Category: “Just Nancy”

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Just Nancy – The Trouble with Travel

Nancy McCord
“Just Nancy” – My Point of View for Today.

Recently my husband had his identity stolen and I had my checking account hacked. As a result we are both now super careful and security conscious to the Nth degree. As we are getting ready to travel in September out of the country and I need to continue to stay in touch with customers, I had done massive research on how to stay connected and still keep my data and communications safe.

Here are the things that I have learned as I am preparing for my trip that I thought I would share with you.

• For any kind of banking set up two step verification or biometric recognition access. Plan on only accessing your banking on an emergency basis or not at all.

• For Google set up advanced verification with either two step verification or phone verification. But make sure to generate codes that will allow you to manually enter a code to get in if the text or message is not received. Google had previously locked me out of my AdWords accounts when I traveled and I am hoping that this will solve my access problem.

• Try never to use unsecured Wi-Fi on your travel. If you will need to, as I will, get a secure VPN app to allow you to connect securely. I am currently testing NordVPN and have tested Norton Wifi Privacy and ViperVPN. When I settle on one I will write a post about the app. These apps allow you to be on any Wi-Fi system and be totally encrypted and secure.

• Don’t count on river cruise or cruise ship Wi-Fi as your method to access the internet. The cruise I am going on is trying to sell an onboard internet package, but the speed is 2G. For me this is archaic and not feasible to use. The river cruise was similar. It was so excruciating to connect that I stopped trying. This time I will be having Verizon sell me a short term global internet access package for my phone and I am not even taking my laptop.

• Make sure to have backup staff to monitor email and customer accounts. Although I will try to access my email and manage client AdWords accounts with my team, I know from experience that this may simply not work based on where I am traveling. As a result I have trained staff and created backup plans on how to keep my customers happy. The takeaway is I may get online, but I should be totally prepared in case I cannot.

• Move all important things you will need while on travel to access to the cloud. Apps like GoToMyPC will be excruciatingly slow (I learned this on a previous trip abroad). So I have moved all my mail, files, and documents to cloud storage that I can access from anywhere. This includes email. I moved out of Outlook two years ago and now only use GMail and Google Drive for my work items as well as perform team collaboration there as well. I have learned that to review email on travel and then have to re review when you come home is too much work. I want all my work to be synced everywhere all the time.

When I return, I will share my experience with you on how it went this time around in regards to staying connected to work while out of the country. Alaska and Canada here I come!

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How to Create Client Advocates for Your Business

Nancy McCord
“Just Nancy” – My Point of View for Today.

Want to grow your business even more? What are you doing to cultivate your existing clientele?

I have found one of the best ways to grow my own business is by providing seriously on-point customer service, valuable and regular communication with clients, and by offering referral incentive programs.

When you have a really happy customer, who likes your approach and what you do, they become an advocate for you. Specifically that means in meeting with colleagues, they talk you up, encourage others to call you for services, and share, with pride, the things that you have done for them or how you have helped them.

Advocates for your business, make it easier for you to close a sale to a recommended party, do away with low price conversations, and really help to grow your business.

I thank all clients that refer a new customer to my business by sending a $50 Visa gift card. There is no limit to how many of these I will send to a client, but I do send these thank you’s typically only when the new customer’s monthly sale will be over $1,000.

I don’t post or tell clients about my special incentive program, but always follow-up with them about the success or lack thereof of any referrals they do send to me. It is funny, but they like to know how things turned out. When they get their gift from me, many have express surprise and even shock to receive anything for the referral.

I’ve found that growing your business starts by taking exceptional care of your existing customers and building long term relationships, but by showing appreciation too.

Find out more about how we do business by visiting our website today at www.McCordWeb.com.

 

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Why Pay When You Can Get Free!

Time is Money! When It Comes to Deleting Spam Comments
Time is Money! When It Comes to Deleting Spam Comments

Everyone likes a bargain! Sometimes however you’ll want to pay for an app or WordPress plugin that is really valuable, but why pay when you can get one that does the trick for free?

I deleted Askimet as my spam plugin in WordPress when they moved to pay to play and really tried to wring $5 a month out of their users after years of free service. I understand that everyone needs to make a buck, but in the world of WordPress what they offered was not unique.

I searched for spam filtering plugins. I found Cleantalk and tried it for the seven day free trial period. I liked the interface, but just did not feel that paying for it was worth it to me. Cleantalk bills $8 per year. Not a lot, but free is free.

Now I am trying out the free WordPress plugin Anti Spam Bee. This plugin appears free – well at least for now.

Before you buy of any plugin, make sure to try it out. I may be back with Cleantalk, but for now I am going free, free, free with the big yellow bee of Anti Spam Bee.

 

 

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Is It Okay to Allow Other to Pick Your Brain?

Expect the unexpected.
Expect the unexpected from a quality AdWords consultant when you call – a free helpful informational chat.

All paid consultants regardless of the industry deal with this issue – is it okay to let someone pick your brain and when do you try to move them into a paying customer category.

For me, I will share information freely with a potential client as I feel that helping people to make good decisions, whether they trade with me or not, is very important. Not only do I freely share information on the phone, but at events and parties I am happy to share my knowledge when asked and appropriate and if not boring to others sharing the conversation.

I have however had a few prospects really take advantage of me and so I have a few guidelines that I use for my own business that may be helpful to you.

When a prospect calls me, I will always chat for 15 minutes to an hour if I have time in my schedule. I do however start my clock to time every phone call. If I am pressured for time and have a production deadline, I will make an effort to end the call after 15 minutes, so I do not lose my production schedule for the day. Depending on the query, I may send additional information by email and possibly even schedule a free follow-up conversation so I can be thoughtful in responses.

When a prospect has called several times and I have spent typically one to two hours on the phone with them and they have not made a purchase, I will then ask to move them into the paying client category. I then move them to an hourly rate for additional conversation. I have found that those who really just want free information will not move further into the process, but then they will stop calling me as well.

I love to share information freely, but some days I have more time than others to simply chat. My policy has never been to immediately move a prospect into the paying customer arena as I feel that they simply must have time to get to know me before money and a contract are enacted. But I do keep a careful eye on how much time I am spending chatting and investing in a client to identify if I may or may not be a good match for a potential client.

Need some help right now? Pick up the phone and call me at 540-693-0385, I’d be glad to chat.