Businesses don’t say NO anymore, they just say “Maybe later”. – Part 1

by Tom Dwyer on February 25, 2010

The New “NO” – What is it with people?

Recently I noticed a growing trend in the business world that has me perturbed. People are no longer telling you “No”, they just tell you “Later”.

Has it become politically incorrect to say “No” to someone?  What memo did I miss where this practice became acceptable? Do we no longer respect black and white decision making but instead have chosen to string people along indefinitely wasting precious time and resources?

Look, I will be the first to admit that an organizations success can rest squarely on it’s ability to convince potential clients that they need and/or want what they are offering. I also understand that this is not a perfect world and not everyone is going to make a decision the first time you meet.

But C’mon!!

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Twitter Customer Service IS Real

by Tom Dwyer on February 18, 2010

The other day I posted about the Kevin Smith vs. Southwest exchange that occurred on Twitter after Kevin was asked to leave one of their flights because he was “too fat“.

The purpose of that post was to point out my belief that the average Joe or Jane would not have received the same attention from Southwest or the media had they tweeted a similar issue.

Twitter Customer Service Is RealWell I am sitting here today in front of my computer with a little bit of egg on my face.

You see yesterday started off on the wrong foot for me. I was woken up by my phone ringing and my teen-age daughter on the other end informing me that she had missed the bus.  This meant I would have to get out of my perfectly warm bed earlier then I wanted to and take her to school.  Not an absolutely horrible thing…any alone time with your kid is always a good thing.

Once I returned to my home office I went through my normal routine (coffee – check, muffin – check, feed the cats – check ….. ) and started my day reading through everything I missed while I slept.  Around 9:30 a.m. I picked up my phone to call a client…. and nothing … total dead silence.

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Would You Get Same Response As Kevin Smith Did?

by Tom Dwyer 02.15.2010

My friend Cord Silverstein just posted a great piece about the Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines social media development that happened over the weekend on his blog Marketing Hipster. And just as Cord doesn’t want to debate who is right or who is wrong I don’t either  (if you need the details of the incident [...]

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Blogging Tip: Link To Your Previous Posts

by Tom Dwyer 02.11.2010

This may seem obvious to some but I cannot begin to tell you the number of blogs I read where the author mentions something they wrote about before but yet fails to link to it. Do they understand how frustrating it is to get into reading a post and then they mention something they wrote [...]

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Cheat Sheet for Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

by Tom Dwyer 02.10.2010

I don’t know about you but if you spend any amount of time in Photoshop (or any application for that matter) you no doubt understand the value and time saving abilities of using keyboard shortcuts. Knowing that and being able to remember them is another thing.  With Adobe Photoshop CS4 there are literally 100′s of [...]

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I’m already listed in the search engines, do I really need SEO?

by Tom Dwyer 02.08.2010

Well that depends. What are you listed in the search engines for? Does any of that traffic help you reach your goals? Are the terms that you are being found under bringing you buyers or tire kickers? Just because your site is indexed and may even be found on certain terms does not necessarily mean [...]

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Five Simple Steps to Successful SEO

by Tom Dwyer 02.07.2010

Now this list may seem simplistic to those that are well versed in the art of search marketing, but if you are a novice or are looking for a quick refresher then read on. Whether you are a “do-it-yourself-er” or just looking to learn the basics of search engine optimization you need to understand one [...]

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Tommy D’s Bookshelf – Title: Never Eat Alone By Keith Ferrazzi

by Tom Dwyer 07.04.2009

Here is the first installment of Tommy D’s Bookshelf. Right now I have exactly 42 books that I have not read sitting on my bookshelf and around my house. It appears that books have been the preferred choice of gift givers over the years, which is great because I actually do like to read. I [...]

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