The second worrisome trend is the cookie cutter nature of the “social media gurus” that small businesses are hiring.  If I live in a midsize city and I can [...]]]> I have noticed two trends recently among small business and start-ups that worry me.  First, small businesses are spending money on advertising on social networks – as in purchasing ads – as in not engaging potential customers.  This social phenomenon is a social platform.  The entire premise of the thing is to share, talk, communicate, and discover!  I like to think of it as digital word of mouth.  You want to leverage the people you know and interact with to reach the people they know and interact with and so on.  How are you doing that by buying ad space asking people to “Like” your page?  Why should they?  We are a society are so inundated by online advertising that we have become very good at ignoring it and if we are using a mobile device, we might not see it at all.  So how do we reach out to people?  Provide interesting content.  If you provide status updates, stories, product information, videos, or links that people find interesting they will begin to get engaged.  Once you get some people engaged, how to you get them to share it?  This is the easiest one.  Just ask.  Sharing someone else’s stuff isn’t always the first thought that comes into a persons mind when they are on a social network so simply remind them by kindly asking them to share it if they enjoyed it.  While “Likes” are fine, you get much more exposure in a timeline from a share than you do a like.  This means more people are likely to see it and read it – meaning more exposure for you.

The second worrisome trend is the cookie cutter nature of the “social media gurus” that small businesses are hiring.  If I live in a midsize city and I can tell which social media outlet is managing your content you may have a problem – especially if they are using the same content for all of their clients.  A tweet of “What’s on your mind?” every other day isn’t going to engage people on your product or service.  It is asking for a Facebook status update.  While you may be genuinely interested in the fact the Billy’s daughter got a new kitty, that isn’t particularly useful for the business unless you are a pet supply store or a cat psychic.  Make sure the people managing your social media content are using content specific for your business and driving conversations toward your products and services.  Just because someone can build you a network of 10,000 likes and 50,000 twitter followers, doesn’t mean they are doing anything to help your business.  If there isn’t any engagement with those networks you aren’t getting sales or even sales leads which equates to wasting your money.

The best advice I can give any new or small business is do not hire a social media outlet to manage your entire communication stream.  In fact you can probably get away with not hiring one at all.  There are lots of people writing about social media methods online and odds are there is a social media networking group hosted fairly close to you.  Get engaged with those people; ask other business leaders how they are managing, hit the social media outlets asking for advice.  No one can tell you better how they want to be interacted with than the people you are trying to interact with.  The personal touches you can give you social media presence by managing it yourself will pay off to a higher degree later than paying someone to get you out there. Remember, the ultimate goal of using social media is to generate sales leads or communicate your message.  If you are just amassing likes and followers without any engagement, you aren’t being nearly as successful as you could be.

So how can we have better networking events?

There is no magic solution to networking events.  A number of factors will cause each one to be different.  Some of the factors you can control while other’s you can’t.  You can’t control how the people will behave once they get there, but you can create an atmosphere conducive to how you would like them to behave.  Choose a location that has a layout friendly to conversation.  Maybe it is a place with movable furniture, maybe there are lots of group tables, maybe there is a giant round conference table – just not an auditorium other room where everyone is expected to sit down, face forward, and remain quiet.  After all, it [...]]]> Most all of us have been to some sort of networking function where supposedly the purpose is to connect with other individuals but upon arrival we discover that it is simply a lecturer on a mediocre topic or worse yet – nothing more than a sales pitch.  A lecture should never be the main component of a good networking event and a great networking event shouldn’t comprise of a formal sales pitch.  Networking is about discussion, sharing, and relationship building.  Networking events should allow for the exchange of ideas and thoughts (and probably the ingestion of some snacks).  Let last few “networking” events I have attended have consisted of me either watching someone speak and then struggle to get audience participation at the end or me speaking and struggling to get audience participation throughout.  No one wants to be involved in that type of atmosphere.  People in a lecture hall or auditorium don’t talk to one another.  Why? We’ve been conditioned to believe that those places aren’t places for conversation.  They are places for consumption of whatever is being presented.

So how can we have better networking events?

There is no magic solution to networking events.  A number of factors will cause each one to be different.  Some of the factors you can control while other’s you can’t.  You can’t control how the people will behave once they get there, but you can create an atmosphere conducive to how you would like them to behave.  Choose a location that has a layout friendly to conversation.  Maybe it is a place with movable furniture, maybe there are lots of group tables, maybe there is a giant round conference table – just not an auditorium other room where everyone is expected to sit down, face forward, and remain quiet.  After all, it is difficult to network if you don’t communicate.

Plan activities or topics to get conversations started.  People in attendance that are new to networking or may be slightly on the shy side, may need some help in getting started.  Small group activities are a great way to get groups of people talking.  I recommend not grouping people together by similarities as differences will often present more opportunity for discussion.  Have a few people designated as event leaders roaming around the room getting a feel for how the event is and going and if need be, jump in an get a conversation going.  One of these leaders may even find an awesome discussion that he thinks should be shared with the entire room.

Engage the community.  Even if you event is supposed to be for business leaders, maybe you invite local business students to lead conversations that day or at least take part in them.  Perhaps some influential community leaders mixed in the group could help provide a perspective that a business leader wouldn’t typically think of.  Mixture is good.  Mixture spurs conversation.

Promote your event!  Whether it is a one-time deal or a recurring event, promotion is key.  If no one shows up to a networking event, there can’t be any networking.  If there isn’t any networking, people are highly unlikely to attend the next event any the series or anything else you sponsor down the road.  Another key to promotion is getting new people mixed in.  It’s great to network with the same people for an event or two, but after a while the practice becomes predictable.  New faces will add new perspectives to conversation and create a healthy mix that will make your networking event a bigger success.

Hopefully you’re next networking event will be full of people, conversation, and relationship building.  Send me an invite. I’d be happy to stop by.

1. Facebook has recently released statements suggesting that revenue will be under projections due to lackluster advertising performance.  With more and more people accessing Facebook from mobile devices and platforms that currently do not display ads, it is becoming increasing difficult for Facebook to generate revenue.

2. Advertisers are realizing that the benefit of using social media isn’t selling ads.  GM announced that it would stop purchasing ad space on Facebook in the near future as it has proven to not be a worthwhile investment.  Automakers spend a lot of money on advertising and when one sees better performance out of TV time than a platform that supposedly reaches just shy of 1 billion people, that seems to be a problem.

3. Facebook isn’t a business.  It is a social platform.  Facebook (and all social media really) isn’t meant to behave like a traditional business with regular profits.  Human nature as caused us to try to turn socializing into profit.  Facebook is a platform for connecting, sharing, and developing relationships.  I like to think of Facebook as an ice cream social (partly because I like [...]]]> Facebook has been all over the news recently for both positive and negative reasons.  May 18th was the day the company went public, selling its stock on the Nasdaq.  What did we see?  A lame duck.  Facebook opened at $38/share with hopes that all of the talk and anticipation leading up to the opening would push the stock higher.  Unfortunately for the heavy investors, that didn’t happen.  The stock finished slightly above where it started and that is largely thanks to large financial backers that purchased stock in order to keep it inflated.  So why was a stock sell with such high anticipation performing at such a lackluster level?  I can name three big reasons.

1. Facebook has recently released statements suggesting that revenue will be under projections due to lackluster advertising performance.  With more and more people accessing Facebook from mobile devices and platforms that currently do not display ads, it is becoming increasing difficult for Facebook to generate revenue.

2. Advertisers are realizing that the benefit of using social media isn’t selling ads.  GM announced that it would stop purchasing ad space on Facebook in the near future as it has proven to not be a worthwhile investment.  Automakers spend a lot of money on advertising and when one sees better performance out of TV time than a platform that supposedly reaches just shy of 1 billion people, that seems to be a problem.

3. Facebook isn’t a business.  It is a social platform.  Facebook (and all social media really) isn’t meant to behave like a traditional business with regular profits.  Human nature as caused us to try to turn socializing into profit.  Facebook is a platform for connecting, sharing, and developing relationships.  I like to think of Facebook as an ice cream social (partly because I like ice cream).  Facebook hosts an event and people come to hang out.  So far so good.  Everyone is mingling and having a good time.  There is no profit in that.  You have to sell a lot of ice cream, and probably bring in  a guy in a taco suit before you can make money.  The more money you try to take from people the more you drive them away.  Facebook will experience more longevity and success if it remembers it is a social platform and not a traditional business that should be controlled by greedy shareholders.

I truly believe that we will begin to see an exodus of people away from Facebook in the next couple of years if it continues down its current path of non-innovation and ad pushing.  Over the last 8 years it has changed the way people think of communicating and altered online behaviors.  It has also created a new path of expectations and innovation which it may not be able to keep up with in the long run.

–Presentation–

–PPT Only–
Introduction to Cloud Storage – BizTech Answers – May 1, 2012 – PowerPoint

Below you will find links to Free accounts and trials with some of the most popular cloud services.

Google Drive

Microsoft Skydrive

ADrive

Box

DropBox

Mozy

iCloud

For more information on this or any other tech topic, please feel free to Contact me.

Today I am giving a presentation on cloud storage for a small group of people.  It is my first public presentation in well over a year and hopefully it will be the first of many more to come.  In the past I have spoken to people of all ages about sustainable computing, virtualization, and staying safe online.  I have been asked multiple times lately if I am nervous to do this.  I am really not.  I enjoy doing it.  I would be nervous if I were talking about something I didn’t know anything about – such as the mating habits of the ladybug.  I know technology and I have a good grasp of how to apply it to business whether it [...]]]> It is always important to do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do, although both may not always happen at the same time.  I’ve spent most of adult life working with and learning about technology.  While I don’t know everything, I would like to think I know a fair amount about a multitude of technology solutions ranging from printing to storage to systems management and beyond.  For many of the people I know in the technology field, knowing information and understanding systems is enough.  Sharing is not something they see as relevant.  Contentment comes from solely building new systems and services or fixing something.  I certainly understand the joys of accomplishment after building something new – especially when it works right the first time.  However, I personally find my job (and life really) much more enjoyable when I can share my experiences and knowledge with others and help them reach a point where they are building or fixing systems and services for themselves.  I enjoy sharing knowledge that makes someone’s life easier or a task proceed more quickly.

Today I am giving a presentation on cloud storage for a small group of people.  It is my first public presentation in well over a year and hopefully it will be the first of many more to come.  In the past I have spoken to people of all ages about sustainable computing, virtualization, and staying safe online.  I have been asked multiple times lately if I am nervous to do this.  I am really not.  I enjoy doing it.  I would be nervous if I were talking about something I didn’t know anything about – such as the mating habits of the ladybug.  I know technology and I have a good grasp of how to apply it to business whether it be a small shop or something at an enterprise level.  Regardless it feels good to get back to it.

If you are in the Kokomo, IN area and would like to stop by the presentation, join me at the Inventrek building at 8am this morning.  For the rest of you, I will upload my presentation later today.

If you know of opportunities for me to speak with groups of people on technology topics, please let me know.  I am always happy to be involved in discussions.

Even as you read this, the same few sources of rumor for and upcoming Apple launch, whether it be a new iPad or a merger of the Macbook Pro and Macbook Air, are being overanalyzed repeatedly by every tech blogger on the internet. Some drawing conclusions from nothing. Others honestly citing their sources as a rumor seen in another rumor report validated by a third rumor site that has a source who is the brother of a somewhat reliable rumor mill. With society’s quest for the latest and greatest in fruit labeled aluminum unibody technology, an army of volunteer marketers and advertisers have been created. Each one of them one a quest to get views for themselves and in turn providing free advertising to Apple’s current and future products. This makes the large profit margins of Apple products even easier to achieve.

Imagine with profit reports from Apple would look like if they didn’t have the army of blog-o-sphere advertisers trying to ride the company image to higher readership…

I am here to tell you there is such a company, The PC Doctors, LLC.  The locally owned and operated company recently moved into the Inventrek Technology Park and added two part-time employees to its payroll.  In a weakened economy, they see room for growth.  They see the need in this area for an honest and trustworthy technology service provider.  They have an understanding beyond technology that allows them to provide services from a holistic view – making technology add value to whatever use you have.

For business, they are able to provide exemplary consulting services related to networking.  They can help you create conversations and grow a social media following – eventually helping you convert followers to leads and leads to customers.

I have known the owner of The PC Doctors for several years.  I have worked for him, with him, and even as his competitor.  I can honestly recommend his services and those of his company without hesitation.  I highly suggest that you give The PC Doctors a call the next time you are in need of technology assistance.

To find [...]]]> Whether at home, work, church, or anywhere else, we have all had problems with technology.  We have all used big box services, local “tech experts”, and even the neighborhood teenage “tech wiz.”  Unfortunately these avenues are always met with a mix of slow, unsatisfactory, incomplete, or expensive results.  What if there was someone local that could provide timely, quality service that took the same time and care for the one computer residential customer as the one hundred computer small to medium size business?  What if this company was insured against a range of possibilities?  What if this company was dedicated to helping Kokomo area small business grow and succeed?  Does it sound too good to be true?

I am here to tell you there is such a company, The PC Doctors, LLC.  The locally owned and operated company recently moved into the Inventrek Technology Park and added two part-time employees to its payroll.  In a weakened economy, they see room for growth.  They see the need in this area for an honest and trustworthy technology service provider.  They have an understanding beyond technology that allows them to provide services from a holistic view – making technology add value to whatever use you have.

For business, they are able to provide exemplary consulting services related to networking.  They can help you create conversations and grow a social media following – eventually helping you convert followers to leads and leads to customers.

I have known the owner of The PC Doctors for several years.  I have worked for him, with him, and even as his competitor.  I can honestly recommend his services and those of his company without hesitation.  I highly suggest that you give The PC Doctors a call the next time you are in need of technology assistance.

To find out more, you can visit them online at www.pcdocsonline.com

You can also give them a call at 765.507.9583 of visit their office 700 East Firmin, Suite 104, Kokomo, IN 46902

While the Droid Pro seems to be at it’s end of life, the device has served me well and I can honestly say I see no need to move on.  The Gingerbread experience on the Droid Pro has been the best mobile OS experience to date.  However, I like to explore the latest and greatest, so I turned to the Android developer community to get my fix.  This afternoon I installed a nice Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich rom on to my Droid Pro.  While the build is missing some functionality, namely the camera, I have found it to be a vast improvement over Gingerbread.

The new OS has a sense of polish with a more consistent interface across screens.  The browser is incredibly responsive and has an easy to access option for requesting desktop versions of sites instead of mobile versions.  The email and calendar apps have been redesigned and present a cleaner interface – very much along the lines of the recent redesigns of the Google Web Apps.

Each release of Android seems to grow by leaps in bounds, rapidly catching up to and in some cases exceeding many of the fan favorite features of the market share leader [...]]]> I began my Android like in the 2.0 days on the flagship device of the Android revolution, the Motorola Droid.  While it seemed as if I went through those devices as if they were disposable cameras, the software served me faithfully through two major updates.  Finally, I reached a point were it was time for a new device.  The model was end of life with Motorola ceasing production and not supporting OS updates after 2.2.  With my love of QWERTY keyboards and desire for a more solid keyboard, I only had one logical choice – the Motorola Droid Pro.

While the Droid Pro seems to be at it’s end of life, the device has served me well and I can honestly say I see no need to move on.  The Gingerbread experience on the Droid Pro has been the best mobile OS experience to date.  However, I like to explore the latest and greatest, so I turned to the Android developer community to get my fix.  This afternoon I installed a nice Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich rom on to my Droid Pro.  While the build is missing some functionality, namely the camera, I have found it to be a vast improvement over Gingerbread.

The new OS has a sense of polish with a more consistent interface across screens.  The browser is incredibly responsive and has an easy to access option for requesting desktop versions of sites instead of mobile versions.  The email and calendar apps have been redesigned and present a cleaner interface – very much along the lines of the recent redesigns of the Google Web Apps.

Each release of Android seems to grow by leaps in bounds, rapidly catching up to and in some cases exceeding many of the fan favorite features of the market share leader iOS.  Androids breakneck pace of innovation will continue to drastically improve the mobile landscape for years to come – hopefully forcing Apple to begin innovating with its iOS platform in the near future.

More to come as I continue to examine and explore mobile OSes…

To sum myself up quickly for the reader that doesn’t know me, I am a 24 year old  male that is in relatively poor health, significantly overweight, and highly stress prone.  I often overload myself with projects, commitments, and responsibilities and fear greatly of letting others down.  The high levels of unnecessary stress I put myself through have been taking a toll on my cardiovascular system and after a result doctor’s visit, I finally realize it is time to change.  After recent conversations with friends and family, along with a little soul searching on my own, I came to realizations that I need to learn where to drawn the line.

As determined as I am to change my physical health through diet and exercise, I am equally determined to put myself in a healthier state of well-being overall.  I like writing, [...]]]> Every year we all make resolutions and just like everyone else, we rarely stick to them.  The year always starts off with much enthusiasm toward these goals, but somewhere along the way we falter.  I know I always seem to lose my way as the year progresses, only to set a new set of goals at the end of that year for which I won’t stick to the next.  I tried something different in 2011 and it helped quite a bit.  I made my resolutions public.  While I don’t believe anyone would chastise me for not fulfilling my resolutions, I still felt a sense of accountability – that nagging “what if someone does ask” feeling.  So for 2012 I am looking to do the same thing.  2011 was about debt, work, and ultimately doing things that I thought people wanted or expected out of me.  2012 is a bit different.  I am being a little more selfish this year.

To sum myself up quickly for the reader that doesn’t know me, I am a 24 year old  male that is in relatively poor health, significantly overweight, and highly stress prone.  I often overload myself with projects, commitments, and responsibilities and fear greatly of letting others down.  The high levels of unnecessary stress I put myself through have been taking a toll on my cardiovascular system and after a result doctor’s visit, I finally realize it is time to change.  After recent conversations with friends and family, along with a little soul searching on my own, I came to realizations that I need to learn where to drawn the line.

As determined as I am to change my physical health through diet and exercise, I am equally determined to put myself in a healthier state of well-being overall.  I like writing, so I am going to write more.  I have been working on a book for years and this is going to be the year I finish it.  I am going to spend more time connecting with not only my friends and family but my community as well.  I have ideas I want to develop.  I have dreams I want to bring to reality.  I have to realize that in trying to be everything to everyone, I am nothing to myself.  I think this is something that everyone needs to realize.  There is a difference in being self-centered and self-serving and being self-aware.  If you aren’t happy and effective with yourself, how can you expect to be so with friends, family, or co-workers.

2012 is the year I make my stand to change myself.  This is the year that I become me and proud of that me.