Bad Boys of Business: That’s Not “Real” Work

Filed Under Branding, Business Life, Marketing, Productivity, Successful Blog | 3 Comments

It’s a Bad Boys Convention

badboys of business logo

Look who came riding in behind the Bad Boys of Writing. It’s the Bad Boys of Business. They’re just as seductive as their counterparts, and like their writing friends, they do damage. Get these con guys in your head and they can blow your productivity.

Meet their point man, Bad Boy 1: That’s Not Real Work. You’re wasting time.

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How Sprint Pushes Customers Out the Door

Filed Under Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog | 72 Comments

There’s Barriers, Then There’s Badly Broken

Customer Think Logo

Yesterday I wanted to switch my son’s Sprint/Nextel account over to online pay. I knew the drill. I’ve done it before plenty of times on plenty of websites. I hit pay bill and enterred the data. They requested a BAN passcode. Huh? What’s that?

BAN Passcode

Under that picture was this disclaimer:

Note: The approval process can take up to 10 business days. If you have a payment due before then, please use another payment method.

I contacted Customer Care online as asked and got this reply 30 minutes later. Read more

Frosted Mini-Wheats Design that Hooks Readers

Filed Under Branding, Customer Think, Marketing, Successful Blog | 15 Comments

Quality of Life

Customer Think Logo

I see the picture on a telephone book. That’s not me there. That’s not anyone I know. That’s stock photography. I can spot it from a mile away. It looks like a wallet photo. It looks like the picture that comes inside a picture frame that I bought at the office supply store — flat and cheery with no humanity behind it.

The same is true of some blogs and websites. They look expensive, but they have no heart. They don’t call to me in any way. Stuff is there, but the music for my eyes is missing. My finger clicks before I think.

Take a moment to stare at a blank wall. Then look at your blog as a stranger might. Is there something that pulls you in, a promise, a wink, a hint of relaxation or surprise? If you don’t see an emotional hook there, perhaps your blog need a makeover to get some “Frosted Mini-Wheats” design. Read more

Congratulations TECHCocktail 1!!

Filed Under Community, Successful Blog | 2 Comments

The Event Was a Success!

A lovely event was held tonight at the restaurant State in the center of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood in the city of Chicago. It was attended by 200 or so techies, bloggers, business folks, entrpreneus, and VCs who talked about how the world in moving forward and how we all might work together.

Thanks to all who put it on, especially the guys at Feedburner.

TECHCocktail 1 was a success.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Email Subscriptions Got My Mother-in-law & 2 Nuns to Read My Blog

Filed Under Basics, Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog, Tools | 31 Comments

Who Wants a Blog by Email?

See the subscription form in the sidebar under the search box? It looks like this.

Zookoda email subscription form

I put it on my blog as an experiment. I was skeptical. I thought Who’d want a blog in their email box? Wouldn’t that change the whole experience?

3 Good Reasons

My dad used to say get 3 good reasons for what you want to do. I did my homework, and I got them. Three good reasons for trying email to my blog.

  • Some folks spend a lot of time on email and little time on the Internet.
  • Some folks don’t want to come to find me. They’d rather I came to them.
  • RSS feeds are hard to explain to folks who’ve never seen or used one before. I know. I’ve tried.

Two other reasons I gave email subscriptions a try were that I don’t have to pay anything, and I like the way the email version of my blog looks. I made a screen so that you could see for yourself. Read more

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