Keeping in touch with a simple letter, email or even a phone call can make a big impression for the customer. It really shows that you care and are invested in his/her patronage. Some people think that they will come off as too pushy, but that is rarely the case! Do not try and sell your customer anything in your follow up, simply thank them for their business and ask how everything is. Offer them to come in for a free tune up is that applies to your product. Any contact that shows you care will make a positive impression on your customer, and will help keep them loyal to you! And it hardly costs a thing.

If you have a large business, it might seem overwhelming to add following up to your activities. Here are some tips for developing a good follow up system.

• Keep it systematic. There should be a process that is followed every time.
• It should require minimal physical interaction to run. Meaning, have an electronic autopilot that will send out messages.
• It should generate consistent, predictable results.

1. A sense of belonging. It is human nature to want to feel accepted in a group or society. A lot of companies use this tactic through making customers feel like they are part of a special group or clique; example Abercrombie & Fitch. Others simple make their motto something like “you’re part of the family”.
2. Fear. Although this is clearly a negative emotion, it is a powerful one that people act on. If a company can instill fear in the audience, those people may feel the need to purchase. An example of companies that use this tactic are insurance companies; they make you fear the reperocussions of not having insurance.
3. Laugher/Joy. This is my personal favorite. It is a positive emotion and people tend to remember things that are funny because they want to be happy! Almost any company can use this emotion, besides perhaps a funeral home.

I thought it might be time to write a helpful blog post about stress management. Lets face it, we all need it! Especially at work. With the economy the way it is, it’s hard to not get stressed out about your job, money issues, time management, etc. But being stressed does not help you at all, and sometimes it can hurt your business if you do not take control! Here are just a few tips to help you reduce your stress

• Get enough sleep. This can seem difficult, especially if you have tons of work piling up that needs to get done! But it’s important to get sleep so that you can remain productive throughout the day. Lack of sleep can obviously cause you to be very tired, and it can lead to mistakes if you’re doing work while drowsy! It’s worth it to try and get those 8 hours!
• Eat right. Eating the right types of food can give you more energy and reduce stress. Studies show that it’s best to stay away from foods that give your body/mind “highs and lows” like caffeine and alcohol. Stay away from stimulants and depressants. A few good stress reliever foods are: asparagus, beef, milk, cottage cheese + fruit, and almonds.
• Exercise a little. I know, easier said than done, but it really helps! It’s a fact that aerobic exercise is an effective anti-anxiety and mood lifting treatment. It can also increase your energy, and help you focus better! You will be more productive in the workplace.

Social media is having a particular affect on the celebrity. Sure, it’s changed your life, friendships, relationships, etc. But think of what it’s done for celebrities. Everyone can see your Twitter and Facebook… but not everyone is looking. For a celebrity, everyone is looking. A certain celebrity is the inspiration for this post: Lindsay Lohan.

In my constant surveillance of the top blogs, and my ever updating Twitter feed, I’ve learned all about the fate of Ms. Lohan. It’s the top story - Lindsay Lohan goes to jail. Is it my business? Is it anyones’ business? Most would argue that it may not be, but society has made it so. I’d have to agree. Some celebrities refuse to acknowledge social media and wish to keep everything private. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work that way. I think, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

I believe it is in the celebrity’s best interest to use social media to manage their own reputations, and to not leave it at the hands of the bloggers alone. Obviously you can’t stop people from talking and writing about you, but you are the best source of information about yourself. For example, say you are a certain married actor who gets your picture taken with a woman other than your wife. The picture is all over the web and tabloids. You can address the issue directly, via social media, and say “That’s my wife’s interior decorator!”, and your wife can says “That’s my interior decorator”. No blogger or tabloid would say that for you, because it takes the controversy right out of it! Celebrities need to take control of their own social media accounts to take control of their reputations.

People love having access to celebrities. Having social media as a way for fans to follow, read and admire you is a great way for you to connect with them. People want to know the person behind the character, and this is a growing medium to do so.

Apple issued a statement that said “Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.”

At a recent press conference about the issue, Steve Jobs demonstrated antenna issues on phones from RIM (Black Berry), Motorola, and HTC, saying they experienced the same dropped calls if gripped in a certain way.

I find two issues with this statement. First, Apple’s response makes the problem a fault of the customer, not Apple’s design, even though it can clearly be avoided with a case, which points to the design being at fault. Second, Steve Jobs is basically saying that it’s not their fault that calls get dropped because ALL wireless phones have that problem.

I do not think this was a smart PR move by Apple. Apologizing, giving out free phone cases and fixing the problem would have been the smartest plan for this issue. But instead, Jobs fans the fire by attacking his competitors, therefore spurring on more discussion and rebuttals. I’m sure he would like “antennagate” (as the bloggers are calling it) to be over, but it seems like he just added more life to the drama.

What do you think he should have done?

Fortunately for Apple, sales do not seem to be declining, as stores are continuing to sell out of the new iPhone 4.

Once you have completed your competitive research, it’s time to develop a competitive advantage. This can be defined as something that a firm posseses that gives it an advantage over it’s rivals. It can be one of two things: cost advantage or differentiation advantage. The advantage I am talking about is differentiation because cost advantage is referring to the company having less expenses and therefore more profit. The competitive advantage I am talking about is how you want to differentiate yourself from your competition, which hopefully leads to more profit anyway

The most important aspect of your competitive advantage should be: You’ve got to offer what your competition is not offering. Your customers will buy from the business that offers what you don’t have. YOU need to be the business that is offering what others are not! Your marketing efforts should be focused around this competitive advantage. Remember, this needs to be an advantage, so if it costs too much, it may not be so advantageous for you. But you can put a lot of time, energy, imagination and knowledge into it.

The message behind the webinar is that it is critical for businesses, large and small, to have a social presence. I cannot agree more! Social media sites are growing in importance, and it is not only a great place to market your product, but it allows you to build relationships with customers. Managing all of your social media accounts can take hours out of your day (if one properly). Most companies will have people devoted to managing social media, but not everyone can afford such a luxury. MarketMeTweet is an app that really seems to simplify Twitter as a marketing tool.

MarketMeTweet is a twitter management tool that allows you to do tons of things! The people behind it have collaborated with Twitter so that you can be sure it is within the rules (you do not want to get banned!). There are so many features: Reply Campaign, RSS Manager, Follow Users, Group Management, and so much more.

The most exciting feature of MarketMeTweet is what I’m focus on now. Have you ever noticed that when you post a Tweet, right underneeth your post it says “XX minutes ago via web” or via whatever app you used to Tweet. So, essentially you were a walking advertisement for the app you were using. That little area is prime real estate! What MarketMeTweet does, is it allows you to put YOUR website with an active link in that little space! So, if I were to Tweet with it, it would say “XX minutes ago via tazsol.com” and anyone who reads that Tweet could click on the link and go right to my site! It’s a great way to build you brand presence on Twitter.

More presence = more traffic. Why? Well, for one, Google now allows Twitter results to show up on real time search. And it never hurts to get your name out there however you can, and Twitter is a great outlet.

Overall, I found this webinar to be very informative about the benefits of MarketMeTweet and Twitter for businesses. Check out their site to learn more http://marketmetweet.com/.