Annie Anderson | Blog

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This morning I happened upon a great article about customer service over at Alexander Kjerulf’s website and thought I’d talk about that a little bit today too. Alexander’s article, “Top 5 Reasons ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is Wrong” echoes my own sentiments.

One of the points he makes is that employers must value their employees and it’s near impossible to do so with a silly policy that the customer is always right. That kind of thinking doesn’t value employees at all and ultimately leads to poorer customer service because employees become resentful.

As Alexander notes:

Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because:

• They care more about other people, including customers
• They have more energy
• They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with
• They are more motivated

On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that:

• Employees are not valued
• That treating employees fairly is not important
• That employees have no right to respect from customers
• That employees have to put up with everything from customers

When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that point, real good service is almost impossible - the best customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: corteous on the surface only.

I completely agree with this. As someone who has worked in customer service in a variety of industries over the past 20 years, I’ve seen poor employee/employer relationships develop because of this very thing. And when my parents implemented the philosophy that the customer is NOT always right in their retail business several years ago, we saw business sky rocket in a matter of months.

You know, it’s kind of like disciplining your children - when they understand the boundaries, when the boundaries are consistent, children are often much happier. They feel safe, they feel secure and they know you care about them. They know they can trust and respect you.

Sure, your customers might test the boundaries now and then but over time, you develop a track record of consistency and fairness and pretty soon, others start flocking to you because they know you’re honest and responsible. And that’s what helps business grow.

I hope this has been helpful to you. Let me know your thoughts. Tomorrow we’ll talk about some of the various projects you’ll see around here soon.

Chat later,

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I’ve read all kinds of cool things around the web this past week and it’s difficult to pick but a few of those for my first “official” Around the Web post.

Before I get into the topic, let me just say I’ve begun using a non-web-based RSS reader. Until recently, I’d been using Bloglines which is a terrific service and I still really love it. In fact, I continue to add new feeds to it just so I always have a backup of everything to restore my non-web reader should I ever need to or to use when I’m at another computer.

My problem, though (and the reason I’m trying a stand-alone RSS reader), is that it just adds too many open tabs to my browser and then it’s harder to keep track of what I’m really looking at, especially if I want to visit the site of one of the articles in my reader. Then I have not only the RSS aggregator page open but also the pages I’m viewing plus now an article of one (or more) of the feeds. It gets rather cumbersome.

Using a stand-alone aggregator, like Vienna, allows me to open an article for further perusal without messing up what I’m working on in Firefox. I can leave it open and come back to it as needed without interfering with web-based work. And vice-versa.

So that’s my side note for today.
On to the topic at hand . . .

One of the biggest subjects that stood out to me in the past week, are the posts on making money online. I’ve probably read hundreds of them (no exaggeration, either) in recent days (it seems like everyone is talking about it) and so I want to take a moment to point out a book I read a few months ago - The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.

In this book, Tim basically talks about automating your own business so that you can live your dreams. It’s a very interesting concept that deserves a lot of attention, especially with the economy and mortgage issues we’re facing in the US.

One of the ideas I like best is outsourcing. Now, Tim advocates a large amount of outsourcing not only for your business, but for personal things as well. To me, some of the personal stuff seems almost frivolous so I likely will not follow every suggestion in the book but I do think having a team (something I’ve talked about extensively in real estate training programs I’ve done) is worth it’s weight in gold.

There are a few concepts I do not fully agree with in the book but overall, I recommend it if you’re even remotely considering your own business or if you have one already. It will certainly get you thinking and hopefully, taking action.

You can find out more about Tim and the book at his website http://www.fourhourworkweek.com.

Later today, I’ll add a post with links to some good articles I’ve found on this topic. Until then, have fun checking out Tim’s website.

PS - Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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This week, you’ll notice a lot of stuff happening. My husband is home on vacation for the next 9 days (doing some remodeling in our house and keeping the kids occupied) so I’m busy, busy, busy! I have tons of ideas on the table, many of which are being put into action as we speak. I intend that by Friday, much of what I’ve been working on the past few months will be live. Yay!

This is so exciting!

Projects on the table:

NW Stone Guide - this is a new project my husband is the mastermind of. He works for a granite and tile wholesale place and has been working in this industry for quite a few years now so he has a lot of knowledge in the stone market that he wants to share with others. NW Stone Guide will have local resources including stone fabricators, import warehouses, builders and remodelers, and info on all things stone. It will not only be for homeowners looking for info, but we also hope to make it *THE* portal for all facets of the industry. All that’s there right now (that viewers can see, anyway) is a nice little subscription form you can fill out to get updates so that once the site is live, you can have a look. You can subscribe via RSS or email.

The Write Point - my original writing and design project. It used to be a site for all of my writing and design endeavors but it’s now primarily a blog on writing - including fiction and non-fiction tips, writing how-to, editing, publishing and everything else. The site is in redesign right now as I add new stuff but it is live and you can check it out. Subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

Weight Loss Papers - a new-ish site dedicated to my pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. It’s about weight loss, healthy eating, balance and just living life in the best way I possibly can. The tag line is “A Journey in Lifestyle Creation” - which really explains it all. I hope you’ll visit and come back to it often. My plan is to update at least 3 times or more per week about what I’m learning about all things health, etc. Ultimately I plan to have some recipes, articles on exercise, and other topics of interest. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed over there as well.

ASAmedia Group - where my writing and design business is now located. This is the actual business side of things. It is live but not everything is there yet. This is the project I’ll be pushing hard this week. Right now, you can see the *copywriting* section when you visit the homepage but the *design* link will take you nowhere. At least for now. I’m opening my business up for writing clients so if you are thinking of hiring a writer for any of YOUR projects, please check it out. This is the first time I’ve opened up my business to new clients in 2 years. So, if you might want to work with me, you should seriously jump on it right away. Just go fill out the form on the bottom of the Copywriting page and I’ll get in touch with you as quickly as I can.

So . . . As you can see, lots of stuff going on! The office door is closed, radio is cranked up and the To Do list is dwindling!

See you again soon!

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As promised, my review of James Brausch’s newest “Testing” newsletter he so graciously sent me over the weekend . . .

I have never read James’ newsletter until now so I can’t compare this one to any previous newsletter but I must say as far as newsletters go in general, it was an easy read. No fluff and puff which is always nice. No ads for his products (or anyone else’s). Just simple, clean info. I like that.

Frankly, with a newsletter name like “Testing,” I was expecting it to be rather dry and dull. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Though it did have quite a bit of statistical data, it wasn’t boring. James presented his results of the tests he’s been doing in a straight-forward and easy to understand way that was even simple for me to understand - someone who’s a little math-phobic.

The most interesting part of the newsletter, though, was James’ comment that people value money more than time. I find that alarming because money is something we can usually somehow get more of but time is a commodity that once it’s gone, it’s extinct - we can’t get ever get it back and we certainly cannot make more of it.

The second thing I thought incredibly interesting was that half the people in the intern program never complete the first task. That is startling! I mean, here they are getting something for free and the chance to learn some sound business techniques only to quit before they’ve even done anything with it.

Overall, I really enjoyed “Testing,” however, I was a little disappointed at the format of the newsletter. That part was definitely dry and boring. Now, I realize it’s impossible to please everyone all the time but really . . . I’ve read financial data reports that were more visually appealing. Being a very visual person, I like what I’m reading to have at least some character - a bit of color, some distinction between each section - something to make important things stand out.

Bottom line - if you’re an internet business owner interested in learning more about multivariate testing methods and statistics, this newsletter is likely right up your alley.

You can see other reviews here at Testimonials for Testing Newsletter post on James’ blog.

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I’ve been using this totally cool service called “I Want Sandy” - a digital personal assistant. Very cool!

Take a look at this . . .

===================
Hi there!

I’m Annie’s personal email assistant, Sandy.

Annie asked me to drop you a line and introduce myself.

Here’s a note from Annie:

Hi,

I’d like you to meet Sandy. Sandy, meet a friend of mine.

Talk amongst yourselves!

Annie

I help my clients by remembering life’s daily details (meetings, birthdays, to-dos, phone numbers, bookmarks, etc.) and sending reminders just when they need them — so they can focus on what’s important. And I can do the same for you!

Sign up for free in just seconds! Click here to get started.

Sincerely,

Sandy

P.s. If you’d rather I didn’t contact you again, click here.
===================

This is an email she will send my friends if they wish to sign up. If you want to sign up - it’s totally free to do so - drop me an email real quick or post your name and email in the comments and I’ll see that Sandy contacts you ASAP.

PS - Look for my review of “Testing” - James Brausch’s monthly newsletter. I’ll be reviewing the latest copy that just came out today on Tuesday afternoon.

Technorati Tags:
personal assistant, James Brausch, internet

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Chris Brogan, who blogs on commercial and social media topics, recently asked his readers to share his blog with others on his “Subscription Drive” post.

I’ve been reading Chris’ blog for about 8 months or so and usually find great topics that are helpful in a variety of ways. If you use the web for marketing, business, or any kind of social media, I encourage you to check it out.

~ Annie

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James Brausch, a successful internet entrepreneur, publishes a monthly print newsletter called “Testing” and the March issue comes out Monday. He recently explained on his blog that one page on one of his websites has made him $1,460 a day for the past 10 days (which works out to $532,900 a year!!) and all of the details are coming out in the newest issue of “Testing.”

I can’t wait to read it! James is giving away a free copy of the issue to anyone who follows some simple directions as outlined it his newest post - Anyone Want a Free Copy of Testing?

Once it comes out and I’ve had a chance to read it (hopefully by Tuesday), I will post a review of it right here. I’ll let you know what I think of the methods outlined in “Testing” and how I plan to implement it into my own business.

I encourage you to check out James’ blog. It’s loaded with excellent resources and information. You’ll find it here - http://www.jamesbrausch.org/anyone-want-a-free-copy-of-testing/

~ Annie

PS - James, click on my name for my email address.

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