What Matters Now is a quick read, with each of the essays at just about one page in length, on topics ranging from generosity to dignity to meaning to staying connected to the evolution of capitalism. You'll find essays you like (and probably some that you don't), fodder for your next cocktail party conversation, ideas you can use in presentations, and maybe -- more importantly -- concepts that relate to your own business.

There's probably never been a more critical time for us to challenge the status quo and think about ways to improve our companies, improve our relationships, improve the world. For me, What Matters Now has been like an espresso jolt, giving me something new to think about with every essay. Here's hoping it does the same for you.

Do you find yourself feeling a little more pressured this time of year? Relatively minor annoyances such as driving in heavy traffic or waiting on the phone seem to take on a life of their own when stress is heightened. If you're a customer of ours who has made the additional commitment of adding holiday greetings to your On Hold Messaging, you have made a tremendous step toward making your callers feel important and valued. Now is also an excellent time to plan your audio strategy for 2010. Adam and Lauren and our entire production team are ready to help make your telephone system, your website, your trade show booth, and any other audio endeavor stand out from the crowd. Audio truly amplifies a marketing plan, whether it's built around print, direct mail, or broadcast advertising.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy New Year from all of us at Business Audio. And thank you for being part of our tribe.

I'm no animal expert, but there are plenty of old wives tales' about animals that just seem like they should be true, whether you've tried them yourself or not. For instance, it's supposed to be very difficult to get a horse to walk backward. And a cow, we are told, can be lead UPstairs, but not down. So it would have been easy to get me to believe that bears don't climb ladders, at least until I received these pictures in a recent email. Somehow this bear got trapped in a skateboard park, and was able to climb his way to freedom thanks to a ladder strategically placed by the Snowmass, Colorado, police department.

Can you relate to this bear? At Business Audio Plus, we certainly can, particularly in this economic climate. At a time when it's more important than ever to make smart strategic decisions, we're finding that the "ladder" of social media and public relations (such as our work with Steve Turner of Solomon Turner) helps keep us out of the "skateboard park" of invisibility and ineffective networking.

At the same time, we think of ourselves as offering a ladder to other businesses looking for smart solutions to reach their marketing goals. Audio, we believe, is the ladder that can help make your business more memorable. It helps maximize the effectiveness of all your other advertising dollars, whether you use it on your phone system, your website, or in your trade show booth, brochure, and other less-common venues.

Like us, you can probably see yourself in both roles: needing a ladder and offering one. The important thing to remember is that even bears will climb under the right circumstances. Get them the support they need (your product) when and where they need it. And of course, be sure to accept the assistance that comes your way, even if it's from outside the realm of what you've comfortably done in the past.

Delivering excellence in dry ice.

It's been awhile since I took high school chemistry, which is the last time I recall using dry ice with any regularity. And so the concept stopped me for a moment: Can dry ice be excellent? How do you rank dry ice, anyway?

There are many manufacturers of dry ice and virtually no end to its uses (according to the Wikipedia and one of my favorite websites, HowStuffWorks.com). Food service, laboratories, asphalt, and a myriad of flash-freezing possibilities ... Seems to me that the carbon dioxide is either solid, or it isn't -- so that clearly can't be the source of excellence. This company, therefore, has to be touting its on-time delivery, its ease of ordering, its commitment to customer service, its competitive pricing, and other intangibles that make up excellence for its customers. I'll assume it's doing something very well, to have this particular large company on its client list. They've raised a fairly commonplace product to something exceptional. And isn't that what most of us hope to do?

Few small businesses are offering completely unique products. We have many competitors, and that number may expand exponentially with the shopping power of the Internet. No longer can an auto dealer, for example, worry about only the dealer down the street, because people no longer have to shop locally for their cars, thanks to EBay Motors and the web presence of virtually every dealer in business today. The same dynamic operates on Business Audio Plus: we aren't limited to St. Louis-based customers, of course, but neither do we deal with only St. Louis-based competition.

Whether your company manufactures floor mats or furniture, paper products or pet food, steel tubing or circuit boards, figuring out how to be excellent at it needs to be the central part of your mission statement. That's what helps you land the big clients, and more importantly, that's what keeps your customers coming back.

Why doesn't Business Audio Plus have a balloon?

Now, I could explain to him the difference between business-to-business marketing and business-to-consumer marketing. Or I could talk about some of the differences in size, scale, and budget between BAP and, for example, Energizer Battery or Pepsi-Cola. Or the fact that balloons are probably expensive, and no one on our staff has any balloon navigation experience. But I think there might be a larger lesson in all of this.

Harrison, I think, has leaped to the idea of a tactic without adequately building a strategy first. And before any of us take unwarranted pride in the fact that we're better at marketing than a 12 year old, let me just say this: Most of us in the business world do the same thing.

The reasons are pretty straightforward: Tactics are easy, and strategies are hard. By that I mean that it's much more difficult to measure the success of a strategy, and much scarier to outline one because you can't be sure it's going to work. Tactics, on the other hand, are much simpler. Put a line in the sand and say "I'm going to do this", and if you do it, you've succeeded. Hopefully the tactics you decide to work on are all heading in some strategic direction!

Business Audio Plus has been working on a new product and new website, search engine optimization and other methods to get our word out, and we're starting to delve into social media through methods such as this blog and our newsletter. Those are tactics. The strategy behind them is to enhance the image of multimedia, particularly audio, as viable and potent marketing tools. We'll know we're successful strategically when there's no silence on hold ... when text-only websites are in the minority ... when handing a prospect your DVD instead of brochure and business card is expected rather than surprising ... when small businesses stop thinking of audio as unaffordable. I have so much passion about this concept that I feel like a political candidate saying "even if you don't vote for me, be sure to vote". The BAP version is, even if you don't choose us, choose audio.

If part of the BAP strategy is to get our name in front of as many eyes as possible, then entering a balloon in next year's race might be an excellent tactic. Harrison will understand why, if we don't ... and in the back of his mind he will still be thinking something like, "But it would be so cool, and so much fun!" He'd be right, of course ... but here's to a commitment to marketing like a strategist.

Wisconsin-based liberal arts school Beloit College has taken its humanities and anthropology expertise into the realm of understanding its incoming freshman class for some 12 years now, producing an annual "Mindset List". Claiming it's not intended to make anyone feel old, they describe the list as "observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives—and formed the mindset—of students starting their post-secondary education this fall".

Think of it -- the class of 2013 never had the chance to see Freddy Mercury perform live. They've never used a card catalog to find a library book. The list offers up a full 75 items of this nature (shocking among them, the fact that the phrase "Green Giant" conjures up the image of Shrek rather than a vegetable logo), and #75 stopped me in my tracks:

There has always been blue Jell-O.

Now, I'm no purist, and meals at my house aren't generally gourmet. But if your first reaction (like mine) to blue Jell-O is something along the lines of "yuck", then maybe you need to rethink your customer's mindset. What have you changed about your marketing plan lately? How is your organization evolving in the 21st century?

If your company is primarily business-to-business rather than business-to-consumer, the class of 2013 won't be your customer for another few years, but they're well on the way. It's time to get prepared for them. Not only will they not remember Johnny Carson, but they will expect, even demand, things like online buying. Debit card purchases. Electronic rather than paper media. And it would be remiss of me not to point out that, for the class of 2013, there has always been advertising on hold.

Silence on hold is becoming more and more of an oddity, and my prediction is that audio, rather than print, is going to be the way we as businesses communicate our messages. Your telephones will talk, your website should talk, your brochure should be a DVD. Today, multimedia increases your chances of being remembered ... wait a few more years and it may be the only way you won't be ignored.

We proudly call ourselves the party of small business because small businesses are where national prosperity begins. Small businesses such as Main Street retailers, entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and direct sellers create most of the country’s new jobs and have been the primary means of economic advancement by women and minorities.

We honor the entrepreneurs and small business owners who are the engine of our economy. Their ingenuity and hard work are critical to our Nation’s prosperity... Small businesses will lead the way to prosperity, particularly in today’s challenging economic environment.... Our Nation’s success depends on America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.

As a small business built largely around the idea of supporting other small businesses, I'm pleased to report these September 2009 statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy:

Small Business Impact on the Economy
The estimated 29.6 million small businesses in the United States:

1. Employ just over half of the country’s private sector workforce
2. Hire 40 percent of high tech workers, such as scientists, engineers and computer workers
3. Include 52 percent home-based businesses and two percent franchises
4. Represent 97.3 percent of all the exporters of goods
5. Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms
6. Generate a majority of the innovations that come from United States companies

Those are some pretty impressive statistics and I think it's great to be part of them. Simple realism says that economic recovery will be long and bumpy, but I'm hopeful that some of the more encouraging projections of recent weeks come to pass. I have always believed that the American entrepreneurial spirit is the strength of this economy and essential to the country's backbone. And taking pride in what we businesses have done and will continue to do for the nation seems like a nice reflection for Patriot's Day, September 11. Eight years ago was mind-bendingly tragic and shocking, but we can honor those who lost their lives that day in national pride. 

I've bookmarked an article on this subject from the Entrepeneur website. I like it because of its inside-out approach -- instead of management trying to regiment or direct staff into a customer service mold, your company needs to create an atmosphere where every employee recognizes:

1. We're all in Sales.
2. We all have the power to keep our customers a little happier, and keep them coming back.

You can't micromanage every interaction your staff has with callers, prospects, or customers, even if you wanted to. A much more effective approach is to concentrate on your company's culture, encouraging and even rewarding your staff for delighting customers and going the extra mile. I'd like to brag for a moment on a BAP example from Lauren, our Senior Account Manager. Tired of the faxes and emails we've been sending for years as Production Reminders, Lauren created a series of eye-catching email messages, together with a monthly calendar and webpage of ideas for trivia, dates to celebrate, historical events, and more. Lauren wants to do more than just remind our customers that it's time for a new script -- she wants to prime the creative pump and keep them energized about On Hold Messaging. It's still a turn-key program, of course, but we've had plenty of positive feedback already, together with customers asking us to find industry-specific informational snippets just for them. Your business is unique and your On Hold Messaging should be, too.

Do you have other ways you're rolling out the red carpet at your place? Send a message telling me about them, and I'll feature your company in an upcoming entry in this space.

While I'm happy to report that audio marketing leaves only a small footprint on the environment (and Business Audio Plus would be smart enough to replant our Truffula Trees, anyway), part of me envies that guy's booming business, at least in its salad days. His only advertising strategy was the simple slogan "You Need a Thneed," and suddenly, thneeds were selling as fast as his company could make them.

But the reality is, not everybody needs On Hold Messages. Before we'll set up an OHM program for your business, we work to get to know you, your customers, your staff, and your telephone traffic patterns. Maybe your business has only one phone line. Maybe you don't have a Customer Service department fielding troubleshooting or order fulfillment calls. Or you operate a fast food restaurant, instead of one receiving calls for reservations.

Of course I believe that many more establishments SHOULD have OHM, and that many companies out there have it and are not leveraging it to full effect. The fact remains that OHM isn't right for some businesses. Maybe you're one of them, but you DO need your brochure redone in audio format. Or maybe simple overhead music for your store makes the most sense. Sometimes a customer literally needs everything we have to offer, and that's wonderful. We want to help you sell your thneeds, whatever they may be, and we hope audio can power the engine of your success -- but "A Sound Strategy" is more than just a catchy slogan for us. Business Audio Plus has "niche thneeds", and we want them in only the right hands.

That's probably one of the reasons that I actually look forward to writing this blog -- it's an opportunity to provide a quick (hopefully helpful) message, in a short and direct format. No footnotes, no 90 word sentences, and probably no semi-colons ... not that anyone seems to use semi-colons anymore, other than as part of emoticons in email and instant messaging. But I digress.

Simplicity is also the key to a successful On Hold Messaging strategy. You are narrowcasting, or talking directly to one person who has called your business. You've got a 45-60 second window to engage him or her, tops, and you want to provide a single idea that they might not yet have heard about your company and what makes it great. If a caller is holding long enough to hear a second or third message, music "bumpers" provide space for the gearshift into another subject, or maybe some trivia or humor to entertain and maintain interest. Distilled, not diluted -- just the essence of one aspect of your business, conveyed in the infamous "elevator speech" method: a conversation with an individual in a short amount of time.

If all that sounds difficult, then maybe you're just not using the right On Hold company. The best OHM programs are turnkey, with your message provider doing most of the work while you as the customer maintain editorial control.

What is Bing? A search engine, designed to compete head to head with Google. Microsoft bills it as a "decision engine", with intelligent algorithms that filter your search results. According to Bing, 4.5 websites have been created EVERY SECOND so far in 2009, with the understandable result that many searches simply don't provide the answer needed. So with Bing, they added in capabilities they acquired by purchasing Farecast (airline tickets) and Powerset (Wikipedia and other searches), plus algorithms built to enhance search context. The final product, Microsoft claims, offers users better results.

Where does the name come from? Microsoft focus groups wanted a name that was memorable and short, able to function as a URL around the world. Its official Chinese name is "bi ying", which literally means "very certain to respond". Marketing guru/critic Seth Godin, best known for his book The Purple Cow, thinks it must mean "But It's Not Google".

Of course, taking on an entrenched near-monopoly like Google is a tough uphill climb. And in fact, you'll find discussions and opinions all over the Web as to whether it's actually an improvement or not. Will Bing take market share? Maybe. Does it offer cool features? Definitely.

Shopping searches are one place that Bing shines. Pictures, prices, and reviews are right on top where they're easy to find. Click the "Local" tab and it's simple to identify restaurants, for example, with maps, menus, and reviews all collected together. Travel planners will appreciate the ability to book hotel rooms and airline tickets without leaving Bing.

Bing's Instant Answers are excellent for completing homework, checking your stock portfolio, or competing in Trivia Night. Enter a math expression in the search box and Bing will calculate it for you. Type in a simple question or use 'define' , and Bing will consult the Encarta encyclopedia or dictionary for your answer. You can subscribe to charts and other statistics on favorite stocks in a "webslice". You can even track packages and flights, or keep up with league scores, team statistics, or celebrity news.

Searching for images? They're laid out beautifully in Bing. And the mapping capabilities are every bit as dizzying and addicting as anything you've seen in Google Earth.

Reviewers who have kicked Bing's tires harder than I did claim that, overall, it doesn't return as many results as Google. However, it's fast, and it absolutely nails the first page of search results. This is critical in the Google vs. Bing cage match, because research shows that a low percentage of searchers move much beyond Page 1, anyway.

My wife the English major worries about the use of Bing as a verb. We've grown accustomed to "Googling". And maybe a sentence like "Let me Bing that" will make sense without offending anybody. But what about past tense? Do you handle Bing like SING (bing bang bung) or like BRING (bing bought)? Telling a friend that you "binged" your E-Harmony match before meeting her might be okay, but just think about those other two for a minute ...

To sum up, Bing offers an array of innovations and a search page that's pretty to look at, with categorizations, refinements, and suggestions of related searches. My prediction is that its RSS capabilities may be its most compelling: you can subscribe to your Bing search results inside any feed reader. Neither Google nor Yahoo offer this feature yet. Conventional wisdom about Bing appears to be that it's a long way from beating the incumbent, but perhaps in second place it will try harder. Or perhaps we'll be working on a new word, something that means trying both of the leading search engines with your questions: Bingling?