Meet the team: Sam Kidd. Director/Customer support and marketing

Continuing our Meet the Team campaign, this month it's Sam's turn to come out from his office,  and say "Hello" to you all...

I have spoken to a lot of you either on the phone or over emails so I thought it would be nice if you all got to know a little more about me, so you can put a face to name...

I’m 32 years old, originally from New Zealand but have been living here in Ireland for the last 16 years. My family and I moved over here back in the early 90’s as my Dad was coaching rugby in Ireland. We moved around quite a bit, even going back to NZ for two years during this time as well.
Eight years ago they decided to move back in NZ for good but I decided to stay on as I had met a girl while at college, whom I have since married and we now have a two-year-old son Ryan, plus I was starting up a business as well filming rugby and other events.

Over the next few years the filming was going well apart from one major problem I ran into which was that customers only wanted me to do the work, and they didn't want other people I hired in to help with the load, as my experience with rugby meant I filmed the game really well and understood more about what they were looking for. This meant it was impossible for my business to expand in any way which was not a great outcome.

I met Dan a few years before while playing rugby back with a team while in our twenties. We didn’t really have much to do with each other until I moved my office into the same building as himself and Peter were already working in. The three of us would then often meet in the coffee shop below and chat and share ideas. In fact, we probably drank more coffee than we did actual work. Then in 2004 the three of us acted on one of the ideas and opened an Internet gaming cafe called AREA51. We were the first dedicated PC gaming café in Ireland open 24 hours a day. I gave up my other business to focus on this and Dan and Peter were able to continue in Digital Crew while working part time in A51.

Over the next five years we experienced both amazing highs and some soul crushing lows. The main advantage we had over our competition in Cork city was our customer management. We worked really hard to build customer loyalty, simple things like remembering customers names, talking and joking with customers, employing staff that knew and loved games. Then every Tuesday night the three of us would stay late and play against our customers joining in on all the banter and smack talk, this all helped us to build a really loyal customer base.

Joining the Crew

By 2007 the third founding member of Digital Crew had decided to leave and head over to Australia to persure other work. Dan and Peter then asked me if I would like to come on board and help pick up the sales role with Digital Crew. I accepted.
I have always had an interest in technology, web sites and web apps so it didn’t take me too long to get up to speed with what the guys had to offer. Sales went really well and business picked up. This was also the start of TeamworkPM being developed. So as consultancy sales picked up, it put more pressure on the guys to keep up with the extra workload on top of developing TeamworkPM, but they managed. The increase in sales also gave us the ability to hire in more staff so we could begin to focus on TeamworkPM fulltime.
As TeamworkPM got bigger and required more staff, I began to move into a customer support role helping customers out with a variety of issues from billing, to payments to general ‘how do I do this?’ questions. The other role which I have now moved into is marketing.

My Day

Once Ryan wakes up we’re all up (anywhere from 6:30am - 8:00am) The first thing I do is check sales on my phone from the night before.
I get Ryan dressed and sort him and myself out for breakfast. Then my wife Emma takes over so I get dressed and check emails.

EDIT: Since I wrote this post a while ago thing have become slightly more manic in the mornings. I now have a daughter, Zoe added to the mix as well so this really makes mornings pretty full on :-)

Once everyone is feed and watered and I have managed to shower and get out the door,  I then get in the car and head to work. Normally I listen to Mixergy podcasts while I drive in. I love the show and it's given me loads of ideas over the years. If you love business, startups and being inspired then you have got to listen to this show.

I drive to Costa coffee where I grab my morning coffee and go about answering all the feedback from the night before as well as direct emails that have come in.
Once my laptop runs out of power I head up the road to the office where I spend the day answering more emails that come in, feedback from our support tool and the occasional skype or phone call. A fair chunk of my day involves online meeting and demonstrations to people interested in learning the more advanced aspects of Teamwork.
I also look after all payment related issues such as failed payments or users that need to be invoiced instead of paying online as well.

I also try to set time aside for getting the TeamworkPM name out there. I read through blogs and post comments where and when it’s appropriate. I look for opportunities in which we can advertize as well as organize any sponsoring of events that we can do.

Being the only one on the team who is not a developer has it’s ups and downs. I try to give my ideas and feedback on new features from a "normal" users point of view. One of the big advantages I feel we have over competition is the speed at which Dan, Peter and the rest of the development team can roll out updates. This also makes my job a lot easier and also allows me to deliver good news to customers often.
There is nothing better than getting feedback from a user about something they feel is missing in the app. If I think the user is making a valid point that needs attention on our part I bring this up with either Dan or Peter and they make the change either that day or during the week. I then go back to the customer and they are amazed at how fast we rolled it out and delighted that we do actually listen and make the appropriate changes.

EDIT: March 2013 - I have just moved back to New Zealand to open and operate a TeamworkPM office over here. This move will help us give our customers support and help around the clock.

What I use in work.

Computers
  • MacBook Pro Retina with 27 inchThunderbolt display
  • iPhone 4
  • iPad


Software

  • TeamworkPM - Obviously ;-)
  • Hipchat - office communication
  • Dropbox - all my files are saved here so I can access them from anywhere
  • Woopra - tracking people live on the website
  • SEO MOZ - tracking SEO and rankings in search engines across countries
  • Tweet Deck -  tracking search terms across twitter, posting tweets
  • Twitter - on the iPhone and iPad
  • FireFox - browser of choice
  • Screen Flow - making screen recording
  • Google alerts - tracking what is being said about us as well as others online
  • Google analytics - tracking users to the site
  • Adroll - loving this new company. Really easy to set up retargeting ads


 
Well that’s all I guess, I hope this gives you a small insight into who I am and what I do at TeamworkPM.

If you have any questions about me or anything at all about Teamwork feel free to get in touch. You can also read about Dan and Peter.

Blowing our own trumpet!

I know it's not the done thing; to blow one's own trumpet, but then again we receive so many nice emails from users that go unseen by most people.  I thought I would just post up the latest few testimonials to come in to us via our feedback form. We love receiving all the message about new features you would like to see or improvements you want made to TeamworkPM. But from time to time we love to read about how much you love TeamworkPM and how it makes you life better and also how handsome we all are. Okay maybe the last ones a stretch, but we can always hold out hope ;-)

If you ever feel like you need to get off your chest just how much you enjoy using TWPM just drop us a email and you to could have your emails posted here if you wish.

Make sure to keep an eye on the blogs and our Facebook page to stay up to date, as we have some great new features coming very soon.

If Basecamp is a Cadillac, TeamworkPM is a Ferrari

Having finally gotten fed up with the abundance of limitations on Basecamp, we set out to find an organizational tool that really had the set of robust tools we needed to run our business. TeamworkPM even in the first pass was astounding in not only the type of functionality available but the polish in its implementation. As we dug deeper we kept finding ourselves in awe of the wealth of capabilities available. One click time tracking, role based project control, database backups, login form customizations ... the list goes on and on. I've worked with all manner of organizational and project management tools over the years and am in every way blown away by what the TeamworkPM team has built here!

Varr Willis
www.ploink.com.

Awesome.

TeamWorkPM is truly awesome. Honestly, I'm working here with a small team of 4 developers together on one new iPhone and iPad application and the task management system is just mind-blowing. Powerful and easy to use.

Just wanted to tell you this.

Thank you for this brilliant piece of software.

Artur Gasparyan

"The Play" - It's Our Feel Good Friday Video

I'm a bit of a sports fan so i just had to post this video up, and whether you enjoy American football or not this has to is one of the greatest endings of any sports game, ever. It's also made better by the great commentating throughout the video and just how excited they get.

Todays feel good video is taken from the game between The University of California's Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal's on Saturday, November 20, 1982.

You can also read more about the game here

A Sublime Idea. - it's our feel good Friday video.

I can across this news story while browsing the web yesterday and it gave me the idea to start a feel good friday video slot on our blog.

It's a great short clip about a guy called Matt Moman who ran a fake plant and flower business and how he developed a new business around fake limes, and Corona beer. It's an inspirational clip about how this entrepreneur turned a dream into a booming business.

Link through to the video:

Live and work anywhere you want.

I came across this website today while going through my RSS feed http://locationindependent.com

The site was created by the original Location Independent Professionals, Lea & Jonathan Woodward.

Lea started out her professional life as a management consultant based in London, whilst Jonathan was a corporate graphic designer.

After Lea’s Mum died of cancer, she quit the rat race and became a personal trainer. A couple of years later, Jonathan was made redundant from his job. Fed up with the instability of the rat race and working for other people, they both decided to make a go of it and set up their own business.

Lea & Jonathan left the UK in early 2007, determined to find a ‘home’; instead they realised that they enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle that being location independent enabled – and are still travelling between some of their favourite countries including Thailand, South Africa and the Caribbean.

I love the idea of what they are doing and with todays technology it sure is getting a lot easier to achieve this type of lifestyle. I experience a small bit of this myself in the fact that we are based in Cork, Ireland and yet I have online meetings all the time with users in the US and UK and it works very well, and I don't need to clock up painful amounts of Air Miles to achive face to face meetings.

The whole idea of having to have a single base for staff to work at is no longer a must have. In a lot of interviews I have listened to and read lately of company's that have made it big it's unreal how many of the teams have built up the business while all working in different cities and country's and most of them from just an office at home as well.

If you’d like to find out how they – and how others do it, have a browse around their site for in-depth articles, inspiring interviews and more.

What triggers you?

I was listening to another great interview from Mixergy while driving home, the interview was with a woman called Sally Hogshead. She was talking was about triggers that people respond to in both personal life and in business. She also spoke about her  latest book, Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation. 
It was a really interesting interview and really got me thinking about how I could use these triggers myself in both  business and in my personal life.
The other thing she spoke about was a test she has on her site called the F Score, it is a short test which tells you which triggers you naturally apply , which other you should consider and how to refine them to become more persuasive. 
Below is what came back from my test.
MEET YOUR TRIGGERS

Your primary fascination is LUST. (Nicely done, you.) Even without realizing it, you’re already instinctively applying this trigger when trying to persuade others. Your secondary trigger is POWER, and your dormant trigger (the one you’re least likely to apply in your personality and behavior) is ALARM.

Once you understand your own unique combination of personality strengths, you can start to create more influential ideas and messages.

HOW TO REFINE YOUR NATURAL TALENTS FOR SWAYING OPINION?

1. Explore your primary, secondary, and dormant triggers with the tabs above.
2. Check out the videos over there on the right.

YOUR PRIMARY TRIGGER: LUST

So lust is your primary trigger. That means you draw people closer with a warm and open style of interaction. You’re expressive with ideas, communicate well in person, and probably have a strong creative streak. Even when you mask your emotions, you feel passionately about your opinions.

You’re intuitive with information, often making decisions based on gut instinct rather than cold intellect. While other personality types prefer facts, you’re more attuned to the nuances of attitude, design, and a certain indefinable je ne sais quoi.

Lust is a powerful form of influence because it creates irresistible messages that overcome rational resistance. When you dial up your primary trigger, you have the ability to create messages that are extremely difficult to ignore.

You’re remarkably talented in creating messages that lead to a powerful intellectual, physical, and emotional response. For instance, you like to share experiences with others, and in conversation, you draw people closer with body language and eye contact.

By applying these natural strengths to your work, you can build warmer relationships and more trusting dialogue. And by applying to your ideas, you can create messages make people say, “I want that now!”

YOUR SECONDARY TRIGGER: POWER

While you’re not a power-monger, you are power-comfortable: an authority who likes to be in control.

Blindly following someone else’s orders? No, thanks. You prefer to actively lead situations, rather than sitting back and passively watching from the back row. You’ll follow other people’s rules, if needed, but you prefer to define a new set of rules on your own terms. You exude influence, compelling others to pay attention. Your strong opinions and bold action often spark reactions from others.

Your messages command influence, and your opinion carries weight. When you excel in positions of leadership, others look to you for cues of how to behave. At times, perhaps, you might come across as intimidating or even overbearing. When you expect others to obey your message, you define deadlines and demands of the alarm trigger to make them comply. By steering your use of power productively toward your goals, you’ll become more motivating and inspirational.

You’re a natural leader, and probably comfortable with authority. Next step? Hone your power trigger for greater respect, bigger audiences, and more loyal advocates.

YOUR DORMANT TRIGGER: ALARM

Laid-back and easygoing, you probably make friends easily, and make others comfortable. Your personality is probably relying more on trust or lust as main triggers, rather than the urgency and focus of alarm.

On the downside, without the presence of alarm in your personal brand, it’s quite possible you’re coming across as a bit wishy-washy. A judiciously zest of alarm adds a sense of urgency to your requests. In FASCINATE, you’ll learn how to intelligently apply alarm, motivating others sit up and take notice now.

Trying a bit of advertising with BuySellAds.com

I have been trying something new for getting the word out regarding TeamworkPM lately. We have tried a number of advertising systems before, including google ads but
we didn't really find them that effective. We did pull users into the site but the conversion rate wasn't great plus we had no idea what sites the ads were showing on so
it was hard to target sites that worked well. Plus Google adwords isn't the most straight forward system to use either so we gave it a rest. A while ago I signed up to buysellads.com but
never did anything else with it, then I heard an interview with founder, Todd Garland on www.mixergy.com (one of my new favorite sites)
It was a great interview with the man behind the site and got me thinking again about Buysellads.com, so I decided to go back to the website and take another look at what they had to offer there.

Once I logged in I decided to put $800 into my account to give the system a good testing. I went through the list of websites that they have signed up, I then picked a few sites to begin advertising on. The ones I decided to go with were:
www.macstories.net/
www.1stwebdesigner.com/
www.iconfinder.com/
www.erictric.com/

I decided on these because they spanned a cross section of users and also they had different styles of adverts so I could get a better idea of what type of websites and advert will work for us.
I have to say the interface with BuySellads is savage, everything is simple right from signing up to creating ad spots to uploading ads. It's just a really easy site to use.

One of the great features this site has is the A/B testing you can do with adverts, this lets you place a number of adverts in the same spot on a site so you can work out what ad version works the best and sends more people through.
through to your website. This feature is so unbelievably easy to setup as well. Just upload a few adverts and thats it. Now you just have to watch the stats.
After a while you can easily pause the advert that doesn't seem to be working out.

The screen shot is from one of the websites I placed an ad with, you can see the conversion rate for the different ad variation.
The middle one was not performing as well as the first one so I paused it. I then looked at a few other ads out there, went back to the drawing board and designed a new one, uploaded it, and we are letting the 2 battle it out for the top spot.

We are only about a week into the campaign so it's hard to tell yet how many users that come through from the adverts will convert into paid users but then again with all advertising
it's never as straight forward as that, we won't be able to know what user saw the advert and then typed "TeamworkPM" into google or some other search engine to find us. The real measures will be in increased site traffic, and the only one the really matters at the the end of month which is increased signups, if we keep up the growth that we been having lately then we will be really happy.

If your looking to try a bit of advertising yourself I think Buysellads.com is a great service and I would say give it a lash, the one thing I would love to see is more areas of interest other than just design and tech based websites within their network. I think it's a super service for both the publishers and the advertisers. For the advertisers it's a great way to advertise and get your message out there as it's very easy to budget your spends as you are dealing with flat monthly amounts and most importantly it's simple to use.

WiFi dropping on the iPad

It's a few days in now since we all received our iPads here in the office and I have to say we are bloody loving them.
They are a joy to browse web pages with and reading blogs is just fantastic with the almighy iPad.
The only issue I have had, and from reading a few tweets and other posts it seems others have this issue too, it's the fact that the Wifi seems to drop and and your network seems to vanish from time to time.

I have found a quick fix/work around instead of going into your settings and going through the re-connecting steps is just to hit the power button at the top and then unlock the iPad again and then wham your connection is back. I know it's not really a fix but it's a lot faster then messing round in your settings and once you know this it's not too much of a pain.

It's a strange bug but I have to say I wouldn't my iPad back for this, I forgive you Apple for this little mistake. :-)