Motivated To Learn

Although I usually rely on the web stats from my hosting service, I know a lot of people use Google Analytics to keep track of the traffic coming to their site. I found this video showing the various features and how useful the information can be. Hope you find it useful.

[tag]google analytics[/tags]

When a person walks through your door or uses your service, do you become memorable to them? Do they tell their friends about your business and sing your praises? Or are their comments negative? In these days of social media, experiences are shared with hundreds of people and you risk losing more than just that one customer. How can you make your customer service amazing?

I’m one of those people that will allow poor customer service without voicing my displeasure at the time. But I will never use that service or go to that establishment again. And I will tell everyone I know to stay away. At the same time, when I encounter excellent customer service, I come back again and again, bringing others with me. Competing on the basis of price alone could never produce that kind of loyalty.

My oldest son, Daniel, is the manager of the Food Basics in Waterloo. A fairly new store, many people either don’t know it exists or aren’t sure what to expect from a Basics grocery store. My son has learned that excellent customer service is what will keep people coming back week after week. He keeps the store spotlessly clean and attractive and his employees enjoy working there.  Daniel makes sure that all of his staff do their best to make their customers feel special. Little things like notifying them when a shipment comes in, to the big things like making sure that when a person arrives with a complaint, they leave the store happy. As a result, people are telling other people and new customers are even coming from outside of Waterloo.

That’s the kind of customer service we want. Satisfied people telling others on Twitter, Facebook, or at their jobs about what a great business we have and how highly they recommend it. That kind of feedback does more than thousands of dollars spent on advertising.

Technorati Tags: customer service, feedback, advertising

I’ve been going through old files lately, trying to decide what I no longer need to keep. One of the items I came across was a print newsletter I wrote fifteen years ago. I had forgotten all about it, but it served as a reminder of my pursuits through the years. Even though I was working in a university library at the time, I wanted to have my own business.

I rented a mailbox and wrote out a four page newsletter filled with tips on saving time and money. Then I had a few hundred copies printed and delivered them to the houses in my neighbourhood. There wasn’t much response and after a couple of issues, I decided it wasn’t the best use of my time and stopped printing.

But my dream of a business didn’t die. It smoldered for a few more years, then rose again in the form of an Internet cafe. More time and money spent that time, but great experience. I learned to deal with government regulations, to lease equipment, to order supplies, to provide good customer service. I realized that I didn’t enjoy sitting in a shop all day, waiting for people to come in.

Next, I started training people to use computers and learned that I preferred groups to individuals. I found that I loved to plan lessons and to motivate and encourage others to be the best they could be.

Now I’ve come full circle. I’m back to writing, but this time my audience is virtual and my expenses are minimal. I still teach and motivate and encourage. As the years go by, my desire to learn and achieve is still a driving force in my life. And I still want to be an entrepreneur – it’s in the blood!

Technorati Tags: small business, entrepreneur

If you notice the top of the page, I’ve changed my opt-in form. Aweber has a number of new graphic web forms that in many cases have increased the number of people who are signing up for email lists. So I decided to test and see if a more visually appealing form makes a difference in my subscriber rate. I’ll keep you posted on my results.

As well as the new web forms, Aweber has upgraded their response messages. When someone gives you their name and email address, no longer do they simply get a text message telling them to confirm their subscription. Now the messages can also be audio or video. What a great way for your new subscribers to remember you.

Using an autoresponder such as Aweber allows you to contact potential clients with the click of a button, no matter how many subscribers you have. There is no better way to keep your business in the minds of your target audience.

Technorati Tags: Aweber, opt-in form, mailing list

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to organize your files, both physical and on the computer. Weed out all the duplicate or outdated information. Decide on a filing system that works for you.

I find file management to be one of the hardest areas of organization for me. I tend to over organize and end up with three times as many file categories as I need. Then when it’s time to find a document, either on my hard drive or in my file cabinet, it takes endless searching. For instance, a report about Twitter could be in the Social Media file, or the Traffic file, or the Internet one. I could have duplicates in all those places, but for me it seems like a waste of paper or space to do that.

I’ve read a number of organizing books and have tried numerous filing methods. But I still haven’t found the right one for me. Right now I’m reading “Organizing Plain And Simple”. Maybe I’ll find my answer there. I would love to hear how you keep track of your files, both on the computer and in your office.

Technorati Tags: file management, organizing, filing