Andy Tabar – The Blog

Kindle Fire: Out of the Box (Photo credit: Brian Sawyer)

Often times when you are turned down, the next best thing is to try again. This was my experience recently with Amazon.com. A Kindle Fire magically appeared on the doorstep, along with another order that I had placed. I immediately thought the Kindle Fire was an unexpected gift from someone.  I found  otherwise after a conversation with a Customer Service rep. Of course, I asked whether I could hold onto the Kindle Fire. They requested that I send it back.

The next day, I emailed Amazon and asked them the same question. Sure enough, they requested that I keep the Kindle Fire (+ a nice leather case)! I went from satisfied customer to Amazon evangelist.

Email reply from Amazon.com:

Thanks for letting us know that you have received a kindle fire sent accidentally by Amazon.com to you.

I really appreciate your honesty.

Further, I request you to please keep that kindle, as you don’t want to return that kindle, as a new year gift from Amazon.com, there is no need to pay the half cost of $100 for it.
…
I hope this helps!

We look forward to see you again soon.

Thanks for choosing Amazon.com.

Lessons learned: Don’t be afraid to ask a question. Investing in a customer = investing in your business. And, who knows will what will come along with your next $10 order from Amazon.com.

Technology entrepreneurs often feel they must migrate to Silicon Valley. Designers to New York City. Musicians to Nashville. Industry connections are helpful and widely available in all of these cases. At what point, however, does technology make moving physically unnecessary? When does an over saturation sink your ability to stand out amongst the crowd?

Why not “think small?”

It was considered an opportunity by Mandy Gilbert, founder of Creative Niche. The Financial Post reports:

After extensive research, we identified two markets that made sense for expansion: Amsterdam and Cincinnati. Our research showed expanding to huge centres such as London or New York could be a recipe for disaster. Such a move would have left us exposed to competition from firms 10 times our size, not to mention drastically higher wage and commercial property expenses. [full article]

Opportunity lives everywhere. Where will you find it next?

November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010

It is too easy for an organization to focus a website’s existence on simply delivering content.  They lose sight of creating an experience for users.  Likewise, the difference in this approach determine’s whether an organization’s adoption of mobile is either an attempt or a success.

Mobile web use will be greater than desktop web use in 2015. Mobile has doubled from 10% of e-commerce sales in 2006 to 20% in 2010, according to Morgan Stanley.  We first experienced desktop computing, second the web/cloud, and next a network where you are always connected and responding to your surroundings. Some call it a shift, a pivot, a wave, or even Web 3.0.  Participants call it their lifestyle.   The adoption rate illustrated below is indicative for content creators to rethink their approach.

Source: Morgan Stanley

As the web is quickly becoming “smaller” and more portable, is your primary website becoming more complex?  If there are two types of organizations, which would represent yours?  The first is one that is distracted in adding complexity to the existing desktop website. The second is one that embraces mobile as an effective way to connect with customers. Organizations who had a clear direction on the web are now moving in a productive direction with mobile.  Whereas many of the rest are treading water until 2015 knocks at the door.

Organizations were told that they must be on the web. Create more micro sites, more content silos, a site re-design, pay for traffic.  However, something more meaningful must be achieved versus merely existing. That is, creating the most valuable experience possible for channels where users exist.

The mobile opportunity is here and now.  Are you taking advantage of it?

QR codes are those fancy looking bar codes that can be scanned with a mobile app, such as ScanLife, to provide a user with additional information.  In short, they connect your offline world to your online world.  You may have seen on them on products, store signage, subway stations, magazines, or even business cards. Perhaps you may have not seen them at all.  Their use has found more purpose only recently when used to connect discounts, promotions, and advertisements to websites, videos, maps, or other pertinent information.

There are already plenty of uses for QR codes.  A blog by @smigrod features “101 Uses For Quick Response (QR) Codes.”

ADWEEK writes:

Ralph Lauren introduced QR codes into print ads, mailers and window displays, aimed at sending traffic to its new mobile commerce site. Companies like Gucci, Puma and Vespa are taking advantage of what they see as a revolutionary new way to improve consumer engagement with their brands.

Just imagine, cashless shopping at a vending machine, or buying something written about in a magazine at the moment you read it. The options are seemingly limitless. The question is, will we see more of them in the U.S.?

In Japan, QR codes are being affixed to fruits and vegetables. When scanned with a QR-enabled cell phone, the code will tell the story of where they came from, and how they were grown. And McDonald’s is placing codes on the packaging of many foods so that customers can get nutritional information.

What’s so appealing to marketers is that QR codes lead viewers to immediate action. Linking to directions can lead a new customer to a storefront.  Downloading a ring tone could lead to a song purchase.  We can expect to see increased QR code adoption in 2011.

I can’t help but imagine a day, however, where actual object recognition is more intelligent and people do not need to be told to “scan here.” When there is a natural experience for users to “explore” with their mobile device, we can expect this trend to become even more relevant. Mobile devices will quickly become a virtual lens that discovers more than what you see with your own eye. Will you use the lens or will you be uninformed?

(Thanks to Brian Zuccaro at Great Lakes Integrated for sharing a link.)

When I recently upgraded to the iPhone 4, I was instantly reminded of when I first bought the 3G version in 2008 at the Green Hills location. Apple Store employees swarmed over to high five  and cheer for me when I simply asked to buy the phone upon entering the store. A simple gesture on their part, but one that made me even more confident in the buying decision that I already made. Instead of following complaints and wait times to activate a phone at the end of a cash register line, the focus in the Apple Store was to activate the iPhone in my life.

I naturally showcase the features of the iPhone to my friends not only because it acts as a “digital Swiss Army knife,” but also where the loyalty behind the product is strong. A world of difference in comparison to the devices I had used prior to the iPhone and even see on the market today.

How many times have you had a memorable buying experience? They are too hard to forget.

This is the question I have asked others for the past several years. What would encourage one to blog?  I’ve heard it all. For me, to start today, it’s a feeling that has built up over the past 6 months.  I need to blog.  I can’t afford to keep all my thoughts locked down in my own mind.

Those that know me are aware of my need to unleash ideas, thoughts, perspectives, and dreams.  It’s who I am.  It’s my future and and it inspires my day to day work.  Most people started with a blog and began tweeting thereafter.  I have been “micro blogging” with Twitter for nearly three years, and have found that I have much more to share than 140 characters.

But honestly, why do you blog?  Did you win a new client?  Are you making a living from it?  For me, this is part of the journey. It’s taken me awhile to commit to it, but here goes!  So, back to you… why do you (or don’t you) blog?