How You Can Learn to Blog for Fun AND Profit!

I really dislike sounding like an advertisement in my blog, but Mark Joyner is about the only person I would ever take that risk with. I have used his Simpleology products in the past and can vouch for their phenomenal quality. Now he's got a new course that you can get for free... Check it out below...

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Classless.com

Okay, this business debacle did work out fine for me, however I could not resist using title anyway.

If you are wondering if today's lesson in business has to do with a case from Classmates.com, you are absolutely correct.

I have long since abandoned using my gold membership at Classmates.com. In the past year, I think that made a connection with one person from my past that I may not have met without having their expensive upgraded membership. However, at the risk of offending that person, I feel that that hardly justifies my membership in the service that seems to operate in a similar fashion as the typical online dating service ("looks are free, but contacts are gonna cost ya"). Seeing as I'm married, not to mention the Facebooks and MySpaces of the world that make connections both simple and free, Classmates is well behind the social networking curve.

Unfortunately, I screwed up.

I forgot to cancel my service and was charged $39.00 for my next year of service.

I immediately realized the problem and contacted the company:

"Please cancel my Gold membership and refund the recent $39 charge to my credit card. I no longer have an interest in your paid service and wish to return to the free service effective immediately Failure remedy this situation prior to Friday, December 7 at 5:00 p.m. CST will result in a fraud investigation against Classmates.Com with my credit card company. Thank you for your prompt assistance in this matter."

This was a stern email, but polite, straight-forward, and offering an opportunity for the company to resolve the problem prior to taking further action.

Their response:

"Thank you for contacting Classmates. I'm more than happy to assist you.

I’m sorry to hear that you want to cancel your Gold membership. Since you’ve already paid for your Gold membership, I have removed you from the automatic renewal program so that you won’t be charged again.

You may continue to use your Gold membership features until the end of the current membership term, which is Nov 28, 2008. At the end of that term, your membership will revert to a FREE membership.

For your benefit, I’ll take a moment to explain how you were enrolled in the automatic renewal program. While purchasing your Gold membership, you were presented with information just above the Submit Payment button explaining that your membership will automatically renew. Additionally, you have the option to remove this feature at any time by logging into My Account and then updating My Membership Information.

Again, please be assured that I have removed you from the automatic renewal program and you will not be charged again.

Thank you for being a Classmates member. We hope that you'll continue to get the most out of your membership by locating and staying connected to school friends, coworkers, and military buddies.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again."

Clearly this was not the response I was looking for. Also, notice that this person clearly understands that I am trying to cancel my membership within a few days of the renewal. Should I have been more observant? Absolutely. As a previously paying customer of the company, however, I should not have had to send the following response:

"I am disappointed to hear of your inflexibility regarding cancelling or prorating my service with classmates.com when I contacted you within the 1st week of service. This is very poor business and a very risky move in a "Web 2.0" era. I will be filing a fraud grievence as this is a service that I only used since your company charged me to tell you not to charge me. Furthermore, this action on the part of your company is unethical and I will be certain to make certain that it is reported to the appropriate consumer advocacy groups. I am willing to work with you on this issue for a more equitable solution, but I do warn that there will be reprocussions should Classmates continue their current course of action regarding my membership fee. If you wish to speak with me personally regarding this issue, I may be reached either at my home at XXX-XXX-XXXX or XXX-XXX-XXXX. I highly recommend that you or your superior contact me within the next 24 hours to resolve this issue in a more palatable manner.

Thank you for your immediate response."

There response, which arrived in under thirty minutes was:

"Thank you for contacting Classmates. I can understand your frustration and will do my best to address your concerns.

Although we don’t want to lose you as a Gold member, because you clearly didn’t get the value you wanted from our site I’m happy to make an exception to our policy and process a refund.

A credit will be processed for you immediately. Based on your financial institution, please allow up to 30 days for the credit to appear on your statement.

You may continue to use the FREE membership benefits on our site

Thank you for contacting us so that we could take care of your concerns. We hope that you'll continue to come back to Classmates.com to reconnect with others.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again."

Don't hold your breath.

Lesson: Common sense and customer service, even when your customers are taking their business elsewhere is paramount in this "Web 2.0" era. Your customers have the power to make or break your company. I have no doubt that the thought process behind the Classmates, cancellation/refund process is that a certain percentage of customers will just be angry and deal with it rather than to confront Classmates further, resulting in improved revenue for the company.

Don't be "Classless" in your business practices. The majority of your customers will be far happier with your ethical practices, which will far outweigh the relatively few that may try to take advantage of you.

Remember, the potential for bad publicity when your company initially refuses a refund can be far greater than $39.00.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

To Facebook: "Don't Tase Me Man!"... What the handling of Beacon says about the Millennial Generation

Whew, what a title... But for business people, the current Facebook case is very interesting. The millennial generation (a.k.a. Generation-Y or Internet Generation) represents the future of businesses and is already shaping the face of business-to-consumer marketing.

Facebook, like MySpace and other social networks, thrives on the use of advertisers to keep their services free to their members. I have serious reservations on whether such networks would even exist were there a cost for usage.

When Facebook started pushing out Beacon, thousands of Facebook users were outraged.

"How dare they share our personal information!"

"What an invasion of privacy!"

Interestingly, these same millennial users seem all too happy to be more than open about what they were doing with their friend's girlfriend at 2 a.m. last Saturday and about what a jerk their boss is. Perhaps even more amusing is the ease in which members of this generation (which I am nearly on the cusp of myself) are willing to hand over their privacy for a free "app" in Facebook, opening themselves up to the data miners and target marketers of the world, just to turn their friends into "zombies."

So why the difference?

Simply put, people want you to ask them. Your loyal customers will go to the ends of the Earth for you, but you'd better not take them for granted. Mark Zuckerberg his team that runs Facebook have a more loyal fan base than most companies in existence. However, the Millennials are extremely fickle and, I suspect due to latent narcissism, must be overtly asked about any small thing that happens around them because, in their world, they ARE the center of the universe.

But then haven't we all been taught that we must treat our customers like they are our center of the universe? I doubt that Mr. Zuckerberg is anything but a bright guy, but it's apparent that he still has a lot to learn about consumer relations.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

Franchise: Opportunities for the Un-Creative!

Not sure what kind of business you'd like to start?

Want an investment that you have more control over than a security, but need a helping hand?

If so, a franchise may be right for you.

Here's some pros of running a franchise rather than your own "from scratch" business:

• Reduced risk of failure;
  
• proven methods and products;
  
• start-up help;
  
• ongoing training and support;
  
• local, regional and national advertising;
  
• collective buying power;
  
• research and development; and
  
• association and synergy with other franchisees.

Unfortunately, for the many advantages of franchise ownership, there are some costs that you don't see with your from scratch business plan:

• Royalty and other fees,
  
• smaller profit margins,
  
• lack of independence and freedom, and
  
• a franchisor's problem may become your problem

Source: International Franchise Association

For more helpful information about starting a franchise, visit franchise.com.

Lessons Learned: What Citibank Slipup May Mean for the Rest of Us

I awoke this morning to find out that I may be well advised to sell off some of my Citibank shares (grant it I don't own Citibank in any of my real portfolios) on the news that their revenue was likely to fall significantly in the 3rd quarter. The reason for the fall? The sub-prime mortgage market again.

While I don't wish any company any ill will, I believe Citibank's situation continues to accentuate 3 things.

1. Companies wishing to take a high risk, whether a major corporation, such as Citibank, or a small ma and pop shop down the street, must understand what their exit strategy is.
2. Companies need to understand where their stable operating platform is and take moves to maintain stability in order to limit dramatic drops in revenue.
3. When you develop an unethical product (pardon the soapbox here) eventually it will catch up to you and hurt your business in at least the short term, if not also the long term.

The attempts of sub-prime lending companies to put individuals into homes that they should have been smart enough (both the lenders and the buyers) to know that they could not afford, shows a particularly distasteful part of American business understanding. Americans today simply do not take the time to understand issues prior to making decisions and they further allow their televisions to cloud common sense. As business owners, employees, and consumers, it is essential that we are diligent in our pursuit of only ethical products and shun the unethical because it always catches up to us.

MMOB Classic -Cartoon Supervillans Attempt to Destroy City; Marketers Outraged

Yesterday we saw what happens when guerrilla marketing goes a bit awry. As you may already know, several "mysterious devices" panicked the city of Boston on Wednesday to promote the company's Adult Swim programming. Several streets were shut down for hours and the devices were exploded by bomb squads. Fortunately, the devices were harmless. Unfortunately, Cartoon Network's fingerprints were on the "weapons" as they were part of a marketing campaign for their programming.

This is a fascinating case in that, without Boston's perhaps overzealous reaction, this ad campaign might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Boston's finest very likely increased the ROI of this campaign exponentially. While Cartoon Network has already either removed all or nearly all of these advertising devices posted in other locations throughout the country, they no longer need them for their marketing campaign to be effective. This may turn out to be the latest case of "any publicity is good publicity."

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

MMOB Classic - A "Space," a Blog, & a Wiki

Note: Minding My Own Business publishes at knowmybusiness.blogspot.com on Monday's and Wednesday's. While I am in the process of migrating fully to this new home, I will fill in non MMOB days with my blog entries previously posted on my MySpace blog page.

A "space," a blog, & a wiki walk into a bar. I'm sure there's a joke in that line somewhere, but, given all the work I've spent as of late "getting connected," I'm having trouble finding it.

As a member of various small business and marketing organizations (see notes), I have had it hammered into me for the past year plus that, "you need to be involved on these social networking sites," and "have you thought about integrating Second Life into your business' 'real life.'" The answer had always been a resounding "no." I don't have time. I don't know people. I don't see how such seemingly personal and unprofessional locations could possibly be useful to a business.

I was wrong.

My M.B.A. education at Wichita State University definitely didn't prepare me for this new world of utilizing social networking into both a real and effective marketing plan. I, therefore, finally decided to re-educate myself in 2007 and, so far it has gone well.

In a matter of a month, I have been able to establish a MySpace page, Facebook profile, and Classmates listing and, as you are now reading, a blog. But now is what mamma didn't teach me (nor did my M.B.A. professors). How to utilize this social networking world to my advantage in my current job at Wichita State University West Campus and in my attempts to develop my own business (see below) is the next major question that I will have to explore.

The difficulty that I see in this new world of social networking is how to find the way to maximize the personal contact with individuals (essentially a digital version of relationship marketing), with the need to be efficient time-wise with marketing efforts. This is an area, which I definitely need to do more personal research on and I would welcome any other suggestions and comments on the matter.

Notes:
1. Augustine Iacopelli is a member of American Marketing Association, Wichita Independent Business Association, and Wichita Professional Communicators.
2. Future blogs (appearing on Wednesday each week) will go further into my progress developing the business plans that I have and choosing which to pursue.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

"What does the manager do when the team is not 'finishing' any tasks?"

I received this question from a fellow Wichita State University M.B.A. and instead of simply answering him directly, I thought I would provide my input on this subject in blog form.

Many individuals gut reactions would be that the problem is that the team members are unmotivated because the manager has not found or implemented measures to properly motivate the team to pursue the proper goals. I would believe that this is partly correct. However, the issue is deeper than simply offering positive or negative stimuli to attempt to prod the team along to a goal.

Team settings, particularly in project based office environments are set up to reach an "end game" state. What occurs in many of these situations is that management will define the goal and finite time period in which the goal must be met. The project is handed off to the team and management expects, rightly, that the task is completed correctly and on-time.

There are two possible problems with this common scenario:

1. Management did not provide enough (or did not know the right amount of) time to allow the team to finish the task.
2. Management did not either backward plan the task or encourage the team to do the same.

These two problems really go hand-in-hand. Management is told by their superiors when the task should be done, but no one in the process has figured out by this point what is required for task completion. Management needs to work with the team to not only define the "end game" (project completion) state, but also the steps to complete the project. Helping the team use backward planning techniques will help them better define the tasks that need to be completed and the order in which they need to be completed. There are several software packages that can assist with backward planning, such as Microsoft Project, but nothing in my opinion beats a white board and a set of markers.

Once the tasks are defined and assigned to individuals team members answer to one another. If there are perceived delays, they can be assigned to an individual "bottle neck" in the process, which is hopefully assigned to an individual or individuals. This "bottle neck" is likely a task that is under defined for the individual or group. As a manager, it is important to try to break the task into as bite-sized steps as possible for individuals. Task completion becomes a motivator for most employees, so they need to see that the number of steps to complete a task (or sub-task) is very low.

Finally, I cannot stress this enough, as a manager do not forget to thank your team members for completing a task, no matter how small or menial it may seem to you. Telling your subordinates "thank you" is one of the most powerful motivators in the workplace. Making cultural and tactical changes to your team environment will not impact the problem of task completion overnight. However, consistent planning, accountability, and having the courtesy of recognizing when small tasks are completed will eventually lead to a more positive and productive work environment.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

Managing the Social Mixer Professionally

On Wednesdays, I take a look at the impact of current events directly or indirectly impacting me and apply them to a business management context.

Tonight, I will be attending the annual "mixer" for Wichita Professional Communicators. This provides me with an opportunity to chat and get to know other professionals in a more relaxed atmosphere. However, because I do not wish to offend with poor etiquette this evening, I believe that it is appropriate to review the commonly accepted social etiquette for an event such as this. These etiquette tips are identical regardless of the professional atmosphere, because this evening's event, while called a "social mixer" is ultimately a professional event requiring the same level of professional tact that I might carry myself in the office or other professional settings.

Arrive on time: This one is a no-brainer. I am expected to arrive a little early so that I may be able to collect money at the door for this mixer. To not arrive on time to assist with this task would be a slight to the host of the event.

Avoid controversial topics like they are the plague: Another no-brainer, but it is a trap that some of my fellow attendees at this event may still fall into. If I run into something like this, I will do my best to either shift the topic or move to another group at the event (see "graceful exit" below). Offending someone with subject matter ranging from politics to religion is a bad way to obtain their business in the future.

Introduce yourself/greet anyone within about a 5 foot radius of you, unless it is disruptive to do so: Always introduce/greet with a firm handshake and a brief introduction (if you do not know the person) or a brief statement, such as "how are you this evening?"

Bring all group members, including new arrivals into conversation as much as possible: This part of the dance I struggle with, as I believe that many of us do. Try to pepper what you are talking about with questions of the others within the group you are speaking, especially new members of the group. Remember, that you obtain more important information by listening than by speaking.

Practice remembering names: Another area where I wish I were better with. The most recommended method of trying to remember names is by repeating the name of the person you are greeting when they mention it to you (e.g. "Ann, it's a pleasure to meet you."). If you are actively mixing with others, there is a good chance that you will not remember everyone's name off the top of your head, but by using the "name repeat" method, the length of time that it takes to connect the face and the name is decreased.

Be sincere and show that sincerity to others with good eye contact: The eyes are the gateway to the soul. By connecting your eyes with those of another, you are opening yourself up to the other person or people in the group. This non-verbal technique will add validity to what you are saying and will encourage others to open up to you.

Mingle between multiple groups to maximize the contacts you make during the mixer: My only caveat to this advice is that if you are not great at remembering names, I believe that you can over-mingle. Introducing yourself to everyone in the room is great, but if you cannot remember more than half of them later, it's less useful than introducing yourself to fewer individuals and having a much higher recall rate later.

Understand and implement the "graceful exit:" It is important to always politely excuse yourself before moving on from one person/group to another. Never simply turn and walk away! At worse, simply say, "Excuse me" and wave to the rest of the group before moving on. At best, say, "it's been a pleasure to meet you (use name(s) when possible), please excuse me," and throw in another handshake for good measure.

The "mixer" can be just as much of a professional battlefield as the office place, and perhaps more so because many people let their guard too far down during these types of events. I'm going to try not to be one of those people this evening. I encourage you not to be one of those people as well!

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

MMOB Classic - Web Site Maintenance Etiquette

Note: Minding My Own Business publishes at knowmybusiness.blogspot.com on Monday's and Wednesday's. While I am in the process of migrating fully to this new home, I will fill in non MMOB days with my blog entries previously posted on my MySpace blog page.

Problems with routine web site maintenance were brought to my attention twice over the past week by students, while I was working at Wichita State. I felt this was a relevant topic to discuss as nearly every business today has a web site.

I believe that there are 3 major issues that must be taken into account and are often not handled well by web designers and technology specialists in organizations.

1. Keep in mind upcoming events relevant to your business.

One problem brought to my attention was regarding access to our web registration site. Early each semester, students frequently utilize this site for adding or dropping classes from their schedules. Wichita State's tuition and fees office schedules deadlines for partial refunds of tuition payments. These deadlines are very tight and stringent for students, particularly those students who meet near the deadline to drop with a refund. Some of our WSU students had only two hours after their first class meeting to drop with a full refund. Unfortunately for these students, the university's routine scheduled maintenance was going on from the time the students' classes began until the deadline for the students to drop with a full refund. This prevented students from dropping their classes at the last minute and effectively changed the deadline from what students had been originally told. Fortunately, this problem did not impact many of our customers; however it reflected a lack of foresight, which can serve to damage the goodwill of the university.

In most businesses, there are peak times of consumer interest in their product lines (alcohol and greeting card industries are first in my mind) that they need to be mindful of when scheduling routine maintenance. Avoid website updates that will interrupt consumer access at all cost during these times.

2. Do not keep a regular schedule for site updates.

This seems counterproductive and contrarian to common sense regarding web updates. However, we do not know when our customers or potential future clients will access our company web site for information. As an example, another student was attempting to access a non-WSU managed web site for a university course assignment on a weekend morning, when technology support can sometimes be in short supply. The student was unable to complete his assignment because the site was down at the time. He mentioned that this was the time that he intended to be doing his homework during the week. However, the maintenance schedule for this particular web site is such that he must always alter his own schedule to accommodate the schedule of the company.

The business world no longer operates 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday in an Internet age. Be aware that some of your clientele may only have limited after-hours to access your information. By rotating your routine down time and notifying customers in advance of website maintenance, you will maximize the likelihood that all your clients will be able to have access to your web presence at some point and will not always be inconvenienced when attempting to access your web page.

3. Consider using a mirror site during site updates.

While more expensive, utilizing a redirect off your main web site to a secondary site, while your main web site is under maintenance may be a viable alternative depending on the features that are being updated. For example, if a web site needs to update its storefront, but not the features that critical to the shopping process, it does not make sense to completely shut down the web page to make such a change to the site. In this case, a redirect to a secondary store might be adequate while the update to the main store is taking place. It takes much less effort to go to a competitor's web site to purchase a good than to wait for your site to become available again. In addition, by having a mirror site at the ready your company is able to move operations quickly to your mirror location, should your web site become compromised by hackers or web hosting problems.

Web site down time happens. How a company handles their down time and plans ahead for contingencies in the case of unexpected problems may be the difference between a sale or satisfied customer and lost revenue or at least lost goodwill for your company.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

Picking the Right Target

In business, it is essential to develop means to target the correct audience. Companies unsure of their audiences spend money needlessly chasing potential clients that will never materialize. However, many companies have well-defined target markets, but take their eye off the ball when it come to proper execution of their marketing plans to ensure that their messages get to the right people and are placed into the proper context.

Minding My Own business, while certainly not a million dollar marketing message is no different. I began my entrance into the world of blogging, early this year as a promise to integrate social networking software into my professional life. MySpace was the first social network that I chose to explore, which was where I chose to post my blog due to the ease of posting.

However, it has increasingly become apparent to me that a professional business blog is ill placed on MySpace. A small business producing a product for a geographically niched product would never produce a Super Bowl ad because it reaches and creates costly, thin, and limited awareness in people who will never be able to utilize their product. While their is no capital expense to me for posting on MySpace, there is an expense in the manner by which MySpace is branded and targeted. The younger target of MySpace is out of sync with the message that I have been trying to disseminate through this blog. Therefore, beginning this Wednesday, July 18, I will close my blog on MySpace and migrate all my previous entries onto my new blog at Blogger.com. I feel that I have much better control over the image of my blog at this new location and hope that those of you have enjoyed my previous blog entries will find me at this new location.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

Is There a Time to Drink the Kool-Aid?

Earlier in this blog, I discussed the importance of developing a "culture of candor." This is a phrase used frequently in Jack and Suzy Welch's book Winning. Unfortunatly, in many business cultures, "candor" is spoken about, but not truely esposed. Are there times when drinking the corporate "Kool-Aid" is positive for the company as a whole?

This largely depends on the risk tolerance of the individual. If you are a person who is unafraid of being viewed as a troublemaker, then it is unlikely that, provided criticism is constructed positively that there is any situation where drinking the "Kool-Aid" is positive. I have yet to find a company that operates free of challenges, irregardless of size or scope. Having the courage to challenge the status quo within your company, provided it is carried out within the appropriate organizational structures of the company, is almost always rewarded. However, if you have medium risk aversion in your career, it may be to your advantage to find a leader among your peers to support you prior to taking your concerns to your superiors. However, even those with some risk aversion, can and should present their beliefs to their superiors in a candid manner.

Only in a case where an individual fears for their job, or fears a demotion, should they remain quiet. These individuals are also well advised to be looking for other employment anyway as they are clearly not in a healthy employment environment for themselves.

Keep in mind that your idea may transform your company, or at least lead to a larger transformation. I will discuss my own discoveries about how some of my candor and creative thinking lead to a positive result for a former employer on Wednesday.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.