The Worst iPad App List Ever
Okay maybe not the worst ever but weaksauce to be sure. Why? Because it’s late Wednesday, I am pressed for a post, don’t want to think too much before a holiday weekend, because I am drinking a big glass of wine right now.
iPad for business
The iPad is more than just a cool iToy, it has so many possibilities for small business as yes I can get actual WORK done.
News
- Flipboard makes every iPad app list and rightly so; it’s freakin’ cool. Great for news, random interests with social integration for easy sharing.
- USA Today and the WSJ are my national news apps. The AJC and My Fox5 are my Atlanta apps. There’s also a MobileRSS reader which, needs to get used more, the WeatherChannel and ESPN.
Productivity
- Evernote. Already in love with this little wonder, as it’s on my iPad and in Chrome; not sure if I need to download the desktop client too but this is great. My favorite thing is how well it syncs so that what I start in one place, I can finish in another.
- Dragon Dictate just rocks. Everyone I show this ‘talk to type’ app just “AHs” at how far we’ve come.
- Dropbox. Ah The Cloud, so fluffy and pretty. Updated mine, trying to get a better handle on what to keep there and what I want to ‘sync’ both there and on the computers.
- Skype is on there too, though I’ve used Facetime more for conference calls.
Best of the Rest
- Social – Part work, part play .. social media is here to stay. (See also, why I ain’t a poet.) The official Twitter client (because TweetDeck for iPad has vanished from the app store?!) and Friendly for Facebook top the list. My blog is on WordPress, so that app is there though it needs improvements such as ways to sync the iPad drafts with the real ones online.
- Games – These are important! Killing smirking green pigs instead of demanding, bitchy clients keeps me out of trouble. Not to mention prison. Solitaire is a must.
- Fun – Shazam and Soundhound are good for music lovers, I’ve got movie and shopping apps, need to buy some ebooks someday, got a few photo fun apps, TV.. plenty of distractions.
One thing you’ll notice, these are mostly free or very low-cost apps for the premium versions. These are also the usual suspects as I am still exploring, looking for good alternative browsers, file managers, printing clients, anything to get work done. Where do you find the good apps, any secret gems you’d like to share?
Who’s Minding the Store? Vacation and the Solo Pro
You run a small business or are a solo practitioner, lawyer or PR pro like myself, there are times you’ll be out of the office. Happens.
Small business owners need breaks and vacations like anyone else, maybe even more. We all know the recooperative benefits of vacation: you unplug, unwind, let your hair down and do nekid keg stands with random strangers, and hope no one drunk and dials, slaps the photos on Facebook. Ahem. 
I’m going on vacation next week and have already thought about it, how I’ll disconnect from the world. I’ll go into technology withdrawal and hit DTs by the 2nd day, so a mid week email check is my standard M.O., but it’ll also be good to be off the Twitters and Interwebs for a while.
Fast Company has good advice for executives taking vacations, applies to anyone. Here’s my advice for a Solo PR taking much deserved vacation time:
Mind the Store
- Prepare. I’ve already let clients know my schedule, advanced projects to give them things to review while I’m gone so that nothing gets delayed. Double checked all the calendars and deadlines, making sure I am covered.
- Delegate. I have a design colleague who can step in for emergencies while I am gone. Maybe it is a virtual assistant or intern but assign a go-to person if you can, or give an employee a chance to shine.
- Email. Turned off a few subscriptions and alerts and set my auto responder, to reply only once per address (hopefully), so I’m not some idjit who does it wrong.
- Social Media. Should you maintain presence in social media in case the stalkers miss you? YMMV.
- Twitter. I’ve decided a placeholder tweet will do, a simple announcement that I’m off the Twitters.
- Blog. I’ve arranged for a guest post but if that didn’t work out, I’d have just announced a haitus a la John Stossel’s blog. Luckily for YOU dear readers, the fantabulous Jenn Whinnem will be stepping in for me. Look forward to reading what she has to share, as she brings the guest blogging awesomesauce. Play nice kids.
A little prior planning and preparation will make your vacation more relaxing, so you’re not worrying about things back at the store. That and lots of umbrella cocktails. Later!
Photo credit: National Lampoon’s Vacation. © 1983 Warner Bros. For a nice breakdown of the illustration, check out this post.
Give up already. Marketing Perfection, Thy Name is Illusion
That is right: Perfect is a myth, frankly total bullshit.
Nothing is perfect, not your dream TV couple, not the fine steak paired with an excellent Bordeaux, not your latest blog post or marketing campaign, and certainly not your business.
Perfection is beauty, it’s all in the eye of the beholder, the reader, the user and ultimately, the paying customer.
Time to let go
Been working on a business card update for nigh unto forever. Cannot settle on a design because I always do better for others, over-thinking it like it’s rocket surgery. I can’t make a decision because I always think the better idea will come to me.
It hasn’t, and since the worst decision is often doing nothing, my latest update is headed to the printer.
Get it done already
You have a great idea and an amazing team. Why are you waiting? So what if your business plan isn’t “perfect” foolproof; nothing is. You learn by mistakes.
Don’t wait, launch now, DONE is better. Get to market early, and pay attention. Flexibility and adaptability give you speed an agility, great assets for small business. Focus on what works, fix what doesn’t.
First impressions still count
Don’t let the rush to market leave you unprepared. Do your homework, have a plan. If my business card wasn’t spell checked or left off my website address, I’d look like a bad designer and communicator.
Believe in your product and service, amaze your customers from the start with that great first impression.
Worrying about your website? You should as it’s often the first place people meet you, but you can’t let that intimidate you. Start with the basics.
- Content: Focus on what matters most: The Ws. Make that FRONT page and blog the best outfit you can, then worry about the right accessories like special effects. If you only have a good home page, a blog, and of course the contact page, go ahead and get it online. Now.
- Design. Maybe you start with one WordPress theme, then find a better one. Change it (it’s relatively free). Modify it to maintain a color scheme, font consistency but make the improvements. Show your customers that you’re always making things better.. for them.
- Strategy. You have to plan, tackle that pesky SEO, make sure all the referring links from your social media sites and business directories work and that Google can find you. Find a pro, use an optimizer, install a plugin. Get it done.
What has held you and your small business back? The strive for perfection. Give up.
Photo credit: Despair makes awesome posters and calendars. You can buy them.
Atlanta Public Relations, Marketing and Social Media
FlashForward Marketing: The Future of Your Campaign
I’ve read so many great posts on the metrics of marketing, public relations and social media campaigns. This week Chris Penn had one of the simplest, smartest analogies I have read in a while:
“Diagnostic metrics tell you how the trip is going. Objective metrics tell you when you’re there.”
For more insights into ROI, I’ll refer you to the far superior wisdom of Conversation Agent from Valerie Maltoni and Olivier Blanchard’s The Brand Builder.
When it comes to results, what’s the endgame, where are we trying to go?
I am a sci-fi, fantasy drama fan. I watch Lost, Fringe, V and right now on Hulu, I am time shifting, multitasking and watching FlashForward.
The FlashForward premise: via some Rube Goldberg whosie whatsit, everyone on the planet blacked out and saw six months into their futures, two and half minutes’ worth. The next step, the bigger part of the story, is what they do with that foreknowledge.
Skip to the end of the story
Since I was a wee lass majoring in Advertising and PR at LSU–Geaux Tigers!–I’ve been a peek at the last page then work towards the center thinker. Why?
To oversimplify egregiously: Some formula of Product X or Service Y for Brand Z times the requisite Marketing Mix of Ps in the overall business plan kick starts your campaign. You advertise, you promote, you sell, you serve your customers, you measure, you follow-up, you watch and learn. Lather, rinse, repeat.
If the desired target for reach, frequency, all those promotional G-spots was a certain number, I always did my media planning from there and worked backwards. I worked the problem from both directions, met in the middle.
FlashForward your current projects or campaigns and think about what you see.
- Success. What’s the win, the grand slam, the brass ring? Sweeping successes of blog posts, Facebook fans and likes, gushing press coverage. Sounds good but it’d be meaningless if it also didn’t translate to increased sales, higher stock prices and greater brand value.
- Fail. If you don’t see success, then what? Now is your chance to change things, take your new foreknowledge and revamp your current campaign.
We don’t live in the TV world with snazzy clothes and perfect hair and beautiful people, so we can’t see the future. Or can we? I for one am a believer in research, research, research for clues to what he future may hold.
Small businesses cannot always afford the focus groups and panel studies, but they can still survey the field, look ahead to what they want, where they plan to be in six months.
Flash forward, work backwards, make it happen. Any deep thoughts on planning and strategy, share them here.
Smart Marketing 101: Being helpful wins business
I’ve had a busy week of personal and technical difficulties, and just gotta single out a few folks. Sort of.
Real Mac Software is a smart company, and has a great community in place to offer suggestions, develop companion products. As a result they have an active user base on their forums, offering user-to-user technical support and there are many fine folks on the RapidWeaver forums, who have provided invaluable assistance over the years.
A couple days ago one such individual (from the Netherlands!) made of awesome sauce even rolled up his sleeves, jumped right in and SOLVED MY PROBLEM. The next morning, I gave him some PayPal love, happy to do it.
Being helpful earned this guy some business.
I called a service agency yesterday and “met” the most helpful person in the world regarding my problem. She listened patiently, offered smart suggestions, even pointed out things for me to look out for as I vet her competitors. It’s personal, so I won’t give the company name or hers but I will say this: if I need her services, she is so hired.
Seriously this is how you train your employees and customer service reps:
- Be real, listen and respond thoughtfully without the hard sell
- Be helpful, offer worthwhile suggestions and meaningful advice
- Be honest, be nice, give straight forward answers with professional respect
Being helpful may win this woman and her company some business.
In fact in the last 48 hours I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with a number of open, helpful people. And in a way it has me rethinking things every so slightly.
While I’ll always BOLO for the tire kickers and brain pickers, I am more than happy to discuss your public relations or marketing project with you. I had such a conversation with a nice woman a few weeks ago, and while she failed one of my qualifiers (cannot get a return email, or short RFP from her) I’m still glad I took the call.
If you need marketing communications, public relations or social media for your small business, I’m here to help.
Has being helping to others helped your business? Tell me how.