January 2010
5 posts
Who do you trust with your Real Time data?
Who do you trust with your Real Time data? Last night I favorited a YouTube video and Google didn’t post it until 5 AM the following morning. Pretty disappointing for a company trying to complete with the likes of Twitter and other real time services. Is it just me or am I getting very impatient? Looks like the game has changed insofar as expectations. Has me wondering whether this...
How do I complete against all the people who are...
How do I complete against all the people who are better than myself? This is a question we all face and my answer was it takes time to build skills and that time is training time. Like an athletes time spent training builds skills that you can use on the next job. A business is built one customer at a time. Competing is another question. You complete with what you have and continue to build your...
Watching Leo Laporte at CEs on my macbook air
Watching Leo Laporte at ces on my apple, macbook pro. Next time I plan and need to take notes fast I will user this to make three process a lot faster and easier. Would be better if Dick and Leo showed the actual item they are talking about. I am amazed how easy it is top write fast and quickly without lifting my finger from the soft keyboard! I am using the New ShapeWriter on my iPhone to type...
Book Learning vs Learning In Context
Out for a coffee this afternoon and my wife and I were discussing the ability fo recall or remember detailed information. Friend of hers (baby boomer) has a new job that requires recalling the caloric values of foods - she’s struggling recalling the info. I suggested that she would be just fine on she started to use the information in context. I mean, it got to be boring as h$)( to sit and...
Now Blogging For Myself
I feel like I just woke up and I am living “Back To The Future” the “blogging” version. I’ve been writing online since 1998 and switched to the Wordpress platform (which I love!) and started to officially “blog”. That was the beginning of the end - end of enjoying writing. Seriously, my fun hobby that brought me clients and friends became a J O B -...
November 2009
19 posts
Obama's Promised Small Business Support Rhetoric,...
Obama’s promises are simply more rhetoric that lacks substance and is designed to placate media and the American people. A White House small-business forum is being criticized by the American Small Business League as “a sham” because the group says the Obama administration has failed to honor its promises to small businesses. The forum held Wednesday included Small Business...
Blogging for Business: A Story Funnel
I don’t suggest that I know everything about Blogging for Business. My friends Michael Martine and Grant Griffiths know a lot more than I ever will. This is my home grown attempt at understanding what I need to do to be more consistent and genuine with my efforts as I blog for business. Feedback appreciated. I’ve been online since 1998 and for six years I wrote daily articles for my...
OMG Twitter Song Funny Funny Funny
Twitter users will appreciate this… Greg Balanko-Dickson1-866-281-8281http://www.SmallBusinessSherpa.comhttp://CollaboratingEntrepreneur.comIt’s The Quality Questions That You Ask, That Give You The Quality of Life You Enjoy! Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
Vision, Failure and Vulnerability: Traits of Great...
I was happy to come across this post from Anthony Tjan (CEO of Cue Ball) on the Harvard Business publishing site. Vulnerability is not a trait that naturally comes to mind when you think of an entrepreneur. We think of risk taking, renegade behaviour, and wild creativity. Anthony says there’s a difference between passive and active vulnerability… The nuance lies in the type of...
Will Health Reform Legislation Create A Crisis For...
The house bill plans to require employers with more than $500,000 in revenue will be required to offer coverage to their employees AND contribute t least 72.5% of the premium cost for singles and 65 for family coverage. If they fail to comply businesses would pay a penalty of 2 percent to 8 percent. “Right now, health care costs me $750,000 a year,” Prybutok said. “I’d...
Is a business coach like having a partner who...
Tonight I decided to dop by StartUps.com to see if there were any questions I could answer, when I was pleasantly surprised to find a former coaching client sharing his experience working with me. I am undergoing a similar transformation, moving from a 100% consulting biz to 100% product sales biz. I knew I hated consulting, but wasn’t sure what the next step was or how to get out of...
How to break free from paralizing emotions
First Up: Using A Framework to Escape From Paralyzing Emotions A: AGREE With Yourself That You Don’t Want To Be In This Mood Right Now. C: CLARIFY The Mood or Emotion You Want To Move Towards T: TAKE Responsibility For Taking Immediate Action. F: “What Would I Need To FOCUS On To Feel this Way?” A: “What Would I Need To ACT On To Feel The Way I Want To?” S: “What Would I Need To SURROUND Myself...
The Where, When & How Of Marketing In Social Media
Being shy in business never results in much worthy discussing therefore being open to promoting yourself and getting the word out about your business is pretty darn important. Marketing Profs has a great post detailing research on the role of social networks and social media sites in the “buying” process. What’s unique is how different platforms and the people within respond to...
How will you define relationships that yield in...
How will we define success in social media marketing in 2010 and beyond? Certainly, Chris Brogan has a lot to say about social media marketing and I find this particular question to be very thought-provoking and useful to get focused on how we want to model success in social media for our businesses. How do we develop relationships that yield? – It’s great to have 100,000 friends on Twitter....
How will you define relationships that yield in...
How will we define success in social media marketing in 2010 and beyond? Certainly, Chris Brogan has a lot to say about social media marketing and I find this particular question to be very thought-provoking and useful to get focused on how we want to model success in social media for our businesses. How do we develop relationships that yield? – It’s great to have 100,000 friends on Twitter....
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold...
What's it like to be 19 and lucky? Ask Taylor...
This guy was lucky! How many times does that happen on a game show? Posted via web from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
What Is Reality? How do we know what is real and...
Fascinating study of reality and how colours getting converted to sound can be a tool to help visually impaired to find objects. Courtesy The Chris Voss Show. http://thechrisvossshow.com/?p=1277 Posted via web from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
Moving Quotes from the CEO of the Decade
“Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice and most important have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else...
Ideas For Making Social Media A Two-Way Street
This is a great tip I pulled from John Hayden. Great tips John! Constructing an outbound road Get a Facebook Page and put a fanbox on your site. If you’re on Twitter, put a follow me button on your site. While we’re at it, get a blog – it’ll have an RSS feed folks can grab. If you’re a museum, have an outbound link to your Flickr gallery. If Plurk is your home, put a link on your site. ...
Uncommon Social Media Plan, Synergy & Integration...
I have summarized these social media (SM) integration tips from Social Media Today. What I like is these are not your typical tips for why you should use social media but how to “integrate” SM into your opverall marketing mix. 3 Step Social Media Adoption Plan Devise an appropriate, tactically-agnostic social media strategy Audit your current marketing, and add social media...
Come out of the closet Collaborating...
Did you know, I’m a Collaborating Entrepreneur? Earlier this year I put a call out to entrepreneurs to help me on my march to impact 1 million entrepreneurs. Two entrepreneurs answered the call, Marianne St. Clair and Shonika Proctor. Together we have been collaborating on a concept we call the CCC Triad. In the process we have spent a great deal of time supporting one another to move our...
Do Your Customers Feel You've Taken Care Of Them...
Do Your Customers Feel You’ve Taken Care Of Them OR Taken Advantage Of Them?Would your customers say you “take care of” them or would they feel “taken advantage of”? I never thought I’d be writing about something like this but there have been two experiences that have happened recently and has motivated me to share iMIndMap what I’ve observed. Buzan...
Creating a post via Google Wave and Posterous!
Creating a post via Google Wave and Posterous! Found a Google Wave extension that allows me to add to Posterous from Wave.Lets see if this works!? If you see this it worked! via google-wave-robot Posted via web from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
October 2009
14 posts
Mind Mapping on the Mac Has Evolved
I have been a fan of mind mapping ever since discovering it 20 years ago. Back then all my mind maps were hand drawn. Today I use software applications to draw my Mind Maps. The experience of mind mapping on paper and computer is very different. Hand drawn mind maps are much more reflective, personal, and organic. I used MindJet MindManager since they first launched a Mac version (now ver 7) but...
FTC disclosure/testimonial rules come into effect...
IMO it is good news that the FTC has decided to add more accountability in marketing online. I was on Guru.com with my son the other day showing him how it works when we came across someone who was paying $40 to anyone who would write a testimonial without having to use or test the product. Doh! I welcome the new disclosure rules and regulations as unscrupulous marketers have been getting away...
Success IS Hard Work
The difference between a dreamer and achiever as Joel Comm puts it is “hard work and think long term” You have to create a lot of content. You have to add pages to capture more ad clicks. And you have to build up traffic. That always takes time. It’s like building a reputation. No one ever starts out in business with a name. They build their name gradually by delivering good...
If a person is not on the Internet, he or she is...
It’s perhaps to their detriment, according to Hilary Topper, a New York-based marketing executive. In her opinion, the Internet is the way people are going to be communicating in the future, and if a company is not online, it will fall behind in terms of getting information to the public. Already, the number of adults who have a profile on a social-networking site has more than quadrupled...
Here's a Tween Entrepreneur That's Made $100,000
Great story of a Tween entrepreneur and her family business she started. Greg Balanko-Dickson1-866-281-8281http://www.SmallBusinessSherpa.comIt’s The Quality Questions That You Ask, That Give You The Quality of Life You Enjoy! Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
Does involvement in social media cause groupthink...
As I’ve been getting involved in social media and social networking online I have very deliberately and carefully screened the people that I choose to follow.Originally, my reason was that, I wanted to minimize the noise in my social media “stream” with update messages that had nothing to do with my interest in business. A couple of years later, my focus has shifted to the following people that I...
Act 2.0 for Social Media, Networking, Marketing
You’ll enjoy this thought provoking article. I can’t remember where I found the original link to this article but I think it really points to the growth and maturing of social media and online social networking.I think Chris Brogan gets this–he articulated it today in an article entitled What Human Business and the Social Web Are About. Brogan notes that engaging in social media “is...
Revenue Not Focus of Twitter Deal With Microsoft &...
Analysts say Twitter may well find ways other than search to make money from the huge amounts of data that flow through its system. But Twitter’s chief executive, Evan Williams, said revenue was “not the focus” of its agreements with Google and Microsoft. What’s more, neither of those companies has immediate plans to put ads on its searches of Twitter, though they may do so later. And Facebook...
Status.net Could Point to the Future of Business...
Laconica, the Canadian company offering the most popular Open Source alternative to Twitter, announced plans today to begin selling subscriptions to hosted microblogging installations for businesses. The default address of these new sites will be yourname.status.net. We suspect that this could be a very big deal. via readwriteweb.com Posted via web from Greg’s Daily...
Social Search Requires a New Approach = Social...
My friend, Steven Moore the SmallBizTwit has an awesome article on his blog it is titled “Social Search is here! This will change everything in your business. Are you ready?” Read the entire post at http://www.smallbiztwit.info/social-search-is-here-this-will-change-everyt here is an excerpt!The companies that now see this clearly are redesigning their businesses for this future. It...
Does the Term Strategic Social Networking Make You...
here are still a lot of business people who suspect that social media is a waste of time or a distraction from doing real business. And there is something to be said for this suspicion - especially if social media is is pitched as a “magic pill” for all manner of business problems.To help me better explain social networking (which is the human behavior rather than simply the...
Twitter Stretches Its Wings: International...
Twitter has announced it will soon grow from its current offering of English and Japanese only to include versions in French, Italian, German, and Spanish. However, as their translation team now comprises just five staffers, Twitter is asking users to suggest translations for the website. “We are inviting a small group of people to become volunteer translators at first,” wrote...
Technology is Changing the Way We Build Social...
In 2009, to build valuable social capital, we all need to be fluent in new media communication and best practices. If you want to work at the top of the political world, this will be crucial to your success. So after you watch this amazing video, check out some of the links below. They are resources that have been a big help for me. 1. Mashable 2. FastCompany 3. The Institute for...
A Case for Employee Social Media Training- Design...
There are only 3 months left in this year. If you do NOT have a training program in place, get it in place by 2010. You don’t have time to waste, and it doesn’t have to be hard. You can make improvements as you go along. Start with your managers and make them responsible for ensuring employees do the right thing when it comes to both playing online AND collecting a paycheck from your company. ...
September 2009
1 post
Designing for Social Traction
http://www.smallbiztwit.info/designing-for-social-traction-11 This is a long deck to view but the nuggets are many. If you are anything like me, it will cause you to rethink your approach to getting people to signup. Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
August 2009
2 posts
Social Media From Fad to revolution?
Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
Finding Your Niche Can Be Counter Intuitive
From the founder of one of the worlds great businesses comes unconventional wisdom:“Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everyone else is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction.” – Sam Walton of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
July 2009
12 posts
Twitter: The Killer Small Business App? | Small...
The power of Twitter for small businesses rests in two things: Its immediacy and the ability to target people in your geographic location. Twitter for SMBs is about being social and looking local. You want to zoom in on the demographic that would be most interested in your product and then reach out to them. Reach out by using tools like Advanced Twitter Search, Twitter Grader and Twellow to...
Marketing to the Social Web and the New Rules of...
This story appeared in my Twitter timeline by @DihydrogenOxide (http://Twitter.com/DihydrogenOxide ) titled “Marketing to the Social Web and the New Rules of Engagement”http://bit.ly/1aqr5u The key phrase in the title of this article is “New Rules of Engagement”. “New Marketing:Brand is dialogueCustomers determine brand valueGroup customers by behaviorUser generated...
The Old Solutions Have Become the New Problems -...
I have come to believe that much of what my colleagues and I taught has caused real suffering, suppressed wealth creation, destabilized the world economy, and accelerated the demise of the 20th century capitalism in which the U.S. played the leading role. We weren’t stupid and we weren’t evil. Nevertheless we managed to produce a generation of managers and business professionals...
10 Productivity Tips That Work Surprisingly Well |...
via freelancefolder.com I got a link to this article from someone in my Twitter stream and the stream of tweets has long since sailed on by so I cannot acknowledge them. This is one of the freshest looks at productivity I’ve read in a long time. really quite fascinating. A must read. My favorite is “You Live in the 18th century”… “The ten tips that you are...
Teenagers In Your Marketing Sights? How Teenagers...
This report provides great insight into teenagers and how they consume media. I like the commentary on… Newspapers: ”No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV.” Mobile Phones: “Features such as video messaging...
Does ustream.tv allow me to use PPV Top 10 Ways to...
via socialmediatoday.com I’m really interested in #2 getting Pay-Per-View is pretty interesting way to sell content. I think you can do that with ustream.tv if I remember correctly. Anyone actually used ustream TV as a Pay-Per-View platform? Posted via web from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »
#peoplebrowsr loosing ground to #seesmic &...
Really wish #PeopleBrowsr was as pretty as #Seesmic web version, & why doesn’t it remember my setting for icon sizes etc. instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Be really good at one or two things #business101 IMO #peoplebrowsr has the same problem as TweetDeck to many elements r mediocre, what ever happened to less is more when it comes to design?!!! I am frustrated with...
Alternative Small Business Financing: Tips for...
via crainsnewyork.com If you are new to alternative financing options, this article provides a good overview. One statement they made that I do not agree with is, “The most expensive money is no money.” only a banker could say something stupid like that! Read this article carefully, think long and hard about your options. Time is your friend when it comes to big financing decisions. ...
A More Perfect Union Muppet Style, nothing quite...
Greg Balanko-Dickson 1-866-281-8281http://www.SmallBusinessSherpa.comhttp://www.smallbusinesstransitions.com Posted via email from Greg’s Daily Thoughts | Comment »