JOHN T. PETERS

JOHN T. PETERS

10 Reasons Why I Love Southwest Airlines – Hint: It’s just as much about the airports…

July 26, 2013 No Comments

I’m writing this particular post, and it is a long one, to address all my friends and family who give me that look when I say I’m on a Southwest flight…. “Southwest? You?”  Yes, me. Apparently I am a travel snob, so read on.  (And remember, this is my personal view from personal experience and has nothing to do with the companies for whom I work or have worked.) If you know me, you know most of my flying lately is, unfortunately, domestic.  You also know I *love* Southwest.  I’m on two or three Southwest flights a week. Truth is; I’ve been flying all my life, but I hadn’t flown them until four years ago.  All I knew about Southwest was they were the “wacky” airline.  Their flight attendants sang, you didn’t have assigned seating and apparently, they were a cult who would secretly brainwash you into never wanting to fly another airline again.  Boy, was I right. As most of you know, I am from NJ.  Yes, I’m from Jersey.  Got a problem with that? I didn’t think so.   Four years ago, I moved to (ready???) Indiana. Yep, I’m a Hoosier-in-training though I complain about the horrific pizza and the lack of real bagels in the state. While I’m in northwest Indiana, under 20 miles away from Chicago, it might as well be another planet because I actually believe it *is* another planet, but that’s another post. Since I moved, I have worked, for the most part, either in NY or in DC, meaning I commute to work via plane.  For the first couple of months, I flew out of O’Hare to LaGuardia. O’Hare is big, but at 4:30AM, you manage just fine. I’d normally fly another airline from O’Hare to LaGuardia.  Let’s just say my experiences were less than “okay.”  Sure I was “preferred” and got access to special security lines and to clubs.  While these special “privileges” made me feel important, the travel part was such a hassle, especially since so many others were part of this so-called “preferred” echelon.  It was hardly exclusive. One day, I saw an announcement about Southwest starting flights to LaGuardia.  Price?  Next to nothing.  So, I thought I’d give it a try.  Southwest departs from Midway though and I’d never flown them and had only once flown into Midway before.  My first Southwest flight out of Midway changed my travel life forever. Midway is the near perfect secondary airport; small (but not tiny), convenient and clean.  It has a sufficient amount of shops and eateries and you can practically park your car at the gate.  At 4:30 AM (to make a 6:00AM flight) it’s nearly empty.  It does get filled as the day progresses, but what airport doesn’t? I have to admit, my first SWA flight was a bit confusing; it felt like the deli line at the supermarket, complete with numbered tickets (a.k.a. boarding pass).  The boarding passes are numbered; A1-A60, then B1-B60, then C1-C60.  You line up and board by number (A’s first, then B’s, then C’s) then you get on and sit where you like.  If you look confused while in the boarding area, these Southwest cult members (a.k.a. passengers) will gladly explain the system and even do so politely.  Really, everyone is nice and happy to point a new guy in the right direction. The flight? Fun. Really, fun.  The first flight attendant announcement I heard included “We’ve got three of the best flight attendants in the sky. Unfortunately, none of those people were available, so you’re stuck with this crew.”  The oxygen announcement continued “if you’re traveling with children… or with your husband who acts like a child…..”  Half way to NYC, the flight attendant had the entire plane sing “happy birthday” for a child passenger. They say companies should treat their employees the way they want their employees to treat their customers. I can only assume SWA employees are happy, because they “get” customer service.  If singing flight attendants, open seating and helpful seatmates don’t do anything for you, here are my top ten reasons I love Southwest Airlines. Employees give great service.  From the flight attendants to the gate agents to the stateside call center employees, these folks “get it” and prove it at every opportunity.  They even provide great service when things are not their fault.  On a trip from LGA to MDW two years ago, all flights were stopped in or out for hours due to a bad storm.  They made announcements regularly and after a couple of hours, even brought out food and drinks.  The other airline passengers at gates next to ours were screaming, saying “they get announcements, drinks AND food and you can’t answer a question for us?  Why didn’t I fly Southwest?” Secondary airports rock.  I’ll take Fort Lauderdale over Miami or Midway over O’Hare any day.  Traveling is hard enough and not having to cover long distances within an airport is nice. Earning free flights is easy.  Rapid Rewards has to be the easiest airline program out there. A little known secret; after “A-List” and “A-List Preferred” class, there’s something called “Companion Status” where if you fly enough with them (100 o/w flights), your spouse / companion can fly with you, on the same flight, for FREE…for a year! I defy you to find a better rewards program. Reasonable rates.  Book at least 14 days out for deals.  Anything less, I find the rates to be comparable to other airlines (yes and sometimes a bit more).  I actually book months out and get very reasonable rates.  Frankly, it’s because of Southwest that I and quite a few others can afford to commute to work. Specials and other internet fares are awesome, with some fares during sale times for as low as $59 each way. A great website.  Southwest.com is easy to use, always up to date and includes many utilities.  Want to book with points / miles? One click changes dollars to points. Want a list

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Hi. Nice to smell you… 15 tips for being a considerate traveler.

December 31, 2012 No Comments

Since I commute to another state for work, by plane, I regularly find myself in close quarters with other people.  Proximity is an amazing thing, especially as you travel.  Since I have traveled most of my life, I have always known that to be a good traveler, you must also be a considerate traveler.  After all, if *everyone* would do this, the travel experience would be so much more pleasant.  Below, I have assembled my list of the top 15 things you can do to be more considerate while you travel.  You’ll see a theme and this comes from something my Mom always tells me; “Be nice to people and they’ll be nice to you.” Perfume / cologne – Here’s the rule of thumb; Women, I should have to get close enough to kiss your neck to be able to smell your potion.  If I can smell you just by sitting next to or across from you, you have too much on, in my opinion.  If I can smell you in the elevator, after you have gotten out of the elevator, that’s just rude. Men, aftershave serves a purpose; it heals the skin after we tear it to shreds with a razor.  A little aftershave is okay.  No neck kissing here; I simply don’t want to smell you at all.  As for cologne, I know, your mom keeps buying you some for Christmas, but this does not mean you have to wear gallons of it.  When in doubt, just use a little. Electronics on planes – Turn off your electronic devices when the flight attendants ask. Seriously, this hide and seek game is silly.  How old are you?  Shut it off.  These rules apply to everyone, not everyone but you.  When the FAA finally says its okay to leave them on, then we’ll all do it. Flight attendants – Stop yelling at or speaking rudely to the flight attendants, especially for things out of their control. News flash; they don’t control the weather. They don’t make the rules either.  They are there for your safety. However, If you feel they are being rude, you could and should say something, but not if they’re reacting to *your* rudeness.  Also, they’re not your personal servants.  Call them, if you must, by pressing the call button, not outburst of “Hello. Excuse me!” Be nice –  Say “please” and “thank you.”  I’m amazed as I travel how many people don’t do this. When a flight attendant hands you your beverage, say “thank you.” When the doorman holds open your door, say “thank you.”  If you need some ketchup, ask the waiter nicely and say “please.”  Is this so hard? Can you hear me now?  – When listening to music on the plane, even if you are wearing ear buds in, make sure the person next to you can’t hear your music (read, because you are playing your music too loudly.)  If you’re into loud music (I am) use noise cancelling headphones on a plane.  As I type, The Who’s “Eminence Front” is blaring, but my seat mates can’t hear it. Arm rest wrestling – Don’t be a space hog; armrests are for sharing. Take turns or something, but the wrestling for the armrest is rude. The same goes for reclining your seat; give a quick look behind you and see if someone (yes, me) is working on a laptop before you nearly crush it with a recline forceful enough to split atoms. Excuse me, can you let me out? – If you, like me, have the bladder of a tree frog (read small), but love the window seat, well, pick one; bladder or view.   View or bladder.  I don’t care either way, but I don’t want to have to get up three times in a flight because you like to look at clouds in between visits to the potty. Clean up – And speaking of the potty; clean up after yourself in restrooms, especially on a plane.  Rinse and wipe down the sink and pick up any of your random (insert anything here) that you have left behind. Kids on a plane – Parents, I’ve written a dozen posts on how to be good travelers when you are with your kids.  I have kids and they’re always on planes with me. Here’s the rule of thumb; OVER-PARENT on planes. For infants, make sure you feed them a bottle during takeoff, so their ears don’t hurt (sucking on the bottle will help) and they start screaming. For toddlers, bring entertainment; think 15 minute attention spans; one coloring book is not going to cut it. Taking your children’s shoes off will keep them from kicking the seats in front of them.  I have lots of tips. Here’s a link to my most popular post on the subject “Tips for traveling with kids.” Drunks on a plane –  Speaking of “sucking on a bottle” – don’t get hammered on a plane. That’s just rude.  Sure a beverage or two will take the edge off, but getting blotto? Yea, ah…no. Here’s a tip – To tip or not to tip? I’m an over-tipper, but the rule of thumb is don’t be a cheap skate. You should leave hotel maids a few bucks a day if they kept your room nice and clean. Taxi drivers (who drive well enough for you not to get nauseous, and keep a clean, smell-free taxi) should get 15-20%. Come on, you know the drill; just because you’re traveling does not mean you shouldn’t tip. If someone works hard to give you good service, reward them. On the other side of that coin is “if they don’t, then don’t.”  I’m all for sending a message. When in Rome – Do you travel internationally? If so, get with the (local) program. Respect the local culture and customs. Learn a few words of the language (“please” and “thank you” are always good ones) for heaven’s sake.  I recall a trip to the Greek Island of Crete where an American counterpart was upset the restaurant didn’t

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Getting more followers-101: A few basic tips for travel pros and you

February 26, 2012 No Comments

One of the questions I keep getting from travel professionals is “How do I get more social media followers?” and the answer is both simple and complicated.  At the end of the day, there are a few key things to remember; 1) people are looking for interesting people with interesting content with whom they would be willing to engage.  By “engage” I mean read, comment, post, tweet and re-tweet. 2) quality of friends / followers is important, but despite what you’ll hear, quantity is important as well.  After all, if you have 100% of your followers engaged, but you only have five followers, then you’re basically wasting your time. Your goal is to get as many actively involved, engaged friends, likes, followers and subscribers as possible.  This is an ongoing effort which should never end. So, how do you create interesting content? Easier said than done, right?  Sure, we can all crank out a few blog posts we think are interesting, but keeping it flowing is a challenge.  For one thing, we’re all busy and writing interesting, meaningful and relevant blog posts takes time and effort.  I’m not sure about you, but I’m fairly overextended to begin with.  So, I have recently determined my “social” activity needs scheduling like everything else.  I now make “social time” a priority on my schedule, meaning I block time in the evenings or weekends to get to social media activities.  I even go so far as to block at least thirty minutes a day during the week, for my work accounts, to dedicate (almost exclusively) to social. This is in addition to the efforts put forth to “be social” in all my online reading, etc. and by that I mean I always share interesting reads, always comment when I have something to say and always re-post or re-tweet something I find interesting.  In all, I now dedicate about four a week to social media, including writing posts and scheduling them.  I write about topics about of which I’m passionate and knowledgeable.  Further, if you know me, you’ll know I am not short on at least these three things; opinions, humor and sarcasm. These help me keep my posts and tweets fun, dare I say provoking in some fashion. Yea, I’m from Jersey.  You got a problem with that? The next thing to getting more followers is making sure you’re both socially engaged and a voracious reader. Yes, this requires more time. Find the best blogs in your field and read what others are saying.  This will not only keep you up to date, but educate you, thus validating your existing opinions or helping you form others.  Then, share, share, share.   Keep in mind one thing; not everyone, even your closest friends, will want to read everything you post.  Also, different platforms call for different sharing activity. Here are my personal sharing activities by platform. Twitter: I try to post five times a day or more. Twitter is very “right now” and with the numbers of people posting, frequency helps you get noticed.  For me, Twitter is about A) promoting a blog post I’ve written, B) getting people to read and share articles of interest or, finally, C) point people to the promotions I’m pushing and to my public speaking events. Remember though, you only have 140 characters (120 if you’re writing something you hope to be re-tweeted) so you need to use them sparingly and in a fashion that begs to be clicked.  As an example, at a conference at which I’m speaking, one of the topics is about travel agent specialization.  In that speech, I tell agents why and how they should specialize.  The tweet for that event is “#travel agents, Specialize or Die” along with the link and ending with “via @johntpeters”.  Short and attention grabbing is the way to go on Twitter.  I normally have two types of tweets for this type of event.  In one, I link directly to the conference registration page.  In another, I link to my blog post which also tells people why they should attend.  Then, in that post, I link people to the conference registration page.  I use Hootsuite to schedule most of my posts and I work a few days ahead of time.  I normally spend all my “social” time on Sundays to schedule my tweets for Monday to Wednesday. As far as when these tweets *appear*, I post 80% of my tweets to appear during office hours.  I find these get re-tweeted far more frequently than my after-hours tweets. While we’re on the subject of re-tweeting, I do that as often as possible. For one, I find my followers like how I share posts I find interesting.  They take something I re-tweeted and then share it with their followers.  That is the idea after all.  Another reason to re-tweet is to “share the love” with others.  You RT them and they’re more likely to RT you. Facebook is different. On Facebook, I post three or four times a day.  I normally do half of my posts for work and half for personal topics.  In all cases, I try to show the human side of me.  I’m a card-carrying member of “TMI” (too much information) and am often more of an over-sharer than not. So, to be friends with me on Facebook means you’ll hear about me, my family, my opinions and a variety of sarcastic comments.  Sure, I also post about professional items, work projects and any speaking engagements, but in most cases, I do try and make people laugh. After all, we don’t laugh enough anymore.  On Facebook, I also post pictures and videos.  These might be direct from my iPhone or via Instagram (complete with image filters).  On Facebook, I often post (what I hope to be) thought provoking comments.  These might include questions about favorite vacations, funniest kids questions or quotes or pretty much anything that comes to mind I find interesting. I’m going to cover Google+ in another

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The greatest distraction at work…ELIMINATED in an instant.

January 4, 2012 No Comments

Remember the story of Pavlov and his dog? His dog was conditioned to start drooling when he heard a bell because he knew food was coming.  Imagine the distraction…DING! Thoughts disrupted. Concentration lost. Eyes darting.  This describes not only Pavlov’s dog, but it describes me as well. Let me explain. No, I don’t think of food when I hear a bell (at least not always), but I can tell you, when that email notification (DING!) sounds and the message notification appears, I check to see what email message has arrived. By this, I mean I glance at the lower right portion of my screen to see who has emailed me.  Unfortunately, this happens 150 to 200 times a day.  DING! Oooh look…shiny object! What on *earth* is so important that I lose my train of thought?  Many of us have been conditioned to read email (at least the title and sender) when we see/hear that email has arrived. Why? Likely it’s because so many people expect an immediate answer, as if I have nothing else to do but stop what I’m doing and respond to you (er, except you boss).  Worse, they’ll call asking if I got their email.  For the record, I’m okay with the phone call if you have an urgent question.  By all means, for complicated questions and answers, I’d much rather spend a few minutes on the phone versus responding via email.  However, in a previous professional life, everyone kept and filed every single email as the ultimate CYA (“cover your a**) insurance.  That was horrific.  Even after a phone call, they’d send you an email reiterating what you just covered on the phone. A few years back I trained myself to simply glance at the sender without going to my Outlook main page.  I thought this was a good start at freeing myself from Outlook Prison. I was doing okay until my email messages started coming in ten at a time. These days, if I get an email from my boss or an important client, I respond right away. Otherwise, I keep working.  Honestly however, even the glances at the email alerts distract me.  So today, I tried something new; I turned off the email notification entirely. No DING!. No message indicator. Nothing.  I also did something else; I put two, one-hour blocks of time on my calendar, every day, to answer email, first at 10:30AM, followed by another block at 2:30PM.  Then, I checked one last time at the end of the day and answered some emails, though not all.  Some emails will simply have to wait until tomorrow. I have to admit, I think I was more efficient today.  I have more work to do, like sending a dozen or so auto emailed reports I receive daily to a reports folder for reading later. By the way, since I share my calendar with a few people, my time blocks list “I’m working – emergency interruptions only” as the activity.  That should keep people away for a while.  I also shut my office door. When this stops being an effective deterrent to interruptions, I’ll change it up.  I’ve been known to put meetings on my calendar with luminaries, alive and dead.  You have to admit, when you look at someone’s calendar and it says “Telcon with Elvis” or “Lunch with Margaret Thatcher” people hesitate to interrupt. My blocked time was very effective until I got a few text messages (rats!).  None of them were urgent by the way. Texting, as you know, is the new email. This is just what we need; more distractions. I will keep you updated as things progress.  Until then, do you have any email management techniques or other helpful hints to avoid distractions during the day?

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The Coolest Last Minute Gifts You Can Get For Your Traveling Spouse

December 21, 2011 No Comments

The Coolest Last Minute Gifts You Can Get For Your Traveling Spouse Are you on the road all the time? Is your spouse?  Are either of you Preferred / Platinum / Priority on one airline or more? Heaven knows I am.  I thought about all the top ten lists for gifts, but I don’t believe I have seen a good one for people that travel.  When I have found a list, the person writing it doesn’t tell you *why* the items made the list.  So, here goes.  You still have time to run to the store.  Where possible, I have listed where you can purchase these items. Luggage. Briggs & Riley Baseline 21″ Carry-On Expandable Upright U421X  – Say what you want, but the right piece of luggage can make for a great trip.  So you know; I beat the hell out of my luggage, so I can’t mess around.  Honestly, I recently tried a Swiss brand, bought 4 new pieces and within a few trips, two of them broke and they all looked like they had flown a million miles. So, I’ve now opted for my Briggs & Riley 21 Carry-On Expandable Upright.  You can’t kill this thing. It’s sturdy, good looking, and functional. The wheels are smooth. The handle casing is on the outside of the bag, leaving more room on the inside. Plus, it’s the perfect size for a couple of days. Go to http://www.briggs-riley.com/ and find a store near you.  About $320. Perfect for the serious road warrior.  Note there are lots of models from which to choose. Briggs & Riley rocks. Noise Cancelling Headphones. Seriously, nothing makes for a better flight than the drowning out of all that noise.  I don’t care if it’s a crying baby, excessive pilot announcements or, heaven forbid, a gum-snapping seat-mate. I have a pair made by Sony (MDR-NC200D).  Available on Amazon for about $199 though you can find some models for $99.  Perfect for all, especially avid music fans because your tunes will sound great while you’re blocking out noise simultaneously. Belkin BZ103050QTVL Mini Surge 3-outlet Wall Mount with USB Charger.  How many devices do you own that will likely need to be charged at the airport? For me, it’s at least two or three. When you finally get to the airport, the plugs are all taken by everyone else.  With this nifty device, I walk up to someone, and ask if I can unplug their device for a second while I plug in the “tap” and presto, I plug them back in and still have two outlets for me. Seriously, it is the best gift ever for a traveler. Amazon for about $20 (starting price). Perfect for the digital road warrior. Folding Leather Picture Frame.  One thing for sure, when you travel you’ll miss your family.  The best gift my wife ever got me was a leather picture frame with a picture of her and the kids in it.  I get to a hotel and put it on the nightstand. It makes you feel like they’re there with you. Available online – just search and you’ll find it. The sell for about $40. Perfect for Moms and Dads. Leather Folding Snap Dresser Tray / Caddie.  You tend to leave stuff around a hotel room; keys, room card-keys, change, money, passport, etc.  The first thing I do when I get to my room is snap the edges of my dresser caddie (it lays flat in my briefcase) and unload all the stuff in my pockets.  It is a great way to stay organized. Available on Amazon for $45. Perfect for the serious, Type “A” traveler. Silk Sleep Sack (aka dreamsack). One word; bedbugs.  They’re gross. Yes, I’ve been bitten and mind you, it was at a rather nice hotel.  Expensive room rates do not guarantee you won’t have bedbugs.  When I’m ready for bed in a hotel, I pull off the comforter entirely (don’t even make me go there!) and unroll my sleep sack, put it on top of the sheets and get in.  It won’t guarantee you won’t be bitten but sleeping in *your* silk cocoon seems so much more clean than jumping into hotel sheets.  In very nice hotel, I normally still use it.  Simply wash it when you get home, in between trips and throw it back into your suitcase. Available on Amazon for $60 – $100. Perfect for all. Incase EC20035 Combo Charger for iPod, iPhone and iPad.  I don’t know about you, but I carry around my share of chargers. iPhone, iPad, mi-fi, etc.  The problem is you need at least one iPhone charger for the car.  So, I carry this combo unit that works either in the car or in a standard wall outlet and it allows me to carry one less cord. Available on shopping.com for about $30. Perfect for the iPhone using rental car customer. Mobile hotspot aka Mi-Fi.  Mine is 4G from Verizon.  This lets me get wifi for up to 5 devices anyplace I can get a cell signal. No need to try and find a public hotspot in a pinch. Plus, it is perfect for conferences when you’re traveling with a few people and you all need wifi acess.  Turn it on and you can hook up four friends as well.  They run anywhere from “free” to $100.  Plus you’ll also need a service plan which could cost $30 or more per month, depending on the plan may you already have. Perfect for the digital road warrior.  Royce Leather Toiletry Bag – Yea, okay, just like the one my dad has.  It’s a classic and holds a bunch of stuff (that’s another post). Leather is perfect because it lasts, you can clean it and it is sturdy enough. Newegg.com for about $60. Perfect for your hubby. Leather tie and accessories case.  Okay, we’re not wearing ties that often any more.  However, when you do need a couple for a trip, transporting them is a bit of a pain, especially

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Golfers! Do you need a reminder?

October 3, 2011 No Comments

This isn’t one of my typical posts.  It isn’t about digital strategy or corporate culture or anything to do with new media.  However, if you are a golfer, or know one, read on. When I was young, I remember my mother asking my father to remember to do something the next day.  It might have been a call he needed to make, a letter he needed to mail or something like that.  As a successful businessman, he had plenty on his mind and my mother’s requests were often forgotten until a few reminders later. You see, like me, my father suffers from an ephemeral memory (figuratively of course) and chances that he’d forget my mother’s requests were always pretty good.  But, he devised a system. He would switch his wedding ring to his other hand as a reminder.  The next day, he’d see the wedding ring on the “wrong” hand and remember “oh, yea, I have to mail that letter (or whatever)….”  Simple right?  He still does it today and I must admit, so did I until my iPhone took over my life. Fast forward to me playing golf.  I always forget the best gold lesson I ever had.  My instructor told me to line up and take a swing.  He saw me run through my routine; legs bent, arm straight, line up here, head down…blah blah.  You know the drill.  After four or five shots, he said “stop”.  As I looked at him, all stressed out, he said “you’ve been programmed all wrong; just relax and swing through.”  He then made me take about fifty swings with no ball; back and forth, casually, just relaxing.  After fifty swings, he put a ball down and said “keep swinging” and I nailed the next ten shots hundreds of yards each – all straight.  It turns out I was too wrapped up in the “what to do” that I forgot to relax and swing through.  Golf game fixed, right? No.  I think I only remember to relax and swing through half the time.  The other time I’m focused on the “straight arm, head down” nonsense or frankly, chatting it up with my buddies and I am a little too loose.   A month or so ago at a neighbor’s house, she told me about her new start-up; SwingThought.  Seriously, it’s a colored rubber bracelet you wear when you play golf.  Its sole purpose is to remind you of things.  It comes in different colors and sizes and they come with different sayings in large white letters; “Swing Smooth,” “Tempo,”  “Focus” and others.  She dropped a few off at my house for me to try out (yes, for free). I have to admit, at first, I thought this was silly.  I thought to myself “yet another Lance (Armstrong) copycat.” Then I wore one to my next golf outing. There it was, a bright orange rubber bracelet that read “Swing Smooth.”  Every time I got up to the tee, I relaxed and took a breath and remembered my instructor.  I shot a much better game.  No, it wasn’t perfect, but I love my bracelet. I wear it each time I play   See http://www.swingthought.com if you want one for yourself.

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My biggest gripe about email; sign it!

March 9, 2011 No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I get about a hundred emails a day and my biggest complaint about email is that most people don’t include a signature.  When did this become socially acceptable? I’m not suggesting a glorious John Hancock should emblazon your email, but specifically, I’m looking for basic contact information.  If you don’t include contact information in your email, read on. First, this is not going to be one of those long, boring technical posts about HTML signatures, bandwidth, etc. This post is also aimed at the US market.  Sorry, but my EU friends have lots of other legal requirements related to email signatures I don’t dare address.  With that out of the way, let’s get started. It is simple common courtesy to include basic contact information in an email signature. Just signing it “John” isn’t enough.  After all, we are operating businesses here, correct?  Assuming this is the case, it is your job to be “easy-to-do-business-with.”   Here are my thoughts. Most people like to organize contacts into some sort of address book.  Many times we’ll do business with people with whom we have not yet had the chance to exchange business cards (or yes, BUMP iPhones; the app that let’s you bump two iPhones together to simultaneously and automatically swap contact info). Providing your basic contact information allows recipients the opportunity to copy and paste your information into their address book.  This is just in case, oh I don’t know, they want to find your contact information someday! Most people also read email on their mobile devices.  Providing your basic contact information allows them to call you with one tap of the screen (or a quick scroll on Blackberry) while they’re running through the airport. So you have now seen me write “basic information” more than a few times, so I’ll be clear.  For me, basic information includes: Your name Your title Your phone number Your email address At least one social media username if it’s appropriate to what you do – LinkedIn would be best since you can share all your contact information there.  By the way, not all corporations (read “old school” corporations) like this one though. Your main URL No, I have not included a street address.  This is only helpful if you do a lot of business outside your time zone or if, for some reason, you still get a lot of snail mail.  Street address though can be found on a website or simply requested when needed. The rule of thumb is to keep email signatures to four lines by using colons and pipes (see below). — John Q. Hancock CEO | Made Up Company Investments 212-555-5555 | jhancock@madeupco.com | http://www.madeupcoinvestments.com @johnhancock | LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/johnhancock You should also have two versions of your email signature; a longer one for initial emails and a shorter one for replies. For those who think an email signature is not needed on internal emails, I beg to differ.  If I get an email on my blackberry without a signature and I want to call you, it takes me at least three clicks and a variety of scrolls to find your number via the corporate address lookup.  If you’d just include your phone number it would take one click. At the end of the day, we’re all time-starved, so do me a favor; include your basic contact information in your email.  Make it easy for me to do business with you.  If not, I’ll assume you don’t want to do business with me.

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Ten things your Smartphone could be doing for you and how some of my favorite apps help me.

February 20, 2011 No Comments

I don’t care what kind of smartphone you use. This isn’t going to be yet another post on Apple vs. Droid. My point is that if you have one, you’re all set. If you don’t have one, and you work for a living, you need to get with the program.  I know, your phone works just fine, and it has for the past five years.  When your wife calls, it rings, you answer. When your kids text you, it beeps and you text back. Trust me, I get it, but I’m amazed at how many people I see that still carry old phones or basic blackberries. In today’s fast paced business environment, your phone needs to be doing so much more for you, especially if you are in sales or you have customers of one sort or another.  Here are ten things you could be doing with a smartphone and how some of my favorite apps help me. Books:  You can’t be a good blogger if you’re not a voracious reader.  I know, you have a Kindle, so you should be all set, right?  Well, Kindle makes a great app for iPhone and you could be reading instead of playing with those silly, time-wasting angry birds. (Damned birds. I’ll fess up; I’ve finished all the levels and am now going back to see if I can get three stars in each category, you?)  You could also be reading all your favorite newspapers (I love the USA Today and NY Times apps).    Email: you need to be able to send and receive emails while you’re on the go.  Having to sit in front of a computer to actually send and receive email is so 1999.  (I know; ’99 was a good year for me as well.  I sold my first company in ’99 and was having a lot of fun.  Ahh, the good old days.)  Further however, you need to be able to easily open and edit attachments and visit web links.  So, if you’re carrying an older, simple blackberry device, you need to upgrade as well. Internet: You need to be able to browse the internet, check the weather, check your stock portfolio, check your flight status and access Google and Bing.  (Ok, and watch a few YouTube videos of Rico, Air New Zealand’s spoke’s puppet – you’ll laugh for sure.  I interviewed this furry little guy.  Check it out here: http://bit.ly/RicoPeters Social Networking: You need to be able to update your facebook and twitter statuses on the go.  If you’re not posting fun and interesting comments and pictures from your travels and reviews from your hotel and restaurant adventures, you’re missing out on how people communicate these days.  As far as social for business; the LinkedIn and TripIt apps are about as critical as it gets. LinkedIn has all but replaced my Outlook contact file because it’s always updated and there’s not better tool to research business leads.  For the record, while LinkedIn is free, LinkedIn Premium is well worth the monthly fee.)  Build your social network of contacts at every chance.  Doing this on a smartphone makes it so much easier. For social updates, I love the facebook app. It’s easy to use and it makes it very easy to read and post. As far as twitter, I’m a HootSuite fan and their app doesn’t disappoint.   Click, Point, Shoot:  Your phone should be your camera and video camera.  Take pictures and videos of everything!  You should even be doing video blog posts about your sales conquests, funny stories from clients, anything.  Guess what sells? Pictures!  You should have a hundred really neat shots on your phone that you can email, post, show to your clients and potential clients at any time. Apps: There are a million apps from which to choose.  My favorite business app these days? CardMunch – period. Take a photo of a business card. Submit it with one click. Within minutes (yes, minutes) it comes back as a .vcf for easy download into Outlook (or similar) AND as a scanned image. You don’t need to spend time typing cards into Outlook. Have you ever been to a tradeshow and collected a hundred important cards? This is the best app out there for you right now. Best of all? It’s free. No really; FREE.  Plus, it has other features for follow up, sharing of contacts, notes, etc. You simply have to get this app.  By the way, one more must-have app is Google’s app of apps.  In the app store, search for Google Goggles (the very very cool way to search using your phone’s camera or via voice) and you’ll get a link to Google – the app.  The app includes Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Talk, Buzz, Tasks, Reader, News, Voice, Books, Photos, Orkut, Translate, YouTube, Earth and more.   Music & Movies.  We all need a little down-time for some quiet, calm music…. I’ve got everything from classical to international rock to AC/DC.  No matter what my mood, I have a tune for it.  I also always have at least a couple of movies on my iPhone and iPad.   I’ve spent too many hours stuck in airports not to have some non-work entertainment. Kiss the kids. If you have an iPhone4 (and some others) you can do live video calls.  Being away from the kids at bed-time isn’t fun.  I’m a big fan of Skype and I often virtually tuck the kids into bed.  I have a few laptops with webcams around the house and this works well.  However, when you’re not near a laptop, you can do live video conferencing right from your phone.  This one aspect alone is worth getting a smartphone.  Skype also has a great app making it very easy to keep in touch with all your Skype contacts.    Blog! Via apps like the official WordPress app, you can maintain and moderate your blog via your smartphone.  Truthfully, it’s so much easier from a computer, but it’s nice

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Fail quickly, fail cheaply, fail often!

January 9, 2011 No Comments

I spoke with a friend today with whom I’ve worked before at two jobs; one was my own startup and one was a large, established company.  He’s having some challenges at his current place of employment, specifically with the speed in which things get done (read “not done”).  We had some fun talking about the start-up environment and how it differs from the “real world” so I thought I’d share some of the discussion points. I’ve worked in everything from start-up companies with less than ten employees to a big, public company with over 35,000.  One thing for sure, there’s nothing like the speed of a start-up to keep you motivated.  Have an idea on Sunday, discuss it Monday morning, do a bit of research on Monday afternoon and start developing and implementing on Tuesday.  This way, you get to try things, lots of things.  If they work, great!  If not, toss it and start over. I’ve always said, “If you’re going to fail, do so quickly, cheaply and often.” What you don’t want is one of those long, painful, expensive failures. You’ve been there, I’m sure. This is the project that swallows thousands of man-hours and hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.  Worse yet, during that time, you’re not trying anything else. You’re team is so focused on the horrible project that you all took your collective brains on vacation from creativity. Then one day comes the validation that your teams’ brain-child is a disaster and likely, your boss will want to keep it going to save face until a more suitable time is found to kill it. One thing I’ve learned is that the size or age of a company doesn’t pre-destine it to over-complication. My current employer, though it’s a company over 150 years old can actually get stuff done pretty quickly.  Heck, they bought my company, soup to nuts, within two and a half weeks.  Trust me, they can move fast. In general though, Corporate America is so consumed with lawyers, fear of failure, quarterly reporting, etc. that good old spaghetti throwing (against the wall) is gone.  Have an idea? Shhhhh, someone may steal it.  Make sure you have NDA’s ready just in case you want to sniff-test the idea with someone outside your asylum, er, I mean company. Go contemplate every single little detail, document it, come up with an ops plan, get budget approval and talk to the dev guys (because they’re going to love to tell you it’s going to take ten months and half a million bucks to build it – though you could get it done in a third of the time for half the cost.)  Don’t forget, you’ll likely need a few versions of a deck to get buy-in from a boatload of people who don’t want to do any more work than they have to. Start-up divisions within big companies are an interesting idea that sometimes work and sometimes don’t. At the end of the day, if your “startup team” needs to go through the same red tape, same development team, same documentation, same legal processes – well then, it’s not really a start-up team, is it? All you’ve done is brand the team as renegades without actually letting them go off and actually be renegades. Been there. Done that. Got the tee-shirt. (Again, I’m not talking about my current employer). So, what if all companies acted like start-ups? No, I’m not suggesting we all get air-hockey or a Wii. I’m simply suggesting we would be seeing a lot more innovation, a lot more activity and people would clearly be having more fun (which begat more innovation and more activity…) if people would lighten up and speed it up a bit.     Before you jump down my throat, I’ve had a lot of great corporate attorneys and analysts with whom I’ve worked. It’s just that so many people in the corporate world never had to deal with real life. They throw around budget numbers in the millions like it’s no big deal (even though they amount to which they’re referring is ten times their salary.) If you’ve ever been responsible for making payroll, you know what I’m talking about.  At the first company I started, I remember thinking “I really need to make payroll on Friday.  If I don’t, some of these people are going to hurt this weekend.”  That’s pressure. My point is speed is critical in today’s business environment. I think it’s time we all make little efforts to speed up what we do. I’m all for having meetings, but keep them short, keep them tactical and implement, implement, implement.  I’m all for documentation, but keep it in bullet format.  I’m all for emails so you can prove you did something, but hey, pick up the phone and we’ll talk.

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