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5 Tips for Avoiding Bad Business Advice Online

I’ve been looking into articles and blogs recently which feature advice for SMB’s who want to stand out in the crowd. There’s no shortage of free advice on the web, and I’ve been indulging. 

On a particular blog I read (How Your Small Business can Easily Stand Out) the author posed to the readers what he considers the biggest challenge for small businesses.

“How do I distinguish myself from my competitors”?

This is a good question, as SMB’s are frequently looking for the most attractive selling point for their product. The author, Dov Gordon, says that the answer is simple, and that there is “no shortage of people toiling to make it complicated”.

Ironically, after analyzing his line of reasoning, I conclude that he himself is complicating the issue.

I am going to quickly spell out his argument and show you its inconsistencies.

Premise 1: For your businesses to stand out, dedicate yourself to your customers.

Premise 2: A business that dedicates itself to its customers cares more about helping them than about making money.

Premise 3: A business that cares more will understand more.

Premise 4: A business that understands the customer’s world will think up ideas that will impact their world.

Premise 5: (missing)

—————————————————-

Conclusion: Your business stands out

This argument is fundamentally flawed for the following reason.

• The argument is invalid because Gordon fails to provide Premise 5, which links the rest of the argument to the conclusion.  His argument is missing this vital link.

Premise 5 should read: Thinking up ideas that impacts the customer’s world makes for your business to stand out.

At first you might think I’m being too harsh and nitpicky, but consider that perhaps the reason Gordon omitted Premise 5 is that it contradicts the first premise of his argument! Not only is this argument bad, but it’s confusing.

Like I said before, there’s no shortage of free advice on the web, but be careful, there is a lot of bad advice out there!

Here are some personal tips to help you make the most of the multitude of free business advice online.

TIP #1 – Good Advice for Someone Else Might be Bad for You

Every business has varied needs and capacities, and strategies that work great for one business won’t necessarily work great for yours.

TIP #2 – Always Consider the Source

This practice can save you from the snake oil salesmen’s wiles and save you time too. Always consider the website or company the author of an article is affiliated with. If the author links to a shady-looking site, they could be trying to scam you. Scammers will say anything they can to get you where they want!

TIP #3 – Don’t Believe Everything You Read

I’m sure many of us heard this adage as children, but it is good advice.  Never take anything you read (especially on the internet!) at face value. If an individual makes a claim without providing a source, be sure to do some research to make sure it isn’t unfounded information. Be wary, and be inquisitive.

TIP #4 – Good Advice is Free of Contradictions

If something labeled as “advice” is wrought with contradictions and you unknowingly accept it, you’re setting yourself up to be a confused individual. Good advice never contradicts itself. Keep an eye out.

TIP #5 – Good Advice Often Keeps Good Company

Once you’ve found a community, site, or blog that features good business advice, stick around. Intelligent people tend to draw close to like-minded individuals, so it’s likely there is more good advice to be found there, with less of the bad stuff.

Those are all the tips I’ve got for now, and I hope you can put them to good use. And remember, don’t believe everything you read!

According to the most recent AP-GfK poll, 78% of Americans report being happy.

Not to be cynical, but I find this statistic surprising. In the capitalist system we’re in, I wouldn’t think Americans are so overwhelmingly happy in light of our economic downturn.

I often talk with university students who dread the prospect of graduating because they have heard how bleak the unemployment rate is. I see reports on the news about the soaring job losses. Thinking about it sometimes bums me out too. Regardless, most are happy anyway.

Being the happy campers we are, 56% of Americans report approving Barack Obama’s handling of his job as president. And good news for all of us, now small business owners might have more to be happy for.

President Barack Obama recently called on Congress to utilize the repaid $30 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds (Wall Street bailout money) into a new program to help banks provide small businesses with the finances they need.

While this new plan has potential to help small businesses, it will be up to the banks to follow through and lend. While Obama is optimistic about this fiscal handling, not everybody is.

In a recent CNNmoney piece, Steve Gordon, a small manufacturer from Florida, grilled Obama during a town hall meeting by saying,

“I appreciate the pledge of $30 billion to small businesses. But lending it to the banks to lend to us is not the answer,” Gordon told the president. “You lent directly to the automakers, you lent directly to the banks — why can’t the government make [loans] available directly to us?”

Gordon makes a great point, and expresses what the majority of small business owners feel. They don’t matter like the big boys that Congress helps out directly. While this program has the potential to help the growth of small businesses, I would like to see a more heartfelt effort from the President and Congress. After all, in 2008 there were 29.6 million small businesses in the USA, according to the Office of Advocacy. That’s huge.

With just over half of the U.S. population working for small businesses, I wonder what effect this policy will have on Obama’s rating in the polls.

With the current data showing that the majority of us have remained happy individuals, even amongst recession and imperfect legislation, I would venture to guess that we will remain so.

 I know I will, but only if my bank approves my next SMB loan.

When it’s good, it can be really good.

The most rewarding customer interaction I’ve had was a week ago. I’ve been reaching out to new Simplifythis users personally (either by phone or through sincere e-mails). Usually I don’t receive a response, but one customer was thoughtful enough to give feedback.

The Simplifythis user told me about a usability issue he had with the software, specifically regarding dates on invoices. I told our developer, Sanjay. Within a couple minutes I was able to get back to the user and tell him we were going to be releasing a new version in the coming weeks, with that issue fixed.

And when it’s bad…

I just had a funny experience where I was the customer for an SAP training center. After months of calling and e-mailing with no response, I found I was mysteriously placed in an online training class. No credit card, no name, no information shared. How could this be?

I figured they’d catch their error and someone would finally get in touch with me. They did, and it wasn’t pretty:

…Our coordinator tried reaching you hell out of times on Mon and Tues and finally gave up as it just goes to your voice massage…

My eyes immediately went to the “hell.” I’m more thickheaded than most, so I didn’t take it personally and sent an e-mail with an explanation of what had happened. I wonder if he/she was frustrated, as this sentence alone has improper grammar and a spelling mistake. If the company had poised itself as a training facility with a certain candor to its messages, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.

The lesson I learned is that your reaction determines where a conversation or transaction is headed. Because I’ve been on both sides of the customer service “counter,” I kept my cool.  Unfortunately, this customer service rep didn’t.

 What’s your favorite customer-centric story with a positive outcome (i.e. you helped the customer successfully, or learned something from the experience)? Let us know!

We’re about to roll out a new level of retention efforts - specifically for our free trial customers. That means we’re letting people know we are here:

• For support, questions, comments, concerns, training, tips, conversations and anything to make your stay with Simplifythis a pleasant experience
  (so you can come back for more…)
• To learn from you so we can make Simplifythis better for future generations

If you are extending a free trial with your business, you might as well do a good job of welcoming your customers. Anyone can satisfy the first bullet’s requirements with a few helpful e-mails and a blog post. It’s the business-practice equivalent of, say, having a Web site. That’s the base-line that any growing smbiz should meet.

Institutionalizing the second bullet point is tough but if done, can show you where you need to focus to meet your customers’ expectations. If I sign-up for a free trial of a computer program I’ve never used, I expect to have my hand held at the beginning and (depending on the program) I expect to be able to let go after some time. Two basic requirements that the business many opportunities to help their customers.

Know what your customer will expect. Then use that knowledge to make something awesome (a la Bobby McFerrin, who took the expectations of his “customers” and…well, see for yourself).

How do you do it? I was racking my brain trying to think of the perfect, targeted, most helpful and least annoying method…but then I though, “Why don’t I have the readers do my work for me?”

Well, I should ask this question in context.

We offer a free, 30-day trial for our Easy-Bill and Easy-Book products. This is standard procedure for many smbiz. Without big-name brand recognition, we want to try it before we buy it and a free trial is a great way to strut your stuff. But what happens after those 30 days? What happens during those 30 days?

A quick walk around the Internet reveals a 1 percent trial-to-purchase conversion rate - the arbitrary industry average for software. Unless the product is outrageously priced, 1 percent can be disheartening.

Some firms are pretty tactful. I signed up for a free trial at an e-mail marketing site and I received a non-automated phone call the next day (talk about one-on-one customer service)! Other smbiz send regular e-mail updates with “What other people are saying about our product” and “How to…” tips. The key seems to be beginning a conversation as a first step. But how much is too much?

For example, I signed up to receive some e-mail information about classes at the University of Phoenix. This company has certainly ramped up its advertising and moved closer to the front of our minds in general. I received the information, but for some reason, they call me at least three times a day. I haven’t answered my phone since the first time, just to see how long they’ll keep up their customer retention strategy

So how do you keep your customers from leaving after that trial period? E-mails? Surveys? Demos? Phone-calls? Those deceiving letters in the mail that looks like someone handwrote the address in beautiful cursive, but it’s really junk mail? Let us know!

“Okay, have to write a blog post…about what? Thinking…thinking…all right. It’s been about 30 seconds. I guess I’ll check my Google Reader and see what else is going through the Blogvine. Opening new tab…logging in to Gmail because I’m not yet in the habit of going to Google Reader independently. Oh look! New e-mails! There’s a Facebook event invitation…a spam message requesting $2,500 from a friend’s e-mail account that has obviously been hacked…and unsolicited information from the Libertarian Party of Texas(??). As long as I’m thinking about politics, I better read the latest Newser headlines (even though I checked nearly 15 minutes ago…and 15 minutes before that). A story about the Taliban…a German ‘Borat’…25 Car Tunes for the whole family…Hillary Clinton’s diplomatic strategy…”

I won’t continue because I’m sure you’re familiar with Online Aggressive Tangent Syndrome (O.A.T.S.). One moment I’m motivated and excited to write a useful blog entry for our readers, and suddenly I’m staring at Hillary Clinton’s face. Not only am I at the wrong destination, but I’ve already forgotten the path I took to get there. Many social media marketers suffer from O.A.T.S. - our plates are full and we regularly tread the dangerous line between working intelligently and simply being “plugged in” to the Internet.

However, O.A.T.S. can be a pleasant surprise once in a while. This morning I was baffled by Seth Godin’s illustrative example of how I stink at math. I misunderstood the question (I guess I stink at English, too) and immediately wanted an answer, causing me to have an O.A.T.S. relapse. Seth posted links to user explanations regarding his mpg usage problem, and after clicking the Charlie link, I was well on my way towards Hillary Clinton’s face.

Thankfully, Charlie was smart. After providing his viewers with what we wanted (a solution and explanation to Seth Godin’s math problem), he provided us with what we needed - a cure!

For social media marketers, entrepreneurs and anyone who is susceptible to O.A.T.S., Charlie is working on Monotask - a self-imposed online equivalent of parental channel controls on TV. I can’t wait to try out the beta. You can sign up for an e-mail reminder that lets you know when Monotask launches or you can follow @charliepark on Twitter. Are you aware of any similar, positively restrictive Internet/work management applications? If so, let us know.

It’s ironic - had I not been clicking through the Internet and away from my work, I never would have stumbled on this potential cure. But until the beta is available, we’ll all have to rely on our willpower to stay focused.

Disclaimer: This post in no way endorses Hillary Clinton, social media marketing or the Internet.

Has anyone heard of “Twitter?”

Gotcha! That’s not even a real question anymore…it’s a sandwich, right (i.e. McTwitter)?

The more important concept for this blog and its readers is Twitter as it applies to business. We’re launching our social media marketing strategy and, as mentioned in one of our earlier posts, you’re coming along for the ride. What’s the first step for smbiz in our position? Learn how to use Twitter appropriately for your business.

As a recent college graduate, I’m slowly learning to shift from barely using Twitter socially, to tweeting as a marketing tool. Some companies (@DellOutlet) have a new revenue source by offering discounts exclusively to its followers on Twitter. Others (@bananarchy_atx) drop promotional hints leading up to a special event, to create suspense and build an interested audience.

But it’s not only about revenue. Many smbiz build successful relationships with customers through constructive dialogue, two-way feedback and honest communication (see: Twitter case studies). Learn how to engage your customer in an appropriate manner. It could take some time but don’t let yourself get twitterpated. Take risks that work for your company and let your customers help turn your Twitter failures into successes!

Again, learn how to use Twitter correctly. Good news: it’s not too late. Twitter101 is a short, business-friendly course on how to make that blue bird tweet for you.

By the way, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Abhinav (uh-bee-nuv) and I’m the new chief marketer for Simplifythis. I’m still not sold on this “Internet” thing so if you have any tips/useful tools, as well as comments/concerns/lawsuits, let me know!

It may surprise you but our Easy-Bill and Easy-Book products aren’t the only low-cost services available to small businesses

Inc. magazine has a useful online slideshow featuring 10 Free (or Cheap) Tools for Start-ups. Of course, you have your basics like GoogleDocs and Skype, but there’s more, inlcuding:

• -A free CRM application
• -Portable programs that run directly from your flash drive
• -And some cool tools designed specifically for smbiz whose employees are not consolidated in one region (i.e. Simplifythis!)

(By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with Inc. magazine, check it out - it’s like the Forbes of entrepreneurship)

Do you know of any other low-cost tools for smbiz? A tool with which you are familiar could be an entirely new one for us and our customers. If so, let us know!

When I wrote about creating a personal ad in place of a bio this is exactly what I was getting at - being the one-and-only you helps you stand out in a sea of competitors.  Then I ran across  (via @jer979) Andy’s post over at GasPedal  titled Tell Me Your Story. 

Andy’s post reinforced that it is our personal stories that make us stand out and help our contacts remember us.   I think it’s also refreshing to take the time to reflect on why we do what we do - what is it that makes us passionate?

Here is my challenge for you: write an interesting personal story about why you do what you do and how it makes you different.  Here are a couple of steps to help get you started (using my own example):

1. Brainstorm (aka - free form write on a blank sheet or white board) what’s interesting about you?  Don’t question what you’re writing just capture everything that pops into your head.

2. Organize the words into three categories:

1. Why I’m passionate about my work
2. Fun stuff unrelated to work
3. Other

3. Answer the following:

1. Who am I?  Literally - who are you? What makes you qualified to do the work you do? My name is Angie and I have a degree in Business & Marketing and 10+ years of experience.  
2. What problem do I solve? If you don’t know (and many people don’t) ask your customers.  This is the difference between “I do marketing” and “I help small businesses grow through better communication with their customers and prospects.”
3. Why do I do what I do? (use the words from your brainstorm) “I think small businesses are critical to our success as a society, a country, and an economy; I’m passionate about helping them succeed.”
4. How I am different?  This is a combination of what your customers tell you and the story of your passion. Think about how you’ve arrived at where you are today and what applies to why you do what you do.
   

Put it together:

My name is Angie and I have a degree in Business & Marketing and 10+ years of experience.  I help small businesses grow through better communication with their customers and prospects.  I think small businesses are critical to our success as a society, a country, and an economy;  I’m passionate about helping them succeed. 

 

I started my career in a small, family run barcoding business.  I handled everything from our CRM implementation and sales lead reporting, to our manufacturer co-op programs and placing ads in trade journals and even the phone book.  After a year, I was questioning whether technology marketing was the right thing for me (those of you who think I’m a geek might be surprised at this!)  But as it turns out I think I was just getting bored.  When we opened up a position for a product manager on a new suite of Wireless LAN software tools - I raised my hand, got turned down twice, and finally convinced the family to let me have it.  I’ve been hooked on tech ever since getting my head around the possibilities it represents.  I was also hooked on small business - every little thing I did actually made an impact to the business and I had great insight into the big picture and knew how my actions would direct the future of the company. What I learned in my first career job was that in a small business we all have a ton on our plate and marketing has to be practical and realistic to be successful.  Having worked with companies large and small, my clients appreciate that I’m practical and programmatic, but I don’t settle for the status quo and I’m always looking for creative ways to make things better.

4. Add in some of the fun things about you outside of work:

• I am a Commissioner for the Seattle Center - Seattle’s 74-acre urban park providing amazing free and low cost public programming (including 22 cultural festivals) and home to Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle International Film Festival, the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, Key Arena, Children’s Theatre and Museum and so much more.  I’m quite proud to be serving the Mayor and City Council as we shape the future of this awesome place.
  
• I’m learning Italian - I love the culture and the language is beautiful (not when I’m speaking it, but I’ll get there eventually).
  
• I love to garden in sunny weather and snowboard in soft, fluffy powder (to cushion my falls).
• Cooking and eating might be one of my favorite pastimes.
  
• I don’t have a microwave - our last one broke and when we took it out we liked the space so much we never replaced it!  
• We don’t have cable TV - I still manage to watch plenty of the ol’ Tube, but have fallen in love with public programming (we’re blessed with an amazing group here in the Northwest).

What do you think?  I love candid feedback so please don’t hold back!

This is a really important step in the development of your personal brand and worth spending the time and energy to get it to a point where you’re really happy.  While you may not be looking for a job, this applies if you’re looking for clients too!  Check out the May issue of Personal Branding Magazine to hear tips from some top online brands (that’s right - they’re people, not products!) like Anita Campbell @SmallBizTrends and Toby Bloomberg @TobyDiva.