3 Strategies to Give Positive Customer Service | Getentrepreneurial.com

September 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Article Contributed by Dr. Joey Faucette

The relationships you have with your customers are the most important assets you possess. Easy to understand and take care of, right?

But do you?

As I travel, I encounter a great deal of customer service and disservice. I discovered 3 Strategies to Give Positive Customer Service from some positive and negative experiences.

Listen

As my assistant made reservations for my stay, the Marriott property had obviously listened to previous patrons and anticipated my needs. They asked,

–“May we pick him up at the airport?”

–“Will he want a ride to his meeting?”

–“May we return him to the airport?”

It was if they anticipated my every need. “We care” was the message.

Any Amazon Prime customer can now buy Dash buttons | Mashable

September 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s been five months since Amazon announced the Dash button, a physical device slightly larger than your thumb that lets you orders more goods with a single tap. Now, the Seattle tech giant is taking the Dash button out of the invite-only stage and making it available to all Prime customers for purchase.

Prime customers can purchase Dash buttons for $5 each starting Wednesday; the company will credit you for the cost of your first button.

The company is also expanding the number of available button types -– one for each brand partner -– from 18 to 29. The additional 11 brands include Ziploc, Dixie tableware, Hefty trash bags, Finish dishwashing detergent, Depend diapers, Ice Breakers Mints, Orbit gum, Greenies dental chews, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products, Digestive Advantage probiotic supplements, and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% whey protein.

15 Critical Habits Of Mentally Strong People | Forbes

September 1, 2015August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We all reach critical points in our lives where our mental toughness is tested. It might be a toxic friend or colleague, a dead-end job, or a struggling relationship.

Whatever the challenge, you have to be strong, see things through a new lens, and take decisive action if you want to move through it successfully.

It sounds easy. We all want good friends, good jobs, and good relationships.

But it isn’t.

It’s hard to be mentally tough, especially when you feel stuck. The ability to break the mold and take a bold new direction requires that extra grit, daring, and spunk that only the mentally toughest people have.

It’s fascinating how mentally tough people set themselves apart from the crowd. Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to overcome.

When Thomas Edison’s factory burned to the ground in 1914, destroying one-of-a-kind prototypes and causing $23 million in damage, Edison’s response was simple:

“Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start fresh again.”

Edison’s reaction is the epitome of mental toughness—seeing opportunity and taking action when things look bleak.

There are habits you can develop to improve your mental toughness. In fact, the hallmarks of mentally tough people are actually strategies that you can begin using today.

The Couple Who Quit Their Ad Jobs to Travel the World Ended Up Poor and Scrubbing Toilets | Adweek

September 1, 2015August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You remember Chanel Cartell and Stevo Dirnberger, the South African couple who quit their agency jobs this year to travel the world and document the experience. It sounded like a dream, and the lovely Instagram photos have made it look like one.

But halfway through their year-long odyssey (they’re currently in Athens, having traveled 25,000 kilometers so far), they’ve posted a reality check on their blog—a post titled “Why We Quit Our Jobs In Advertising To Scrub Toilets”—in which they share “the uglier side of our trip.” It turns out that following one’s dream—while working odd jobs in exchange for room and board—involves a lot of dirty work, and more than a few tears.

“The budget is really tight, and we are definitely forced to use creativity (and small pep talks) to solve most of our problems (and the mild crying fits),” Cartell writes. “Don’t let the bank of gorgeous photography fool you. Nuh uh. So far, I think we’ve tallied 135 toilets scrubbed, 250 kilos of cow dung spread, 2 tons of rocks shoveled, 60 meters of pathway laid, 57 beds made, and I cannot even remember how many wine glasses we’ve polished.

5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Selecting a Location | Lydia Mehit

September 1, 2015September 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How India’s ‘Garden City’ Is Igniting the Entrepreneurial Spirit | Inc.com

August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Often referred to as the “Silicon Plateau,” Bangalore holds many nicknames.

The green, sprawling capital city of Karnataka, a state in the southwestern region of India, is situated beneath a towering, 2,600-foot tall rock formation called the Mysore Plateau, which is bounded by the Sahyadri mountains and the sloping Kaveri river.

Over the past few years, Bangalore has earned the mantle of India’s “Silicon Valley.”

Although historically an outsourcing hub, the city is becoming its own technology business center. In 1909, the first Indian Institute of Science was established in Bangalore, and today it counts 3,500 students. The school’s most renowned education centers for climate change, neuroscience, and engineering have spurred more interdisciplinary research.

Today, Bangalore ranks as the 15th hottest startup ecosystem in the world, according to a recent report from Crunchbase and research firm Compass. The metropolis counts around 4,900 active startups, with nearly $2.3 billion in company investments last year.

A wide range of startup activity is happening in Bangalore. Internet penetration throughout India, especially, presents many opportunities for digital entrepreneurs. The country’s current population is a staggering 1.3 billion, and a July report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India projects that the country will count 500 million Internet users by 2017.

Subway is getting a makeover | Business Insider

August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Subway is about to get a big makeover. The sandwich chain, which has recently been plagued by declining sales and a scandal involving its former spokesman Jared Fogle, will undergo its first brand overhaul in seven years, reports Josh Kosman at The New York Post. Subway’s US sales last year fell by 3%, the most of any of the top 25 fast-food chains, Drew Harwell reports at The Washington Post. Subway also fell two spots to become the third-most-popular fast-food restaurant for the first time in seven years. Here are the changes Subway is considering.

Mount McKinley’s Alaska name Denali is restored by Obama | BBC News

August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

After decades of controversy, the name of Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, has been changed back to its original native Alaskan, Denali. Denali translates as High One or Great One and is used widely by locals. The 20,237ft (6,168m) peak was named by a gold prospector in 1896 after he heard that William McKinley had been nominated to become the US president. US President Barack Obama announced the change ahead of a three-day visit to Alaska to highlight climate change.

Freelancing: A New Business Concept that is set to take the Commercial Realm by Storm | Cool Business Ideas

August 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Perhaps ten years back, the idea of freelancing was not as appealing as it is today. Even three or four years ago the proposition of going the freelancing way was all about particular skill sets including designers/web developers, copywriters and illustrators. Today however, in the age of start-up boom anyone with the following skills can look forward to raking in the moolah:

Full service blogging

Metrics Analytics

Startup Video Producing

Food styling Podcasting

Others

The post, however, is not about the new opportunities to be explored in freelancing but more about ways to succeed as a freelancer. Freelancing does spell a lot of freedom initially. However, freedom, here, cannot be equated with lack of planning or discipline. Here is a look at the infallible tips to succeed in freelancing. Here’s your chance to explore more of what you already love doing. Read on.

How to Use Salary Caps to Sustainably Scale Your Small Business | Page19

August 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How can a small business grow sustainably? Greg Crabtree and Beverly Blair Harzog think that in a growing business, staffing costs can quickly balloon out of control. When small businesses are making the transition to medium-sized businesses, it’s possible to fall into a dangerous feedback loop of borrowing and spending. As you scale your business, your costs grow, and it’s tempting to see breaking even—your previous measure of success—as sufficiently safe growth.

However, medium-sized businesses have vastly larger costs, and can’t afford the breakneck growth speed that smaller, more agile operations can attain. As your costs grow, it’s important to retain control over those which you have the power to influence—and the biggest of these is labor costs.