Over the past few months I’ve been doing social media teleclasses as part of the monthly teleclass series at Six Figure Pet Sitting Academy. The first one, which was a huge success was a general overview of social media, and in the second one I helped people understand Twitter and how it can be used for both business and personal purposes. The classes have been very well attended by people from all walks of life – pet sitters, writers, retailers, therapists, and others. Some are interested in using it for their business and others just want to learn what all their friends are talking about.

Both of these social media teleclasses are now available, and include a Tips and Tools sheet that covers a lot of what I talked about during the class, and a bit more. You’ll find them on the products tab above.

Technorati Tags: social media teleclasses, Twitter, social media

Back in November I bought an awesome little Asus laptop computer at Best Buy (I love the computer, btw!). When I got to the point of paying for it, I got the “buy the extended warranty” talk. The guy said it would cover the computer if it broke and left it at that, and I decided against it.

Fast forward to yesterday. I went to Best Buy with my brother who bought his own way cool computer – just like mine. (He’s been drooling over my little Asus computer ever since I got it, so he wanted to get his own.) When he went to pay for it, he got a different story about the extended warranty. The guy told him that it would indeed cover the repairs if it broke, but the warranty would also include an extra battery as well as a new power supply should he need one. At only $59, Alex decided it was worth it and got the extended warranty.

Had I known what the warranty really covered, I would have bought when I got my computer too. I was a little taken aback when I heard what all it covered, and when I mentioned it to the guy helping my brother, he suggested I call 1-888-BESTBUY and talk to the customer service folks. His thought was that the guy who checked me out probably just didn’t know the warranty very well. (DUH!)

So, this morning I called 1-888-BESTBUY and talked to someone who told me warranties have to be bought within the first 14 days after purchasing a new computer. They said due to the way their warranties are written, there’s no way around it. It didn’t seem to matter that I wasn’t given all the info to make an informed decision. So, I was transferred to the customer service folks in the corporate office.

The answer I got from the first person at the corporate office wasn’t any better…I had to buy a warranty within 14 days…blah…blah…blah. Again, it didn’t seem to matter that I didn’t get the full info about the warranty.

My next person to talk to was the CSR rep’s supervisor. His story was pretty much the same as what I heard from the others. He said he was sorry it happened but repeated what I’d already heard about the 14 days. He said the best he could do was give me a $15 gift card to Best Buy. He did offer to talk to the store I bought the computer from and let them know they need to train their people better. Other than that, he said there was nothing else he could do. That’s definitely a good thing, but it sure didn’t feel like they valued my business very much.

Time for Twitter!

I had Twitter open while I was on hold and was tweeting as I waited, which caught the attention of Jason, a Best Buy rep, who obviously monitors what people are saying about the company.

In the end, Jason came through for me! He said they couldn’t do a warranty the usual way, which I understand. Since they use a third party for the warranties, they’re set up in a very specific way, and even if they tried to sell me one it wouldn’t be valid. So instead of giving me the same song and dance about the 14 days he actually did something. He offered a work around for the warranty….and it totally works! I’m perfectly happy with what Jason worked out for me and finally feel like someone understood what I was saying. He actually listened…and totally got it.

I’ll definitely be shopping at Best Buy again…something I wasn’t so sure of earlier today.

Thank you Jason!!

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Best Buy, customer service

If you’re new to Twitter and are trying to play by the rules, it can be a bit daunting! There are, of course, the official Twitter rules that you need to be mindful of. The folks at Twitter make it clear they dont’t want people doing slimy things like impersonating others, violating copyright laws, threatening people, and the like. If you get caught breaking one of these rules you’re likely to be banned. Not a good thing!

As with any community though, there are other rules besides the offical get-your-ass-in-major-trouble rules. These are rules created by the community members themselves, and while they may not be hard and fast like the others they can get you in a bit of hot water…at least with your peers. Some of the things many Twitter users don’t like to see are auto responders, constant self-promotion, using Twitter as an RSS feed, and of course spamming all your followers. There are others but these seem to be some of the biggies.

If you Google “twitter rules” you’ll get a long list of websites coming up with their version of the rules Tweeps should follow. (Even this post will likely be in that search result soon!). Here are just a few of the people who have written about Twitter rules:

@dcrmom (Jo-Lynne) – 7 Ways to Be Worth Following on Twitter

@Scobelizer (Rober Scoble) – The 10 rules of Twitter (and how I break every one -  This guy actually writes about breaking the rules, which some folks can get away with! Some people may not appreciate his lack of adherence to rules, but with nearly 50,000 followers he’s a definite presence on Twitter.

@GrantGriffiths has a bulleted list of things to do and not do on Twitter.

Some Twitter rules are definitely worth taking into account, but when it comes right down to it, it’s about respect. If you respect your followers, chances are you’re going to avoid many of the downfalls the rules have been built around. If you don’t like getting tweet after tweet from someone trying to sell their fancy automatic plant waterer, chances others won’t appreciate your multiple tweets about what you ate for dinner. If, on the other hand, you simply like to piss people off, go for it! I’m sure you’ll find some like-minded followers, but you’ll also find those who will unfollow you once they find out what you’re all about.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, social media, rules

I had a good friend in college who, when somebody managed to punk him (which was rare!) he’d get a very serious look on his face, point two fingers at his irritant and say, “you’re dead.” For a few seconds everybody went silent…waiting for what was next…then we usually burst out in laughter at the whole situation.

In the online world, it’s not always so easy to understand the intent behind someone’s words. There’s no facial expression, and sometimes no background info, to put the words into context. Here’s an example of a real life situation that happened on Twitter and involved some words that were taken a bit too literally. . .

Those of you who KNOW ME know the relationship I have with my daughters. You know the relationships you have with your children. Loving, frustrated, awed, annoyed, angry, blissful.

Tonight, as always, my evil mini-me did her “not going to sleep without one last hug” routine.

Tonight, as always, I yelled, threatened and cajoled her back into bed.

Tonight, as I’ve done in the past, as other parents have done in many ways, I asked if it was ok to smother her.

Which, if you know me, or anyone with my sense of black humor, is a joke born of frustration, annoyance, and yes, LOVE.

Tonight this woman (link removed because enough is enough), who I foolishly followed on Twitter, who likely doesn’t even know me, had someone in LA call the cops.

Anything you say, can and will be held against you…at least by some people it seems!

Did the woman who made the comment go too far? Or was it the woman who reported the comment? Who knows!

Regardless of who you think went too far, it’s a good example of why it’s important to be mindful of what’s you say online. I’m definitely not the most politically correct person in the world (what fun is that?!) so I understand using expressions that aren’t meant to be taken literally, or even saying something just for the shock value of it. The thing is though, it’s probably not a bad idea to be careful not to say something that’s going to come back and bite you in the butt…or have the cops knocking on your door!

Technorati Tags: Twitter, social media, life online