Archive
Guest Blog: Generate High Quality Business with a Potent Online Presence
Occasionally, I offer opportunities for guests to contribute an article to my blog. This is such an occasion. My guest today is Jonathan Roehm. Jonathan is an expert in web design and works almost primarily with consultants on creating their web sites. He is a member in my consulting community and is a really bright and creative guy. I’m happy to offer this article to you. If you have questions, contact Jonathan.
Your website and online presence is your ambassador. Buyers are constantly vetting you. They may have received your name from a trusted colleague, or attended / hosted a workshop or keynote. Ultimately, your buyers must implicitly trust you, immediately understand your unique nuance and value, and believe, without a doubt, that they will be transformed by working together. All of this happens in 30 seconds or less — and 90% of the time it happens on the homepage of your website.
Is your website, homepage, and online presence inspiring your buyer to do business with you? Do you pass the 30 second “must do business” challenge? We see consultant websites as destination websites. Specifically, buyers coming to your website are vetting you to ensure there’s an identifiable match for their needs; they are not serendipitously finding you on Google.
After years of working with consultants like you, we know that your economic buyers care most about five interconnected things:
1) Everything they’ve seen and heard from you or about you is true and easily verifiable.
2) They can quickly distinguish your unique expertise and personality (they are hiring you!) from other consultants in your arena.
3) You’re exceptionally qualified to aid their organization and improve their condition.
4) You generate verifiable results that align with their needs.
5) Your past and current clients are of relative caliber and quality as their organization.
All of this should be accomplished in rapid succession, ideally as inspired “ah ha” moments for your buyers. They are hiring you, and that process is every bit as ego driven as it is intellectual. We help you strut your person, testimonials, client results, value proposition and more with gusto. Learn more at www.heatbrain.com
Social Un-Security: Social Media is all “trick” and no” tweet” for your business insurance
Social Media has captivated the globe and has changed how we communicate personally and professionally forever. And the scary thing is, it’s ever evolving and changing. The good news for you as a business is that you have more ways to spread your message, sell your products, and profess your opinions for free to the world. The bad news is, that your insurance may not have kept up with the times and is stuck in 1979.
Your Commercial General Liability policy has a coverage part called Personal & Advertising Injury. This coverage part has a sub-limit of liability that should be equal to your Occurrence limit. Personal & Advertising Injury is meant to protect you from among other things, libel, slander, defamation of character and other grisly things that you do that could hurt someone’s feelings. Seriously, it’s meant to protect you from negligently damaging someone’s reputation, or infringing on copyright or intellectual property. This is more of an issue today as technology blurs those lines, so it’s an important coverage.
The standard General Liability policy (ISO CG00 01 12 07) will exclude injury “arising out of an electronic chat room or bulletin board the insured hosts, owns, or over which the insured exercise control” (ISO CG00 01 12 07). As well as Personal and Advertising injury “arising out of the infringement of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights” (ISO CG00 01 12 07). This includes data privacy breaches and claims resulting from a data privacy breach.
In English, this means that your tweets, blog posts, Facebook notes, and other commentary on social media sites are not contemplated by outdated verbiage still being employed in General Liability policies. Certainly, you can fight it, however you know that means extra time, money, and anxiety. Bottom line, your tweets aren’t covered!
There are increasing numbers of case law and opinions surrounding this issue. My job today isn’t to bore you with a litany of these, but to alert you to your vulnerability.
So how can you get in trouble? Let’s face it; the most intriguing blogs and tweets are the ones that offer contrarian, thought provoking, and often outlandish commentary. In sending out your opinions over cyberspace channels, you may be critical of competitors, inadvertently offend another company or individual, and/or infringe on someone’s brand. If they sure you, you’re on your own.
So what do you do? Fortunately, the insurance companies have found a way to protect you. For consultants like me who own a professional liability insurance policy, the coverage is included there. For other businesses, there is a fairly recent policy that has been created called Cyber Technology insurance. It’s meant to protect your liability for issues related to technology like social media, data breach, and other nasty things like that.
You need to talk with an insurance professional – your broker, agent, or consultant. It’s crucial that you examine your company’s social media practices, including how your employees use it.
Tom Bell an attorney with Perkins Coie, in an article published in Computerworld states:
“Companies are entitled to free speech, but their commercial speech is less protected. The lower protection comes in the form of a higher standard of care for truth and accuracy. So, when company employees participate in social media on behalf of their employer, they subject the company to the same risks as a newspaper or individual, but with less protection.”
Employing a social media policy will help you assess your vulnerability, create policy that works for your operations, and set up a plan to transfer your unwanted risk to an insurance policy that adequately protects your liability and assets.
Your company probably should be active at some level in social media. If it’s not now, you’re probably falling behind the game at some level. Like any other risk you face in business, you need to make this part of a good risk management policy.
Don’t find yourself on the wrong side of a tweet. Go out and become “socially acceptable!”
© 2011 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Saving Time and Money
I’ve had my new iPhone now for a month and am wondering how I ever lived without it. Yes, I’ve added a few games (I’m still not proficient in Angry Birds, but working on it), however the majority of the apps I’ve either downloaded or purchased have been great time saving tools. For instance…
- I get all my business reading done quickly, efficiently, and often while standing in line or waiting for someone. I have Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Seattle Times, CNN and the two local papers on my phone. Tom Petty was right…the waiting is the hardest part! Use your time wisely.
- Every contact I need is stored and backed up on the phone. I always have the information I need at my finger tips. My ability to quickly and easily find locations, restaurants, and contacts saves me time. My calendar is always handy (I keep it on Google Calendar). I can’t tell you how many times those features have saved me embarrassment and/or valuable time.
- On a personal note, I’m surprised how often I’ve used my flashlight and level apps. I’m not good at keeping the real-life tools handy, but when you need a flashlight, you need it now. Have phone will flashlight travel!
Bottom line – a smart phone is an investment, especially if you’re in business. Apps were developed to make your life easier. Find the tools that best fit your situation and take advantage of them.
Now it’s time to get those dumb pigs!
© 2011 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Does Social Media Build Strong Relationships?
No.
I’m certain I will get a lot of people responding with contempt over my short answer, and that’s okay. I ask that you hear me out.
I believe social media platforms can be an excellent aid in enhancing relationships. The ability to communicate, share, and provide value is clear. However, I sincerely believe that in order to build that relationship, you must have begun the formation in a more personal manner.
Now you might be saying, “Dan, this is just like what pen pals did in the pre-computer age.” Yes, that’s a credible argument. However, pen pals usually were able to scribble more than 140 characters. They were able to write with a broader vocabulary and the anticipation of the next correspondence was part of the fun.
Consider these questions:
1. Just because you are a friend on Facebook or have someone following you on Twitter, does that mean you’d invite them to your next barbecue?
2. How many of your friends or followers have you met in person or talked to on the phone? That’s usually one of the first clues that you have a strong relationship.
3. Do they trust you enough to pay their hard-earned cash to purchase your product or service?
Maybe part of the problem is our definition of “relationship.” When I use the term, I mean that you and the other person know and trust each other to the point of having complete confidence in their affinity for your best interest. I believe many people consider the word “relationship” akin to an acquaintance.
Social media platforms are a good way to keep in touch with friends, family, and business associates. It’s a great way to find old high school and college chums. And, it’s a fine way to disseminate your opinions, value, and opportunities. However, it can also create a tremendous amount of noise, vulgarity, and wasted time.
Start by building relationships from scratch the old-fashioned way and then work on enhancing them through social media. Building strong personal and professional relationships takes time. Don’t be in such a rush to amass great numbers, rather focus on quality.
© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Just in Time Learning
With the advancement of technology at an astounding rate, the opportunity to increase your value to others has never been better. Here is an example…
I use Constant Contact for my newsletters. I was finishing one and wanted to preview it. An error notice I had never seen popped up. I copied the text and went to their instant chat for customer support. Within one minute, I was instant messaging a support person with my question. Within 3 minutes it was resolved. Now that’s what I call “Just in Time” service.
The value was that I got the information when I needed it, how I needed it, and just in time for me. I am setting up new ways to make “Just in Time” learning, consulting, or access to me a reality in my business. What about you? Where are ares that you can provide instant support that will differentiate you from your competition?
I encourage you to take some time and be creative. Determine ways that you can implement “Just in Time” service to your clients and prospects. Take advantage of the technology at your disposal and become a leader in your industry.
© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Apple Takes Bite Out of Microsoft
Want to know what happens when you do all the right things and your competition stumbles? Take a look at what Apple has done to Microsoft – read story.
Apple has consistently had better marketing; better branding; superior customer service; leading edge products; broader appeal; and better leadership. All that leads to a community of evangelists who continually sing their praises. I know I live in Microsoft country, but I am a “Mac.” Why? Because it performs better and I get superior service from Apple Care. It’s all about results for me.
What about your brand? Are you consistently offering tremendous value; leading edge products/service; unmatched responsiveness to your clients; and evangelists tooting your horn? If not, why? Or perhaps the better question is how do you get that changed?
Take a lesson from Apple and take a bite out of your competition by upping your game!
© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
Who Does Your Web Site Serve?
In most business organizations, especially professional services, it’s incumbent on the business to make life easy for the customer or client, not the other way around.
I found that my newly designed “landing page” was in need of some work because it didn’t do a good job of making life easy for those who “landed” there. With valuable advice from my community and professionals I trusted, I swiftly did a re-design on this site to make it more of a table of contents for all the services and value I offer. (Many thanks to Jenn Putnam and Jennergy)
The re-design allows visitors to quickly scan areas of interest and decide where they want to go next. And, yes, this will continue to be a work in progress. Cyberspace requires fluidity. My Speaking to Influence web site is next on my agenda to revamp, and plans are underway. But, I digress…
What about you? When was the last time you cleaned up your web site? In today’s world, I can’t imagine going past 12 months! Things change, you change, your services change, and most importantly, what your client and customers want and need from you change.
Here’s your weekend homework – go to your web site and start imagining what it would look like ideally. Even if you’ve just made changes, fast forward in your head for future innovation. In this rapidly evolving business world we find ourselves in, you can never allow yourself to get behind the 8-ball.
Then, after you’ve made a mental picture of your newly designed site, take action. Create a game plan and time-line for completion. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) do this alone. But get started no matter what you do. Remember, this is your 24/7 brochure, resource center, and store front. It should reflect you and your business.
© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
