I just switched over from Accessline to Kall8 for my 800 number. I wanted to save a few bucks and I read all their online materials. It looked like a good move. Since 1-800-WICKED-8 is one I’ve had for forever, I wanted to retain it. I like it. It’s cool. So, it was worth trouble to fill out and fax the forms and wait for the transfer to retain it.

Now I have Kall8 and today, I try to get my first fax. Uh-oh…

After five calls (all of which charged me, of course) I discovered that unlike the previous service, Kall 8 doesn’t differentiate between a fax and a voice call. Result? I get fax calls forwarded to my main line, which then forwards to my cell.

I try to log on, using my welcome email. It says to save it, since it has the login information I’ll need. Only problem is… it doesn’t have it. It’s not on there anywhere!

So, I call support.

I’m cut off after ten minutes of hold time… TWICE. (Now, I’m agitated.)

They do call back fairly quickly, however, and tell me that the only way to make that work is to set the account to zero settings… meaning I get no voice calls either. She tells me if I need both, I should get a second 800 number. (Kinda negates the whole “all-in-one” concept, doesn’t it?) *sigh*

I had looked through the website and saw nothing indicating this little issue. So, I asked where that information was listed online, or in any correspondence I’d received. She confirmed that it wasn’t on the website. (Isn’t that nice?) I sent her the email I’d received. She couldn’t find my login info on there either, so she gave it to me.

I request to be transferred to a supervisor and (of course) had to leave a message.

Assistant Manager, Craig Becker, calls me back late that afternoon. I explain my concerns and tell him how inconvenient it is to have to log into the website, move my rings to zero seconds, wait for a fax, then log back in and bump it back up so I can get voice calls.

He says I can try setting it to 10 seconds and just don’t pick up the phone when I’m expecting a fax. I told him that I would not have switched to this service if I’d had this, very important, information beforehand. He said there was no way for them to know what every user might need and to cover that in the marketing materials.

I feel that this is rather important since his competition offers this automatically. He also said that he had no idea what his competitors were offering. I said, “You don’t keep up with what features your competition offers?” (this seems incredible to me, but what do I know?) He said no.

Hmmm…

And it’s not exactly false advertising, since you can have voice and fax on the same number, just as long as you don’t expect it to be handled like other services handle it. Theirs is a manual system. I miss not having to even think about the difference, much less juggle the two call types and determine if I need to answer the phone or check the caller ID to determine if it’s a client or a fax.

The settings are now changed to 10 seconds on my account. This might work, might not, since it’s forwarded to my main number. We shall see. I’ll give it a little while to see if it’s worth the hassle to switch back. I never had a problem with Accessline, BTW. Great customer support too… but a stiffer cost per month.

So, if you are planning to move to another service (not just Kall8) and expect that you will be able to use it for both your fax and voice (which you may be accustomed to doing), be sure to ask that question specifically.

If you don’t, you may be enjoying the same view I’m gazing over at the moment. *grimace*

It’s not so pretty from here.

(Note: Cool phonebooth photo courtesy of Grafixar on MorgueFile.com)

A friend contacted me last night with a quandary…

He wanted to learn to write with a bit more passion. He felt his style was more journalistic than persuasive. He asked if I had any pointers.

So, at midnight, during a 15-minute-cross-country-guerrilla-approach-to-writing session, we covered the following basics:

Grab them with the title

If you don’t pique the audience’s interest with the title, they won’t read any more of your story. Tell them in a quick, pithy style why the rest of the story is something they need to know. Advertise what’s in it for them or intrigue them.

Example:
Change the boring title, “The Current Economy’s Downturn Impacts Designers and Fashion Entrepreneurs in New York”  to “NYC Designers Weather Economy With Style!”

Starting out

At the top you summarize what you are going to say and ask the “w” question that your writing teacher never told you “Who gives a …. a…. hang?” (*Yeah, that works*) Tell them first why it matters to them.

You can’t give away all the information at the top because all the information isn’t contained inside your story. Online, the tentacles and supporting information will go out to hook other webpages.

After the first “w” question, THEN you go on to the classic “Who, What, Where, When and How” of the story.

Break down paragraphs

In standard writing, meaty paragraphs are a good thing. Paper likes large chunks of gray space. The web doesn’t. Online you should:

• Use short paragraphs
• Trim up your sentences
• Make your writing easy to scan

The shape of content to come

Forget what you learned in school and ditch the “reverse pyramid.” Writing is not a simple linear practice online. You don’t skip along from most important facts to least.

Think of your story structure more like an egg; less pointy, more rounded and appealing. The title is your hook, followed by a general statement that summarizes the story. Fill in the “yolk” with details and examples. Add links and sprinkle liberally with bullets to capsulize the essential points. Conclude with a summary.

On the web, content gains depth and dimension through diagrams, graphics, inter-textual links to related outside resources. This doesn’t happen in the lead paragraph. It happens in the middle.

Be conversational

Stilted, sterile language doesn’t work. Your visitors want a comfortable way to absorb information. If you don’t provide it, someone else will. Readers need clarity with warmth. They seek knowledgeable, easy-to-digest resources. Humor is worth bonus points.

The mantra in business used to be “keep it professional.” Internet trends have encouraged us to “keep it personal” online and find ways to bridge the geographic distance by decreasing the psychological and social distance between individuals.

So, speak to your audience the same way you would speak to a friend. Use natural word choices and tone. Let your personality shine through. After all, that’s what will keep them coming back.

When writing for the web, hook your reader with a title too interesting to ignore. Answer the first “w” question right away and tell them the gist of what you plan to say. Answer the five standard questions (who, what, where, when, why and how) and illustrate them with examples from additional resources. Then summarize the article and bid them farewell.

And, yes, amping up your web writing really can be this easy!

(photo courtesy of kesh of morguefile.com)

I’ve always adored Halloween. That and St. Patrick’s Day have always been my favorite holidays. I know, I’m weird. I’m accustomed to getting that response.

My “wicked” business theme was launched back on October 31st, 2002. And, even though I have changed the business name, I managed to retain the “wicked.” I like it.  I like the double entendre of bad and good. I like that it was “born” in October. Despite the warnings I received on selecting that theme, it has served me well and continues to do so. So, even with my business I celebrate the Halloween holiday.

I’ve never really been into jack-o-lanterns or ghosts or most of the more traditional Halloween imagery… except for witches and bats. I think the witchy imagery is fun and bats… well, I find them to be intriguing animals.

This year, for Halloween, my son gave me a sterling silver bat charm. I collect sterling silver charms. (He knows I love them.) This one is amazing. It’s not a tiny little thing — it’s a full two inches long! It feels like it weighs a pound! It’s solid and three dimensional. (I’ve never liked those one-sided flat charms, I like cool ones — and this one is awesome.)

It’s in the sleeping position, all snugly wrapped up in wings and hanging upside down, shaped like a bullet. He picked it up at a Renaissance festival this summer. I’m currently wearing it on a long chain and I’m enjoying it more with each passing day.

Today, I starting wondering what attracted me to bats and decided to do a little research on symbolism. I thought I’d share my findings with you (just in case anyone else out there likes bats and isn’t sure why).

Holiday Symbolism

Bats are a common image because when this season’s bonfires are lit, it attracts the insects that, in turn, attract the bats for a feeding frenzy. Since this happens in the fall, bats are seen as a symbol of transition and change — in the season and in the human experience.

Bats represent: Social relationships, communication, motherhood

It is a symbol of communication. Native Americans observed bats to be highly social creatures with strong family ties. They are nurturing, exhibiting verbal communication, touching, and sensitivity to members of their group. Bats are sensitive to their surroundings and are seen as intuitive, with the ability to see through illusion and discern truth. Devotion of the Bat totem will never fade, encouraging the journey to achieve the highest possible potential from an individual. (Information paraphrased from this page on Animal Totems)

Since bats are the only winged creatures to suckle their young, they are also a symbol of motherhood (and by association… fertility and sexuality… which is also supported by the dwelling in caverns in the “womb” of mother earth.)

East vs. West: Symbolism of the Bat

Westerners hold a more negative view of this creature, possibly because of the dual nature of winged and mammal, or because it’s nocturnal.

Eastern cultures view the bat as a symbol of wealth, longevity, peace, good health and a good death. In China, the symbol for bat is “fu” — which is also the symbol for “good luck.”

“Sometimes four bats are shown surrounding a fifth bat or five bats circulate around a stylized symbol for longevity.  In both cases, the five bats stand for the Five Happinesses:  wealth, long life, peace, cultivation of virtue (or sometimes good health), and a good death… a Chinese bat (or simply the character for fu) will sometimes be placed upside down.  That orientation derives from the fact that the words for “upside down” and “to arrive” also sound the same in Chinese (dao), such that the upside down bat means that good luck has arrived.” (taken from this page on tattoo symbolism)

The Maya culture of Central America considers the bat a type of guardian god — a god of fire. Images of bats were used to decorate pottery and funerary urns.

A Mis-match of other interpretations of bats:

Bats are symbolic of rebirth and can mean (in dreams) that you need to release the outmoded ways of doing things to permit a new, better way to enter your life because your old habits no longer suit your new opportunities. They also demonstrate that sight with eyes is only one way to know the world.

Personally, I relate to the fact that it is naturally nocturnal and is adept at finding its way — even when things seem completely dark (and foreboding). So after a little research, the idea of rebirth, changing outmoded views, being intuitive and maternal, focusing on communication and the five happinesses — it all makes me much more happy with my fascination with these little creatures.

Other interpretations may be more “dark” and negative - but these fit my world view and the classic, traditional interpretation of bats and bat symbols make me happy. And I love my charm (thanks, sweetie!)

Being “sociable” on the web can have huge payoffs. Provider-customer communications have never been more important. In the old face-to-face days, small business owners maintained a manageable number of extremely loyal clients, all of whom were accustomed to seeing the small business owner in person.

If customers had a concern, a question, a request or a problem — the business owner was there, in person, to work it out.

Social networking and web 2.0 (yeah, I know, I’m tired of those phrases too) are high tech tools offering new delivery platforms to achieve this classic caliber of old-time service.

• Loyal customers develop as a result of good relationships. (Give someone a bad experience when they are buying products or services, without remedy, and they will probably not come back.)
• If you have a relationship and there is a problem and you FIX the problem personally, they will not only come back, they will love you for going “above and beyond.” This scenario will build loyalty more than a flawless experience.
• They will talk about you. If you give excellent service or exceedingly poor service, your customers will tell others. That word-of-mouth advertising will make or break your business — especially online.

Social networking helps you to build strong, personal relationships with potential and existing clients, even though you may never meet them “face-to-face.” The new social tools permit personal interaction even before the first sale. It also offers an amazing built-in referral network.

If you aren’t currently participating, consider broadening your horizons. Select one or two platforms from the major players, fill out your profile page and join in the conversation.

Quit being a wall-flower at the Internet dance!

(NOTE: photo courtesy of Clarita at MorgueFile.com)

I blog. I’ve blogged since the turn of the century. (I just love saying that!)

I love saying it, even though it makes me sound like I’m sitting in a bentwood rocker, creaking slowly back and forth, reflecting on my long-ago wonder years.

During the course of the last decade, it occurs to me that, when it comes to blogging, there are four distinct groups of people.

Early adopters:

Some people understood the blogging concept from the get-go. They just “got” it. These were big-picture “Wow!” folks.

There are some forward-thinking folks that fall into this category, but even those bright-eyed optimists in the early days of blogging were usually shocked at the outpouring of benefits and followers of this new format for online communications and (a bit later) for relationship-building.

Gee-whiz folks:

Others, like me, took the plunge because I have a bad case of the “can’t help its.” This format, with the “coolage” factor of technology with an Internet platform from which I can climb on my soapbox proved irresistible. (It was called a “web log” back when I started.)


I’ll admit that I did my blogging anonymously in the early days, before I was quite comfortable with this “complete transparency” concept.

The folks in my group may or may not “get” how important blogging is to a small business, but they do it because… like any other opportunity to write… it must be done or because their inner geek cries out for it.

The opportunity to publish my stuff in a WORLD-WIDE forum was just too alluring to ignore. I started with small, personal vignettes, and moved up to articles on technology, marketing, real estate, politics and personal opinions. Those of us in this group quickly discovered the many layers of benefits. Many of us became blogging evangelists.

The “but” folks:

Some recognize that they NEED to blog, even if they aren’t exactly sure why. Maybe someone they trust told them they should. Maybe someone harassed them enough to get them started.

Some members of this group, know they need to blog, they understand the importance, but they never seem to find the time.

The members of this group usually don’t blog or at least they don’t blog for long. They are the reason that so many new blogs, like new businesses, fail in the first few months.

There is always something a bit more important to do, or they genuinely doubt the long-term advantages. These are the same folks that have business leads sitting on their desk that are days, or weeks, old. They really intend to get to them, but they never quite manage to do so in a timely fashion. It’s sad.

Case-study: I was meeting with a client this week. I’ve been preaching “blog” at this guy for over two years now. I even showed him a blogger in his own market a year ago and said, “This is your competition — he’s going to eat you alive because he blogs and you won’t.”

His response? “I never heard of him.”

(Note: a few months later, said competing blogger powned most of the best search terms in my client’s market.) The client ignored this and refused to discuss said blogger with me anymore. It became a not-so-silent point of contention.

Suddenly, this week, he calls all excited.

After agreeing to do regular blogging for 30 days — JUST this ONE month — he’s seeing a huge boost in his Google results on his key terms. Go figure. (I guess that 30-day challenge — which was my desperate final attempt to move him — was a better idea than I’d hoped!)

“This blogging thing,” he tells me, “it really works!”

“Oh?!?!” I reply, “this blogging thing? Really? Who’da thunk it?”

“No really!!” he insists, all jazzed up and trying to explain that he’s now a convert.

I roll my eyes silently, despite my quite audible huff, and am thankful that I’m not on webcam for this particular call.

All I can say is it’s a good thing that he’s a couple states away, or I may have been tempted to hop in my little car, drive to his office and shake him with my bare hands until his teeth rattled.

(Yes, I know that’s HORRIBLY unprofessional, but I don’t really care — that was my honest impulse.)

The best I can hope is that he will now blog on a regular basis. He’s already agreed to craft his titles with effective SEO in mind and with more thoughtful consideration on how to grab more attention from his visitors. We had a tutorial on that this week.

He has also endured “how to categorize” and “how to tag” tutorial sessions, so — who knows?!?! Maybe he finally has hopped the fence to become a believer. I guess stranger things have happened.

The nay-sayers:

Others don’t understand blogging, don’t trust bloggers and will purposefully never give any credence to blogs and their creators.

Case in point: My father. Just yesterday he and I had a conversation wherein he said, “I argued with him (a mutual friend) about this blog crap, and he’s like you… he thinks it’s great. I want MY news and information to come from a source that’s been vetted and checked and has at least had an editor look over it. I don’t care what someone without anything more than a computer and a website has to say about something.”

And my response, as a long-time blogger was rather snippy (it WAS my father, after all), “Yeah, I see how wonderfully well-researched and balanced the national news is these days as a result of following your prescription for perfection.” (This was a continuation of an earlier and ongoing debate about the way the election and every other important news item is being covered — or not covered — by today’s media.) We like this debate (we must) because we have it often.

He “humphed,” and I “humphed.”

I reminded him that I’d been a journalist, a newspaper editor, and had been making my living as a writer and researcher for nearly ten years now and that I blogged.

He summarily excused me from the “bloggers” category he was blasting. (There are some advantages to being an offspring — like being excused from a group of wayward souls by your parentals.)

I “humphed!” again.

His views however, are fairly common. Many people assume that online conversations are meaningless. They assume that bloggers don’t take the time to verify their sources. Sometimes that may be true. After all, it’s often true with journalists. (I know — I used to check the sources on some of my reporters’ stories before printing them.)

Because he thinks blogs are unimportant, it never ceases to amaze him when I pop up in a Google search on the front page. I try to explain how and why, but I might as well be describing the attributes of magic.

He now uses the “customer reviews” on his favorite websites, but flatly refuses to ever leave any feedback of his own. He won’t do it.

So I know he understands the value of “collective” experience and collective thought being shared about specific computer products on, say, NewEgg.com (his favorite online vendor). But he feels no responsibility to reciprocate or participate in the building of that knowledge base. (I’m still working on that one with him.)

To try to explain micro-blogging and twitter to my father makes him ready to fight. So, I give up.

The fact is, my father doesn’t really need blogging (he has me to listen to him on his soapbox) and he doesn’t need twitter (although he’d enjoy it and learn a lot if he’d permit himself to try). Pops doesn’t run a small business and he can just forget about the conversations on the web and the cutting edge thinking and continue digesting the pablum that the national media outlets dispense. (And, I told him as much.)

My clients… and YOU — if you are working on the web… can’t afford to ignore it. Blogs aren’t dead. They are stronger than ever, it’s just not as easy to own (pown) your niche now as it was a few years ago.

And despite what you may have heard, the new microblogs, relationship marketing, and other forms of social media haven’t replaced blogging. They have augmented blogging and have brought a whole new, shorter format to the online, immediate communications realm. Personally, I find it all quite alluring.

Since last Tuesday, I’ve had no voice. Literally. I was in the middle of a meeting (by phone) with a client at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning when my voice started getting softer and higher pitched until it was completely gone.

It was like a frog jumped in my throat and squatted there, quite comfortable in the new digs, and refused to budge. (more…)

I’m tired of hearing the same old words used to describe nothing in particular — and I’m in a largish club. (more…)

I’ve been following the LiveScribe Pen product since it was announced several months ago, and it occurs to me that this would be a great way for real estate agents to record meetings (and take notes) with both buyers and sellers.

How cool would it be to tap on your notes to “replay” the list of features that a potential buyer wants (when you didn’t quite have time to jot them all down?)

Personally, I’d love a way to hook this into a phone so I could take notes while consulting with a client and have the conversation “searchable” when I’m reviewing notes and completing tasks (with the client’s permission of course).

The chat-boards are already talking about my ideal paper solution — a Moleskin pocket sized notebook with the dot-pattern. Now THAT would be an awesome portable solution for this pen-and-paper loving tech-geek!

If you have a FaceBook account and want a chance at winning a pen — before they are available for sale, join the LiveScribe group. (Find out how here.) They go on sale at the end of this month.

(I’m getting a technology itch again, dang it!)

I was asked (by colleague and nature writer JJ Murphy) this weekend if a blog chain was good for marketing. She asked me several questions:

1. What is the marketing value, if any in a blog chain?
2. Does it make sense to reply back to a comment on your site?
3. Is there a marketing advantage to guest blogging?
4. Does any of this help in search engine ranking?

(more…)

Simplicity is the key to effective communication. When you give someone your business card, you want them to remember your name, what you do and be able to contact you (or recommend you to someone else). You also hope that your meeting (in person or virtual) is a memorable one.

If you have a business website or a blog site, you don’t need to go into detail on your business card, you just need to give them a way to get more information. That’s enough.

I’ve dropped using a physical address on my own business cards. After all, in my business, does it really matter where I live and work? Nope. It only matters that people can call me, email me and visit me online to learn more — if they are so inclined.

(more…)

My buddy and peer, Katie Baird, over on Loosely Speaking Blog tagged me in her blog yesterday with a meme on blogging tips.

The rules of this meme are that I star the five items I think most important, and then add my own tips at the end. And, of course, tag other bloggers. Here goes. (more…)

I’m going to veer recklessly off course from my typical blog entries today. It’s been a difficult week, so overlook me…

I’ve always been drawn to decorated band rings. I like fanciful engravings on basic bands. (Think Victorian and Edwardian era stuff - laurel leaves, ivy and acorns.)

I like the idea of decorating the plain, of giving the simple more depth. I like functional art. Whatever that makes me, so be it. I like symbolism and the meanings conveyed in natural items and decorative invocation of the symbolic power of those items.

In the same way, I want to live in a simple house and eat from my over-done, fanciful, renaissance-styled sterling flatwear. I know that may sound contradictory, but I think that we should have the beauty we want in the things we need, rather than having art knick-knacks or examples that can only be admired and never touched, held, enjoyed and used. Museums are wonderful places, and I love them, but I wouldn’t want to live in one. I prefer my home and my life to incorporate the beautiful into the everyday. (more…)

I’ve only recently discovered “Oblique Strategy Cards” — now available in a fifth edition. Apparently I’m a little slow sometimes, but I LOVE the concept.

They are, according to the creators:

Observations on the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognized in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated.

They can be used as a pack (a set of possibilities being continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case,the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident.

(more…)

This site not only lets you read books on the iPhone (optimized for the iPhone, I might add and viewable only FROM an iPhone), but it also lets you upload your own books to this online format. Worth a look: http://textoniphone.com

I’ve always had difficulty with my two polar opposite sides — the side that loves a good pen and quality paper, and the other side that adores all things techie. The only thing that marries the two in me is sharing the same goal: Effective Communication.

Now, I find a new (upcoming) product called LiveScribe that just may be the answer. It may be just another jaunt down a technology rabbit hole, but it appears to have promise.

It not only records your writing, but also the audio of the situation. Sounds perfect for conferences, college classes and the like — IF the audio is high enough quality and the memory space is enough that the pen doesn’t fall into “overflow” shutdown at a critical moment.

Personally, I’m quite interested in learning more about this new product on the horizon (due to be released Q4 of this year). The only problem? It won’t use my beautiful fountain pen to do the writing and that’s a shame!

I have a client, a Realtor, with a particularly hairy situation. This genuinely nice individual has managed to become entrenched in the mire with a unethical builder. Normally, I’d find this situation incredible — but I’ve watched it develop and it has made me wary of such situations for my other clients.

I know that times are hard for many in the industry right now. I know that people are running scared as the houses sit and the inventory increases. Builders are hard hit, real estate professionals are starting to struggle, even the general public is starting to worry and sweat what Forbes Magazine is calling a Recession Dead Ahead. But, as I read over the letter that this particular builder is now posting all over the Internet, blaming the Realtor and the broker for all the problems he and his family are experiencing, I just have to shake my head. (more…)

My peer, writer JJ Murphy of WriterByNature.com, sent me a great little link this morning to http://www.truemajorityaction.org/oreos/
where Ben Cohen (of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream) solves the federal budget issues with a few packages of Oreo Cookies as presentation tools. Nicely done!

If you want to be better informed, more politically active, or would simply enjoy being entertained — visit the TrueMajority website and watch the animated presentation.

I finally signed up for Twitter. I’ll be investigating several options for ways to incorporate that type of “quick update” here on WickedBlog for those times when I’ve got a quick little something to say and I’m out and about with the iPhone.

I’m testing two iPhone Twitter options now: (more…)

Curious about the speed of your iPhone? Want to find out how it stacks up to other iPhone owners — to other areas in the EDGE network? Check your speed on an iPhone specific tiny speed test online.

Just for comparison… The average speeds for all ATT EDGE tests run between 121 and 138 kbits per second with 783 msec latency.

Mine tested out at a snails pace — sitting here in the middle of Lexington, KY: 85 kbps. Humph!

(Note: Image taken from Morguefile.com courtesy of photographer semacc.)

Ok, I admit it looks a little rough — but I work with what I have — the important part is that it was quick and fun to create this little multi-media mini-me. If you want to do the same, visit www.Gizmoz.com.