Now it looks like something a time-traveling designer threw up on their trip here from 1996. I promise I’ll get the site back in shape soon. In the meanwhile, give me your thoughts about design and if the look is more important than the content or if both have to work in concert to keep readers around.

Thanks!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 1996, blogging, content, design, Jeff Cutler, Marketing, writing

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

After a very pleasant exchange with the head Genius at Derby Street, we got my mother’s computer back and her new 13-Inch Macbook Air AND got the service we fully expected when she dropped $1800 at the store last Friday.

What occurs to me is that somebody at the store should be paying more attention to customer service and the backroom scheduling. There’s no reason we should have to wait 72 hours to move 4GB of data from one computer to another.

Your thoughts?

****************************

4:30PM – Apple Store – Derby Street Shoppes

I’m just going to ask a few questions and then let you answer them. They’re based on a recent – and by recent I mean CURRENT – experience I had at the Apple Store Derby Street. I’m sitting at a Personal Setup bar at the Apple Store typing this on a 13-inch Macbook Air. Not the same Macbook Air I’m picking up for my mother, but one that is happily sitting here for people to use.

So, here are my questions?

1 – Would you continue to do business with a company that promised your computer in 24-48 hours and then kept you waiting nearly 72 hours for a product you purchased?

2 – Would you voice your displeasure to the person answering the phone when they had trouble spelling the name JEFF three times?

3 – Would you tell two friends and let them tell two friends about your experience with an Apple Genius staff that was unfamiliar with using “sneaker net” to move files from an older laptop to the new laptop?

4 – Would you be surprised that they dealt with my mother far differently than they dealt with me? Both on the phone and in person.

Have you any Apple devices? Does the sleek, amazing design and capability make up for sometimes poor and boorish customer service?

I wait for your comments.

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: annoyed, Apple, customer service, derby street, hingham, Jeff Cutler, macbook air

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

In a tweet this morning they explained how you can get a vanity shortened URL for your Google+ account. It’s not affiliate with Google, but it makes it darn easy for people to find you instead of sending them a long string of numbers.

Just go to Gplus.to and they give you a place to fill in your request vanity URL. Easy as pie.

For example, to find me now on Google+, just go to http://gplus.to/jeffcutler and it will bring up my profile.

Thanks Mashable!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: google, gplus.to, Jeff Cutler, mashable, tips and tricks

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Suffice it to say that a Wheat Thins truck didn’t show up at my doorstep…

…and I wasn’t given a special-edition Wheat Thins branded iPad2 (although they have my address if they decide to do so). But I did garner a response with my tweets. In fact, the response I got cemented me as a fan of the marketing efforts and further solidified my belief that the Crunch is Calling. Here’s why…

Watch the video

Look at the unboxing photos

Read the heartfelt and Wheaty letter

Now, what do you think? Does social media marketing work? Is it only effective with a rabid fan base or can it work with less motivated consumers? What other examples can you share that captured your attention and just plain worked?

Please excuse me now, if I dare utter the phrase again, “Crunch is Calling”.

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Boston, crackers, crunch is calling, Jeff Cutler, Marketing, snacks, video, wheat thins, WWJCE

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

That brings me to three points…

1 – What makes me qualified to rant about poor grammar when I clearly messed up the title of this post?

2 – Does it really matter how you come across in loose conversation if your professional missive are clean, clear and correct?

3 – If you don’t care how you’re representing yourself or your brand on Twitter, should you care if you get ridiculed publicly for errors you make in this space?

Answers…

1 – If you missed the sarcasm of the title, you should add that failing to your inability to spell or construct a sentence. My qualifications include experience, training and a love of the English language. *I am in no way qualified to comment on the grammar or spelling of tweets in languages I don’t speak fluently.

2 – Depends on what you’re doing? If you can ensure that your professional contacts remain wowed by your style and don’t actually care about substance, then have at it. But, in an age where people are getting fired for errant tweets and denied jobs because they have errors on their LinkedIn page, it pays to focus on being accurate and correct.

3 – This is a toughie. If you’re putting your errors out there for everyone to see, you should be able to take the heat if you get called on them. I prefer to keep discussions offline instead of ridiculing people in public – especially if I know the person I’m dealing with sees all jokes as a sign of disrespect and doesn’t understand sarcasm.

What’s your take?

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Boston, grammar, Jeff Cutler, reputation, twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh