Happy Friday,
Is interactive web conferencing really more effective than email or texting? Or a quick phone call?
Have you ever received an email that made you mad because of the "tone" of the sender?
Have you ever written an email that was misinterpreted or caused an emotional reaction?
And taken days of long, drawn out responses to clarify?
For example...
You receive an email from someone in your orgainzation asking for your support of funding for a new product launch.
You think it's a great idea! But you need more information on what the product is, how much funding is needed, and the timeline of the launch so you can secure funds and resources.
Sounds simple enough, right?
So you send a quick reply while you're in a meeting...
"Really?! What? Need more details or no $$"
But the problem is...you response is read as...
"You have some nerve asking me to support spending money with no plan!"
Not at all what you intended.
Email is an excellent communication tool, but is misused 60% of the time. And this causes productivitiy loss and strife in the office.
Face to face meetings is THE best way to communicate. But it's expensive and time consuming to travel every time you need to meet.
But thanks to interactive web conferencing, businesses on a tight budget have the option to meet with up to 50 people at the same time for as little as $79 dollars a month with full features.
ALWAYS use interactive web conferencing instead of email if you need to...
Resolve a conflict - this eliminates long, drawn out arguments and public "badgering"
Reprimand someone - otherwise the person may feel attacked or "convicted without a trial".
Brainstorm with several people - have lively back and forth brainstorming sessions during an interactive web conference for instant feed back and instand ideas.
Fire or layoff someone - Email should never be used to fire or layoff employees. Unless you want to be seen as cold and indifferent.
Make group decisions - Boost morale and participation by getting everyone's valuable input in making tough decisions.
Negotiating - Make more sales faster by being able to read a customer instantly and addressing his/her concerns. Also, you can demonstrate your product live during an interactive web conference.
So if you're wondering if you should send an email...talk it out instead in an interactive web conference!
You'll be amazed at how online interactive web conferences will help you be more productive, build stronger relationships, and eliminate email drama.
Sonja
Friday, January 8, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
12 Reasons to Hold An Interactive Web Conference
Happy Almost New Year!
Have you ever received a poorly written email that got misinterpreted?
Or has an email you've written ever lead to an incorrect response or an emotional reaction?
And caused tension for days before you even noticed there was a problem?
If so, then holding an intereactive web conference can solve a lot of misunderstandings and hard feelings.
Here's 12 Reasons You Should Hold An Interactive Web Conference to Be More Productive:
1. When you are mad or emotional
2. When the other person is mad or emotional
3. When there is a conflict on an item
4. When you need to convince someone to change his/her position
5. When you aren't sure others will interpret your email correctly
6. When someone sends an email that seems out of character for him/her
7. When you aren't sure how to interpres someone else's email
8. When someone asks you something confusing in an email
9. When you are concerned how the other person will react
10. When many people need to provide repeated input
11. When you want to show empathy, concern for the other person's reaction
12. When you believe 2-way dialogue would be most effective
And now you can hold as many interactive web conferences as you need HERE for only $79 dollars a month for up to 50 guests.
Best,
Sonja
Friday, June 13, 2008
A Parent's Nightmare
Happy Friday Everyone,
Boy, has Mother Nature been picking on the United States lately...especially Iowa.
Not only have whole towns been destroyed by tornadoes and flooding...
But last night 4 boys were killed at Boy Scout Camp when a tornado touched down.
I can't imagine how these parents are coping...my thoughts and prayers go out to their families. And also to the boys still in the hospital fighting to survive.
As horrible as these tragic events are, it sure brings out the best in people. Volunteers from all over the country are helping out any way they can.
My supposedly "business problems" pale in comparison to losing a child.
Hope you and yours are well and safe.
Best,
Sonja
Boy, has Mother Nature been picking on the United States lately...especially Iowa.
Not only have whole towns been destroyed by tornadoes and flooding...
But last night 4 boys were killed at Boy Scout Camp when a tornado touched down.
I can't imagine how these parents are coping...my thoughts and prayers go out to their families. And also to the boys still in the hospital fighting to survive.
As horrible as these tragic events are, it sure brings out the best in people. Volunteers from all over the country are helping out any way they can.
My supposedly "business problems" pale in comparison to losing a child.
Hope you and yours are well and safe.
Best,
Sonja
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Top 10 Small Business Tips During a Recession
Good Morning Everyone,
Is your business ready to weather a recession? Whether you believe we're headed for a recession or not, the economy is on shaky ground right now.
So if the economy keeps spiraling downward, here are 10 Tips on dealing with a recession:
1) Cut costs cautiously. As soon as the economy starts slowing down, many business owners think they must cut costs. But this is a short-term solution. Only cut costs or decrease your prices if it won't harm your business later. You can always lower your price - but you can't always raise your price.
2) Think Sub- contractors - especially if health care costs are putting a strain on your budget. If you have employees, consider turning them into sub-contractors. There are very affordable, month-to-month video web conferencing services that allow you to still be in close daily contact.
3) Advertise, Advertise, & Advertise! During the last recession, McDonald's almost tripled their advertising campaign at a time when their competitors, namely Burger King, were cutting back. So even though this may seem counter-intuitive, a recession may be the time to increase your marketing. Hard economic times weeds out your competition, leaving the field wide open for you.
4) Plan Long term: The Japanese are famous for planning out their strategy 15 to 20 years in advance. They follow the way of the turtle to win the race. And it works! Remember, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep marketing every month, month in and month out, not stopping and starting on a whim.
5)Choose your marketing techniques wisely. You should be keeping track of which marketing venues brings you the most business. Reduce or eliminate those marketing techniques that aren't paying off for you, or fix them so that they do increase leads and sales. And consider a form of direct marketing where you can specifically test target markets without blowing your hard earned budget.
6) Revamp your marketing tools. For those marketing techniques that are working for you, this might be the time to revamp your marketing tools. Could your sales people use more training to close the deal? Online training cuts costs and time.
7) Automate wherever you can. Find ways to automate any tasks to reduce the workload on yourself and your staff. What have you been doing manually that a computer system can do for you? Take a look at all your daily tasks and see if there is a computer solution to these time-wasters.
8) Spend your time on what really matters. Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? It's a proven fact that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. So treat your best customers like royalty. Spend 80% of your time focusing on marketing and delivering your product or service.
9) Make do and mend. Because raw materials were in short supply during World War II, people were encouraged to "make do and mend" an item instead of simply replacing it. Consider your own expenditures: do you really need a new computer, or could you somehow upgrade your existing one for less money? Do you need a new telephone or can you get by with the old one for a while longer?
10) Reduce inventories. If you sell a product, and you believe your sales are going to decrease, this might be a good idea to reduce inventories and not restock to the same level. This is a risky strategy (what if the recession only lasts 6 months?), so be sure you know exactly how long it will take to replenish inventories once the economy picks back up.
These 10 tips will prepare your business for both good times and not so good times.
Best,
Sonja
Is your business ready to weather a recession? Whether you believe we're headed for a recession or not, the economy is on shaky ground right now.
So if the economy keeps spiraling downward, here are 10 Tips on dealing with a recession:
1) Cut costs cautiously. As soon as the economy starts slowing down, many business owners think they must cut costs. But this is a short-term solution. Only cut costs or decrease your prices if it won't harm your business later. You can always lower your price - but you can't always raise your price.
2) Think Sub- contractors - especially if health care costs are putting a strain on your budget. If you have employees, consider turning them into sub-contractors. There are very affordable, month-to-month video web conferencing services that allow you to still be in close daily contact.
3) Advertise, Advertise, & Advertise! During the last recession, McDonald's almost tripled their advertising campaign at a time when their competitors, namely Burger King, were cutting back. So even though this may seem counter-intuitive, a recession may be the time to increase your marketing. Hard economic times weeds out your competition, leaving the field wide open for you.
4) Plan Long term: The Japanese are famous for planning out their strategy 15 to 20 years in advance. They follow the way of the turtle to win the race. And it works! Remember, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep marketing every month, month in and month out, not stopping and starting on a whim.
5)Choose your marketing techniques wisely. You should be keeping track of which marketing venues brings you the most business. Reduce or eliminate those marketing techniques that aren't paying off for you, or fix them so that they do increase leads and sales. And consider a form of direct marketing where you can specifically test target markets without blowing your hard earned budget.
6) Revamp your marketing tools. For those marketing techniques that are working for you, this might be the time to revamp your marketing tools. Could your sales people use more training to close the deal? Online training cuts costs and time.
7) Automate wherever you can. Find ways to automate any tasks to reduce the workload on yourself and your staff. What have you been doing manually that a computer system can do for you? Take a look at all your daily tasks and see if there is a computer solution to these time-wasters.
8) Spend your time on what really matters. Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? It's a proven fact that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. So treat your best customers like royalty. Spend 80% of your time focusing on marketing and delivering your product or service.
9) Make do and mend. Because raw materials were in short supply during World War II, people were encouraged to "make do and mend" an item instead of simply replacing it. Consider your own expenditures: do you really need a new computer, or could you somehow upgrade your existing one for less money? Do you need a new telephone or can you get by with the old one for a while longer?
10) Reduce inventories. If you sell a product, and you believe your sales are going to decrease, this might be a good idea to reduce inventories and not restock to the same level. This is a risky strategy (what if the recession only lasts 6 months?), so be sure you know exactly how long it will take to replenish inventories once the economy picks back up.
These 10 tips will prepare your business for both good times and not so good times.
Best,
Sonja
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Standard for Terrific Meetings & Conferences Has Changed
Good Morning Business Owners,
With oil at $128 a barrel...
Airports adding an extra two to three hours to get through tighter and tighter security...
Businesses doing more and more business around the globe...
More and more people to meet in different locations...
Video conferencing and online threaded conversations getting better and better...
Why spend the money, fight the crowds, and lose valuable time traveling for that meeting?
Here's a great article at Seth Godin's blog:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seth_blog/2008/05/the-new-standr.html/
Best,
Sonja
With oil at $128 a barrel...
Airports adding an extra two to three hours to get through tighter and tighter security...
Businesses doing more and more business around the globe...
More and more people to meet in different locations...
Video conferencing and online threaded conversations getting better and better...
Why spend the money, fight the crowds, and lose valuable time traveling for that meeting?
Here's a great article at Seth Godin's blog:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seth_blog/2008/05/the-new-standr.html/
Best,
Sonja
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Brace Yourself For Even Higher Travel Costs
Good Morning,
The leading headline on MSN this morning was "Oil Tops $123 a Barrel!"
This means higher prices at the pump and on the plane. I even read that airlines are slowing down their flight times to save on fuel costs.
Higher gas prices are especially tough on small businesses because we're the first to not get paid when customers are strapped for cash.
And it's a tough decision to pass on the price increases to customers.
So as a business owner, you just have to tighten your belt and weather the storm.
Web conferencing can help ease the pain of soaring gas prices and expensive travel. So skip that gas sucking drive across town, or the cramped, crowded flight.
Meet online to save both time and money...you'll be glad you did!
Best,
Sonja
The leading headline on MSN this morning was "Oil Tops $123 a Barrel!"
This means higher prices at the pump and on the plane. I even read that airlines are slowing down their flight times to save on fuel costs.
Higher gas prices are especially tough on small businesses because we're the first to not get paid when customers are strapped for cash.
And it's a tough decision to pass on the price increases to customers.
So as a business owner, you just have to tighten your belt and weather the storm.
Web conferencing can help ease the pain of soaring gas prices and expensive travel. So skip that gas sucking drive across town, or the cramped, crowded flight.
Meet online to save both time and money...you'll be glad you did!
Best,
Sonja
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Do You Make These Mistakes in Your Webinar?
Happy Thursday Everyone,
There's no question that webinars are taking the market by storm.
With soaring gas prices, skyrocketing airfares, and business owners under pressure to trim costs, webinars and online meetings are fast replacing face-to-face meetings. And costly travel.
But not all webinars are successful.
Here are 10 top reasons webinars fail:
1) The presenter is incompetent.
Holding a webinar is not the same as having a meeting. You have to familiarize yourself with the web conferencing platform so you can easily guide your guests and have productive back-and-forth feedback. Practice at least once to make sure you're ready for your live webinar.
2) Equipment is not in place
Make sure you're not fumbling with how to operate the equipment - or complaining throughout the webinar.
If you have a low quality, low pixel web camera, your video will be grainy.
3) Slow or unreliable internet connection
Poor internet connectivity is the MOST common problem for webinars and web conferencing providers.
High speed of 56K or above, or TIVO will give you the best quality webinar.
4) Presenter gives up too quickly
You shouldn't give up on webinars or web conferencing just because of one bad experience. As with everything in business, some webinar providers are more user friendly than others. And more affordable.
5) Advertising
You have to advertise and build marketing buzz to attract customers to your webinar. Make it entertaining and easy to attend.
6) Ability to Entertain or Close the Sale
It takes a LOT of training and practice to be a a good speaker, or a top sales person. Make sure your webinar material engages and entertains your audience. Use visual material from pre-loaded websites, pictures, and funny stories to make your point.
7) Convenient Time
Have your webinar when it's convenient for your target audience - not when it's convenient for YOU.
8) Ability to Get Along With Other People
If you're painfully shy, then chances are your webinars will be a painful flop! Recruit or hire someone who is comfortable around people and easy going to hold your sales or marketing webinars.
Remember, you only have one chance to make a great impression!
9) Unique Selling Proposition
A webinar is not really that much different from a print ad.
You have to grab guests attention with something that will benefit them.
Center your webinar around helping your guests. Make their life easier, healthier, or wealthier! If you help your guests - they will help you by becoming a customer.
10) Good Old Fashioned Luck
Some times you just have BAD LUCK! But don't let that stop you. Try, try again.
Sonja
There's no question that webinars are taking the market by storm.
With soaring gas prices, skyrocketing airfares, and business owners under pressure to trim costs, webinars and online meetings are fast replacing face-to-face meetings. And costly travel.
But not all webinars are successful.
Here are 10 top reasons webinars fail:
1) The presenter is incompetent.
Holding a webinar is not the same as having a meeting. You have to familiarize yourself with the web conferencing platform so you can easily guide your guests and have productive back-and-forth feedback. Practice at least once to make sure you're ready for your live webinar.
2) Equipment is not in place
Make sure you're not fumbling with how to operate the equipment - or complaining throughout the webinar.
If you have a low quality, low pixel web camera, your video will be grainy.
3) Slow or unreliable internet connection
Poor internet connectivity is the MOST common problem for webinars and web conferencing providers.
High speed of 56K or above, or TIVO will give you the best quality webinar.
4) Presenter gives up too quickly
You shouldn't give up on webinars or web conferencing just because of one bad experience. As with everything in business, some webinar providers are more user friendly than others. And more affordable.
5) Advertising
You have to advertise and build marketing buzz to attract customers to your webinar. Make it entertaining and easy to attend.
6) Ability to Entertain or Close the Sale
It takes a LOT of training and practice to be a a good speaker, or a top sales person. Make sure your webinar material engages and entertains your audience. Use visual material from pre-loaded websites, pictures, and funny stories to make your point.
7) Convenient Time
Have your webinar when it's convenient for your target audience - not when it's convenient for YOU.
8) Ability to Get Along With Other People
If you're painfully shy, then chances are your webinars will be a painful flop! Recruit or hire someone who is comfortable around people and easy going to hold your sales or marketing webinars.
Remember, you only have one chance to make a great impression!
9) Unique Selling Proposition
A webinar is not really that much different from a print ad.
You have to grab guests attention with something that will benefit them.
Center your webinar around helping your guests. Make their life easier, healthier, or wealthier! If you help your guests - they will help you by becoming a customer.
10) Good Old Fashioned Luck
Some times you just have BAD LUCK! But don't let that stop you. Try, try again.
Sonja
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
