Make a Dazzling First Impression Online

Studies reveal it only takes people between 7 to 17 seconds to form a first impression of someone they’ve just met. 55% of that opinion is based on physical appearance.

You meet and get to know an incalculable number of people in your lifetime—friends, coworkers, managers, business partners, acquaintances, and so on—but for each of them there’s only one first meeting. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

With statistics like these, it’s no surprise that countless articles and guides have been put together for making a favorable first impression in person. Dress professionally, look groomed, smile, stand up straight, be friendly and confident, ask them about themselves—the advice goes on for quite some time.

But what about if you’re meeting someone online for the first time, when they don’t see your face or your body language?

One solution is to use branding.

Branding means you can add your company logo, color scheme, and more when you work with others online! With YouDazzle, you can customize your web meetings and data rooms with your brand of choice.

Branded data rooms, with your logo at the top!

How can brands help you make a great first impression?

• It’s the first thing your audience sees. Thus, it’s part of their first impression of you!
• It reinforces your image as a professional. Using the same logo consistently lets people see right away the company or image you represent.
• It’s effortless! After you set a custom brand for your data room, you’re set—no more work required on your part!

Upload as many brands as you need, all customized to your liking!

You can upload an unlimited number of brands with a name, logo, and background color. Any data rooms you have, you can then customize with any brand you have.

You might use your company logo, product name, or any image or title you want to represent yourself.

Your brand also appears in all your web meetings.

Now, whenever you share content, collaborate, or meet with clients, customers, and more for the first time online, they’re sure to be impressed. Make dazzling first impressions, all through your data rooms and web meetings.

How To Be Successful From Your Home Without Even Trying…

Well, OK, You do have to try, but today’s virtual workplace gives us endless opportunities to create not just our own businesses but our own business “lifestyles”. We can work from a desk, from a patio, from a local Starbucks. However, no matter what lifestyle we might choose, there are still some constants in what makes a “virtual”  business person successful in mind, spirit and pocketbook.

• Put on some polish: Although you may be working in your sweatpants, nothing about your business needs to be rough and tumble. Create branded data rooms for your files and make sure you have a consistent look and feel across all that you do.
• Connect with people in meaningful work ways: Even if you are operating from your mobile phone in your neighbor’s backyard, you can hold web meetings that can be interactive and insightful. Opt for solutions that require no downloads, work on all platforms and feature co-browsing, which is the new feature that everyone is going to expect of your meetings in the future. Don’t just show people something, guide them to solutions.
• Connect with people in meaningful non-work ways: Feel like Facebook is your only outlet for human interaction? That is not good, my friend. Give yourself time every day to escape from your work cave, no matter how glamorous it might be, and see friends. Heck, even make some new ones. Let’s face it, no one likes to be alone all the time.
• Start a blog: People love to learn from other’s experiences (including their mistakes). Let your customers and prospects hear your real voice, despite the miles between you. It will do wonders for your personal brand equity and allegiance.  And it will get the word out on your business too.
• Do everything in moderation:  Rome was not built (or even destroyed) in one day. The biggest peril of working virtually is that your office goes with you everywhere. Your best work in not the work you are going to do at 2 a.m. Even though you have the ability to work around the clock, try to establish regular work hours and stick with them. The most successful people aren’t the ones that work the hardest; they are the ones that work the smartest.

So, you can see how these tips will help your mind and spirit, but what about the pocketbook, you say? Well,  if you use these tips to create balance in your life and power in your business, the money will follow…and thanks to GPS it can find you no matter where you are!

Customer Relationships: It Can’t Be All Self-Service

One of the most amazing by-products of the social media revolution is that it is easier than ever to build networks online, connecting people that might never have met through common interests or reuniting people who haven’t spoken in twenty years. Better yet, the overall digital revolution has created “self-service” customer care, where our customers can do everything from buying our products to renewing our services to recommending us to friends without us ever having to be involved. This is incredible and saves us a ton of time, right?

Well, sort of.

While automation is amazing and linking in via social media is powerful, there are still some times when some good old personal touch makes all the difference.  Let’s face it, we aren’t in Jetson times yet—although who wouldn’t love a conveyor belt to get them dressed in the morning. There are still some times where opportunities are lost when the personal touch is forgotten.

Here are some cases in point:

• The “cold” visit: So many times consumers visit a website only to leave without making a purchase or signing up for more information. Why? For the same reason that sometimes you will abandon a purchase at Target if you can’t find someone to help you. Sometimes people need a little guidance. Use features such as co-browsing to be there to help out your customers. Just a little widget with a friendly person to help can make all the difference in the world.
• The long-time customer carrot: Even in today’s digital world, people like to feel valued. It isn’t enough to just throw people coupons. Keep track of what people do and every once in a while say thank you in person or at least with a truly personalized note, not just an automated offer.
• The new product: Don’t just throw something new out there and expect everyone to love it or even read what you put on your website. Take time to show customers all that your latest and greatest has to offer. Bring them in, make them excited, build ambassadors for your brand. Let’s face it, the only way to get people talking for you is to talk directly to them in the first place.
• The renewal: Every time someone renews your product, you have the chance to get them to expand their relationship with you. The problem is, if everything is automated then there is no time to actually talk about what you have that could be even better for this particular person or company.

So, yes to social media tools, yes to automation, yes to technology. But let’s not forget what really drives people: other people. A slick new tool isn’t what really dazzles customers—it’s the personal touch. Just think: the most amazing box of chocolates means nothing without the handwritten card that goes with it this Valentine’s Day . . . Well, maybe that’s not the best example. But if you aren’t sending amazing chocolates, send your customers some personal attention instead!