0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

96 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
material several times a week, if not every day. If you have nothing new to
share, you’ll quickly lose fans.
Smith shared another great idea: monitor what’s being said about
you and your business in cyberspace. Set up Google Alerts. The service
is free and can help you avert a disaster. Or check out these sites—www
.socialmention.com and www.scoutlabs.com—to see what is being said
about your company.
“Many companies now have CLOs, chief listening officers, who trawl the
Internet for information,” said Smith. (Her web site is www.marismith.com.)
GREAT
Use Skype for Business
After interviewing Kawasaki and Smith, I was ready
IDEA
to build customized social networking pages to
promote this book. Since I am not a tech-head or a designer, I contacted
Brian Hanson, an Indiana-based Web designer who has several companies,
including www.customtwit.com.
Although I spoke with him once on the phone, he prefers to work
with clients via Skype. I was a bit skeptical. I love Skype and use it to
chat with my kids and friends, but I was puzzled about how we would use
it to design my customized Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.com pages.
“I find Skype much easier and personal than e-mail,” said Hanson. “It
lets me communicate directly with clients in real time.”
Working with Hanson on Skype was a great experience. We set a time
to “meet” on Skype. Before the session, he asked me to have all my photos,
logos, and book images ready to upload. I also gave him the password to
my accounts so he could access the pages.
Via the chat function, Hanson told me when to use the “share” function
to upload the next image or photo. A total pro, he works very fast. Within
a few minutes, he sent me a link to my new Facebook fan page.
Every time he added or changed something on the page, he instructed
me to refresh my browser so I could see what he was doing. If I wanted
something changed, I just sent him a note.
The pages came together quickly. It took about four hours over two
sessions. I paid him $208, about $50 an hour, for three very cool pages. My