MBA Geek

photo credit: kagey_b

If you’ve ever had to travel for business, you know all about the risk of luggage going missing on your trip. But you don’t know the real dismay and the sinking feeling in your stomach that comes from realising your bag hasn’t made it. Most of the time, your bag gets found, but sometimes it doesn’t and you can kiss all your belongings goodbye. You may get something back from the insurance, but the sentimental value of some items just cannot be replaced. I’ve had my luggage lost a couple of times so far and it’s always a nightmare dealing with insurances, trying to find receipts of what was in the bag. Better if the bag wasn’t lost at all.

That’s where ReboundTag comes in. I received one of their tags as a sample to try and I must say I love the idea behind their service. They send you a special tag that has a barcode and a human readable number on the side. It also has two types of RFID technology embedded in the tag which airport scanners are designed to read. Once you receive your tag, you sign up to their website and leave your details. All that’s left is to affix the tag to your luggage and wait for the worst.

If you’re unfortunate enough that your bag goes walkies, this time you have a fighting chance. If the bag is recovered, the tag will point the finder to ReboundTag’s “I Found Something” page where they can key in the tag details and send a message to the tag holder (me in this case). It doesn’t guarantee that your bag will be found, but it does help return it to it’s rightful owner. It gives an extra level of comfort. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still keep any jewellery, MP3 players or phones on my person, but at least I know my bulky items are just a bit safer for the tag. Great idea!

Interesting experience a couple of days ago when we placed an online order on Marks and Spencer‘s website. We ran into a problem where we had a couple of coupons to use and the website would accept only one. We sent an email to customer services and they took care of the problem for us.

The really interesting thing was one line that they added to the email response they sent:

Thanks for getting in touch and I must compliment you on your choice in kids wear.

I found that single line awesome. It wasn’t just a thank you for communicating with them. It showed that someone had taken the trouble to actually look at my order, and note what sort of products where in there. It added that touch a touch of personality to the email and gave it that human touch.

It doesn’t matter if you sell cheap clothes, or the top of the line walk in bath, adding that touch of humanity to your online presence can add that touch of class that will keep clients coming back for more.

Have you ever considered that your clients may get the wrong idea of what your business is all about? Perception is pretty important and the impression that clients get of you can be tantamount to getting new business. Whether you’re talking about your store front, or even something as simple as your office supplies, all aspects that your clients meet should have a consistent image that reinforces your brand.

Can you think of any good examples of this?

I came across a great tweet today by @KellyShibari who posted a really great snapshot of the web stats of a website showing the effect of some Social Media promotion she did. Here’s the schematic:

Notice the stats for August are way higher than any of the other months. This was accomplished thanks to the work Kelly put in (which you can read all about on her post), but it’s a really good example of what can happen when you start using the tools at your disposal.

So, how can Social Media help a business? Well, building a business online is no different to opening a retail outlet. But when opening an outlet you get to choose where it’s going to be. Location is paramount to getting the traffic you need and that traffic is the lifeblood of your business. The situation online is totally different. All websites are born intrinsically equal; it doesn’t matter if you’re a purveyor of fine office furniture or if you sell real estate on the moon. Traffic is still the life blood of the business, but the rules are different. You need to pump effort into getting people to your site, building up relationships and making sure they come back. Social Networking gives you those tools, so make sure you get your hear around them today.

A great post on Seth Godin’s blog reminds us of the importance of Strategic Thinking when looking at your plans. Seth comments about how easy it is to get lost in focusing on tactical moves, while moving away from (or not having articulated) their strategic intentions.

It’s the old adage of missing the wood for the trees, tactical decision are more tangible than strategic intentions and thus more seductive. It’s also easier to measure tactical actions, thus giving the impression that more is being done. But strategy is what needs to drive these tactical actions. Without a cohesive strategy that has been conceived to move the organisation forward, there’s a massive risk of drifting away from the true course the company should be heading down. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling plasma mounts out of your garage or directing a multinational organisation; if you haven’t articulated your goals and are not using them to drive your actions, you’re heading nowhere fast.

Have you considered using Twitter for your business? If it’s something you’re thinking about, you should check out Chris Brogan‘s post entitled 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business. It’s a distillation of his thoughts and ideas and provides a summary on what to expect and anticipate if you decide to go down this route. Here are some of the more poignant ideas:

• Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
• Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
• You don’t have to read every tweet
• Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Remember presence in the 1990s?
• Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.

As you can imagine, there are more of these down at the actual post (45 more actually), and they provide some great discussion pointers if you’re organisation is looking to move into this space. It doesn’t matter if you’re working in Government, promoting a Medicare supplement or just running a single-person business, understanding the medium you’re trying to use if paramount and if you don’t do this, you’re running the danger of just wasting your time.

So head down to the blog and read: 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business