One of the first steps we take when working with new clients ( after ensuring the fundamentals are spot on) is to evaluate their presence on the web. Far to often companies have a fragmented web presence. They may have a website, a Facebook page, and maybe even a LinkedIn or a Twitter account, but there may be no coordinated effort to integrate those online tools and they may not even integrate their online presence with their offline marketing activities.

With strong fundamentals, a strong business plan, mission statement and customer profile a company’s online presence can be coordinated with its core values and integration can be planned with offline activities to create synergies. When this happens, the brand is strengthened, and strategies can be developed and implemented that will foster communications across channels and possibilities for real growth can have the most fertile atmosphere.

Think Web Presence instead of just Website.

Think Web Presence Instead of Website is a post from: A Passion for Connection

The newest member of Business with a Heart is Cheryl Fehlberg of Enhanced Editing Services. Cheryl helps bloggers and writers over the world present their best work by editing and proofreading their writing before it is published.

Cheryl was wondering how to price her work.  She had read a blog post that was highly shared on Facebook and Twitter.  The piece was excellent in its concept and spoke to the idea of supporting creative people and encouraging them not to be afraid to put their work out there.  It was nicely written but had its own share of grammatical errors.  She wanted to offer help in a way that was supportive.  If the blog was making money and could afford to pay for editing then she would like to be compensated in a little way.  If not, because it was so good and she wanted to support the author, she would do it without charge just to help.

I suggested offering help through the Business with a Heart model.  The model has three components:

1.  To set an example by giving deeply from our hearts

2.  If other businesses receive help through discounted rates then they commit to do “Paying it forward” by doing the same for theirs.

3.  The members work to promote the businesses and non profits that are doing good things in their own communities.

By offering this to a potential client, she sends the message that is at the heart of who Cheryl is.  It codifies the idea that Cheryl is working from her heart to do good things for others.  She can work hand in hand with other businesses whose values she supports.  The other business receives needed services at a rate they can afford and is challenged to give back in a way that works for them while both businesses mutually support each other in a team like fashion.

Cheryl provides a much needed service, editing blog post and other writing at a very affordable rate and on demand.

To learn more about Cheryl and her very affordable and needed services you can visit her blog site, contact her on Twitter, or learn more about her on LinkedIN.

Business with a Heart – Enhanced Editing Services is a post from: A Passion for Connection

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What do you Struggle with Most in Social Media is a post from: A Passion for Connection

Photo by Orvalrochefort

While visiting a client the other day I had the opportunity to witness first hand, the flow of information at the company. I was shocked to see the work that was needlessly created because of lack of training on software and complacency.  The people in the company were used to doing something one way and were resistant to change. “This is how we do it” was the attitude. There was no one questioning , “why do we do it this way,” or “is there a better way”

This particular client is buried in paperwork as he downsized and eliminated the position of bookkeeper. His staff, as good as they are at what they do, are limited by old systems that he set up long ago and clings to. Old Ideas that hold him back. Old accounting systems weigh him down and he has his staff doing menial tasks that are easily automated and integrated into his accounting. He focuses on the small things that don’t matter instead of looking at the big picture.

I watched as one of his staff wrote a purchase order on a spread sheet form that she manually multiplied the quantity x the price of each item. Then she manually entered that purchase order into a spread sheet log, and printed out two copies of the purchase order. She placed one copy in the client folder, and one in the purchase order folder and proceeded to delete the purchase order spread sheet she created . “There was no need for it” was the argument, “we have the hard copies.”

All of this took her well over an hour. I am still shaking my head in disbelief. All of this could have been done in Quickbooks at the time of the order in a minuit or two at the most. I then started thinking of all the work that still needs to be done like entering the transactions into Quickbooks for which I am sure he will pull out the purchase order file and compare the agreed on price with the receipt he receives from then vendor. When he bills the client, he will have to pull out the file of purchase orders and receipts and manually calculate his hours and prepare a bill for the client. ALL BY HAND. He has Quickbooks but does not use it to simplify his life. Instead it is one more chore that needs to be done.

I know this may be an extreme example, but I also know that many people don’t use a fraction of their resources. Many times because they simply don’t take the time to learn the tools the have.  If we take a few moments and look at how and why we do things, we can come up with solutions that can save us time.

Do you have resources in your company or organization that you under utilize?

Do We Underuse Technology? is a post from: A Passion for Connection

When we expect something and the results do not meet our expectations, we are disappointed, frustrated and even angry. That annoying feeling can linger. We loose faith and trust. We wonder if other things will go wrong.

In business we must be able to look at our own products and services from the eyes of the consumer. Are we delivering what we promise? If we are not, our customers are left with bad feelings. Some will let us know. Others will let a lot of others know.

Yahoo is promoting the idea that people can import their Facebook contacts. I have heard stories that some have been able too. I have heard from others that they have not been able to. I am in the second group. The frustration I feel reinforces my image of Yahoo as a company of well Yahoos. It is not that I can’t import my contacts, it is the ideas that I am told that I can and my expectations are that I should be able to, but the reality is that I can not. Yahoo is promoting it, The system exists to do it, but it doesn’t work. AHH I want to pull my hair out. I left comments on my frustration and they have so far gone unanswered.

The funny thing about expectations is this. They can be managed through open communications. Even when the possibility exists that they wont be met, communicating that information in a timely manner can turn a possible nightmare into a very strong advocate for our business.

My experience with Discus, the blog commenting system, is similar but the end result is 180 degrees in the other direction. With Discus, I have the ability to customize the comment area CSS to match the blog it is installed on. But, I have learned that some items can not be styled. Ryan and the people at Discus stuck with me through my questions and followed up with honest answers. Even though my original expectations were not met, the addressing of the issue and explanations along the way has left me with positive feelings about the company. My expectations were managed in a good way. Trust has been built.

We are all different and as much as old school marketing tried to guess on product and service design. The marketing would attempt to control the release of information to appeal to a large group. Today, through social media, we are unbound by that restraint. In Social media we can directly ask the people we work with what their expectations are. We can tailor our products and services to meet or exceed those expectations, and we can communicate with our clients along the way. That communication can mean the difference of  a sale, or a customer for life.

Managing Expectations: Communication Creates Clients for Life is a post from: A Passion for Connection

If you have not yet heard of Sarah, let me introduce you to this amazing woman. Sarah is a “small business strategy coach” but don’t let that title fool you. The businesses she works with may be small but there is nothing small in any of Sarah’s ambitions for herself and her clients. Sarah passionately and enthusiastically inspires her clients to achieve success in all areas of their lives in a balanced way.. She accomplishes this with very honed skills of community building and engagement in social media. Sarah also masterfully engages amazing people who she invites into the “Tribe” she has nurtured. ( Notice I said the tribe and not her tribe. ) All of this is executed in an environment of excitement.

Community Building- Right from the start you notice something different on Sarah’s blog “Escaping mediocrity. “The community that thrives there participates heavily, commenting and sharing stories not just with Sarah, and this is the point, with each other. The community that thrives around Escaping Mediocrity is not Sarah centric. She works to make sure that it is about the community. It is not about Sarah. It takes a pretty fair amount of self confidence and trust to let go of the control necessary for this. She trusts in the community and they trust back.

Social Media is about relationships. Sarah skillfully inspires and nurtures relationship building within the community. You immediately sense it when you are in the presence of the people who gather around her blog. Sarah and her community take inbound marketing to the place it should be. Nurturing mutually beneficial relationships.

So far this year she has presented the community with three ambitious opportunities of deep value, “30 Days to Changing your Game”, “Get your Rear in Gear”, and her latest effort, “Creating Irresistible Presence.” With these efforts, Sarah engages amazing people to write blog posts around the topic of the month. By sharing other authors with a plethora of views, the people who gather around Escaping Mediocrity get to know the authors and they get to know and interact with each other. Her magic is keeping a very fertile field where relationships can flourish.

Am I biased? You bet. . It is for a good reason. Sarah is able to accomplish these amazing things while maintaining a healthy home life. She does not live and breath her work. She lives and breaths beauty. That inner centered beauty that allows her light to shine bright to many. She has Irresistible Presence and has shared that to inspire others to shine theirs bright too ( and never in her shadow.)

Resources to learn more about Sarah.

Resources to learn more about Sarah.

My Recorded Interview with Sarah.

If you want a very clear “ IT “ That Irresistible Presence” and a very clear business model built around “IT” Sign up for her upcoming event. It is 3 days of hands on work that you will walk away from it running! – Her upcoming event: Creating Irresistible Presence your you and developing a business model around it is scheduled for September 23,24, and 25 in Atlanta ,GA

Sarah Robinson-Irresistible Presence is a post from: A Passion for Connection