Doing Less - How to Unlock Amazing Customer Service

Can doing less satisfy customers more?

There have been many studies about how small rewards create less pressure and instill more creativity and receptiveness. The Candle Problem is the one I refer to the most. But for today, as I so often do, I'll resort to parable to answer this question.

 Parable 1: On my other blog, which deals with an extremely narrow niche of a niche, I created the "Hero program," in which people who buy an item off my Wish List for me to review get the least of all possible rewards - a jpeg image of a badge. This program took off so quickly that there are times I'm often pressed to keep items on my list...and I had to create a premium tier for people who wouldn't stop giving me things! The point here wasn't that I was giving them meaningful physical rewards, but that I was giving them recognition. I'll come back to that in a moment.

Parable 2: I recently called up an airline to request an upgrade for my upcoming trip. I am flying with my wife and while I have barely-elite status, she has none. The CSR said, "You'll be upgraded first, then she will, if there's room." I replied, very slowly and calmly, "But you're going to do *everything* in your power to make sure we both get upgraded, right?" And I kept on her until she actually said those words back to me.

Which brings me to my actual point.

Customer Service has two key components:

  What you do for people

and

  How you do it

What you give people is the actual reward. Whether it is a little gesture of thanks, or a new car, the reward itself is only as important as the feeling of "seriously, we appreciate you" that the customer gets from it.

Truly frequent fliers probably don't notice anymore when they get upgraded...they expect it, demand it, feel that they've earned it. It's their due, not a gesture of appreciation for their business. 

How you do a thing is 99% of the impact of excellent Customer Service. Is what you're giving a true expression of gratitude for the customer's business and support? Or is your loyalty program instead of a true expression of gratitude?

My Heroes know that I appreciate them...from the bottom of my heart. The badge is worthless, my sincere and heartfelt appreciation is priceless. And they know that. In Parable 2, had the CSR said those words - even if she was lying - to me the first time, I would have felt much more appreciated than when she responded with "Well,I don't know...there's not much I can do."

When I call a business that I've supported for years and say, hey, can I get a coupon or something, the wrong response is "Well, we don't have anything like that." The right response is to offer something, anything. "Of course, ma'am! If you come in today, we'll give you...." It absolutely doesn't matter how small the thing is, it's not the the thing I care about. It's the way the thing is presented. What I'm actually asking for is that you recognize and appreciate me and my business.
So, if an airline says, "We see that you've flown with us three times this month and we just wanted to say 'thanks,' so here's a free drink coupon for you." It's worth, what, $6? But it would make me feel good. Like someone noticed me. I feel that my contribution is recognized.

 Providing customers with a pleasant feeling of recognition for their business is the very least thing and the most effective thing you can and should do for good customer service.

Community Lifecycle: How to Prevent Evaporative Cooling from Eroding an Online Community

Evaporative Cooling, a termed coined by Eliezer Yudowsky, is the natural loss of user base on a community, tare if you will. Time, crises and change will contribute to Evaporative Cooling. It can't be prevented, but it can be slowed and managed. In response to a question on Quora, I detailed a few steps to identifying, managing and modulating Evaporative Cooling on an online community.

How to Prevent Evaporative Cooling from Eroding an Online Community

1. Acknowledge Community Lifecycle

2. Passion At The Top to Ignite Passion at the Bottom

3. Reward Users With Rewards, Not Rank

4. Architectural Flexibility = Good, Managerial Flexibility  = Better 

****

1. Acknowledge Community Lifecycle

There is no way to "prevent" Evaporative Cooling (EC) in an online community completely. 

Your active user base will ebb and flow over time. Incremental growth may or may never lead to an explosion of popularity, but tare will exist with every new generation that joins the community, because people's priorities change and technology changes over time. What is a passionate interest now could become a vague interest later. Technology will change and no matter how innovative a community architecture is right now, at some point it will be old-school or obsolete. Not updating the technology means you'll lose people - updating the technology means you'll lose people. Keeping the group small and intimate means you'll lose people. Opening the community up means you'll lose people.

The key to keeping a community alive has a lot to do with keeping the currently engaged users engaged. In part, this can be achieved by...


2. Passion At The Top to Ignite Passion at the Bottom

I'm speaking here as owner and moderator of 4 concurrent communities, all based around an interest - not a hobby even, merely an interest. Of course people come and go in this interest space and in the more than ten years I've been running these communities, the thing that sustains me - and the communities - is that we all still enjoy the topic. My passion for it communicates to some degree in everything I do on these communities. My communities give warm welcomes to other fans, who find their enthusiasm rewarded.

In communities I haven't run, but have had the pleasure of moderating for, when the passion at the top cools, the community congeals almost instantly. Community builders that choose moderators so they can play with the architecture, cede control to people who don't have their vision or their passion. Moderation becomes a "thing to be done" not a "thing that keeps our community thriving." (1) (See point 3 for more on this.)

To slow one's own EC, one must acknowledge the limits of one's own passion - and energy. Like any community leader, I go through phases of burnout, or if there is simply less to talk about, I let the conversation ebb. Ebb tide is not an irreversible trend on a community, a blog or even in a conversation. When I've been blogging with frequency and intensity, I often take a few days off to let the audience - and myself - have a break. When I come back to it, my readership jumps. The same is true with a community. Short breaks in news/updates allow for a more relaxed approach when one returns - time for chat, personal opinion and other less quantifiable discussions that make up a community. Or a pattern of small news/chit-chat can be excited by big news or broader topics. 

The more passion a leader brings to the community, the more passion the community will generate.


3. Reward Users With Reward, not Rank (2)

I cannot stress enough how critical this point is.

It's time for a story. Two, in fact. In both cases, I was a Admin-level member after rising through the ranks by just being a good contributor and relatively unflappable.

The story is very similar in both cases. In the first case, there was a member of the group who offered to take charge of one of the committees. She was a horrible leader; selfish, mean and lazy. Everything she touched withered and died. She was so bad, that even the people above her left because she was loud and intractable and it just wasn't worth the energy. When the person above her left, invariably she would be given that position. No one at the executive level would be the bad guy and tell her to get lost (in part because this was a volunteer community, in part because of who was chosen to lead.) She rose through the ranks, more quickly as time went on, because the higher she got, the more people had to work with her and more would leave.

Ultimately, in the first case, the person took over the community and - no surprise at all - within a year the community was dead.

In the second case, a top user was rewarded with rank, because she was online so often. The community owners relied on this person for feedback but there were no checks and balances to her intel or actions. Her misinformation was the only information the owners received and like idiots, they relied on that. The problem was that the reason she was online so often was that she was conducting a cyber-affair with another user (who was a major contributor of money, which translated to rank on the community.) The two of them formed a block that abused, harassed and destroyed other users they felt were a threat.

In the first case, rather than dealing with the problem, that person was given power. In the second, the community owners used hours logged as a metric for valuable contributor. In both cases, the community owners set the community up for massive EC as the community members were disengaged and occasionally, active persecuted, by people who unsuited to hold any power at all.

In both cases, I pointed out the fallacies behind the appointment, but The Powers That Be chose to pretend nothing was wrong. I did not stick around long.

How can this problem be rectified? Understand that the #1 value good contributors are making is not their presence, not the hours they log, not their experience. Good contributors contribute good content. Rewarding them by giving them management tasks which will suck away their energy and desire to contribute is the perfect recipe for EC. It's the Peter Principle, online community style.

When I created a reward program for one of my communities, I focused on rewards that reinforced the "team" aspect of user support. Rather than adding on burdensome responsibility, they are rewarded for what they already do, the way they already do it. Time is not an issue. Amount of money spent is not really a major factor. Power is taken out of the equation entirely. The point of a reward is to make someone feel rewarded. (3)

By using Rank as a Reward, you disincentivize your top users to use. Their time on the site becomes unpaid work, their voice becomes the Voice of Authority, so it's harder for them to kick back and have fun. Many sites give rank without power or tools to maintaiin order- a veritable death spiral for online community moderation. Additionally, training for Moderators is poor or non-existent on many communities. The end result is that your best users are too frustrated and tired to contribute. 

There is no faster was to kill a community than by using Rank as a Reward for contribution. It is the major EC generator.



4. Architectural Flexibility = Good, Managerial Flexibility  = Better

In the article quoted, the focus is more on the technology than the people. It is absolutely a benefit to be able to adapt to the times. Adding social sharing and alternate means of communication, providing spaces for digression and dissension (warrens) and open fora for conversation are a fantastic way to slow down EC.

Even better is management that acknowledges mission/scope drift and is as transparent as possible (4) when changes are made or have to happen. "We're adding a new feature because we want to try it out" is something that community builders can (and should) say. Users may or may not try the new feature out - this, and what they have to say about it when they do use it, is valuable feedback. When a new control has to be rolled out, the best way to explain that is to say just that. "We had to do this because...." Engaged users will understand. Don't be coy, "Hey we made new changes that will take away something you liked because we did." Are there so many cases of something that a new rule was warranted? Say that and say it plainly.

Users believe they ought to have some say in a community by virtue of their time and engagement. Management has to make decisions based on the greater good and the bottom line. But surely there's a way to bring these two things together? Harness the insight of new users, casual users and heavy users in regards to community change  - and publish these findings so people can feel as if they were represented, heard and understood. In the volatile start-up world more=better, so it's understandable that changes will be rapid and constant. Can you think of any community anywhere, online or off, that likes change? People get used to what they get used to and they adapt very quickly, but they do not realize this. Every change, no matter how ultimately important, will increase EC...unless you include the community in that change.

It's easy for engineers to tinker with architecture, it's far more important for community managers to tinker with community engagement.


5. Conclusion.

While Evaporative Cooling is a fact of online community life and cannot be prevented or avoided, it can be slowed and managed. Understanding which aspects of community life are the most vulnerable to EC, establishing a rhythm to harness the ebb and flow of community life, maintaining engagement, rewarding contribution, providing tools for moderation and flexibility in management can decrease EC over the long-term. 

More reading:

1. Perils and Pitfalls of Online Community Management by Erica Friedman on 'Splaining: The Bloarg

2.Moderation: Policing, Curation and Shoveling Behind Elephants by Erica Friedman on 'Splaining: The Bloarg

3. When a Reward Program Feels Like a Slap

4The Myth of Transparency in a Community by Erica Friedman on 'Splaining: The Bloarg

Erica Friedman has been managing online communities since the olden days of BBS. She was a moderator on Usenet, and has owned, adminned or moderated about 2 dozen communities online. She currently own and runs 4 communities.

Yes, Less Can Be More in Customer Service

There have been many studies about how small rewards create less pressure and instill more creativity and receptiveness. The Candle Problem is the one I refer to the most: 

As I so often do, I'll resort to parable.

Parable 1: On my older blog, which deals with an extremely narrow niche of a niche, I created the "Hero program," in which people who buy an item off my Wish List for me to review get the least of all possible rewards - a jpeg image of a badge. This program took off so quickly that there are times I'm pressed to keep items on my list...and I had to create a premium tier for people who wouldn't stop giving me things!

The point here wasn't that I was giving them meaningful physical rewards, but that I was giving them recognition. I'll come back to that in a moment.

Parable 2: I recently called up an airline to request an upgrade for my upcoming trip. I am flying with my wife and while I have barely-elite status, she has none. The CSR said, "You'll be upgraded first, then she will, if there's room." I replied, very slowly and calmly, "But you're going to do *everything* in your power to make sure we both get upgraded, right?" And I kept on her until she actually said those words back to me.

Which brings me to my actual point. Customer Service has two key components:

• What you do for people

and 

• How you do it

What you give people is the actual reward. Whether it is a little gesture of thanks, or a new car, the reward itself is only as important as the feeling of "seriously, we appreciate you" that the customer gets from it.

Truly frequent fliers probably don't notice anymore when they get upgraded...they expect it, demand it, feel that they've earned it. It's their due, not a gesture of appreciation for their business.

How you do a thing is 99% of the impact of excellent Customer Service. Is what you're giving a true expression of gratitude for the customer's business and support? Or is your loyalty program instead of a true expression of gratitude? 

My Heroes know that I appreciate them...from the bottom of my heart. The badge is worthless, my sincere and heartfelt appreciation is priceless. And they know that.

In Parable 2, had the CSR said those words - even if she was lying - to me the first time, I would have felt much more appreciated than when she responded with "well,I don't know...there's not much I can do." 

When I call a business that I've supported for years and say, hey, can I get a coupon or something, the wrong response is "well, we don't have anything like that." The right response is to offer something, anything. "Of course, ma'am! If you come in today, we'll give you...." It absolutely doesn't matter how small the thing is, it's not the the thing I care about. It's the way the thing is presented. What I'm actually asking for is that you recognize and appreciate me and my business.

So, if an airline says, "We see that you've flown with us three times this month and we just wanted to say 'thanks,'  so here's a free drink coupon for you." It's worth, what, $6? But it would make me feel good. Like someone noticed me. I feel that my contribution is recognized.

Providing customers with a pleasant feeling of recognition for their business is the very least thing and the most effective thing you can and should do for good customer service.

When Your Fans Love Your Work - and Treat It Like Their Own

In an increasingly digital world, there are two kind of content creators: The Open and The Closed.

Closed content creators are focused on the rules of content use that they grew up with in the 20th century. Content is the sole possession of its creator and/or the company that licensed that content. While Fair Use is often acknowledged by both content creators and users, some companies are less likely to actually allow free and fair use of images and words - even when that use actually affects their bottom line positively.

In a world where tools to create video, audio, illustrative and text-based mashups and parodies are common, and information available on the Internet is seen as open-source, even when it is copyrighted, it becomes critical for any company to know when to establish Fair Use policies for consumers of that company's content.

Most companies react to their consumer's use of their content with the legal equivalent of swatting at a swarm of mosquitoes. These shotgun tactics might, in fact, slow down use of your content, but just as swatting at mosquitoes is unlikely to eradicate biting, this kind of legal action does little in the long run to stop consumer reworking of your content.

More importantly, in many cases, there are perfectly good reasons why you should encourage your consumers to take your content and run with it.


Today we're going to look at situations when you should allow your consumers to use and reuse your content.

When to Become an Open Content Creator:


When you have nothing to lose

You and your company are just getting started, you have a modest audience and a modest market. At this point, the absolute most important thing for you is to get the word out. In this case, it's probably the best of all worlds if you provide your consumers with materials to mashup, remake and parody. Create contests where you set the usage rules. Provide images and ideas, even tools to help your fans create and expand your audience.


When you have a huge audience

Let's be honest here. Is a fan-written story about Harry Potter really a threat to the franchise? No, and despite what Warner Brothers says, it never can be. The reality is that every story, every piece of art, every parody video keesp that fandom alive one more day. And it may even draw a new fan in, long after the series itself has ended.

When your name has saturated the potential audience, let go of your creation. There is nothing anyone can do to hurt you.


When you are growing rapidly beyond your ability to manage

Your new idea has gone viral. Peoples' interest in it is off the charts. You cannot and should not attempt to control the property. Let it fly, let it live! Allow your advocates to work for you through contests and rewards. Give them a chance to be part of your team while your real team upgrades the site infrastructure.


When your potential audience is small

There's niches, and there's micro-niches. A niche is marketing to Lithuanians, priests, or left-handed people. A micro-niche is marketing to left-handed Lithuanian priests. There are only going to be so many people who fit your niche, no matter how much promotion you do.

Because you cannot knock on doors to find every single person who might potentially be out there who would be the perfect market for your product or service, it makes a lot of sense to let your audience help you. When they can remix and rework your content so that it attracts new consumers, it's a win-win for everyone.

Giving your fans a chance to own your work makes them more likely to want to own your work.

Reward Tactics for One-, Two- or Three- Dimensional Media Consumers

Many years ago, I was speaking with a work colleague about a popular movie that had a twist at the end. She promised not to spoil it for me, but I assured her, although I had not seen the movie itself, I knew the twist. She was completely confused as to how this could be. The difference between us was in "dimensions."

One-Dimensional Consumers take in information pushed out by mostly mainstream media in a one-way direction. TV news, newspapers, radio all provide information to people who are influenced by the ideas with which they are presented, often far beyond their ability to recognize. They communicate with friends and family, but don't share ideas beyond immediate benefits. These consumers like coupon sites, discounts for following you on a social media platform and are unlikely to become advocates across a wide field.

Recommended Tactic: To reach one-dimensional consumers, provide Immediate Value. Give 15% off for presenting this coupon or coupon code at time of order. Requests to share reviews, or news will be met with blank stares, as their relationship with you is one a single line  - you to them. Keep them informed about deals and sales, but don't expect them to do more than tell  a friend - in person- about your rewards.

Two-Dimensional Consumers consume media from a small circle of contacts and share with a largely overlapping group. Within the group, they may share, but information from outside the group is weighted as far less important, or even completely ignored.

Recommended Tactic: For this group, Tell A Friend can make an impact. These people eat together, go out together. Allowing them to share a discount or special will bond the group tighter and bring in 4, 6 or 8 people instead of 2 to your business.

Three-Dimensional Consumers see themselves as a nexus of information. They consume from many sources and, are as likely to share that information out to their circles as they are to act on it for themselves.

Recommended Tactic: These people need Portable Rewards. Don't limit them to proprietary access or require them to access from one platform. Reward engagement and advocacy more than just passive support. These folks are your frequent mentions, shared links and major influencers. Don't ignore them when they speak to you, which they will. Be responsive and they will reward you with positive feedback that spans their extensive network.

Create reward strategies that are appropriate to the level of  consumer engagement, and you'll find your Social Media tactics paying higher return on investment.

The Currencies of Social Media; Social Media as Currency

 It's been said many times that the two currencies of business are Time and Money. In order to succeed at business, at least one of these two will have to be spent. This is true for successful use of Social Media for your business, as well. In reality, Your time is worth more than money. Money can be replaced, time spent can never be regained.

But, Social Media is changing as rapidly as the needs of the audience. There are more currencies than just Time or Money being used. Not all of these currencies have real-world applicability, but many do. Let's take a look at the currencies of the Social Media landscape right now.

Expertise - Sites such as Quora and LinkedIn and any of the spaces on which you communicate with your customers are built on the currency of Expertise. People have questions - you have answers. Good answers are rewarded with cognitive authority and future trust. Indications of this on LinkedIn are "Best Answers," on Quora your status rises physically. In your own spaces, you build a reputation for being someone to do business with. You gain the trust of your customers and, with the proper tools, they will share their feelings with their peers.

Expertise is a strong currency in Social Media, with rising real-world value. 

Entertainment/Interest - Social Media platforms like Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal  use the currency of Entertainment or Interest. What are you doing? Is it interesting? Can you provide links, photos or statuses that entertain your "friends?" The nature of entertainment on these sites is going to be set by the tone of the account - a political awareness account or charity will have a different tone, but the currency remains entertainment and intertest. Your friends and followers want you to keep them informed and aware. They want to know that you are paying attention to them.

Entertainment/Interest is an unstable currency, expect a lot of ups and downs as fads change needs. 

Information/Communication - Platforms such as Twitter and your own Blog or website are based on the Twin currencies of Information and Communication.  These two currencies are inextricably linked. Your really can't buy into one without the other. Once you begin Communicating with people, Information is shared between you. The value of that Information is for you to decide - conversation with a best friend about nothing over dinner may in fact have more value to you than an important meeting at work. Likewise any discussion about your business may be of high value to you, but less to the other person. Or, you may discuss an "irrelevant" topic that brings you and the other person more closely together. These currencies are critical, but personal.

Information/Communication are slow-growth currencies that gain in value steadily over time.

Physical Presence -  Like Time, your actual physical presence is limited by the laws of physics. You only have one you. You can only be in one place at a time. Foursquare, Gowalla, GetGlue and review sites bank on the fact that YOU are the most valuable thing to you. Your physical presence, your efforts, your time are combined into one currency which they use to measure your worth to a business.

Physical Presence is a currency that is undervalued by traders. Is your time/self really worth a badge or a sticker?

Social Media Use - The newest currency in Social Media is...Social Media itself. Sites like Klout measure your worth relative to other Social Media users. With the current interest in gamification of Social Media, it's no surprise that a Social Media platform that transforms Social media use into virtual currency now exists. The problem with these is that for many people, there is a tendency to forget the use of Social Media for purposes of sharing information, communicating with people and being entertained, for the sake of amassing virtual status. Like the many individuals and businesses who spent a lot of time doing the same on Second Life, they may find that the use of Social Media itself as currency leaves them with very little value in the real world.

Social Media Use is a very weak currency.

For small- and medium-sized business owners, trading on their own reputation - when it provides real-life value - is a good use of precious resources.  Avoid sacrificing real value for virtual currency and you'll keep your Social Media on track for growth.

Pounding In Nails That Stick Out: Gamification and the Intersection of Social Media and Business

Good group dynamics is a miraculous and amazing thing. In the best of times, it appears that the entire group has had one idea simultaneously and each person can bring their skills to bear to make the project happen. It's as if one has somehow stepped into a Mickey Rooney movie and every kid is pitching in to put on the show.

Group dynamics online can work that way. A dedicated group of people can bring their skills to create just about anything, from an online community to a new paradigm of charity donations. But, often when you enter that community - especially if you are a latecomer - you find that group dynamics work according to unwritten rules, and often seem to adhere to the old Japanese adage of a harmonious society - pound in the nail that sticks out.

Think for a moment about the kinds of communities that build up on MMORPGS (Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games) like World of Warcraft. Individual achievement is recognized and rewarded, but groups can and do turn on their own members if one player exceeds the rest significantly. "We're all in this together, so don't get ahead of yourself" is the unwritten rule in group play. In real life, there are plenty of people who can't feel happy for those who succeed where they don't - the online world is no different. Of course it isn't - people don't change, only the technology does. So, where a nail sticks out in an online community, you have to expect that there will be people who want to pound it back in.

Which brings me to Quora.

I want to say upfront - I love Quora.

Quora is a Question and Answer forum that has a user base with high computer and business literacy, which sets it apart from more mainstream Q&A platforms like Yahoo Answers or LinkedIn Answers. Also unlike these two platforms, Quora maintains a relatively high standard for both questions and answers. Q&As are expected to be well-written, intelligent and conversation-forwarding.

Quora also has integrated several features that allow other users to upgrade, support and downgrade your status on the system.

Other users can (and do) suggest edits for your answers - and they can manipulate your standing within the platform by up- or down-voting your answers. Users can tag your questions to help promote them - or to indicate that you are asking the question based on an assumption that others might not have. For instance, if I ask you, "Which is the Best Chocolate EVER, Godiva or Lindt?" I am assuming that either one or the other is the best chocolate ever. A better question is, "What chocolate do you consider the best chocolate EVER?" (In case you care, the best chocolate ever, IMHO, is from a company called Li-Lac in NYC.)

In effect, Quora has turned the kind of information-sharing reference librarians have engaged in for ages into a game. You receive status for well-answered and well-asked questions. These virtual pats on the head manipulate your status on the platform in real time. A person with many up-votes automatically jumps to the top of a list of answers, based on past expertise and reputation.

For the best article I've read on participation on Quora, read this post, Welcome to Quora, Do Yourself a Favor & Slow Down by Lucretia Pruitt.

What I wanted to talk about today is what happens when you start to receive status on a community like Quora.

Quora is a republic. The leaders are Citizens #1, as indicated by laurels awarded by their fellow citizens in the form of up-votes. And, as happens in such groups, some citizens forget that the point of the Republic is to maintain a high quality of life for everyone...they become focused on pulling those top Citizens down from their pedestal. This is also part of human nature.

As soon as a person starts gaining status on Quora, they might find that they encounter more, rather than less, down-voting. Truly influential people are targeted by cliques of users determined to undermine their status. The higher one rises...the more effort there is to pound them back down as a reward for sticking out.

Google is about to launch +1 as a new feature. Consumers will be able to affect companies' status in search returns with this tool. In effect, this adds a more public leveling up or down to the sharing function of Facebook's ubiquitous "like" button. People can "share" your business with the world - they can also up-vote you. It doesn't take a genius to see that action committees/cliques/private armies will be formed to manipulate this.

Facebook, Google and Quora are hardly the only companies to "gamify" the intersection of Social Media and business. Foursquare and Crunchyroll offer achievement badges for participation, Get Glue offers stickers and t-shirts, even my other blog offers badges of honor. Gamification is here to stay. Gamification turns your business into a citizen in a republic.

Gamification of business and information means that gaming etiquette reigns.

Individual achievement is rewarded....but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep one eye looking behind you at all times.

Nails that stick out too far are liable to be pounded back in.

How Easy Do You Make It?

Today we're going to look at three key components of customer contact and ask ourselves: How Easy Do We Make This?

Sharing

You have News - a new product or service, a new hire, a positive benchmark or certification.

How Easy Do You Make It to share?

Can readers share your blog post? Can they check in on Foursquare or Gowalla? Can they review you at Yelp or Hotpot? If you're reviewed in a local paper or interviewed by a Trade magazine can people Digg it, or mark it up on Reddit? Is your headline Tweetable?

The more ways you provide to share your news, the more ways the news can get out. There is no "overkill" when it comes to making sharing easy. Services like Share This make the process so painless that there really isn't any excuse for you to not offer as many ways to get the word out as possible.

Realistically, you can only focus on a few spaces yourself. There's no way to give the same time and energy to every Social Media space on the Internet. You need to budget your time between the spaces that are most critical to your market and most productive for your business. Give your advocates as many  methods to get the word out as you can and you can be nearly everywhere at once.

Reward Programs

You couldn't do it without your customers. You want to tell them that you really appreciate their commitment to  your business.  

How Easy Do You Make It for them to collect their rewards?

Way back in the day, I was awarded a gift card for an outstanding job at a company I worked for. The gift card had a very limited set of stores that it could be used for and many of them were irrelevant to my interests or needs. When I found a store that I could use the card in, I registered on the website as I was instructed to. I picked out an item and got that approved by calling the 800 number, was transfered and hung up on several times. When I got to the store, I had to call the 800 number on the card and get approval for the store location - because that approval only lasted an hour or so, so it had to be done at time of purchase. That completed, I went in to the store, picked out my item and proceeded to checkout...where the card was denied. After being placed on hold three times and hung upon once, I was told that I had to get approval for the *register* I was being checked out by. I did get my item, but wow, what a ridiculous set of hurdles to go through to get a reward! It felt more like a punishment by the time it was all over.

In stark contrast, I recently signed up for a Klout perk. Signed up, filled out the form, the item arrived as described, with no hurdles or conditions. I got what they said I'd get. (As per Perk policy, I would like to disclaim that I was given a free product or sample because I'm a Klout influencer. I was under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company or about Klout. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company.) Now *this* felt like a Reward. Kudos to Klout for getting it right.



Customer Service

Your Customer Needs Help .How Easy Do You Make It for that person to get their problem resolved?

Anyone who follows my Twitter feed knows that I am a vocal advocate for better consumer communications by companies. I share my experiences, both positive and negative, with customer service calls. Yesterday I had the perfect customer service call with Fantagraphics.  I called the company up, explained the problem, they apologized, offered to send me a replacement and, if I sent the first item back, they'd credit me the postage. Our conversation was not scripted, they did not parrot required lines. I spoke to a person, who fixed the problem.  No hold time, no transfers, no repeated information, just good, solid customer service. It was almost a physical relief to not have to jump through hoops.

It's true that, as a company gets larger, problems need to be handled by more specialized help. Most consumers realize that. But labyrinthine phone menus, customer service levels that can make no decisions or are simply filters for other levels, are a sign that something is terribly out of control. In the Social Media world excellent customer service experiences are worth their weight in gold. An influencer in that field can make or break a company's reputation with a single tweet.

Having a XYZCo_Cares account isn't good customer relations. 

Good customer comunications means making it easy for your customers to like you and making it easy to tell other people why.

How to Beat the Click-and-Ignore of Facebook

For most businesses on Facebook, there is an unnamed, but obvious barrier to true engagement. The ease of Facebook makes it a challenge to actually get past the single click-and-ignore interaction most people have with the pages they "like."

What is "click-and-ignore?"

Click-and-ignore is when a user gives you the absolute least they can do - a single click on a  button - and you give them the absolute least you can do - a coupon or freebie or even just overexcited promotional copy. There's no incentive to do more, as most of the "like"rs have already hidden your feed before you even send the first status update. As Nicholas Carr says in  The Like Bribe, this very simplicity of the action potentially erodes actual likability. Users will "Like" something for reasons other than wanting to keep in touch with a business. Showing support is a common reason I hear for clicking "Like" - a behavior that is almost always paired with immediately hiding that Page's feed. Bribes in the form of freebies and discounts are another.

I've talked about the ease of Facebook and why it discourages actual engagement on the part of user or business. The facade of being popular hides the lack of meaningful interaction.

True stories: A company I do work for from time to time has a Facebook page on which they breathlessly post exciting news! all the time. If you read their feed, they have a gazillion things going on. But when it comes to engaging with the fans of that feed - nothing. Not a single question gets answered. It's a classic case of talking at the fans - not with them.

Another company I follow opened up a Facebook page and started to ask the fans what they wanted to see on the feed. I commented "Responses to us when we respond to you," to which they replied, "Like this?" Not quite satisfied, I posted, "Yes, but with actual content." Overall, they still focus on themselves, but when straightfoward questions are asked, they will answer.

It's not at all complicated to break past the "click-and-ignore" barrier.

1) Forget "likes" altogether. It's a meaningless number that measures just about nothing.

Look at the number of comments, questions and responses you get on a given update, not the "likes." Even things like "great news!" or "alright!" provide you a clearer picture of the people who *want* to engage with you.


2) Respond to the people who respond to you.

When you ask, "so, which one of our products do you like best," some of your fans will reply. If you do not thank them, talk to them about their experience - what is good and bad about that thing - you're being a jerk. Just imagine someone walking up to you, asking you if you think that sweater looks good on them and when you reply, they turn around without a word and walk away from you. What would your reaction be? If you want actual engagement beyond just a "like," you need to reply to those answers given in good faith. Those people responded to you, how hard is it to respond back?


3)  Reach deeper, give more than a bribe

Giving to charity is always a good feeling. But which feels better - mailing off a check, or spending the day actually giving your time and effort to a cause that's important to you?

Sure, it costs you almost nothing to tell folks of the great sale you're having. They know that. It's not like that's actually giving them anything - we all know that sales are to get rid of things you don't want in inventory anyway.

It costs a little more to give up a discount code, but that's all opportunity cost - the more they spend, sure they save more, but they've also spent more - and we all know how that works too.

Special deals for members of this group are a little better - we know that the non-effort of clicking that "Like" button is being equally rewarded with the non-effort of a special discount code.

There's more to a relationship than quid pro quo. Good customers should be rewarded well - your best customers should be rewarded with something that makes them feel truly special. Find the first person to Like you or person who "likes" everything and comments all the time, enters every contest.That person is your advocate. Let them know that you notice their effort. Next time you're going to be near their area, tell them to drop by and just, y'know, treat them nice. That person is part of your team, not for money, but for love. Shower them with love and attention. Go beyond the bribe, and actually be their friend.


Invest a little time and emotion and you can push past the "click-and-ignore" barrier to build strong, productive relationships on Facebook.

How Social Media Sent Me To Japan

I often see requests for case studies on how businesses use Social Media effectively. I offer up a recent experience I personally had as an example. I want to be as honest as I can about this - there is a trick in this story. I'll tell you the trick at the bottom of the article.

I write another blog, Okazu. It's a blog attached to my avocation, the promotion, creation and publication of Japanese comics. To be very specific, I promote, create, publish and review Japanese comics and animation with lesbian themes. I state this only so you can understand how small the niche I'm positioned in is. My blog is the oldest in the world on the topic and I bring a fairly unique perspective to the issue.

There is a series of novels from Japan that are pretty popular there and mostly all but unheard of here in the West. Recently, a live-action movie was made of the first of these novels. Of course I wanted to go see it, but didn't expect to be able to.

I was on Twitter, discussing it with a friend from Japan. He originally emailed me because of my blog. We've stayed in touch by Twitter and email.

My friend let me know that he had purchased one of the commemorative tickets to the movie for me, so I could get the extras that came with them. Of course I thanked him and immediately started to look up prices for flights. My friend was in a particularly silly mood that night - everything I posted on Twitter, he relayed again, in Japanese. I commented that I would come for the movie, but that flights were more expensive than I was comfortable with. Actually, what I said involved the phrase "highway robbery." He cheerfully translated that I felt the airfares were too high. And then he started to tease me - if only one of your fans would fly you to Japan to see the movie! I posted back that I would certainly go, if someone flew me over...

...and a fan of mine tweeted that she would sponsor me.

Which is how, not two months later, I was able to stand on line in Osaka, Japan and see that movie.

I am not joking about any of this, or making any part of it up. But I did say there was a trick.

The trick is...the story starts almost nine years ago.

Nine years ago I started Okazu. I have been posting reviews, news, opinion pieces, discussions guest columns there for nine years. For nine years, I've been building a readership, a following, a fan base and, for good or bad, a reputation.

The trick here is that Social Media is about building relationships and developing them over time. I met both my Japanese friend and my benefactor a few years ago and we have communicated through email, Facebook, Twitter, sometimes phone, ever since.

This is not an overnight success story - it's not a story about ROI. This is a story about how Social Media really works.

P.S. - The movie was excellent. (^_^)b

Best Practices for Promoting Your Blog

How do I get my Blog Noticed?

What's the best way to spread the word and get visitors to my blog?

Based on the number of times I see these questions, and their various iterations, these are the top concerns for people thinking about blogging. Related questions like "which WordPress theme should I use?" and "which hosting platform should I blog on?" still come down to the real meat of the matter - how do you get noticed?

Once you've decided to blog, regardless of what Wordpress theme you use, SEO strategy you choose, directories you list your blog in, here are three best practices which are the key to being noticed by people who count.

Cultivate contacts in your industry

Know the other bloggers who write about topics relevant to your audience. Comment on their blogs, follow them on Twitter, meet up with them at networking events. Take the time to build relationships with your industry news sources and blogs similar or tangential to yours. Relationships with others in your field will get your blog added to Blogrolls and link pages on profiles and sites that people with similar interests and concerns will visit. Feel free to link to them in your posts, engage in conversation with them, move that conversation across both your blogs (and on to other platforms on which you interact) and you'll find that you can expand each other's audience in a totally organic way.

Provide an open environment for discussion

It's very easy to state an opinion. Strong opinions will sometimes provoke strong reactions. But to get a true conversation going, you need to provide an environment that encourages and inspires diverse ideas. Asking a question of your readers, or inviting them to chime in with their ideas is a way to open the floor and get some noise going. The more people who feel free to comment, the more they will feel free to share your post and links to the comments among their contacts.

Reward your most engaged readers

Promotional campaigns aren't just for companies. Finding a way to "promote" your readers when they promote your blog can make a huge impact, in a simple way. On my other blog, I award Hero badges to people who sponsor a review, and Correspondent badges to people who provide tips for our weekly news report. Make your most engaged readers feel special and they'll want to support you even more.

These three tips all involve incremental additional work. Rather than spending time on LinkedIn asking how you can get your blog noticed, you can get out there and comment on a related blog, share some knowledge on Twitter, talk to someone at an event. In the same time it took to ask "how do I?" you'll see continued growth in your readership, more engagement in the comments and more passion from your advocates.

Now it's your turn: What do you consider a "Best Practice" in promoting your blog and expanding your audience? I'll collect up the answers for a follow-up post!

Pound the Boards, Shake the Bell, Lend a Hand

When you're running a small or mid-sized business, it sometimes seems as if all you do all day, every day is give the "elevator speech."

You're already pressed for time with your current clients and customers, but you still have to make time to get the word out there. And the things *you* want to do, the things that you care about most, get set aside more often than you'd like.

Social Media is your ticket to combining the things you care about AND promotion of your business. Every time you get out there, every question you field, every cause you embrace, every time YOU are visible, is an opportunity to promote what you do.

Be Part of an Online Project

One of the things about the Internet is that there is absolutely something for everyone. You may want to support a health cause, perhaps you have an interest in politics, or social service. Maybe you'd like to get involved more in sports or entertainment. Everything and anything you can think of will have a Facebook group or a Foursquare page...or they will *need* one and you can be that person.

It doesn't matter what the project is - a short video message, an uploaded art design, a sponsorship, a few hours a week as the Twitter person for that group - anything you do as part of a larger project can get your name in front of thousands of people who might not otherwise have heard of you and your business.

Being part of something larger than yourself gives you more than just a promotional opportunity, but the promotional opportunity is definitely there.

Be THE Resource in Your Field

You're the master of your own domain. You answer questions and post items of interest in your own spaces. And as you do, your sphere of influence grows slowly and steadily.

There are many places outside your own lists and pages and profiles in which you have something significant to offer. Whether it's general questions on Yahoo! Answers, or groups related to your field or even a site like LinkedIn, you have a chance to let your knowledge and experience shine.

Reach out with a helping hand and you'll be shaking the bell and getting attention at the same time.

The further afield you go, the more exposure you'll get so don't be afraid to start making some noise out there!

Respect Your Authority

This past week I had the pleasure and honor to be a keynote speaker at a Social Media event for small business owners.

When I step onto a stage for a lecture or a panel or a speech, my first thought is always the same - these people believe that I know something they don't. They are giving me Authority over them for this period of time. Let's see what I can do with it!

One of the first things I do with my Authority is point out that everyone in the room has given it to me. I want them to understand that without their consent, I'm just a stranger in the room, talking at them.

The second thing I typically do is abuse this Authority. :-) In the middle of corporate orientations, I make people stand up and stretch. At Social Media events I interrupt my own speech to have people introduce themselves to the people around them. I break everyone out of the pre-set belief that *I* am the most important person in the room. Ironically, because I'm willing to turn the spotlight back on the audience, they assign me even *more* Authority.

I can do all that because, for that period of time, I am the Authority in the room..

I've said it before, you know more about your business than anyone else. You know why you do the things you do, and how. You know where you have come from and how you got there and where you're going. Respect Your Own Authority.

Once you've come to grips with the fact that you are an Authority, get out there and tell other people, too.

Join a professional association, go to an event, join a group on LinkedIn or some other network - share your knowledge.

Sharing knowledge is not the same as giving your work or trade secrets away for free. Sharing experiences, mistakes, challenges and successes with your peers and especially young folks coming up in your industry puts you in the position of "Someone Who Knows." The more open you are - and the more open to accepting new ideas, so you don't become an old fuddy-duddy who only talks about the good old days - will increase your Authority.

You can take your Authority on the road. If you're inclined to do so, do a talk for your Chamber of Commerce or that professional association. The more you share, the more your Authority grows, and your CV will reflect that as you ad these events to your list of accomplishments.

Being the mayor of your local bagel place on Foursquare may be fun for a second, but being the Authority in your industry is priceless.

Respect Your Authority and other people will come to respect it, as well.

Creating a Sense of Achievement in Social Media

I write SocialOptimized for the small and mid-sized business owners out there - the folks who shoulder the majority of the burden in their business, the folks who wear sixteen hats. The point of this blog is to ease you through at least one learning curve - because I've been where you are and I understand how it quickly gets overwhelming, having to add one more spinning plate to your already full set of spinning plates.

Social Media doesn't have to be a burden. In fact, it can be one of the most rewarding things you do for yourself and for your business. It's all about how you build achievement into your Social Media Strategy.

Let's talk games for a second.

I'm going to presume that you have played at least one game in your life - cards, a board game, an online game, an RPG, something.

Think about how a game is structured. There are rounds, or levels or hands. Each hand is played until the cards are used, each level is played until your character dies or you complete the level. At then end of the round, you are still in the game (as opposed to "out"), given gold for completing that level or points for winning that hand. In short - you are rewarded for your effort. There is a feeling of achievement for having done what you did.

Rewards programs are meant to provide a sense of achievement. Unfortunately, they often drop the ball when claiming rewards become more work than it's worth - a benefit for the company, but completely opposite the point for the consumer.

A few businesses are now building "achievements" right into their business model. Foursquare, which is the current Next Big Thing, offers whimsical rankings to users, and video-streaming site Crunchyroll actually awards "achievement badges" for various forms of participation. These achievements are meant to reward users for doing what they might already do on the site, and to encourage them to come back for more. This creates a sense of Engagement and Rewards the market at the same time.

Now, here's the challenge - building Achievement into the fabric of your Social Media Strategy.

Not only should you be Engaging your Audience and Rewarding your Market, but in an ideal Social Media Strategy, you've built in Achievement for yourself.

Anything that's fun and rewarding is something you want to do. Metrics can be "points," campaigns can be levels. Whatever the measure you choose, whatever the KPI you decide upon, build in levels of achievement, and reward yourself as well as your market, and you'll find yourself enjoying the whole process of connecting with people through Social Media.