Knoxville, TN: America's Best Business Address

I'm excited to be living and working in Knoxville, TN, a city poised to become America's Best Business Address. This initiative is being led by the Knoxville Chamber, of which our company, Slamdot, is a member. I think the concept is great, and I know it's possible. I also think it can happen somewhat quickly, given the natural beauty of the area, it's centralized location at the crossroads of major Interstates connecting a majority of the U.S. population within a day's drive, and the excellent resources, from Oak Ridge to the University of Tennessee, along with the presence of many large companies such as Pilot, Bandit Lites, Regal Entertainment, Bush Brothers, Sea Ray Boats, TVA, HGTV and so on.

The focus is on broad issues like infrastructure, transportation and more, along with tools to help businesses diagnose, analyze and find resources for inefficiencies or possible fallacies in multiple areas, from accounting and marketing, to technology and HR. If these are all improved drastically, along with education in the area, then we can easily become a top location for businesses and families to relocate and grow. There are signs and existing proof that we're already in progress towards that goal, and have been for a few years now.

Get engaged and involved by joining the Knoxville Chamber Facebook Fan Page as a fan, and following Knoxville Chamber's Twitter updates.

Good luck Knoxville!

Great Tips for Cutting HVAC Costs and Saving Energy from Rocky Top Air

One of our good customers, Rocky Top Air, is a Knoxville heating and air company that provides a lot of great money-saving tips and advice for cutting your winter heating costs and helping save energy. If you own a home and want to maintain your HVAC system, keeping it working year-round and getting the maximum value from it, then I would highly recommend their Rocky Top Club program. This is a no-brainer for all the benefits you receive at such a low price. The quality of your indoor air, and the necessity of heating and cooling from season to season, definitely requires that you get regular check-ups and take the necessary steps on your own to get the most out of your system. Or determine if you simply need to replace old equipment!

The Rocky Top Air blog is a great resource, from learning about programmable thermostats to the reasons why a humidifier might be good for your home.

I would definitely use their website to learn all you can, and call them when you have a need for anything related to your home or business' indoor air!

Slamdot Founder Wins Young Entrepreneur of Year Award

Sean Christman, founder, owner and CEO of Slamdot, Inc., won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Knoxville Chamber Pinnacle Business Awards.

Sean started Slamdot back in 2005, when he got back in touch with me to join him in the venture. In 2007 we made the move to Knoxville where Slamdot would call home. We've experienced tremendous growth in the last two years thanks to Sean's leadership and look forward to hitting many more milestones throughout the coming years. In addition to web hosting, we also provide out-of-box website packages for small to mid-sized businesses who want a full-featured, yet cost-effective web presence using the latest standards.

Great Radio Ad for Buckley's

I heard one of the best radio ads in a long time yesterday, and it was for Buckley's Cough Syrup. I can't remember it word for word, but the concept was plain as day, and brilliant from a marketing standpoint.

Basically a guy calls up what equates to the "Buckley's Customer Service Center," and starts complaining about how awful the cough syrup tasted, likening it to all kinds of disgusting things. The support person agrees, and fully acknowledges it. She said that their cough syrup certainly does taste horrible. Then she asks the man about his cough, to which he replies he hasn't coughed since he took the medicine. Point made.

This is a classic example of great branding, because the company explicitly says that it's cough medicine isn't supposed to taste good or even "not that bad," but that it tastes extremely awful. However, the point of the medicine is to stop your cough, not taste good. So they demonstrate that perfectly with this ad, and with their entire campaign. They have television spots, too. They even have a Buckley's MySpace page that, although I'm not a fan of MySpace, was executed fairly well.

I will definitely keep this brand in mind the next time I get sick and have a bad cough. I just have to see how bad it really tastes! And also see if it works!

Loyalty Done Right At Sprint-Nextel

When I called recently to take advantage of a special 15% discount on my Sprint-Nextel bill, I also found that I was eligible for an automatic 10% discount on my monthly bill and a $150 credit towards a new phone just for being a loyal customer!

Sweet deal to me. I've had great service and support since I've been with them, and I definitely need a new phone, so now I can keep them for a while longer and get 10% off my regular monthly bill, and finally upgrade from my 2003 phone (yikes!).

Voicemail to Text with SimulScribe

As I was reading the latest print version of Business 2.0, I jumped back in amazement as I read about SimulScribe, which takes voicemails and turns them into text, in "The Next Net 25" feature. Ok, I didn't "jump back" (does anyone literally do that?), but I did have a "HOLY COW!" moment. The reason? I had thought of this idea exactly one year ago; I even remember it was this day, March 10, because I was out watching the ACC basketball tournament that night when I thought about it.

That evening, I had received a hilarous voicemail from a friend of mine, and thought, wouldn't it be cool to save priceless voicemail messages in a text format, as a sort of keepsake? It was more of a B2C idea than B2B. When I got home I jotted it down as one of my [only] "million-dollar ideas." Sure enough, this company is getting $5 million in funding for the idea and the business they've developed around it. Congrats to the founders, James Siminoff and Mark Dillon, as well as Jess Wachtel. Good luck guys!

Organizing My Life, One File at a Time

A file cabinet. Four drawers, two of which lock, and hanging folder rails. That's what I asked for at Christmas - and I got it! Only I, of all people, would be excited to get a file cabinet for Christmas. Most people were getting new cell phones, iPods and plasma TV's, but I was asking for an upgrade from my two-drawer file cabinet. It was getting so full!

So why the joy? Well, I tend to be very organized and neat, even when I'm not; my messes are organized. That's why I love the show Monk on USA. I don't have all those issues, but definitely the one about certain things being unorganized or out-of-place.

I'm always trying to organize my life better, whether it's files, emails and feeds on my computer, or bills, important documents, or to-do lists in my office. Even clothes in the bedroom, and toiletries in the bathroom. Or food and kitchen items. Thus, the additional filing cabinet will give me much more space to keep my financial and other personal documents organized, one file at a time.

Here's to organization and the neverending journey towards ultimate efficiency. What are ways you stay organized, whether it's at home, in the office or anywhere else in the world?

The New AT&T: A Massive Merger

You've probably heard the news by now, and seen the advertising, but AT&T is in the process of completing a huge merger of three strong brands: AT&T, Bellsouth and Cingular Wireless.

In 2005, Cingular Wireless began being sold under the AT&T name after SBC, 60% owner of Cingular Wireless, was merged with AT&T, leaving Bellsouth with the other 40%.

And now that the FCC has approved AT&T's merger, AT&T is acquiring Bellsouth to merge all three brands into one.

There has been much speculation and analysis since the announcement was made that AT&T and Bellsouth were in talks, but to me, it all comes down to integration - unifying all methods of communication under one brand, and perhaps one type or set of technologies.

Some possible drawbacks of the merger may be the ousting of the Cingular name, and the colossal size of the company. Sometimes growth can cause a shakeup with the existing customers and how customer service is handled. We'll see how smooth the transition is.

So, I can't wait to see what things are like for AT&T one year from now. But now that Bellsouth and Cingular are joining the new AT&T, I can bet there will be lots of talk on Wall Street, and a head-to-head competition with Time Warner down the road.

A Look at "Komen Commercialization"

*Length Disclaimer: This is one of my sporadic long-winded posts. Be warned!

For those who don't know, it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'm a strong supporter of breast cancer research, education and treatment. It's less rare than most other cancers and can be just as deadly. I have donated to the Lineberger Cancer Center at the hospital of my alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. I'm also willing to buy products that support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, but I'll have to admit that the "commercialization" of the breast cancer cause it getting a bit out of hand. I think companies are taking cause-related marketing a little far these days.

Yes, it's a great way for the Komen Foundation to raise money, I don't disagree with that. And it's a great way for a business to show their support for a particular cause while being charitable at the same time. However, it seems like every business from A-Z is jumping on the cause-related marketing bandwagon when it comes to breast cancer, and it makes sense, because it's proven to be a great way to boost sales. You usually don't think about that fact when you go to buy a product that supports the Komen Foundation, if in fact it does support the Komen Foundation, or breast cancer initiatives at all. The Komen Foundation web site actually has a list of questions to ask when deciding which companies to buy from in support of the cause; another site, www.thinkbeforeyoupink.com, has more questions to ask. The Komen Foundation also has a list of their corporate partners so you know who is a part of the program and who isn't.

So most companies do this as a gesture of goodwill and act of philanthropy, but they're also doing it to boost sales. Take this snippet from the Power of Pink article published on recordnet.com: "These companies often actively court Komen." What this means, to me anyway, is that they are including the cause-related marketing into their business and marketing strategy, AKA their strategy to increase sales and goodwill towards the company, not just the cause. So, they're essentially commercializing the cause. And that's really what cause-related marketing could be boiled down to in one respect. But, I'll be the first to say it's way more complicated than that, and cause-related marketing is not "evil," or even bad, when used properly and for the right underlying reasons.

On one hand, I totally understand and agree with the decision to do cause-related marketing like this, but on the other I'm disgusted that the cause is being used as a way to increase the annual profits of these companies. Everywhere I turn I see a company exploiting the issue of breast cancer to sell product - tennis racquets and yogurt, to candy and sticky notes - but, how much money actually goes to the cause?

I think that if a company wants to do cause-related marketing, they should donate a significant portion of the money to the cause, and be more transparent about the program and how they fit into it. We, as the consumers, shouldn't necessarily go buying everything we see with pink on it just to support the Komen Foundation. Instead, we can donate directly, or simply make our normal purchases in hopes that our favorite brands are partnered with the Foundation.

It's a tricky thing, cause-related marketing. On the surface it's about charity and the cause, but underneath it's all about making sales and fattening the bottom line. Thoughts?