Lance I. Fitzsimmons Associates

Are you harnessing the power of social media?

2010-08-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

The computer age brought us Moore's Law which states that the number of transistors that can be fitted onto a chip doubles every 2 years. There is a similar phenomenon that is happening with the internet and the way we communicate.

Our communications have evolved at such a rapid rate, it can be hard to catch up. In the last 2 years, facebook, twitter and many other sites have quickly become the way people interact with each other.

Is your business making the most of social media? Do you have a lead capture form on your fan pages? There are many ways to optimize social media and many more coming as our computers and phones keep getting smarter and faster.

What Happened To Craigslist?

2010-08-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Craigslist has always been a great tool to find good deals. If you know what you want and do some research, you can do very well. I have sold items I no longer needed and bought 2 cars on Craigslist and was very happy with the value I received from this free service. Something has changed. when looking for another car for the teenagers, I found the car ads to be littered with scams of too good to be true car deals with offers to ship the vehicles from another state. The scammers also prey on people looking for a job by stealing information and or money from desperate job seekers. Craigslist has put scam alerts on the site but it hasn't stopped the thieves. It must work well enough to keep the crooks posting the ads.

Buyer beware, in hard times, there are plenty of shady characters looking to fleece people of their hard earned money. Honest people can find it difficult to believe that someone would defraud them out of money so they become good targets. Greedy people think they can get a too good to be true deal and fall for the scam also.

It makes me sick to see scum of the Earth people using any way possible to steel from people. Those of you doing this, please refer to my post on the Golden Rule.

I'm hoping this will pass. It will make looking for things on CL much more efficient.

Hard Times Define Your Business

2010-08-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

When times are good, almost anyone can make it in business provided they have the commitment and aptitude. When times are not so good, "the wheat gets separated from the chaff" Those that are committed to their businesses and have saved from the good times have a much better chance of surviving when times are lean. Hard times can make all of us focus on the important things and make us more mindful of what we have and hence, become better stewards of our resources.

It is also a time to define your business as being honest. When times are hard, it can be tempting when opportunities arise to take advantage of customers. When you pass up the chance to take advantage of someone, you sow seeds of honesty and trust.

The Golden Rule In Business?

2010-08-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Everyone has heard of it over and over but how many actually practice it? Especially in business. How much better would our world be if we all lived by the Rule? People are more trusting of businesses that make this a practice. Why take the chance of alienating customers by not treating them with respect or not being completely honest in your dealings with them? The Golden Rule is not just a "Christian" concept as it is universal to all people.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it;

The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is an ethical code, or a morality^[2], that states (in four forms, see table below) the following:

One should treat others according to how one would like others to treat one's self (positive, passive form)
Treat others as you would like to be treated (positive, active form)
One should not treat others in ways one would not like to be treated (prohibitive, passive form)
Do not treat others in ways you would not like to be treated (prohibitive, active form. Also called the Silver Rule)

The Golden Rule has a long history, and a great number of prominent religious figures and philosophers have restated the above four forms of the Rule in various ways.
The Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, in which each individual has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others.^[3] A key element of the Golden Rule is that a person attempting to live by this rule treats all people, not just members of his or her in-group, with consideration. The Golden Rule has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard which different cultures use to resolve conflicts.^[4]
The Golden Rule, as a concept, has a history that long predates the term "Golden Rule" (or "Golden law," as it was called from the 1670s^[5]). The concept was present in certain forms in the philosophies of ancient Babylon, Egypt, India, Greece, Judea, and China. Principal philosophers and religious figures have stated it in different ways, but its most common Modern English phrasing first appeared in a Catholic catechism around 1567 (certainly in the reprint of 1583^[6]): That English phrasing is a translation of ancient Greek manuscripts; and in the original Greek it is attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in the Biblical book of Matthew: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12, Matthew 22:39, Luke 6:31)

The next time you are dealing with someone ask yourself "Is this how I want to be treated?" The Golden Rule is also tied to the saying "what goes around comes around." The longevity of a small business has a lot to do with these concepts. The question for a business owner is are you in it for serving your customers for the long term or just looking for a quick buck?

Agency Partnership With Volusion Established

2010-08-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2010 Lance I. Fitzsimmons Associates became a Volusion Agency Referral Partner. We are proud to partner with one of the premier providers of E-Commerce software to provide a new level of service for our clients. Volusion's E-Commerce software enables businesses to have cutting edge shopping carts with full control over their online stores. Since Volusion is always striving to lead in this industry, their stores will never become obsolete.

As an Agency Referral Partner we set up our client's store and customize the Volusion software to meet their needs. Once the store is set up and populated with their products and SEO meta data, they have the option to maintain the store themselves or have us provide any level of service they want, from full maintenance to SEO maintenance to make sure they maintain search engine ranking. This approach gives our clients a cutting edge storefront at a significant savings over having a site custom made from scratch. We don't want to re-invent the wheel.

What Happened To Customer Service - Value

2010-08-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

You go out and get new tires and expect when you get your car back that everything will be ok. But then after leaving with your new tires, you notice that the tire pressure warning is on. Come to find out, the tires were not properly inflated and the sensor was not reset. It would have taken less then 5 minutes for this problem to be avoided and the customer to be happy. The little things go a long way in perceived value, cost almost nothing to do yet provide a great return. You know what they say, "The devil is in the details".

Several months ago this same business charged almost double the going rate to have tires mounted and balanced. I guess it is time to go somewhere else.

What Happened To Customer Service - Time

2010-08-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting experience where I made an appointment to have my car aligned. When I arrived at the business, it was closed and there were other people waiting outside. There was no note on the door or any indication that the shop would be re-opened today. I found myself frustrated and questioning whether my business or anyone else's was valued. The owners showed up about 10 minutes after the appointment time. Had another 5 minutes gone by I would have left.

I mention this because I went to this business because one of their competitors has such bad customer service that I had to find another place to do business with. Why would a business owner want to jeopardize alienating someone that came to their business to spend MONEY? A customer in hand is the most valuable asset a business can have. Repeat customers keep a business in business. Business owners take heed and don't take your customers for granted.

Partnership with ControlOMatic Established

2010-08-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

August 12, 2010 - Grass Valley, CA

ControlOMatic and Lance I. Fitzsimmons Associates are partnering to establish market share for a new line of chemical automation systems for public swimming pools and spas. The new PoolWarden line of chemical controllers will be available in single and 2 pool configurations. These new systems come standard with built in WIFI and are very competitively priced.

The price point will allow end users to realize an almost immediate payback labor savings alone. Increased swimmer satisfaction, prolonged equipment and surface life, along with chemical, time and water savings make these devices a very attractive investment for aquatic facilities. For more information go to www.controlomatic.com

The Power of Free

2010-08-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

Why pay for what you can get for free? Are you tired of the poor return on adwords, pay per clicks and other forms of paid advertising? There are people that spend thousands on paid advertising and get almost nothing in return. I've been there myself and thought there has to be a better way and there is! There are ways to get free advertising and better search placement for little or no money. Once you learn the ways of the force, you can do it yourself or have better control over your advertising budget with more predictable results.

There are lots of free business tools you can get with Google. Documents, email, websites, blogs, web analytics... The internet is full of valuable, free stuff but it is scattered around and it is hard to know what to do with it all when you get overwhelmed with all the stuff. Once you can sort through it and discover how to utilize all the information and tools out there, the sky is the limit.