Our partner, VerticalResponse, has just released a new Email Creation Upgrade.  With their new and improved email marketing creation process, creating and sending email campaigns has never been easier.

Here are some great new features of the Email Creation Upgrade:

• New Email Wizard Editor: Drag and drop formatting and inline editing provides more control over the design of your email
• Email Wizard Made Easy: Easily add columns, port your existing Wizard emails to the new upgrade, and add links anywhere in your emails
• Streamlined Email Creation: Fewer clicks, less steps and a faster way to create and send your emails
• Hundreds of pre-designed templates: Get started in no time with our professionally designed templates
• Image Editing with Picnik: We’ve integrated with Google’s world-class image editing app for powerful editing features
• Tips and Best Practices: Need help along the way? Check out our new tips sprinkled throughout the app
• Auto-Save: Turn this on and we’ll automatically save your work every 30 seconds
• Additional Browser Support: Create great looking emails using Safari and Chrome
• Copy & Paste from MS Word: Drop your content in our “Paste from Word” feature and we’ll handle the formatting

For more information on the email creation upgrade, view their online tutorial or visit their blog.

Not Familiar with VerticalResponse?
VerticalResponse is one of the largest and most trusted email marketing providers online. Their service is used by thousands of small businesses and freelancers to create self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail campaigns.

Sign up with VerticalResponse through WorkingPoint and Get Free Email Credits
As a WorkingPoint Premium Subscriber, you will receive 500 free email credits when you sign up for a VerticalResponse account and as a subscriber on our Free plan, you’ll get 200 free email credits. To redeem your credits, simply signup for WorkingPoint, log in and look for the Free Email Credits widget on your Homepage Dashboard. When your free credits have been used, additional credits may be purchased from VerticalResponse directly.

Cultural trends are a difficult tide to surf. One minute people are talking about MySpace, then next minute it’s all about Facebook.  One minute you’ve never heard of Twitter, the next minute, you’re seeing people put their Twitter ID on their business cards.

This is often an interesting issue to watch in the tech space, where things change rapidly, and with early adopters, who are usually only interested in something as long as no one else has discovered it yet.

Over the past couple of years, these two groups have been the ones who were the biggest fans (and participants) in Austin’s mega-party, otherwise known as South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi for short; known to locals simply as, “South by”).

This year, however, SXSWi seemed to have crossed an interesting tipping point. So, what’s the deal? Well, that depends on who you ask.

If you regularly read the blogosphere, are active on Twitter, or are certainly a tech geek in Austin, there was a flurry of activity centered around a couple of main complaints:

• There were too many attendess this year. Extreme crowding, excessive lines, rude behavior and the other frequent accompaniments of large crowds were all common complaints. A number of bloggers noted that they’d had items stolen or cars damaged (or knew people who did).
• Poorly managed panels. Disengaged moderators, heckling crowds, disjointed topics and lack of preparation seemed to be the most common complaints regarding the enormous volume of panels throughout the Interactive portion of the conference.
• Unclear focus. Too many “social media celebrities” and too little truly innovative tech startups.  Is SXSW a social media event or a tech event? Major advertising sponsors included Chevy, which puzzled a great many people.

The flip-side, of course, is that there are plenty of people — both here in Austin, and across the blogosphere — who had a great time, and were very vocal about having had an enjoyable SXSWi experience. I attended a few parties, and though they did seem to be a bit more crowded than the ones I attended last year, the truth is that I didn’t go to enough last year to really have a solid basis of comparison, anyway.

All in all, though, as I read through the blogosphere, follow the Tweets and process through the good, the bad and the ridiculous, it strikes me that the growing pains experienced by SXSWi this year are an inevitable part of the organizational growth process, and one that also reflects the industry changes.

Once upon a time, the web was all about tech. The more, the better. The newer, the cooler. The more complex, the more fun. Geeks of all strips would dig in and giggle gleefully in their virtual tree house, speaking their own secret language and enjoying their elite status.

And then marketers arrived.

And, as if overnight, the world changed. It was as if your neighbor’s funky garage band that you listened to every week at the neighborhood bar suddenly found themselves with a chart-topping album. What used to be your peaceful, end-of-week hang-out is suddenly invaded by pazarrazi, throngs of agents and shrieking co-eds.

I think that’s what’s happened to the web. As someone who’s been online since 1993 (pre-web browser), I’ve watched — sometimes with sadness and horror — as my happy little geeky sandbox has given way, and those of us with our secret handshakes had to scramble out of our treehouse just as the bulldozers came rolling in to level everything and build a parking garage for the new hordes that were on their way in.

The web is no longer a tech space. It’s a business space. Sure, tech still thrive in the wild web, but so do a lot of other things: marketing, commerce, media (both old and new) and a host of other things that are far closer to traditional business than they are to hardcore geekdom. Is that bad? In general, no, of course not. Is it the same as it used to be? No. And for those of us who liked the way things used to be, it’s hard not to feel a little nostalgic sometimes. (I liked my BBS and I loved my Pine email client… until it gave way to Eudora Pro.)

Of course, this is not a new phenomena, but small corners of the tech world have avoided coming face-to-face with it for a while. Geeks tend to flock with other geeks, not with the sales and marketing people. So it’s easy to identify like-minded peers, because they too still use the secret handshake.

In sifting through the reviews, complaints, excitement and general mayhem that is SXSWi what I see is a culture clash between those who liked how things used to be — both the internet space, as well as the conference — and those who’re joining the party in progress, because it is finally getting mature enough to hold relevency for other aspects of the business world. And as the original diehards and early adopters start finding themselves increasingly out-numbered by the newest additions to the community, it’s not surprising that some of them are getting nostalgic for the days when they didn’t have to share their tree house.

Of course, the thing about early adopters is that they will usually lose interest in something once the masses start to catch on. So maybe the question isn’t really, “Is SXSWi passe?” The question may just be, “Is it time for the early adopters to go out and find or build the next big thing, and leave SXSWi to the masses?”

Time will tell. In the meantime, like all aspects of the internet space, time and maturity mean a broader appeal and a wider audience. For those of us whose work is internet-based, that can be great news… even if we did really like the tree house.

The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to know each other. We’d like to introduce you to David & Deborah Lezovich of CDM Mobil:

“We love helping people and Husbands been in the profession for 30 something years. Takes pride and interest in not only what he’s been requested to replace or service but, is constantly keepin a sharp eye out on everything else. You can depend on us to replace a battery or call us if you just get locked out of your car. Run out of fuel, The List of services We want to service you with goes on…”

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The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to know each other. We’d like to introduce you to Angela Young of Mom with a Mop:

“I clean residential and new-construction homes in the Madison, WI area. I do weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, or one-time cleanings. Reasonable rates. Insured. References available.”

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Once again, Martin Zwilling of Startup Professionals Musings managed to hit the nail on a head with something I’ve been noticing more and more lately: the shifting pendulum within business, swinging back from many of the most recent ‘hot trends’ in business.

The big one of these, of course, is the hot button topic for business: “process.”

Back in 2007 and 2008, you couldn’t go a single day without seeing, hearing, reading or discussing the importance of business “process” with someone. Everything was about process: building it, documenting it, automating it, measuring it, monitoring it, auditing it, and then when that was all done, starting over and starting again.

Of course, there are good reasons for that: inefficient processes can destroy an otherwise good business. The best example in my career came from the Valentine’s Day blizzard in New York City in 2007, while I was working at JetBlue Airways.

While the storm itself was on Valentine’s Day, the chaos in the airline lasted from then all the way through President’s Day Weekend. Why? Process. As an organization, many of our core operational processes were still manual, and the wide-spread impact of the storm itself (combined with an operational philosophy that made more sense for a small airline, but which we’d really outgrown by that point) created an domino effect throughout the entire business.

While our competitors were able to bounce back from the storm within a day and return to normal operations, it took us five days to untangle the mess and get things back to normal. And we infuriated more than a few customers over that highly traveled holiday weekend.

And once the dust settled, there were only two words on everyone’s lips: “process improvement.”

So, of course, process efficiency is important. But there is a downside to a single-minded process focus, and it’s one that I often see inadvertantly choking startups: too much process can quickly become a hinderance to innovation and execution.

The real danger, in this quagmire, though, is a matter of degrees. How far do you drive the development and improvement (and, where possible, the automation) of process, before you start resembling Mel Brooks’ satire “The Twelve Chairs“?

(And, in honor of “process running amok” a classic clip, courtesy of Mr. Charlie Chaplin.)

In the early days of my career, chaotic startup environments (pre-bubble burst) were notorious for being process black holes. It wasn’t uncommon to hear corporate types scoff in distain about the unsustainable immaturity of startups, because it was taken for granted that structured process was a prerequisite for success.

Naturally, there is some truth to that. Sound process is at the heart of critical success factors such as “scalability” and “reliability” — two words which, while not necessarily sexy, are vitally important, especially to your customers and invetors. (See JetBlue reference above.)

Our current recession, however, has shown me the other side of the coin: displaced career long corporate warriors — well steeped in the virtues of structure and process — taking the opportunity of being laid off to start a new venture. And I have watched more than a few of them struggle with how to be successful in a startup world, where decisions are often made in an instant and change can happen over a cup of coffee.

I once made the mistake of hiring a person to join my startup’s IT Operations team who came from a solidly enterprise-centric, big business background. She was obsessed with not working more than 8 hours per day. If circumstances required that she log any extra time, she would keep a tally of it to trade for a comp day once she’d hit 8 hours. Legalities of this aside (IANAL: “I am not a lawyer”), this was devestating to the morale of the team, because we were in a culture where — like it or not — no one else worked less than 55-75 hours per week.

For some people this transition is not a big deal: over time, our preferences change. What seemed like a great foundation of structural support at one time, can feel like crushing suffocation a few years later. Former career-long enterprise professionals who leave their cushy, well-paid gig at a Fortune 100 for a major pay-cut with insane hours to go to a startup often do it for this reason: a lack of predetermined process and structure leaves the door open for having a more significant impact.

Over time I’ve developed a heightened sensitivity to the maturation lifecycle of startups, and what I now understand is that the degree of process necessary in an organization is directly related to disposition of the clients, the demands of the market, the stability of the technology and the maturity of the organization itself.

There are points in time when a startup is better off with a wild-eyed gun-slinger mentality; and other times when discretion, caution and deliberate consideration make the difference between astronomical success and crushing defeat.

The key is walking the line, and over the years, I’ve found that the line is actually easier to find than most people think. Almost every employee engagement survey in modern times says the same thing: autonomy is one of the most coveted traints that a person looks for in a job. People who feel that sense of autonomy are more highly engaged, stay in their roles longer, and out-perform their peers.

So the question to ask yourself is this: how much process can I put in place to build stability, while leaving enough fluidity so that my team maintains their sense of autonomy?

The tricky part, of course, is that line is different for everyone. The solution isn’t tricky at all, though: talk to you people and ask them. If they really believe that you are looking to make sure that they are happy (and, truly, any boss who doesn’t actively try to find ways to keep their employees happy in their job is asking to lose their employees, no matter what condition the economy is in), most of them will tell you. Just be sure that when they do, you are listening.

Congratulations to our “Tell Your Friends About WorkingPoint” contest winners: Broomes Landscaping, Innovative I Design, and Princess Weddings.

Each of you have won a free marketing promotional package. To claim your prize, please contact us at support@workingpoint.com.

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped spread the word about WorkingPoint.

I was recently having a conversation with a friend who owns real estate agencies in Texas. He was frustrated with the performance of the nearly 30 agents who worked for him. His frustration was very specific: across the board, they were not following a customer communication process that was leading to conversions.

Conversely, his wife is one of the top selling agents in the area. He has watched while, even in a down real estate market, she has continued to out-perform nearly every one of her competitors. She follows a very specific (albeit relatively informal) process, designed specifically to build the necessary relationships in order to successfully close sales.

I was thinking about this example when reading Scott Olsen’s recent article on VentureBeat, “Need sales leads? Think like an editor.” Scott breaks everything down in clear and specific terms that are refreshingly focused: the purpose of your content is sales.

In the world of web strategy and content development, I often see an endless stream of white noise on this topic. People will get sidetracked with search engine optimization, social media, online marketing, email campaigns, multi-media formatting debates, customer engagement strategies, analytics, driving traffic, etc. Every single week I see these debates rage, and I am constantly finding myself puzzled at the focus.

All of your content, across all of your communications channels, are a means to an end — yet all too often, I find people forgetting that fact, and framing these discussions as if they are an end in and of themselves. They aren’t. Why do you care about your customer engagement strategy? Why do you care about your email marketing campaign? Why do you care about your social media presence? To drive sales. Period.

I recently heard a sales training specialist illuminate a valuable point: Marketers market to organizations. Salespeople sell to people within organizations.  Sales is about relationships, even more than marketing is. Good marketing can and should lay the groundwork for potential sales, but by the time it becomes a sales process, it must shift to a more personal process.

My friend’s wife outsells other real estate agents in her market because she understands this. Even though she and her husband are both major tech geeks, she understands that her customers are not — and even if/when they are, that’s not the most effective way for her to build a relationship with them that is going to build the level of trust needed for her to be successful.

In her case, it is literally a matter of using the phone and in-person meetings versus relying on email. She is a great — and low-tech — example of Scott’s point: becoming a trusted source depends on delivering relevent content to your prospects in a format that is in-line with their needs, not simply what is most convenient for you.

In my web-based world, this is often an easy trap to fall into without even realizing you’ve done it. Scott outlines some great solutions for maximizing online content to help meet these needs, but what about the offline world?

Phone: This one is still a biggie for most people. Pick up the phone and call. However, as someone who can’t stand the telephone and who tries to avoid answering it at all costs, I always give major bonus points to a salesperson who asks me what my prefered method of communication is.

USPS: Good old fashioned mail still has its place, especially if you send something personalized. I recently met a real estate agent at a networking event, and two days later I had a hand-written “great to meet you!” letter in my business mailbox.

Local Business Groups: In the end, there is nothing like face-to-face when it comes to building trust. No matter how well we ultimately virtualize our world, enhance our technology or distribute our business models, human beings rely on far too much subtle, contextual information when we interact with people. Unless or until we have a solution that can convey body language, tone of voice and even things like smell, face-to-face will still be the most effective way to engender trust and build a relationship with someone.

Scott’s point is a great one: we should always remember that one size does not fit all, especially when what we are really trying to do is to build the trust necessary to close a sale.  Don’t make assumptions about what channel works best for what purposes.  Dig in and find out — and if you aren’t sure, then ask.  More than anything, though, make sure that you keep in mind that “content”=”communication” and that whether you are focused on your SEO or your weekly YouTube video, that content is a means to an end, and the “end” that will ultimately matter is a successful sale.

Scott’s analogy, to “think like an editor” is an interesting one (and nicely non-threatening). In the end, though, his point ultimately amounts to “think like a good salesperson.”

Alora Chistiakoff is an entrepreneur, blogger, strategist and project manager who has been developing online business and technology for startups for more than a decade. She co-owns The Indigo Heron Group, Inc., a web strategy firm in Austin, Texas

The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to know each other. We’d like to introduce you to Hadia of Hadia’s Cakery:

Hadia’s passion for baking and decorating cakes and desserts for special occasions of family and friends for over a decade has now become a home based business on people’s high demand. She offers a variety of incredibly moist cakes, cupcakes, cake balls and customized wedding cakes. Sculpted and theme cakes for all occasions are also available.

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The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to know each other. We’d like to introduce you to O-gelato:

We make the best Organic Gelato. We use fresh, local and organic ingredients. Located in Santa Fe, NM.

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Does this sound familiar: You’re creating an invoice for a job you just completed and you want to make sure you have the right price for the project since you charge a lump fee but you kinda have this hourly rate you like to hit. You need a calculator to do a quick bit of math to see if you are on the right track but it is a total hassle to get to the calculator (Start > Accessories > Calculator – already so many clicks and you haven’t even entered your figures yet!).

Did you know that you can use the your Google search field as a calculator? Cool, right? If you are like me and have the Google search field built-into your web browser toolbar, you also have a calculator handy too!

Just enter in your equation and voila, Google calculates the answer for you. And the equations aren’t limited to simple addition and subtraction. Google can perform division, multiplication, complex equations; convert units of measure, like 3 meters in feet; and convert currency too, like dollars to euros.

Next time, you need to do a quick calculation, don’t fumble for  your calculator or change your app, just type in the search field in your toolbar and let Google do the math for you.

Learn more about what you can do with the Google search field