I think we are at an impasse of sorts these days.

There is a tremendous push and desire to get the SMB (small and medium business) market more involved in the online space. Of course, it would be fun to think that it is because there is great concern for the SMB community but that’s not the case. There is a lot of potential business there so there’s money to be made. Hey, it’s called capitalism.

There is only one thing getting in the way of this truly happening and I’ll call it the Great Geek Canyon. This great divide between SMB and technology is wide, deep and a huge river runs through it. Getting from one side (where the geeks run free) to the other (where the SMB lives) requires something that few have been able to provide. Maybe no one has yet actually.

It’s called communication. It’s talking to the SMB (particularly those 40 years old and above) in a language that uses primarily regular English words and limited acronyms. It’s a language that is direct, open and accessible to all.

It’s language that never uses the term ‘title tag’. It’s a language that never uses the term ‘social media marketing’. It’s a language that would never use the term ‘location based service’. It’s a simple language that people still use when they do that trite rite of the past; shake hands.

Do you bridge the gap between geek and business? If not you may just be speaking a foreign language so you better brush up your geek to English translation. Otherwise, you may have nothing to talk about.

VeriSign is announcing that they are running a contest for small and medium business (SMB) owners that could net them a $25,000 prize.

The press release reads:

The contest asks small businesses to address the question, “Where will .com or .net take your business?” Entrants can visit www.DotComForSmallBiz.com or www.DotNetForSmallBiz.net to submit photos and essays addressing the contest theme. Beginning March 1, SMB owners in the U.S. and Canada can participate. March 28 will designate the expansion of the contest to more than a dozen countries worldwide including, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The contest runs through May 31, 2011, after which all written entries will be evaluated for the $25,000 grand prize.

Good luck if you enter!

Everyone wants to believe that something spectacular and mysterious is true. Among the many ‘legends’ are Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) and more.

Well, for the Internet marketing set one of these legends is the mysterious monster that isn’t so much a being but an action. It’s called the Legend of Humanoid Google Customer Service Support Entity. Believe it or not, there has been a siting but we are not ready to say that this mythical creature truly exists.

Mike Blumenthal talks about his strange encounter with this mysterious creature that is like John Carpenter’s Fog. It rolls in and does it work then slinks off. Very few see this in action and we suspect that even fewer have lived to tell about it. It looks like Mike has though as he reports from his local Internet marketing blog in a post today.

I have been working to un-merge two listings on Google since November 5th.

This last Thursday I received the following voice mail on my answering machine after hours. To prove to the world that it really happened I am posting a copy of the message.

Hi. This message is for Mike. My name is Joe and I am calling from Google.

I received an elevated concern from one of our sales representatives named James who apparently you spoke with around January 3rd. We were able to take a look at the two you listings you described to James, the Westcott House and the Bayfront Marin House, the two bed and breakfast that are located in St Augustine Fl.

And I just wanted to let you know that I was able to split those listings and during our next update of all the data on Google you should see that those listings have been split apart and if you have any further questions or problems please don’t hesitate to contact us on-line on our Google.com/help.

Thank you very much for your business.

What? A phone message AND a thank you for your business?!?!?!? Surely this is an anomaly. Surely, the legend of the Humanoid Google Customer Support Entity is just a myth……or is it?

Anyone else seen this creature in the wild?

The din of the Internet is deafening these days.

Everyone has an opinion and you know what people say about those.

Everyone is an expert and people are laughing at them.

Honesty and transparency are rare and it’s hard to even pick it out amongst the online hucksters.

Online scams are everywhere.

There are too many words and not enough actions. There are too many words and not enough reality. There are too many words for anyone to possibly digest.

Step back, slow down, stop talking and do something. That’s what I am trying. I stink at it but I am trying .

I am going to do something a little different this year with my blog. I have some new responsibilities with other things I do to make a living so my time is stretched a bit.

What I want to do here, more often than not, is show how ALL marketing is eventually supported, fed or influenced by the online space.

My first case in point. I am really old school in that I still have landline phone service for my home. There are many reasons that we don’t need to explore. Well, my local phone provider, CenturyLink, is probably losing customers left and right to the ‘cell phone only movement’ so we received an offer in the mail that we thought was pretty good. In fact, in bold letters the offer said

To say thank you for being one of our best customers, we’re giving you a great deal.

Well, how thoughtful of you to try to save the business that is probably bleeding out profusely.

Well, here’s the trouble. CenturyLink apparently didn’t tell their employees at the phone number given about this offer. I will make a long story short. After four different ‘sales reps’, 1 hour of time (of which about 20 minutes was on hold) and many different iterations of this ‘deal’ (including one person who said it was for new customers only DESPITE the above mentioned copy in the letter) we finally got waht the company supposedly was offering to us. Of course, since it’s a communications deal you have to wait for your ‘final’ price because of taxes and surcharges (welcome to America) then we finally hung up with our deal.

Here’s why CenturyLink gets a D minus. They didn’t get an F because at least we finally got the right deal that THEY offered. They get this horrible grade because their processes are completely broken. No one fielding calls was on the same page. In fact, you have to wonder just how pathetic a company is on the whole when they send out offers and don’t tell anyone at their call center that it exists THEN they act like you are crazy because they think the offer never existed! Sounds stupid doesn’t it? Well, welcome to the world of CenturyLink.

Oftentimes bad customer service is just a result of poor or non-existent processes. Pity the phone reps who have to fight the uphill battle of trying to figure out truth or fiction from the customer AND their employer. Because no one had the same information or didn’t seem to want to get to the bottom of this (until Angela who was our final contact) CenturyLink now earned themselves this online review that might rank for their company name and make people think twice about dealing with them. Nice work.

So CenturyLink, you have a lot of work to do. If you would like to hire someone who knows just how bad you are and has ideas on how to fix it give me a call. I will get you the right answer the first time.

Oh and a note to those in customer service. Putting someone on hold for extended periods in hopes they will hang up is really bad policy. This technique didn’t work for CenturyLink and has caused a rift between a customer (me) and Sears which will be the focus of my next post.

Ever gone through this yourself? Let’s hear it.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who checks in here at Frank Thinking About Internet Marketing and to wish you a Happy New Year.

In 2011, I will continue my blogging efforts over at Marketing Pilgrim (post number 1,000 went up in the recent past). I will be blogging at Mike Moran’s Biznology blog most Fridays. In addition, I will be getting involved in several new ventures that should keep me busy. I’ll update you on those as they become more presentable for the general public.

I am interested in learning about speaking opportunities for the upcoming year as well. If you have any suggestions, I am listening.

For now, though, I just want to say thanks. I hope you are blessed in the New Year and will spend some time with me in 2011.

God bless and peace.

Frank

I haven’t been around in a while. I hope you are well.

Merry Christmas.

I will be celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then maybe, just maybe, giving myself some time between Christmas and New Year to unwind.

The first part of that statement I am certain of but the second part, well,not so much .

I wish only peace and happiness to everyone who stops by here. Thanks for your time and your comments.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.