Over 1 Billion Internet Users!

Yikes! Check out this article from -Small Business Labs. There are now over 1 billion internet users.

So how much is one billion? I am a visual person and can NOT visualize a billion of anything. So when I came across the following stats from our local newspaper editor, I just had to share:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago nobody walked the Earth on two feet.

A Louisiana senator is hoping the president's package includes $250 billion to rebuild New Orleans. Which amounts to $516,000 for every man, woman and child in New Orleans, or $2 million for every family of four. Wow. Does that help put one billion into perspective.

Social Networking and Guy Kawasaki's Blog

I'm not a big blogger. YET. But social networking is growing so fast, that all of us who are growing our businesses need to be doing it. Have a Facebook page? Are you Tweeting? Of COURSE you're LinkedIn. Right?

Check out the article and let me know if it changes how you use social networking.
(Click on the header to link to the article.)

A super networking short video from Bob Bly

For those of you who don't know how to take advantage of their networking opportunities. Thanks Bob!

Cut Back on That Customer Service?

Only if it still pays! Don't try this without researching your customer base.

This fascinating article on customer service offers research on how much service may or may not have a return on investment. It seems there is a 'delight point' that just might not be worth the extra money to provide, but it does depend on the type of business.

"Consider service levels, specifically average time-to-answer, which is one of the most common metrics used in call centers. Service levels—often based on regulation or historical precedent—are set by call-center managers and then used to calculate staffing requirements. But service levels are challenging to maintain and costly to improve: raising them by 10 percent requires much more than a 10 percent increase in staff."

Much of this study is based on wait times, such as in call centers. Take the link to read more. Perhaps not all customer service is critical to business. Certainly there's a fine line. How long should YOUR customers wait? Are you willing to add staff to improve service, or do you think it's so close the added staff/$$$ won't make a difference?