The article discusses how companies can build relationships with CXOs and senior executives through customer advisory boards in order to gain access to decision makers and opportunities for larger deals. It recommends targeting the top 10 CXOs from customer companies and prospects to participate in regular conference calls and meetings focused on issues of common interest rather than products. This approach establishes credibility and influence within customer organizations and provides insights into customer needs that can empower sales.

1. BELLWETHER
Volume 3 | Issue 1 | First Quarter 2012
YOUR PEOPLE
THE PLAN

2. 2 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

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4. In the long run, men hit only what they
aim at. Therefore, though they should
fail immediately, they had better aim at
something high.
~Henry David Thoreau
6
Letter from the Editor 5
sections
Leadership 6
Sales and Marketing 8
Cover Story 14
14
Planning 16
Book Report 20 EMAIL
Customer Relationships 22
Industry News 23
Human Resources 24
Social Media
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4 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

5. LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR
BELLWETHER
A Blytheco, LLC Magazine
Volume 3
First Quarter, 2012
www.blytheco.com
www.bellwethermagazine.com
STAFF
EDITOR
Apryl Hanson
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Greg Went
OPEN FOR AD CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Alicia Anderson
Mark Badran
Lynn Berman
Eyal Danon
Mark Grimes
Apryl Hanson
Cortez NaPue
Genie Whitehouse
Bill Wiersma
Jeffrey Williams
ADVERTISING SALES
Dori Fitch
SUBSCRIPTIONS
www.bellwethermagazine.com
Or contact Dori Fitch -
(800) 425-9843, Extension 1168
dorif@blytheco.com
Bellwether Magazine is published by
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reproduction of material herein is strictly
prohibited without prior, written approval
of Bellwether Magazine.
5
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

6. LEADERSHIP
Culture
Leaders,
You Own It
by Bill Wiersma
E ight percent increase in top line revenue.
Six percent decrease in expense. Twelve
percent increase in inventory turns. As
leaders of all stripes look to the year ahead,
they set goals (usually tactical) similar to the
ones above in hoping to meet the desired
objectives of their organization. It’s so
common it’s as predictable as the annual
return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano.
Here’s the irony: the thing that invariably drives those tactical The right environment (culture) is what has enabled the bio-
numbers-- for better or worse--is an organization’s culture. Yet, tech giant Amgen to get its big-brain scientists to successfully
it’s as rare for leaders to set improvement goals for their culture collaborate in consistently bringing forth world-class products
as it is common for leaders to set tactical performance goals. to market. Likewise, Nucor-- the world’s largest steelmaker--
That’s unfortunate. attributes its market dominating success to their culture, not
their mind-blowing, proprietary mini-mill technology. In both
Culture, in its most simplistic form, is about the quality of one’s
organizations, it was the company’s culture that gave them their
work environment. Renowned organizational consultant Edgar
competitive advantage. This is completely counter-intuitive
Schein put a finer point on it when he noted that “culture is to an
when one considers the staff of world-class scientists at Amgen
organization what character is to the individual”. A lousy work
or the game-changing technology perfected by Nucor.
environment (i.e. culture) is certainly more prone to produce
undesirable results, while once centered on professional values The leadership at both Amgen and Nucor (in addition
is more likely to produce desirable ones. to innumerable other organizations like them) invest a
considerable amount of time and energy in the development
Managers and leaders, by design, get things done through
of their culture. Yes, they develop many of the same types of
others. As a result, they should have more than just a passing
tactical goals we shared at the beginning of this article. Those
fancy in the quality of their organization’s work environment
are important. Yet, they know that tactical goals are far easier
(culture). After all, they’re responsible for it.
(and more pleasurable) to achieve when the environment is
To be clear, when it comes to ‘environment’, we’re not merely right. But, most importantly, they know that they’re the ones
talking about people feeling uncomfortable in the office most responsible for the quality of that work environment—the
because the temperature is too high. One’s work environment health of their culture, if you will.
can be impacted by a myriad of factors---people’s mind-sets
and behaviors, being properly led, having the proper training
and equipment for the job, etc.
About the Author
Bill Wiersma is the principal of Wiersma and Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that helps leaders create cultures centered on
professional ideals. His expertise has been featured in numerous media outlets--including the New York Times. Bill, the author
of two critically acclaimed books, is a trusted advisor to executive leadership on senior team development and organizational
culture. His latest book is “The Power of Professionalism”
6 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

7. Consider your own organization, what do the cart (performance metrics) ahead of the horse (culture).
you see?
It was John Bogle, the legendary founder of The Vanguard
• Are people looking out more for the organization or Group, who said that the most important things in life were
more for themselves? often the most difficult to measure. In organizational life,
• To what degree is trust present? (trust across things like trust are most important. And, indeed, it is
departments?) (trust of top leadership?)
difficult to measure. Yet, that shouldn’t deter a committed
• When a problem occurs, do people jump in to help or
leader to making substantive changes to their culture. In
run for the aisles?
the end, you’ll be able to feel the difference in higher levels
• What’s more valued: not rocking the boat or speaking
up? of commitment, greater esprit-de-corps, less contention,
• To what degree are people proud to be associated with etc.
the organization?
I advocate to leaders to center their culture around
• What gets rewarded: style or substance?
professional ideals. The premise behind this approach
These are but a few of the questions one might ask in is outlined in my recently released book—The Power of
assessing the health of an organization’s culture. Many Professionalism. Also know that each of Bellwether’s 2012
of the answers may be pleasing, others won’t be. Rest editions will carry an article about an important aspect of
assured that leadership has central responsibility in shaping developing one’s culture in this manner. As you’ll see in
an organization’s culture...in other words, in creating more subsequent articles, the change leaders are seeking starts
pleasing answers to the types of assessment questions with them.
posed above.
A leader who is not a professional is a leader in name only.
For instance...if trust is low...if collaboration is insufficient... Leaders who want to make a difference must be professionals
if accountability is shaky...leaders looking to the year and must instill professionalism in their people. When
ahead must commit to improve these areas. They must culture becomes synonymous with professional, it has
set improvement goals for their culture, just as they would greater character, all of which is reflected in higher levels of
for performance metrics. Start now with 2012 in mind. performance. Isn’t that what you want in 2012?
Remember culture drives performance metrics. Don’t put
7
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

8. SALES&MARKETING
Selling in the C-Suite Through Customer
Advisory Boards by Eyal Danon
H ow do you win friends and influence execs at the
uppermost levels? More and more sales organizations
are opting to engage CXOs outside the usual channels --
with high-profile customer boards. It beats conventional
sales tactics cold.
It’s a common situation in B-to-B and technology businesses. You’ve been selling
successfully to people at the operations level. They’re buying from you in IT, in the
data center, or maybe in marketing or manufacturing groups.
But you sense that the bigger deals and enterprise-wide sales are being closed
somewhere upstairs, long before you even know there is a deal on the table.
Or perhaps you’re offering a solution or product that must be sold at the C-Level
because it involves big money, policy issues, or higher-level corporate systems.
But you’re having trouble getting access to the upper reaches.
It’s no secret that having relationships in the C-Suite can work miracles
for sales efforts. You’re closer to the centers of power, and privy to the
needs and interests that really drive decisions in the organization. With
one ‘sale’ upstairs you could accomplish what would take scores of hard-
fought pitches and proposals at street level. As many sales managers
have figured out: “If the CXO wants it, so will everyone else.”
The hard question is, how do you build relationships with the people
who run things? How do you garner credibility among top executives --
especially if you are not a household name, or if you’re seen as just a
vendor or supplier? How do you get heard that ‘strategic’ level? And,
most important, what do you say once you’re there?
Jumping the gates
For most companies, conventional sales approaches aren’t all that
effective at the CXO level. Top executives are insulated by layers of
managers and gatekeepers; you can’t cold-call people who don’t take
their own calls. And CXOs receive more email and paper mail than
they can ever look at.
To get the ear of influential executives, more and more growing
technology companies are taking a page from the likes of Adobe,
Qualcomm, SAP, Cisco and others.
They are cleverly connecting with the C-suite outside the
conventional sales context, through such programs as
high-profile executive events and customer advisory
boards.
It’s a surprisingly powerful way to build
credibility with CXOs and senior executives.
Instead of hammering away through conventional sales channels, you foster a meaningful dialogue
with the executives about what’s on their collective minds. Executed properly, this council and event approach lets you build
working relationships rather quickly — and without the sometimes contentious feel of the sales situation. You can place yourself
in the middle of the action very quickly.
8 Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2011

9. Target your top 10 CXOs We have found CXOs are frequently flattered to be invited,
especially when approached in the right way. (It always helps
How do customer boards work? There are any number of to say you’re looking for ‘forward-thinkers’ and ‘people with
permutations, depending on the nature of the industry or unique insights into the industry’.) Your CXOs can also benefit
products involved. But you essentially bring together 10 or 12 a great deal from a well-run Board; they keep up to date on
top executives from your customer companies -- or even from technologies and trends, and they can equip their organizations
prospects — to regularly confer and interact on key issues of with better tools. Many also find it invaluable to network with
common interest. It involves some mix of conference calls, ad their peers in other companies; wide exposure in the industry is
hoc discussions as well as on-site meetings once or twice a year. always a good thing.
It might even include large-scale “Executive Expos’ or similar
events, where you bring in guest speakers, or have your own A caveat: If a Board degrades into thinly veiled sales venue,
customers deliver presentations or demos. execs will bail out quickly and the sponsor’s reputation will take
an irrevocable hit. While your goal is clearly to build sales, it’s
Naturally, finding that area of ‘common interest’ is crucial. never wise to be selling product at your Board functions.
CXOs won’t be interested in getting together to talk about
your products, or to hear sales pitches. The idea is to frame the Besides, if you manage your discussions right, you can be asked
purpose and tenor of your board carefully — which is why it’s a to ‘send someone around to talk to my IT guy.’
good idea to bring in a specialist to design the program and
finesse the recruiting. What to expect
Building a C-Level story Depending on your particular circumstances, an active and
vigorous Board can empower your sales organization several
What sort of topics and issues will make CXOs want to participate? different ways:
Much depends on your unique situation, of course. But in
general, remember that CXOs will not especially interested in • Better access to your execs and decision-makers. Very
products per se. They wrestle with higher-level issues, and work simply, they will know whom you are -- and will take your
on longer horizons. calls.
If your business is Storage Area Networks, let’s say, maybe • Wider influence in your customer’s organization. Referrals
your board could focus on data security issues, or regulatory from senior execs can open up far more opportunities, and
compliance, business continuity. If you sell PBXs and voice larger ones.
messaging, maybe your board is more about information flow in
• Insights into real concerns and needs of your customer
the organization, or productivity.
organizations. And you’ll typically hear about initiatives or
With Nice Systems (www.nice.com), who specializes in analytics programs long before they filter down to street level. You
systems used in contact centers and 911 facilities, we designed will also be far better versed in talking about C-Level issues,
the Board to focus on the types of information and intelligence with better perspective.
they could harvest from their customer interactions — and how
Perhaps most important, your Board activities take your
they could use it in the organization.
company’s stature to a much higher level in the customer’s
Other boards have more of an advisory feel, where CXOs view. You establish yourself more as a partner organization, a
provide input and feedback on technology directions, or present collaborator, a consultant rather than merely a vendor.
business problems they need to solve. The key is to focus on
That’s where the bigger sales come in.
what your CXOs are interested in most -- which is usually their
own companies and performance.
Why CXOs like it
Why would senior executives want to participate in such a
program? Oddly enough, we have found execs are often very
willing to sign on -- provided of course, your board has an
appealing focus. We even find that execs even help in recruiting
fellow CXOs in other companies. www.IgniteAG.com
About the Author
Eyal Danon is President of Ignite Advisory Group. Ignite AG opens up a dialogue between companies and senior decision makers
leading to improved customer experience levels and to a sales and marketing force that thinks and speaks like your customers.
We specialize in fostering executive connections for our clients between their executives and their customers’ senior decision
makers through a variety of solutions including Customer Advisory Boards, User Groups, executive forums and more.
Ignite AG works with Fortune 500 companies as well as other industry leaders across the B2B spectrum. Customers and Member
Companies include Adobe, Aetna, CitiBank, AMEX, West Corporation, Sykes, Orange, Convergys, Scottrade, SAS, DirectTV, Fidelity
Investment, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and the Principal Financial Group.
9
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

10. SALES&MARKETING
by Alicia Anderson
When the end of the year draws near, it’s certain that you’ll be seeing a lot more of the
following things:
• The bottom of your wallet as you buy holiday presents for those you love (and those you merely
tolerate).
• The cocktail dress or spiffy sweater in the back of the closet that you trot out yet again for this
year’s round of parties.
• And predictions for the following year. You know - those predictions from a variety of “authorities”
about political events, fashion trends, and all kinds of vital matters.
Who can resist predictions? They make us feel smart, like we’re getting a jump on the
competition. Predictions are inevitably also a comment on what’s happened already.
In that spirit, we offer Bellwether readers our Top B2B Marketing Predictions for 2012.
1. Personalization of the experience is key. With websites being 3. B2B goes B2C. We’ve actually been saying this for a while,
the most important resource for information for prospective but it’s time to acknowledge that businesses are made up of
buyers, companies will begin tailoring customers’ “paths” in people. People buy based on the connections they make and
the cycle, offering them different content based on how they the trust established there. Social media is a great way to make
found your business, analyzing web behavior and offering them these connections on a personal level, and lead individuals to
unique pages or calls-to-action based on what and how they your business by telling stories that appeal to personal needs
search. and wants.
2. Sales has fewer steps to closing, but must execute better to 4. Marketing must go mobile. We’re all accessing content on
win. With online information, leads qualify themselves, and help phones and tablets, so your website and email must play well
themselves to the information they need to make a preliminary in those environments. Especially if you are selling technology.
buying decision. Salespeople must be prepared to dig deeper 5. Marketers are journalists. Content marketing (drawing
when they finally connect with this educated buyer, asking the customers to your community by publishing information
right questions to analyze where the fit with your product is. that they want or need) is King, and marketers must be like
Marketing can help the sales team be successful by creating newspaper editors – constantly tracking down and telling the
this deep, detailed content – maybe an assessment tool or case story that appeals to as many eyes as possible. We must stay
studies in the target market would help your sales team close current to stay relevant. Keep that in mind when hiring your
business faster. Evaluate your sales cycle and support your marketing team – curious and engaged content creators will
team with the materials they need. help you succeed.
10 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

11. Does Your Customer
Strategy Look
Like This?
Well it doesn’t have
to be that hard.
WWW.BUILD-STRATEGY.COM
11
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

12. SALES&MARKETING
Inside the Blytheco, LLC
Marketing Department
Planning Session for 2012 by Apryl Hanson
W e are no different than any of you, our readers. We need to take time out from
our day-to-day roles to plan for a successful year. This November we did just
that, and I want to share with you the framework we created to help ourselves with
that planning session so that you may do the same.
Goals of a 3. Creating lasting bonding moments - Having people
planning working in a room together for a designated period
of time should produce some type of bond. If not
session led properly, it can often go the other way, driving
separation and anxiety in your team members.
1. Create an
actual plan - The overall
goal of any planning session What techniques did we use to ensure success?
should be to come out with an actual
plan of how you will attack the year. We created a master timeline of how the three days we
I’ve seen many planning sessions be were spending together would go. Everyone knew what
completed without any idea about the expectations were of that time, and agreed that the
what comes next. time we would spend together was important, enough
to put aside our daily routine to focus on what we could
2. Get everyone’s feedback, accomplish together. As the leader, it was important for me
involvement and buy-in. This can to come up with a mixture of both working sessions and fun
be tough in a world of different sessions to not burn-out our team and make people feel
personalities and comfort levels among brain dead by the end of the day.
your team members. In this article, we
will talk about how you can inspire and The first thing we did was reflect on the past year by asking
keep the team moving three sets of questions, one at a time.
productively.
• What worked well?
• What didn’t work well?
• What did we learn, and how will we do it differently?
When we went through this exercise I provided post-it notes
to everyone on the team (all in the same color so that no
one person’s feedback would stand out), so that
they could take 10 minutes and think about the
year from their perspective and write down their
feedback. Everyone wrote each idea on a separate
sticky note and posted the notes on a white board or
giant sticky-note board (we love 3M). If they found that
their idea was already up on the board they would simply
place their note underneath the duplicated idea.
As a leader, once everyone’s ideas were included, we went
through all of the ideas and made sure that everyone
agreed that they should be on the board, and that everyone
understood each of the mentioned thoughts.
We repeated this processes with each of the questions
until all of our ideas were consolidated. With that we could
move into more actionable thoughts verses the reflection
portion. We had now set ourselves up for the productive
12 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

13. bogged
conversation of “now what.” down, and frustrated with the amount of work
This process, better known as an “After Action Review” that was just added by your planning meeting.
can be done at the end of any project or program - it
doesn’t have to wait until the end of an entire year. In
Choosing What to Work on
fact, we use this exercise all year long when we finish a Once we had a list of items we wanted to start doing as
significant project. a team, we knew it wouldn’t be realistic to do all of them,
so we had to narrow it down to those things we wanted
Important Dialogue - We talked about those things that
to implement in 2012 and measure for success. To do this,
weren’t successful versus those things that were successful
I gave everyone 6 votes. They could spend those 6 votes
and tried to understand if there were any themes that
on one item or split them up however they wanted. When
we could pick out. This helped us identify themes that
the voting was completed we would have our top three
contributed to our success and those things that we
items.
repeatedly got wrong.
Fun Event - This process ended our first day and we
Creating a Plan for the Future
were then able to wrap-up in a fun evening event that We could have easily ended the offsite there, but we
developed our team communication. Go to our blog would have walked out of the room without a plan of how
at think.blytheco.com or follow this QR code to see we were going to approach these new things in 2012.
everyone’s thoughts on our team building event. Instead we took one more day to put more depth into
the plans.
Start – Stop – Continue
We divided the team into groups and each team chose
As I was ready to move the team into more actionable
their topics and had everyone separate for at least an
data and facts, we began the next day with what I have
hour. During that hour they were to come up with specific
learned as the “Start, Stop and Continue” exercise. I
plans of how we would implement this new idea. After
learned the exercise from my favorite HR professionals as
the one hour, teams would come back and present their
a great way to get more feedback from your teams as a
ideas to each other, so we could ask questions, and make
leader, but I’ve found that it can also be used to focus in
decisions on how we wanted to proceed.
on learning from everyone’s perspective what a team can
do to change and transition. I also had one concept that I felt it was important enough
for us to spend time on, so after this exercise, we divided
As the day before, we continued with our sticky notes
the group again for some brainstorming on an issue that
with:
we were faced with to come up with several different
• What do we need to START doing as a team? approaches to the same challenge. Again, we came back
to present the thoughts to each other and make decisions
• What do we need to STOP doing as a team? on how we would move forward.
• What do we need to CONTINUE doing as a team?
As you can see, you can use these types of exercises in
The hardest part for my team was determining what it is
different ways.
that we should stop doing. Believe it or not, our marketing
team has some overachievers in it who think they can do For more on planning a successful off-site for your team
everything, and conquer the world. We try, but it is healthier visit our blog for ideas and my team members’ thoughts
to try to introduce new things while you are sun-setting on how this planning session went.
some of the old. This way your team doesn’t get overloaded,
13
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

14. COVERSTORY
4 Things Every Business Should Know
by Mark Badran About Marketing in 2012
I t seems that each year brings a flurry of predictions (like ‘the death of email’) and
cutting-edge marketing tactics (you know, anything associated with social media)
by Howard Hansen
that are going to drive customers to your door by the thousands. And while new
marketing tools seem to crop up daily, the most important thing to keep in mind is
this …
The basics of good marketing haven’t changed – timeless best
practices like defining your target market, identifying your
competitive differentiators, nurturing leads, and staying top of
mind …
But the way people EVALUATE and BUY Social Media is More
products and services has DEFINITELY changed. Than a Fad
Here are four things you should know about In the past, the ability
marketing in 2012 that can help you find new to build your brand,
customers in this brave new socially-aware, generate awareness,
Google-dominated world we do business in. and stay top of
mind was limited to
A Healthy Dose of Keywords costly tactics like
Keywords are paramount to everything you do. Why? direct mail and
Because search - and specifically, Google search visibility dreaded cold calls.
- is still top dog in marketing. But if the content on your But social media
website isn’t optimized around important keyword phrases, changed all that.
Google is going to have a tough time finding you. So, too, No longer just a fun
will the people searching for solutions to the problems that way to kill time, social media has become a legitimate way
your products and services can solve. of building your business. It’s time to make 2012 the year
you suit up and jump in to the deep end of the social pool.
Keywords should be strategically included on your website,
blog entries, press releases, and everywhere else you’re Not sure where to start? Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
posting content online. The Google Keyword Estimator are the largest and most widely used social networks out
(www.GoogleKeywordTool.com) is a free tool that can be there. If you aren’t already active on one or all three of
helpful in determining the relevance and search volume of them, it’s a good place to start.
keywords in your industry.
14 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

15. It’s worth noting that Google and other search engines are a traditional newsletter and other one-way marketing
now heavily influenced by activity on social networks. The communication can’t support.
more people that like, share, tweet, and link to your website,
A blog is also a cohesive way to implement the 3 marketing
the better your search results are going to be.
tips discussed above. For instance, your blog entries can
Email is Still Highly Effective incorporate keywords to improve search visibility, you can
share new blog entries with your social network and drive
While social media is the shiny new object attracting a huge
traffic to your website, and you can link to your blog from
audience, email hasn’t lost its luster. Despite predictions
email communication which can improve readership.
of the death of email marketing, it’s still one of the most
effective tools for converting prospects into customers. Wordpress (www.wordpress.org) is one of the most popular
blogging platforms because it’s easy to use and offers a
“Conversion” is the operative term here. Sure, social media
huge variety of free design templates.
is great for generating awareness and building an audience
that recognizes your brand. But when it comes to motivating Don’t Forget About the Basics
that audience to reach into their wallets and become
As you look out into 2012 and decide which social media
paying customers, nothing beats timely and targeted email
platform, marketing automation technology, or collection
communication.
of marketing techniques is right for you, don’t forget about
the timeless best practices that are critical in making any of
those fancy new marketing tools work effectively.
About Mark Badran
Mark Badran is Managing Partner at Juice
Marketing, LLC. With an extensive background
in technology, Mark and his firm help Sage,
Microsoft, and SAP business partners squeeze
the most out of their marketing dollar.
From newsletters, press releases, and lead
EMAIL
generation to blog entries, SEO, and
social media coaching, you get fantastic
results when you put some JUICE in your
MARKETING.
Learn more about their turnkey marketing
programs and creative writing services at
Go Blog Wild
www.Juice-Marketing.com
For many companies, blogging is the hub of their marketing
communication … and for good reason. First, Google loves
the frequently-updated, fresh content of a blog so your
search engine results will probably improve. Plus, blogging
is a great way to express your unique voice, personality, and
thought leadership as a business … in a way that stodgy old,
brochure-style corporate websites can’t. Last, a blog can
be dynamic and engaging because your readers can leave
comments and contribute to the conversation. Something
15
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

16. PLANNING
What Went Well
in
2011 by Apryl Hanson
I t is important when we are planning for a new year to look back and reflect on those
things that we did well in the previous year. To stay with that theme, I thought it would
be fun to take a look at 2011 and what happened that was helpful to small to medium-
sized businesses, and what trends will continue to gain momentum on in 2012.
Every business industry will have its nuances, but I’m looking at it from the general
small to medium-sized business category and what was helpful to us as a society and a
community.
We “Liked” Facebook Tablets are Changing our Consumption
of Information
Why is this important to us? Facebook leveled the playing field
for small to medium-sized businesses to be able to get their We have been forever changed by mobility in our organization.
message out. Asking loyal customers to “like” you on Facebook Whether it is a phone or a tablet like an iPad, we have been
gave businesses a low cost way to interact more socially with impacted positively this year. There are three ways in which
their clientele and advanced brands beyond being able to these devices have changed our world:
send e-mail and call. This helped increase the interaction with
• Faster access of information.
loyal enthusiasts of your brand and greatly reduced the cost
• Faster generation of information.
associated with developing your image. In 2012 we should look
• Our higher rate of consumption of information.
to continue to ask people to “like” us and look for ways to do
specific marketing on Facebook pages that keeps people on All of these have impacted us in our business by enabling us to
Facebook. Contests for “liking” your page can bring you more have information at our fingertips in order to make decisions.
followers and help you spread your message faster. For 2012, wider use of these devices in the work environment
will come into play has you will see people utilizing SaaS systems
The Cloud Became More Important to access information through their tablets and phones.
Why? Many of us realized that “Software as a Service” (SaaS) was Social Media Exploded
much more economically justifiable that purchasing it outright.
Monthly fees associated with cloud products are much friendlier Whether you realized it or not, or have been taking advantage
on our pocket books and lowered the risk of worrying about of it or not, social media is here to stay. In 2011, many small
operating systems and IT structure that we may or may not have. businesses used this as their way to interact differently with
As we move into 2012, look for more offerings to be deployed customers and potential customers to get their message out.
in the cloud and for many more of us to be considering this Everyone from restaurants to retail stores to manufacturers
as a long term approach to doing business. As more and more and distributors was interacting on social platforms like Twitter,
teams are becoming virtual, the usability of only needing a web LinkedIn, and Facebook – we took interaction to the next level.
connection to work is increasingly attractive. In 2012, look for more applications to be created for small to
medium-sized business to be able to interact quicker, get fans
faster and deploy communications to their audience.
16 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

17. Social Media and Honesty • Increase in productivity from those employees that work from
home.
Social media has also played a role in keeping bigger companies • Decrease in sick leave because workers from home remain
honest. How did this work for us as small to medium-sized healthier and spread fewer germs.
businesses in 2011? For one, we were able to interact with those • Overall organizational effectiveness and telecommuters stay
focused on tasks/projects.
that we do business with in a different way. If we came across
• Decrease in turn-over as employees who are telecommuting are
issues, we could take it to public forums to get answers quickly
on average happier and less likely to leave.
and get challenges resolved. This changed the way we worked with
• Reduction in parking requirements (if you have them).
some of our larger vendors. In 2012, we will see more interaction,
• Office space savings (if you can downsize).
and in fact, many larger businesses will push smaller organizations
to communicate with them via these forums for quicker sharing of I did the math at the calculator online at http://www.telecommutect.
information. com/employers/service6.php and the average first year return is
$7895 and annual savings after the first year are about $8435 for
Women continue to get more and more a $50,000 employee telecommuting 2 days a week from home,
of the corner offices not to mention what the savings will be to the environment and
your own employee’s reduction in gas consumption. In 2012 the
According to the American Express OPEN’s business census survey,
prediction is that the trend will continue to increase and more and
women-owned businesses in the United States increased by a rate
more employees will be working either part time or full time from
of 1.5 times (50%) the national average. Women-owned firms now
home.
account for 29% of all business in the U.S. While this has had a
positive impact on small business growth when looking at privately Social Media add-ons galore
held firms, we are also seeing the trend of more women getting
corner offices in larger organizations as well. Online in Ted Talks, In 2011, there has certainly been an influx of apps for social media
Hanna Rosin speaks about how the power dynamics are shifting in but there has also been a change in the way many of these apps
the world between men and women, and this is playing out in our interact with you and your devices. Ever notice your Smartphone
businesses. asking you to give it permission to access your location-based
data?
• For every two men that graduate from college, three women
will graduate. This is because many social media applications are now marketing
• Women are dominating careers as doctors, lawyers, bankers and/or interacting with you based on your location. Now with
and accountants.
Facebook’s recent mobile app upgrade, you can seamlessly input
• Women make up 50% of the workplace. your location if not have it done automatically. Twitter does this as
• Couples using fertility clinics are requesting girls seventy-five well. Also, with Twitter and Facebook’s recent upgrades, it’s now
percent of the time.
much easier to share media from your Smartphone. You can now
• Young women are earning more than young men and are more
generally do it in two clicks.
likely to be the first time home buyers by themselves.
For 2012 this will impact us as more and more women will be You might have noticed an increase in location-based or group
holding those high paying positions. We will shift our marketing selling. By now most of us how already heard of Groupon, but
efforts to be more women-focused because they will be the ones in 2011, livingsocial grew tremendously, and that’s not even
making larger purchases. considering their $175 million investment from Amazon, who now
also has their own location-based selling service. Google also
Telecommuting makes more and more released their ‘Offers’ program. And lastly, rounding out the group
sense for employees Facebook also offers special daily ‘deals’. Groupon and livingsocial
In 2005/2006, the National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS) now also their instant buying programs, allowing consumers to get
found 11% of employees are telecommuting either full or part many of the same offers with an instantaneous purchase.
time, accounting for 10.6 million people. The survey also asked,
2011 has seen tremendous growth in location based services (LBS).
for those not currently telecommuting, if their company offered
I would expect 2012 to see several of these companies merge or
telecommuting, would they take advantage of it? According to
unfortunately shut down due to a glut of similar companies in the
that statistic telecommuting would grow from 11% to 16%. In 2011
marketplace.
we have seen this growth, and what is it doing for us? Some of the
direct benefits of having employees telecommute are:
17
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

18. PLANNING
WHAT SHOULD SMB’S CONTINUE TO DO IN 2012
by Apryl Hanson
W e all started a few new things this past year and each year we should learn from our past,
not only the things we should stop doing, but those things that we should continue
because we got it right. Across the board small to medium-sized businesses have been focusing
on their core strengths and getting those things that they are really good at even better. There
are several things we should keep doing in 2012 to continue our success.
Learning from failure Looking for pieces of the business to outsource
We learned not just in 2011 but in the past few years that we The number one thing that SMBs outsource is payroll, but now
have gotten a few things wrong. Instead of sticking our heads many more online solutions are becoming available that help
in the sand we have turned to use this to our advantage and SMBs take that headache and worry away. We learned this
learned from our mistakes. We should create rituals not only to past year that seeking outsourced solutions is worthwhile for
learn from our mistakes but to learn from our successes and this our businesses, and in 2012 we will continue to look for things
is a practice we should continue into the future. that are smart to outsource. Things like tax calculations, social
media, website design, and marketing are just a few new areas
Looking for more effective ways to do business that businesses will continue to outsource more in 2012.
Instead of focusing on efficiencies, we’ve turned to results and Going mobile
effectiveness. In 2012 we should continue to look for ways to
drive more effective results in our organization focusing on In 2011 we dipped our toe in mobile solutions, but now most
leading indicators like client loyalty and employee happiness. people are accessing online social media sites and e-mail
from their phone. We will continue to look for ways that our
Automating more processes employees can access our systems remotely. Another way to
increase productivity is to allow employees to telecommute.
To go along with looking for more ways to be effective, we have Even one day a week increases employee satisfaction and
automated a lot of processes this past year. The numbers of loyalty which correlates into
clients that we work with are looking for ways they can get a happier customers and
return on investment by purchasing enhancements to their profitability. In 2012
systems in which they can reduce head count or waste. This is more of our workforce
something that SMB’s will continue to do in 2012, as we want to will be logging in
use our resources as wisely as we possibly can. remotely and that will
cause all of us to look
Going paperless
for more effective
We have seen a huge shift in the small to medium-sized business ways for them to
space to looking for solutions that allow them to eliminate access the tools they
the need for paper and to have processes that allow them need quickly and
to electronically save and transfer files, even with processes easily.
attached to them such as approvals. This will continue to be the
Giving back
focus in 2012.
We may not have had a lot of
Fine tuning reporting
money to give, but small to medium-
If you are looking for ways to be more effective and automate sized businesses found ways to
processes, you need information at your fingertips. In 2011, donate to causes they
SMB’s learned they wanted information in a format in which were passionate about. In
they could examine those results and add their own analysis. everything from assembling
When we have held customer events this past year on this topic, teams to walk for a cause
they have been our best-attended events - this is important to to giving employees hours
the clients we serve. Fine tuning reporting will continue to be a to spend with their charity,
focus in 2012, as we need to have visual data representing what we became more giving in
is going on in our businesses so we can make decisions about 2011, and I anticipate that
the future. to continue in 2012.
18 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

19. PLANNING
DEAD What Didn’t Work for
END Businesses in 2011
Small to Medium-Sized
by Alicia Anderson
I
t’s been a year full of challenges for the SMB (small to mid-sized business), but also a year
of unexpected promise. The economy continues to be uncertain and unemployment is
still too high. Global volatility and impending regulations threaten stability in the SMB
sector.
But SMBs are also getting smarter and learning how to • Finding skilled workers on the internet – One of the
take advantage of the many new tools and tactics that help greatest threats to economic growth in the US today
them level the playing field with larger businesses. Never is the “skills gap.” Legions of American workers have
missed the memo that information and technology
before have smaller companies had so many advantages
are how we will work now and into the future, and are
when it comes to technology, branding, messaging, and finding themselves left behind. Sadly, our educational
growth. system is not keeping up with economic realities. Skilled
workers who can process information and adapt to
What didn’t work for SMBs in 2011? A few concepts that hit using technology to help them do their jobs are in great
the skids in 2011 as SMBs continue to evolve: demand, despite unemployment that hovers around
10% in many states, but you won’t find those workers
• Outsourcing – There are signs that manufacturing may on Monster.com anymore. Smart
be coming back to the US, after a trend of outsourcing to companies are using LinkedIn and
overseas resources. Because of the growing expense of personal connections to find
employment overseas, declining quality, and increasing new employees.
shipping costs, 61% of manufacturing executives
surveyed by Accenture say they are considering “more
closely matching supply location with demand location,” • Work life balance –
according to a June, 2011 article on finance.fortune.cnn. Work-life balance is fast
I also love the story from an October New York Times becoming an outdated
article about Taphandles, a company that manufactures concept. Work is
beer marketing products, like cool handles for beer taps. everywhere with mobile
Owner Paul Fichter cites a 300% increase in labor costs technology (phones,
in their Chinese plant since 2006 and a lack of clarity in tablets, and “cloud”
the “rules” of doing business in China as reasons for his solutions), and the growth
company’s decision to shift some of its manufacturing of telecommuting means
back to Washington. workers are almost always
“on.” But it also means we
can deal with our personal
• Boring Websites – The days of website-as-brochure are life anytime, too. The lines
over. If your website is out of date, static, or broken, get are blurry, and life is no
help now. If your website is all “me, me, me,” proclaiming longer conveniently
all the great things your business does and the awards compartmentalized for
you have won, no one cares. If your website features a lot many of us. It requires
of “gobbledygook” about how your “robust solutions” a mastery of time
and “customer-centric approach” can help customers management and
achieve a new “paradigm” of success, get real. Plain organization to keep
language is where it’s at now – tell customers what’s in up, but get used to it!
it for them in regular old words. But just for fun, try the
Plain English Campaign’s Gobbledygook Generator
first, at www.plainenglish.co.uk.
19
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

20. BOOKREPORT
by Geni Whitehouse
N o matter how terrifying the thought might be, at some point in your life you will need to stand up and make a presentation. It
doesn’t have to be a formal presentation. You might be toasting the bride and groom at a wedding, describing a new product
you’ve designed, or moderating a panel at a wine tasting dinner. In any circumstance, a good presentation can be the difference
between an evening to remember and an affair to forget. With a little help from these three books, you can learn to not only overcome
your fear of public speaking, but to actually make a difference for your audience.
Even a Geek Can Speak: Low-Tech Presentation Skills for High-Tech People
| Joey Asher
Start here. Even if you aren’t involved in technology this book is a goldmine. It addresses every issue that has
probably ever come up in a bad presentation you have witnessed. Joey’s helpful and humorous approach
to solving common presenter problems will help anyone who wants to get better at making their point. He
provides a structure and a framework for not only crafting an interesting message, but also for delivering
it. His book includes plenty of examples that help to bring his points (and your next presentation) to life.
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within
| Edward R. Tufts
If you’re sick of watching a boring speaker wade through the world’s biggest PowerPoint slide deck, this
book is for you. This short but intellectually stimulating guide will make you question your approach to
creating charts and graphs and every other form of communicating data. Tufts, who had been called “The
Leonardo da Vinci of data” doesn’t try to hide his disdain for PowerPoint style sheets or his disgust with
bulleted lists. He is dismayed that people with intelligent thoughts are reduced to pitch-makers by their
reliance on Microsoft PowerPoint and suggests Microsoft Word as our best tool for effective presentations.
He dares us all to return to a world of full sentences and detailed analysis.
Slide:ology, the art and science of creating great presentations
| Nancy Duarte
Rather than blaming PowerPoint for the millions of bad presentations that occur every day,
Duarte aims to improve the use of the tool in conveying a message. She takes
a designer’s look at common ways of conveying different messages and
offers case studies to make her point. Her secrets even helped Al Gore
lose his famously robotic presentation style. Whether you decide to use
PowerPoint in your next presentation or not, the book’s insight into different
design principles, and its fascinating examination of color, motion, and even
fonts will help you improve every form of communication.
About Geni Whitehouse
A self-proclaimed nerd, former technology executive and CPA firm partner, Geni Whitehouse
has made it her mission to eliminate boring from the world of presentations. The author
of “How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting: 52 Ways Even a Nerd Can Be Heard,” Geni
believes her mission as a presenter is to understand a subject well enough to approach it
from an angle that will not only educate her audiences—but will resonate with them. Learn
more at www.evenanerd.com.
20 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

21. Put Some Geni Whitehouse
In Your SPEAKER AUTHOR
Cost-effective marketing programs designed for Sage, CONSULTANT NERD
SAP, and Microsoft business partners including:
She’s been called the “comedian CPA.”
Social Media Coaching A self-proclaimed nerd, experienced software
Newsletters executive and former CPA firm partner,
Press Releases Geni Whitehouse has made it her mission to
Success Stories eliminate boring from the world of presentations.
Creative Writing STRATEGY
Website SEO EXECUTION
Blog Entries EVANGELISM
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Squeeze
the MOST
Out of Your
Marketing Dollar
949.340.3374
www.juice-marketing.com www.evenanerd.com
21
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

22. CUSTOMERRELATIONSHIPS
Y ou say that
you want them
- devoted cult-like
Have you put
together a plan to
make sure that
customers following your customers
you around, singing are being
your praises…but delivered the best
what have you done experience ever?
for them lately?
What is even
required to do that?
Here are our tips for
2012 to make sure you
have a successful year: by Apryl Hanson
• Get out of the office and make some visits • Do the math. Look at the statistics on your clients
to customers. Not just any customers - your good for this year vs. previous years. If you don’t have those
ones. The ones that you love and they love you. Make statistics, get them. You can do this with most CRM and
the most of the time together by asking their advice on ERP packages if they are integrated, allowing you can
what you’ve done right in 2011 and what you’ve done see what your cost to get a client is, what your cost to
wrong. Ask this very important question “What one thing service a client is and what your revenue per client is.
do you wish we were offering?” You might find out that You can also segment customers by a rating system of
you should be offering a product or service to them that your choice so you can understand better who your top
you currently do not. This is one way to increase customer clients are. You can look at likeability factor, revenue per
satisfaction and improve your revenue per customer. year, revenue per transaction, repeat business and more
to determine who your top long term customers are
• Drop your time wasters! If you have clients that today, and who will be tomorrow.
aren’t happy with you and you aren’t happy with them,
it is a misuse of your company’s time to continue to try • Get out of your box! You may be doing things
to serve them. In fact, too often companies modify their the same way that you have for the past ten years, but
product and service offerings to cater to these customers that doesn’t mean that they are the best ways to do
and end up becoming more attractive to clients that look things. Look at your organization from the outside, the
like them. Trust me, you don’t want more customers that customers’ view and document every touch point that
don’t like you buying more and taking more of your time. you have with your customers from the time they are a
By removing these types of customers you will have prospect all the way through the process of being an
more time to spend with the customers who love you, ongoing customer. In each stage (such as prospect,
making better relationships and increasing overall return lead, sales process, on-boarding, new product use,
on investment with them. repeat customer), document the ways in which the
clients receive information and interactions with you.
• Identify customers with potential! That is Is it through phone calls, websites, direct mail? Even
right, have your teams go through their lists and identify document your invoicing process. When you look at
customers that could be potentially much bigger clients if it in this non-emotional way you can see holes in your
they had some time spent with them. Book appointments processes. Highlight the ones you are doing well – and
and take representatives out along with even an then focus on what you can do to improve the holes and
executive from your company to better understand their the areas you aren’t performing well in. This will help you
potential. You will make a big impression and uncover plan projects for 2012 that will immediately improve the
business opportunities. customer’s experience.
22 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

23. INDUSTRYNEWS
Maximize Your Chances by Mark Grimes
for Software Funding
I mproving your business and personal credit profile is
critical before applying for a software lease. Below
are some simple ways to do this, which will maximize
your chances of obtaining an approval with the most
favorable terms.
Is your company in good standing? you are applying with as part of the
application process.
All corporations must be
in good standing with the Are personal guarantees
department of corporations necessary?
in the state which they
Personal guarantees are generally
are authorized to conduct
required for closely-held companies
business. Every state offers
that have been in business less than five
an online portal, generally
years. Providing audited or reviewed
free of charge, to check your
financials may eliminate the requirement,
corporation status. Make
if the company has a profitable history.
sure you are on active status,
Make sure your personal credit is in order
and that the ownership of your
by contacting Experian, Equifax and Transunion. They
company is properly reported. Any misinformation regarding
will provide you with a free credit report, and help you dispute any
ownership, or if your corporation is inactive, will delay the lease
erroneous information. Subscribing to a third part service such as
approval process and in some cases be reason enough for a
Free Credit Report .com will also help you monitor any suspicious
decline.
activity. Banks consider the personal credit of the owners to be
Update your Dun & Bradstreet report. the most important factor in making a credit decision. If your
credit score is below 650, review your report to determine ways to
Dun & Bradstreet is the benchmark business credit report banks rely increase your score. Scores under 650 may be considered for lease
upon to evaluate the business credit of all companies nationwide. approval, but generally at less favorable terms.
This report will analyze previous leases and loans and pay history
with current suppliers. It will also list all liens, suits and judgments Are financial statements required?
and report past bankruptcy filings, and detail current ownership
I most cases, financial statements and tax returns are required for
and the respective corporate titles. Lastly, they will assign a Paydex
transactions greater than $100,000. Providing qualified financials
score and a rating. To be acceptable for approval, you must have
will always yield the lowest rate and can save you thousands of
a Paydex score of 65 and rating of 1r2. Scores lower than this will
dollars over the term of the lease. Before applying for a lease,
either be declined or be considered for approval at unfavorable
make an appointment with your tax professional to discuss the
terms. To obtain a report, call 800-333-0505. Make sure to clarify
merits of your financial statements. If your company has been
the corporate ownership and officers, as any discrepancy will cause
historically profitable, you may consider including your statements
delays in the approval process.
in hopes of qualifying for the best terms possible.
Have you borrowed money before? About the Author
Mark Grimes is with Dimension Funding, one of the most
If you have previous borrowing experience with a bank, leasing
company, or any other financial institution, make sure that call your
respected equipment lessors in Southern California.
lender and have them provide you with a debt rating. Lenders Dimension uses its almost-30 years of expertise and
prefer to make loans to companies with previous borrowing knowledge to create leasing programs that best fit our
experience. Provide this information to the leasing company clients’ needs. Learn more about Dimension Funding at
www.dimensionfunding.com.
23
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

24. Managing the Employee Selection
Process: An Objective Look for 2012
R
by Jeffrey Williams
ecently, one of the very top service companies in the world hired a
highly professional, well-qualified executive to run its Worldwide Sales
organization after an exhaustive search. The candidate was considered
“bulletproof” since they were already highly respected and well known in the same
industry as the hiring company, had over twenty years of exemplary experience,
and had been thoroughly vetted by a blue ribbon Board Selection committee. The
individual had starred in numerous interviews at the highest level of the company,
which is known as a premier place to work. The person even passed a thorough
background check. Everything was in place for a great on-boarding experience,
right? This consummate professional resigned less than a week in the position.
How could such a precise process wind up going so terribly wrong?
If companies really want to improve employee greatly complicated the job of identifying the best
management practices in 2012, maybe they should candidates for important positions. This is coupled
explore what the vast majority of the Fortune with an environment of candidate desperation
500 have already learned and implemented. as unemployment and economic pressures force
That is: behavioral and psychological testing for even well intentioned candidates to exaggerate
potential new hires, newly on-boarded employees their qualifications and past accomplishments.
and high potential candidates for promotion or Internally, the situation for selecting candidates to
increasing responsibility can predict with amazing fill high leverage opportunities is often not much
consistency where organizations and potential better. Performance reviews often focus on specific
superstar employees simply are not culturally or skills and knowledge while leaving the areas of
organizationally aligned for success. management style capabilities vague or subject to
interpretation by internal interviewers at the time
The problem with many companies’ current
such candidates respond to internal job postings.
processes is that they focus on inherently biased
data. The plethora of materials and “How To” books For 2012, I would urge progressive HR professionals
on writing resumes to take advantage of applicant to look to behavioral testing as an objective source
tracking key word scanning, articles on “How To to supplement their Best Practice processes already
Interview” to stack the deck in favor of the candidate in place. Well honed, professionally administered
and the ever present legal liability associated behavioral and psychological tests can provide
with “Reference Checking” prior employers has objective analysis that examine a candidate’s fitness
24 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012

25. for job responsibilities and can be an excellent predictor of future
success in the prospective job role. In order to get the most
value from these tests, one should look at three attributes:
1. nsure the testing organization you choose has a
E
well documented history of success in delivering
tangible insights about its tested candidates.
2. heck the “validation” techniques and
C
principles of test construction to verify they are
nondiscriminatory and scientifically valid.
3. ost importantly, make sure tests are directed
M
at specific behavioral attributes necessary for
the candidate’s success in the specified career
role they will be assuming. The chosen Assessment
company should have an industry skilled Professional
Services team already in place to work with its clients
to confirm these attributes are proven to produce top
performers in these specific job responsibilities.
While behavioral and psychological testing is not a substitute for
established HR Best Practices in sourcing, qualifying, interviewing, background
checking and ultimately selecting the best candidates for critical leverage
positions in the company, it can offer targeted objective input that can help
differentiate between just “qualified and talented” candidates and those
that can make a really meaningful positive impact for years to come
i.e., a “real difference maker.” By building your workforce in
2012 using these proven predictive tools for success, your
company should see the impact on your organization and its
growth in revenue and profitability not only in the New Year
but for many subsequent years thereafter.
About the Author
Jeffrey Williams is Vice President of Channel Sales and Alliances for
The Devine Group of Cincinnati, Ohio. Williams has over 30 years of
experience in the HR Services industry with outsourced payroll processing
and tax compliance services, background and employee qualification
screening as well as executive leadership in the HRMS software industry,
including leadership of Sage’s Abra product sales organization.
The Devine Group serves more than 4,000 clients worldwide and has over
40 years service strengthening companies by providing them with insightful
behavioral and psychological assessment testing. Information is available at
www.devinegroup.com
25
bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

26. SOCIALMEDIA
The Top 6 Things to Expect fr
2012
by Cortez Napue
S
ocial media is an ever-evolving branch of marketing. There
seems to always be new products or updates enticing us
to forever be logged into our Facebook accounts. This
year we saw the social media giant introduce Facebook FACEB
timeline while also changing the way we interact the
platform by adding more filter options and real-time
features. Google also revealed Google+ in 2011
which is supposed to be their social networking WEBSITE
answer for Facebook cynics. While Google+’s
membership is nowhere near Facebook’s 800
million, its brand pages are showing promise.
Although there have been continual changes the Apple app -
in the sector, social media is dynamic and has which was great
the ability to adapt to virtually any cultural shift. because the line YOUTUBE
As human preference is always changing, social to the cashier
media must do the same in order to remain was out the door.
relevant. With this in mind, it’s safe to bet that So, I scanned the
there will likely be other significant changes in iPhone case’s QR code
social media in 2012. Here are my top six picks with my phone, the product
for what trends to expect in the upcoming year: total was taken from my iTunes account, and
I was e-mailed a receipt. Of course Apple
1. Social Commerce – The other day
asked me if I wanted to share my purchase
I went to the 24 hour Apple store on Fifth
on Facebook, but I respectfully declined.
Avenue in New York City and checked in
Similarly Google has Google Wallet which
using Foursquare. The App let me know
turns your mobile phone into a virtual wallet
that I could make purchases there using
by allowing you to simply touch your phone
26 Bellwether Magazine | First Quarter 2012