The Insight Scoop

Sometimes, for our more difficult projects, we have to amp up our game and personally call our potential experts rather than just emailing worthy candidates. Often we spend several hours each day scouring the Internet to find even just one person who might become a valued consultant for our clients. These difficult projects are, of course, time-sensitive like all the others, so if there’s a note of hysteria or desperate subservience when we reach you on the phone, that’s why.

Well, today is no different; my colleague Elizabeth and I are calling potential corporate banking customers to get professional opinions on the process of choosing a bank for one’s lending/banking needs. And you know what? I’m generally very surprised and touched at how genuinely interested and responsive some people are. I mean, we’re calling people at work, out of the blue, asking them to participate in a market research project that they previously had no interest in (that is, until we called them), yet they’re willing and able! “Set it up for next week!” they say. And just to clarify, these are not individuals who have nothing better to do with their time. These are extremely busy C-level executives that have loads on their plates and yet they’re taking time out of their schedules to speak to us, to share their opinions and insights, to become Knowledge Leaders. So, I really just wanted to say:

THANK YOU. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR KNOWLEDGE LEADERS FOR BEING SO WILLING AND ABLE, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SHARE YOUR VAST EXPERTISE WITH US AND OUR CLIENTS. Without you, we’d be nothing!

technorati tags: hand-recruitment, thank you

It’s been a long while since I’ve written, and I apologize for that. We’ve just been so freakin’ busy! I, myself, have been working with our web developers to build a search engine for our database. This will become the new client portal, and its ease of use will allow clients to find Knowledge Leaders they’d like to speak to, as well as ask them questions and request consultations. Pretty sweet!

In the meantime, there’s a lot of information we need to add to the database to make the search more robust and complete, so it’s been a data populating frenzy around here. I’ve got most of the company filling in missing data fields in their spare time, and it’s become a bit of a contest, seeing who can do the most each day. The prize is free food—we all love food around here. So far, it looks like Dave is in the lead, but Julie is determined to beat him out, and we all know Julie’s like a machine.

In other news, yesterday was Dazhi’s birthday. Happy Birthday Dazhi!

Also, we’re interviewing interns all this week. It’s time to get some projects I’ve been meaning to start off the ground, and the time is ripe for that. Business has been good for us in spite of recessionomics, so we’re all feeling good about that, and we had a doughnuts+coffee party recently to celebrate. Hopefully more of those to come in the future.

Otherwise, the only thing we’d like more of is feedback from our Knowledge Leaders! We’ve gotten a solid following on Twitter, and 60 friends on Facebook (woohoo!). How about some Yelp reviews, eh? I know many of you have had very positive consulting experiences and are eager to do more. Share your thoughts! There are still some skeptics out there who are angry that we dare offer them money to talk on the phone with our clients (I know, we’re despicable), but, for the most part, everyone’s been fantastic and eager to help. Thanks so much!!

I’ll try to write more frequently. Maybe an entry later this week on how the intern interviews went. Till then, have a wonderful week everyone!

technorati tags: searchable database, data populatin’ showdown, recessionomics, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp

The new website went live at midnight last night! Take a gander, take a peek, and, if so inclined, let us know what you think.

If you’re new to Tribeca Insights, you probably didn’t see our old website, which was, in my humble opinion, depressing. It was very gray, with a stock photo header featuring two businesspeople sitting in chairs on a beach (why?). And while the site was probably just as informative as the new site, it didn’t exactly compel people to look much further than the homepage. It might have even driven people away, since we’d always get feedback saying that people couldn’t tell what we do based on what they found on the site. So, you know what? We decided to make a change.

“More accessible, more engaging, more user-friendly,” was what we had in mind when we designed the new site. A bolder top navigation with drop-down menus displays all the links you need to learn about TI, and if that’s not enough, we now have featured Knowledge Leaders, featured projects and our most recent news. In addition, if you register on the site or for a particular project, even more information becomes available to you. You can read Knowledge Leaders’ full bios, see project descriptions and questions before you apply, discover ways to connect with TI via our various social networks and provide feedback about your consultation experiences. Even just now, we received the following feedback from a registered Knowledge Leader:

Was a very positive experience, and believe client was satisfied.

We are VERY excited! I’ve been clapping my hands all morning like a child at Disneyworld, unable to contain my enthusiasm for the new tribecainsights.com. We hope others like it, too, and that it will engender confidence and trust in our company and services. If all goes well, we will continue to add new features—let us know what you’d like to see! Also, we’ll continuously be on the lookout for Knowledge Leaders who’d like to be featured on the site, so if that’s you, send us an email and a headshot. In the meantime, happy surfing to all our clients, experts, potential clients and potential experts!

technorati tags: Tribeca Insights, new website

We used to hear quite frequently that there wasn’t enough information about us on ye olde Internet. And, it’s true: When you would google us a few months ago, there certainly was very little to be seen except for maybe our homepage and those threads I mentioned in my first post. So, obviously, we’ve been working really hard toward remedying that unfortunate situation in order to bring you the latest and greatest in TI news and accessibility. Below, I will identify and illuminate the various resources there now are for reading about and reaching out to TI and our people:

1. Facebook. Okay, so, we only have 23 friends as of right now. Which is sad, we know. Also, there aren’t any fun pictures or videos of us yet, but we’re working on it. What we’d really like is for our experts and clients to befriend us on FB so that we can more easily keep in touch (so please, if you’re on FB, please find us and befriend us). In this business of global research and remote consulting, it’s easy to think of people as faceless entities, only known to us by their professional bios and screening question answers. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all knew a little bit more about each other and could see each other’s smiling faces? The answer here is yes. Be our friend!

2. Twitter. We use this exceedingly popular microblogging tool to tell our followers what we’re doing—that is, what industries we’re recruiting for, when we’ve put up a new blog post (I’ll be tweeting about this little gem in a minute) and whatever other tidbits we feel like sharing with the world. Our Twitter is linked to our Facebook, so even if you’re not down with the tweet, you can still receive updates on all our activities. Let’s hear it for technology!

3. Yelp. While we don’t have any reviews posted of us yet, we’d like to start getting some. In fact, we encourage all of our experts and clients to post reviews of our services and the interactions we have with you all. We hope everyone we work with has a pleasant experience doing so, so please let us know what we can do to help make your dealings with TI better!

And, in addition to the above, we’re redoing our website, which was redesigned in-house, thank you very much. Given that our current website looks pretty depressing and isn’t exactly web 2.0, we’re going for a more colorful and informative approach. At this time, we’re still working out cross-browser functionality and some other minor issues, but it looks like we’ll be able to launch the new site within the month. Keep your fingers crossed!

Basically, social networking makes it easier for all of us to be engaged with one another and interact regularly. We want you to know what’s going on on our end, and we also want to find out what’s happening on yours. We want to be able to share information easily and quickly, to keep our experts and clients informed and in the know. On that note, let’s connect!

technorati tags: social networking, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp

So the next question is: How do you determine your hourly fee? This is one of the most common questions I receive when I speak to prospective Knowledge Leaders on the phone. And my answer is: Most people put between $200-$300. But really, it all depends on how much you feel your input is worth. The fact is, only you know how much experience you have within your industry, and only you can gauge how much that experience is worth in terms of the kinds of insights you might be able to provide. For example, my personal strengths lie in online marketing/advertising, social networking and graphic/web design. I believe I’m pretty current and knowledgeable about these industries, and I’ve also seen them evolve in the last few years. I have some educated guesses as to where they might be headed in the future. That being said, I would definitely pay myself at least $200/hour for my thoughts on these industries’ trends. Then again, I know I haven’t been a professional within these industries for as long as some other people have—that is, 15-30+ years, which is how long many of our experts have been employed within their respective fields—so I probably wouldn’t go above $300/hour.

Someone once asked me, “If the range is $100 to $500 an hour, why would anyone put less than $500?” Well, the truth is, the rate is, in part, a determining factor in the clients’ decision-making process regarding who gets picked for a consultation and who does not. If you put $500 as your rate, you’re indirectly stating that you are an extreme expert in your industry—which is great! If you are. If you’re not, though, you’d be better off choosing a lower amount. We find that a lot of doctors and those with highly specialized skills and knowledge, as well as C-level executives, are the ones who charge upwards of $400.

For those who’ve only been involved in their fields a short time—and by “short time” I mean three years or less—I don’t want you to be discouraged. After all, one has to be a recent college grad or new professional sometime in his or her life. And, as we are looking for variegated perspectives from individuals in multiple sectors of the industries we recruit for, your input is just as valid as that of your more seasoned counterparts. I would, though, if I were you, pick a rate in the $100-$200 range. After all, $100/hour is nothing to sneeze at! Even if the call only lasts half an hour, that’s $50 in your pocket! Let’s not forget that we’re in a recession, people. That $50 can go a long way and, unless I’ve completely been missing out my whole life, you can’t make $100/hour from just sitting around watching television.

And…that’s really it. The moral of the story is: An email from Tribeca Insights is not a scam; use discretion when determining your fee; and, no matter what, a little extra money never hurt anyone (well, except maybe Madoff these days…ha!). Go forth and be a Knowledge Leader!

technorati tags: Tribeca Insights, knowledge is power, not a scam

First of all, I’d like to state for the record that I’m fully aware of why people think we’re a scam or spam. And, while it definitely doesn’t make me happy, or my job easier for that matter, it can’t be helped. See, it’s this: “…an hourly rate that you set–between $100-$500 per hour.”

Now, spam blockers are generally instructed to bar any emails containing monetary values within them, and probably for good reason. I certainly understand that people are wary—after all, I, too, got sick of receiving all those emails from that man in Africa claiming to know my great-grandfather, saying he’d pay me millions of dollars just to help him transfer his money around. It completely makes sense to me and, to be fair, I’d also be dubious if someone, out of the blue, was offering me hundreds of dollars to share my thoughts about my profession or the particular industry I work in. Still, not many people are willing to do anything for free nowadays, right? Especially when that activity takes away from time they could be spending, say, watching television, or playing golf, or shopping online, or walking the dog. You get the idea.

The point is, your time is valuable and we know it, and, therefore, we want to compensate you accordingly. We want you to understand that, by sharing your experiences and observations (sans confidential information about your company!—I cannot emphasize enough how we do not want you to talk about your company’s non-public activities), you’re educating our clients and providing them with the sound knowledge they need to make better business decisions on behalf of their companies. And, given that knowledge is power, you don’t need to be doing that for free.

technorati tags: Tribeca Insights, knowledge is power, not a scam