The Downtown Women's Club womensDISH blog

How to use twitter to mitigate a customer service disaster

This week, I was excited to be implementing a new calendar/event ticketing system for the Downtown Women's Club.  We were switching to www.eventbrite.com, a service we had been testing for the past six months with our DWC+ Teleclasses.  When they finally created widgets that we could embed in our site, it didn't seem like it was going to be too much work to swap out the old and input the new.

Or, so I thought before they had two days of server crashes.  Now, this stuff happens, and while it was a huge inconvenience for me and our members, that's not worthy of a column.  Instead, I'm writing about how Eventbrite and many of their clients were able to use social media to mitigate the damages in light of the disaster.  And, yes, for an e-commerce company 24 hours of server crashes is a major disaster! 

Here's an overview of everything Eventbrite did right, when everything else was going oh so wrong:

• Eventbrite starts having spotty service around mid-day on Sept. 8th which lasts throughout the day.
• I wasn't sure at first whether this was an issue with just my computer, or my web browser, so I hop onto http://search.twitter.com and search for "eventbrite."
• Sure enough, there are plenty of people on there commenting about their problems with Eventbrite. 
• I wait a few hours to try again, but then getting frustrated (as you'll note by the times below, this afternoon project was turning into an overnight project), I add my post to the batch.
• Eventbrite clearly has someone monitoring the twittersphere because within an hour (in the middle of the night) @Eventbritehelp sends me a reply to my tweet, which points out that another Eventbrite tweeter @Eventbrite will be making service updates:

• Throughout the next 24 hours, @Eventbrite continued to give service updates.  As they have been slowly getting services back up and running, they've been stating everything that they've been doing on twitter and on their home page, which, up until a little while ago, was running this note from CEO, Kevin Hartz, explaining how they were handling it.

Eventbrite is experiencing intermittent outages today

Eventbrite is dedicated to offering you the best service possible. We are currently limiting access to our servers giving priority to event registrations and the event organizer "My Events" pages.  All other pages in the site will be restored as soon as possible.  

Thank you for your understanding.


Kevin Hartz
CEO
Eventbrite Corporation

• Eventbrite also had a special service update page which has the most detail (a list of what services they have up and running and which ones they are still working on).

Eventbrite wasn't the only ones tweeting about the situation.  As the outages dragged on, people with events were posting to their followers on Twitter and fans on Facebook about alternative means of obtaining tickets.  By checking out @eventbritehelp's twitter stream one could see that they were trying to help individuals who had real emergencies (i.e. needed registration lists for events last night).

I had actually gotten so focused on my personal inconvenience (working to swap out the old calendaring system) that I didn't even think about our members having difficulty RSVP'ing for a few of our events this week.

Fortunately, one of our DWC members commented on my status update that she had difficulty registering.  I then did what other event planners were doing and used Twitter and Facebook throughout the day to get the message out to as many of our members as possible before they got frustrated with us.

While it wasn't a perfect remedy as I couldn't reach all our members, it still helped me get the word out that the issue was being addressed.  Did it lose us some sales?  Probably.  But, not as many as it would have if Eventbrite, along with the DWC and other companies affected by it, had gone totally silent.  However, through social media we were able to stay up to date on issues and update our own customers. 

The moral of this story?  People want communication during a business or other disaster.  They will be much more patient if they know someone is listening to them and if they have access to updates on the progress.  Moreover, it is an opportunity to build customer loyalty.  Even though other people were tweeting me alternative service provider suggestions, I don't intend to take my business anywhere else for the time being. 

**On a separate note, in the past when I had posted questions on Eventbrite help forums and through their support service, I have gotten personal responses from individuals who followed through and even checked in to tell me when the issue had been fixed.  That personal touch, when mixed with a strategic social media customer support plan is a winning customer service strategy.

Diane K. Danielson is the ceo of the Downtown Women's Club and the author of The Downtown Women's Club Beginner's Guide to Facebook.

Developing the Teenage Entrepreneurial Spirit

It's only April but some people are wondering what to do with their teenagers this summer. With the unemployment rate being what it is...entrepreneurship just maybe the answer.

Sue Shellenbarger discussed a few possible business ideas for teens in her recent Wall Street Journal article Cupcakes and Cattle Breeding: Teens Turn to Summer Start-ups.  I did some research on my own and came up with the following selection of organizations encouraging teen entrepreneurship:

• National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship
• Junior Achievement
• Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, or ICIC- the Growing Up CEO program
• Teen Business Link, the SBA site for teenagers interested in starting a business
• Independent Means, the leading provider of financial education products and programs in the United States.
• Also see Entrepreneur magazine, Teen Business Sites for more organizations.

Starting a business at a young age is a priceless (no pun intended!) experience. I encourage you to support your teenager and be prepared to learn along the way as well.

Let us know how it goes.

Susan C. Hammond
www.schammond.com

Getting unstuck

I'll admit it: I'm feeling a bit stuck lately. Part of the next stage of business development at my studio involves making room for and landing higher-paying jobs, and instead of moving forward, plan in hand, I've spent the last couple of days staring at my computer, hitting "Get Mail" over and over again. That, and feeling incredibly guilty, like I'm somehow sabotaging my business with non-productivity.

What causes this? Is it a fear of failure? Is it fear of success? Is it the fact that spring has been threatening to invade New England for a couple of weeks now, but the temperature doesn't seem to have caught on to this yet?

A little bit of each, I think. But what to do about it?

Looking back at the times I've felt this way, I realize that it's usually a relatively short, passing thing that always precedes something major - and it usually marks the fact that there's something I'm missing in the path I'm taking. The worst part of this, as an entrepreneur, is feeling like you're being unproductive, like you should be out *doing* something. But part of owning your own business is making room for creativity and brainstorming, and sometimes that means having a couple of days off while you sort through something that's sticking you. 

And thinking about it some more, I realize that becoming unstuck generally requires two things:

• telling someone you're feeling stuck (which I'm doing)
• going somewhere quiet, away from technology and all the things you "need" to do, and contemplating what it is you really want from whatever's sticking you.  

Step two is where I'm at right now; thus, I sign off. But here's a question: what do you do when you find yourself not moving forward? 

Follow the yellow brick road

According to Suzanne Bates of Bates Communications and best selling author of Speak Like a CEO and most recently published Motivate Like a CEO, writing a book for your business is similar to the journey Dorothy and her friends took to OZ.  Here are the steps she outlined in her talk at the National Speakers Association of New England Wake Up Call on February 14, 2009:

The Tornado: Finding Your Topic, Voice and View Can Feel Chaotic

Take time to sit with your many thoughts and determine a theme for your book.  Keep in mind you do not need to dump every bit of your expertise into one publication.  Take the time to brainstorm ideas, find your writing voice and tolerate the chaos as it is an important part of the writing process.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Moving Forward on Your Book

Once you discover your theme, write with the reader in mind.   Identify the target market of the book and keep that person on the forefront when writing the book.  Making a visual representation of the reader can help you focus on what you want to say to your audience.  Besides this information will be useful when writing your book proposal should you decide to traditionally publish.

The Wicked Witch of the West: Time

You don't find time to write you make time to write.  Anyone who has written a book knows that this is a constant struggle.  Suzanne mastered the Wicked Witch by deciding that she would give up her weekends for one summer to get the book done.  Schedule the time and protect it like you would the time you make for your clients.  Would you stand up your highest paying contract?  No.  So make time in your schedule, write it down and keep the appointment. 

The Scarecrows: Use Your Brains to Prepare a Brilliant Proposal

A good book proposal follows a predictable formula.  Learn the formula then draft a great proposal.  Pay special attention to the book's potential marketability as this is what makes a publisher pick up your manuscript.  Also include a well thought out marketing plan for the book.  Publishers distribute books, they don't market them.  Authors do.  Knowing this and building in a good marketing strategy for your book will help make your proposal stand out. 

The Lion: The Courage to Keep Going

Yes, it takes courage to write a book.  Find a place where you can get support and encouragement when the road gets bumpy.  A writing group, a writing coach or a good friend can make the difference between a brilliant idea and a finished book.

The Tin Man:  Write with Your Heart

Writing a book takes time and effort.  Make sure you are writing about something you are passionate about and that makes sense for your long term goals.  Suzanne was clear that she was writing a book to increase her company's visibility.  Others write for personal reasons.  Whatever your reason, make sure you love it.

There's No Place Like Home: Write what you know and to who you know

Do not try to be someone else.  If you are great at empowering women around money then write about that topic.  If you are gifted at helping people improve their speaking skills then go that route.  Writing what you know and to who you know will make all stages of the book process more effective and enjoyable.

Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wizard of Oz: Best Sellers Don't Just Happen

Market the heck out of your book.  Suzanne learned with her first book many of the tricks of the trade in selling a book and getting it to be a top seller on Amazon.com.  While writing the book is a great accomplishment, the difference between a best selling author and all the other authors out there is a commitment to marketing their work. 

So if you decide to go down the yellow brick road, enjoy the trip and know that in the end there is nothing like seeing your finished book in print for the first time!

Climbing out of a tree hole

With the recent snow in the Northeast, I have been enjoying some powdery like conditions on the ski mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont.  I just love bundling up, jumping on a trail and racing down the mountain with my friends at my side.  So what happens when things don't go as smoothly?  Well, I put on my gear, buckle up my boots, ride up the lift, pick a great trail and end up in a tree hole.  Yes, a tree hole!  You know the cavity left next to a tree when a large amount of snow has fallen the night before.  Somehow I, unlike my fellow skiers, find myself in tree holes quite often.  There are many theories on this phenomenon, but the one I like the best is that I end up in this precarious position because I am pushing my limits, trying something new and taking the road less traveled. 

Is it frustrating to crawl out of a tree hole while the guys wait for me at the bottom of the hill?  You bet.  But what I have learned digging myself out each time over the years is that with determination and a positive mind set, I can overcome any obstacle life throws at me.  So when the economy tanked the end of last year, I knew that KBK Connections would be one of the companies that would weather the storm and end up on top. 

Yes, our nation collectively is in a financial tree hole.  We need to figure out how to dig ourselves out and get back on a straight and steady course.  As small business owners and entrepreneurs it is vital that you remain optimistic and take action today to ensure that you will not only survive the recession but thrive as well.

Here are five tips for climbing out a tree hole that can be applied to business: 

Brush yourself off: The first thing you need to do in business when you hit a road bump, is to slow down and brush yourself off.  Yes, the volatility in the financial marketplace has been like a roller coaster ride for all of us.  Be careful not to over react.  Recessions come and go and history tells us the economy will improve again. 

Tighten your boots:  As a business owner it is important to look at your expenses and tighten outgoing cash flow when possible.  This does not mean cutting out all marketing efforts, coaching or shutting down your business altogether.  Instead carefully analyze what expenditures are mostly likely to produce revenue and what ones are nice but not necessary.  Need I say, my new Blackberry is on hold.

Adjust your goggles:  When I fall into a tree hole, my goggles get packed with snow and I can't see.  The same thing can happen when you are hit with bad economic news.  You get so blinded by what is so close to you that you fail to see what is in the distance.  So take time to adjust your viewpoint and look at how you can not only survive but thrive in the long run.  There are many opportunities for business in a tight economy, you just need to be able to see them.

Breathe:  One of the hardest things to do when you feel fear and panic is to let yourself take a deep rejuvenating breathe.  The day of the first stock market plunge did you breathe?  When you looked at your 401K balance for year end, did you breathe?  If not, start!  Calming your body will help you make better mindful business decisions.  Besides it feels good.

When in doubt, radio for help:  There is nothing wrong with asking for help.  My experience is that women are the worst at asking for support when they are financially uncertain or in need.  Many of the DWC members offer a variety of coaching and training services to help you get back on track financially, so don't be afraid to jump on the "radio" and call us up.

Freelancing in a down economy

Last month the Downtown Women's Club had Michelle Goodman, author of My So-Called Freelance Life: How to survive and thrive as a creative professional for hire, joined us on a DWC+ Teleclass.  She gave us insights into freelancing in a down economy. Here are a few tidbits:

1. Make yourself more marketable

• Be diverse (skills; subcontracting; fields of expertise; different technologies)
• Be flexible
• Be timely

2. Projects to avoid:

• Those that are below your minimum price
• Those that pay in promotion
• Clients whose companies are shaky
• Clients who you can't pin down to parameters

3.Counterintuitive networking. 

• Learn from other freelancers.
• Find them in person, twitter, facebook, etc.

DWC+ members of the Downtown Women's Club can listen to past teleclasses through our Teleclass Library (Our January teleclasses are not available yet, but will be soon).  Visit http://www.downtownwomensclub.com/teleclass for more information and to see upcoming classes.

Using luck to your advantage

I was sitting here having a better than usual day, well ... other than getting accidentally zapped by my dog's invisible fence collar, and I started to ponder the power of "luck."  I had a business deal come in that was a bit unexpected, and then a few more lucky things started to happen.  We had some former Downtown Women's Club chapter directors get in touch completely out of the blue wanting to get back involved.  Then, I had been thinking to myself that I needed to meet with a certain organization, and suddenly an email landed in my inbox inviting me to meet their new CEO. Bingo.

Then I read Seth Godin's blog post about whether you are open to accepting "luck" in your business and career plan.  This made me realize that while that first bit of business might have been luck, it actually motivated me to make a few more calls, send a few more emails, try a few more "risky" things, which resulted in so far ... you guessed it ... a little more "luck."

So, maybe it's not just being open to "luck" but actually using it as a springboard to make more "luck."

What do you all think? 

Business Opportunities and Trends for 2009. They're Out There

Pick up the December issue of Entrepreneur magazine and you’ll learn, as I did, that plenty of career and business opportunities are available for 2009.  Competition may be fierce, but if you’re willing to do your research and take a never give up attitude, 2009 has the potential of opening a lot of doors.

Below is a summary of the tops trends to watch for.

Green Sector – Although US consumers are more concerned about the economy than the environment; studies show they are willing to pay more for green products (2008 ImagePower Green Brands Survey).  Think water reuse/protection, clean energy and organics.

The Economy – According to Entrepreneur, a down economy offers a lot of business potential for professions like business coaching, social networking for business, health care, nail salons and beauty products (less facelifts, more facials), credit and debt management to name just a few.  How can you benefit with a focus on  helping others through tough times?

Health Care – Now a 24/7 concern people want easy access to health information.  Opportunities are available in the area of online personal health portals, allowing individuals to access their health information.  Opportunities are also available for wellness coaches and other health and wellness related professionals.  Finally!  As a wellness professional myself, I'm very pleased to see this as a trend for the new year.

The Web – If you’re tech savvy or have an interest in the phenomenon of the web, opportunities are plenty.  Popular trends for 2009 include web application development, mobile applications, online video (with 1 billion viewers expected to watch online videos by 2013, ABI Research), blog consulting and implementation, web 2.0 consulting. 

Odds and Ends.  Got entrepreneurial spirit?  Consider DIY (Do it yourself) weddings, turning “Trash into treasure” and marketing to people with pets.  4 out of 10 households have a dog, and this year brides are looking for easy and affordable wedding ideas.  A perfect opportunity to help someone out.

Marketing to Millenials – Millenials are 75 million strong (Deloitte Consulting) with buying power of about $1 Trillion (US Census Bureau).  That sounds like a great opportunity if you’re willing to provide a great product (that works!) and great customer service.  Meet them where they are – on the internet – and maybe you’ll be on to something 

Marketing to Boomers – What are the boomers looking for?  Financial planning, travel experiences and anti-aging products/services.  According to the article 9.1% of Boomers will pay “whatever it takes” to look younger.  This group is also spending money in their new role as grandparents.

This article definitely got me thinking about my strategy for 2009.  Pick your head up and think creatively about your career or your business.  Look for opportunity, do some research, get creative.   How can you turn your passion, skills, education and experience into success for 2009?

For more information on these and other trends for 2009 visit Entrepreneur magazine online at www.entrepreneur.com/hottrends

Why paradise gets paved - consumer inaction

Not to hop on the Seth Godin bandwagon too much this week, but he had an earlier post that has been haunting me called "Don't know what you got 'til it's gone." This post focused on the closing of a popular personal assistant service www.iwantsandy.com.  This, in fact, was one of the services originally listed in our Organizing like a Geek Goddess post.  Fortunately, I was able to pull it out before we published that post. 

An excerpt from Seth's blog:

Anyway, the outcry that accompanies the closing of one of these businesses should be enough to remind you that your hesitation has a cost.

It's simple, I think. In a world where consumers have so much power, we now have two responsibilities:

• If you don't like what an organization stands for, work actively to spread the word and force them to change

and

• If you will miss a product, a service, a book, a site or a professional when they close up shop, stand up, speak up and bring them masses of new business.

We get what we promote.

What happened to www.iwantsandy.com?  Turns out there were people who loved the service, but not enough to patronize it, pay for it, or promote it to others. 

I had a similar experience where I had hoped to use www.feedblendr.com to blend the feeds in our new Downtown Women's Club Blog Network.  I went back to the site recently and there was this nice statement by the developer about why he could no longer continue the service.  Darn.  I would've paid for it.  We're currently looking for a replacement.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone

Then today I get a press release from the ADP about the decline in small business employment.

“Employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, declined 79,000.  This is the second consecutive monthly decline in small business employment reported by the ADP Report since November of 2002.  Until recently, these small businesses were impacted less than larger ones, but today’s employment decline clearly indicates that the recession has now widened to include businesses of all sizes,” said Joel Prakke

Additional information about small business employment, including charts on monthly job growth and employment levels, along with historical data, is available at http://www.smallbusinessreport.adp.com.

This didn't surprise me.  As the economy worsens, we can expect more and more businesses of all sizes to shut their doors.  I wonder how many of these were the entrepreneurial businesses we lauded women for launching just a year ago?  Regardless, no business, large or small, is immune from extinction in this economy, present company included.

So, what can we do? 

• If you are running a service that is struggling:  Streamline it.  Find what is working and concentrate on that. Generally that would be whatever service or product solves people's problems in this continually worsening economy. Another possible lifeline - join forces with other similar businesses. It doesn't make sense for both of you to go out of business when together you can gain market share.
• If someone provides a service you like:  PAY for it, PROMOTE it, even EVANGELIZE it before that Big Yellow Taxi shows up and takes it all away ...

Because, as the song goes:

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door swing,
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

--Counting Crows, Big Yellow Taxi.

Opportunities & Perspectives

My husband and I just adopted two kittens.  We're cat lovers.  At one time we had four but just recently only one was left.  Living in an antique house cats are a necessity.  The remaining cat was very sedentary and clearly in need of reinforcements.

While watching the kittens run through the house I began to consider what adopting kittens and bringing in reinforcements might suggest given the turbulent economy.  Here are my thoughts:

• New perspective. Many of us are filtering the economic and business news through mature, experienced eyes. It is all generally very negative.  If for a moment you could put aside the mature perspective and instead adopt the perspective you had when you started your career or business, what opportunities do you see?  Opportunities do exist even in the worst of times.
• Forward Focus. One of the kittens can vertically leap 4-5 feet. What large upward and forward leap could you take in your personal & professional development? Just today a coaching client said he was going back to school to improve his skills and have something more to offer a future employer when the recession ends.
• Being Curious. Everything in our house is of interest to the kittens.  I open a door or a drawer and one or both are right there waiting to see what's inside and they're fearless in their exploration. What has you curious right now? What have you wondered about but never investigated? Now could be a good time.
• Where's the action? The kittens want to be wherever there is human activity. Where are you socializing and networking? What places are alive with people and activity?
• Collaboration. The kittens are reinforcing the older cat to keep out unwanted guests...a collaboration of the old and the new.  What new or old business colleague could you collaborate with to expand your product or service offering? Through a series of fortuitous events I find myself collaborating on an educational idea with a colleague I've known for a while.  It never occurred to us until someone else suggested it.  Together we believe we will deliver a better service. I will let you know when it's ready to launch.
• Treat Yourself. One of the kittens has figured out there are treats to be had for good behavior and general cuteness.  What are you doing to take care of yourself? How are you treating yourself from time to time? I'm not suggesting overt over indulgence but something that perks-up your spirits.  We can lose sight of taking care of ourselves or tell ourselves we don't deserve treats in a down economy.

Let's start a discussion.  What does adopting kittens suggest to you?

Susan C. Hammond
Business Coach & Facilitator