The Now Button » Social Media

Don’t Burn Bridges

Trent Collins — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:59:14 +0000

It’s a saying that my dad would always tell to me, and I can remember it from a young age.

First I thought it was some way of trying to tell me not to play with matches, but I soon understood and now realise the importance of his advice all those years back (and to this day).

We no longer have a job for life, and in many cases most people do not stay at one particular organisation for more than a few years at best.

Now days your old client could be your new boss, your old boss could be your new client. If you work in a smaller industry where many people are know to each other, this can be amplified to be the best or wort thing that you could hope for.

Someone can be a contact, anyone can be a client but most of all everyone knows someone that you will deal with in the future.

I was given a lesson in this in the most spectacular detail a few months back.

I took on a new client that I had relationships with and was introduced to from multiple angles. They were a former business contact from a job several years back, I had met them at an industry function in a separate job, and the recommendation came through a former co-worker.

Any bad blood at a previous organisation might very well have ruined such an amazing opportunity proving that building bridges is much more prosperous than burning them.

I am Going to be a Loser This Year

Trent Collins — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:40:51 +0000

That’s right- I am not ashamed to say it- I want to be a loser.

I am not talking about the kid in the corner at school or the guy in the office we all know, I am talking about shedding the extra kilos that have somehow moved in with me over the years. And like any unwanted guest, they are notoriously hard to get rid of.

Having had our second child early last year and starting my own business from home, exercise seemed like the last thing I needed to concentrate on. My thinking was that if I wasn’t tending to one of the kids I should be trying my hardest to earn as much as possible in the new venture. I did find time to sneak in the odd walk here and there, and running after 2 kids is an extreem sport in itself.

Like many people I think that I convinced myself that there was just no time for exercise.

Of all the advice, the one thing that stuck out for me was a comment that Andrew Blanda said at the Eastern Suburbs Coffee Mornings (#escm on Twitter) to me. ‘People think that they don’t have time, but just waste it too often’. It wasn’t said in relation to weight loss, but rather an overall view and not wanting to be negative. You will see what I mean when you look at his blog- My Proactive Life.

I have been much fitter in the past, and I know that with some will power I can be again. I rowed whilst I was in school, touch SCUBA diving for a while and at one job had a gym in the office that I used every day.

Jono Haysom came up with an excellent idea for everyone to loose weight whilst raising money for Diabetes Australia this year. He has called the group Drop 4 Good, and you can read all about it here and follow the twitter hash tag at #drop4good.

We are already almost at the $1,000 goal for fundraising, and I am sure we can do even better, so if yo would like to donate please follow this link- http://www.everydayhero.com.au/drop4good

I have set myself the a rather ambitious goal of 10-15 kilos that I would like to drop this year (the sooner the better), and it would be great for anyone else out there that needs some motivation to join the team.

Looking forward to seeing all you ‘Losers’ soon.

The Perfect Gift for a Man- Interview with Kerry-Anne

Trent Collins — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:18:41 +0000

The Perfect Gift for a Man book – interview on Mornings With Kerri-Anne from Tony Hollingsworth on Vimeo.

The Perfect Gift for a Man Book

Trent Collins — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:01:39 +0000

Following on from some of my previous posts for #Manweek Becoming a Dad and more of a Man and Dealing with the Unexpected. Gavin Heaton and Mark Pollard worked together with myself and around 30 other bloggers to launch The Perfect Gift for a Man – 30 Stories about Reinventing Manhood.

The book is available as both a soft cover book ($44.95) and an eBook ($14.95). You can buy the soft cover through Blurb - http://bit.ly/manbook or the eBook from The Perfect Gift for a Man website - http://bit.ly/manebook.

All the profits from the book are being donated to The Inspire Foundation, so please buy the book for yourself or some close to you.

How to Write Your Firm’s Social Media Policy

Trent Collins — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:03:32 +0000

With all the rush to create a social media policy for an organisation, often the simple approach is often the best.

A recent post over on the FreshNetworks blog gives some good points about how to write a social media policy. If you are in the process of compiling a policy for your organisation (and you should), then it’s worth having a look at- How to write your firm’s social media policy

Weekly Roundup

Trent Collins — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:28:26 +0000

Not exactly article from just this week, but definitely some here that are worth a read:

Knowledge Management and Social Business Transformation. Guest post by Jenni Beattie from Digital Democracy over on Market Magazine.

The fundamentals haven’t changed just the tools and technologies! Post by David Wesson over at his personal blog Digital Culture. Video from this post is below:

Best customer service complaint EVER- United Airlines and the Guitar

Trent Collins — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:14:11 +0000

For those that haven’t followed the story, this is a great example of using social media and a bit of creativity to get your point across.

Dave Carroll and his mates from the Sons of Maxwell band were on their way to Nebraska to perform. To cut a long story short, the baggage handlers on their flight from Chicago decided to throw the bands guitars across the tarmac causing major damage to the instrument. After much frustration trying to get through to someone to fix the issue he turned to his music prowess and made a song/ video on put it up on YouTube. The song and his official response to United Airlines is below and you can read the full post on their blog here.

The Song:

The Response:

There is customer service… and then there is CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Trent Collins — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:26:03 +0000

We have all experienced it. The lazy shop attendant, the rude waiter, the shopkeeper that just doesn’t think his business even needs customers.

Our experience with these people and businesses often leave a lasting impression for a variety of reasons. In some cases we actually made a purchase from said business either out of necessity or the need to keep one’s sanity whilst the kids are screaming all the way through Westfield.

What often does not leave a lasting impression for us is when we have a positive customer service experience either pre, during or post purchase. Is this because we have come to expect a level of mediocrity in service that we only care to remember the disastrous and not the pleasant and helpful?

My recent experience in needing to purchase a new television (my beloved plasma died in a power surge) is not only a poster-child for the negative above, but a shining example for the positive.

Like many tech lovers out there, I relish the opportunity to purchase a new item and enjoy researching the various options available as well as digesting all manner of opinions and reviews. Having a short period of time to do my research when our TV departed this world, I went straight to the review blogs and hit up friends on Twitter for all manner of recommendations.

Within a few hours I had read all the reviews I could handle, and the tweets were coming in thick and fast recommending particular brands and answering the eternal question of Plasma vs. LCD (I went for Plasma).

Armed with the latest product knowledge from reviews and recommendations, I headed up to the Local Westfield to see what the local retailers had and if there were any decent specials. I visited David Jones, Myers, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Bing Lee and JB HiFi- this is where things got interesting.

Only 2 of the retailers even had staff interested in talking to customers, and of those only one was helpful. This ended up being on of the most positive buying experiences. The sales rep at JB HiFi was incredibly knowledgeable and honest (a rear quality). He mentioned reviews on blogs that I had read, and swayed me away from a more expensive product as it’s advantages were not worth the cost. I ended up receiving a good price for the unit and made the purchase on the spot.

Such a positive experience can leave a lasting impression on a consumer for years to come and cement the foundations of a positive and ongoing relationship with the brand. Additionally what many organisations, big and small, fail to understand is that one happy customer is worth a hundred more if they talk about their experience (the same is also true for the negative- with negative consequences).

In an age where conversation happens at the speed of light, and positive and negative experiences and feeling are shot around Twitter in an instant, organisations must pull out the proverbial finger to make sure that their customer service and overall customer experience is not just satisfactory but extraordinary.

Weekly Roundup- Hammer Pants, Roundtables and 5 Big Things

Trent Collins — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:31:29 +0000

Online Community Management Roundtable

Sharable content and social brand building

Mapping The MR-Sphere: 20 Research Blogs To Follow

The 5 Biggest Things I’ve Learned About Using Social Media

And for a great laugh from the 80′s, it’s Hammer Pants:

The Conversation Prism

Trent Collins — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:41:43 +0000

For those that have not seen it yet, the image below is an excellent visual representation of social networks and micro communities.

It is a perfect example of just how many sites, platforms, ecosystems, etc.. are out there, and need to be utilised by organisations in a constantly shifting landscape.

For more info on the Conversation Prism, check out the post on Brian’s blog.