Recent Articles
I’ve got a Grand Central phone number
Sep 8, 2007 Uncategorized 17 Comments
Okay this actually happened last week but I received an invitation from Google to participate in their private beta test for Grand Central.
If you’re not familiar with Grand Central, it’s Google’s newly acquired “one phone number for life” service and it’s FREAKING AWESOME!
I try not to get too hyped up about anything but this service honestly rocks. Basically GC lets me choose a new phone number in any location. Then, I link all my current phone numbers to my GC account. Next, I import my contacts into GC and give each one a category like, “Family”, “Work”, “Friends” or “Others”. Now I can create group-wide rules like, “route all calls from ‘work’ to my office phone” or “route all calls from ‘family’ to all my phones.”
After doing all this, I had my wife call my new number from her cell phone and guess what happened? My cell phone, work phone, and home phone all rang at the same time (give or take a second or two). When I picked up my cell phone, the others stopped ringing. And better yet, I can press “*” and my other phone will start ringing again. That way, I can transfer a call from…say…my cell phone to my home phone.
If an unrecognized caller calls my number, the system prompts them to say their name. Then my phone rings and gives me four options:
- Press “1″ to accept the call.
- Press “2″ to send it to voice-mail.
- Press “3″ to send it to voice-mail AND listen in (you can take the call at any moment).
- Press “4″ to block the call.
Got someone you really aren’t in the mood to talk to right now? Send ‘em to voice mail. (They won’t know if you rejected the call or if you just weren’t available to answer it.) This is also a great tool against telemarketers. If you get a call from a telemarketer, just block ‘em and they won’t be able to call again. (There’s even a nifty little setting where you can set specific callers to get an “I’m sorry, this number is no longer in service” message…great for ex-girlfriends.)
I’m loving this service and would recommend that everyone request an invitation. In fact, if you’re really persuasive in your comments, I might even share one of my invitations with you 
. Have a great day.
I’ve got a Grand Central phone number
Sep 8, 2007 Uncategorized 26 Comments
Okay this actually happened last week but I received an invitation from Google to participate in their private beta test for Grand Central.
If you’re not familiar with Grand Central, it’s Google’s newly acquired “one phone number for life” service and it’s FREAKING AWESOME!
I try not to get too hyped up about anything but this service honestly rocks. Basically GC lets me choose a new phone number in any location. Then, I link all my current phone numbers to my GC account. Next, I import my contacts into GC and give each one a category like, “Family”, “Work”, “Friends” or “Others”. Now I can create group-wide rules like, “route all calls from ‘work’ to my office phone” or “route all calls from ‘family’ to all my phones.”
After doing all this, I had my wife call my new number from her cell phone and guess what happened? My cell phone, work phone, and home phone all rang at the same time (give or take a second or two). When I picked up my cell phone, the others stopped ringing. And better yet, I can press “*” and my other phone will start ringing again. That way, I can transfer a call from…say…my cell phone to my home phone.
If an unrecognized caller calls my number, the system prompts them to say their name. Then my phone rings and gives me four options:
- Press “1″ to accept the call.
- Press “2″ to send it to voice-mail.
- Press “3″ to send it to voice-mail AND listen in (you can take the call at any moment).
- Press “4″ to block the call.
Got someone you really aren’t in the mood to talk to right now? Send ‘em to voice mail. (They won’t know if you rejected the call or if you just weren’t available to answer it.) This is also a great tool against telemarketers. If you get a call from a telemarketer, just block ‘em and they won’t be able to call again. (There’s even a nifty little setting where you can set specific callers to get an “I’m sorry, this number is no longer in service” message…great for ex-girlfriends.)
I’m loving this service and would recommend that everyone request an invitation. In fact, if you’re really persuasive in your comments, I might even share one of my invitations with you . Have a great day.
Burger King Disappointed Me
Aug 5, 2007 business, marketing 4 Comments
I’m no Burger King fanboy or anything, but I get a bit of a kick out of the creepy plastic dancing king. He entertains me.
So, after two and a half hours in the car yesterday, I decided that I wanted something to eat. I saw a billboard that said, “McDonald’s, next 4 exits”. I thought to myself, “McDonald’s is okay. I know it’ll be fast, I know exactly what to expect, but…if there’s a better option, I’ll go there.” Now, I would MUCH rather have a B.K. burger than a McD’s burger anytime so I was pleased to see a little combination Chevron/Burger King at the bottom of the offramp. I went there. BAD CHOICE.
It took me about 18 minutes to get through the drive-through! Now I understand that sometimes things are going smoothly. Maybe they’re short-staffed. Maybe they ran out of fries. Let me make it quite clear that the fact that it took me so long is not the main reason I’m disappointed. Here’s the main reason. When I finally did get up to the window, I asked the girl working what took so long. She just shrugged and said, “Training. Here’s your order.”
No apology. No “Thanks for Coming”. Nothing. Just pure apathy. Ok, so they’re training. They have to train at some point. I understand that. Unfortunately, they’re training all these new guys to be apathetic and rude. “Don’t you get it? You have a job because of me! You’re at my mercy. BE NICE.”
Next time, I’ll try Wendy’s.
Should Have a Business Plan?
Jul 25, 2007 business, small business marketing 3 Comments
Absolutely. Good post on why you should have a (simple) business plan.
I’ve solved the world’s problems
Jul 6, 2007 Uncategorized 1 Comment
The reason there’s so much unhappiness and pain in the world today is because everyone is out for himself, looking out for number one.
Last weekend I was driving from Salt Lake City, Utah up to Idaho Falls, Idaho. SLC has a high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane running down the left side of the highway but it ends about 30 miles north of town. When it ends, all the cars that have been using it must merge into the regular flow of traffic. The problem is…they don’t. They cruise along the lane until the very last second and then have to wait for an opening big enough to merge into from a stop. If they had just merged before they knew they had to, traffic wouldn’t have to slow down for them. It causes everybody problems because they only care about going as far as they can in the fast lane.
Be careful that you’re not doing that with your marketing. Take the high road. Put the public good before your own. Brag about it if you have to. You’ll make everyone happier.
I’ve solved the world’s problems
Jul 6, 2007 Uncategorized Comments Off
The reason there’s so much unhappiness and pain in the world today is because everyone is out for himself, looking out for number one.
Last weekend I was driving from Salt Lake City, Utah up to Idaho Falls, Idaho. SLC has a high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane running down the left side of the highway but it ends about 30 miles north of town. When it ends, all the cars that have been using it must merge into the regular flow of traffic. The problem is…they don’t. They cruise along the lane until the very last second and then have to wait for an opening big enough to merge into from a stop. If they had just merged before they knew they had to, traffic wouldn’t have to slow down for them. It causes everybody problems because they only care about going as far as they can in the fast lane.
Be careful that you’re not doing that with your marketing. Take the high road. Put the public good before your own. Brag about it if you have to. You’ll make everyone happier.
Free Restrooms Inside
Jul 6, 2007 business, small business marketing 5 Comments
Why do so many stores have a sign that reads, “Restrooms are for paying customers”? Sure, I understand that it can be costly to have a bathroom that you need to maintain. But how much money do these same businesses spend just to get people into their stores? Then they discourage them from coming inside. It doesn’t make sense. Don’t dissuade these potential customers, welcome them.
If I ran a retail store, I would put a sign outside that said, “Free Restrooms Inside”. People who come into the store will end up walking past the clothes, or candy, or whatever I put in their path and some of them will end up buying something. Sure a few of them won’t buy anything…this time…buy they’ve come in and they’ll come back. The last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of money advertising my company and then make them feel unwelcome when they get there.
You know more than me
Jun 27, 2007 business, marketing Comments Off
I’m a firm believer that we’re all much smarter collectively than we are individually. I believe that any business that truly opens itself up and becomes transparent and honestly seeks the advice of its clients/vendors/partners will be much more successful than the business that tries to hunker down and do everything on their own.
In fact, I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is…in a way. I’m issuing an open invitation to you to tell me how to run my business. Look over my site, rip it apart, tell me what needs to change. Everything is fair game from site design to product pricing to body copy. Let’s hear what you have to say.
McNice?!?!
Jun 26, 2007 business, small business marketing 2 Comments
Here’s my attempt at a Seth Godin-style post (I’m just missing the cell phone snapshot…will add later if I can figure it out). As I left the McDonalds drive-through this afternoon with my dollar-menu sandwich, I saw a sign that really impressed me. It said, “We know you have other options. Thank you for choosing McDonalds today.”
I was amazed. How cool is that? Sure it’s only a metal sign. Most people probably never notice it. But probably McDonalds spent about $50 bucks (or something) for the sign and more to keep it clean. At least that’s something. Why don’t more companies do that?
Leave your personality at the door
Jun 26, 2007 business, marketing, small business marketing 30 Comments
Who decided that companies can’t have a personality. Sure if you’re selling a product or service directly to consumers (read: families or individuals) you can do funny stuff like pick on cavemen or throw a truck down a mountain. But for some reason, if you’re selling a service to another business, you’ve got to drown your sense of humor and start using words like, “actionable solutions” and “return on investment”. Are there not people working for these companies that might actually appreciate some humor now and again?
I’m interested in your thoughts. Are there any business-to-business companies out there that still have a sense of humor?
