Turn complainers into loyal customers

No one likes handling a disgruntled customer, but a complaint can actually be a good thing, because it means that the customer wants to continue doing business with you. And, if you manage the complaint in a timely and efficient manner, 95% of complainers will continue doing business with you. That's what put Nordstrom on the map. The company gave an unconditional guarantee that if a customer was unhappy with a purchase for any reason, Nordstrom would provide a replacement or a refund--without any red tape--100% of the time. Like Nordstrom, you can turn complainers into loyal customers.

From: "4 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Sales."

What is Meddle?

Meddle lets you select and comment on excerpts from articles, and with one click, publish them as a blog post, a tweet, Facebook message and/or LinkedIn message.

Wise words

Wise words. pic.twitter.com/yU0yW7XdIR

— Ash Ketchum (@AshOfPalletTown) September 29, 2013

Steve Jobs' Advice for Entrepreneurs

Jobs' excellent advice for entrepreneurs.

Google is testing new AdSense ad units

Google testing new AdSense ad units that scrollably expand (like an accordion). also round arrow vs old square one pic.twitter.com/tPDLe5H3ot

— aaron wall (@aaronwall) September 8, 2013

If you can fake it, you can make it

"The only thing stopping you from becoming what you want [to be], is you".

Quick response from Hootsuite

After contacting them, Hootsuite was able to fix the scheduling bug pretty quickly.

@hiperkarma It was a widespread issue but we've just made a small change. Please try again and let us know! ^NW

— HootSuite Helpers (@HootSuite_Help) August 20, 2013

Hootsuite scheduling bug

Turns out I'm not the only one getting frustrated because of Hootsuite's latest bug.

@hootsuite Here's the latest message to get stuck trying to schedule. pic.twitter.com/RqT4LfXjED

— Paul O'Rear (@paulorear) August 19, 2013

Since yesterday, when you try to schedule a message, the Hootsuite send button will sometimes just "hang there". When it happens you aren't able to send any other messages for at least a few hours. Logging out and back in again doesn't help. I hope Hootsuite fixes this quickly.

I am a long time Hootsuite user and I like their product, but I hate how their constant (mostly cosmetic) "upgrades" always end up breaking one or more things.

When Tweets go wrong

When you want to tweet a link to an infographic, don't get so carried away with adding hashtags that you forget to include your link.

Social business news (Infographic). #socbiz #Marketing #jive #adobe #ibm #Oracle #salesforce #hootsuite

— Jim Lundy (@JimLundy) August 3, 2013

When you notice your mistake, delete your old tweet and create a new one instead replying to the botched one with the link. And when you finally include the link, don't forget to add #s in front of your hashtags.

Social business news (Infographic). http://t.co/Rg9b9FzuZ6 #socbiz #Marketing #jive adobe IBM Oracle Salesforce hootsuite

— Jim Lundy (@JimLundy) August 3, 2013

Your Reputation is Priceless, Don't Damage It

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
--Warren Buffett

Over time, your reputation is the most valuable currency you have in business. It's the invisible key that either opens or closes doors of professional opportunity. Especially in an age where everything is forever recorded and accessible, your reputation has to be guarded like the most sacred treasure. It's the one item that, once lost, you can never get back.

Keep your eye on the prize

Connect what you're doing today, with where you want to be tomorrow. That should be all the incentive you need. If you can't map your future success to your current responsibilities, then it's time to find a new opportunity.

Don't Wait to Be Told What to Do

You'll never get ahead by waiting for someone to tell you what to do. Saying "nobody asked me to do this" is a guaranteed recipe for failure. Err on the side of doing too much, not too little. Don't act like a Millennial.

Free Mind Mapper

Mind maps are an excellent way to record brainstorming sessions. MyndBook is a free to use web service that lets its users create mind maps with ease.

You start by creating an account on the website either by providing your email address or by connecting your Facebook account. You can then create a 'book'. This book can have numerous pages on which you can add your mind maps.

Features:

• User-friendly.
• It's a web service. No need to install additional software on your computer, laptop or tablet.
• Mind maps can be shared with Facebook friends.
• Various nodes and branches can be created for your maps.
• It's free.
• Nodes and branches can be re-sized.
• You can add titles and descriptions for branches.

Advice from Pippa Malmgren

I've been very lucky; a lot of interesting things came my way. I used to be like the old Soviet Union with a rigid Five Year Plan. That worked well but I also learned to make room for surprises outside the original plan; it's a matter of finding a balance between the two.

If you love what you do, you'll be better at it than anybody and the money will follow.

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Cultures that do not accept, let alone celebrate, failure, don't have the capacity to innovate. Failure is needed in order to learn and innovate, and when you've nothing to lose, the opportunities for risk-taking and creativity drastically improve.

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All big businesses started out at the kitchen table or in the garage. Two thirds of the net new jobs are created by firms that employ fewer than 50 people. So SMBs are critical to economic success. They may not have easy access to capital, but this is actually a huge advantage for them. Capital constraints force them to act with immense discipline, and that's how good businesses are founded.

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Nobody tells you that running a small business is a character test. People will tell you your ideas are crazy. This forces you to decide what you really believe and to stand, usually alone, behind your beliefs.

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(Pippa Malmgren is a politics and policy expert who used to be Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Economic Policy on the National Economic Council and former member of the U.S. President's Working Group on Financial Markets.)

How to create the perfect #Tweet

Points to remember:

• avoid capitalizing words, unless you want to look as if you're shouting.
• link your tweet to a source but make sure it's worth a click.
• leave some empty space so people can add a comment when they share your tweet.

Mixamo Is Building A Platform For Game Developers To Create Their Own 3D Characters

With app stores becoming ever more competitive, game makers have had to upgrade from building 2D games to creating 3D titles. That has meant even more creative and intensive work for artists and producers.

Mixamo offers a web-based service that helps developers tool and animate 3D characters by making rigging and animation easier. A developer can upload the mesh for a character, place joint locators and locator rings to figure out how to make the character move, and then run Mixamo's auto-rigging software. For console titles, the company says they can cut the cost of 500 seconds of animations by anywhere from 70 to 80 percent compared to standard techniques like keyframing and motion capture.

How Your Brain Can Turn Anxiety into Calmness

Physician, author, speaker, researcher and consultant Martin L. Rossman, MD, discusses how to reduce stress and anxiety, relieve pain and change lifestyle habits.

Burglars are using social media sites to target you

The flip side of using social media.

Everything you share can and will be used against you.

The average person is exposed to 3,000 marketing message per day

7 Words You Should Avoid Using In Your Sales Pitch

1. Exciting

There is no word more boring than the word "exciting." Claiming that something is "exciting" tells everybody that it's not.

2. Innovative

Same here. I can't remember ever hearing Apple claim to be innovative; they just are. They don't have to point it out.

3. Honestly

When this word comes out of your mouth, it makes everything else you've said so far seem like you were probably lying.

4. Discount

Let's leave this tired old term back in the world where "But, wait! There's more!" is state-of-the-art sales patter. Look, your stuff has a price and maybe you've got some flexibility. But offering a "discount"? How cheesy.

5. Guarantee

Everyone in the world who has an ounce of sense knows that a "guarantee" means absolutely nothing.

6. Opportunity

Calling any sales situation an "opportunity" is telling the customer that you're all about closing the deal. Just like any other opportunist.

7. Collaborate

How did this dreadful word get into the business vocabulary, anyway? Yes, you've got to work together with people to get stuff done, but "collaborate"? Hey, that's what the Vichy France did with the Nazis.