mokoyfman:

A very close friend recently complained to me that he found Twitter to be nothing more than a vehicle for narcissism.

I’ve been chewing on his point for a few days now as my rebuttal at the time didn’t feel particularly inspired.  While I implicitly knew that Twitter was so much more than that, I was having trouble cogently explaining why.

So I was delighted to see an amazing post today by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh entitled How Twitter Can Make You A Better (and Happier) Person.  In it, he points to four ways in which Twitter has helped him grow personally:

1. Transparency & Values: Twitter constantly reminds me of who I want to be, and what I want Zappos to stand for
2. Reframing Reality: Twitter encourages me to search for ways to view reality in a funnier and/or more positive way
3. Helping Others: Twitter makes me think about how to make a positive impact on other people’s lives
4. Gratitude: Twitter helps me notice and appreciate the little things in life

Rather than a vehicle for narcisism, Twitter is simply a window into you…whomever you may be.  So, if you’re a narcisist, that’s how you’ll come across on Twitter.  And if you’re real, it’ll be just that.  The key to Twitter (and life incidentally) is being authentically you.

Twitter actually helps you be even more authentically you as it forces you to consider at all times how you’re perceived by others.  Tony rightly and profoundly points out:

If you were always on camera, then everything you did would go towards shaping your personal brand, whether positive or negative. What are your personal values, and what values do you aspire to?

Well, today we are always on camera.  And for those of us who want viewers to regard us positively, Twitter actually helps better you as an individual.  That’s why I love it.

You can follow me on Twitter @mokoyfman.

• Reblogged from mokoyfman.com

kortina:

Why are venture investors failing to seed new industries and markets? Because venture funds invest not just in all the wrong places, ignoring clear supply and demand signals - but, worse, in all the wrong and same places. Where one pioneer invests, a slew of imitators follow, and so tremendous amounts of cash are poured into the same business design or market space - ad exchanges, social networks, and blogging/vlogging platforms to name just a few recent fads. That striking homogeneity reflects an almost total lack of strategic imagination by venture players.

Two excellent posts by Umair:
http://bit.ly/hShZ
http://bit.ly/h9hR

The question is who replaces venture investors? Umair points to Craig as an example of a radical innovator who succeeded without venture backing, but can everyone bootstrap?

• Reblogged from kortina's tumblog

kortina:

Agreed that social media is a low cost alternative to CPM/CPC advertising. Everyone—person,company,restaurant—should be blogging / commenting / twittering / youtubing / getting involved in the public conversation. In addition to getting your name in front of eyeballs, I’m sure you’ll learn something from the conversation as well—remember, conversations are two sided, unlike traditional advertising, where you speak and hope people listen. Now, it’s part of your job to listen as well.

Also not to be overlooked when slashing your ad budget is SEO—take a few ad dolalrs and invest in some content SEO on your site. A little goes a long way to drive organic search traffic. A friend once said to me “Google is like the gateway to the internet. I can’t get anywhere without going through them.” Truth—make sure you have as many of your pages as possible above the fold in organic search results.

Originally posted as a comment by kortina on Nav’s blog using Disqus.

• Reblogged from kortina's tumblog

kortina:

My friend Iqram had a horrible customer service experience with Verizon recently. He doesn’t have a blog, but wanted to share his experience so he asked me to re-post some of his exchange with Verizon here.

It’s a shame American companies can’t do a better job of customer service. I have always thought customer service is as an industry where we should be on top (at least when serving American customers), because we can provide more empathy and give more personal feedback than robots, and we can communicate more efficiently with each other than people who don’t speak English. It appears we can’t even get customer service right, however. [sigh]

Time to go build some customer service bots to take over at Verizon’s call centers!

* * *

Iqram’s email exchange doesn’t seem to capture the anger and frustration he was expressing to me on IM. Too bad there’s no way I can include a 4 hour mp3 of his phone conversation instead. Anyway, here’s some of his rant:

Hi Becky,

My FIOS service was shut off for 3 days because my credit card payment didn’t go through.  First of all, I wasn’t notified of this service suspension at all (you have my email address, and you have a phone number on file which is “the best number to reach me at”).  The reason my card on file didn’t go through, was because I cancelled it when it was stolen a few weeks ago.  On top of shutting off my service without notifying me, once I found out that my service was suspended, every single person I spoke with directed me to a different person and I spent about 4 hours trying to resolve this issue. Furthermore, my Verizon Online Account was not, and still is not, letting me log in.  This is probably because my account was suspended. How do you expect me to update my credit card info online if I can’t get into my log in to my account?

All in all, I was incredibly disapointed with the service I received and have no reason to recommend FIOS or Verizon to anyone.  I was once pleased with my FIOS service, but from now on, I will refer  people to Comcast, and once my contract expires, I will switch to Comcast. 

I am now convinced that you treat customers that are trying to sign up for new service far better than you treat customers that are trying to restore service.  I don’t tolerate that kind of business practice.

Iqram

—
iqram@alumni.upenn.edu


On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 5:48 PM, customersupport <customersupport@verizon.com> wrote:

Dear Iqram Magdon-Ismail,

Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter.  I have received your
email dated 12/19/08 regarding poor customer service.   My name is
Becky, and I will be happy to assist you.

I apologize for the delay in my response, and I regret any inconvenience
to you.

I am sorry you are having trouble reaching or getting assistance.

I will be happy to assist you, if you respond back to this email with
the questions or issues you need assistance with.

Once I receive the requested information, I am confident I will be able
to assist you. In the meantime, if you have additional questions, please
let us know. We look forward to serving you.


Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Becky
Verizon eCenter

************ INSTANT ACCOUNT ACCESS!  ************
Still mailing in checks? Save time and hassle. Register today at
verizon.com to pay your bill, check balances, manage your services and
receive exclusive online offers.

Register now at:
http://www.verizon.com/enrollmyhome


************FIND OUT WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW! ************

Have a question about which Internet plan is best for you? Want to learn
more about the picture quality of FiOS TV from someone who already
subscribes to it? Get real-world answers fast from other Verizon
customers on our Verizon Forums site.

http://www.verizon.com/forums



Original Message Excluded:
————————————-

• Reblogged from kortina's tumblog

betaworks:

We are trying something out here - from our friends @pistachio and @tipjoy - betaworks and tipjoy will each match up to $5000 by getting this experiment/good cause to work.

1. What can $2 do?
2. How can I thank and honor clients and friends of Pistachio Consulting this year?
3. What do I want most of all for Christmas?

Well Wishes.

I want to make a big difference. To save kids lives. It’s a tough year though. I don’t want to ask much of any one person. I realized just $2 from each of my Twitter readers would be $25,000. If everyone who reads this - YOU - gives just $2, Charity: Water can build an entire water project for a school or hospital in Africa. Betaworks and Tipjoy liked my idea and will 1) waive ALL fees for their “micropayments via Twitter” tool, and 2) match up to $10,000. Donate NOW just by tweeting:

p $2 @wellwishes for (your message here) via @tipjoy

or donate via PayPal to wellwishes@pistachioconsulting.com (they will deduct a fee)

When else can you make SUCH a difference for just $2? Are you in? Can you spread the word? Can this become a new way of “many hands/light work” using new tools and communities?

Well Wishes

• Reblogged from betaworks