Ok, class. Let’s have a Pop Quiz. I will show a brand and you will respond with their tagline. Ready? Okay.

1. Pepsi

That’s right. The Choice of a New Generation. Great job. Okay. Let’s try another.

2. YouTube

No. Not quite. That’s right! Rock on. Broadcast Yourself! Seriously. Excellent job class.

So, what am I talking about? Well, all good companies have a tagline. It is that one line that represents the brand and becomes a common household saying. For MinuteFix we have Tech Support For Everyone. But some companies go a little further and come up with some marketing campaigns and slogans as well and we feel like maybe it is time for us to do the same. So, in an effort to really have some fun and start marketing ourselves on a host of local levels, I am pleased to announce a T Shirt Contest. That’s right. You have seven (7) days starting at midnight tonight to come up with an awesome slogan to be featured on the MinuteFix t shirt. Thanks to the the suggestion of some Techs we have decided to print a very limited number of tees to give away to some members of the community as including the winner and runner-up of the contest itself. The rules are simple.

Come up with a witty slogan that really plays on who we are, what we do, how we do it, etc. Be creative about it. Some examples might be: Uniforms Are For Burger Flippers -or - Tech Support Without the Stupid Tie -or - Tech Support Without Ripping You Off. You get the idea. Put your top idea in the comment section of this blog post to be judged by Diego, Phil and myself. (You can leave out the Simon Cowell jokes, please….hahahahaha).

We will announce the winner and runner-up at midnight at 11:59pm on May 1. Good luck and have some fun!

UPDATE

Due to the growing creative response of our community and the general public, we have decided to extend the contest until Sunday, May 4 at 11:59pm. You have time to post more ideas. I can’t wait to hear ‘em!

I read an interesting topic that I think is pretty relevant to the community we have built and are constantly cultivating here at MinuteFix. It has to do with who owns the relationships made between technicians as well as between technician and customer. Most workers know that the “information” they collect and create on the job belongs to their employers. But what about the professional relationships we build? Who owns them?

Businesses are increasingly turning to software that searches through employees’ emails and calendars to determine not just what relationships they have, but the depth of those of relationships, according to today’s Journal. For example, if the software saw that an employee exchanged several emails and had a lunch meeting with someone, it would conclude that the two had a close relationship. Coworkers can find out who in a company has these relationships and take advantage of them to make a sales pitch, recruit a potential employee or just solve a problem. That, of course, doesn’t apply to MinuteFix as we don’t have that fancy software and really encourage Technicians to cultivate relationships with each other.

Think of it as corporate-imposed social networking. One problem many businesses face is that employees willingly share this information about who they know, but they do it on Web sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. It makes sense for a business to try to keep control of this information, or at least try to recreate its own version of it for workers to take advantage of. And as many people have observed, email may be the best untapped social network out there.

Of course, on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook the individual decides what information to share and what information to keep private. A business can choose to install the monitoring software with restrictions that let workers hide some relationships or force searchers to ask the relationship owner for permission before contacting someone. But it doesn’t have to. I think this is the information that floored me. I can’t imagine one of us using a MinuteFix help session to steer a customer to another business or a private session outside the realm of our own great network. I can’t imagine doing it myself either in any workplace; corporate or otherwise.

It’s easy to see how this benefits a business as a whole and workers who don’t have these relationships. But it could come at the expense of workers who have gone to great lengths to build these relationships. In fact, in many professions – journalism, for example, but many others – these relationships can make or break a career.

Any thoughts? I am still mulling over the pros and cons of all this but would love to hear what anyone else has to say.

Great news guys. Telephone support is up and running!

We have heard the requests for proper phone and support and while we always anticipated offering it, we are excited that we are able to do so much sooner than we ever thought. As of now every technician will be able to offer support to customer not just through chat or remote desktop but also through VoIP phone. So, in essence, we can provide the best support possible to each and every customer that appeals to their comfort level, skill level and personal preference.

If a customer logs on and enters their phone number you will now see it in the right of the chat session window. That number will look a lot like a hyperlink. It will say “Call Name”. That number will then engage Skype and call the customer directly. It is very simple and is probably easier than even typing.

Thinking about phone support though. Here are a few tips from my experience to yours.

• Begin the call with “Hello. My name is _______________ with MinuteFix. May I speak with __________________.”
• Restate the customers initial issue to make sure you know what sort of tech support you will need to provide.
• Try using “sir” and “ma’am” as well as full words such as “yes” and “no” rather than “yeah” and “naw”.
• Try to keep background noise to a minimum both for you benefit and the customers.

I think it is going to be a really slick and easy to use addition to MinuteFix and I can’t wait to hear the wonderful ways each of us put it to use! If you are a Certified MinuteFix Technician you can expect an email in your inbox explaining the new support system in greater detail.

Some of you may have received an invite on your Facebook account to join the recently created MinuteFix Facebook group. So, what are you waiting for? Our goal for this group is to reach out to people who may not know about us or have any connection to us. So, join today and then invite all of your contacts to join as well. I have posted some pics and some discussions and will be using the group to update the masses of our releases, new advances, press, etc. Hopefully it will generate some interest and some credibility at the same time. The revolution continues…..

I think we’ve all had those networking moment where we are at a family function or a small get-together and we are talking about ourselves and what we do when that one ‘wall street type’ cousin or uncle asks if we have a card. Or maybe we’ve all been walking about and find ourselves in a place where our services our needed and show our professionalism by scrambling for a pen and a scratch of paper or the back of a receipt or something in order to write down our name, phone number and a web address. In short, no matter how digital we become there seems to always be a scenario when business cards are a must. So, why should being a Tech for MinuteFix be any different? It shouldn’t! That is why we are pleased to offer a template or two for MinuteFix business cards.

You can find your orange or white network goodness by visiting Your Account > Tools and scrolling down to the image of the two biz cards. Just click on ‘download the original photoshop files’ and you will find four editable .psd business cards with optional backs. You can put your name and your email and enjoy a more personal touch to your MinuteFix affiliation.

Where you have them printed is completely up to you, the individual, but we recommend OvernightPrints where you will find a very cheap offer for 100 1-sided business cards for $9.95. The quality is good and the delivery is quick. So, don’t wait. Get your business card printed today and let’s get to some networking!