Location Based Marketing Presentation Mobile Bay AAF

Below are the slides to my presentation “Location Based Marketing for Small Businesses” that I gave to the Mobile Bay AAF today.

Local Online Marketing Presentation – Dothan AAF

Below are the slides to my presentation to the Dothan, AL AAF on January 5, 2011.

Life is Fleeting


Sometimes things happen that remind us how fleeting life really is. Today, I reconnected with the family of my childhood best friend, Andrew. He and I met when we were 5 or 6 and were best friends until my family moved from South Carolina when I was 12. We initially kept in touch, but as we got older we spoke less and less. He came to my wedding in 2002 – and that may have been the last time I spoke with him.

I’ve often thought about him, wondered what he was doing. I even Googled his name, and searched for him on Facebook a time or two. But I never really tried to find him. I never really tried to reconnect.

Tonight his mom, who was like a mother to me, found me on Facebook and soon after I learned that Andrew had passed away. Wow. [Read more...]

Don’t Lie to Me

I called my old bank this afternoon because Amazon.com sent my monthly commission payment to a business account that I closed last month. I was routed to a customer service representative who asked me for my account number, which I didn’t have with me. I said, “I don’t have my account number, what do you need to look up the account?”

She said, “I have to have the full account number to look up your account.”

Whaaaa???

I said: “You can’t look up the account by my name or EIN?”

Her: “No, I have to have the full account number or check card number.”

Me: “So you’re telling me there is no way in your system to look up my account without one of those two numbers?”

Her: “Right.”

Me: “No one there can look up my account?”

Her: “No”

Me: “Let me speak to your supervisor, please.”

Supervisor: “Hello sir can you give me your EIN so I can look up your account?”

When you’re dealing with customers, don’t say you can’t do something if you technically can. Don’t say something isn’t possible if it is. Don’t lie to your customers.

I specifically asked her if it was technically possible to look up my account another way and she told me no. She also told me no one else would be able to help me. Two blatant lies.

Had she told me it was simply a policy not to look up accounts with anything other than an account or check card number, I would have asked for her supervisor much quicker (and more pleasantly) and the overall experience would have been completely different.

By the way, that’s one of the main reasons I’m no longer a customer of said bank.

SitePoint Marketing Bundle On Sale Today Only

SitePoint is having a Christmas Countdown sale, with a new featured special every day. Today they have an excellent marketing bundle up for sale, which includes my book, Online Marketing Inside Out, The SEO Business Guide, and SitePoint’s new Facebook Ads 101 course – all for only $99!

First, Online Marketing Inside Out is an introduction to online marketing, covering topics from planning your marketing strategy, email marketing, website optimization, pay per click marketing, and much more. The SEO Business Guide has everything you need to optimize your website for search engines, and was just updated in October 2010 with the newest information.

Facebook Ads 101 is a brand new course which starts on December 16. You’ll participate in a structured online video course with lessons
and tutorials, as well as have access to a private Q&A system. Once you purchase this deal, we’ll email you a link to enroll. Click on
the link, enroll, and you can start your lessons anytime.

Normally all these products would cost almost $275, so this is a huge discount. If you’ve got a website but need help getting to the next step, or are thinking of starting one, this bundle is for you. Head on over to SitePoint’s Christmas Countdown for more information.