Some projects require many ‘chefs’ to be in the kitchen and yes it can get crowded. That is usually not a problem. However when something breaks or does not work as expected suddenly there is not a single knowledgeable ‘chef’ to be found. More times than not each ‘chef’ will point fingers at the others. This is where many small businesses fail.

I have to recognize it is the fear of looking bad that drives much of the finger pointing when in fact the opposite is true. One of those ‘chefs’, it does not matter which one or if they are even at fault, needs to stand up and say, “Sorry, customer, I will figure it out”. There is a  really good chance that ‘chef’ will have a customer for life. It does not matter that it may ultimately be their fault, it is the customer that is important. If all the customer sees are ‘chefs’ grumbling and not solving the problem they are disappointed in them all. But when a customer sees one stand up and take responsibility they see someone on their side.  They relax knowing an expert they brought in is going to solve the problem.

The customer is what is important, but many businesses (big and small) forget this. The customer tends to be understanding and forgiving, recognizing we are all human. More importantly, the customer recognizes the extra effort and appreciates the bravery required to stand strong when everyone else steps back. Next time you are one of the ‘chefs’ in a kitchen and you see it going bad, take responsibility. I am confident you will be the customer’s new best friend.

Have you found this to be true? What have you experienced either as a customer or a ‘chef’?

Let me me know and share your experiences in the comments.

UPDATE: May need to add “C:\Program Files\Ipod” as well.

AVG and false alarm on iTunes

The steps are simple:

Box showing correct paths in exception list

1. Open AVG User Interface by double-clicking on AVG fllag next to the clock on your taskbar
2. Go up to “Tools” menu along the top.
3. Go down to “Advanced settings”
4. Find “Exceptions” under the “Resident Shield”
5. Click “Add Path” button
6. Navigate through the folders: Computer –> Local Disk (c:) –> Program Files –> and left click once on “iTunes”
7. The path “C:\Program Files\iTunes” will now show up in list. Click the “Ok” button. The screen shot also shows an additional path needed if you have a 64bit version of windows. If you do not see the second folder – “Program Files (x86)” do not worry. Only the first path is required.
8. Close AVG Interface Box
9. Done

In some cases you may need to reinstall iTunes. Go to iTunes Download, download and run the installer. You should not lose any files you have created or downloaded. Hope this helps, do not hesitate to call if needed.

Big huge note here: If you want to ‘replicate’ this procedure feel free, but as always do so at your own risk. The steps I take here will delete all data on the hard drive. I did not back up anything- after all Rat-meister laptop wanted to be abused. More importantly, this was a test machine. Nothing of any value was there anyway. So I say again- I did not back anything up. It is up to you to judge the value of your data. If you want it- save it. Moving on..

You can download the RC from Microsoft (web site here). In my case I downloaded the 64Bit version. Once downloaded, burn the DVD. Honestly who doesn’t like to burn things. Now take the smoldering DVD to the computer you want to install Windows 7.

In my case, it is a Toshiba Satellite M305 with a Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 4GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive and 14″ screen. I know of all the computers to test this seems like one I should treat with care. Ahh, to heck with it- I figure this is a good sample of the type of hardware available when Windows 7 is released. Now to the detailed and dreaded abuse of LT. I would like to remind you- it was screaming at me for this kind of treatment, sick little Laptop.

After putting in the DVD and booting off it (in the Rat-meister’s case I needed to hit F-12 at boot up) the install starts. It is pretty quick from start up to lab rat abuse install. The standard questions/options are here- choose your setup location and off and running. I have installed Windows 7 on a couple of machines and it is pretty fast- no more than 30 minutes and very little interaction until the end.

The end you get to accept the license agreement- feel like some abuse for yourself feel free to read. You are asked to assign user name and machine name. They do not have to be related, but the install defaults the machine to include user name. In my case, I went with something profound like “Standard” and the machine name was “Standard-PC”. So within 45 minutes or so, lab rat abuse was up and running.

I think one of the pleasant surprises was that the wireless network was detected, installed at setup and even before my first experience inside the OS I had connected to a wireless network. I think this bodes well for lab rat to hit the streets without wires. Come to find out not only is Rat-meister wanting the OS abuse, he seems to think that will include excursions to the outside. I cannot bear to tell him the news. But the big question and what prevented a lot of users from going to Vista is hardware support.

I am pleased there as well- only a “Mass storage device” failed to load, but that did not prevent the OS from starting. Video was set, audio was set, network card (wired and wireless) were set. Seems both Rat-meister and I are pretty happy at this point. Will the happiness continue for both of us or will Rat-meister regret making this request? Come on back to see the tests as I run them over the next few posts to find out.

Where did I get this great exposure to these small businesses (some I would call early stage startups) and their audience? Where was I able to see successful small businesses stand side by side with unknowns hungry for attention? Was I at some Techcrunch 50 event, some Startup Mash Weekend or Pitch your Biz to TV meetup? Nope. I was at a music festival of course. Specifically Bamboozle Left in Irvine, California. The small businesses were the bands. There were major bands with record deals, labels, cred and history. Bands/performers that you would know even if you don’t listen to them specifically. There were some you could tell were in the middle, not yet signed to a major label, but touring around getting their name out there. And there were the early stage startup bands. Some of them were hungry (literally and figuratively I fear) with demo CDs cut on their own computers. Why is this a good lesson for the small business?

First, the customers. The customer’s first event is in line waiting to get in. You get there about 2 hours before the gates open and there is really nothing to do. The idea is to be in the front of the line to get in the gates sooner- so you can hit the early performances. Once inside the venue there were about 6 stages, music rotating throughout the day in about 30-45 minute sets. Band goes up, plays their set and repeat. As a customer, your time is limited. If Band A is playing from 2:00-2:30 and Band B is 2:20-3:00 you need to decide if and how you are going to split the time. If you arrive late to one of the bands you end up in back, not the best view and possibly miss the song you really want to hear. Arrive early for one, you get towards the front, great view, hear all the songs you want but getting out and over the the other band becomes a problem. And that is primarily the customer’s day. Moving from one stage to the next hoping to catch the bands.

This easily translates into a small business’s customers. Every customer out there is split between “bands” and “stages”. There is not an infinite amount of time and every customer eventually decides to risk the crowd surge and wait by front of the stage for Band A while missing Band B. So you wish you are Band A, right? Relying on odds the fans choose you- the no name. Besides how can you prevent this?

Let’s go back to that first customer experience of the day- the line. The big, popular bands are pretty safe in assuming that a lot of people in that line are there to see them and already spent some money on them. Great, but what about those startup bands on the smaller “side stages”? Do you think they are happy with only the “experience”of the music festival? Do you think some of them were glad “just to be invited”? Some of them are, but there was a fair number of the other ones. The other startup bands who knew, felt in their bones this was just part of the journey. They were living the rock lifestyle, but they still wanted to put food (or beer) on the table. In at least one case, they were trying to get financed to the next festival. How do I know these stories?

They were working the line! Yep- band members were moving up and down the line, actually talking with their customers. With pamphlets letting us know what stage and time. You knew they were startups because as they asked those in line, “Heard of us?” most responded “Nope.” At this point the conversations took two distinct routes. The first route- reply back something like “Oh well check us out if you want..” and move on. The second went something like this:
“Too bad- you know we rock right?” Band member. Positive, energetic
<laugh, chuckle or even a dismissive glance> “Really?”, customer
“Yeah. Who are you here to see?” Band Member
“<Popular Band>”
“That’s cool. They bring it and are pretty cool. You like that type of music?”
You get the idea. There is a short interaction. Some cases the music the band plays isn’t a match and sometimes it is. See what happened– within mere minutes, the band member has done some great market research, made a connection and earned a customer. There is a good chance, that even if that particular person isn’t they will most likely mention the band to someone who could be.

And did this translate inside the festival? This was the interesting part. My main assumption was bands of similar style and status were slated to play the same stage. So let the work begin- the hard, hard work. I decided to make note of the bands I saw while in line and headed to the stages they were playing. And what did I see? The hard work by the band in the early afternoon with the line did indeed help. The crowd showing up for the bands that worked the line was in fact larger. It did not appear to matter if the band had a MP3 player with their music or not- just walking the line and making those connections is what made the difference.

As a small business we are challenged every day to find a new customer. I think its time to imagine we are one of those struggling bands and decide how you are going get more people to your stage. In today’s world, there are a lot of ‘lines’ you can work- Twitter, blogging, Meetups and other gatherings- so get out there and find the space you are comfortable in. Tell the people your style and stage and enjoy the crowd.

To make any of this work you will need the POP server settings from your current EMAIL provider- look at the FAQs or give Smartalyx a nudge and we may be able to help. Remember, not all providers have this ability (Yahoo! Basic Email, as an example, does not). You will also need to sign up for a ZOHO mail account. You can create a brand new account with new user and password or you can use your Google credentials if you have them. I like this feature- allows me to use the same user+password combo across two different sites. Google will confirm ZOHO access to your Google account.

Main Login

Once you get the POP server settings and signed up for ZOHO- let’s add an account.

There is a menu at the upper right labeled “Settings”.

Settings Menu

Next window choose “Mail Accounts”- again up and to the right.

Select "Mail Accounts"

Choose “Add mail account”. Choosing “Add mail” account will take you to a page where you fill in various bits of information. The first two options are how the newly created account will be displayed in ZOHO. The other information is what your EMAIL requires you to use in order to receive and send your email.

The settings ZOHO requires for you to add another EMAIL account

After you enter all the information, choose “Save” at the bottom. In the upper right, you will see an option that says “Back to Mail”. ZOHO mail is still your default and will be shown when you are looking at your mail. However to see the email from the account you just added, look above the folder list on the left and you will see a downward pointing arrow:

Close up of folders list and EMAIL Account dropdown.

When you click on the down arrow, you will see all your available accounts:

Choose the account name you just created and:

Emails shown for newly created EMAIL account.

Now you can read your EMAILs that are sent to your ZOHO address or the second EMAIL account just by switching between them using the menu. This can be a great time saver since it allows you review multiple accounts at one place. ZOHO is also web based so you can access the accounts anywhere and with any OS that has web access. Yes, you can also send a reply to an EMAIL and choose which address it is sent from. Specifics coming soon so subscribe to my blog to get it hot off the presses.

ZOHO mail has many more features which will be covered in future posts. Let me know how you use ZOHO or other online email accounts in the comments. As always, I look forward to your comments and have a great day.