About Jodi Kaplan

An Easy Way to Screw Up Customer Service

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

New York City’s streets are full of fruit stands. Bananas for 25 cents each or a pound of grapes for $1.50. The prices are much lower than the markets and the fruit is fresh.

Free soup! Or was it?

There was one particular stand I used to buy from a lot. He’d often put in an extra piece of fruit; an apricot or an apple. I’d walk away feeling happy, thinking he was using a “free soup strategy” and being nice.

Then, one day, I bought fruit for prices that I could easily add up in my head: 5 bananas for $1, a box of strawberries for $2. He added an apple and told me the total was $3.50… I then realized what he’d really been doing. He was giving me extra fruit all right, but it wasn’t free! He was selling me bananas, and then figuratively throwing the peels on the sidewalk so I could slip on them.

I felt ripped off, and I’ve never bought fruit from him again. Heck, I don’t even like apricots! I just didn’t want to seem rude by turning down what I thought was a gift.

The big business version

Slate/The Big Money reported on November 25, 2009 that Best Buy sells a $40 optimization service for both Macs and PCs. According to the article, for $40 the buyer gets his/her name entered into the computer, a network connection check, a scan of the hard drive, and an anti-virus program installed.

There’s no reason for any of this. If you plan to use a computer, you probably can type your own name. The network in the store isn’t the network in your home or office, where the computer will actually be used. The drives are brand-new, so there’s nothing bad on them. Anti-virus software might be useful, but more so for PCs than Macs.

The author of the article talked with Ezra Gottheil (who works for an independent research firm called Technology Business Research). Said Gottheil, ” ‘There’s nothing of that sort that any brand-new PC needs, and Macs less so’ ”

[I personally set my Mac up by myself in about 10 minutes, and I’m not a geek.]

Helping? Or pushing?

Slapstick is funny when the other guy slips on a banana peel. It’s not so funny when you invite your clients to fall down and hurt themselves.

If you’re offering an extra free service, offer one that has real value, and is really free. If you have an upgrade, it ought to be worth more to the client than the standard version.

Image: redster

Powerful Graphic Design Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

In yesterday’s post, I recommended several ways to use social media to market your business.

I suggested that you find groups online and participate. Here are some more specific ways to do that (without spending a cent).

Say you’re a graphic designer and want to get more projects. You can:

Join business-related social media sites.

Offer a quick review or critique of existing graphic design. Use the forums to educate members about why design matters. Don’t lecture on why you think Helvetica is the greatest font ever; instead focus on how better design leads to greater visibility and more sales.

Hold regular design hangouts (or webinars).

Give design and marketing tips. Again, frame this in terms of how a high quality, optimized design leads to more money or more leads (which is what businesses generally want), rather than pure aesthetics.

Record those sessions and post them on your website (and/or youtube).

You’ll extend your reach, and drive more traffic to your website. It also gives you a backlink to your site. Post the links to the social media platforms where your clients (or potential clients) hang out.

Find blogs or youtube channels hosted by complementary businesses.

This might be women-owned forums, web design sites, or other places your target market frequents. Offer to guest post or be a guest on someone else’s show. Use the show as an opportunity to offer a more personalized session, review, or other offer to viewers. This might be something free, or a low-cost design audit. This is not the time or place to pitch a big project; they don’t know you well enough yet.

Hubs and spokes

Use your own site as your “home base” and social media outlets as an outpost. Post on your own blog (obviously), but also post in other places. Offer a regular design “Tips Tuesday” or other regular feature. Use this opportunity to invite your followers to join your webinars.

Have a specific work process

Spell out exactly how you work, and the steps involved, on your website and in your social media profiles. Make sure clients (or potential clients) know exactly who you work with, how the design process works, and understands the value of what you do.

Even if you’re not a graphic designer, you can adapt these principles to just about any freelance or small business.

Image nkzs

How to Use Social Media to Market Your Business

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

Social media is a great way to quietly market your business. You can use it to make connections, build partnerships, find clients you never would have met otherwise (because they live on the far side of the world), and even make fast friends.

However, there are right ways and wrong ways to use it.

Social Media Icons (Photo credit: IvanWalsh.com)

My use of the word “quietly” in the first sentence may seem a bit odd, but it was used deliberately. Many businesses use social media as an excuse to shout. They start accounts and use them to loudly proclaim how great they are.

It’s a tool, not a soapbox. Here are five ways to build relationships , create trust, and grow your business.

1. Join forums

Look for groups that match your business and your target audience. For instance, if you sell gardening supplies, hang out in gardening forums and groups.

2. Read the rules

Each group is likely to have slightly different rules of the road. Some let you add a signature line, others allow links to your site, still others permit a mini-bio.

Find out what you’re allowed to do to promote yourself.

LinkedIn, for instance, allows you to send articles to members of groups you join. You can also include your blog feed in your profile.

3. Make friends

The best way to build a reputation is to make friends. Don’t shout, but be helpful. If someone asks for opinions on their web site design, post your review and point out what’s good (or not so good) about the site. This establishes your credibility and expertise.

Treat the other forum members like people, not targets. They’re there to learn, share ideas, and get opinions, not for a sales pitch.

4. Start a blog

If you don’t already have one, start a blog. Most web site hosts have a control panel with a tool called Fantastico that lets you install WordPress (blogging software) fairly easily. Here’s a video from Hostgator (my web host) with more instructions on how to install WordPress.

Blog posts get indexed faster than Web sites, and show up in Google alerts. I wrote a post about the biggest mistake advertisers make and a local paper linked to it only a few hours later — leading to a big spike in my blog’s traffic.

5. Write on other sites

Not just guest posts, but there are large sites that allow you to post (sometimes, they’ll even promote your post for you). For example, BuzzFeed will let you post on their site, as will Forbes. I knew about Forbes, but not BuzzFeed. Here’s a list from Neil Patel with more big sites that can drive traffic. Make sure, of course, to choose sites that are relevant to your business. Commenting on IMDb might be fun for me, but I wouldn’t expect it to drive traffic here.

6. Link to other blogs

Add blogs you like to your blogroll. Comment on the blogs you like. Don’t just say “great post.” add to the conversation.

Use another blogger’s post as a starting point for your own. Expand on something they said, or take it in a different direction. If you’re a food blogger and you see a post about great BBQ, write one about the biscuits that go with it. Or, rate your own local BBQ joints and link to the other blogger’s post.

What other ways are you using social media for your business? Have you had great luck with Twitter? Is your Facebook page critical to your marketing strategy? Share your experiences in the comments.

Image: clix

5 Marketing Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

I got this postcard in one of those marketing packs in the mail the other day. Normally, it’s smart marketing because it allows participating companies to share costs and reach more prospects than they could on their own. In this case, it was a bad marketing example, not a good one.

What’s wrong with this picture?

I admit I often toss these, but this time I opened it because I was looking for airport shuttle vouchers for visiting friends. There weren’t any car vouchers, but I did find one postcard that stopped me in my tracks. It was from a local gym, offering a special three day guest pass and summer sale.

Gym?!

I don’t need a gym. Who needs a Stairmaster when you have actual stairs (56 of them, I counted).

1. Poor project management

Have a process in place for checking that the list, the card, and the mailing are right. It’s easier (and cheaper) to stop it before it goes out. Long ago, I came within an inch of sending out a big mailing with the wrong price. Taking everything out of the envelopes and reprinting was an expensive pain in the neck, but it would have been worse if the mailing had gone out the door.

2. Paying no attention to timing

Summer sale??!

It’s January. I’m in the northern hemisphere and it’s 29F (-1.6C) outside. 18F and -7.7C with the wind chill. I’m not going to be putting on a bathing suit any time soon!

Promoting a summer sale in winter makes you look foolish. Also, allow for holidays, delivery time, etc. Getting a coupon for a 30% discount four days after the sale is over is pretty frustrating.

3. Spraying and praying

Don’t close your eyes and spatter your marketing message everywhere, hoping to hit something. I don’t need a gym, but people on lower floors or in elevator buildings might. Maybe if they teamed up with Weight Watchers? Or maternity wards (helping new moms get back into shape)?

4. Sending something nobody wants

Did you hear the story about the hospital offering free coffee with colonoscopy? Yuck! Instead, offer something that’s appealing to your particular audience. How about a coupon for a free neck massage? That might get me in the door.

5. Choosing a poor list

The key to successful marketing is not the graphics, not the copy, not the offer (though those do count), but the list. Your chimney sweeping service may rock, but it’s no good to people without chimneys.

What are some of the worst marketing mistakes you’ve seen? Add them in the comments.

Build a Qualified Opt-in Email List for Free

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

: Image by Cornell University Library via Flickr

I recently I got not one but two emails from people I never heard of.

They were offering me the opportunity to buy targeted opt-in email marketing lists. They bragged about their high profile, Fortune 500 clients.

Is this a joke?

Do I want to buy their lists? No, NO, and NO!

You shouldn’t either.

Why you shouldn’t buy email lists

It’s tempting to go out and buy a list from InfoUSA or other vendors that promise thousands or millions (!) of addresses at low rates — (and you own the list).

Sounds good, right? It’s a mistake. The list is probably scraped from website contact information, pulled from directories, or gathered on the sly from pre-checked boxes sneakily added to signup forms.

The permission to contact is questionable, and the data is probably old. You’re likely to be spending time (and money) sending messages that will never reach anyone.

Email costs less than snail mail, but high bounce rates and poor deliverability will not endear you to your email service provider. And, there are costs in time and effort to develop, write, format, and send the email (since many email providers charge by the size of your list).

What about renting a list?

This can work under certain conditions. However, high quality rented email lists (particularly business to business lists) tend to be very expensive.

They start at about $100 per thousand names and go up to $300 per thousand names. Be careful about which lists you use and how often you use them.

Build a qualified opt-in email list for free

The best way to build an email list is to grow it organically, starting from scratch.

1. Add a signup offer to your blog. Put them in several different places so readers will see them when they start reading, and while they browse. Don’t just add the offer, include a report, an analysis, or some other valuable information in return for signing up.

For instance, if you’re a web site designer, offer a booklet called, “10 Things Your Web Designer Doesn’t Want You to Know.” Or, “Has Your Web Designer Made These Common Web Design Mistakes?” A video editor might offer, “5 Strategies to Minimize Your Video Production Costs.”

Or, create an automated e-mail course. Once you set it up, the messages will be sent out automatically to anyone who signs up.

If you’re stuck for a topic, think about some common questions your customers ask you, or problems you frequently solve and write a guide on how to fix them.

2. Join relevant forums and groups. Be helpful, not annoying. Mention the ebook or guide, when it’s useful and appropriate. Add the link to your signature, profile page, or about page on those sites.

Don’t yell at people, connect with them. They’re people, not targets. Stop shouting and start listening, then ask them for permission to listen to you.

3. Use social media. If you’re on Twitter or Facebook or other social networking sites, tell your friends and followers about your new newsletter. Don’t spam them with continuous tweets, but share tidbits, relevant quotes, or other information that will raise their interest. Then give them the opportunity to subscribe.

4. Start with the people you already know. Send an email to current clients or prospects and tell them about your new newsletter. Talk about all the great information they’ll get, the kinds of topics you are going to cover, and include a link to sign up.

Offer them the opportunity to get in first, before anyone else.

5. Hold webinars or Google Hangouts on Air. This can be a continuing series that you host, or regular guest appearances on others’ events. Give viewers the opportunity to sign up (add a link to the presentation, or ask your host to include one). Make the link simple and easy to remember!

6. Borrow an existing audience. First, find a newsletter or blog your potential and current clients already read. If they accept guest posts, offer to write one. If they have a newsletter, see if you can sponsor it or advertise.

Even better, if you have a partner or vendor with a similar audience, ask if you can write an article for their newsletter with a special offer for their readers (make it an exclusive).

Once you have built your own email list, see if you can swap offers: you include their offer in your newsletter and vice versa.

7. Run pay-per-click ads, a Facebook campaign, or ads on LinkedIn. Ads aren’t free, but they are much cheaper than buying thousands of email names. Use AdWords to find people while they’re actively searching for something. Or, get them on LInkedIn or Facebook when they’re networking or relaxing. If your book or guide answers a question your audience is struggling with, they’ll want to read it. Make sure to send them to a targeted landing page, not your home page.

The important thing is to approach building your email list from the perspective of being helpful, not pushy. Give your readers, viewers, and followers solutions to their problems (not yours).

Focus on building trust first, sales later.