Photo credit: RedLaser.com

I am a relatively new smart phone owner. A few months back, I ditched my texting phone for an iPhone. I wanted to see for myself what the fuss is about. I wish there was a way to say this without sounding like hyperbole, but that small device has changed my life dramatically.

Jumping Into The Smart Phone Pool

I work from a home office and I seldom visit clients, so I had given mobility devices like laptops and smart phones a low priority in my business budgeting process. I do have clients who like to text, so I’ve had a phone with a QWERTY keyboard for at least 4 years. But I found the whole mobile internet experience from my phone so frustrating that I gave up trying to check emails, etc. Besides, I’m in my office most of the time and can use my desktop setup.

I went smart because I wanted to have the full social media experience. I wanted to use the check-in services, the local review sites, and the other cool sounding apps that we see advertised on television commercials. I felt I needed the experience of being a mobile consumer to really understand the advantages this trend gives the small business people I’m targeting with my site.

Outstanding Mobile Applications

What I didn’t anticipate was how these tools would completely transform my own consumer experiences! Let me share a few examples.

• Red Laser. Last weekend, I went shopping with Red Laser for the first time. Want to know if the store really has a good deal on a product? Use this app to scan the bar code, and within seconds, get comparative prices locally and online (based on availability). Turned out, Target has dishwasher soap at a screaming deal, but the iPhone case was more than double the price other places.
• Starbucks. I visit Starbucks about 3-4 times a month, so I wasn’t sure the Starbucks app was aimed for me. What I found is that the store locator, complete with filters for store amenities, has made it very easy for me to find a Starbucks when the urge hits, usually when I’m out running errands outside my neighborhood.
• Target. My nephew is getting married this summer and they registered at Target. I have used Target’s wedding registry from my desktop, but now I can have the same information in hand (without printing or taking notes) when I’m standing in a Target store.

All of these apps mimic services already available online from company websites. However, the convenience of having them available when I’m out, when I’m busy being a consumer, is a game changer. Without these apps, I had to do more planning before I headed out. Now, I can let the day unfold, change directions and plans, and still get the things done I need to accomplish.

Changing The Customer Experience of Your Brand

The last time I was this excited about a consumer revolution was with cash machines. Yes, ATM machines have changed our lives. Before them, we had to plan ahead to get money from the bank. Now, we can access our money on a whim in almost any corner of town. No more waiting for the bank to open to get what we need.

If your B2C business really wants to jump into the mobile app market, think about how to improve the shopping experience of your customers. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps you can mobilize a feature you already offer on your website. Walk a mile in the shoes of your customers and figure out how to improve their experience with your brand with a mobile app.

Your customers will love you for it.

Look out! QR codes are starting to pop up everywhere!

QR Codes At SXSW

An example QR code that contains the address of my website.

Just last week, attendees of the highly technical South by Southwest Interactive conference found that their ID badges displayed a QR code that linked to their conference attendee page. The idea was to make it easy for people who meet face-to-face to connect digitally. In theory, you could meet someone, take a photo of their QR code, and through the magic of mobile internet technologies, now you are connected to them on the conference management software. It’s a much better way to manage contact information with the new people you meet than collecting business cards or fumbling to type it in on your cell phone.

However, the crowd didn’t embrace the QR codes with much enthusiasm. Like any new technology, there’s a certain amount of setup required. People thought it took too many steps to set up and scan QR codes, so they gave up mid-way through the process. You must have QR code software loaded on your smart phone, and then you can photograph a QR code to get the information. (For more information about how QR codes work with cell phones, see What Are QR Codes? And Why Should I Care?)

I think the QR code was a brilliant idea, but it wasn’t executed well. People needed time before the event to load the required software and practice reading codes before they arrived. In the rush of activity at an event like SXSW, it wasn’t reasonable to expect people to do the setup and experimentation on the fly. I know this from my years of teaching people how to use software. There’s a learning curve, even with the early adopter set who consider SXSW almost a religious experience.

Facebook Trying Out QR Codes

And now, there are rumors that Facebook is introducing a QR code feature that would create a QR code for your Facebook profile or page. TechCrunch received tips that broke this news, along with some screen shots showing the QR code options on a live page. They followed up with the folks at Facebook and were given a very non-committal response.

With Facebook, it seems that you can create two different QR codes, one for your profile or page address, and the other for your status updates. Reading between the lines, I’m guessing that when you create either QR code, Facebook generates the code and you can download the image file. You could then use the image file on your business cards, your restaurant’s menu, your business front door, etc. Your options are only limited by your imagination and your understanding of your business market.

If you don’t understand QR codes or why they are going to be so popular in the near future in the United States, check out these articles:

• What Are QR Codes? And Why Should I Care?
• Google Maps And QR Codes

On Monday,  I published the first edition of the site’s weekly newsletter, the Social Media DIY Toolbox.

I wanted to create a newsletter that would point out the highlights of the previous week’s articles, and give you a sneak peek into upcoming topics and themes.

If you didn’t receive a copy of the newsletter and you would like to subscribe, I’d love to add you to the list. I use Constant Contact for my email newsletter management. They make sure that you only get newsletters you want to receive and make it super easy to unsubscribe at any time.

Next week, there is a newsletter-only article about social media goals. It’s a great article with examples of good and not-so-great goals. I plan to have newsletter exclusive articles in nearly every issue as a way to thank you for subscribing.

Unless you were in a media blackout the last few days, you’ve heard the basics about movie director Kevin Smith’s reaction to being removed from a Southwest Airlines flight for taking up too much space.

Kevin Smith's photo of himself on a Southwest Airlines flight.

The man has 1.6 million Twitter followers. He speaks his mind, often involving profanity. He’s not the kind of guy you want to have talking trash about your company. And he did, on Twitter and on a podcast and his blog.

I don’t want to get into the facts of the situation. I don’t want to debate whether Southwest has the right to remove passengers for safety reasons, or whether Kevin’s weight qualifies him for removal. The truth of the situation is that they did remove him. He was mad. And he complained on social media about this anger.

Kevin Smith has a huge circle of influence, so this situation grew quickly into a public relations situation for Southwest. The same thing can happen to your company on social media. An unhappy customer uses social media to vent their anger and frustration.

Are you prepared with a response strategy?

Prepare Your Reputation Management Response Now

Now is the time to start thinking about how you would handle this situation, while your head is clear and your blood isn’t boiling. You want your first response to defuse the situation, not throw gasoline on the fire. In my opinion, that’s what Southwest Airlines did wrong. Their first response on both Twitter and their blog only made things worse.

What are some possible customer complaint scenarios for your business? Write up a list of them. And then think through a strategy for resolving them quickly. Make sure your strategy includes listening and a sincere effort to resolve the problem. You may not feel you are wrong. But when a customer is yelling, it’s not the right time to defend your position, your policy, or your actions. My dad taught me to never debate an angry man. He was right.

Not only should you have a strategy for responding to angry customers on social media, but you should have a written response ready to go. You can’t anticipate every scenario, but having a block of text that you can customize for each situation will help you to stay focused on the solution and not the problem.

The time you invest today to prepare for these tough situations can make a huge difference in how they play out when they really do happen.

On Saturday morning, I had the great fun of joining a fabulous group of Phoenix people for brunch. Well, technically, they call it “smuch,” a portmanteau created from brunch+Saturday morning. The event is always as much fun as the name, and that’s saying something.

The fun of Smunch captured by Matt Petro.

This month, we were at Fez, a fabulous Moroccan restaurant on Central Avenue just south of Indian School. Some people arrived by light rail. I came by car, schlepping in from the east ‘burbs. When I arrived, there were 10 people there, and at the full throttle, there were more than 30 people eating, laughing, talking, and taking pictures of each other. And more pictures.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to attend a Smunch. It was great getting to see so many friends in one place, meet new people, and talk while sipping a Mimosa.

Smunch is a really fun young crowd filled with interesting people. If you find you have the second Saturday brunch open some month, you should stop by and join us.

Smunch is a social media event, so you’ll have to follow Smunchy Smunchperson on Twitter to get the latest invite (handled through Tweetvite). Or you can keep you eye on the Smunch website.

Download your own copy of Twitter For Beginners.

It’s been several weeks in the making, but I’m pleased to announce today that my ebook, Twitter For Beginners, is freshly updated and ready for distribution! I first published this ebook a year ago. This is the fourth update since that original publication.

The Twitter For Beginners ebook is designed for anyone who is thinking about using Twitter, or anyone who has jumped into the Twitter swimming pool but isn’t happy with their Twitter experience.

Twitter seems very simple on the surface, but it actually takes a bit of effort to wrap your head around it. It’s a totally new way to communicate. The people who developed Twitter pulled together features from email, chat, IM and other communication tools to create something new. In the short time since Twitter appeared on the scene, the concept of status updating has become ubiquitous and has impacted almost every other social media tool on the planet. Pretty impressive stuff for a simple tool like Twitter.

Here’s some of what you learn in the Twitter For Beginners ebook:

• Framework for understanding and using Twitter’s features
• Importance of defining your Twitter business goal
• Best practices for setting up your Twitter account profile
• Strategies for defining your Twitter community
• Guidelines for crafting effective messages
• Procedures for using each message type
• Deciphering message components and their importance
• Planning weekly activities that build your Twitter success
• Start using Twitter on your text-message enabled cell phone

This ebook has the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. This means you can email it, print it, tweet about it, post it on your Facebook wall, and share it any way you like with two exceptions. You must not change the ebook in any way, and you cannot sell it.

Let me know how you like it!

Staples wants me to share my product reviews on social media.

I use Staples for most of my business supplies. I’m part of their loyalty program, and I get a lot of email from them. But today I got something new.

Staples sent me a list of the items I purchased in my last visit and asked me to write a review for each one. To be more accurate, they asked me to check options from the list of appropriate phrases to create my review.  I completed the first item review when I hit the new part.

Did I want to post my product review on Facebook? What about Twitter?

Now, I’m glad to see that Staples is embracing social media. And maybe if I had purchased sexier items like a new laptop or printer or other electronic goodies, their offer would make more sense. I really don’t think that my Facebook friends want me to share my opinion of the writing tablets I use. I don’t think they want to wade through the details of my mundane office supply purchases even to read my pithy and sometime hilarious comments. And I’m sure my Twitter followers feel the same way.

I think this is one example of social media gone bad. Just because you can do a thing doesn’t mean its a smart idea.

What do you think?

Local shopping center Kierland Commons advertises its Twitter account and Facebook business page.

On Sunday, I spent some time at one of my favorite local shopping centers, Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, AZ. I had a great time hitting all my favorite stores and then spent some time relaxing in the courtyard at the center. But the highlight of my afternoon wasn’t the great deal I snagged in a shop or the yummy tea latte I sipped in the courtyard. It was spotting this sign.

I got excited because it was a first. It reminded me of the first time I saw a web address (URL) on TV and on a billboard and in a magazine, way back when the internet was new (and the earth was still dewy), around 1996. You remember how cute we were, always including the http:// before the address?

Kierland Commons is one of the businesses I’ve listed in my Phoenix small business lists (I have two lists because of the 500 member limitation on lists). I think they do a great job promoting their shopping center and their tenants on Twitter and Facebook. They even include their Twitter and Facebook information on the printed shopping center directory for visitors.

If you are looking for a good example of how to do social media in the retail space, check them out.

It’s never a dull time when the #EVTM (East Valley Thursday Mornings) crowd takes over Liberty Market in Gilbert. More than 30 people rotated in and out of this ongoing tweetup this morning. Some people arrive before 8 so they can talk, eat, and still make it to work. Most people start showing up soon after 8 am. There are the dedicated regulars, a large group of people who make it when they can, and always a few new faces.

Krystofer VanSlyke poses in front, while Marc Chung, Justin McHood, and Jana Knapp talk in the background.

It’s a friendly group, and this morning’s conversations got especially animated. Between bites of pancakes and quesadillas, and sips from bowls of caffé mocha and shots of cortadito, the conversations ranged from current work challenges, business successes, the recent SMAZ event, and even local sports scores. And that’s just the conversations I heard.

If you are self-employed or run a small business, mark your calendar for the last Thursday of each month. It’s a great chance to meet other small business people, get inspired, get some questions answered, and otherwise jump start your Thursday with great people. It’s organized through Twitter, so do a search on the hashtag #evtm to learn more.

After a few months of hard work, I was pleased to post the Social Media DIY Workshop late last week, just in time for CenPho Camp. This project has consumed my days and nights, and pushed me to learn all sorts of new skills in the process. It’s truly been a labor of love, and I’m completely jazzed to be able to share it with you now.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by the site. The number of visitors each day is growing. It takes time to find and earn an audience, and I’m excited to see this happening. But the numbers that please me most are the amount of time you all are spending on the site. It tells me that I’ve given you things that you want to read! That tells me that I’m hitting the target.

There is a contact form on every page for a reason. I really want to hear from you. How can I improve the site? And what topics will help you grow your small business?