Like it or not, you cannot expect to thrive as a business with your Yellow Pages ad (what’s that?) and just a land line.

I personally don’t like it when customers contact me on Facebook. I find it hard to integrate the information into my system and share it with my team. You know what? Stop crying Rick and get over it. It is then incumbent upon me to deal with it, not refuse folks who find it easiest to contact us by Facebook message. (Curiously several have said that was the easiest way to contact us about their band shirts when they were supposed to be working…)

The modern business owner has to accept Facebook messages, email, landline calls, the occasional charming handwritten or otherwise written note sent by snailmail, luddites…errrr I mean customers that still want to fax us (efax is a great way to move those communications into your modern world), Twitter direct message, forms filled out online, texts to your phone, cell calls, LinkedIn messages (again annoying to me, but that’s the only way some people can find me, so again I’m in “Rick, suck it up” mode.) I guess if you are overflowing with work you can insist on your preferred form of communication, but most of us better adjust to our customers’ means of communication or expect fewer orders.

There is a great tool for getting texts, which is called Zipwhip. I’m thinking of adding it to my business. I brought Zipwhip into the community radio station WMBR that I DJ on (you can stream my shows Second Fiddle or If 6 Was 9 at wmbr.org and text me a request.)  Basically you can text an existing landline and the texts come up in a handy little easy-to-navigate window on any of your computer screens through your regular internet browser.