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Beauty & Brains in the Workplace

I recently attended an event hosted by the media entity, Little Pink Book, focused on empowering women in the workplace. It was filled with accomplished women who had both beauty, and brains. Everywhere was a sponsor of the event and tasked with activating social media. We created “Little Pink Book” branded socially shareable signs that said, “Beauty and Brains” and “I’m Wise.” We had intended to use them as props to encourage social media sharing. What came next was a huge surprise…

Here I am, at an event about woman empowerment, wandering around with these clever signs among brilliant and successful women and several women declined to be photographed. Not because they didn’t want their picture taken. Instead, they were petrified of what their coworkers would think if they saw a picture of them holding a sign that said “Beauty and Brains.” One woman asked me, “Where is this going?” When I answered, “Twitter,” she gave a nervous chuckle and said, “No thanks, last thing I need is something like this floating around the office.” Why are women so worried about what their coworkers will think? Are they concerned that they will be perceived as arrogant? What’s wrong with having beauty, brains and wisdom? I was truly baffled at their nervous laughs and looks of concern.

Confession: I have not been in the working world that long. I graduated from college only 2 years ago. Just the other day, as I celebrated my 6-month anniversary with Everywhere, I boasted on Facebook that I have never felt more accomplished. I am a beauty with brains, and I am most definitely not afraid to show it. As a millennial, I was always taught that it was important for women to not only empower themselves, but each other along the way. We shouldn’t worry about owning our accomplishments and celebrating them, should we?

My boss has a system of self-bragging that she encourages here at Everywhere. We’re all given personal notebooks to keep track of the feats we accomplish. I sometimes struggle with celebrating the small things – but you know what? Those small things really add up! My book consists of moments ranging from responding to an email in record time with a solution and little words of praise shared from coworkers about the work I’ve completed. My biggest accomplishment to date was facilitating a Twitter chat with Supermodel Emme for our client, Macy’s that was trending for an hour. It’s nice to look back on these moments and remember that I am a part of such an empowered team. It’s crazy to me that other women out there are hesitant to celebrate their brains, beauty and embrace their well-earned wisdom!

So how do we fix this? I know, for me, I am going to post my “Beauty and Brains” picture with pride and encourage my colleagues to do so, as well! Just as Gandhi says, “You have to be the change you wish to see in the world!”

Customer Service: A Lost Art?

By: Lexi Severini

It’s no secret that a huge part of running a successful business and making your buyers feel valued is implementing a quality customer service program. From the time I became an avid shopper, to when I found myself working in retail, and now, as a member of an organization that manages brand’s social impressions, I can appreciate the importance of valuing your customer. Because at the end of the day, the customer is always right…even when they aren’t.

One company that has maintained an understanding of this basic and frankly indispensible component is Zendesk. From its inception in 2007, the company has become a fast-growing and widely sought-after web-based customer service help desk. Specializing in providing top-notch customer service practices to those who enroll in their Zendesk University, participate in their ‘white papers and webinars’ or visit the site’s forums and documentation is of the utmost importance to the company. What started as a 3-man team based out of a small, studio loft in Copenhagen, Denmark has since moved to Silicon Valley where it now boasts over 300 customer service employees and caters to a host of international companies in need of customer service training.

Co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane has openly discussed what he believes are the key elements that make for quality customer service – building a relationship with your customer, being honest, and responding quickly.

1. Build a relationship with your customer- no one wants to feel like a number. It’s probably how you felt as you sat in that 500 person lecture hall among a sea of fellow students and it’s undoubtedly how you feel whether visiting online shops or perusing the racks at your local mall. We, at Everywhere, have taken a look at a few companies that we think are doing a good job.

Whole Foods – I don’t know if I’ve even been a part of a social fraternity that is as warm and welcoming as Whole Foods has been to me. Think that’s saying a lot? Well, it is. This company has done a superb job of treating their customers like royalty. The act of shopping there is an experience. And despite the fact that I go in for apples and come out with half my paycheck worth of wine, cheeses and whatever new organic supplement is on the shelf, I will have had genuine conversations with at least a handful of their employees and that makes it all worth it.
Coca-Cola – There’s a reason this company has been around for over 125 years and yes a lot of that has to do with its unique, carbonated goodness, but let’s not discredit the fact that Coca-Cola is a well-oiled machine. Their twitter feed receives innumerable tweets a day from fans and what does Coca-Cola do? They direct message every single one of them. Not to mention the Coca-Cola Facebook page took top honors in the Shorty Awards for ‘Best Overall Brand Presence on Facebook’.
Zappos – one of Everywhere’s very own, Jameson Brown had a superior experience when dealing with a Zappos online customer service representative. His praise for the company and its above-and-beyond initiatives landed his blog post on Social Media Today. While I could ramble on about what makes Zappos a force to be reckoned with, I’ll let Jamey’s article do the talking.

2. Be honest – this is arguably the most obvious and yet undervalued aspect of running a business effectively. We all know what the right thing to do is and if we’ve learned from others mistakes, it’s that in all business - but especially where social media is concerned - honesty and transparency is crucial. Red flags and subsequently, Hell is raised when comments are ignored, aggressively defended or deleted. If a customer has taken the time to reach out to you, have the decency to give them an answer an honest, respectable answer.

3. When a customer asks a question, answer, and do it quickly – There’s nothing quite like having an experience with a company (be it good or bad), choosing to spend the time and energy to share that experience, and then not hearing back.

“Was my message not sent?”

“Have I offended someone?”

Or worst of all –

“Does no one at this company even care?”

Don’t let your company be the reason that a customer takes their business elsewhere. Respond in a timely manner. These days, if that comment is made on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social platform, response time should be almost immediate. Squash the bad word and praise the good one so that others can see that you care about what is being said about your business.

A core principle of good business is recognizing that you wouldn’t be relevant if it weren’t for your customers. So value them. Listen to them. Serve them.

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Connecting The Lines Of Communication

February 22, 2012/3 Comments/in Blog /by Kelly

From the very moment I open my eyes in the morning I am connected. I check my phone for texts, missed calls and emails from multiple accounts before leaving the safety of my bed covers. The rest of my day is spent double-clicking in an endless stream of communication. Traveling to Haiti forced me to consider what my day would be like if I had never been introduced to the Internet. How would the absence of Internet affect the way with which I communicate and interact with the world?

I faced these questions and more when I visited the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. This speck of a town is Leoganne, and from its ashes a band of women 40 strong changed their lives by developing a skill. Artist Zeevic Peretz taught the women of Leoganne the art of papier mache, a medium long practiced by the coastal regions of Haiti. He traveled to Haiti with IsraAID: The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, and under his tutelage each woman learned that in order to succeed, they must think as a collective. Armed with their new skill they are known as the Dam Dam. They adapted to the idea of working as a cog within a well-oiled machine contributing to the whole of production.

Older women having trouble working with small designs prep glue and paper. Those with a less artistic eye collect materials, most of which originate from trash and things long forgotten on the side of the road. One woman mentions that at first, she felt she had gone mad for collecting trash. Those with a keen eye for interesting color combinations and design consume their time nimbly painting the papier mache structures.

Entering the small, dusty room where they work, it’s amazing to think many of them travel miles to use the meager supplies in what serves as a children’s classroom during the day. Their trade makes them popular in their villages and garners the respect of their children and neighbors. The Dam Dam found a way to support their families in a hopeless situation. They sit in small chairs circled in groups abuzz with wild chatter. Upon our entry into the building, a hush of curiosity temporarily subdues the women. They stare with inquisitive eyes as our group of bloggers, all women, awkwardly occupies the front of the room. After their manager Jean tells us more about the group, it is our turn to answer questions. “Why are we here? What do we do? Do we have children?” They nod solemnly as we explain our work as business owners, entrepreneurs and writers of this thing called a “blog”. A swell of conversation follows our answers, and as women, it feels as though we all understand one another.

The Dam Dam are enthralled with the idea that we all own our own piece of the Internet to tell people our stories through blogging…and perhaps they find it even more perplexing that people listen. Rather than describe her webpage, blogger Nadia Jones (JusticeJonesie) presents them with her laptop, showing them the camera feature, iTunes and her landing page. At first the older women avert their eyes and look disinterested while the younger girls sit eagerly at Nadia’s shoulder. Within 10 minutes, the whole crowd hovers over the small netbook filming themselves and whispering excitedly.

They ask if we would write of them and we agree. They ask if they could comment, if they could comment in Creole and if they could eventually have their own page to share their stories and promote their business. These women seem to be naturals at business, four steps ahead of the rest of us of in their expectations of where this endeavor could take them. Finally, they ask the translator something that hushes the crowd. The translator asks if we could get them a computer. “YES,” all of the women in our group respond simultaneously, saying yes even though we didn’t know at the time how we were going to get one. To us the need was clear and we would find a way.

Often the people in Haiti are disappointed by foreigners promising aid that never comes. Leticia Barr, writer of TechSavvyMama, brought their dream to fruition with a spare computer that would find its home with the Dam Dam. Their manager Jean promised to take the women to the Internet café so they could read and comment on our stories.

Imagine the world that unfolds in front of a woman living in these conditions when the lines of communication that surround her become untethered by circumstance. Even if the environment in Haiti isn’t ideal and certainly not convenient, it’s something. It’s a step. It’s a boundary that we were able to build a bridge across. A boundary, that for reasons too many to count, we all as businesswomen, entrepreneurs, mothers, educators and writers were meant to cross.

The Best Time to Blog & Three Tips on Better Business Blogging

January 24, 2012/1 Comment/in Blog, Social Media Best Practices /by Liz

In our social media trainings, our team is often asked, “When is the best time to blog?” or what best practices can you share on better business blogging?

Interestingly enough, we ran across this infographic by social media scientist Dan Zarrella at Hubspot, who spent three years collecting data about the science of timing and developed the following infographic on the best times to blog. We’ve included the infographic below — note that all times below are in Eastern Standard Time (ET).

In addition, here are three tips from Everywhere on better business blogging:

1. The mentality behind starting a business blog shouldn’t start with “if we build it, they will come.” When it comes to integrating blogging into your PR/marketing/social media plan, your business shouldn’t start a blog just so you can say you have a blog, there needs to be a strategy behind it and a measurable goal you can link your success back to.

For example, objectives might include increasing customer education and engagement by 20% by the year end. From here, outline blogging as your strategy and have several blog post topics to help represent your tactics. This not only will help you benchmark the social media success of your blog, but will help to show return on engagement (ROE) in reports.

2. A blog is NOT an advertising platform. If you’re looking to reach current or potential customers, think about the information they would be interested in reading — whether it’s industry news and trends, quick tips from one of your resident experts or newsworthy updates. Steer clear of marketing messaging, which may come across as spammy and a turn off for your readers. Also look to incorporate multimedia content, whether it’s a Youtube video, eye-catching pictures or even a QR code.

3. While you should always write for your audience, you can also increase search engine optimization (SEO) by developing a keyword strategy. Identify the key words relevant to your business and hyperlink these in your blog posts (also look for ways to hyperlink to past blog posts). Pay special attention to create easily searchable titles. I like to use the Google Keyword tool, but you can also set up Google Analytics on your blog to check out what people are searching to find your site.

Have a question about blogging for businesses or a tip to share? Chat with us in the comments section below.

What are the Best Times to Blog? By Dan Zarrella

Infographic

Wednesday Wisdom from Everywhere

November 2, 2011/0 Comments/in Blog /by Britton

We’ve been busy searching the web for more articles and blogs that we think will help you and your business stay on-top of social news. Here is a roundup of some recent articles we found helpful for social businesses.

Wednesday Social Wisdom

Technorati: Google Rolls Out Business Profiles on Google+ - “Almost in stealth mode Google rolled out Business Profiles on Google+, its social network, limiting access, in the first instance, to those who have Google Apps for Business (the service costs $5 per month to use and you do need to have a website). The intention is to work out the kinks before the service goes global a little later in the year, which should be well before Christmas.”

Social Media Explorer: Developing a Twitter Workflow – “Despite all the great content available online regarding Twitter do’s and don’ts, there still seems to be a significant amount of confusion (across my network) about “what to do on twitter.” People seem to be struggling with the actual day-to-day tasks that pull together all the best practices. This post is designed to highlight Twitter workflow and aims to help you organize and plan your own “twitter routine”.”

Marketing Vox: B2B, B2C Social Marketing Practices Move Closer Together, But Still Remain Distinct – “B2B social media marketing has lagged behind–far behind–its B2C counterpart. That, though, is beginning to change as more firms begin to explore the value a social B2B outreach can provide, especially as more tools come to market for this constituency and more research studies capture best practices.”

Forbes: More Than Facebook: The Time is Right for Social Business – “Gone are the days of businesses limiting or even entirely restricting employees’ access to the Internet and social media platforms. Today, by combining social networking tools – internally and externally – with sophisticated analytic capabilities, companies are transforming their business processes, building stronger relationships among their employees, customers and business partners and making better decisions, faster. This is what makes a social business – embracing networks of people to create new business value and opportunities.”

Marketing Sherpa: B2B Marketing: Focused top-of-the-funnel campaign fills day-long workshop in target market – “Marketing and Sales alignment is always a hot topic. When the two business functions are working together marketing efforts are more effective and Sales’ job becomes easier.”

Roanoke Times: Social Media Open New Doors for Litigation – “With the proliferation of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, lawyers in both criminal and civil cases are often looking for evidence online. Although it’s rare for a post to become a smoking gun in a criminal case, the material is more likely to play a role in civil cases, especially those involving employment, divorce and child custody.”