Click. Connect. Communicate.

When Flu Flies : Softening the Blow to your Business

by Ron Daly

A handshake. A friendly hug. The doorknobs and handles inside your business. The faucets in the bathroom. The water fountain. All could be places where viruses are resting, waiting to strike and take down your business. Most recently, the big concern is around H1N1 or "Swine Flu", an illness that sprang up early this year and just won't disappear. 

What do you do when one of your employees is diagnosed as having H1N1? What if you work in a business or market that requires a lot of personal interaction or travel? How do you manage when your workforce is bedridden? 

Bizbox, a blog started by Slate, wrote a good "common sense" article about managing during an Influenza outbreak. From their post: 

Basically, for an employer "preparedness" is actually two-pronged: most obviously, for the sake of your business and the general public, you don't want anyone in your office who happens to contract H1N1 to spread it to others; and you want to be ready for the prospect of, yes, several people in your office contracting H1N1 and thereby being unavailable for a time, at the same time.

They also offered a link to Flu.gov, a Health and Human Services site that's PACKED with resources on preparedness and prevention. 

Sounding the Alarm, Sounding the All-Clear

For our industry, the credit union/finance industry, personal interaction and high volumes of foot traffic are highly sought-after in terms of sales and a real concern when it comes to the spread of disease. The best way to keep everyone aware of their personal health and the best interest and welfare of their co-workers and member-owners is to communicate, communicate, communicate. 

Two resources that will help with managing communication during an outbreak or possible outbreak:

1) CreditUnions.com's upcoming webinar 

"The 2nd Wave of Swine Flu – What your Credit Union Should Do Now"

On September 24th at 2:00 PM EST, this webinar will walk through social distancing, member communication and employee awareness and how each are critical to continued operations. Featuring Don Stewart, Master Business Continuity Planner from Ongoing Operations, and CreditUnions.com's own Alix Patterson, the webinar is still accepting attendees. Click here to visit and sign up now.

2) Exigent911

DigitalMailer's Crisis Management Notification System (CMNS) has evolved into the Exigent911 emergency notification system. Send emails, text messages and voice messages - in any combination or all at once. Visit the new website (www.exigent911.com) to see more. 

Don't let your business suffer a halt because of poor health. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - start making preparations now to avoid a greater disruption down the line. 

Stocking Up...

by Ron Daly

This week is Hurricane Preparedness Week. Here in Virginia, an area that is commonly soaked by the weather systems that push up from the Gulf, we have a Tax Exempt holiday in which we are allowed to purchase certain items tax free (see the .pdf of items here). 

I think this is great, and not just because I love deals. It's great to have a kit prepared for ill weather, especially for situations in which you might not have power or communication for a while. Some of the things on our tax exempt list: 

Can I See Your ID?

by Ron Daly

When you work in online services, issues of trust and reliability are on the forefront of any discussion you have about your product and how it will be perceived by users. E-mail marketing, for example, suffers from the perception that messages sent won't make it to the inbox. DigitalMailer's spent nine years getting white listed by the largest ISPs in the world, so we can answer most critics with a high rate of delivery and a set of standards and best practices that keep words like SPAM out of our vocabulary. 

Ebay, Amazon, Netflix, - they all had to take into account that they'd be doing business behind a curtain. When you buy from someone online, whether they're the vendor or they're acting as a middle-man, they would need to establish privacy regulations and a level of dependability in their services. 

What if the system worked both ways? 

set cell phones to stun: the gathering storm

Ron Daly presents a new segment dealing exclusively with mobile interaction.

When we first started this blog, our goal was to approach new developments in media and address how much impact they'll have on your day-to-day. One of my personal favorites was Greg's post about the changing face of cellular phones, complete with a video history of the one thing that will ALWAYS ruin your movie-going experience.

That said, I was startled to see this article from eMarketer which suggests that between this year and the next, mobile marketing will double to $2.8 billion. With more attention payed to mobile interaction, I'm reminded of the advent of online marketing and business. More money being pushed into mobile advertising and interaction will, most likely, mean the following: