CRM Update – Mar 12 : 3:05 pm

Are you going to a trade show any time soon?  At the risk of having trade show administrators send me nasty emails, I’m going to recommend that you pass on the expensive lead collection system and use your online survey software instead.
You may not have considered using your online survey software before, but when you think about it – that’s exactly what it is.
How to get started
Create a qualification “survey” - Your first step is to create a lead generation form as an online survey…

Your words help you build relationships with customers–so choose them carefully.Awesome photos, catchy videos, and fancy graphics are helpful, but the most important thing where sales are concerned are the words you use.Why? Words build relationships. People buy from people.Words can also guide your approach to sales, because attitudes are often based on words.Change just one word and you can sometimes change your entire approach for the better.Focus on benefits, not specifications. I wanted to cut up some fallen trees…

After seeing countless passengers refusing to believe that their wheelie bag isn’t going to fit in closed bins, while others just will not listen to flight attendants’ pleas of “please don’t put your coat in the overhead bin,” some airlines are actually expanding the size of their overhead bins.

And, shockingly enough say the L.A. Times, they aren’t planning to stick passengers with a fee for the space. Well, so far, at least.

American Airlines has some new oversized bins on several of their Boeing 737-800s, which hit the friendly skies in May…

I get the best questions from readers about doing article submissions, and this is one that I’ve received several times from different people.
They want to know how to get a consistently high search engine ranking and PageRank for their articles in Google, because they’ve noticed their articles can start off with a high ranking, but then lose traction over time.
I’m glad to answer this question, because it gives me the chance to clear up a common misconception with article marketing – that it’s the articles themselves that you’re trying to get a high ranking for…

There’s a big festival going on deep in the heart of Texas, and Mashable was there in force this weekend, bringing you the goings-on and breaking news from SXSW.
Meanwhile, we stood watch over the rest of the world for you over the weekend, covering stories both grave and lighthearted, sifting through all the noise to bring you only the most important and entertaining of the latest happenings.
The result? More news than you can tip a 10-gallon Texas cowboy hat at, all gathered together for your perusal in this here space…

Competition heats up
QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ ticker symbol; QNST) is considered and touts themselves as the leader in vertical marketing and media online. Recently they unveiled a very strict qualification platform for home improvement contractors that will put them in a head to head battle with Angie’s List (NASDAQ ticker symbol; ANGI).  QuinStreet’s new platform, named Street Certified, requires contractors to prove professional certification, relevant insurance and bonding, positive business reputation, and strong customer relations…

Netflix on Monday announced it’s bringing its “Just for Kids” programming to the PlayStation 3, giving parents viewing options for kids ages 12 and under.
PS3 owners now have access to the kid-friendly block of programming, which includes Kick Buttowski, Bob The Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, Backyardigans, Caillou, Curious George, SpongeBob, Power Rangers and Arthur.
Netflix rolled out Just for Kids last August. The kid-friendly interface lets children browse media by character…

Like the nation as a whole, Arizona’s state government is sending Amazon mixed messages on sales tax. Just weeks after news broke that Arizona had sent Amazon a $53 million bill for sales tax it failed to collect between 2006 and 2010, the state senate has killed a bill that would have required the company to start adding sales tax to orders.

According to the AP, the bill would have encompassed all online retailers, but was believed to have targeted Amazon. That’s a major reason the bill was shot down, because opponents said legislation aimed directly at a company or individual violated the state constitution…

The call center consolidation project will affect more than 3,000 employees.

If you can’t wait for Mozilla to officially unveil the next stable version of its web browser, the good news is that you can download Firefox 11 FINAL now. One again, minor changes and additions are the order of the day with this new release: add-ons can now be synchronized via Firefox Sync, while those migrating from Google Chrome will find limited support for importing bookmarks and other settings from the browser.
Developers will also be pleased to see additional tools added to the raft of new features introduced in Firefox 9, including a CSS Style Inspector and Tilt (3D) view for the Page Inspector, while Firefox 11 Mobile for Android, finally gains Flash support on Android 2…

How to fine-tune your website to give your customers exactly what they’re looking for.Many e-commerce websites focus on the same thing: the homepage. They A/B test images and messaging and layout and tweak the user experience so it’s clear and compelling.There’s one problem with that approach: There is no single user experience.A quick look at any site’s analytics will reveal that:The majority of people coming to your site are landing on pages other than your home page.Referral sources are varied: from search engines to social media shares to press articles and beyond…

Since the introduction of Google+, Google has been redefining how it can provide more relevant search results.Recently Google introduced Search, Plus Your World, something I’ll call Google social search.This new enhancement has made it essential to have a Google+ profile and/or Google+ business page.Why? Google is highlighting Google+ content in search results.This article will share three tips you need to know to benefit from Google social search.By the way, if you haven’t already done so, create a Google+ page for your business…

Facebook‘s “People You May Know” feature is getting a strong thumbs down from a Washington state man who is now being charged with bigamy.
The trouble started when Ellenora Fulk of Tacoma, Wash., received a suggestion from Facebook that she and Teri Wyatt-O’Neill should become friends. A photo on Wyatt-O’Neill’s page showed her and Fulk’s estranged husband, the former Alan Fulk, partaking of champagne as they stood next to a wedding cake. Fulk, a corrections officer, has since changed his name to Alan O’Neill…

While the price of gas soars higher every week, Americans are taking to mass transit to ease the burden that fuel is inflicting on their bank accounts. A new report says ridership on trains and buses is at one of the highest levels in decades.

The increasing gas prices, a stronger economy and new technology that makes the whole mass transit process easier is the reason for the uptick in ridership, according to the American Public Transportation Association, says CNN.

Last year, Americans took 10…

Arriving in San Antonio, 10 busloads worth of brand new companies unload their ideas on venture capitalists. And it gets crazy.Strobe lights are pulsing and MGMT’s indie anthem “Kids” is blasting. There’s a bubble machine. Roughly 300 amped-up early-20-somethings mingle, cheer, exchange numbers, and jump around. It’s 8:15 a.m.This is not your typical party, and not your typical start-up competition—well, aside from the myriad MacBooks and logo T-shirts.This is the product of 10 busloads of would-be entrepreneurs having been cooped up in cramped seats hacking together small companies while en route from cities across North America to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas…

There’s an old example many of my teachers used growing up to display a number of different points. My teacher would show a jar on a table surrounded by a plethora of different-sized rocks. The task is to get all of the rocks into the one jar. No matter how you try, the only way that works is to put all the big rocks in first, then the medium-sized rocks, then fill the rest f the space with the pebbles.
The point of the exercise is to show the importance of priorities and how to organize your life…

When you need to distribute a set of files then it can often be useful to give them all the same timestamp. In part this makes sure you’re not inadvertently giving away information (maybe you don’t want people to know that a group of files in some new project was actually grabbed from something you did years earlier, for instance). But it’s also neater, and makes it easier to identify the file later. If you need to know which version of a document someone has, say, then just being given its date, which is very simple to find, may be enough…

Here’s how one Israeli company acquired a start-up company, and helped innovation, independence, and creativity flourish there.It is the dream of many entrepreneurs to build something great and have their company acquired. But it often turns out that acquisition leads to disagreements, and the vision of growing the original product gets lost. The acquired founders leave, and innovation slows down.So it was pleasant to step into Conduit’s tent to talk with Conduit’s VP of Marketing, Yochai Levi, about an acquisition that retains its independence…

ClothingBanana Republic: [Apparel] 30% Off Entire Purchase w/ Coupon BRDAYLITEDelias: [Apparel] $20 Off $50 Purchase w/ Coupon DEALBIGDJ Premium: [Apparel] 25% off your Entire order w/ Coupon WKND25

Computers and Electronics

eBay: [802.11g Wireless] Refurbished Netgear WGR-614 802.11g Wireless Router for $10 + free shippingOffice Depot: [Laptops] HP Core i7 Quad 2GHz 17″ LED Laptop for $700 after rebate + free shipping

EntertainmentAmazon: [Entertainment] StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC) $39…

Almost overnight, millions of people watched and shared this 30-minute video. Here are five things it got right.If you haven’t already seen “Kony 2012,” you should—not only because of its message but also because it’s probably going to be one of the most successful viral videos of the year.The video sheds light on how Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in central Africa has, for decades, been kidnapping thousands of children—reportedly 66,000 of them—and forcing them to do atrocious things like kill, rape, and maim fellow citizens…

Some scientists involved with a new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology are predicting that every home will have a Jetsons-style “Rosie the robot” sometime by the end of the next 10 years — and they went to work finding out how to get those robots to learn from humans’ commands.
Today, knowledge of robot programming is typically held only by computer science and robotics experts. Non-programmers aren’t usually very good at teaching a robot because robots “learn” in ways different than humans do…

A woman in California has a brand new, extras-packed Nissan Murano convertible worth a whopping $62,130 sitting unused in her garage. Why? Because she says the car dealership should never have sold the vehicle to her husband, who has been diagnosed with dementia.

The woman, who has power of attorney over her husband’s finances, had actually been meeting with his brother to discuss long-term care options when he drove himself to the dealership and traded in his Altima Hybrid for the new car…

The ConnectMe QR Advanced Editor Mobile Platform can link and keep groups engaged and connected with immediate and relevant information.

Last week Apple revealed its next iPad would be available Friday, but that doesn’t mean everyone who orders them online will get them on day one. Apple has moved back its shipment date to Monday, March 19, presumably because it’s sold out the first round.

As TheNextWeb notes, the new date applies only to current online orders. If you absolutely must have a new iPad Friday, you can still try your luck at retail outlets, including the Apple Store, Best Buy and Radio Shack.

Maybe the delay will turn out to be a positive…

If you’re looking for a free partitioning tool then there’s no shortage of competition around, but you need to choose carefully. And this is particularly true if you’re considering free versions of commercial products, which often include annoying restrictions and limitations in an effort to persuade you to upgrade.
With this in mind, then, we were initially suspicious of Aomei Technology’s latest Partition Assistant Home Edition. It would probably have a restrictive licensing agreement, yes? Demand registration before you can use it? Have a host of functions which won’t work until you buy?
Well, surprisingly, no…

A new lifestyle-inspired iOS wallpaper app, Paper’d, is available Monday, offering free, professionally designed wallpapers based on everything from pop culture to worldwide travel.
The app was created by two best friends Jamie Varon and Nicole Antoinette. You may remember Varon from 2009 when she created the website TwitterShouldHireMe.com. The site got a ton of attention, which ultimately led her to create the high-end boutique web design company Shatterboxx in April of that year.
A few months after creating Shatterboxx she stumbled upon now business-partner Antoinette’s blog, reached out to her on Twitter, and the two became friends…

Feeling like a failure in business? If you’re frustrated and overwhelmed, use this method to go from an F to an A++.Being in business for yourself is anything but predictable. For some entrepreneurs, the ups and downs lead to many sleepless nights which are spent digging for the answer; the one magic button that will produce miracles.Sometimes racking your brain for the answer can generate results, but typically it creates nothing more than a headache. What I’m about to suggest for those of you in this predicament may seem counter-intuitive, but if I could go so far as offer a money-back guarantee on this I would! Here it is: accept your circumstances, appreciate what you have, and adjust the way you think…

Social media marketing can provide the boost your business needs to bring you the success that you want. There are many benefits to leveraging social media marketing strategies. They allow you to develop more meaningful relationships with customers, communicate with a broad audience quickly, and increase interest in your business through interaction. Follow the advice in this article to make social media marketing work for you.
Establish your goal for a social media campaign. If you do not know what you hope to achieve with your campaign, you won’t know when you have been successful…

The Peel app is unveiling the next step for social TV this week with the debut of a second-screen engagement platform for the upcoming episodes of American Idol.
The new feature takes social TV beyond checking in to programming by letting users interact with specific shows and other viewers in real time. It’s a significant advance in the emerging space. Peel’s new platform will initially only be available for iOS users and American Idol watchers, but expect Android owners and fans of other shows to be able to get in on the fun before long…