CRM Update – Feb 27 : 2:42 pm

Are you wondering how your business could use Pinterest?To say there’s been a lot of buzz about Pinterest in recent months would be putting it mildly!Pinterest’s ease of use for visually bookmarking, organizing and sharing things you love has made it a hit among individuals and businesses alike.What follows are 26 tips, an A-Z guide for creating a business presence on Pinterest.#1: Add a Pinterest “Follow” and/or “Pin It” ButtonOne important way to let your clients and prospects know about your presence on Pinterest is to add a Pinterest button…

Worried that its Wrangler Silent Armor line of tires are prone to causing very bad years for their owners, Goodyear initiated a recall of about 41,000 of the products. The company says that a small number of the tires, made for trucks, SUVs and vans, can tear and cause accidents.

In a recall notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration site (PDF), Goodyear spells out its issues with the tires:

“A small number of tires within this population may experience a partial tread area separation under certain severe usage conditions…

If there’s one word to describe Pinterest it is this: beautiful. No, make that three words, include breathtaking and gorgeous too. A pictorial representation of who we are as people, what we love, where we go and what we do. It is one of the most wonderful amalgamation of all the things we seem to love these days – design, photos, social networking.  A directory of everything beautiful you can find on the web.  Indeed, Pinterest can best be described as the gorgeous pin-up girl of the web. For those wondering what we’re gushing about and how did they miss it? Well, here’s a brief retake on what Pinterest really is…

Winkiwoo was launched in October 2011 and already, it is on the verge of making it big by providing a service that combines universal appeal, ease-of-use and affordability. Winkiwoo’s services allow people to convert images uploaded on their Facebook account into photographic books (photo books). The company has sold nearly 80,000 photo books. The numbers are growing steadily and aggregate to around 1000 orders, per day.
Winkiwoo gained initial momentum via a daily deals site Living Social Australia…

ClothingAeropostale: [Apparel] $20 Off your $100+ order w/ Coupon TWENTYOFFChico’s: [Apparel] 15% Off your Entire order w/ Coupon LSBDAY20ShoeMall: [Shoes] 25% Off $50 Purchase w/ Coupon WASHINGTONAbercrombie Kids: [Kids] 20% Off $50 or 25% Off $100 or 30% Off $150 Purchase w/ Coupon 21898

Computers and Electronics

Amazon: [Electronics] Certified Refurbished Kindle Fire 7″ Tablet $169.00 with Free ShippingeBay: [Digital Cameras] Refurb Fujifilm FinePix Z90 14MP 5x Digital Camera for $63 + free shipping

EntertainmentAmazon: [Entertainment] Soul Calibur V (Xbox 360, PS3) $39…

Drupal Connect’s founder John Florez drives the fast growth of his company by stacking his team with top tier talent, making his Drupal development company eligible for the Inc. 5000.As we process applications for the 2012 Inc. 500|5000, we thought it would be worthwhile to shine a spotlight on some of the companies that are vying to appear on our ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. One that caught our eye was Drupal Connect, in Newport, R.I.John Florez had been running his San Francisco-based technical recruiting company for six years, when in 2009, Florez—like so many others—saw his company’s growth come to a halt in the recession…

Microsoft officials have finally started talking about Tango, the next update to the Windows Phone operating system.

Here we are, only two posts into our series on Social CRM in 2012 and I’ve already talked about experiences twice. The first time was when we talked about Gamification and the next time will be this post, which the title should give it away that it will be mentioned.
This trend truly took wings in 2011, but it’s on this list because last year traditional CRM vendors focused on customer experience out of necessity, from cultures forcing their hands. In 2012, more and more companies will see the value in working hand in hand with customers to create those experiences that become part of the fabric of whom customers see themselves as and therefore, weaving brands into their lives and existences…

Not every manager is convinced that his team needs to do a better job on requirements development and management, or that such an investment will pay off. Numerous industry studies, however, indicate that requirements issues are a pervasive cause of project distress. The often-quoted CHAOS Reports from The Standish Group indicate that three of the biggest contributors to projects that fail or are “challenged” are lack of user input, incomplete requirements and specifications, and changing requirements and specifications…

Surveys used to be rather cut and dry conversation between companies and customers. Companies ask questions, customers answer questions and that’s the end. In fact, it wasn’t really a conversation at all. It was more of a friendly interrogation.
But what if we could actually use surveys to create conversations? That might be interesting. A survey could actually inspire a conversation that goes back and forth and ultimately turns into a relationship.
How to inspire conversations around online surveys

Introduce the presence of an online survey to your customers…

Hi Guys, did anyone of you have a significant better performance when using pbt? If yes, in which industry? Our display campaign could be quite better and

This most recent player in the field of social media might seem like it doesn’t fit into your marketing model. Here’s why you’re wrong.If you could promote your brand via what the Wall Street Journal boasts as “the hottest start up…in Silicon Valley,” would you jump on board? Well, if top brands such as Martha Stewart, Michael Kors, Pepsi, and Nike see the potential, it’s probably a good idea to follow suit.Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can “curate and share things you love.” With millions of new “pins” a week, not only do “pinners” consider posting and reposting stuff they love fun and inspirational, but also Pinterest has already proven itself as a powerful social media platform…

A Harvard psychology researcher explains that rather than thinking of success as the source of happiness, we should think of happiness as a source of success–and one that’s more under out control than we imagine.Entrepreneurs, in general, are strivers. We set targets, battle to meet them, and believe that getting to that point, whatever it is, will bring us increased satisfaction. But according to one positive psychology researcher out of Harvard, as commonsensical as this tendency to chase achievement in order to attain greater happiness may sound, it’s actually got the equation reversed…

BARCELONA — Opera has launched new versions of its Mini and Mobile web browsers at the MWC today: Opera Mini Next and Opera Mobile 12.
Opera Mini Next is actually a preview of what’s coming in the next version of Opera Mini, the company’s browser that works on Java-supporting feature phones and smartphones.
It brings Facebook and Twitter integration through something called Smart Page, a starting screen that gives you easy access to social networking functions, news and other goodies…

On Friday, I talked about ZTE’s “China First” strategy and how it paid off with big revenue gains in the end of 2011. Monday, chipmaker Marvell revealed the new products in its own “China First” strategy in the mobile data modem space: new Time Division data modems for the bleeding edge Chinese network protocols: TD-HSPA+ and TD-LTE
The products include the PXA1202, which Marvell bills as the world’s first Release 8 TD-HSPA+ modem, capable of 8.2 Mbps downlink speeds; and the PXA1802, a multimode TD-LTE modem chipset for TD-SCDMA and LTE markets capable of downlink speeds up to 150 Mbps…

Microsoft has forged a new partnership with Good Technology to bring encrypted email support to Windows Phone.

If you’re running a little low on gas but don’t need to fill up until a few days from now, you might consider gassing up anyway. The way things are going, pump prices will be much higher by the time your tank is almost empty. Prices have shot up 18 cents in the past two weeks.

Reuters reports the national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.69 Friday, making that then-awful national average of $3.51 from Feb. 10 no longer seem so bad.

Each survey seems to bring a different excuse for the uncomfortable uptick, and this time it’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and shipping problems that could result from a possible Israeli attack…

Maybe it’s been so long since you’ve gotten a raise that you wouldn’t know what to do with the money when it hit you. Such a problem is a nice one to have, but still a problem. Act carelessly with your newfound income and you’ll hardly notice that you’ve got it.

Adaptu recommends guidelines for working increased funds into your budget. The key is to recalibrate your goals to match your megabucks. Ideas include starting new accounts earmarked for travel, home upgrades, a new vehicle, or retirement…