As we all know business models and service strategies can evolve over time, and at the end of the day is it about the almighty dollar or the greater good?

You can swing to the almighty dollar and service begins to stink.  Or you can focus on the greater good and not making any money.  I think there is a middle ground and to be successful you have to find it and stick with it.

InteractRV, the rv website design company I co-founded in 2003, has used Rackspace.com as their hosting partner for years.  In the beginning they were a smaller, privately held company bending over backwards to make sure things were right and easy to use.  Then a couple of years ago they went public and they just didn't focus on the fantastic service any longer.  The account managers began treating us as a number and their product/service offerings began evolving into a one-size fits all approach.

I'm not sure if they did it for the dollar, but my gut tells me as much.  What the whole process did do for me was open my eyes to make sure that as InteractRV grows servicing more customers that we are sure to maintain our premier level of service.

We will learn lessons and products/services will continue to evolve.  Some may make sense and we'll continue and some may not.  But at the end of the day we need to be available, listen to our customers, and help each one be successful in the best way for them.

InteractRV, the company I co-founded in 2001, does alot of search engine optimization and other Internet marketing strategies/tactics to help clients improve.  We also run a handful of consumer facing websites like www.RVingPlanet.com and www.UsedRVsForSale.com.  RvingPlanet focus on rv sales and reviews of new RVs while UsedRVsForSale focuses on just used rvs.

Back in February the traffic on RVP took a nose dive ... it was a panda slap.  Google had updated its search algorythmn in an attempt to get better quality site rankings.  Unfortunately, it also affected good quality sites.  We are following their suggestions for getting our site whitelisted and I'm confident we will achieve that.

What good came out of the whole thing is that there now is a list existing of what a site needs to do not to get panda slapped.  The better side to the list is alll the things to do to get ranked better by search engines.

If interested you can read all about in this great article here.  Best of luck!

August 18, 2011 Update

Another great article here

For a few months now we've been searching for a new graphic/web designer to join our team.  When we hire folks we have a process we go through to identify road blocks at any given point.  We recently had a gal who made it almost through the entire process, but in the end we didn't feel she was a fit for our needs/style.  She had a fantastic atittude and communicated very effectively.  She would have been a great fit from a company culture standpoint.  But as we were going through the process there was one thing that kept rearing its ugly head.

Big picture she seemed to 'get our style', but in the fit and finish the 'snap' just wasn't there.  We probably gave more chances than we should have because she was such a great cultural fit for us.  However, we also need skills and abilities that align well with the detail and style that we demand of ourselves.

It was a hard decision to make, but trying to fit an oval into even a round hole usually doesn't work out.  So after hours of interviewing, money spent on sample projects, we are back to the drawing board, but confident we made the right decision and that is one of the hardest things to do.

I just had this great experience purchasing a Mosquito Magnet online.  The company I purchased from had a great price, site was easy to use, did a good job of earning my trust with reviews and accredidations and I received the product quickly as promised.

Then just today I receive a follow-up email asking for my feedback on my purchase.  From the subject I knew they wanted me to rate them, then in the email body there is a large link that says Leave Elite Deals Feedback, so I click it.  I landed on a page asking for my review and rating and I filled it in.  Then at the bottom it wants my purchase order number and date of purchase.  So, I hunt for it where I saved my email orders and eventually find it.  Then another section pops up asking me to create an account with Reseller Ratings.  I understand it's a third party rating system, but really come on.

I gave them all my info when I placed my order.  They know who I am, what I purchased, and when I purchased ... WHY in the world ask me for it again.  At the end of the day I wrote my review and then bailed because I didn't want to sign up for yet another website and give them my info.

Having gone through this process made me wonder and start to think about areas that I might make things too difficult for customers.  How about you?  There is much to lose and alot to gain by paying attention and questioning how and why you currently interact and communicate with your customers.

Here is a screenshot of the email I received.  Interesting enough it had the order number and date of purchase right in it, BUT it still wasn't intuitive enough.

Until next time!

I get asked quite frequently what should go on a business Facebook fan page.  I think the short answer is .... what works!

Each business is a bit different and what might work for a deli selling sandwiches might not work well for a RV Dealership selling RVs.

I always encourage folks to decide what it is they want to accomplish by having a fan page and then go for it.  Be reasonable on how much effort you put into it and measure your results so you can make an educated decision on if it's working or not.  If it isn't simply evolve your tactic.

Inc Magazine did a good job highlighting twenty fan pages they thought were worth the muster.  Have a look yourself and see if you can find any tactics that might work for you.

Inc Article: http://www.inc.com/20-awesome-facebook-fan-pages-2011/index.html

Until next time..