Letter to tech companies everywhere and where value really lies

Published: 07/11/2012

Dear Technology Companies and New Tech Business Models,

Can you do me a favor? Please stop the upgrades, the tweaking, the new interfaces? I get that you are tech geeks and that you feel the need to implement new, new, new all the time. I get that you are a lean start up with maybe 4, 5 employees max. I know the wave of the future is to start your service for free and get a KA-BILLION users all over the world.

This is were you miss the mark…you then offer premium plans and have no customer service in place for your new paying clients. You do upgrades that don’t take (even crash miserably) and you don’t have staff to handle the KA-BILLION complaints. You don’t even offer a deadline of when the problem will be fixed.

In fact, you don’t even have a PHONE NUMBER on your website.

You offer a paid service without realizing what customer care is all about. You complicate your service and then survey me to see if it is too complicated. Did you receive my survey? Are there enough of you to even read my survey? It’s the third one I have filled out, by the way. Remember the old saying, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it?”

Just be old fashioned and take care of the people that are paying you real dollars. Do your ONE thing really well. Be the best at what you offer. Have staff in place to fix things IF they go wrong and hire a friendly voice to assure me that things will be fixed quickly. I am using you for my business and that is why I pay you.

Signed with love from,

I-miss-old-businesses Monica Lee over at Smart Creative Women

 

Whew! I feel a LITTLE bit better. Maybe if you share this it will fall into some CEO’s lap and it will jog his memory as to where value really lies.

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Flora Bowley on painting, being in business and being brave

Published: 07/10/2012

Flora Bowley is just lovely! She is  an interesting, passionate painter and a successful business women. I love the mix! Flora has been painting  or “doing the work”  for years and has recently exploded onto the internet scene through her teaching and workshop offerings. She has taught popular classes at Squam Art Workshops and she now even teaches an online course. Her intuitive painting style has captured the imagination of students worldwide! (P.S. If anyone sees fit to send me to her workshop in Italy so I can have a full circle-born in Italy-go-back-and-be-a-free-spirited-painter moment, just let me know!) She  recently  wrote the book Brave Intuitive Painting. Pick it up if you want to learn more about her and her process! Flora is as inspirational and vibrant as her paintings! I really think you will enjoy her insights!

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Marketing advice from a guy I like to call Mr. Marketing, Tom Henell (PS I love this guy!)

Published: 07/05/2012

Special treat! Special treat! It’s my handsome husband, Tom Henell, being grilled by me! I have mentioned in several interviews that my husband has a background in marketing, truthfully, he has a background in common sense! Haha! This is short and sweet, taped from our vacation spot on Newfound Lake in NH. He gives insight to the question, what is the number one way to think about marketing?

Tom climbed Mount Washington this week. I keep hearing the song from Sound of Music in my head….”climb every mountain….” He is off to climb another one today! He did say when “he comes off his mountain” (Sorry, I am full of puns today!) that he would be more than happy to field questions about marketing from you all! Just leave any questions in the comments section!


Above is the view from the house we are staying in! Gorgeous, right!? And here are my new sneaks-on my way to some R and R but with my laptop in hand! It has been wonderful, I have  been fleshing out some ideas for the Smart Creative Women community!

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Sara Urquhart and Alt’s new look!

Published: 07/03/2012

I wanted to do a replay for you if you haven’t watched this interview you will like it! You all know I am a big fan of Alt Summit. They are in the middle of a big “tab dah”  with their website (next week) and they asked lil’ ole me to help out a bit  with some blogger interviews (very exciting…I will let you know when it comes together!) I met Sara briefly at Alt last January but I have tuned in to many of their online classes. Once I interviewed her, I knew I had found an inspiring woman!  Sara Urquhart is just a women with vision (and you know how I like a woman with vision!) She as put together affordable informative online classes so everyone is able to learn no matter where they live. In fact, if you jump on board now you can even get two classes free that are sponsored by Bing. All you have to do is blog about the classes! I actually really need these classes free or not! One is The ABCs of SEO:  How Bing can help make your blog a success. Hello, half the world says SEO will “happen naturally” especially if you use wordpress as your web platform. Not. The other camp gets so detailed that you get completely lost in tech details! Here’s to hoping this class breaks it down for lay people like me! The other class is a must for me, Tough Love:  What Brands Really Think About Your Blog. Sponsorship is a big topic amongst bloggers with everyone weighing in with thoughts and experiences. This should be an interesting class!

Right now most of the traffic from the site comes from you all telling other people about it!! Yipee!  SEO (that’s search engine optimization for you all who don’t know what that means) or no SEO, I am so thrilled when you share the episodes with someone that you think might enjoy them. Spreading inspiring and helpful, heartfelt stories is what I love to do!! Watch my talk with Sarah and get inspired!

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Part 2 Marisa Anne talks social media, transparency and the need to be choosey

Published: 06/28/2012

Here is Part 2 of my interview with Marisa Anne from Creative Thursday! (Make sure you didn’t miss Part 1.) This is such a fabulous conversation! Marisa shares her thoughts on social media, why she takes the time to ask herself the “where and why” to keep her voice genuine online. She also talks about believing in herself through the hard times and how she has dealt with debt and money!  I was excited to hear about her “creative love letter to people…” tune in and listen to Marisa explain that! She covers her  fabrics, an upcoming book, how she has gotten traditional press and how she has learned that some things just take time. She even turns the tables and asks me one of the harder questions that I dish out! Marisa Anne is truly an authentic voice in the creative community. Refreshing, don’t you agree?

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Creative Thursday’s Marisa Anne

Published: 06/26/2012

Meet the heart and soul behind Creative Thursday, Marisa Anne! That is exactly what I think of when I think of Marisa Anne-she is a woman with such a good and thoughtful heart. She brings so much to the creative community and genuinely believes in elevating all creative souls. We talk   about understanding your value in this interview. (Can you see a bit of a recurring theme?) We also tackle the voice inside your head and why it is important to quiet your inner critic. It’s a 2 parter! This is good stuff so the rest of our interview will be posted Thursday! She teaches online classes, has an active blog, licenses her art work, has an etsy shop and works hard at maintaining a quiet balance in her life. She has had an interesting journey and has had to tackle some tough (and interesting) situations along the way! You will like hearing her story!

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What have you been putting off?

Published: 06/25/2012

What have you been putting off? Starting an actual savings account? Paying off bills? UGH?! Monica, why are you bringing up money first thing in the morning? Well, I understand that coming to terms with your money is part of understanding your worth and value. Whether you listen to or read Suzie Orman’s money messages or sign up for the DailyWorth.com’s emails to understand and get over your money making and money spending fears, today is the day! Ladies, if I can arm wrestle with my preconceived notions about money that have been passed down and muddled up over the years, so can you!!
I have had money and I have lost money. I have been scary poor, wandering through the grocery store with a baby in tow wondering how I was going to pay for food…it made me really fearful. That fear stuck with me! Time to let it go! This is the time, this is the year, to let go of any fears that are holding you back. Maybe you don’t have money fears, maybe you are afraid that if you are very successful that you won’t be a good parent. Maybe you are afraid that you are not talented or smart enough to do what you really dream of doing. Let me encourage you today. YOU ARE PERFECTLY equipped to do exactly what you are called to do on the planet! Mull that over, you have what it takes! Let it sink in and join me on the journey to change any thinking that might limit you!

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Hilary Rushford of Dean Street Society talks about providence and showing up as the best version of you!

Published: 06/21/2012

At the bottom of Hilary Rushford signature it reads “With grace and gumption!”  and that is the perfect phrase for her! She is a stylist, fashion blogger and web TV host who is on the move! She has had opportunities come to her in the most serendipitous fashion and she shares all the things that got her into her perfect sweet spot. (Super funny!) You will love how she talks about “having her palms up” to embrace what comes her way. Hilary’s depth and wisdom about life is so refreshing and we even fit in a bit of  really sensible wardrobe advice! She runs 2 style blogs simultaneously over at Dean Street Society. One is for gents called The Dapper and the Duchess (she understand her audience) and one for ladies called Bowties and Betty’s. I love that she writes for and styles both men and women! I just sent the “gents link” to my husband and sons!! Enjoy and let us know what you think of this practical yet pretty approach!

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