In a recent post, consulting guru Alan Weiss stated that, in his opinion, LinkedIn is a waste of time. He was writing specifically of its utility for consultants, but it was apparent in reading his words that his feelings apply to other disciplines as well. His conclusion?

This is a mild diversion with limited utility for serious entrepreneurs and consultants in a world where time is a non-renewable resource. Worse, it has created a cultish behavior among many of its adherents who see the leaf and not the tree or the forest. I’m still awaiting my secret decoder ring.

Contrarian consulting advice: Use your time to network qualitatively, and don’t rely on technological shortcuts which don’t immediately involve you with real buyers. I know some people will write in ignoring the fact that I am writing about consultants, because the cult blinds them. They need to spend less time staring at Linkedin on their computer screens and go taste the coffee.

Now, before you go deleting your LinkedIn account (or Facebook, or FriendFeed, or what ever other social networking tools you use) I would challenge you to consider a conclusion that's different from Alan's. While I agree completely that we shouldn't rely on technological shortcuts, to abandon them out of hand - without first considering how they may support our overall business strategy - is a needlessly limiting approach. Better to determine what tools would have the most utility in the market you work in and then develop the discipline to use them appropriately in the pursuit of your business goals. Doing so can convert a tool such as LinkedIn from a "mild diversions with limited utility" to an effective component of a complete business development plan.

Chris Brogan and others are giving thought to working remotely, and that got me thinking about a closely related topic - business phone services. You see, I've effectively abandoned my hard-wire phone. Not everyone has, of course, and businesses in particular are pretty much forced to maintain their traditional phone service in order to have a single phone point of entry into their operations. It doesn't matter whether it's a PBX system, VOIP/IP Telephoney, or KSU-based; the common thread is that current business phone systems are physically tied to a specific location.

But why does it have to be that way? Why isn't there a wireless phone plan that provides a central call-in number that permits customers to reach anyone with a phone associated with the plan by dialing an extension? It should work in the same way that current business phone systems work but include only three options - dial an extension if you know who you want to talk with, select the department you would like to be connected with or stay on the line for assistance from a real, live human being. Any contact beyond that point should be with a person (or their voicemail). An added bonus would be to include a fax-to-computer phone number in the plan and do away with any real reason to have a hard-wired phone.

That's the business phone system I'd like to see. It may already exist, but I've not heard of it if it does. And if it doesn't, it should.

How hard could it be?

One of the most painful customer service experiences I've had lately came my way thanks to the Dell online ordering system. But one of the most pleasant customer service experiences I've had lately came may way thanks to one of Dell's customer service representatives.

The thing is, I should have never had to talk to the representative in the first place. I did, though, because Dell's online ordering system managed to lose two orders. It didn't matter that I had Purchase ID numbers; the orders did not exist. I'm not exactly sure how you design an order processing system that can spit out order numbers while simultaneously losing the actual orders, but it's obviously doable.

To Dell's credit, the luck of the draw put me in contact with a friendly, understanding and helpful customer service rep. Andrea went out of her way to make what had started out as a painful experience as simple and pleasant as possible. But while I was extremely impressed by the service Andrea provided I'm still disappointed with the overall experience with what should have been a routine online transaction.

So consider this as a cautionary tale. The moral of the story: No amount of extraordinary customer service will fully salvage your reputation if your customer's initial experience does not meet their expectations.

UPDATE: Looks like it's not just me...

Email one comes in saying, your order is verified, life is good, let's rock -n- roll.

Email two comes in time stamped AFTER email one, 10 minutes or so later saying, just want to let you know we're thinking about this and we'll send you another email shortly verifying/confirming, etc, etc.

Hmmm.. This don't look good for moose and squirrel....

I spent last evening in Louisville at the monthly Social Media Club event. The draw this month was an expert blogging panel featuring Rob May, Chris Pearson and Michelle Jones with moderation duties under the able hand of Jason Falls. I would love to share with you the many pearls of wisdom that the panel came up with, but sadly the venue was so loud that I was unable to hear anything they said. Not to worry, though, as the organizers swear that video will be posted on the SMC-Louisville website. (UPDATE:  Videos and photo links can be found here)

I've got to admit, though, that I was more interested in some of the sidebar conversations that I was involved in (isn't that usually the case?). The event was an excellent opportunity to spend time with some of my friends in the Louisville tech scene and to make new connections with quite a few talented and interesting people. One question I asked of many I talked with was whether quality or quantity should drive our web presence. To a person, the consensus was that quality is the key to success. I also asked a number of people whether they were familiar with Michael Gartenberg, since his post (see my previous entry) on the subject was the driver behind my first question. Most were unfamiliar with him (sorry, Michael), which just goes to prove that you don't have to be an A-lister to understand the basics of using these tools we call social media.

Now I just need to teach you to use these tools to bring out the full potential of you and your organization. Let's talk, shall we?

Want to know how to successfully deploy social media tools (services such as blogs, Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, etc)? Jupiter Research Analyst Michael Gartenberg sums it up nicely -

It's not about the number of readers or followers you have, or the size of your networks or the even the number of people you read or follow. It's the quality of the people in them and the quality of the conversations you're having with them. I've been blogging for a while and use services such as Facebook, LinkedIn and more recently Twitter. Of course, it's nice to be followed, read or part of a network. The way to do that is with interaction. One thing I always tell new bloggers is to send readers away to attract them to come back. Linking to other people as well as adding something new to the dialogue is important. Same with twitter.

Used properly, the wide variety of social media tools that are available to even the casual user can do wonders to get your message out. Emphasis on "used properly." And Michael's comments provide an excellent start point to understanding what that means.

If you follow me on Twitter you know what I'll be doing this weekend. If you don't, here's a hint -