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Friday
November 13, 2009 Tip of the Day: Make an Online VideoFiled under: Tip of the Day Michael Miller, author of YouTube for Business, says business owners need three pieces of equipment before creating an online video:
In terms of content, Miller says there are three types of videos that get watched by casual Internet users. “It can be something purely entertaining, it can be something that is informative, like if you’ve got the latest industry news, or it can be educational, like if you’re showing your customer how to do something,” he says. “These videos really do get watched.” Miller recommends placing any online video on YouTube. “YouTube makes it very easy,” he says. “You can upload it in mpeg or Windows Media format. If you have a high-definition camera, you can do it in a 720p resolution.” To place a video on YouTube: Mouse over to the upload button at the top right corner of www.youtube.com, and click Upload Video File. Enter information about the video, including the title, a brief description and tag words that will allow YouTube users to find the video by typing in keywords. Videos must be one gigabyte or less and may not run more than 10 minutes. “You can host videos on your own server and write in the HTML, but you might not have the bandwidth to handle the traffic,” Miller says. “You can have YouTube host the video that’s on your own Web site. YouTube supplies you with a little snippet of HTML code so you can embed it into your Web site. The video will look like it’s on your Web page, but it isn’t. The bandwidth isn’t coming to your site; it’s coming to YouTube. So, you aren’t going to be overloaded.” – Shane Dale From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Thursday
November 12, 2009 Gen. Colin Powell To Be On ASI RadioFiled under: asi radio show
Best of all, we’re opening the phone and email lines to you, our audience, so that you can pose a question to Gen. Powell. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask the General about leadership, you can do so now by sending an email to radio@asicentral.com or you can wait until Tuesday, Nov. 17 and call into our studios approximately 10:20 a.m. EST at the number 215.953.4979. To listen to the show, simply go to www.asicentral.com/radio on Tuesday morning. And to learn more about Gen. Powell’s keynote speech during this year’s ASI Show Orlando, click here. – Team Central
Thursday
November 12, 2009 Tip of the Day - Deal With a Crier at WorkFiled under: Tip of the Day Nip criers in the bud, says Jody Ferrer, president of The Perfect Promotion LLC (asi/293518). During the interview process, “I tell them that I run a nontoxic work environment. It’s a place where I spend a lot of time and I won’t work with people that are toxic or criers,” she says. For those whiners who charm their way through the interview process, managers can be only so forgiving before showing employees the door, says David Gray, owner of David Gray Enterprises (asi/213025). “You need to go to that person and say, ‘If you’re unhappy with this job, I think this job isn’t for you,’” Gray says. “You haven’t fired” the employee, but given him a heads-up that a bad attitude and an inability to deal with the environment won’t be tolerated. – Betsy Cummings Sometimes a little office fun will bring some levity and motivation that can’t easily be found these days. Think that throwing a company karaoke competition is a better reward for staff this year than the company picnic? You may be right – and save a lot of money doing so. At $5 per person per hour or $20 per hour for a private room, karaoke is a reasonable alternative for company get-togethers. Can’t get away to a lounge? Karaoke machines can be rented for as little as $75 for an in-office sing-off. Just make sure that staffers are comfortable with the idea before forcing them to belt it out like an American Idol contestant. To ensure participation, sign up your more outgoing employees beforehand to sing a little ditty. This will surely lighten the mood and give everybody something to laugh at – a great idea for a Friday afternoon. – Betsy Cummings From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Wednesday
November 11, 2009 Tip of the Day - Throw An Office Karaoke PartyFiled under: Tip of the Day Sometimes a little office fun will bring some levity and motivation that can’t easily be found these days. Think that throwing a company karaoke competition is a better reward for staff this year than the company picnic? You may be right – and save a lot of money doing so. At $5 per person per hour or $20 per hour for a private room, karaoke is a reasonable alternative for company get-togethers. Can’t get away to a lounge? Karaoke machines can be rented for as little as $75 for an in-office sing-off. Just make sure that staffers are comfortable with the idea before forcing them to belt it out like an American Idol contestant. To ensure participation, sign up your more outgoing employees beforehand to sing a little ditty. This will surely lighten the mood and give everybody something to laugh at – a great idea for a Friday afternoon. – Betsy Cummings From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Tuesday
November 10, 2009 Tip of the Day: Entertain A Client You HateFiled under: Tip of the Day It’s a fact of business in 2009: Sometimes you find yourself footing the lunch bill for a client you simply can’t stand. Yes, all revenue is important these days. In the case of entertaining a nightmare client, Jody Ferrer, president of The Perfect Promotion LLC (asi/293518), tries to let them steer the conversation as much as possible. “I let them talk and try to find common ground,” she says. Ferrer’s not afraid to cut an annoying client loose, but she knows that sometimes the money bad clients generate is too much to turn down. In those cases, she lets the client do the talking and quietly reminds herself of the payoff for tolerating an unpleasant personality. Plus, “When they start talking about themselves they become more pleasant and more likeable,” she says. Other experts recommend actually seeking out more contact with the person. The reasoning: People tend to like people better the more they see them. Also, giving a client a brief, subliminal touch, such as a quick tap on the shoulder, increases that person’s sense of well-being and may spark more positive behavior. Finally, reflect on reasons to feel grateful that this person is your client. (He’s got a lot of buying power? She is willing to pay top dollar?) Keeping these happy thoughts in mind will keep you upbeat during your time together. From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Monday
November 9, 2009 Tip of the Day - Host A Web-Based MeetingFiled under: Tip of the Day As many companies are trying to save on travel expenses – and yet, remain in contact with clients – the use of Web-based meeting services is increasing. Here, management and marketing consultant Deirdre Johnson, president of DJ Times Two, offers three tips for holding a client meeting on the Internet: 1. Research services. There are many online meeting providers – WebEx, GoToMeeting, InterCall and Genesys are some of the most popular ones – so the key is do some initial research. “They’re all similar in the interface, but have some different cost structures,” Johnson says. “The more meetings you hold, the less you’ll end up paying for each one. But you should aim to spend about $100 per meeting online.” 2. Send an agenda in advance. “As with in-person meetings, you don’t want to waste your client’s time,” Johnson says. “Be clear in advance what the goals of the meeting are and what kind of information you’ll be presenting. 3. Do a dry run. You want to make sure that you’re comfortable with the technology, so do a practice run-through of your content and test all of the elements on the meeting interface that you’re planning to use. “These sites have a lot of bells and whistles, so you need some time be get comfortable with them before your meeting,” Johnson says. “You don’t want to be testing things out when a client is watching.” Send log-in instructions multiple times. Don’t take it for granted that your client knows how to get into an online meeting. “Don’t be shy about sending the instructions at least three times before a meeting,” Johnson says. “And make sure to copy any executive assistants that you can. They’ll make sure to get the person logged in correctly.” – Kenneth Hein From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Friday
November 6, 2009 Tip of the Day: Get A Deadbeat Client To PayFiled under: Tip of the Day Six tips on receiving payment from a client that hasn’t paid up for weeks or months, from Scott Gingold, CEO of consulting firm Powerfeedback (www.powerfeedback.com), and Denise O’Berry, small-business consultant and author of Success Strategies Guide: 1. Pay them a visit. “Stop the e-mail and phone calls and show up at the door. That will get people’s attention real fast,” Gingold says. 2. Go to the top. “Talk to the supervisor or whoever’s in charge of that company,” Gingold says. “Say, ‘I’m not getting paid. What can we do to fix this?’ ” 3. Take what you can get. “If the customer indicates they can’t pay the bill in full, get a commitment for what they can pay now and when they will pay the balance,” O’Berry says. “Getting at least a partial payment is better than having to write off the entire debt. If you accept credit cards, it would be a good idea to offer to put the payment on the customer’s card during the discussion.” To avoid future delayed payments: 4. Get it all up front. “The best scenario is to require full payment at time of purchase,” O’Berry says. 5. Obtain credit applications. “If you extend credit, make sure you have a signed credit application on file for every single customer, and make sure you check their credit before extending it,” O’Berry says. 6. Inquire about client payment policies. “Sneakily get their payment terms. In other words, what do they expect from their customers?” Gingold says. “If they want to pay in 45 days but expect payment on their orders in five days, I say, ‘Excuse me, but isn’t what’s good for the goose good for the gander?’” – Shane Dale From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Thursday
November 5, 2009 What’s Wrong With This Email?Filed under: General, Uncategorized THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. WE WILL POST WINNER SHORTLY! Advantages’ magazine did a great story this month about how to energize your business emails and make them more efficient while pointing out the do’s and don’ts of workplace correspondence. Of course, being someone who has been using email for business for well over 10 years I have seen my share of poorly written and cringeworthy emails (perhaps, even guilty of a few!). In the article was a great example of an email that, though seemingly innocuous and good-intentioned, contained a ton of problems. Below is the example without the corrections …
Think you can point out all the problems with this email? Prove it! Send us an email to feedback@asicentral.com with all the errors and, if you get the most right, we’ll post your name in an upcoming Counselor PromoGram and Advantages Hot Deals newsletter! Good luck! – sexybeast@asicentral.com
Thursday
November 5, 2009 Tip of the Day: Save On Mailing CostsFiled under: Tip of the Day While mailing and shipping fees are an obvious cost of doing business for ad specialty companies, they can still be “a real thorn in the side,” says Sharie Stewart, owner of Abacus Enterprises (asi/101830). She is careful to research rates at the post office vs. UPS vs. FedEx. “We don’t do enough shipping to get any special deals other than what we get through ASI’s UPS program,” she says. While some distributors will save on costs by hand-delivering items or having clients pick them up, gas prices can get in the way, says Deanna Duncan, president of Olympic Embroidery (asi/287459). To cut costs and help the environment, she reuses boxes that manufacturers send her. “We don’t order boxes.” Rodger Roeser, owner of Eisen Marketing Group, says all it takes is one Web site: www.stamps.com. “One of the best little investments I made in my business,” he says. “It saves me a ton of time, we can do everything through the computer including labels and postage and it protects the company.” – Kenneth Hein From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry
Wednesday
November 4, 2009 Tip of the Day: Cut 10% From Expenses Without NoticingFiled under: Tip of the Day From installing energy-efficient light bulbs to renegotiating insurance policies, there are an endless number of steps distributors can take to cut costs on a daily basis. David Gray, owner of David Gray Enterprises (asi/213025), makes vendor relations a cost-saving area. “A lot of vendors, if you pay them within 10 or 15 days, will give you a 4% or 5% discount,” Gray says. “I have to pay the bill, so why not pay it early and get a discount?” Gray negotiates similar deals with artists and other vendors he works with, offering to pay them up front or early in exchange for a reduction in fees. Particularly in this economy, he says, companies are more than willing to negotiate discounts for early payment. A little extra negotiation on the front end with vendors can yield an overall 10% savings from all of your operation’s costs. Now is the time to build that kind of negotiation into your procurement process. – Betsy Cummings From the 2009 Counselor State of the Industry |
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