The new year is practically here, bringing a new energy and fresh sense of purpose and commitment.

We’ve had an incredible first year at TELUS Talks Business. As ever, our mission is to bring you original content every working day of the year, building a community of business people who can use the information provided to help them reach their customers, revenue targets and their aspirations for growth.

This is our last post for 2010. We’ll see you back here again starting January 3. Look for our new “15 Minutes with…” series of interviews with executives from enterprise-sized companies about technology, innovation and their business goals for 2011.

In the meantime, like you, resolutions are on our mind. We’ve heard from companies big and small this year, on topics like mobile working, data security and managing growth. But a favourite theme surfaces consistently: how do I use social media to support my business?

In the spirit of the season, we leave you with our 5 recommended Social Media Resolutions for 2011.

From all of us here at TELUS Talks Business, the very best of the holiday season to you and yours. Peace, love and joy in abundance.

Sincerely,

Allison and the TELUS Talks Business team: Nancy Kay, Peter Hartl, Tasha Caruso, Cathy Rashidian and Paula Cusati

Social Media Resolutions for Business

1. Fully commit to at least one social media experiment for your business that you will see through to a conclusion.

Opening a Twitter account but not tweeting, or launching a website that’s never refreshed don’t count. When I say ‘conclusion’ what I mean is following the initiative through to a point where the results are clearly illustrated. It might work, it might fail, but it’s still better than sitting on the sidelines waiting for others to solve the mysteries.

2. Allocate resources.

Make 2011 the year your company stops adding social media responsibilities into existing job portfolios, tacking it on as a sort of after-thought. Can you give it a single dedicated body? A team? Social media isn’t simple, especially when it comes to business. There are agencies and consultants spending every waking minute learning how to leverage its power, and then market the know-how. Which is fabulous. Some are very good. But no one knows your company like your staff, and having some depth of social media knowledge in-house is better for your business in the long run.

3. Get comfortable with narrative design.

In some ways, social media breaks its promise when it comes to business. The ability to solicit customers and facilitate their purchase of your products with a series of simple clicks – Nirvana! But the truth is that the ‘social’ in ‘social media’ is the most important part to focus on for business. At its best, social media is a conversation between you and your customers or potential customers. It’s the means to keep talking, keep learning about their needs, long after the trade show, or the golf game, or the dinner is over. In most cases, it’s a marathon not a sprint and the conversation can go in many directions. Be wiling to engage with patience. Results take time.

4. Be willing to consider the numbers.

The number of hits on YouTube, the number of re-tweets, the number of customers on Facebook etc: ostensibly, big numbers are indicative of successful social media campaigns. We instinctively see a correlation between volume and value.

That’s not necessarily wrong. But here’s the thing: what if, when it comes to social media, volume isn’t everything? What if, for example, among the mere 50 views of a blog post, there are three CIOs from three Fortune 500 companies who begin to think about your products and services differently because of what they read? Then later, they have a conversation with you, either online in a discussion forum or at a cocktail party. Then a sales rep reaches out or an RFP is issued and down the line, you win the business. Wouldn’t then those 50 views be exponentially valuable?

Don’t let the numbers alone dictate resources or quality. Drive your social media content strategy like you’re talking directly to your strongest potential customers. Because the reality is, you just might be.

5.  Listen. Risk. Share.

When it comes to social media, the ‘sweet spot’ for business remains elusive. Clearly, it has value. But there’s no plug-and-play application that works for all, one that drives revenue, or that’s a guaranteed game-changer for a company. Given this, if your business does nothing else with social media in 2011, may we humbly suggest three things:

Are you making 2011 resolutions for business, either for yourself at work or for your BU at large? Do you have questions about the five above? We'd love to hear from you, so leave your comments here at TELUS Talks Business.

She’s richer than Oprah, richer than Bill Gates, richer than Warren Buffet. Chances are you’ve never heard of her and she likes it that way. Meet Wu Yajun the chief executive of Longfor Properties, a real estate developer in China, whose net worth is $3.9 billion (USD). She keeps good company. According to Forbes, half of the world’s 14, self-made female billionaires made their money in China.

Yajun was born in 1964 in Chongqing, a river port in Sichuan Province. Her first job out of university in 1984 was reporting and editing at a newspaper backed by the construction bureau of the municipal government. She quickly made many strong contacts. In 1995, she set up her real estate company with the motto: "Be kind to yourself throughout your life". Within 15 years she was a big player, developing ordinary homes, high-end apartments, and villas.

Shaun Rein, founder of the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group, said Yajun, “Has flown under the radar, which is critical in China.” She’s stayed away from publicity and corrupt politicians by “steering clear of factional fighting within local governments, which can get dangerous.” She’s focused on her work.

Rein, a Forbes columnist who is, incidentally a McGill grand (and has a Masters from Harvard), attributes Yajun's to three key factors:

1. TARGET MARKET
Yajun launched her company strategically. Rather than starting Longfor in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, places with more cachet, she targeted a second-tier city – Chongqing (where she grew up). Faced with less competition she quickly built up a large market share. Her markets aren’t unimportant, or small, though, Rein stressed: “It’s where incomes are rising fastest and where optimism is highest.” In Chongqing, 4.1 million people live in the central city, but including surrounding areas, it’s home to more than 31 million, making it China’s largest population centre.

2. JUST DO IT
How does shying away from publicity translate into a “leadership practice” for North American business operators who feel as if they are shouting in a crowded room? First, forget about chasing notoriety. Second, do the work. Come in early and stay late. Send out press releases when you have something outstanding to say. Third, work because you passionately love it. Fourth, be confident in what you do and the decisions you make. And as Yajun said: “Be kind to yourself throughout your life.”

3. A GREAT PRODUCT
Longfor is widely respected for the quality of its products and customers consider it an “invisible champion.” Its low-key founder doesn’t want it any other way.

Amber Nasrulla is an ex-pat Canadian writer based in L.A. who specializes in profiles from business leaders and scientists to Hollywood celebrities.” Her work has appeared in North American and British publications including L.A. Times, The Globe and Mail, Los Angeles Magazine, ELLE Canada, Chatelaine and London Weekly Times.

For millions of mobile executives, the smartphone has evolved into the most critical business tool, capable of handling day-to-day tasks such as communication with clients and colleagues, accessing online data, remotely managing a sales force, navigating to appointments using GPS or creating and editing documents.

But these pocket-sized Swiss Army Knives are useless if the battery can't keep up with your demands.

The good news is despite a more powerful processor and many integrated radios, engineers continue to design new batteries that yield longer life and handset manufacturers are devising new ways to use less power on existing battery technologies.

But that doesn't mean you can't do your part. The following are a few suggestions on better power management that might come in handy over the next few hectic holiday weeks traveling to see family and friends.

Dim it

Turn down the brightness of your smartphone screen a good deal as it will help preserve battery life. This can be found in the Options or Settings menu. You'll get used to the dimmer screen after a short while. On a related note, also set your screen to turn off after a minute or so of inactivity.

Radio silence

Unless you need them, turn off as many of your phone's wireless radios as you can, as it can also drain your battery. This includes GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. In a pinch, turn off all radio by selecting the "airplane" mode."

Don't push

If you can, turn off "push" services or reduce the frequency in which you ask your smartphone to receive new information -- such as incoming email messages -- as it needs to "ping" a server to send you the updated data each time.

Always update

Be sure you download the latest software updates (sometimes referred to as "firmware") as smartphone engineers are always trying out new ways to improve power management. This is usually done on a computer, and then the information is synchronized with the smartphone via a USB or Bluetooth connection.

Wild about Wi-Fi

If you'd like to access online content, use Wi-Fi instead of 3G connectivity, if possible. This will require you to join a wireless network at home or at the office, or when you're in a public hotspot, such as a cafe, hotel lobby or airport lounge. Wi-Fi has been proven to be less taxing on your battery than using cellular service.

Pocket pal

Always lock your smartphone when you aren't using it as you'll still be able to receive calls and texts, but you aren't accidentally turning on the phone when it's in your pocket or purse (because you hit a button or screen). After all, there's nothing more embarrassing than calling someone by accident -- especially when it's 1am.

Pack it in

Many phones have fitted battery packs to extend battery life -- doubling it, in most cases -- and they often serve as added protection, if banged around. Or you can carry around portable those lithium-ion battery boosts that plug into your smartphone via USB cable, if needed.

Go easy on it

The battery will drain faster if you're using the phone for tasks that are more demanding on the system's resources -- such as watching video or playing multiplayer games -- than less taxing tasks, such as typing notes or reading an electronic book. Multitasking, such as listening to music while surfing the web, can also contribute to faster battery drain.

Room temp rules

If you can help it, don't keep your phone in hot or cold temperatures, such as leaving it on your car's dashboard on a sweltering summer day or frigid winter night – as both could prematurely drain your battery. Ideally, smartphones work best from, say, 32 degrees to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).

Do you have a smartphone smarttip? Share. Commenting is so easy now.

Recommended downloads for those hustling and bustling this season

How can you remain productive and connected while traveling for business?

Because you're never without your smartphone, inexpensive applications ("apps") can help make a road warrior’s life a lot easier while away from the office (and home).

Thousands of downloads – many of which are very affordable (if not free) exist for all flavours of smartphones, including BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Windows, Nokia, and others.

Consider this round-up of recommended travel apps the second part of this TELUS Talks Business article, which looks at free apps for those on the go.

Here are five others worth snagging:

Say what?

Future Apps' Speak It! ($1.99; for iPhone) is a smart text-to-speech application that can talk to you in a human-like voice. Simply drag and drop emails, meeting minutes, articles, websites or any other text into the window, select a male or female voice (U.S. or UK accent) and kick back on the airplane or cab ride while listening to the high-quality voice talk to you – even with your eyes closed, if you prefer. Along with the ability to adjust the speed and volume of the spoken text, you can also save these audio clips and replay them as often as you like. Now you can help prepare for an important presentation -- while waiting for your luggage.

Lost and found

Apple recently announced it is now offering a free service for iPhone 4, to help users locate their missing device. Previously a feature in the $109/year MobileMe service, "Find My iPhone" is now no charge to users, so if your smartphone is lost or stolen, simply download the free app on another iOS device (such as an iPad or fourth-generation iPod touch) and to see the missing device on a map, have it ring loudly (in case it's under a pile of clothes) or type a message on the screen, such as "Please call 555-416-1212." If there's sensitive company info on the smartphone you can also remotely wipe it clean. You can also locate the phone and perform these other features at ME.com.

Work, eat, sleep

The free Yellow Pages local search app is now available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, HP/Palm and Windows Phone 7 smartphones -- and it can help you locate people or businesses on your smartphone. Feel like Japanese food? Need a place to sleep? Type in "sushi" or "hotel," respectively, and you'll immediately find relevant establishments nearby, along with reviews and directions on how to get there using the phone's GPS (you might be even see a video greeting from the owner or manager, too). The speedy app lets you save searches to your smartphone’s address book, plus you can text or email those directions to colleagues from within the app. Other features include reverse phone look-up, in case you see a number pop up on your phone and you're not sure who it's from.

Can't wait to translate

Sprechen sie Deutsch? Parlez-vous Français? Navita Translator 2.0 (free; for BlackBerry) helps you translate words and phrases from more than 50 languages and is capable of speaking languages to you in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian. You can type in the words or copy and paste text from web sites, emails and text messages – and if desired, save your translations to the BlackBerry's memo pad or send to email, Twitter, PIN, text message and other options. The interface is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. Free tech support is also included.

Trip over this

A handy app for keeping track of all your travel itineraries, the free TripIt for Android smartphones lets you forward all your confirmation emails for flights, hotels, rental cars, and such, and TripIt will automatically organize them into detailed summaries with confirmation codes and other information. Once it's on your phone you can get instant access to all the trip info you need – including links, phone numbers and maps/directions to airlines, hotels, rental places and restaurants -- directly from your itinerary. You can also dial phone numbers on your Android phone right from within the TripIt itinerary.

Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).

My name is Evan Carmichael and I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a business is to model the strategies of people who have already done what you’re trying to do. I call it Modeling the Masters. My last post was: Top 3 Business Lessons from John Johnson (From Welfare to $600M Net Worth).

Today we’re going to look at how a housewife who was told by her husband that her business concept was a "stupid idea" created an international brand with almost 500 retail locations.

Must Watch Video

"The greatest failure is not to try. Had I listened to all the people during the course of my life who said, “You can’t. You’ll fail. It won’t work. You don’t have…,” I wouldn’t be here today.” - Debbi Fields

Debbi Fields (born September 18, 1956) is the founder and current spokesperson of Mrs. Fields Bakeries. Additionally, she has written several cookbooks. She currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband, and is very involved in philanthropic work throughout the area.

When Fields first decided to create her own business baking cookies, she was ecstatic. She thought her family would be too. But even her loved ones, the people she had expected to count on for support, turned their backs. Her husband told her: ‘Oh, sweetie, that is such a stupid idea,’” and her parents said that she didn't have any business going into the cookie business.

With no family support, Fields began visiting banker after banker to try and get the startup capital she needed for her business, but the response was poor. With only two years of college under her belt nobody wanted to back a woman with no business experience and little formal education. She became so desperate to find financing that she began to go through institutions one by one through the Yellow Pages. Finally she found a banker who agreed to give Fields the money she needed to get her dream off the ground, but it came with a steep price:  21 percent interest. According to Fields:  “It was the cheapest money I could have because it was the only money I could get.”

In Palo Alto, California in 1977, Fields opened up her first cookie store. Although sales were slow to start and Fields was forced to go out into the street to offer free samples, she eventually got it up and running. Over the next six years, Mrs. Fields would multiply throughout the U.S. By the end of 1984, there were more than 160 cookie outlets across the country, which along with four international stores, were bringing in $45 million in revenue. In 1993 she eventually sold out to private investors and still remains the spokeswoman of Mrs. Fields Bakeries.

Action Item #1: Don't Let Rejection Hold You Back

Every new business is going to have its share of doubters. You'll have potential customers, lenders, suppliers, partners, and employees turn you down. You may even have your friends and family question what you're doing. If you're sure that your idea has merit then you owe it to yourself to give it your best. Use the rejection as fuel to motivate you to keep going - remember that each no gets you closer to a yes.

As far as Fields was concerned, she knew she was not going to disappoint her husband and her parents who did not believe in her. The only person she risked disappointing was herself if she did not try. “And, so, my journey began,” says Fields. “I made the decision, and I was going to see it through.”

Meanwhile, Fields’ parents continued to discourage their daughter’s plans. Again, Fields’ mother told her to give up telling her that “There’s magic in those words because when she said, ‘Debbi, just give up,’"  Instead of giving up, Fields created a mantra for herself, and maintained the faith that there was someone out there that would finally say ‘yes’ to her dream. Her advice: "You do not have to be superhuman to do what you believe in. The most important thing is for you to believe in what you are doing. Absolutely know there are people out there who want to say yes.”

Action Item #2: Let Customers Try Before They Buy

With any new product or service customers are reluctant to buy because they don't know what they're getting. If you can think of a way for your clients to try out what you're selling on a small scale they are much more likely to buy, assuming that you have a quality product or service. Trying something out reduces the risk for the customer and increases the chances that they'll place an order with you.

When Fields opened up her first shop she had trouble getting the foot traffic outside to come inside her store. To create an incentive for new customers to come in, she began sending out trays of free cookies into the streets. People would try her cookies outside and wander into the store to see where they could find more.

According to Mrs. Fields: “I wanted to make my first investment in my customer. I wanted to give the product away... I wanted people to actually experience the product, try the product, and if they thought it was worthy, if they liked it, then they could buy it.... Try it and buy it. That was the way we really found customers.”

Action Item #3: Good Enough Never Is

If you want to have long term success as an entrepreneur then you need to constantly be upping the quality of the product and service that you provide. Create a high standard of quality for what you're currently producing and be on the lookout for other ways that you can make it even better and add more value.

One day Debbi Fields walked into one of her stores to see a long line of customers waiting to purchase a huge batch of cookies that she immediately knew had been over baked. Fields was upset; she did not want those cookies to be sold, or for those customers to associate her name with over baked cookies. Fields approached the manager to figure out what was going on. “What do you think of these cookies?” Fields asked him. “He responded by saying, ‘Oh, Debbi, they’re good enough.” Fields was upset and immediately threw out all of the cookies. “Good enough?” she said. “Good enough never is.

Fields now had a long line of hungry customers waiting to buy cookies that had just been tossed in the garbage. She went over to them and explained, one by one, what had happened. “We’ve over baked these cookies,” she said, “and I want them to be perfect and whatever you are standing in line for, I will absolutely give them to you free plus I’ll match for free if you will come back.” According to Mrs. Fields: “Good enough never is. Set your standards so high that even the flaws are considered excellent.”

True Story

In growing her business, Fields was determined to bring on board only those people who shared her passion for cookies. To make sure she was hiring people who were going to love their jobs as much as she did, Fields began auditioning all of her employees. People who wanted to work for Mrs. Fields were not just going to sit through the regular interview process. Fields would send her candidates into the street with trays of cookies, and told them that if any customers came into the store mentioning their name, they would be hired.

Fields would also make her candidates sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her in the middle of the store. “That’s how I found the best cookie people in the world,” she said, “because if they would sing and belt out ‘Happy Birthday,’ I knew that smiles were going to be created, laughter, fun times; and we were going to have a relationship.” Her formula was a success, and as a result, Fields never wrote a customer service manual because she felt that "customer service comes from the heart.”

Have you used rejection to fuel your success? Do you believe that good enough never is?  What part of Debbi Fields' message impacted you the most? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Evan Carmichael

To learn more check out my list of Debbi Fields articles or my website, EvanCarmichael.com.

Bill Vass is the former Chief Information Officer for Sun Microsystems Inc. With more than 30 years of technical and IT management experience, he is an industry leader in the field of information technology. Prior to its acquisition by Oracle in January 2010, Sun Microsystems Inc. was a global fortune 100 company with a 26-year history of providing networking computing infrastructure solutions. For 15 years, Sun had a highly flexible work policy that allowed 19,000 employees to work away from the office at least one day per week.

In this series, TELUS Talks Business talks to Mr. Vass about Sun’s “Open Work Practice.”

Once implemented, were there tangible, immediate benefits to the company or did it take time?

Bill: Benefits were realized almost immediately.

Employees working from home two and a half days per week saved two and a half weeks commuting time per year, and they spent 60 per cent of that time saved working for the company.

Our teams also reported a 34 per cent increase in productivity and increased job satisfaction, and we were able to resolve our original challenge: the program allowed managers to source the best team members globally, as opposed to relying on physical proximity.

Finally, employee retention increased 80 per cent for Open Work Program employees, and Sun expanded quickly into new markets without the time and expense of real estate development and management.

What ‘rules’ or guidelines did you put in place that continue to this day, that govern your teams teleworking habits?

Bill: Sun’s management team reserved the right to rescind telecommuting privileges for under-performing employees, or when project needs required that they work from one of the Sun offices.

What was the initial financial investment required to launch and enable your company’s telework program?

Bill: Our initial investments were all centered around ensuring that the employees had what they needed to be successful working from home or on the road.

We reimbursed employees for high speed Internet and phone service in their homes and created a flexible telephone system that allowed for the routing of phone calls to any location.

We also created a hardware/software solution that allowed our teams to access full desktop and file systems from any location with a secure encrypted two-way transmission, and no physical storage of data on any employee devices.

How did you measure return on investment in the telework program? What specific ROI did your company realize?

Bill: The benefits that we realized were incredible: Sun had a highly flexible work policy that allowed 19,000 employees (56 per cent of our workforce) to work away from the office at least one day per week.

This program saved Sun $68 million per year in avoided real estate costs, $3 million per year in reduced power consumption and $25 million per year in IT expenditures.

Plus, our team enjoyed commuting savings of $44 million per year- that is about $2,235 saved per employee each year. We also saw a 34 per cent increase in employee productivity and overall Sun increased its retention and satisfaction of employees.

What would you say to other companies considering starting a flexible work program?

Bill: I would say it is important to remember the following:

• It’s about people, NOT technology
  
• Focus on change management
  
• One size does not fit all
  
• Executive support is crucial to the success of the program
  
• Look at full savings: power, people, real estate
  
• Deploy the program both at home and work
  
• Ensure your users understand the technology allowing them to work from home
  

Questions for Bill Vass on flexible work? Leave it, or a comment, here.

Bill Vass is the former Chief Information Officer for Sun Microsystems Inc. With more than 30 years of technical and IT management experience, he is an industry leader in the field of information technology. Prior to its acquisition by Oracle in January 2010, Sun Microsystems Inc. was a global fortune 100 company with a 26-year history of providing networking computing infrastructure solutions. For 15 years, Sun had a highly flexible work policy that allowed 19,000 employees to work away from the office at least one day per week.

In this three-part series, TELUS Talks Business talks to Mr. Vass about Sun’s “Open Work Practice.”

What were the primary business drivers propelling your company’s initial foray into flexible working? What were the challenges?

Bill: The primary factor that led to our Open Work Practice was recruiting. It was important to our company to access the most talented technical engineers in the world, and restricting the work environment to specific locations limited the talent that we could recruit. This was a huge challenge for us, so we decided we needed a way to quickly add new talent engineers without forcing them to relocate.

Other important factors that drove the flexible work strategy ahead included:

• We wanted to decrease our real estate portfolio and cost of operating our IT environment
  
• We were experiencing tremendous and quick growth, and we wanted to ensure that our employees remained as productive as possible by scaling faster than the constraints of real estate acquisition process
  
• When we surveyed our employees they told us that time flexibility was very valuable to them – our teams preferred to work expanded hours at home with breaks, as opposed to a typical eight hour work day
  

Where did you start? Did you research or find partners or model existing telework programs?

Bill: We did some preliminary research and discovered that a flexible work program would improve employee culture, the satisfaction of our teams and the company’s bottom line.

How did you determine who could work from home? How big was your first teleworking target group and what benchmarks for its success did you establish before you extended the program to a broader percentage of staff?

Bill: With multiple locations across the globe and differing business groups and employee needs, it took us about 24 months to implement the Open Work Practice across the entire company.

After full implementation, the average employee worked 2.5 days at a Sun office and 2.5 days at home or on the road.  After the complete deployment, about 19,000 of our 36,000 employees were in a flexible telework work environment, which allowed them to anytime, anyplace, on anything.

How we determined who could work from home?

Bill: We developed an automated survey to objectively determine if an employee would fit into one of three categories: assigned, flexible, or not assigned. This would determine the employees’ eligibility for the program, but after that, the employees’ manager would ultimately decide the status of the employee.  However, the tools to enable people to work form anyplace were made available to all employees regardless of status.

How big was the first target group?

Bill: Initially, we started by rolling out the program to the IT, HR, and real estate organizations, since they would be the ones that needed to manage the program.  The IT organization was the first to adopt the flexible work environment.  Our IT organization was about 3,200 employees in size.  The HR and real estate organizations followed close behind.

Next, we started with one specific business unit which had a strong executive that supported the program; it was about 2,500 employees in size.

I believe that it is always a good idea to start with the organizations that will be providing the service so that they will understand what it is like to go through the transition. They will have a chance to improve the tools and processes involved before any of the major business units are transitioned.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and let us know how your company is getting a flexible work program off the ground.