Business is booming here at BatchBlue and as such, we’re looking to add a few fine folks to our staff. If you like working with fun people, having a flexible schedule, helping small businesses and building something cool that, well, hasn’t really been done before, please take a look at our BatchBlue Jobs page.
We’re currently in need of some stellar Customer Service help and a kickin’ Ruby on Rails developer. Both jobs would be part-time to possible full-time and would involve in-person as well as remote work (so local to the Rhode Island area is preferred). Can-do attitude and a “That’s the ticket!” sensibility a must!
Sure working at BatchBlue is not ALL mustaches, cookie parties and donut cakes, but it is pretty fun. If you’d like to join our merry blue band, drop us a line and tell us why.
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Tags: batchblue, jobs
Jeremiah Owyang recently wrote an article for CRM Magazine Social CRM Vendors Don’t Walk The Talk where he puts a number of CRM vendors through the spreadsheet grinder to see how their social media engagement measures up to the social media features their products espouse. BatchBook was not included in the analysis, though BatchFriend and customer Paul Mabray from Vintank.com was kind enough to mention us in the comments.
I agree with Jeremiah, but I think there is a clear distinction between the CRM companies that are now making a social media play versus the social media upstarts who are incorporating some traditional CRM features such as sales and customer service management into their products as they build them. Jeremiah highlighted a number of products that were developed around older (phone, e-mail, direct mail) marketing tools and are now working to add social media as an additional sales channel. Alternately, there are newer products like Jive, Gist and our own BatchBook that really began as social media communication tools and have added sales features as another layer.
Not surprisingly, those with Web 2.0 roots have more integration with social media throughout our products and throughout our company cultures, as well. As he mentions, social media is not a linear channel that can be “added on” in the same way previous channels have been. It is an intricate web of blogs, comments, tweets, direct messages, friend requests, recommendations, favorites and hashtags each with their own sub-culture and mini-dialect that together shape the direction of a conversation. Whether it’s sales, customer service, or project management, this new dialogue is not fully represented unless you can track all aspects of the conversation, and more importantly, understand their meaning in context with your relationships.
I applaud Jeremiah for calling companies out for more engagement. He makes great points about not only supporting customer and developer discussions, but also showcasing those communities as a vibrant component of the product. He’s also given us a few ideas for pushing our community into a more prominent part of the product. And isn’t that what social media is about? Using a public kick in the pants to move your efforts forward.
While it’s certainly interesting to watch how the older, more established companies work to fit social media into their product offerings, I think it’s even more interesting to build a product around the new tools as they are being developed.
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Tags: batchblue, batchbook, crm, social crm, Social Media
This past week, I was at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City. Since we launched BatchBlue Software just over three years ago, I’ve been to quite a few conferences. In tandem with the growth of our company has been the rise of social media, which has been great for us in many ways since our product, BatchBook, is an online contact organizer that grabs feeds from social media sites and lets you read them in one place.
But something seems to be changing in the conference world. In the past, they’ve been great places not only to learn from the leaders in your industry but to make connections, spark new friendships and form potential new partnerships. That sense of the hallway conversations being as important as the sessions themselves seems to be receding, largely because the conversations…aren’t really happening.
At Web 2.0, people were heads-down on their various electronic devices during breaks, not engaging with each other but seeking frenetically to connect with people not actually at the conference. I don’t mean to just specifically call out the Web 2.0 Expo because this is certainly happening in other places as well. And the conference panels were very good, in fact from a business-level some of the most useful that I’ve attended. But that’s another post.
Having recently attended the PopTech conference, which is a place where people connect instantly and constantly to share ideas, discuss sessions, start projects, I was particularily struck by the lack of attendee interaction. Even at the Web 2.0 “Power Up” station (Web 2.0’s version of the Blogger’s Lounge at another highly social conference, SXSW) it felt like we were in a cavernous office, with people quickly clicking and scrolling away in solitude rather than talking about the sessions that they had just attended.
Admittedly, people still have their daily work to do and as someone who liveblogs, I’m guilty of having my laptop up and running most of the time during sessions. But another thing that’s changing is what people are doing while they are online during the sessions. The Keynote speakers had an enormous screen behind them that was at first broadcasting their Twitterstream (hashtagged #w2e) behind the speakers. As an attendee, I found it enormously distracting. danah boyd from Microsoft Research New England, presenting on (ironically) “Streams of Content”, found it so unnerving that the audience was laughing at criticisms of her presentation that she later stated on her blog that she “closed down”.
I’m all for the back-channel and having a spirited conversation about a presentation, but I can tell you that as a presenter, to have it broadcasted while you are presenting sucks, especially once the spammers and the trolls join in. There’s even a term now, “harshtag”, which is when people start tagging their related tweets with something insulting in order to get it to trend.
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Tags: chris brogan, Social Media, twitter, web 2.0 expo
Michelle recently wrote an article about some of the networking events that the BatchBlue communications team is attending. We then hosted an #sbbuzz Twitter chat discussing with our fellow small business owners how to make the most of those events (thanks for the tips, buzzers!). So I thought I would share some insights and stories from a few of these events as they happen.
I recently flew down to Washington, DC to attend Network Solution’s Grow Smart Business conference. I heard about this event from my very good Twitter friend Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib), the Social Media Swami at Network Solutions. I knew anything that he is involved in would be worthwhile, but honestly I had not predicted just how productive this travel would be.
I flew down the night before the one day conference and visited my old co-workers at Matrix Group International. While at their offices I learned that Matrix CEO, and my former business partner Joanna Pineda (@jmpineda) was one of the speakers at the Grow Smart Conference (such a small small business world). I also learned from Joanna and from Twitter that the socially over-achieving @shashib and the nice folks at WASP Barcode were hosting a happy hour that night about 2 blocks from my hotel. Don’t have to ask me twice!
At the happy hour I was delighted to see more great friends Brent Leary from CRM Essentials (@brentleary) and Anita Campbell (@smallbiztrends) from Small Biz Trends. I first met Brent a few years ago at the Inbound Marketing Summit (I sat in the front row and devoured his then prescient talk on Social CRM). We’ve kept in touch through Twitter, occasional conference sitings and surprise radio interviews down south. And Brent introduced me to Anita this past winter at the Small Business Technology conference in NYC. I had always loved Anita’s site SmallBizTrends.com and could tell immediately why it is such a valuable resource. Anita personifies the resourcefulness and integrity you find in every article on her site.
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Global climate change is obviously a big, big issue. So what can we as small businesses do about it? As part of Blog Action Day 2009, BatchBlue turned to our resident experts in all things small business (our customers and our contact network, of course!) to find out what they are doing not only to bring in the green, but also to be green in their business practices.
During Tuesday’s small business Twitter chat #SBBUZZ, we discussed how there are many small steps you can take to help green up your business (and thus help do the big work of saving the planet!)
We were fortunate to be joined on #SBBUZZ last night by green expert, author and professional organizer Candita Clayton, who helped guide the discussion about what small business can do to save energy, reduce waste and fight climate change. Here are some simple, easy-to-implement tips that came out of our discussion:
Recycle: Make it easy to recycle paper, glass and plastic. Set up separate bins where they will be seen and used. If your business doesn’t have a program in place, start one! It’s worth it to be the squeaky wheel on this issue since it’s so important. And many communities have programs in place where you can drop off unwanted computers, printers etc. Keeping these hazardous items out of the landfill will go a long way in helping to halt pollution and resultant climate change.
Reuse: Before you toss something in the trash, see if it has a potential secondary purpose. Tricia Mumby from Mabel’s Labels says “We have found a very unique way of disposing of some of our paper waste: donate to daycares and schools! Some of our cardboard, paper and plastic waste is very much appreciated for craft time!” Mumby adds that one of their goals is to generate as little trash as possible, so they make sure to provide their breakrooms with adequate dishes, cups, tea-towels and containers that are re-usable.
There’s also the great site Freecycle.org, which allows your trash to become someone else’s…well, you know!
Power down: Several folks suggested unplugging computer equipment and related electronics when not in use. I chimed in with an idea I heard a while ago: plug all your electronics into a Clapper, then “Clap Off!” when you are done working for the day. So much fun, you’ll never forget to do it! (Clappers can be purchased via Amazon.com)
Promote green computing: Nancy Cobado from Brain Trust Technologies suggests trying electronic document management, online meetings and collaboration. “Print less, consume less power and travel less,” says Cobado,”It’s amazing what you can save!”
Go paperless: Another popular suggestion was to try for a paperless office. There are many small business web apps out there that will help you manage tasks like invoicing, payroll and contact management (ahem!) without killing a single tree. Check out our friends on the Small Business Web for inspiration.
From a practical standpoint, Fernando Labastida of KPIOnline.com suggests the following: “Small businesses can use Business Intelligence tools to track the purchases of line items such as copy paper, notebook paper, tissue, set disposable reduction goals for these items, and track them on a monthly basis. The pure act of measuring something spurs creative ideas for improving the metrics of something that needs improving.” He adds, “If your goal is to reduce copy paper consumption by 20%, you now have a way of actually measuring the consumption of your copy paper.”
Telecommute: At BatchBlue, we’re huge fans of working from home (or the local coffee shop, or waiting for the kids’ soccer practice, on a train etc.) Mobile technologies and laptops have freed us to work where we choose to work rather than being arbitrarily tethered to a desk. There’s even a name for this brave new way of working: Workshifting. This site is full of advice for those either currently workshifting or seeking to start. And on our site, BatchBlue president Pamela O’Hara has written a blue paper about how you can set up and manage your own virtual office.
Obviously…the difference of the impact on gas consumption and related climate change between commuting two hours and walking to your dining room table? Huge.
Small business, big change
BatchBook customer Daniel Mark Wheaton summarizes his company’s efforts nicely “At Canuka Web Solutions, we’re a pretty small company, but we try to take little steps to be as green as possible. All of our invoices are e-mailed, or printed on recycled paper. Our promotional material is also printed on recycled paper and placed in folders made from 100% recycled material. And by using technology to share ideas and teleconference, we cut our costs as well as minimizing our impact on the environment by reducing unnecessary travel.”
Leave a comment, save a fish
We know you’ve got even more great ideas, so please feel free to share them in the comments below. Or just say hello! BatchBlue will donate $2 for every commenter on this post to the Blue Ocean Institute. Because a healthy climate means healthy oceans and vice versa, and because we love the work they are doing to save the world’s oceans and coastlines. As an added bonus, one lucky winner will be randomly selected to win their very own Clapper!
Thanks for joining us in thinking about how small business can help combat climate change. Please try some (or all!) of these tips and let’s join the fight against climate change one small business at a time.
UPDATE: Well, we didn’t get as many comments as we hoped, but we’re still making a donation in the name of small business to The Blue Ocean Institute. And the lucky winner of the Clapper will be contacted within the next couple of days. Thanks everyone! –MRR
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Tags: blog action day, green, how-to, mobile web, small business, twitter, virtual office
