Brent's CRM Blog

Should You Really Avoid Blogging, RSS, SEO, CRM and Everything Else I Write About?

We recently had small business guru Gene Marks on our radio program. Many of you may be familiar with his Penny Pincher's Almanac column that appears regularly in American City Business Journals (www.bizjournals.com). He also writes pieces for BusinessWeek.com and Forbes.com. And his recent BusinessWeek.com article is why we were interested in having him join us, since the subject was on the technology solutions small business should avoid. Just to name a few of the things Gene says to avoid, they include:

• Blogging
• CRM
• Web 2.0
• RSS
• SEO

So basically all the stuff I talk about, speak on, read and write about. Needless to say we REALLY were interested in having a conversation with Gene. We actually ended up having a great time speaking with him as he was a lot of fun. But dude did use the term "dope" in the article, something I had to rag on him about even more than his choices of avoidable technologies. Anyway here it is below during the last segment, along with a great conversation with ZDNet's Phil Wainewright on why he feels SaaS will take of this year. Oh yeah also check out the first segment if you want to hear me rant about a jacked up email I received from some clown I met three years ago on a plane ride back from Miami.

Technorati : blogging, crm, saas, small business, web 2.0

Marc Benioff Speaks...Again

Chris Bucholtz over at InsideCRM recently played 10 questions with Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff. You should check out the Q&A when you get a chance. Benioff is often quoted and is not shy about offering his take on his company and the industry. And truth be told he's absolutely earned the right to talk as much "yang" as he wants. But he usually saves his best barbs for his competitors. Like when Chris asked him about the impending release of Microsoft Live CRM and how it will impact the industry. Benioff said:

"Microsoft will do for SaaS what the Zune has done for MP3 players."

Now, as we used to say back in the day, that's cold, dog. But enough said on that one.

There's some other eye-catchers mixed into the interview but the biggest thing standing out for me was the question Chris asked about how does SFDC still go about serving the SMB community, while swimming upstream going after enterprise deals. Benioff's answer to that was pretty much a boiler plate response about having to stay aligned with customer goals. Nobody can deny the importance of that statement, but when you have customers like Japan Post with 45,000 licenses, and more and more thousand seat deals in the works, which customer goals are you really going to be focused on? The 45,000 seat Ultimate Edition customer or the little guys using Group Edition. And that's not a slap at Group Edition as I think it's a solid product. But SmBs (emphasis on the S on purpose) need more than a product, they need a relationship with vendors. And because I work with "real" small businesses (not the thousand employee definitions of small businesses by some vendors) I have heard more grumblings from small SFDC customers about service not meeting expectations. That's why companies like Microsoft, Intuit and Sage have built strong followings with small businesses, because they've built strong partner channels who work face to face with small business folks. And these local vendors are who small businesses typically turn to when they are in need of help.

It will be interesting to see how connected SFDC will be able (and willing) to be to real small businesses as more and more competition is coming at the low end. Especially since they're going big game hunting, and creating platforms. So check the interview out and don't miss the backhanded slap Benioff gives his old buddy Tom Siebel (just let it go Cuz, let it GO!). And why you're at it check out the article on the 50 Social Sites Every Business Needs a Presence On. That's a great read as well.

Technorati : crm, insidecrm.com, live crm, marc benioff, microsoft, salesforce.com

Marketing Tips from the Experts...and Me

Small Business guru and good friend Anita Campbell has put together an impressive list of all-star marketers who each share one of their marketing "secrets" with the SmallBizTrends.com readers on her latest post - Top Experts Dish with their Best Kept Marketing Secrets. It's a tribute to Anita that she was able to pull together this "who's who" of awesome folks to contribute to this. People like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Tim Berry and John Jantsch share some of their secrets, just to name a few of the heavy hitters. Warning - shameless radio show plug right about now....

In fact, Guy and Tim have been guests on our radio show, Technology For Business Sake, as well as Anita. And John will be on with us shortly. And with any luck maybe we can have Seth join us as well. OK - shameless plug ends right about now...

In addition to the big name folks, there's lots of sage advice from other great experts in their chosen fields, including friends David Powers of GotVMail and HubSpot's Darmesh Shah. And Anita also "gives up" a secret of her own to top things off. The only thing that could blemish such an august panel is having me add my two cents.

So do yourself a favor and check this one out. And add your secret to the list in the comments section.

Technorati : anita campbell, marketing tips, small biz trends
Del.icio.us : anita campbell, marketing tips, small biz trends

Microsoft Live CRM - A Brief First Look

I've been getting asked a ton of questions about Microsoft Live CRM over the past few months.  And today I had a chance to spend an hour talking with Bill Patterson, Microsoft's Director of Product Management for Dynamics CRM.  He spent the hour filling me in on what's going on with the heavily anticipated Live CRM. I had interviewed Microsoft's GM of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson, back in September for our radio show and was pretty curious to find out where things stood.

Bill was very good about answering my questions and filling me in on where things are.  Now I haven't been hands-on with it, But Bill did walk me through a some of the interface. I hope to get my hands on it soon to really dig in and try some things out. In the meantime I have to say I was impressed with what I did see and hear.

Here's what stood out to me:

• Currently in Early Access Program phase with about 500 North American based companies
• Expecting to be available in April 2008
• Early Access Program gives you access to Live CRM for free until the product goes live.  You can apply for the program at http://crm.dynamics.com/default.aspx
• Two flavors - Professional and Professional Plus 
• Offline functionality available with Professional Plus
• The product is aimed squarely at REAL small businesses, with the "perfect fit" being described as 5-25 users.
• Deep integration with Microsoft Outlook.  Most CRM services/apps are integrated with Outlook at this point, but what I saw today was the deepest level of Outlook integration (2003 and 2007) that will be available.  But are you really surprised by this? 
• The user interface will make those Outlook users feel right at home
• Deep Office 2007 integration that will be very helpful to those who spend a lot of time in Word and Excel
• Pretty robust list management capabilities
• Integration with third party services from Exact Target and Eloqua for heavy duty email blast/ sales acceleration needs. 
• Integration with Office Live (didn't see this but Bill touched on it)
• Website integration
• Customizable without coding
• What looks to be a pretty robust workflow engine
• CRM Mobile Express - a service that will launch sometime after Live CRM goes live that will enable various mobile devices (including non Windows Mobile devices like BlackBerrys) to access Live CRM
• A community portal with content aimed at assisting companies with CRM best practices at http://community.dynamics.com/. 

Since I only got a peek at things it's hard to really go into detail, but Live CRM did look promising.  Now we didn't touch on things like back office integration and what it will take to pull it off, reporting/dashboards, e commerce and some other things I'm on the lookout for.  Plus needing an email marketing partner to carry out big campaigns is an added layer of complexity that small business folks could really live without.  And I really have to see for myself how easy integrating a website to Live CRM will be.  But the Outlook integration will be a big hit with those small businesses looking for an smooth transition and quicker adoptions.  And the interface is pretty easy to deal with. 

All in all I think Live CRM will be a major player in the small business CRM space.  Especially for those small businesses that are heavy Outlook users and are new to CRM.  In fact Microsoft will help the entire sector out as I think they will spark a whole bunch of new CRM buyers into the market.  Good for Microsoft, good for other vendors serving small businesses, and most importantly good for small businesses.  Now more than ever they have great choices to select from.  With inexpensive, easier to use, highly functional options all over the place, 2008 should be the year small businesses finally GET CRM.

Tales in Blogger Relationship Management: Advice from One Blogger to Another

My buddy and radio show co-host Michael Thomas recently entered the blogosphere with his blog Much To Do About CRM. I think he's off to a good start and ask people to check it out if you have an opportunity, and give him a little encouragement to keep at it. Anyone who has been blogging for any amount of time knows how discouraging it can be when you first start out, and can only count close family and friends among those who actually read what you put out there.

Because Michael is a good friend and has always been open to other people's advice, I thought I'd suggest some things to him that may be of use to other new bloggers as well. Michael wrote a good entry asking Is Diversity In Your Target Market. It was in response to a post on the 1to1 blog. So I clicked the link to the 1to1 post to check it out. It was interesting and it sparked a few responses in the comment section. Michael left the following:

Pointing folks to your blog in a comment is something that people do all the time. It can definitely be a good way to get people to check it out. And because Michael is established in the CRM industry and well known to people frequenting the 1to1 blog, he'll probably get folks to click and check out what he had to say. But there are a whole lot of people checking out the 1to1 blog who probably don't know Michael, and won't be tempted to click the link just by saying "go to my blog".

It's always better to share a little of your opinion right there in your comment. That way you're giving the folks who are not familiar with you a reason to want to read more of your take on the subject. And in some cases, someone may mistake your comment for a spammer who is just trying to get you to a site by hook or crook. Especially when you point someone to a domain and not a permalink to the specific blog entry.

Just a few things to think about as you try to win friends and influence people on the web. With all that said, keep up the good work Mr. Thomas!

Technorati : blogging, brm

Passing the "Live Search" Test???

This one is for all my Microsoft buddies who always cringe when I mention how important it is for people to pass the Google Test when those needing help turn to their favorite search engine to find assistance. About six months ago I was interviewed for a Wells Fargo small business publication. It was for the cover story on Web 2.0 and small business. The reporter said they would send me a link to the article when it was available. So for the first few weeks I kept an eye out for it. I never heard from the reporter, and quite honestly can't even remember his (or her) name.

Anyway I figured I'd catch it when it showed up on one of the Google alerts I have set up on my name, company name, radio show, etc. But it didn't. Plus it never showed up when I Googled my name. So I just forgot about it. But for some strange reason recently I decided to do a search on my name in "the other" search engines. And guess what popped up when I "Live Searched" my name? Yup, the Wells Fargo magazine issue with my short interview.

So it just goes to show you that it's important to regularly put your name through all the search engines, because different stuff comes up in them. Although passing the "Live Search" Test is no where near as catch as passing the Google Test.

Technorati : ask, google, live search, microsoft, yahoo

50,000 More Reasons Why Intuit Gets The Hopes and Dreams of the Little Guy

My buddies over at Intuit, particularly the JumpUp.com team, are in the midst of helping one lucky entrepreneur realize their dream by providing them $50,000 in products and service to turn that dream into a real business. The reason I'm reiterating that Intuit "gets" small business has less to do about the cash than and more about the great example they're setting for small businesses with their use of social media to drive the contest.

The JumpUp team, with the help of a great set of expert judges - Anita Campbell, Ramon Ray and John Jantsch - chose 5 finalists from over 1,500 submissions to compete for the prize. Each finalist has a page with their essay discussing their entrepreneurial dream, a home made video, a short conversation with me, and a few other tidbits that help the JumpUp community members get to know each of them. And this is important because the community will decide who the eventual winner will be.

In fact the community is encouraged to be a major part of this whole thing. First off the votes are flying in faster than the JumpUp team had imagined. Lively conversations are sparking up all over by the comments being left on the individual finalist's pages. Not only are they commenting, but they are stumping for their favorite "candidate" by enlisting their colleagues to vote for their favorite. Intuit has made it easy for people to add badges to blogs and websites inviting people to vote for "my candidate". So if you have a Blogger or TypePad account, you can help you're candidate get votes with a couple of clicks. And if you have a big Facebook network, you can put it to work for your favorite with the same ease.

Through this contest that will eventually allow one contestant the ability to "just get started" with $50K, the other finalists have gained so much exposure it can't help but raise their profiles and possibly increase their chances to realize their dreams as well. And the community in general wins as they should begin to see the power of how social media can be used to create excitement for ideas that can reach a wide audience, in a very short amount of time. And this all can be done without breaking the bank.

And this is why Intuit really gets it. This contest will help way more than the lucky individual who wins the cash. It helps anyone who is looking to understand how the power of Web 2.0 tools and strategies can help them compete, thrive and survive. Way to go Intuit! This is just the kind of role model needed to help "Jump Start" the small business community into embracing social media.

One last thing. There are a few folks commenting on the choice of business ideas represented by the group of finalists. Some folks don't seem to be thrilled by what they perceive to be the lack of exciting, complex, or innovative ideas. All I can say to that is the lion share of all small businesses operating today are what most would consider to be "boring", "traditional" businesses. These are the same businesses people have used to create the majority of the new jobs our economy is fueled by. They also allow regular people to buy houses, raise families and be positive role models to others looking to have their own business.

So I applaud Intuit and their panel of judges for standing up for "the entrepreneur next door"! Now go check out all the finalists...and VOTE!

Technorati : entrepreneurship, intuit, jumpup.com, just start

International Solopreneurs...Get A Professional Email Address!!! Please???

This will be short and sweet. Please, all you international solopreneurs out there, do yourselves a HUGE favor and get yourself a email address that doesn't end with @aol.com, @hotmail.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, etc, etc, etc. Except for the aol email address, of which I used to have years ago, I still have all of the above active. And I am a heavy user of my gmail account. But when it comes to my business card, I use my @crm-essentials email address.

It just looks so much more professional to have an email account that isn't free, because it makes it appear like your business isn't really all that serious. And it costs next to nothing to get a professional domain these days. In fact, you can get a free domain when you sign up for something like Microsoft Office Live.

Our most recent guest on the radio show was Microsoft's marketing director for Office Live, Michael Schultz. Please, please, PLEASE listen to this if you're even remotely interested in understanding the importance of getting a professional web presence for yourself. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy and inexpensive it is now to upgrade your image with a nice website and professional email address. Also check out the first segment discussing this year's Small Business Summit taking place in New York next month. Enjoy!

Technorati : michael schultz, microsoft office live, soloproneurs

Why Buy The Cow - A Quick Book Review

When I went on my first pilgrimage to Silicon Valley at the end of last year, I had a chance to finally meet one of my "virtual buddies", Diane Davidson of WebEx. She heads up their community efforts and is doing a great job. Diane invited me to be a part of a podcast series discussing how SMB's can leverage social media to build a good rep on the web. I even pulled in another new buddy, Anil Dash of Six Apart, to join us on one of the episodes. We had a great time talking about all things Web 2.0 and how small businesses really need to get in on this stuff in order to compete, thrive and survive.

Besides some really cool memories, I also came back to the ATL with a book Diane gave me that Webex co-founder Subrah Iyar authored called Why Buy the Cow? How the On-Demand Revolution Powers the New Knowledge Economy. I just hope Seth Godin or the folks at Chick - fil-A don't get that litigious feeling over the title. Iyar brought in some other sharp folks to collaborate on this as well.

I think anyone who's interested in SaaS and where it will take us, should think seriously about checking this one out. I like it because it features the voices of folks who were at the forefront of the whole On Demand movement, made it threw the Dot Com Bust, and proved that the model could work. And I'm really glad they didn't make this a sales and marketing tool, but a helpful, straightforward read on how you should view SaaS and its current and future impact on how we do business.

Here's the short review I wrote for the book on Amazon.com:

This book is accessible to those who may not be too familiar with software as a service (SaaS) and how it is transforming the way business is being done now and in the future. What makes it really interesting are the case studies of the smaller, lesser known companies who are building their businesses on top of SaaS and creating interesting business models centering on collaboration. We've all heard of companies like Salesforce.com, NetSuite and WebEx - the companies who proved that SaaS can be a reliable option to installed software, as well as a valid business model. But what made this a valuable read were the case studies of companies like ChinesePod, Lulu.com and Shared Insights. These are small companies who are also leveraging the SaaS model to create successful businesses. These stories really add value and help explain why software as a service has changed the way we use software, and do business.

Thanks again Diane for the book!

Technorati : book reviews, saas, webex

Small Business Events Calendar - Get Your Small Business Event Listed

Just a quick heads up. My good friend Anita Campbell over at SmallBizTrends.com has set up a page on the popular site that will list all sorts of live events, webinars, contest, etc. that small business folks should be aware of. And feel free to submit your events as well. Anita did a nice post today that explains why this calendar came about. Ramon Ray of SmallBizTechnology.com and myself our helping Anita out with this, so if you have an event you'd like to submit, you can send it my way via email. If it fits in with the rest of the events, we'll be glad to add to the calendar. Here's a link to the calendar:

• http://www.smallbiztrends.com/events