Ultimate Work At Home Dads » speed of light

081The Invisible Touch – The Eight Keys to Lasting Relationships – 3. Speed

Charlie Seymour Jr — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:04:45 +0000

The Fourth Key: Relationships – Speed

Speed kills – on the highway, anyway. And put a bit of ice on the road, and it doesn't even have to be all that fast.

But in business, sometimes speed is needed.

You know: when a client wants an order right away… or a proposal… or a referral.

In today's Internet world, people often expect things at the speed of light.

So when someone sends you a fax or an email, they often want the answer immediately.

Whoa – Set Proper Expectations

How Available Are You To Clients?

Clients learn from me very quickly that they cannot "get to me" at a moment's notice. Some of my friends are horrified at that, but once my clients understand that if I allowed everyone with a whim to interrupt me, then they'd see that I wouldn't be able to get THEIR work done.

Phone calls are scheduled.

Email is answered twice a day.

I don't give out my cell phone except to clients with paid agreements (who must know how to contact me in case an appointment or meeting out of the office is changed) and to my family. Others can leave messages on my main number (610.572.2581) or email me (Charlie @ 'CharlesSeymourJr.com)

It used to be when people could first send a fax that they'd press the "send" button and then begin to wonder why I hadn't called with the answer. It didn't matter that I was out of the office and never saw the fax, they wanted their answer.

Email and texting has made that even more complicated.

Here's My Advice In The 21st Century Of Communication

Set expectations.

Tell your clients WHEN they can contact you and WHEN they can expect a reply.

Teach them to respect your time – if your work is excellent AND they understand the ground rules, they will quickly learn how to comply.

Oh, sure: perhaps the old saying "Under Promise and Over Deliver" is still good. But be sure to set expectations so that you can deliver on what you promise.

Forget that faxes and email and texting are immediate; forget that FedEx and UPS can deliver over night.

Decide how you want YOUR business to act, and then live up to that.

Set your guidelines, communicate them well, and stick to them. You'll have loyal clients when you do.

And now – leave me a comment here to tell me what YOU feel about this!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

The Invisible Touch – A Marketing Blog Series By Charles Seymour Jr
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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and personal-touch marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

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Fallacies of Marketing

081The Invisible Touch – The Eight Keys to Lasting Relationships – Speed

Twitter For Business – Use Twitter To Help YOUR Business: NOW

Charlie Seymour Jr — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Use Twitter To Spread Your Word Of Mouth

Some people lead the dance, some follow – and some have to be taken onto the dance floor kicking and screaming.

This is not a surprise for those of us working in Social Media Marketing, but it's still a surprise to me to read this.

I really have to chuckle: Hollywood is all a buzz about The Twitter Effect.

Where the heck have they been?

Don't they have anyone on their staffs who understand Social Media?

(OK, I admit it: I ALMOST said "don't they have anyone on their staffs under the age of 30, but since I passed that milestone years ago and clearly know how to use Social Media, I won't continue that stereotype any longer!)

Newspapers Tell About Hollywood's Fear Of People Who Send Tweets

Did you see this article in your local paper? (You DO still read the newspaper, right? If Baby Boomers are part of your market you should – THEY still read papers almost as much as they read online information and watch nightly news.)

The headline was, "Hollywood a flutter about the 'Twitter Effect.'

It's as if Hollywood producers just woke up.

Didn't they see all the reports about Iran's election when the population sent messages around the world? Don't they believe the reports that people like Proctor and Gamble (you can't get much more "main stream" and "institutional" in advertising than P&G) are using Social Media? Don't they see that the "kids" are using text messages in the THOUSANDS each month, going one on one with their friends… and then using the same texting technology to use Twitter to go one to MANY?

So… what is Hollywood so afraid of?

YOU. Me. And THOUSANDS like us being able to communicate freely and within seconds of discovering what we like or dislike.

WHY are they so afraid and what happened to make them stand up and notice?

We saw some movies, we didn't like them, we told people… and the attendance plummeted.

Word of mouth was always impactful for our businesses, but now it's at the speed of light.

Learn From Bruno

When Hollywood groans, we all hear it.

Bruno was supposed to be the "even better" follow up to Borat, but after the opening day sales plummeted 39% for Saturday.

Hey, I wrote about Bruno. It was JUST what I needed on a day when my head was swimming with way too much to do. I laughed out loud, thought it was stupid and gross, admired Sasha Baron Cohen for creating another character that made it to the big screen but: I new it wasn't as good as Borat.

So did thousands of others who decided to bash the movie, sending its attendance into a nose dive.

SOME In Hollywood "Get It"

The Weinstein Company seems to get it.

Stephen Bruno (sorry, that's his name – NOTHING to do with the movie of the same last name!) says that now Twitter needs to become a part of the marketing of a new movie.

Before the release of Quentin Tarantino's (Weinstein Company) movie, Inglorious Basterds with Brad Pitt as the most famous in the cast (though NOT the true lead of the movie), they held a special preview of the movie for those who won a contest on Twitter. And then they held a red-carpet tweetup during the movie's premiere. Even some Hollywood elites were twittering about how they liked the movie.

Personally – I REALLY liked the movie. It was bloody, it was too tough for me to watch some times (really, I had to turn away) but Tarantino's camera work, suspense, who-did-what-to-whom, how-will-it-end were awe-inspiring. Watch for this at Oscar time… a definite candidate for best picture.

I LOVE movies – grad some pretzel bites or popcorn to eat, a medium Cherry Coke, and settle in to be swept away into someone else's story for a few hours. Totally refreshing for me (sometimes totally DRAINING too… but I love those that grab me by the heart too!).

But back to Twitter…

Twitter Still Sends Fear Down Some People's Spines

There IS fear that people will be twittering during the opening credits of a movie.

I have to admit I was surprised to see in one of those pseudo-movies before the feature runs (you know, the ones that tell you not to talk during the movie – "Please, don't add your own soundtrack" is says) also included a "No Texting" message.

I don't like when someone sitting near me opens his/her cell phone – the light is annoying. But to take a phone call or text (or tweet) someone DURING a movie – throw the bums OUT!

But movie producers have a real reason to be fearful – the truth will definitely get out about their movies. We won't let a handful of critics tell us what to think nor will we see movies based solely on the trailers of the best parts of the movie – we want "social proof" and that will come in the way of blogs, podcasts, and tweets.

You Have Real Power In Your Fingers

Think about it: when I saw a movie I liked, I used to tell my elderly parents at brunch on Sunday after church. I might email my daughters, tell a friend, maybe even join a few friends in discussion about it. Now I can tell THOUSANDS with a post like this and some tweets on Twitter.

And so can you.

What Does Twitter Mean For Your Business?

Think about the impact Twitter has had on a few movies and focus on the POSITIVE impact. You can get that too – but you need to work on it through Twitter, Facebook, your blog on WordPress, and more.

To learn more, stay in touch here with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting.

Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy