Duck Duck Google: Why The Game is Rigged</h1> <article> <h1>Duck Duck Google: Why The Game is Rigged</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:42:10 GMT</p> Have you heard the news? Duck Duck Google is a new game being played that could impact millions of business owners and online marketers around the world. The game is a great enhancement to Google Maps and looks like fun for consumers searching for information about specific geographies. It also looks like fun for local small [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/09/29/Duck-Duck-Google_3A00_-Why-The-Game-is-Rigged.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>How Google’s Guessing Game Is Hurting Online Directories</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:45:31 GMT</p> Imagine if you were Google. Hundreds of millions of people come to you everyday and ask you questions. A large percentage of the questions are generic and vague. What are you supposed to do if you don’t really know what the person is looking for? In Google’s case they are increasingly making assumptions and guessing the [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/09/17/How-Google_1920_s-Guessing-Game-Is-Hurting-Online-Directories.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Mashable.com Features CloudProfile</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:07:49 GMT</p> CloudProfile was featured today by Mashable.com as part of their Spark of Genius series which highlights innovative start-ups. So what’s the genius idea behind CloudProfile? Quite simply, it’s the modern equivalent of the print yellow pages and helps SMBs talk about themselves online so they can engage consumers in authentic conversations and attract more customers. To learn [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/31/Mashable.com-Features-CloudProfile.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>5 Ways to Make Facebook and Twitter Relevant for Small Business</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:11:06 GMT</p> Lot’s of small businesses know about the millions of people interacting on Facebook and Twitter — but most of them don’t know how to use these services to help bring customers through the front door. Here are 5 things small business owners can do to make Facebook and Twitter relevant: 1. Visit www.CloudProfile.com and signup for a [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/31/5-Ways-to-Make-Facebook-and-Twitter-Relevant-for-Small-Business.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Look for CloudProfile in the Demo Pit at TechCrunch 50</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:40:28 GMT</p> The countdown is on! 50 companies, including CloudProfile, have been selected to strut their stuff and show their innovation in the demo pit at TechCrunch 50 on September 14th and 15th in San Francisco. SMBLive is one such company and I am super excited for the world to see how CloudProfile is helping small businesses like the [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/31/Look-for-CloudProfile-in-the-Demo-Pit-at-TechCrunch-50.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>SMBLive Announces CloudProfile</h1> <p>abrooks — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:27:00 GMT</p> <p>After 4 years building software in partnership with British Telecom, SMBLive has launched a conversational web presence for businesses here in the US. The solution, called CloudProfile (<a href="http://www.cloudprofile.com/">http://www.cloudprofile.com</a>) addresses the following:</p><ul><li>In 2008, more than 50% of consumers never opened a Yellow Pages. They searched online. (Kelsey Group - <a href="http://www.kelseygroup.com/">www.kelseygroup.com</a>)</li><li>Yet SMBs still spent > $10 Billion on offline ads (and also > $10B on Google). (Kelsey Group)</li><li>Meanwhile > 80% of consumers want businesses to not only be online, but to interact with them online (eMarketer)</li><li>And > 50% of consumers feel more strongly connected to a business with whom they have a social (Facebook or Twitter) relationsip (eMarketer)</li></ul><p>In response, SMBLive built CloudProfile such that a business can: </p><ul><li>Create and maintain an online profile with rich content and status updates that customers love.</li><li>Get found in both traditional (Google, business directories) and “real time” search (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)</li><li>Publish to their profile from anywhere – on the site, via e-mail, on their mobile device, etc.</li><li>Syndicate that content automatically to their Twitter and Facebook streams.</li><li>Participate in the social, real-time Web, using our Social Media Radar to see and respond to opportunities to market their business and help their customers.</li><li>Stay connected to their customers with integrated click-to-call, text/SMS messaging and e-mail marketing tools.</li><li>Create simple products and services galleries to promote their business.</li><li>Track and manage engagement with their customers across ALL of these different touchpoints in an “Engagement Stream” – which can be managed online or on their mobile or desktop.</li></ul><p>For more details, check out: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=+CloudProfile&submit=post&searchfrom=header">http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=+CloudProfile&submit=post&searchfrom=header</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Listen Up! A Simple Way to Attract More Customers</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:58:35 GMT</p> Are you interested in attracting more customers to your business? One easy way to do this is to improve your online listening skills. Listen to people talk. Hear their needs. Discover their likes and dislikes. Believe it or not — the simple act of listening enables you put your finger on the pulse of people and [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/27/Listen-Up_2100_-A-Simple-Way-to-Attract-More-Customers.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Why Twitter is Just Like Real Estate: It’s All About Location!</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:25:36 GMT</p> Twitter is just like real estate because it’s all about location. Online marketers everywhere are abuzz with talk of social services like Twitter and Facebook and are busy trying to create interesting ways to leverage these rich online conversations to help businesses get found by more customers. Adding fuel to the fire is Twitter’s recent announcement that [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/24/Why-Twitter-is-Just-Like-Real-Estate_3A00_-It_1920_s-All-About-Location_2100_.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>CloudProfile: The Perfect Tool for Small Business Marketers</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:17:52 GMT</p> Whether your business has a web site already — or you’re creating a presence for the first time — CloudProfile is the perfect way to promote your business on the web.. Whether you’ve been in business for 20 years or 20 minutes, CloudProfile provides a simple way to talk about your business online so more consumers [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/18/CloudProfile_3A00_--The-Perfect-Tool-for-Small-Business-Marketers.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Facebook Acquires FreindFeed: Why Small Businesses Should Care!</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:06:19 GMT</p> Facebook announced yesterday that is has acquired FriendFeed for a reported $50m. As a small business owner, you’ve probably never even heard of FriendFeed and you’re probably wondering why in the world you should give a crap? Here are 3 reasons you should care: 1. This deal is proof that Facebook has it’s heart set on becoming the [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/11/Facebook-Acquires-FreindFeed_3A00_-Why-Small-Businesses-Should-Care_2100_.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Four Years At SMBLive: A Lesson Learned In Time</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:24:53 GMT</p> Four years ago this week I got together with a group of really smart guys and co-founded a company called SMBLive. We began by partnering with British Telecom to develop a white label online directory platform called Tradespace. The idea was simple. Help UK based SMBs get online and get found in Google. It’s been a [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/08/01/Four-Years-At-SMBLive_3A00_-A-Lesson-Learned-In-Time.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>The Simple Reason Why Newspapers Are Dying</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:53:08 GMT</p> Alot of folks these days seems to be talking about the inevitable death of newspapers. It’s a big and complicated subject — and it’s refreshing to come across someone like Steve Baldwin offering perspective that is both insightful and simple. To understand why newspapers are dying it’s important to highlight some fundamental issues about the information economy: Today’s [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/27/The-Simple-Reason-Why-Newspapers-Are-Dying.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Why Amazon Bought Zappos and Why it Matters to SMBs</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:42:14 GMT</p> The reason Amazon loves Zappos is because Zappos, unlike any company in the world, obsesses over customers — and Jeff Bezos knows that obsessing over customers is the key to long term success. Just watch this video and see for yourself. So what should small business owners take away from the Amazon and Zappos deal? By obsessing [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/22/Why-Amazon-Bought-Zappos-and-Why-it-Matters-to-SMBs.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Why It’s Important to Keep Your Cool on Twitter</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:59:08 GMT</p> Thanks to Chris Brogan for highlighting this post by Doug Meacham in which he reports on a “rather tense” Twitter exchange between Doug and Best Buy CMO Barry Judge. It’s a interesting read. I’ll let you form your own opinion about who is right/wrong in the conversation. More importantly, this is yet another example of how Twitter [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/20/Why-It_1920_s-Important-to-Keep-Your-Cool-on-Twitter.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>250 Million Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Talk to Facebook</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:46:38 GMT</p> As highlighted by my colleague Alex Hawkinson, Facebook announced yesterday that it signed up its 250 millionth user. So what does this mean for small business owners? It means that, more than ever, you need simple online marketing tools to help you get found not only in Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft search engines — but also on [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/17/250-Million-Reasons-Why-Your-Small-Business-Should-Talk-to-Facebook.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>An Easy Way for SMBs to Embrace Social Media</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:03:53 GMT</p> CloudProfile is one of the easiest ways for SMBs to embrace social media and become better online marketers. Watch these two videos to see for yourself. Video #1 shows how easy it is to “connect” a CloudProfile site with Facebook and Twitter. Video #2 shows the benefit of “connecting” your CloudProfile into Facebook and Twitter. Essentially you can [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/15/An-Easy-Way-for-SMBs-to-Embrace-Social-Media.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Get Paid to Help SMBs Become Better Online Marketers</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:02:44 GMT</p> Warning: This post is a totally gratuitous commercial for CloudProfile. That said, i think you should read it, especially if you’re interested in getting paid great money to help SMBs become better online marketers. Different from traditional web sites and search marketing services, CloudProfile is a remarkably simple and inexpensive service that enables SMBs to talk [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/15/Get-Paid-to-Help-SMBs-Become-Better-Online-Marketers.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Why SMBs Should Embrace the Social Web to Get More Customers</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:05:33 GMT</p> I am firm believer that commerce between people starts and ends with a simple conversation — and I believe that the web is increasingly the place where most of these conversations are happening. Want some proof? Check out this survey research released yesterday by Razorfish showing just how often modern consumers share product reviews via the [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/13/Why-SMBs-Should-Embrace-the-Social-Web-to-Get-More-Customers.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>What do President Obama and SMBLive Have in Common?</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:17:49 GMT</p> Question: What do President Obama and SMBLive Have in Common? Answer: Both are committed to helping SMBs survive this difficult economy. Just this afternoon The Washington Post reported that President Obama is considering plans to make a portion of the $700 billion in Federal bailout funds directly available to small businesses. I’ve not had a chance to [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/10/What-do-President-Obama-and-SMBLive-Have-in-Common_3F00_.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Five Reasons Why Now Is a Great Time to Start a Business</h1> <p>Broadband Evolved — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:03:37 GMT</p> Are you thinking about starting a new business in the current recession? If so, then prepare yourself for the strange looks that you’ll undoubtedly get from friends, family, and colleagues. You see most people are inherently conservative and have a traditional view of the world. Most folks are followers by nature – not leaders. They have a [...]...(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2009/07/07/Five-Reasons-Why-Now-Is-a-Great-Time-to-Start-a-Business.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>Sell More Products or Services By Being Honest</h1> <p>ridingera — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:47:00 GMT</p> <p>By Mike Jalonen, Mural VP of Sales & Marketing </p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';font-size:11px;line-height:15px;">When our creative team released our new website, the bold line on the home page made me very nervous. It said (and still does) <br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />“Mural is a full-service digital engagement agency. Honestly, we always have been. We just haven’t done a good job of telling our story, until now.”<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />My thought was, how are we going to convince people that we are the best in the industry at helping them sell and market their products online if that was something that we just admitted we were not good at ourselves? I suggested that we change it or remove that line all together! But as James Murfin and James Stolp, Partners and unbelievable marketers at Mural, pointed out to me, being honest is the key to winning customer loyalty and increased sales.<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />This concept made me think about some of my first bootstrapped startup companies. Many times the strategy was to exaggerate our marketing to give the impression of being in business longer, looking larger than we were, or financially stable when the reality was we were a bootstrapped startup. All this was to obviously win more business and grow the companies. Sound familiar? It should, the majority of small businesses do this same thing every day. It works, no doubt, but as my fellow Partners at Mural pointed out – not even close to as well as being honest. <br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />Consumers (B2B or B2C) have all heard the exaggerated marketing spin developed by professional marketers. The reality is that they can see right through it now. Websites are notorious for making a small company look large. People know this. An overwhelming amount of buyers nowadays are looking to buy or evaluate your products/services based on unbiased user input and experiences rather than the marketing message directly from the company selling the service/product. They can see a bluff, an exaggeration, or even a little hype and very quickly, as a result, start to form an (incorrect) opinion about you and what you are selling.<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />User feedback can be seen in lots of areas and can help people decide which blog posts to read regularly, which books to read online (Amazon), which applications to purchase or try on the iTunes store, etc. Take purchasing an application for your iPhone on the iStore for example. The only information you get about an application is the manufactures 1 page description and a star rating and user feedback from users of the software. I have never bought an iPhone application where I have not read the feedback and evaluated based on it. I look for applications that have the most feedback first, then at the star rating, and read the details from there. Hearing reviews that I can relate with, good or bad, help set my expectations about what I’m about to purchase. Even with bad feedback, I have still bought an application that I think would accomplish my goals knowing ahead of time the challenges. When a manufacturer calls out the dirty aspects and mentions they are working on it – it’s even better. I know that I’m dealing with an honest company. The companies who listen to the user feedback and develop applications as a result keep my loyalty.<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />Sometimes companies even get so caught up with creating a marketing spin (and keeping the dirty truth away from us) take away from the clear message of what their company is truly good at leaving consumers confused. Nothing is easier to understand than the truth.<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />The truth about Mural, is exactly what sits on our home page today – we just haven’t done a good job of telling our story, until now. We have helped hundreds of companies be successful and profitable but our strategy has been selling through channels that have kept us from telling the story to the masses. That changes now. Now we will begin to incorporate our own medicine, the Web Centric Customer Lifecycle, into our own practice. Stay tuned!<br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /><br style="line-height:0.5em;border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" />As we continue to build out our new brand and share details through our website we hope that you follow our web strategy. I can assure that we will continue to deliver the true message, for good or bad. I welcome your candid responses, good or bad. </span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Software-as-a-Service: the danger of not knowing what you don’t know</h1> <p>ridingera — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:45:00 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">When companies are considering the move to include a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, there tend to be two groups: those who know they don’t have the necessary expertise and often don’t know what questions to ask, and those who think they have the necessary expertise, when really they don’t.<span> </span>Which do you think is in a more dangerous position?<span> </span>There are a few companies out there that do have the expertise, but this means they also already understand the significant differences between on-premise and on-demand software.<span> </span>In any case, here are a few items to check yourself against to see what you know, what you need to know, and how to get started. </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Experience has shown that software companies most often need help with three main areas: <em>Web-Centricity, Customer Value Realization Shift</em>, and <em>Agile Product Development</em>. You may already be dealing with these, but remember that the game is different with SaaS. Even if your company is already in-market, it’s worth examining how SaaS changes the rules, since some of the items below can be applied to any software solution.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Web-Centricity</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">The first major lesson that many companies miss about SaaS is this: Software-as-a-Service is not a new way of delivering software, it’s a fundamental difference in behavior from a buyer perspective. This new buyer behavior is called web-centricity, or we say a buyer is “web-centric.” It’s a way of defining how your customers want to interact with you.<span> </span>As an example, I could be considered a web-centric buyer while my grandfather would be a web-agnostic buyer.<span> </span>I use my computer and the internet to do just about as much in my life as I can, while my grandfather is just starting to learn about attaching photos to emails.<span> </span>He will pick up the phone or go to the library to answer a question or solve a problem; I go straight to the web, and more importantly, I want to do everything relating to my inquiry on the web.<span> </span>For my next vacation, I want to research vacation spots, compare rates, read testimonials, book the hotel and flights, pick my seats, ask questions, get responses, and add my trip information to my calendar all through the web.<span> </span>It’s essential to note that if I’m moving forward with a booking and suddenly have no choice but to pick up the phone, it’s very likely that rather than picking up the phone, I will just click a few more times and find a travel site that will allow me to complete my transaction online.<span> </span>That company just lost my business because their site wasn’t geared to how I wanted to buy travel services; it was <em>less</em> web-centric than I am.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">A web-centric buyer can buy anything, not just SaaS, but the nature of SaaS means that buyers are much more likely to be web-centric.<span> </span>A company may have extensive pay-per-click advertising campaigns, search engine optimization, and additional advertising through cross linking and white paper farms all pointing to a beautiful website with all the information a potential customer could ever ask, but if that’s where the online experience stops that’s where the web-centric user may leave.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Even without SaaS in the picture, a web-centric buyer wants to buy the software online, download it, and then get the activation code within a few moments by email.<span> </span>If they have questions they want a click-to-chat feature or at least an email address. If they have problems with their new software, they want to access tech support through a similar click-to-chat feature and reach a tech who can connect to their computer and see exactly what is on the screen. Of course sometimes a phone conversation is still best, but a web-centric buyer wants all the options.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Too often I see companies that are short-changing themselves.<span> </span>Not only should a customer be able to do everything through your website, but their web experience should add value and make them happy to continue working with you.<span> </span>Companies need to tailor their user experience to how the user wants to interact with you.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">On a much simpler note, having a stellar website is more important than ever before.<span> </span>A recent survey showed that when shopping for a SaaS vendor, 38% of customers shortlisted several companies based on their website and then contacted only those vendors. </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">If your current website, business and marketing plans, and customer service are not geared to web-centric buyers, you may be losing business you never knew was there.<span> </span>If you create a frictionless experience where your customers feel comfortable and happy, not only will they stay, they’ll tell their friends how wonderful you are.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Customer Value Realization Shift</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Simply put, when utilizing a SaaS model, your customers need to get value from your product before they even buy it.<span> </span>In traditional software models, you usually have a sales person with charisma and skill who can create the <em>perception</em> of value for the customer.<span> </span>The customer sees value, makes the investment, and trains everyone on the new software.<span> </span>By the time they actually start realizing value they are already invested, so even if they realize less value than anticipated, as long as your customer service is tolerable, they’re more or less locked in.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">With SaaS, everything you do needs to add value to your customer.<span> </span>If customers don’t see real value during the trial they won’t buy; if they buy and then don’t see the value they anticipated, the barriers to exit are much lower than with traditional software. When I say “everything you do,” I mean much more than customer service; I mean <em>everything</em>.<span> </span>Of course, customer service and support is very important, but so is how they get to customer service, your website, and most importantly your product itself.<span> </span>Developers are great people and we need them, but when it comes to your user experience, developers are the wrong people for the job.<span> </span>When building your product you need to understand who will use your product, what their problems are, how can you fix them, which personas are more important than others, all while also considering usability, user experience, and design. In many ways, your product should be your greatest sales tool.<span> </span>The entire experience of interacting with not just your product, but your entire company needs to be focused on shifting the value curve ahead and accelerating your customers’ “time to value.”</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I mentioned above that the web-centric buyer wants to interact with your site and your company in a certain way.<span> </span>The secret to these interactions is that the experience needs to work and it needs to work well.<span> </span>The person answering the phone, the chat, or the email needs to actually be able to help the person without escalating the problem, without wasting time by reading a script, and without adding frustration to the situation.<span> </span>Your product may be the best on the market, but if dealing with your company adds stress to your customers’ day, eventually they’re going to switch.<span> </span>If they experience these kinds of issues during a free trial, you can be sure they won’t buy.<span> </span>If their experience is great during the trial and then deteriorates once they start paying, you can be sure they won’t stay long, and they’ll tell their friends too.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">I’ve seen companies that take a “white glove” approach to their customers’ experience have great success.<span> </span>Not only have they invested in a great product and customer experience, they pro-actively contact new and trial customers to see if they have questions, teach them about what their product can do, and make sure they’re getting the most value as quickly as possible.<span> </span>You can imagine how happy a customer would be when they can use the product better and know that a cheerful, helpful person is only a click or call away.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Of course, the company and product need to add real and increasing value in the long-term as well.<span> </span>Some companies may be surprised at how willing happy customers are to giving specific, useful, and free feedback to help you improve.<span> </span>It may not be considered often, but when happiness is an active component of your business plan and customer experience, the side effects can be amazing.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Agile Product Development</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">A secret to SaaS success is to get something out there quickly and then with your happy customers’ feedback, improve and grow your offering piece by high quality piece.<span> </span>Too often a company wants to build the best software solution ever conceived and spend months mapping out every possible variable and creating every possible feature.<span> </span>Of course, this is always an option and some companies have resources to do this, but an agile or “scrum and sprint” approach will get you to market a lot faster.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">The basic concept behind scrum and sprint, is that you build something small and simple, yet high quality, and go to market as soon as possible.<span> </span>Once you’re in market you openly seek feedback and suggestions from customers for improving your product.<span> </span>Throughout the entire process you build a backlog of items, features, and additions that you eventually want to add onto your product.<span> </span>Often companies will release in “beta” mode to attract more trial customers and allow feedback from a broader range of users.<span> </span>Your team meets every day for a quick “scrum” meeting to discuss any feedback received, ideas for improvement, and progress towards your next milestone.<span> </span>In this model, the time between releases is short, from a couple of weeks to a few months.<span> </span>After you complete a sprint you look at your backlog and determine the next small piece that you will add to your product and the timeline in which you will be able to complete it.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">The point of this method is to get to market quickly, then build up your product piece by piece, releasing early and often.<span> </span>Of course this process should include all aspects of quality, usability, user experience, and web-centricity as mentioned above to insure that your business, not just your product, is growing in the right direction.<span> </span></font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Bottom Line</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Many companies do on-premise software very well and their skills could be adapted to a SaaS model, but without truly understanding the differences with SaaS, the trial-and-error road to discovery will be long and costly.<span> </span>The areas presented here: <em>Web-Centricity, Customer Value Realization Shift, and Agile Product Development</em> are a litmus test for seeing what the rules are in the world of SaaS.<span> </span>Developing maturity as a SaaS provider ultimately involves a large set of activities across key process areas such as Business & Financial Management, Application Architecture, Hosting Architecture, Operations & Support, and Go-To-Market Effectiveness.<span> </span>Being a successful SaaS provider means “owning” the entire value-chain for SaaS – something that many software companies are ill-prepared to do immediately on their own.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">When companies make the proper investments, they can tap the vast potential of Software-as-a-Service.<span> </span>The road to SaaS success starts with an honest look at oneself and the dedication to learn what you don’t know, ask the right questions, then set out to build the best product and customer experience possible.</font></p> </article> <article> <h1>Social Media has changed the world of selling online; have you noticed?</h1> <p>ridingera — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:39:00 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Remember that chapter in your business textbook about the sales model?<span> </span>It probably looked something like this:</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">For the most part, this model is still valid.<span> </span>All of these things still happen.<span> </span>The small, yet important difference between then and now is the result of social media, especially with web-centric and Software-as-a-service products.<span> </span>Before, a sales rep would handle just about every step of the process.<span> </span>He would discover new customers, then work with them as they asked questions and evaluated the product, and eventually convince them to purchase the product.<span> </span>As long as you had a good sales team that could connect with customers, you did well.<span> </span>And as long as you kept them supported well enough, they would stay.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Google is the new Account Rep</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Fast forward to today.<span> </span>Like I said, these areas are still the same, but now instead of a skilled sales rep interacting with your current and potential customers, you have a computer screen.<span> </span>What do I mean?<span> </span>Well, what did you do the last time you were interested in a particular item or service? You probably looked it up on Google.<span> </span>After you found the company’s website, you probably also looked at the other links your Google search returned, including blog and feedback posts by others who had already used the product.<span> </span>Assuming you were still interested, you signed up for the trial version, and started playing around with it.<span> </span>You may have even checked out more blogs and message boards to ask specific questions about the product of other users.<span> </span>Finally, you decide you like the product, so you click the activate link, enter your payment info into the site, and purchase the full product.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Sound familiar?<span> </span>Did you notice that you went through the first 3 areas without ever interacting with an employee of the company who makes the product?<span> </span>As many people know, <em>my customer</em> telling you I’m great is much better than <em>me</em> telling you I’m great.<span> </span>The opposite is also true. A company may have a feedback section of their own, but as Bruce Temkin points out in his </font><a href="http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/bank-of-america-listens-but-is-it-hearing-everyone/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Bank of America example</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">, you should still look in more than 1 place before drawing your own conclusions.</font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">So customers are more empowered than ever with information about not just your product, but your company and the way you have treated others.<span> </span>Kinda scary.<span> </span>What does it mean?</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">“I bought it because I use it”</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">For starters, we’ve moved to a new level of buying.<span> </span>A customer will buy your product because they’re using it and it does what they want, rather than using a product because they bought it.<span> </span>Also, notice the immense impact these changes have on how important the Support area has become.<span> </span>It was always a good idea to keep your customers happy, but now it’s required.<span> </span>You want your customers to become raving fans.<span> </span>Raving fans tell their friends and post blogs and feedback to share with anyone who will listen.<span> </span>They do your marketing for you for free.<span> </span>When a potential customer does that initial Google search, you want them to see the blog posts from your raving fans.<span> </span>If you have angry customers instead of raving fans, guess what that initial search will bring back.</font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Customer Service is the new marketing.</strong><span> </span>Companies need to start treating customer service as an investment rather than an expense.<span> </span>The necessary “White Glove” level of service required to create raving fans is more expensive in the short-term, but in the long term you not only spend less supporting current customers, but their free word-of-mouth marketing will help you add more customers.</font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"></font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"></font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Without taking away from the importance of Support, let me say that all is not lost with Discover, Evaluate, and Purchase.<span> </span><strong>You still have a chance to make an impact.</strong></font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"></font></p><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Discover</strong>: Online marketing is more important than offline marketing. </font></font><a href="http://www.youtube.com/"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Youtube</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">, </font><a href="http://www.facebook.com/"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri" size="3">Facebook</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3">, and </font><a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri" size="3">Wikipedia</font></a><font face="Calibri" size="3"> have moved into the top 10 most visited sites (<a href="http://www.alexa.com/"><font face="Calibri">www.alexa.com</font></a>).</font><font face="Calibri" size="3"> If your marketing efforts can’t be found with a search engine, a lot of customers are missing you.</font></div></li><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Evaluate</strong>: Your micro-site must deliver.<span> </span>The web has kind of given us all ADD (<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html"><font face="Calibri">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html</font></a></font></font><font face="Calibri" size="3">).<span> </span>We spend an average of less than a minute on a page, reading fewer than 12 words or so before we decide to click on to something else.<span> </span>Your site and pages need to be focused and do the job they were intended to do.<span> </span>This sometimes means breaking corporate branding guidelines.</font></div></li><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Purchase</strong>: If someone can buy your product without ever interacting with a human, then they can certainly not buy it that way too.<span> </span>The great blog postings and feedback may have convinced a potential customer to download the trial, but now your product has to sell itself.<span> </span>You must have the best product on the market, and for reasons other than price.</font></font></div></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">The New Sales Model</font></font></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Calibri','sans-serif';"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Calibri','sans-serif';">When you take into account the changes resulting from Social Media in the world today, the Sales Model looks more like this:</span><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><div><br /><div id="edn2"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Things have changed, but the new rules allow for many new and exciting ways to grow and enhance your business and marketing strategies.<span> </span>It also means that companies who can’t keep their customers happy aren’t going to do as well as their competitors with raving fans.</font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Bottom line</strong>, customer support is the new marketing.<span> </span>Social media has moved much of the control you used to have from your sales rep to the web.<span> </span>My suggestion is to start with an experience audit.<span> </span>See what it’s like for your customers to deal with you.<span> </span>If it’s not a stellar experience, get some help to make it that way.<span> </span>The best part about the new world of selling is that it runs on happiness.<span> </span>And who doesn’t like to be happy?</font></font></p></div></div> </article> <article> <h1>Cloud Computing? Legacy SaaS?</h1> <p>hagins — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:51:00 GMT</p> <p>In working with startup SaaS vendor Sonian Networks (<a href="http://www.soniannetworks.com/"><font color="#35648c">www.soniannetworks.com</font></a>) I heard the CEO, George Nichols, use the term "Legacy SaaS" to refer to those OLD SaaS providers who build and operate their SaaS offerings the old fashioned way -- you know, using actual servers and databases and what not.</p><p>The comparison between Sonian as a SaaS 2.0 company and existing SaaS 1.0 business is a good one. Sonian has built their entire offering atop the Amazon Cloud. Sonian uses EC2, S3, SDB, SQS and will soon be using the Amazon payment services as well. Here is a company that is literally betting the farm on the use of cloud infrastructure, and far from being on the fringe, this is quickly becoming the norm.</p><p>Sonian has been in full production with their offering since January of this year, and is literally the first company out of the chute with an enterprise-level SaaS offering built on the cloud. Sonian provides email archiving and compliance as a service, and because of their solid use of the Amazon cloud, they can literally scale to any number of customers and users without having to worry about having the guys in the data center rack another server, install software, test it, bla bla bla.</p><p>This IS the future of software-as-a-service where the computing infrastructure is also provided on-demand. Sonian's cloud-based infrastructure automatically scales up and down based on current load -- so they are never paying for computing infrastructure or storage unless they are actually using it. </p><p>Wow.</p><p>So the more that I thought about this, the more I realized that George wasn't only right about Sonian being a SaaS 2.0 company, he is also right to use the term "legacy" SaaS to refer to the SaaS 1.0 businesses. SaaS 2.0 business have an enormous competitive cost and scalability advantage over the "legacy SaaS" companies. </p><p>This Sonian case also highlights something about some (not all) SaaS 1.0 businesses that we've known for a while - that the operational part of running their SaaS business is left to Managed Hosting providers and isn't really integrated into their software product development team. With cloud computing, the product development team must have a deep understanding of the operational environment. The cloud "layer" logically sits above the operating system, but across the entire cloud computing environment, and therefore the SaaS developers have to have expertise in developing applications for the cloud. </p><p>SaaS Developer 2.0?</p> </article> <article> <h1>Ivan Croxford Explains BT Tradespace</h1> <p>Matt Howard — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:27:03 GMT</p> Check out this interesting interview on YouTube. My mate Ivan Croxford explains BT Tradespace as a mechanism for enabling social commerce....(<a href="http://saascamp.com/blogs/mural/archive/2008/03/09/Ivan-Croxford-Explains-BT-Tradespace.aspx">read more</a>) </article> </main></body></html>