I've talked before about the disconnect I feel between this blogging experience and other things I'm doing in my life. I feel its time to bring everything together and make this blog about who I am in the world and not just about who I am and what I do with work.

I am a writer.
I am a knitter.
I am a runner.
I am a creator.
I am all that plus a hundred other things.

In an effort to bring my story all in to one place, I was recently featured on FitBottomGirls where I talk about how I began my fitness journey.

        

I've recently had three excellent customer service experiences. You know, often when something goes wrong with a product you've purchased, consumers have a tendency to suck it up and just deal with it. OK, maybe that's just my story, but I don't tend to return things, or call the customer service number to rectify a problem. I just let it go and usually end up buying something else with a different company. As a consumer, one bad experience means I will never use that company again. That terrifies me as a marketing consultant because I am my own worst case scenario when helping clients build their brand and construct a marketing communications program to gain and retain customers. I am that silent, but deadly, customer who forms strong opinions quickly and one instance of bad customer service and you have lost me as a customer for ever.

So knowing this, I want to give out Gold Stars to three different companies for their customer service efforts that have succeeded in retaining me as a customer for life.

PlannerPad

I am enthralled by my PlannerPad. I'm a techo gadget girl. I love discovering technology that improves my life and helps me accomplish more. However, I kept failing at keeping my life organized with web-based tools. As much as I love Google, I hate to say that Google Calendar wasn't cutting it. I needed something at my fingertips that would let me see the big picture of what I wanted to get done and then help me drill down to schedule specific tasks. Google Calendar and Tasks, Remember the Milk, and Evernote were just not getting the job done. So I went old school with a paper based calendar and I'm thrilled with it. That alone would keep me coming back every year for a new calendar. Then about two weeks ago, I get an email from the president of PlannerPad, Bill Crosson, apologizing for a mistake. They had printed the wrong day for Administrative Professional's day and to make up for the inconvenience, they were extending a 15% off deal on any of their products. I hadn't even noticed the mistake and could very well have lived my life happily with my little PlannerPad never noticing it. It takes a huge commitment to service and customer loyalty to own up to even a tiny mistake. They could have very well let it go unnoticed by the majority of their customers but they didn't. Kudos to PlannerPad!

Zappos

I'm a shoe girl. But I'm a very picky shoe girl. Ordering shoes online is kind of a scary thing because there's so much hassle invovled if you end up not liking them. Right off the bat, Zappos eliminates some of this with their policy of free shipping both ways if you're unhappy with your purchase. Zappos doesn't stop there. They rock it with awesome and personalized attention. I commented on my twitter feed that I was excited by my shoe purchase because Zappos had upgraded me to free overnight shipping. I'm thinking "how cool is that". And I got a personal tweet in reply that came from an actual person who actually read my tweet and commented back. No auto-responses with Zappos ! (That is my biggest social media pet peeve). When I did get my shoes and they gave me a terrible blister due to a manufacturing error, Zappos customer service team went way beyond what was necessary to fix the problem. The representative offered to exchange the shoes for me, even tho I had worn them once. And then she was super dismayed that that exact style was back ordered. Apologizing profusely, she made me a "VIP", gave me a $10 off coupon on my next purchased and really did everything in her power to make this right. The thing that strikes me about this interaction is that Zappos extended every curtsey to me so that I was left happy and satisfied EVEN THOUGH THE PROBLEM WAS NOT ZAPPOS FAULT. Now if that isn't gold star worthy, I don't know what is.

Gaiam

For a VERY long time I have wanted a Balance Ball chair . I just think they're cool and if they help with my back and core strength, all the better. And I have to say, there's just a touch of childhood glee I get from the idea of sitting at my desk and being on what is essentially a high tech Hippity Hop. So I broke down and ordered one (on sale too! BONUS!). Something failed in the web order so I actually had to call customer service to place the order. That was handled pleasantly enough and two days later I had my chair! I put it all together, and pumped up the balance ball when, GASP, the plug to keep the air in the ball was faulty. Its either not the right part or it was not a complete part. And of course this was at midnight, because that is of course the best time of the day to put together furniture, so I'd have to wait till the next day to call customer service. I spoke the next morning with Chris and explained the issue. He asked me to hold on as he walked across the room to get the replacement part. As we were talking he said he was writing my name on an envelope and would be putting it in the mail as soon as we hung up. Chris was not only super pleasant in his phone manner, he came across as really caring that I was having difficulty with an item that his company sold. And now I'm sold on Gaiam.

        

It's funny when your worlds collide.

I'm an avid knitter. I love the process behind creating a knitted garment, how colors and textures interplay, and I must say nothing feels so good as as a hand-knit pair of socks on your feet. I've recently dived into creating my own patterns. I also spin my own yarn. That's right I also get all 18th century and take raw wool and turn it into a functional product. I am generally fascinated with how things work and making things from scratch and you can't get more "scratch" than fluff just cut off a sheep (stinky, but awfully fun). But I keep most of that content, as well as my fitness passions off this blog. I always intended this place to be solely professionally focused. Who knew that the trademark of key words in Google Adwords would erupt a fire storm in the fiber world!

The Players
In this corner you have Cascade Yarns. They produce what is generally thought of as "work horse" yarns. Great colors, high quality, affordable, exactly what you want when you need 1500 yards of yarn for a warm sweater. They do not sell their products directly via their website

In that corner is Knit Picks. Knit Picks is probably THE online destination for affordable yarns and supplies. They have great product lines, free shipping after a certainly dollar amount, and unbeatable customer service. They provide a life time guarantee on their knitting needles, snap one in half and they will send you a new set no questions asked.

I knit a beautiful sweater from Cascade 220 Yarn and I order regularly from Knit Picks. I am a fan of both companies.

The Conflict
Cascade Yarns filed a suit against Crafts Americana Group, the parent company behind Knit Picks, claiming trademark infringement for Knit Pick apparently using "Cascade Yarn" as a keyword in its online Google Adwords program. They claim that Knit Picks put in a bid on the words "Cascade 220", "Cascade Yarns", and "220 Superwash", so that if those terms are searched, an ad for Knit Picks would appear in the "Sponsored Link" section, thereby driving traffic to the Knit Picks website WHO DOES NOT SELL CASCADE YARN but a yarn line designed specifically to compete with Cascade 220 Superwash yarn.

This is a really tricky situation for several reasons.

First of all, Cascade only assumes that Knit Picks put a bid on "Cascade yarn" in the Google Adwords system. The suit doesn't state that they know that as a fact. Is this just sour grapes that Knit Picks out bid Cascade for its own key word? Is that like Pepsi being grouchy that Coke out bid them for the term "cola"? "Cascade yarn" and "Cascade 220" are trademarked by Cascade, but the term "cascade" by itself is not and as it is a common term, it cannot be trademarked. Is it inherently wrong, AND illegal to use a trademarked term in your Adwords program, especially if you don't actually sell that product? Is it a "bait and switch" tactic? 10 years ago, you would never see an advertiser use another company's name in their advertising. But it's incredibly common now. I just saw a commercial for Snuggle Fabric Softener that shows Downy Fabric Softener right in its ad. So what if Downy wanted to bid on "Snuggle Fabric Softener" as a Google Adwords?

This problem also assumes that your consumer is a complete idiot and cannot distinguish one company from another. Now, if I'm seaching for an affordable yarn to make a sweater, I could type into Google "affordable yarn". An ad for Knit Picks comes up, there is no ad for Cascade. But let's say that I know enough about yarn to know that I want to use Cascade 220 and I'm just looking for a retailer. I have made the decision that Cascade 220 is the yarn I am going to purchase. So I type in "Cascade 220" and look at the ads (First of all, I have to pop in the cavet that I never make a purchase via Google Adwords, but that is another post). And boom, there's an ad for Knit Picks and for Cascade yarn. So if I head over to Knit Picks, I will discover that they don't actually sell Cascade 220. They have a competing yarn line that is similar to Cascade 220. I can now be swayed by Knit Picks product offering and change my mind about my purchase. And that is exactly what Cascade Yarn is alledging and that's what they are suing for. They are suing for the assumed situation where someone wanted to purchase Cascade 220, mistakenly arrived at a Knit Picks page and changed their mind giving Knit Picks their money rather than a retailer that sells Cascade 220.

Another tricky thing that you have to think about regarding Google searches is that Google watches and learns what you search and will customize results based on your personal search history. In my case, I search alot for "Knit Picks". I don't search for retailers that carry the Cascade 220 yarn. Therefore, Google will customize my search results in favor of Knit Picks as a courtesy to me. I am not sure of Google Adwords works the say way or not, giving weight to your personal search history in the results it gives back. That would be an interesting avenue to investigate.

As of the day I wrote this, Knit Picks no longer shows up when you search for Cascade products. It will be very interesting to watch how this shakes out and what the ruling is. The implications of this decision are much bigger than the fiber world. Thankfully, I have lots of yarn to keep me occupied while we watch the drama unfold.

        

This morning I was going through some old paper work and I stumbled across my old boss' manifesto on blogging -

The 4Ps of Blogging
by Rick Short
•    point: if your blog doesn't have a specific point (purpose), then don't even start.

•    passion: if you don't have a burning passion about the topic, then don't bother.

•    personality: if you don't have the personality for blogging, then find something else to do with your time.

•    perseverance: if you won't be able to stick with it once the blogging becomes routine, after you've battled with writer's block, after numerous distractions beckon, then find something new.

When I started this blog, I thought I had the 4Ps nailed. But then I lost my direction a bit but more importantly, I lost my passion! For shame! What is life without passion!

I've started two other blogs along the way :
A Tradition of Quirky Artists chronicles my family's wacky adventures and artistic projects.
A Year of Knitting Dangerously uses knitting as a tool to overcome creative fears.

I've been wobbly on the 4P's on both these blogs, but here at my home blog I seem to have lost the point. Is this blog about me? And which me is it about? I started this blog to explore marketing and social media, and while that still is a huge passion of mine, I've lost the point along the way. I refuse to be just another blogger spewing out the same old nonsense. I still don't know what the point of this blog is and maybe that's the point in and of itself. Hm, now that's an interesting idea.

        

I love marketing. I love social media. I love talking about it. I love finding interesting ads and picking them apart. I love finding bad examples of marketing and thinking how I could do it differently. I love sharing my ideas and helping people understand that simple things can make a huge difference in their business or their communication strategies.

And yet, I've neglected this blog and my Twitter feed for a very long time because large portions of who I follow and what I read are not real. My Twitter account is full of robots - accounts that just pump out links and retweets. I don't even want to open Twitter anymore or read anymore blogs because, well frankly, interacting with a robot is rather one-sided.

Then I noticed that my blog and my Twitter feed were robotic! GASP! Oh the horror! I've become exactly what I council people not to become!

Marketing is about, in some respects, creating a story, and engaging others in that story. The story I was creating here lacked dimension. I was creating the story of a marketing professional rather than being a person who is passionate about marketing. I wasn't being real.

So skipping the "once upon a times" and my own spin I was putting on my blog, here now begins the story of a passionate, quirky gal who loves marketing, art, crafts, fitness and making herself and her world a better place.

        

Greg Verdino of Crayon Marketing tipped me off to this video on YouTube today. (Follow @gregverdino. Seriously.)

"In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didnt deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world."

So this got me to thinking - is social media blackmail? With 130K+ views, this little video could be a tiny ding in United's reputation. We are only getting one side of the story, as only one side is presenting their views. Granted, this is a complete breakdown of customer service best practices, but what should United do now? If they make good (and they should. They should have from the first phone call), are they setting the precident that if you make enough social media noise, you will always win? And more interestingly, does it set the precident that if you don't make social media noise, you can be outright ignored?

Thoughts?

        

I just came across this blog post saying that 74% of employees think Social Media can hurt your companies reputation.


That is the absolutely wrong question to ask.

You should be asking how can social media improve the company's reputation AND build our employees brands!

Social media is a powerful tool and big companies need to stop looking at it from the negative perspective. Social Media on the web is no different (ok, there is one BIG difference) than going down to the pub and talking about your day at work. You can whine about your boss or share your excitement about your new project. The people you are talking to at the pub will now form opinions about your company based on what this employee says. For better or for worse. The only real difference is that Social Media is global and instant.

Keep your employees happy and engaged and teach them how to use social media wisely. That is the only recipe for success.

        

Twitter is different things to different people. You can treat Twitter as a huge real time chat room and just jump in and have great conversations. You can use Twitter to promote yourself and your business. And it's in the business arena that I'm seeing some of the most interesting Twitter interactions. Here are two stories:

Black & White Cookie Company
@dzinermom and I were chatting about the deliciousness of New York City's Black and White Cookies versus Utica's Half Moon Cookies. Its the same kind of cookie but one has icing while the other has frosting creating a very different sugar rush experience.
The Black & White Cookie Company re-tweeted our conversation about proposing a swap!

@BWCookieCompany RT @dzinermom: @amynowacoski I could go for a genuine NY black and white cookie - mmmm.... we should arrange a swap - LOL!

They must have a standing search for "black and white cookies" and re-tweet comments of the delightful treats (I'd like to see them kick it up a notch and engage more with Twitter users, but its a good start!)

Emma Email Marketing
@lindsaydoyle had asked for recommendations for an email marketing company and I offered up Emma.

@lindsaydoyle check out http://www.myemma.com/. Heard these guys talk, they were great

Not five minutes later I got this tweet:

@emmaemail @amynowacoski Hey Amy, saw your mention of Emma and just wanted to say thanks for the kind words. Curious - where'd you hear us talk?

We proceeded to have a great little chat about Steve Turney and Jim Hitch whom I had heard speak about email marketing.

Now these are just a small handful of tweets out of the ocean of Twitter that may seem insignificant. However, they did accomplish two things. I was charmed enough by the interaction that I am now following both @BWCookieCompany and @emmaemail. But more importantly, they have both created a fan and supporter. Should I ever have a need for mail-order black and white cookies or an email marketing service, I have a contact at the ready. I will also be more apt to recommend these companies to my personal network should the need arise.

        

Today, Oprah will begin using Twitter. She'll have Ashton Kutcher on her show to discuss the medium. This bring up a whole bunch of questions for me:

Is this is beginning of the end of Twitter?
There seems to be a trend - once an entity goes mainstream (and you can't get more mainstream than Oprah), the thought-leaders, the cool kids move on to a different arena, they hunt for something edgier. Will this happen to Twitter? Will Twitter be so bogged down with the potential millions of new users that will flock to Twitter because Oprah says so, that Twitter will cease to function. Twitter goes over capacity even on good days, Oprah's minions have the potential to break Twitter and break it good.

How is Twitter going to make money?
Twitter has no revenue stream currently. Oprah's magic wand has made a lot of people a lot of money. Look at her book club and how its vaulted unknown authors into the stratosphere. With no way of making money in the present, what does that mean for Twitter? What does the Twitter of tomorrow look like?

Why follow celebrities on Twitter?
I've look at Ashton Kutcher's Twitter stream and there is not a single tweet that is of value to me. Same with Shaq, and so far, even Oprah leaves me cold. Why do people follow celebrities? What value do they add to your life or is it pure voyeurism. Do we really care what they say?

There are many many more questions this brings up. Share them here and let's figure it out!

        

I've been looking at how different people are using social media in their communication strategies and I've come to realize there are three main element that are necessary for success - Content creation, connecting to your followers and engaging with them.

Create

Social media is really about creating and sharing content. You create tweets people look forward to reading. Blogs that are chock full of good opinions or great content. Without creating value through content all you're doing is talking to yourself.

Connect

The whole point of social media is to generate a following. You want people to follow you and think you are a rock star. But that is just level of connection. You want people to connect with your message, connect with your passions and become passionate about you. You want followers to become fans and then become your supporters. Another level of connection is to connect your followers with other people you feel they can grow connections with. You need to be the conduit by which other people are inspired by. Kim Werker summed it up brilliantly on Twitter: @kpwerker Epiphany: Screw self promotion. Promote others. End of story. Pass it on.

Engage

So you got great content, links fly out of your mouse. You've got followers and fans. Now what? Engage and be engaging. Ask questions, solve problems, comment, pat backs, get involved. Social media is social after all. If you're just blowing out posts talking about how awesome you are, that gets boring. Picture yourself as the host of a fabulous party and its your job to keep it interesting.