by Chris Foley on July 21, 2010
Here’s a really interesting take on the Apple vs. AT&T relationship. As an avid Apple and iPhone user (yes, you may call me “Fanboy” if you absolutely have to) I’ve been a vocal supporter of the iPhone, but since the iPhone 4 was released (no, I haven’t bought one yet) I’ve noticed the my AT&T reception has been TERRIBLE. No, like really terrible. I have an iPhone 3GS, and it drops at least 6 calls every day, sometimes up to 15 calls per day, and the crazy thing, is that often times my phone will indicate FULL SIGNAL STRENGTH when dropping the call. What’s up with THAT?
Well anyway, here’s an article I found at Wired that explains what’s likely going on there.
Enjoy.
For iPhone fans, it really was too good to be true. A pair of Apple executives had just described the latest model of the iPhone — the 3GS — onstage at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conferencein June 2009. The audience loved it. The 3GS was twice as fast as its predecessor, it included a camera that shot video, and the updated iPhone operating system enabled multimedia messaging and tethering — the ability to use the phone as a modem. Just one problem: While many customers in Europe and Asia could enjoy all those features, AT&T, the iPhone’s sole US carrier, wouldn’t allow video messaging or tethering at launch. In other words, the most advanced features wouldn’t be available to AT&T customers. What’s more, some current iPhone users who wanted to upgrade wouldn’t get the subsidies that new customers enjoyed. Incensed iPhone fanatics vented their fury on Twitter. “AT&T has been one disappointment after another.” “Is AT&T trying to squeeze more money from us poor suckers?” And they punctuated their complaints with a hashtag — the Twitter convention for grouping conversations — that became an eight-character protest slogan: #attfail. [click to continue…]
by Chris Foley on July 1, 2010
What steps should my business take before we enter into a Social Media Marketing campaign? We’ve been answering this question quite frequently this past year for our own customers, and it’s a very good question. It’s vital to have your social media marketing strategy in place, and figured out before you launch your Twitter page, or build your Facebook business page.
I’ve been meaning to put an article like this together for some time now, and then BAM! SmallBizTrends.com beats me to it, and it’s an excellent article. Here’s an excerpt.
Enjoy~
Chris
Author Credit: Lisa Barone. She blogs daily over at the Outspoken Media blog.
You’re going to give this social media thing a solid chance. You’ve heard that social media delivers leads, connects you with customers and you’re confident that you can avoid falling victim to the many social media myths. All that’s left to do is create the accounts hop in.
Wait! Not so fast.
Before you enter in the world of social media, make sure you’re presenting your best possible face. Getting things in order before you take your first public steps will help customers trust your interactions and get things start on the right foot. You wouldn’t show up to your wedding without taking some time to primp, right?
Here are 9 things to do BEFORE you enter social media.
Create a rulebook: Before you step onto that field, memorize your plays. Study the channels you plan to use, listen to the conversation, understand the behavior and create your rulebook for how your company will engage. Identify how you’ll handle common support issues, the tone you’ll take, how you’ll address negativity, how fans will be rewarded, etc. Work up fake scenarios and create a plan for how you’ll deal with them. Look at issues competitors have had in social media and map out how you’ll do it better. The more you prepare, the better off you’ll be. Negative commenters are a lot less imitating when you have a plan for how you’ll convert them to your side.
Assign responsibility: Make it known who is going to be responsible for social media BEFORE everyone stands around looking at each other. Figure out things like:
- Who will be responsible for creating the content, pushing it, talking to people, responding to questions, etc?
- Who will implement any changes/issues discovered through social media?
- How much time should this be taking from everyone’s day and is the number you just came up with realistic or did you just make it up?
Unless social media is someone’s responsibility, it’s no one’s responsibility.
Increase your customer support: When you open the social media floodgates, you’re creating a new channel for people to come and get help for issues they’re experiencing. You may need to increase your staff in order to handle that. If you’re a small business, that may mean rearranging your customer support system or, if you’re a little larger, it may mean adding actual bodies. Either way, you’re now going to have a live stream of people coming to you with questions, concerns and things they need fixed. You can’t ignore them. Put systems in place to handle the increases customer service tickets. [click to continue…]
