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Podcast Review: Manager Tools
2007-04-06 18:57:00
Title: Manager Tools Produced By: Manager Tools, LLC Feed: http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/fee d/rss2 Members Only Feed: http://www.manager-tools.com/registered-m embers/rss.xml Blog: http://www.manager-tools.com Overview: The Manager Tools podcast covers important topics of interest to any manager of people. Popular episodes include “How to Write a Thank You note,” “Your Admin and your email,” and “Secrets of a Great Handshake.” Each episode lasts about ...
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Podcast Review: Marketing Minute
2007-02-28 18:26:01
Title: Market ing Minute Produced By: Marketing and Communication Strategies, Inc. Feed: http://www.mcshome.com/podcasts/marketing minute.xml Blog: http://communication-strategies.blogspot. com/ Overview: MCS puts out this show twice a month to cover specific topics relating to marketing and public relations. Each episode averages around 3 minutes. We Like: The episodes a brief and to the point. They cover very specific topics and techniques that would benefit any business owner or marketing professional. An easy listen. Would Like to See: They would benefit from show notes and additional supplemental links relating to the topic at hand.
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Why Corporate Podcasts Make Closing the Sale Easier
2007-02-20 18:24:03
I’ve noticed a marked difference between meeting a prospective client at something like a networking event and meeting a prospective client who has found me through our podcast. The differences are really striking and certainly worth some analysis. 1. First Impressions - At a live networking event, first impressions are of course critical. Even if I meet someone that happens to need our services, I have such a brief amount of time to convey that I am competent, trustworthy and can actually solve his or her problem. The whole “vibe” around networking events can often feel like a rushed feeding frenzy. A listener, on the other hand, has already developed a first impression, only at a time and pace that is convenient for him or her. There’s been no rush, no awkward silences. She has already become comfortable with my voice and generally has a frame of reference as to who I am and what I know. 2. Relationship - I have no relationship with someone I just met ...
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Blog + Podcast = a Perfect Combination
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I was inspired this morning by David Meerman Scott’s post on Webinknow entitled “Blog ging is my front door and it has changed my life.” clipped from webinknow.com My blog has gotten my ideas out to thousands of people who have never heard of me before. It has helped me get booked for at least a dozen important speaking gigs around the world. I’ve determined that about 25 percent of the new consulting business I’ve brought in during the past two years has been either through the blog directly or from purchasers who cited the blog as important to their decision to hire me. I would agree with David’s enthusiasm for blogging. In fact, corporate blogs are going to be one of our main focuses during the next twelve months here at Promethius. They are simply so good that we must do what we can to convince all of our web clients to start taking blogging seriously. I would take David’s comments one step further and say that for me, a podcast coupled...
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Episode 11 {Buzz Marketing with Buzzoodle!!}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Standard Podcast Alan and I had a chance to interview Buzz Market ing guru Ron McDaniel about his latest book Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing - 57 Word of Mouth Marketing Challenges for the Entire Workforce.You’ll have to wait about seven more weeks before the book hits stores, but our podcast interview with Ron should hold you over until then. You can reserve your copy here (as I did weeks ago). Also make sure to check out Ron’s blog. It’s full of great ideas about how to generate and sustain buzz.
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How to Promote Your Podcast ? Lesson 2
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Another easy way to get some exposure for your podcast is to participate in “listener lines” of other podcasts. Most podcasters that have listener lines are not taking live on-air calls, but rather have you leave a recording (usually via skype or an answering machine) that they can play back on their podcast at a later date. The trick here is to find a balance between being an asset to the show and sneaking in a subtle plug from your own podcast. A message that I leave for another show might go something like this: Hi Dave, this is Tony from greatbigpodcast.com. Love your show. In the last episode, you briefly mentioned that you would advise against pay-per-click campaigns for not-for-profit groups. Would you mind explaining your thinking in a little more detail? Thanks for all the great work! You can clearly see that I mentioned the domain for my podcast blog-site in my comments. You would be amazed at how many listeners will pick up on that reference and check y...
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Is Zoho turning reddish-blue, and does it say ?Moo??
2007-02-13 18:18:02
If you haven’t guessed the reference, I’m currently reading Seth’s very enjoyable book Purple Cow. He makes the very convincing argument that you have to be absolutely remarkable to gain lasting success in today’s market. Now I’m seeing everything through purple glasses, which brings me to the real topic of my post: I made a minor post the other day suggesting Zoho Polls for companies wanting to get feedback from their customers. Almost immediately I received a comment from someone at Zoho thanking me for suggesting their company. That was nice… and kind of unusual. Then I got to thinking. I had posted to my MySpace blog several months ago a brief comment about my very positive experience with Zoho CRM (which I still use to this day). A Zoho intern politely commented with thanks in that case as well. What in the world?!?! It seems clear to me now that Zoho at least keeps a very close eye on the “blogosphere” to see what is being ...
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Top 5 Corporate Podcast Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague
2007-02-13 18:18:02
To podcast effectively is not an easy thing to do. To podcast ineffectively is incredibly easy, costly and time-consuming. While I continue to be absolutely bullish on the marketing and PR benefits of corporate podcasting, I can?t say that I see many organizations getting it right yet. If your company is planning to podcast, avoiding these common mistakes can mean the difference between huge success and utter disaster. 1. Let the ?Computer Nerd? do it. Sure, Dale the computer guy is the only one in your organization that knows what ?RSS? is. Sure he understands the difference between an mp3 file and a .wav file. But Dale doesn?t bathe, he?s not particularly good at talking to people and he CERTAINLY doesn?t understand your marketing message. Corporate podcasting is a marketing and PR effort. Dale needs Brenda. 2. Let the ?Marketing Nerd? do it. Brenda in Marketing is certainly on top of the message. She understands your customers and what makes them tick. She understands h...
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This is Your Blog | This is Your Blog on Crack
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I’ve had a couple blog reading all-nighters within the past week, and suddenly a truism comes to me as I sit here sifting through dozens more fascinating blogs: Simplicity is King in the blogosphere. John Moore from Brand Autopsy has a great post about simplicity. You really should read it. What’s more striking to me, in terms of the idea of simplicity, is not John’s post but the entire Brand Autopsy blog itself. It’s so darn simple, yet very effective and attractive. I would argue that within 30 seconds, the average blog reader could easily figure out how to do the following on their first visit to Brand Autopsy (note, in the world of blogs, 30 seconds may be all the time you have to sell a new visitor on the merits of your blog. Past 30 they are already off to something else if your blog doesn’t speak to them): Purchase the book “Tribal Knowledge“ Download their free whitepaper PDF “Manifesto“ Subscribe to the RSS feed Thes...
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Digg Readers Defend Dale the Computer Nerd
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I recently posted a list of common mistakes to avoid when planning a corporate podcast. The post appears to have enraged several Digg readers who particularly took offense at my fictional, albeit stereotypical character “Dale the Comp uter Nerd .” To you loyal defenders of Dale and his personal hygiene habits, I say this: STAND DOWN, DIGG READERS! I must admit that I was a bit surprised to get such a backlash from the Digg community. Is using the “computer nerd” stereotype to make a point really that offensive? And another thing… I know you mean well, and I know you all are very bright in a certain way, but I think your comments on Digg really support my original point. Let’s review the top corporate podcast mistake to avoid like the plague: “1. Don’t Let the Computer Nerd Do It.” What I’m warning against here is a natural inclination for management to see podcasting as an IT function because it involves a certain amount ...
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Podcast Listener ROI - Why Radio is Doomed
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I was in the rare circumstance of being without my iPod during my commute the other day. I decided to flip on the radio for a change. What I heard coming out of my car stereo was so foreign, and frankly so fowl, that I almost couldn’t believe my ears. Did I used to listen to this many commercials? How could anyone put up with this stuff today now that podcasts are so easy to get?! I really was shocked. If you gave up radio a long time ago in favor of your iPod, I would encourage you to go back to radio for just an hour or so. It’s utterly suffocating. I was so moved by this experience that I decided I would do a little experiment. I wanted to see exactly how much the radio was “jipping” us out of the real content that we tuned in for in the first place. Let me say up front that I’m no scientist and this hardly qualifies as a true experiment, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I basically listened to an hour of radio and an hour of a podcas...
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5 Web 2.0 Tools to Immediately Make You a Better Manager
2007-02-13 18:18:02
At Promethius, we’ve done a whole lot of searching for ideas to improve our service and our customers’ experience. After much experimentation and testing, I feel very confident recommending these tools to any business manager: Basecamp - This very intuitive project-management software by 37signals is a very affordable way to immediately gain control over multiple projects and staff members. It even has restricted login functionality for clients as well. Zoho CRM - One of the great stable of products coming out of Zoho. It’s free for up to three users and is quite affordable as you add more users. Netvibes - If you do one thing this quarter, get netvibes and learn how to use it! A savvy manager will make it his browser Home page and will fill it with relevant RSS feeds, bookmarks, gmail and so much more. Omnidrive - This universal web storage platform lets you easily store, access and share files of any size over the web. Google Analytics - Google is at it agai...
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Don?t Forget this Easy Trick With Press Releases
2007-02-13 18:18:02
James Clark over at the “Capture the Conversation” blog has a great post on syndicating your own press releases. Many of us forget that having a “press release” area on our websites is a great way to draw targeted traffic. Making your own “press” area is a nice departure from the rat race of trying to get other media outlets to pick you up any way. Besides, many potential customers will go to our websites as a part of their research. Why not make sure to have a copy of each press release right there on your website for potential customers to easily find and read? Looking for help on the ins-and-outs of formatting your press releases? I would recommend the Duct Tape Marketing press release tool for starters.
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What is your ?Internet Buzzword? IQ?
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Like it or not, those of us who make our living on the internet deal in so much jargon that an outsider might mistake our conversations for Portuguese or some such random language. I decided to put together this little Inter net Buzz word IQ test to see how you rank. How many of the terms (or products) below do you understand without following the link to find the answer? 1-5 correct = still using AOL | 6 - 10 correct = have your own MySpace page | 11 - 15 correct = seasoned Word press blogger | 15 - 20 correct = know your website’s IP address by heart. RSS Technorati Ajax Blinksale Local Search Click Fraud SEO Long Tail Wiki Digg Favicon Drupal Net Neutrality Vertical Search Squirl Tagworld Crazy Egg LiveJournal StumbleUpon Who created Podcasting?
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How I Doubled My Website Traffic in One Week
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I do a lot of experimenting with ways to increase website traffic through some of the social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, reddit and the like. I’ve “stumbled upon” one that so far is giving me much more traffic than all the rest combined: StumbleUpon. One of the main advantages of the social bookmarking model has been that sites are reviewed and submitted by real human beings who value the content. Any link submitted to the community is available for any and all members to bookmark it. Multiple bookmarks equates to multiple “votes” in the world of social bookmarking. For example, I recently submitted a blog post to del.icio.us, and that link in turn was bookmarked by 60 Del.icio.us users. The post eventually found its way onto Digg and drove quite a bit of traffic our way. That’s the way these things work in a perfect world (usually easier said than done). StumbleUpon has an interesting twist that adds an extra element of addictivene...
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The No-Brainer that Roared
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I can appreciate the recent buzz surrounding the newly-launched satirical website WeOwnTheInternet.org, which smartly pokes fun at the corporatocracy’s indefensible position on Network Neutrality. Ann Handley points out that humor can rouse interest in an otherwise drab topic. But I sometimes worry about why this satirical website exists in the first place. To any average citizen that understands the facts surrounding the net neutrality issue, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NO-BRAINER. So why, oh why do we need a brilliantly-clever satirical website wrapped in a stellar viral campaign dedicated to THIS ISSUE? To me it is a sign of the following: Many Americans generally are not capable of comprehending even the basic concept of “competition = good,” “monopoly = bad.” At the very least, it seems that a little bit of techno jargon like “net neutrality” is all the roadblock you need to make Americans throw up our hands in utter confusion. The major cor...
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How to Promote Your Podcast ? Lesson 1
2007-02-13 18:18:02
This one is just so easy that it is often overlooked. Just as you would (at least in the old days) list your website with several popular directories, you need to do the same with your podcast. Here are some of the more popular podcast directories: EveryPod cast.com - Podcast ers can add their information to the directory simply by submitting their feed URL. Feed Shark - Automatically submits your podcast to multiple directories. LearnOutLoud.com - This is a directory of educational podcasts, which may or may not apply to your particular podcast. Podcast Alley - This is currently the king of the podcast directories. Make sure to list your show here! For a complete list of podcaster resources, make sure to visit castwiki.
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Seth Godin on Success
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Seth has a thought-provoking post today about how we measure ourselves against this idea of “success.” I agree that often we don’t put much time or thought into defining exactly what success means to us. I always liked coach John Wooden’s definition of success, and it’s what I use for myself: John Wooden on Success Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
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Episode 1 {Smashing the Bottle on the USS Promethean}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 1 Join Tony Valle, Denver Abernathy and Becky Crane as we explore general goings-on at Prom ethius Consulting, LLC. Topics include: Our new podcasting studio is live Three new programmers join Promethius Consulting Review of the Promethean newsletter How cool is RSS? Tony uses Bloglines to manage his content feeds and keep current. Windows shortcuts can help you gain massive efficiency Tony is afraid of using macros, but shouldn’t be. Study shows using dual screen monitors adds 30% efficiency. Kris Arnold, Promethius Programmer, attends concert by former Gigi Alan band at Indianapolis’ Melody Inn.
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Episode 2 {Google Maps / Podcasting / Blogging}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 2 The gang was a bit tired today, but we managed to cover a few interesting topics: Google Maps can let you do amazing things: Plug in a zip code to see your neighbors’ campaign contributions This map plots all murders in New York City for a two-year period This is a Google Map mashup for world cup soccer A new kind of malware circulating on the Internet freezes a computer and then asks for a ransom paid through the Western Union Holdings money transfer service. Recently there have been many blog entries centered around the success of ?Ugly Design? on the web. New Orleans uses Pod casting as a way to revitalize the economy and put real faces and voices to the rebuilding effort. Senator John Edwards meets with bloggers to test the waters. Podcast circulation is growing 20% per month
More About: Podcasting , Blogging

Episode 3 {blogs and blogging, net neutrality, Janus Developmental}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 3 Blogs and Blogging In this episode, we cover lots of good information about blogs and blogging. If you want to follow along with the sites Tony is referencing, they are as follows: Think Progress MedicalInsuranceNow (main site) MedicalInsuranceNow Blog Now get blogging yourself!!! Net Neutrality - The internet freedom that big corporations are trying to take from us!! If you?ve never made a call to your Senator before, this is your day. If you?ve never emailed him or her, the time is now. Muster the energy and do it. The future of the incredible value-creation machine we know as the Internet is at stake. Put simply, the carriers wish to pick and choose the winners and losers among content providers: they, not you, will decide the next Google. They, not you, will decide which telephony service, which file-sharing software, which instant-messenger you will use. I can find no simpler way to put it: the carriers seek to turn the Internet into cable television. In do...
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Episode 4 {Wikis could help your business / Arni?s Charity Classic}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 4 Headlines According to a study by Outsell Inc., a leading marketing research firm, click fraud now costs online advertisers nearly $1 billion per year, with advertisers believing almost 15% of all paid click-throughs are fraudulent. Among the studie?s other findings, 75% of online advertisers claim they have been victims of click fraud. It is estimated that Google and Yahoo, the two major players in the pay-per-click market, have lost up to $500 million in revenue as a result of click fraud. The New York Times is reporting the results of a major SPAM study. The study found that Spam messages promoting pornography are 280 times as effective in getting recipients to click on them as messages advertising pharmaceutical drugs, which are the next most effective type of spam. The third most successful variety is spam advertising Rolex watches, with a 0.0075 percent click-through rate. Major analysis for the study was provided by CipherTrust, a large manufacturer of d...
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Episode 5 {CMS Review / Domain Theft / Customer Service Legend - The Runnin
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 5 Headlines A new study from consulting firm Diamond Cluster International seems to show that the peak in the outsourcing boom has come and gone. Results show that premature contract terminations, due to poor performance, have become increasingly prevalent. The study found that 47 percent of buyers reported they had prematurely terminated at least one outsourcing relationship in the prior 12 months. The IT community expressed concern last week over the FBI?s desire that Congress mandate that all future routing equipment must be manufactured to include back doors for law enforcement. Similar mandates have already been passed into law for telephone switching equipment, which require no warrant to activate, and hence can be secretly enabled at will. It is widely believed among the IT community that adding these so-called ?back doors? to the routing infrastructure would significantly diminish the security of most computer networks. A Paralyzed man using a new brain sen...
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Episode 6 {Business advice from Executive Business Coach Jim Gleason}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 6 We are pleased to have Executive Business Coach Jim Gleason join us today. Jim is currently with The Resource Development Group, where he coaches and mentors several business clients to successfully and effectively navigate change to achieve the results they desire. We cover several topics of interest especially to small business owners, but they certainly apply to business professionals of all types. I started out by asking a broad question that seems to be on the mind of many of my professional peers these days. “Why is business so difficult these days? It seems that every time I get together with fellow business owners, we talk about how long it’s been since we’ve seen our families. Yet we don’t seem to be getting the return on our time.” As Jim often does, he had a perfectly reasonable response to this common situation. He’s the kind of guy that just seems to be able to break things down into simple, understandable con...
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Episode 7 {Intro to Podcasting / Meet Alan Houser}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 7 We’re excited to have Alan House r with us in the studio today. Alan is our Creative Director who is not only a talented Web Designer, but he’s also a podcast pioneer. Alan and Tony wax poetic on all things podcasting. Tony’s excited about flying to Cancun on his honeymoon the next day! To kick things off, Alan defines podcasting: “Like radio for the internet… but more than that” … “It’s about syndication… subscribing to a podcast through iTunes or other news readers.” clipped from wikipedia.com Pod casting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term podcast, like ‘radio’, can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Though podcasters’ we...
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Episode 8 {Duct Tape Marketing / Timeshifting Experiment}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 8 This episode is wrapped around an experiment, or maybe “demonstration” is a better way to put it. The term “timeshifting” is often used to describe the benefit to the podcast listener of being able to listen to content whenever and wherever suits them. We demonstrate that timeshifting also benefits the podcast creator. Alan and I recorded our audio for segment one separately from one another, at a time and place of our own choosing. The pieces were then edited together to make the episode you hear today, called “Very Good Things.” I start out by revealing my very favorite marketing blog of all time - Duct Tape Market ing by John Jantsch. He never seems at a loss for new ideas and insights. His blog is like a marketer’s toy store just brimming with wonders from all ends of cyberspace. John’s new book is due out later this year. I can’t wait!! Other great posts from the Duct Tape Marketing Blog: What does y...
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Episode 9 {What in the World is WEB 2.0?}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 9 In past shows, we have discussed wikis, blogging and podcasting. This time we tackle the buzz-laden topic of “WEB 2.0.” It seems that just about everyone has at least heard the term, but it’s difficult to find anyone who can really tell you conclusively what WEB 2.0 really is. We hope to shed some light with today’s discussion. Brigid Barnacle from Trenton New Jersey writes in: I keep hearing the term ?Web 2.0? thrown around, but I can?t seem to figure out what it is. Is it a language? Is it a piece of software? If it?s so popular, why can?t anyone explain exactly what it is? Alan had a little too much fun calling local businesses in town to see if he could get any answers about WEB 2.0. We play some of the phone calls throughout this segment. Does this mean Promethius endorses “prank” calling? Look out Jerky Boys! First of all, WEB 2.0 is partly a buzzword, just like “.NET” ...
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Episode 10 {Network Your Way to the Top with Lorraine Ball}
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Download Episode 10 Local business networking legend Lorraine Ball was an absolute joy to have in the studio. Our lengthy interview covers many of Lorraine’s ideas on how to best spend your time and resources connecting with top prospects and referral sources. I got a chance to ask Lorraine about her concept called “The seven second sound bite.” It’s true that you only have a few precious moments to make an impression on a new prospect. For another perspective, BNI founder Patrick Carney has a good blog post about how to deal with the time-crunch surrounding a first impression. Make sure to check out Lorraine’s various online resources: roundpeg IndyBiz Rain makers NoWIB lorraineball.com Squidoo Lense Other recommended reading on building up your referral network: John Jantsch’s recent post - Who should I Target for Referrals? Sitepoint’s - Some Quick Secrets to Asking Clients for Referrals. This post is written from a recruiting perspec...
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Don?t Totally Discount MySpace as a Tool in Your Arsenal
2007-02-13 18:18:02
I started experimenting with a MySpace presence several months ago just for my own educational purposes. I built one for the podcast, which you can see here. I decided to post this today after seeing Mark Vanderbeeken’s post stating that over 52% of MySpace users are over 35. His post just confirmed what I’ve been seeing in our web stats for quite some time. Namely, MySpace is about the biggest generator of traffic to our podcast blog than any other “community” on the web. I have always been really surprised by that because I too assumed that MySpace was just for “teenagers.” Asside from the insane traffic at MySpace, I think one of the best advantages is the ability to embed true html code into the basic MySpace text editor. This allows you to sprinkle some extra goodies around if you know what you’re doing. Here’s an example of a bit of code that I created for our newsletter signup. The reason this works is because most people o...
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Survey your clients with Zoho Polls
2007-02-13 18:18:02
Every business needs to know how its customers are feeling. It’s always easy to assume that if customers aren’t contacting you to complain, then they aren’t complaining or unhappy. Periodic surveys are an easy way to uncover customer service problems before they get out of hand and cost you dearly. Clever company ZOHO has a free survey tool that will do the trick. Be up front and tell your clients that their participation helps you provide better service. If you like their survey tool, check out several other great (and mostly free or very inexpensive) tools by ZOHO.
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