’s just as important as offline communication, if not more important. Oftentimes when speaking to someone in an online atmosphere, they can take things the wrong way, simply because they cannot hear your voice or see your face. Because of this, it is vital that you get your message across right the first time because you might not get another chance, especially if you offend someone. Here are a few guidelines to follow when you are speaking to someone online; have it be through email or IM.

• It is typically considered rude and impolite to talk IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THIS. It is commonly referred to as shouting. Shouting = rude. Instead, you can emphasize words using bold or italics but if at all possible stay away from all caps.
•  Make sure you check your spelling and grammar before sending out emails and IMs. Most IM and email programs these days have a spell check function. Be sure to turn it on, this will allow you to look professional. It will also keep people from getting confused by sloppy typing. 
• Make sure when you send an email, that you use a signature file. Email programs and sites like Gmail and Hotmail have an option for this. It will allow you to “attach” it to the bottom of all your emails you send out. This email signature will contain your name, business name, phone number, URL, etc. Whatever you want. There are two points to this. First is to introduce who you are and possibly what you want. Second is to possibly promote your website or business. 
• Make your email subjects text as concise as possible. Keep it short and to the point.. Oftentimes when people read or receive an email that is incredibly long, especially when it comes to a partnership, sale, email sales letter or newsletter, if it’s too long, they will just delete it. Remember to always enter a subject, if you leave it blank it has a greater chance of being filtered into spam or just deleted. 
• Always use the best customer service skills possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s through an email program or if you have a support desk. Don’t make your clients, customers or prospects wait more than two days at a time for an answer. If you get a lot of people that email you once, email you twice and email you three times in a very minimal amount of time – set up an auto responder. Gmail has one of these and it is quite frankly, very useful. It tells people, okay, I got your email, and I will get back to you soon. It shows you care and it puts them at ease. 

By using these few guidelines, your business will run smoother, and people will be able to communicate with you on a clearer level. Communication is such a HUGE aspect in the online world. Use these guidelines as you will, when you want and customize them for your businesses.

Posted in Customer Service

Are You Using Your Smartphone To Its Full Potential?

June 10, 2010 // No Comments »

If you have a Smartphone and you truly feel like you aren’t using it to its fullest, you are probably right! Most people that own Smartphones only use about half of what their real potential really is! In order to use your Smartphone to its fullest ability, one of the best things to do is get involved in some of the APPS available for your phone. Here are a few suggestions for your Android, Blackberry or iPhone:

• Get Free Turn-by-Turn GPS on an iPhone: When Google originally brought turn-by-turn GPS to the android phone, iPhone users were envious to say the least! In March, iPhone users gained their own app that allowed turn-by-turn GPS abilities courtesy of none other than MapQuest. You also have turn-by-turn with voice if you are an iPhone user with the MapQuest 4 Mobile app.
• Communicate with everyone using Fring: If you love Social sites like Myspace, Google Talk, AIM, and Twitter, you are going to love this app! It allows you to use the application as a hub which allows you to talk and use ONE place for all your Social sites rather than having to visit and use each one individually. HUGE time saver. Fring is available for iPhone, Android, and Nokia devices.
•  Find Wi-Fi in Your Area: Apple might have cut wifi stumblers out of their own App store, but you can still turn to a variety of wifi directories, in this case JiWire’s Wi-Fi Finder. This Wifi finder has well over 280,000 hotspots in its directory!
• Compare Prices With ShopSavvy: You can find an array of APPS available that can turn your phone into a bar code scanner, but one of the best apps I have seen thus far that always allows you to do a price comparison is ShopSavvy. You can use these either at local stores or at stores online. You can also set up wish lists as well based on the prices of the scanned items. Pretty cool!
•  Slip Away With Fake-A-Call: Sometimes when you are on the phone and having an awkward phone convo with someone, you just WISH someone would call in on the other line and interrupt. Well, now there is no more wishing with Fake-A-Call. This is a free app that lets you schedule or create a fake phone call. Just a fun little app to use.

 Some of these apps available, besides the ones above, are for fun. Others are a little more serious – great for travel or business people. Either way, if you don’t use apps, you are definitely not getting the most out of your phone! Most all of the apps available are 100% free. Even if you find one you really like and its paid, chances are someone else offers the same thing for free so make sure you check different ones out.

Posted in Technology

Using Teleseminar Transcripts As An Additional Income Source

May 30, 2010 // No Comments »

If you host telesemiars on a regular basis, having your seminar calls trancribed to help you generate additional income.  By having transcribed seminars, you can reach a wide audience while earning extra cash and spreading the word about your company, brand name and seminar’s message. You can generate extra income by selling your message in various forms of printed media to seminar participants and to those who were interested in attending the teleseminar but were unable to make it.  You can also offer a transcript of the seminar as an added incentive to those who are attending the seminar,  potentially adding additional attendees.

When presenting interesting and relevant material, seminar presenters may tend to use many technical terms, speak fast and with enthusiasm or cover a great deal of material. These are all reasons why seminar attendees would be interested in purchasing a teleseminar’s transcript. Whether the transcript is used for reference or as a guide to share with co-workers, many are willing to pay for the convenience of this most accurate form of note taking.

If planning on writing a book, with information relevant to the teleseminar, a transcript of the seminar would be an excellent addition. This bonus material is a great marketing tool and can be used to promote the book plus the “free” bonus. When advertised to the appropriate audience, combining the book launch with other teleseminars can help cross-promote both mediums and allow for greater book and teleseminar sales.

Another idea for seminar transcripts is to include them in a promotional package. If offering a service, adding the teleseminar’s transcript allows persons ordering or registering for your product or service to gain full access to the missed event. Because the entire seminar is transcribed, it allows buyers to read the transcript in their own time and implement the given ideas or discussed thoughts at their own pace. Throughout the trial and error process, users can refer back to the seminar’s transcript to perfect and refine their techniques. Once satisfied, the transcript can be passed to another person or kept for long-term reference.

Posted in Marketing, Small Business, Uncategorized

Competitor Research: It Can Make Or Break Your Business

May 18, 2010 // No Comments »

If you have a business online or if you are brick and mortar, it’s an absolute must that you know what is going on with the businesses around you that are in the same industry. This can be done by utilizing competitive research to find out about things like who your competitors are, market structures, business environments, what advances they have over you, and various economic trends going on in the workforce and in the industry you are in. Eventhough this is a very important aspect of any successful business, it’s also quite time-consuming.

If you want to keep up with your competitors, but you simply do not have the time to go through all the aspects of competitive research you could  consider hiring someone to do it for you – someone like a virtual assistant.  This type of research can determine the varying aspects of  your competitors and compilng reports can help you to get more of a feel for others in your industry as well as the people you are essentially selling to. 

Doing this type of research is absolutely worth the time and investment. Knowing your competitors will essentially allow you to see where your strong suits are and what parts of your business you need to work on in order to beat your competitors and become a strong selling point in your industry.

Posted in Small Business

Web 2.0 is so yesterday – check out OnlyWire 3.0 Content Distribution!

May 13, 2010 // No Comments »

It seems that everyone is on Facebook or Twitter or someother social networking these days. Now there is something new!  OnlyWire 3.0 is the latest, hottest content distribution and syndication tool on the Web. Onlywire lets you broadcast your content to top social networking sites with the click of just one button – it lets you boost traffic, save distribution time and accelerate the rate of your search engine rankings. According to OnlyWire, more than 100,000 publishers and blog sites use “The Button.”

Why we love it

OnlyWire gives you a Bookmark & Share button for your Web site or blog page that lets your visitors share your content with the world, simultaneously. You have options for both free and paid usage of Bookmark & Share. To have the Free button, all you have to do is keep the Bookmark & Share button placed prominently on the content/article sections of your website or blog. Just maintain that presence (OnlyWire checks) and make sure it is functional. That’s all that’s required!

You also have options to participate in special advertising from OnlyWire. All you have to do is visit their site and sign up.OnlyWire has developed 3.0 by getting user and client feedback through surveys and they also provide support for their users through blogs, Facebook, Twitter and email. They offer an iPhone app and they are also bringing API tools to your developers for integration into CMS environments.

If you are a blogger, developer, or manage your own fabulous Web site, take the hassle out of content distribution. Visit www.onlywire.com and get The Power of the Button™.  

Posted in Social Media, Technology