A business colleague told me, “Never Apologize!” I know he just meant, “No harm done, no need to be sorry.” But it got me thinking. I don’t think people apologize enough.
Some people say that women apologize way too often. Don’t believe me? Watch this “Sorry Not Sorry” video. Out of habit we say, “I’m sorry, I have a question” or “I’m sorry, did you say something?”. We have nothing to apologize for. In those scenarios, it does border on weakness and not knowing your own value. But I believe many people, mostly men, but women too, take it too far. They don’t think to ever say the words, “I’m sorry” even when they should.
Read moreI hate upgrades. I will ignore them for as long as possible. I just want to do it the way I know how to do it. Even if a “better” way exists. Eventually I lose the battle, and change is forced upon me. After verbally abusing the new system for a few weeks, I get used to doing it a different way and forget the drama. Then I even start to like the new system. Until the next upgrade….
So I have empathy for companies that are faced with upgrades to their ERP and CRM systems. Here are a few simple steps I think ERP/CRM partners should take to make upgrade-haters like me more comfortable with the inevitable.
Read moreHave you recently won an award, reached a milestone or just done something pretty incredible? Of course, you want everyone to know. Recently, the company I work for achieved Gold partner status from Acumatica. As a new Acumatica partner, this is a huge deal for us. I wanted to do more than just put the new logo on our website. I wanted to make a splash. So, I asked a few of my marketing buddies and we came up with this list of creative yet realistic ways an ERP/CRM partner can promote an important news announcement.
Read moreGuest Post by MabbitMarketing
Remember Rocky & Bullwinkle? There was a recurring skit called "Mr. Know It All" where Bullwinkle routinely showed us how smart he… wasn't. But we can learn something from our beloved moose.
You're an ERP Value Added Reseller. You're smart. You also need other people to know you're smart: your future prospects. But if you're like Bullwinkle and tell everybody you're smart… we'll just say it doesn't raise our opinion of his intelligence, does it?
At MabbitMarketing we focus on driving traffic to your blog, crafting creative posts to social media that show the world why they need to hear what you have to say. Not like Rocky, who just came right out and called Bullwinkle "Mr. Know It All", but by showing how you're genuinely helpful and knowledgeable.
Read moreI just can’t stop thinking about marketing. Even on vacation. A large part of my vacation time is spent in restaurants, so I often want to give unsolicited marketing advice to restaurant owners. This happened recently in Tirana, Albania. But since I don’t speak Albanian, I will share in a blog post instead. And likely it will be more appreciated this way anyway. Here are three marketing lessons I learned that apply to Microsoft Dynamics partners too.
Read more“I just assumed you knew.” Have you ever gotten a tip that you know will save you a lot of time and hassle? If the tip comes from a stranger, you are grateful. If it comes from someone who should have told you before, you are annoyed. Learning to put yourself in someone else's situation and anticipate their needs is a skill. But I think it is a skill that can be developed. And it is something that will make your company and your employees really stand out from the competition. Things that seem obvious to you may be very new to someone else. This is why you should not just assume they know....
Read moreI believe that the best workers are the ones that sincerely appreciate having a job that fits their unique life circumstances. They will do anything to please their employer and keep that job, because they know it will be hard to find someone else to accommodate them. Who are these people and where can you find them? Here is my unusual advice.
Read more“The Website is Down!” Those words send chills down the spine of any marketer. Everyone starts looking for someone to blame and finally asks the question - who is responsible for keeping the website running, Marketing or IT? Sadly, many times the IT department dismisses the website as just a “pretty marketing thing”. And the Marketing department assumes that IT is taking care of boring things like security and backups. That is a big mistake.
Read moreI like to talk to my chiropractor about marketing. After my first visit, he sent me a letter with referrals. I complimented him on the great marketing tactic and we started talking about how hard it is for a busy small business owner to spend time on marketing. I thought more about it and on my next visit I suggested what I would do in his situation to market a small business with limited time and resources. Here are two things that you, as a small business owner, can do that could have a big impact:
Read moreI feel like I tell this tip all the time. Yet every time I say it people are still amazed and act like they have never heard it before. So, I’ll just keep saying it. This is the fastest way to write a blog post. Ready? 1) Record 2) Transcribe 3) Edit. I have done it hundreds of times. Here are my specific tips to make it easy.
Read moreLet me just say right away, this post has nothing to do with marketing. But gosh darn, I spent a lot of time on this so I wanted to share it.
I was asked to come up with a baby shower game that showed different baby traditions around the world. Based on extensive internet research these are the “facts” I found. I can’t actually prove that any of them true, but they certainly do start some fun conversations.
Read moreWhat topics are “hot” with Microsoft Dynamics marketers this year?
At the start of each year my marketing group makes a list of the topics we are the most interested in learning more about. Then we vote and assign one topic to discuss in our monthly call.
Hearing the experiences, opinions and questions of other marketers that are with you “in the trenches” has proved to be enormously valuable. This is what we will be discussing in 2017.
Read moreSome of the profile photos I see on LinkedIn just make me cringe. Really? That is the best photo you could find? All of us need at least one great headshot photo to use on LinkedIn and other social media profiles. Some people need it more than others because, let’s be honest, some of the headshots people choose for LinkedIn are just plain terrible. Here are some tips from the experts on how to choose the right photo.
Read moreThe best way to find out about new marketing tools is to ask other marketing people to list their favorites. At the end of the year I asked a group of top marketers in the Microsoft Dynamics channel what tools they had loved in 2016. I admit that half of the answers were programs I had never used before. Perhaps there is a new tool on this list for you too.
Read more“I like the way I look in every photo” – said no woman ever. At least no woman I know. Every time someone asked me to provide a headshot photo, for an event program or online profile, I got this queasy feeling in my stomach. I knew a professional headshot would boost my confidence but I kept putting it off. I’ll get my headshots done when….. I finally realized that there was never going to be a “perfect time”. I just needed to do it. And I did. Now I I think every woman owes it to herself to get a professional headshot that makes her feel confident and beautiful. Whether she needs to use it on LinkedIn or not.
Read moreIt is all about being found. If you are a Dynamics ISV partner you want your brand to be found, and known, by prospects and by partners. So, you need to make sure that you are taking advantage of all the opportunities you do have to be known within the Dynamics channel and market. Here are 8 ways the ERP and CRM Software Blog sites help you do that.
Read moreAppSource is THE place to be found these days. Pinpoint and Partner Center are so “yesterday”. Microsoft AppSource is the new “in” club where all the cool kids can be found. Once you are in, you have to “dress for success” to get noticed. The AppSource developers spoke to Dynamics CRM/365 partners at eXtremeCRM and gave several tips on how to improve your listing.
Read moreJust because it is easy for you does not make it easy. I have come to realize that many things that come naturally to me, other people find quite difficult. All of us have unique talents. The key is to recognize which ones you have that the other person doesn’t have. There are two areas where I think this is especially important - Billing and Delegating.
Read moreI admit it. I silently judge people. You know, THOSE people. The ones that drive as if wherever they have to go is obviously more important than your plans. They are in their own world, totally oblivious to their surroundings; they slow down shopping lines and transactions for everyone. People who answer their cell phones at inappropriate moments without concern for others. And the ones that look like they just rolled out of bed and couldn’t even be bothered to take a shower before coming out in public. This month I was one of THOSE people. I am not saying this to solicit pity. I am saying it because it taught me a valuable lesson in empathy.
Read moreI met Amber Bell in 1999 at a San Diego based company that sold a product then known as Great Plains software. I worked in sales; she worked at the front desk. Today she is a GPUG All Star. Everyone loves a “rags to riches”, “pulled themselves up by the bootstraps”, “American Dream” type story. Amber Bell proves that with enough hard work, goals and personality anyone can be an All Star. And I am honored to have watched her journey, from front desk to back office to center stage spotlight. This is her story....or at least my version of it.
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