Console Tab once you are logged in:

Until now, all Contact Messages from Customers, were sent as notifications to the Helper through a simple client notification and via email to the account registered with us. This is a significant productivity enhancement of your business process. It serves as a management tool that allows you to be better organized with them. Now you not only get the client notification and email, but can find it all organized in one place in your CrossLoop account. This allows you to have all the contact details and content of the messages at one easy place for all things CrossLoop that enables better follow up, repeat business and context for proactive relationship building with your Customers.

Here are the screen shots:

Console Page [Click on the green 'See My Session Activity' to review your session history]

Contact Message Layout

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

One of the things I play around and spend a lot of time around is on the notion of 'discovery" and "intent" since nothing happens until you have users/customers. That led me to start exploring the categories "desktop sharing" and "screen sharing" since our very core product that has become so popular in a very short time for helping was launched 'screen sharing' software.

Remember we launched CrossLoop as a "screen sharing" software in November, 2006.

We progressed over time and launched a Computer "Help" Marketplace but at the core of it all is our "screen sharing" software. I always felt 'desktop sharing' was a popular notion so went around investigating what people are searching for on Google Trends and here are some very interesting results as an outcome of that:

For "All Regions" and "All Years", Google Trends shows that 'desktop sharing was searched for 6.2 times compared to screen sharing. Screen sharing appears on the radar a few months after we launched.

Specific to 2007, the ration of screen sharing versus desktop sharing drops to 1:3.24 - still for "all regions"

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For 2008, the ratio becomes 1:1

Now, lets introduce CrossLoop to these trends and you will see where I am going with this:

With CrossLoop in 2007 for "all regions", it looks like this with 'crossloop' ahead of 'screen sharing' and 'desktop sharing'. [Note how the trend line of 'screen sharing' aligns with that of 'crossloop' below]

Finally, when I look at 2008, crossloop breaks away significantly - almost twice that of both categories!

Conclusion: CrossLoop really made 'screen sharing' go mainstream as a mind share and intent amongst users worldwide and it has become synonymous to it.

I look forward to 2009!

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

One of the things we have done from the day we launched CrossLoop was listen and learn to all our users, to people who know us, our Advisors or anyone who could share some 'best practices'.

With that same core value, we thought it would be very powerful to have CrossLoop Helpers share their best practices with others.

I am personally a big fan of the two questions Will Smith asks in the movie (when he is desperately seeking employment and sees a guy park his Ferrari) The Pursuit of Happyness, especially the second one - 1) What do you do and 2) How do you do it?

There will be a series of CrossLoop Helper Interviews on this blog and I couldn't think of a better person to start with - Marcus Clarke's (pictured with his son Connor here), currently #1 Helper on the CrossLoop Marketplace. Here is his response to "How Do You Do It'. 

Q: Tell us a little about yourself

Marcus: I am first and foremost the proud father of my soon-to-be three year old boy named Connor Clarke.  I am the lead support technician for Storage Commander, a popular self-storage management program developed by Empower Software.  I also created and currently maintain their web site. 

Q: What are some of the things you do, to get new customers?

Marcus: I mainly advertise through word-of-mouth.  My wife is a great help by posting my CrossLoop Badge on all of the message boards she visits and through her MySpace bulletins and comments.  She also has a big voice with Mommy-groups and playgroups throughout our area and the people she meets through social groups and the Internet.  You would be surprised how many people are looking for someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to computers, and will not charge you an arm and a leg to get answers.

Q: What do you do to get repeat customers?

Marcus:   Repeat customers return if they like your work, your personality, and how you speak to them about the problem they are having.  Being courteous, respectful, patient, and knowledgeable about what you are talking about are the most important factors in obtaining regular customers. 

Q: Do you always give free estimates?

Marcus:   I will always give a free estimate to someone who requests it.  I do clarify that an estimate is just that, an estimate, and that it may not be the actual full price, depending on the amount of time spent on a job. [His Rate card pic below]

Q: What are some of your best practices to get the business after the free estimate or a lead comes in?

Marcus:  Response time is key.  It is difficult to address computer issues outside of work, being that I work full-time.  However, the new built-in feature that notifies you when a customer has sent you a message is extremely helpful in dealing with this.

Q: How have you built your brand with CrossLoop?

Marcus:   I keep myself logged in whenever I am connected to the internet.  I advertise myself as an experienced remote technician who can quickly connect to your computer and fix problems that you are experiencing.  CrossLoop allows for a quick connection, but it more importantly opens up remote technical support to those with less knowledge on how to use computers.

Q: What are your favorite marketing tools that CrossLoop provides and you use frequently?

Marcus:   CrossLoop is the first company that enables me to quantify my skills through my CrossLoop sessions. The CrossLoop badge is the best marketing tool provided by CrossLoop, as it shows the metrics: number of connections, your rating, and your picture; it also links the customer to your profile for more information.  You can attach it to e-mails, message boards, and pretty much anything Internet related.  It is an effective personal banner to advertise your abilities and experience which translates to a ‘portable reputation’. This enables the Customer to make the best decision.

Q: What are some tips that you would share to get the highest customer satisfaction?

Marcus: Respect your customers, even when they are difficult, and use your patience to wade through communication problems on either end of the conversation.  Fix a problem so that the customer does not have to come back to you soon to fix the same problem, so that when another problem arises, you will be the person that they call.

Q: Like adding a personal photo, do you have any recommendations for one's CrossLoop profile?

Marcus:   Fill it out completely.  Add a picture of yourself!  That is one of the best features of CrossLoop, as it creates a quick talking point, and it causes the customer to become more interested in who you are, which starts a connection between you.  Otherwise, fill out your pricing, and add a thoughtful description to your profile. [Snapshot of his profile]

Q: Do you ask you customers to create an account and leave testimonials after a session? Why?

Marcus:   Depending on the level of experience of the customer, I may or may not ask them to create an account.  Many people who need help with computers do not have an e-mail address, or are uncomfortable signing up for an account.  I leave it up to the customer to leave a comment after the session; however, it is greatly appreciated. [His Customer testimonials on his profile below]

Q: What are the top two frequent problems you solve for customers?

Marcus: The most frequent problem I encounter is that the customer’s computer is running too slow, normally due to too many programs running. The other frequent problem I run into is spyware infections.

Congratulations to Marcus for a remarkable achievement - if you need help with your computer, contact Marcus Clarke through his profile here.

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

• If you have a Paypal account, you can now specify that on your 'Edit Profile' page

• Once you specify that, your public profile page will have a new Payment tab next to your Rate Card
  • This enables anyone who needs to pay you to provide their first name, last name, email and amount for you to get paid
  • This is very powerful since the Customer does not need to create or have a Paypal account

If you have a Paypal account, please go here to login and then click on 'Edit Profile' to include your paypal email.
If you do not have a Paypal account, you can create one here.

Remember to remind your customers to click the 'Bookmark this Page' when they come to your profile to pay you - this will help you get repeat business and be available a click away.

So if you are in a really generous mood, don't hesitate in sending me a tip :)

Good Morning and Good Luck!

Now over 10,000, many of our Helpers are System Adminstrators. Along with them, very importantly, many of our CrossLoop users, many who are not on the CrossLoop Marketplace, show commitment and involvement in bailing their friends and family out all the time.

The almost 45M Help minutes over 2.45M Help Sessions since we launched is a testament that will continue to track and grow.

This is never been an easy job, not the most appreciated and requires a lot of sacrifice. We honor all these unsung heroes, who show up whenever you need help!

Here is the song in their honor and I think all of us will relate to it!

Thanks to Ben Worth at The Wall Street Journal for enabling this discovery for me.

Good Afternoon, Good Luck and Have a Great weekend!

Apart from some excellent and well thought out content, a great testimony of his ability to understand computer problems is brought out by the fact that he recently also became a guest blogger on Life Hacker, the very popular productivity blog (one of my favorites).

It has some excellent tips on all the features and tools but very importantly, an excellent emphasis on the soft skills, the intangibles that make one of the strongest impacts in business. A common phrase in business practices is 'What Can be Measured, Can be Managed' so what happens when it comes down to intangibles - like relationships, people like you and me? It throws many businesses off. We have believed and followed certain fundamental values that are intangible in growing this business and we strongly promote the same with our growing community. And oh - they just can not be copied.

We see this as a powerful template to share with all our Helpers and especially for the new ones who continue to join the CrossLoop Marketplace at a torrid pace!

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

We have always been very appreciative of everyone at TechRepublic since they were one of the very first technology media company that discovered an almost (4 months old in March 2007) brand new company, believed in the team and took its product for a thorough test drive before Mark Kaelin, a Senior Editor,  gave it a rave review here. 

So without further delay, here is Bill Detwiler - stick around till the end since Bill has been creative after the demonstration:

We all at CrossLoop are very grateful to them for helping this small company create awareness - it means a lot to us since we believe discovery is the very first step, even for a phenomenal product or service.

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

• We now have a Facebook Application:

1. It enables you to communicate privately with your friends easily on one's individual CrossLoop wall before or after a technical support session or maybe a shopping session. This could be to leave some good available times or notes for each session
2. We have also enabled any user to quickly ask questions or answer them - over time enable anyone to build their technical reputation with their network

You can add the application here now

You will see me on the Discussion Boards but you can also add me as a Friend here : In the request, do let me know that you are a CrossLoop User so I have context to the relationship.

1. Dont forget to become a Fan and review CrossLoop, if you like us :) [Click on the CrossLoop app link on your Applications Menu on the left under your profile picture]
2. I intend to be available on the Discussion Boards so please feel free to swing by and say Hello

• Geo-Locator: Brand Discovery and Brand Recall or two critical aspects of ANY business - You will see me repeat this again and again in the future. In order to enhance the discovery of Helpers based on location - we have added a small globe on the left of the main search box on the home page

• Address Book Importer: We believe that referral through friends is the holy grail of Discovery. Hence to accelerate that when someone likes a Helper, the Tell-A-Friend link that always came with each profile of a Helper and a message that contained the specific custom CrossLoop URL and name of the Helper, now comes with an Address Book Importer so one is not limited to only 5 friends and only those emails that one can remember. Now a Customer can tell many of their friends and family about a CrossLoop Helperif they are users of popular services like GMail, AOL, Yahoo, Plaxo, OutLook etc.

So publish your URL on your blog and request your friends to refer you to their or email your URL and inform them of your profile, the brand and reputation that you are accumulating on your CrossLoop profile - we are only successful, if you are!

Any questions, feedback and comments? Please feel free to leave them below or email me directly anytime at mrinal [at] crossloop.com

Good Afternoon and Good Luck

CrossLoop Software Application

• The application can track your availability and echo that information in the CrossLoop Help Marketplace.
  • Tracking will only be enabled if you (a) are logged in to the application, (b) have a helper profile, and (c) have not opted out of the Marketplace.
  • Any keyboard or mouse activity will indicate you are available, reflected in the green beacon
  • After 5 minutes of inactivity, the beacon will turn yellow
  • One minute after that, the beacon turns grey indicating that you no longer appear as “Available” on the Marketplace
  •  Keyboard or mouse activity at any time will restore your availability status.

• The Helpers can choose to run CrossLoop on startup so that they are available to any customer who needs a quick response independent of their use of CrossLoop at that moment

• From the menu, you access all you setting, including turning off tracking entirely or setting yourself temporarily as “Unavailable.”

- T

• With this version of the client, future software upgrades will be handled seamlessly so you don’t have to download the latest version by visiting the CrossLoop website
• As a security measure, you can no longer edit the access code
•  If you want a new access code, you can generate a new one by accessing the application menu
• When the applications starts up, in additional to creating an account or loggin in, you can also skip the screen and proceed directly to sharing screens

• Notifications: If you are contacted by a customer and are on-line, you will see the notification appear in the application. Email will the contact information will continue to be sent to you.

CrossLoop Help Marketplace

• Customers can sort Helpers by their availability so I would recommend that you run CrossLoop on startup always
  
• A Helper’s availability status will be shown in search results
• There is a time lag of a couple of minutes between the change of status on the application and the website

Download the new version here 

We have also added a detailed "Getting Started Guide" with a short video on that page that you can share with those you are helping.

As usual, we always listening so feedback and feature requests can be submitted here

Good Afternoon and Good Luck!

Spend one nice hour with undivided attention doing any of the following with CrossLoop and shrink that distance:

• Clean up her computer and speed it up
• Backup her files and pictures
• Teach her how to use one of many of the instant messaging tools so that she can always be in touch
• Give her a tour of some cool sites that are about learning new things
  
  • Like Howstuffworks (one of my favorites)
  • Subscribe her to Wikipdia's 'On This Day' article by email here
  • Or like Paolo Barone on Twitter here, take your mother across the world on Google Earth! Today, for that you don't need expensive tickets.
• If she wants to maintain an online journal, blog and you can set her with a free account on a service like Vox (like my personal Blog here). Its one of the few services that actually allows you to privately share posts, photos, videos etc specifically with those you identify as "Family"
• How about a remote slideshow through all the photos on your computer (SHARE mode) with her on the phone (and ACCESS mode) telling her details and stories behind each. Once you are done, drag and drop all those pictures onto her desktop (Here is how to transfer files with CrossLoop) and she can cherish them at her will or use them as a screensaver (like my mother). Here is how to do it on Lifehacker.

According to a 2007 research I found, stay-at-home mothers in the US put in about 92 hours a week and are worth about $138,095 a year! She is busy so make sure you get on her schedule fast.   

More creative thoughts? Please share them in the comments section below and if you do happen to use CrossLoop with your Mother, please do email me [mrinal [at] crossloop.com] since they inspire us. We might even be able to share them here on our blog.

Good Afternoon and Good Luck to Mom, Mummy, Mommy, Ma, Maman, Mama, Ammi, Moder, Mor, Meteara, Imma, Ummi, Niang, Bohqin, Mãe, Patrino, Anne and more!