Virus Alert

This showed up in my email inbox today. I just had to share it this play on all those pesky viruses. Very funny!

There is a dangerous virus being passed around electronically, orally, and by hand. This virus is called Worm-Overload-Recreational-Killer (WORK). If you receive (WORK) from any of your colleagues, your boss, or anyone else via any means DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with (WORK), put your jacket on and take two good friends to the nearest liquor store. Purchase the antidote known as:

Work-Isolating-Neutralizer-Extract (WINE)
or
Bothersome-Employer-Elimination-Rebooter (BEER).

Take the antidote repeatedly until (WORK) has been completely eliminated from your system. You should forward this warning to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and (WORK) is controlling your life.

Windward Reports Advert on YouTube - funny

WindwardReports.com, a Boulder, Colorado company, is trying an innovative new means of advertising -- YouTube.com.

Does it work? Who's the market? Would you try anything like this? Check out the video and let me know what you think...

Harry Potter Economics

After reading this post, all I have to say is that it's a bad idea when a business, any business, depends entirely on one client, one company, one product. I guess those associated with the Harry Potter phenomenon are no different.

From Businesspundit.com. . .

Businessweek has a look at the twisted economics of Harry Potter. While the book has been a financial windfall for some, it's been painful for others.

What should be a pot of gold for Harry's business partners is turning into an empty cauldron for many of them. The most successful literary brand in recent history has made its author a billionaire, but others have not fared so well. Retailers, spellbound by the chance to reach millions of Potter-obsessed customers, are cost-cutting for market share to the point where many stand to lose money. For book publishers, the tsunami distorts results in Potter release years, creating wild share-price swings and a distraction from other parts of the business. Even Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (TWX ), which has made billions off the Harry Potter movies, saw sales and profits drop last year and in the first quarter without a fresh Potter offering in the mix.

When an industry relies on a few blockbusters for most of their profit, some participants will do whatever it takes to gain market share and use the blockbuster as a loss leader. Then it becomes a race to the bottom where the winner is whoever can sustain losing money the longest.

I've seen the "one major client" problem with credit unions who started out dedicated to only one company for their membership. When the company reorganizes, downsizes, merges, or closes entirely, the credit union is in a shambles.

I've also seen small businesses fold when their one big client switches to another vendor or shuts down the project altogether. High tech companies struggle when the technology advances, usually in one big leap, that leaves them far behind in the race, if not obsolete.

As the saying goes... "don't put all your eggs in one basket." Diversify your portfolio.

BBC exemplifies web principles

7 Main Principles of the Web

There are few better websites than the BBC, and there are few organizations that truly get what the Web is about better than the BBC. I came across a set of 15 BBC Web Principles some time ago, and thought, "These should be the principles of the Web."

Fully seven of the principles could be summarized as follows: In a network, network. They deal with how organizations need to redefine themselves in a truly networked world. These principles are as follows:

1. Do not attempt to do everything yourselves: link to other high-quality sites instead. Your users will thank you. Use other people's content and tools to enhance your site, and vice versa.
2. Treat the entire Web as a creative canvas: don't restrict your creativity to your own site.
3. The web is a conversation. Join in: Adopt a relaxed, conversational tone. Admit your mistakes.
4. Make sure all your content can be linked to, forever.
5. Maximize routes to content: Develop as many aggregations of content about people, places, topics, channels, networks and time as possible. Optimize your site to rank high in Google.
6. Let people paste your content on the walls of their virtual homes: Encourage users to take nuggets of content away with them, with links back to your site.
7. Link to discussions on the web, don't host them: Only host web-based discussions where there is a clear rationale.

What we have here is open-organization thinking. The BBC is thinking beyond its physical boundaries, beyond its staff boundaries. It is seeking to feed and be fed by the Web.

In the beginning of the Web was the link, not the word. Linking is an inherently open, collaborative, and sharing activity. To link demands thinking beyond the webpage, the cell, the silo, and the historical concept of the organization.

The Web organization is not measured by how many employees or webpages it has. It is measured by how linked it is. The web organization is nomadic. Its home is wherever its links are, wherever its content is re-published, wherever what it is about is being talked about. The Web organization thinks beyond the website.

The Web organization strives to be a hub, not an outpost. It actively seeks out and encourages others to link to it. The Web organization participates. It starts and contributes to conversations, and does not worry about who came up with the idea first.

The Web organization spends more time thinking about what it should share than what it shouldn't. Its first position is: Let's share this unless there's a really good reason not to. It assumes that its competitors know it already. It sees its strength in the network it is building, not necessarily what is on the network at any point in time.

The Web organization sees openness as a key strength and closedness as a major weakness. In summary, the organization that succeeds on the Web accepts this core principle: The Web is the organization.

Thanks Gerry McGovern at Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog for this post.

Text messaging a breakthrough for hearing impaired

We were talking to a friend at an event last night when I got a text message on my cell phone. I casually checked the message and fired off a brief reply.

Afterward, our friend shared with us that her brother is deaf. She told us how cell phones and text messaging are real miracles for her brother; they've opened up a whole new world for him. By texting, he can now talk to anyone anywhere "just like everyone else -- and he's really fast!" She told us about the conversations they've had since he's discovered texting -- conversations they never could have had before.

Wow! I'd never thought about that before. I suddenly saw texting from a whole new perspective. I was in awe of this technology which I'd pretty much taken for granted until now. How cool to be able to communicate from anywhere, without all the extra equipment like TTY machines.

Texting saves Malaysian teen

Text in time saves nimble-fingered teen

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian teen-ager woken by a night-time noise dashed off a warning text message to her mother just in time to be rescued from an intruder who burst into her bedroom.

Alerted by the mother's screams, relatives rushed to the rescue, breaking down a door and scaring off the man, who escaped through the back of the house, the New Straits Times said.
Salima Mohamad Noor, 17, said a man broke into her bedroom and placed a knife at her neck just as she finished sending the message on her cellular telephone.

"I was terrified and started screaming when he threatened to kill me," the newspaper quoted Salima as saying. "He also said no one would come to my rescue as he had already locked my mother's bedroom door from the outside."

But her mother's loud screams drew the attention of Salima's uncle, who kicked open the front door, frightening away the intruder, the paper added.

About 80 percent of Malaysia's population of roughly 26 million own a cell phone, statistics show, with many teenagers proficient in text messaging, as a cheaper way of talking to friends than telephone calls.

Boomer's Texting Vocabulary

Okay, this is for all you folks in "that demographic" group. Yea, I know, I'm right there with you.
The Boomer’s Texting Vocabulary… handy shortcuts for those of us of a certain age. Feel free to share with your BFF Jill.

WMG: Where’s my glasses?

WMK: Where’s my keys?

WAIITR: Why am I in this room?

WDIPMC: Where did I park my car?

IDR: I don’t remember [or "I don't recall" for Al G]

IFYRN: I forgot your real name

FANOI: F***, another night of insomnia

There are a lot more, and some great additions by commenters.

LinkedIn says it will own business networking

LinkedIn will compete with FaceBook and MySpace for online business networking, or so says CEO Dan Nye in this article by the Fortune technology staff. In his world, people will build one profile for their personal life (MySpace, FaceBook) and another for their professional life (LinkedIn). With upwards of 11 million members already signed up, the site is now adding 180,000 new members each week.

Are you LinkedIn?

Read on and find out what the future looks like for LinkedIn.

What? Selling Tumbleweed Online?

I have to admit that this story really pissed me off.

When I told my sig-O about it, his response was, "We suck!"

This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" stories -- like the pet rock and one red paperclip. Doh!

If you've lost your faith in the Internet, this should restore it! Yes, Suzie, there really is a Santa Claus and you really can make money on the 'Net... and some people even do it by accident.

Hmmmm... do you think there's a market for clumps of dog hair? I've got plenty of that around the house I could sell.

Unusual Business Ideas That Work: How To Make Money Selling Tumbleweed Online

Send messages to loved ones -- after you're gone!

This sounds like the perfect opportunity to say, "Na na na na, I told you so!"

The Post-Rapture Post - The Postal Service of the Saved

If you're asking, "How can this be possible," please take notice of how these messages will be delivered after the rapture. No fancy technology needed here.

My opinion... pretty clever.

New ideas for online job search

Good Morning America promotes LinkedIn for job search.

If you're looking for a new job or career change, get LinkedIn. So says Tory Johnson on Good Morning America. This article suggests several ways to develop your online electronic profile to connect with the right people and find the right job for you.

I've always heard that the best jobs are never advertised. They are filled by people who are connected to people in the know. Yes, word-of-mouth advertising works -- even when it comes to job hunting.

Check out my profile on LinkedIn and link to me or recommend me.

By the way, my son is in the job market as a Web Sphere expert. (hint hint)

If you hate spam, you'll love this!

Man Described As Top Spammer Arrested

A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's top spammers was arrested Wednesday, a development that federal authorities said could lead to an immediate, perceptible decrease in the amount of junk e-mail winging its way across the Web.

He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world," said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. "He's a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day."

Robert Alan Soloway's arrest came a week after a federal grand jury returned a 35-count indictment charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. He's accused of using networks of compromised computers to send out millions upon millions of junk e-mails since 2003. He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005 and Robert Brauer, the operator of a small Internet service provider in western Oklahoma, won a $10 million judgment, prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Wednesday the case is the first in the country in which federal prosecutors have used identity theft statutes to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else's Internet domain name, and it would mean at least an extra two years on Soloway's sentence if he is convicted. He could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said they have not calculated what guideline sentencing range he might face.

You can read the rest of the article at Forbes.com.

I think the key here is the identity theft charge. That's exactly what spoofing is. And it's incredibly damaging to the businesses who have had their domain names compromised.

We'll see where this goes and how long it takes to get there. But for now. . . chalk one up for the good guys.

By the way, let me know if you notice "an immediate, perceptible decrease in the amount of junk e-mail" you receive.

Connecting old friends, thanks to Google

My passion for the Internet is fueled by my belief in its amazing ability to connect people who might not be connected otherwise -- and to keep them connected. Now and then something happens to reinforce my belief and fuel my passion again.

I lived in Nebraska for a few early-elementary-school years. I had a best friend named Tracy who attended the same Catholic school I did. We were nearly inseparable, athough we lived in separate towns. We were like Rose Red and Snow White-- a story I loved when I was a child. We moved to Colorado and eventually I lost track of her.

Over the years I've often wondered what happened to the cute, spunky blonde I used to play Barbies with and sing Beatles songs with (we actually sang "Lady Madonna" for the nuns in 2nd or 3rd grade). So on a whim a couple of weeks ago I decided to go looking for her. No, I didn't use one of those reunion sites, like classmates.com or reunion.com. I Googled her brother.

Why her brother? I figured that if she had gotten married she might have changed her last name, but her brother wouldn't have. Plus, her brother has an unusual nickname and I knew a little of his history -- like he was a football star in college and played a little pro ball.

I found a few references to someone with his name in the area of his college town. I was happy to find a couple sites with contact information for him, including an email address. So I sent him an email asking if he was Tracy's brother and giving a little information about me and why I was asking.

I was so excited when, a few days later, I received a reply telling me that I was in the right place and giving me her email address!

Now my childhood best friend and I are getting to know each other all over again through email. We haven't talked on the phone or met face-to-face yet, but I'm sure that's coming.

Thanks Google!

Seth Godin shamed me

Yes, Seth Godin has shamed me.

In a recent post on his blog, Seth Godin talks about how important it is for business people and business consultants to read business books and business blogs. He asks the following questions:

If you went to a doctor who told you that she hadn't read a scholarly article or taken any training since med school, would you stick around? What about a lawyer who doesn't read law journals or a dentist who never bothered to read up on the newest case studies?

With those questions, Seth shamed me into reading more. Don't get me wrong... I read, and I read a lot. And I love books. I own a lot of books. But I have to admit, I don't really read them. More often than not, I skim them, read bits and pieces, read chapters that really interest me at the time, but I don't really read them.

At the beginning of the year, I sat down and set a few goals for myself. One was to read at least one book a month -- 12 books during the year. I didn't specify that they be business books -- just books.

I recently participated in a survey for a grad student who's writing his thesis on the mind of the entrepreneur (scary subject). One question on the survey was "What goals do you have to help you become your Ideal Entrepreneur?" My answer: Read one book a month.

Like I said... I read a lot. Not just books. I read other blogs everyday. I have my favorites listed in my feedreader. I have e-newsletters I subscribe to. I get business publications and magazines. It's tough to keep up on all the information and opinions available, but I try. Sometimes I think I could have a full-time job just reading.

So I've renewed my commitment to really read at least one book a month. Every night before I fall asleep, I'll read for a few minutes. (Typically, I play solitaire on my pda to disengage my brain.)

So what am I reading now? All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World by Seth Godin, of course.

Monetize your blog

If you're wondering how you can make money from blogging, I found a couple of articles that offer more than the same ideas everyone else talks about like Google's AdSense. Don't get me wrong... I like AdSense, but I was looking for more. I'll be checking out a few ideas from these two posts like Kontera’s ContextLinks and CafePress, and I'll report back on which ones I've tried and whether or not I see any results.

Tips for Earning Money through Blogging
More Ways to Monetize Your Blog

If you've ever wondered just how much money can be made from blogging, take a look at Paula Neal Mooney's list of blogger salaries. Notice that the range is very wide, but there's hope.

Brainstorm: Has your email been spoofed?

The May issue of Brainstorm! is out.

• Email spoofing: A spammer's best friend
• More Smart Tools: Our favorites for your business
• Recommended book & blog: Duct Tape Marketing
• Kayda the Newshound: Updates, news & announcements

The wisdom of Dave Barry

A friend emailed this to me today. I thought it was so clever and insightful, just enough humor mixed into the truth, that I just had to post it.

16 THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN
by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. You should not confuse your career with your life.
6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
7. Never lick a steak knife.
8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.
12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
13. A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
14. Your friends love you anyway.
15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
16. Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

I'm a "Slash"

There is a growing trend for individuals to expand beyond one career. The old model of “one job, one company” for life is out the door. Marci Alboher’s new book “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success“. She introduces us to the individuals who define themselves as ’slashes’. What are ’slashes’? It is a person who expands beyond one career, one job.

Whether they are a policeman/landscape designer, lawyer/chef, actor/web-designer these individuals do not limit themselves to one career. This allows them to live a more fulfilling life by pursing their passions, and not allowing one career/job wear them out. It’s not surprising that this population of the workforce is growing because in reality is anyone truly one dimensional? I find it hard to believe so.

Marci has adopted the “slash” as well - a former lawyer and now a author/speaker/coach. This book is a must read for those who aren’t happy with their current situation in life and want to pursue multiple careers.

From Publishers Weekly

For those already slashing through multifaceted professional lives, Alboher's collection of profiles of people juggling multiple roles may offer the comfort of knowing others are doing the same. For those recently separated from a job or seeking greater fulfillment from life, Alboher's fascination with people working through dual existences may reveal an alternate path to success. Like the psychotherapist/violin maker she interviews, Alboher has abandoned an easily described career as an attorney to become a journalist, author, speaker and writing coach. Her book is less about making career changes than changing how one defines a career and making adjustments for a more satisfying life. After focusing a bit too intently on how multilayered careers get their start, she segues into more action-oriented advice, including experimenting with different identities before making career-altering changes; how to keep income flowing; and how to market oneself once one adds a slash or two to one's job description. When the disparate threads of one's life are woven together in this way, she argues in this creative and satisfying guide, "the whole of you comes out."

Thank you Biz Book Talk.

Should you stop blogging?

I've pointed out reasons why you should blog and reasons why you shouldn't. Now, Pete Blackshaw at ClickZ gives you 10 reasons to stop blogging.

So, if you've started a blog but are wondering whether or not to continue, these are some really good questions to ask yourself. Regardless, don't just let your blog die of unnatural causes -- neglect, boredom, disinterest. Make it a concious decision you'll feel good about.

Postage Increase

You probably already know that on May 14th the cost to snail-mail a letter is increasing by 2 cents from $.39 to $.41. I guess this is because more people are using email rather than regular mail, although you'd never know it by looking in my mailbox.

The post office has issued a new stamp, called "The Forever Stamp" to compensate for this rate hike - or maybe make us feel better anyway. It will be good for mailing a letter that weighs less than 1 ounce no matter how much the rate goes up -- FOREVER.

Of course, you can't buy this new stamp at the current rate of 39 cents. It'll cost you the new rate of 41 cents.

Seems to me you could save money by paying your bills online and emailing more rather than driving around looking for the cheapest gas in town so you can make it to the post office to mail a letter.

By the way, if you're planning any sort of direct mail campaign, you might want to send it out before Mother's Day.

Hope you get your two cents worth.

I'm Stupid

I just took an online quiz to tell me if I was stupid or not. It had such a creative title - The Stupid Quiz - that I just couldn't resist. The short story is that it told me that I'm not stupid:

Gee Gosh Wow! Congratulations, you are NOT Stupid. Not by a Longshot. In fact, you are a "Brainiac!" (If you know who Brainiac is, you are however, a Nerd.)

Despite what the quiz said, I AM STUPID! Stupid enough to get sucked into the stupid quiz, anyway.

The actual quiz was kinda fun, but getting the results was painful. I had to spend time rejecting all the "free" offers before I could get to the end. And it made me enter my name, address, phone, email, hair color, shoe size, favorite taco sauce, grandfather's maiden name, etc. At least I didn't give any -- NOT ANY -- real information (I said I was a blonde). So I'm not that stupid.

By the way, I deliberately left out the link to the quiz here. If you go looking, it's easy enough to find. Then you can join the crowd and be stupid too.

Now... to run an anti-spyware scan.

Thirteen-year-old wins phone texting contest

From MSNBC.com: Teen pockets $25,000 in texting contest
Thirteen-year-old defeated nearly 200 other competitors in Manhattan

NEW YORK - OMG! Thirteen-year-old Morgan Pozgar, of Claysburg, Pa., was crowned LG National Texting champion on Saturday after she typed "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins" in 15 seconds.

"I'm going to go shopping and buy lots of clothes," the teen said after winning her $25,000 prize from the electronics company LG.

Pozgar defeated nearly 200 other competitors at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan to become East Coast champion. She then beat West Coast champion Eli Tirosh, 21, of Los Angeles texting the message: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious."

She estimated that she sends more than 8,000 text messages a month to her friends and family.

Photo caption: Morgan Pozgar of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, uses a phone to send a text message as she competes in the LG National Texting Championship in New York. Pozgar, who is 13-years-old, defeated "West Coast Champion" Eli Tirosh of Los Angeles.

- - - - -

If you haven't thought much about how communication is changing, especially among younger folk, maybe it's time to start. Better brush up on your texting.

7777...88...7...33...7777...[expletive]...[back]...777...222...

You could be waiting awhile for me to finish this text message. Morgan, your record is safe from me -- for now.

2...555...444...3333...[expletive]...[back]...333...777...2...4...

Is it done yet?

Just when you think your web site is finally finished, finally perfect, finally just the way you want it... you read an article like this from Shane Atchison at ClickZ. Reminding you that a web site is never really done and there's no such thing as perfect.

Even if you think your site is darn near perfect, you may want to make some changes anyway. Why? Shane gives you 4 really good (nearly perfect?) reasons to continue to work on your site.

1. The best time to change the game is when you're winning.
2. You may be missing something obvious.
3. Improvement is continuous.
4. The top may be higher than you think.

I know I'm always tweeking, adding, changing my site. I'll never be satisfied. But it's important to make strategic changes. Changing things simply for the sake of change, is rarely a good business decision.

If you want help or advice on what changes to your site could be beneficial to your business, feel free to contact me.

Are you signing it right?

My friend Reg Gupton reminds us to "Sign it right" in this post on his blog, Reg Gupton's Success Tips.

Every day I receive emails from folks without email signatures nor following accepted email etiquette. Look here for a post I wrote some time ago on the "rules of the email road"

That said, one of the biggest mistakes I see is not having a proper and complete email signature.

See below for a sample of one that meets CAN-SPAM and provides all your prospects and others the information they need to contact you.

This is especially true if you have an AOL, juno or yahoo acct which does not display your name in the "from" line of most email programs.

Reg Gupton, MBA
Coach, consultant, trainer
Creative Growth Seminars
1900 13th Suite 302
Boulder, CO 80302

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article outlining the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act that still apply today. It's good to be reminded of what information every business email should include.

The worst communications job ever

Thanks, Steve Crescenzo at Corporate Hallucinations, for this great post. Puts things in perspective. When I think my job or my life sucks, I'll remember this one.

Would you do this job?

Having a bad day? Hate your job? Your boss sucks?

This story might cheer you up . . . because as bad as you have it, at least your job isn’t the one “Billy the Kid” had to do for almost a year.

I met Billy The Kid in Atlanta this week. His nametag said William, but he introduced himself as Billy, and in my mind he immediately became Billy the Kid, because he's from Texas.

After Day One, Billy was one of the drinkers in the bar, and I asked him what he did before he came to his current job.

Turns out Billy worked for the Red Cross . . . but in a very unusual role. He was on the ground in Iraq, near Tikrit, Saddam’s home town.

Billy’s job? He was responsible for delivering bad news from home to soldiers. So if a soldier’s parent died, Billy had to go tell him. If something happened to their spouse, or their kids, Billy had to pay them a visit.

“I was like the Grim Reaper,” he told me. “People would see me coming and tell me to get the hell away from them.”

That may be the worst communications job I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve heard of a lot of bad ones. Telling soldiers—who are miserable enough already—that they now have to deal with a personal tragedy could suck the soul right out of you.

The worst kind of news Billy had to deliver—even worse than the deaths—was when he had to tell a soldier who had been in Iraq for more than a year without a break that his wife was pregnant with somebody else’s child.

“I had to do that quite a bit,” he said.

If there is a worse job out there, I’d like to hear about it.

5 Reasons NOT to Blog

A blog, or web log, is a regularly updated online journal or diary. The difference is that they often connect with other blogs through comments and linkbacks.

I frequently get questions about blogging from clients, associates and friends. Blogging is becoming something people think they should do, but they're not always sure why. It just sounds like a good idea, or someone along the way told them they should have a blog. (Sounds like the same reasons many people want a web site.) Many of them don't even understand what a blog is or what blogging is about.

I always caution people to think before they jump head first into the blogosphere. Sure, there are some great reasons to start a blog, but there are even better reasons not to.

1. Quality vs. quantity. You don't have to be a great writer to start a blog, so that's not what I'm talking about when I say quality. But you do need quality content. It doesn't matter if you write ten times a day if you're filling up your blog with useless information. You have to have something interesting to say; something interesting to write about that other people will want to write.
   
2. Afraid of commitment. Blogging well can be a huge time commitment. Your readers expect you to post regularly. Blog-tracking service Technorati is tracking more than 57 million blogs, of which it believes around 55% are "active" and updated at least every three months (1 post every 3 months isn't what I would call "active"). Analysts at Gartner have said that 200 million people have already stopped writing their blogs. Did they run out of things to say? Got bored? Didn't have the time? Couldn't make the commitment?
   
3. No time like the present. Blogs are current. If you're always behind and writing about topics that were hot a couple months ago, you're readers might not stick with you. Many bloggers spend hours each day surfing and researching topics(or have staff to do it). Be sure to factor this into your time commitment.
   
4. Everyone's a critic. Not everyone will love or agree with you, so be prepared for negative comments. The internet allows for a great degree of anonymity which emboldens many people to be nastier than they might be if they had to put their real name on their comments. Sure, you can restrict comments so that only the nice ones are displayed, but that may discourage some readers from posting at all. And if someone has a legitimate complaint, it's better to get it out in the open so you can address it.
   
5. Love the sound of your own voice. You may wonder if anyone is actually reading your blog. It's always more fun to write when people are leaving comments and talking back to you, but the majority of readers never make themselves known. Especially when you're first starting out, you have to love writing for yourself. If you set up some means of gathering statistics (like Google Analytics) you'll know if anyone is actually showing up. And give your blog time to gather momentum before you abandon it.

Blogging can be fun and interesting. There are a lot of great reasons to blog, but it's important to know what you're getting into. Let me know why you like to blog and what benefits you see; but also let me know what challenges you've faced or why you haven't jumped into blogging yet.

Spring Forward

The April edition of Brainstorm!(TM) is available online.

Spring Forward!

• No Dumb Questions and No Dumb Answers: Encouraging community participation
• Smart Tools: Our favorites for your business
• Brain Candy: 13 Most Fun Buzzwords of 2006
• Updates, News & Announcements from Kayda the News Hound
  

Why Small Business Owners Blog

Anita Campbell posted Five Reasons For Small Business Owners To Blog.

• A faster and better way to create newsletter articles.
• A strategy for getting published.
• A low-cost way for a small business owner to market online.
• A method to communicate and connect — especially important for business owners.
• Satisfaction of some inner need to share.

I'd agree that these are some pretty good reasons. But I'd like to hear your thoughts. If you blog, or if you'd like to, what are your reasons for joining the blogosphere? And if you don't blog, or aren't at all interested in blogging, why not?

Profits Straight to the Bottom Line

Pricing can be one of the most difficult challenges businesses face. Assuming that cost is the deciding factor in whether someone does business with them, many people simply choose to undercut the competition and price their products and services lower. This is a big mistake, as outlined in Wilson Ng's post Profits Straight to the Bottom Line.

Perceived Value: If price was always the deciding factor, we'd all drive a Kia.

If you look at the world’s most successful companies, whether it be BMW, Coke, Microsoft, Toyota, Apple, IBM, HP, Nestle, Starbucks, and others, you will find with utmost consistency that they are not the cheapest - and the definition of success is indeed that people pay a premium to do business with them.

Success is when you can charge higher than competitor, and customers still want to do business with you. If you work for a company, would you define yourself as successful if you feel that you only got the job because you were willing to accept a lower salary than everybody else?

Maximize Profits: If price was always the deciding factor, we'd all eat at Taco Bell and shop at Walmart.

The success of Walmart is not about lowering prices. It is about their ability to lower their cost thus increasing their ability to lower prices. In short, don’t offer lower prices, unless through volume or efficiency, you are able to have a roadmap in which you are able to lower your cost.

Ultimately, when determining your long-term pricing strategy, Wilson Ng encourages you to focus on 2 strategies: a.) increase the price that your customer is willing to pay you. b.) Look for ways to see how you can lower your expenses as a factor of per unit production, and if you can do that, then yes, it is a viable strategy to offer a lower price.

Cool Site: World Travel Guide

Just happened upon this cool web site for anyone who plans on traveling -- anywhere, for almost any reason. You can search for information by country, city, airport, and much more. What I found particularly interesting was the information on business travel and etiquette in various cities from Delhi to Edinburg.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/

Brand Wimps?

Any blog post with a title Brands are for Cattle that starts out with "Marketers are a bunch of flaky wimps," is bound to get my attention -- and fast!

I have to agree that putting the brand above the needs of the customer/buyer/visitor is a mistake.

Marketers who obsess about brand usually focus on aesthetics over buyers. They are more interested in the color scheme of the Web site than in meeting their buyers' needs with a content marketing strategy. They care about logos not buyers. They research color schemes instead of the market. Countless marketers got their knickers in a twist about the outward manifestation of an organization's brand--including logos, image ads, and tchotchkes—all at the expense of buyers and what they need to understand the company—especially the content found on the company’s site. Well, they are flaky wimps if that's what they do.

What's really at stake—in fact what branding's really about—is a focus on the buyer. As each buyer builds an emotional response to a company, that emotion becomes the brand-image for that person. Fortunately, some great marketers understand that the provision of quality Web content does more to build brand than pretty logos, cool Web design, and hip color choice.

But I can't put the blame entirely on the marketers; sometimes it has to rest with the client -- the site owner.

I can't count the number of times clients have been more worried about what their web site looks like than what it says. That's great if you're a web designer, but not so good for the site visitor. And ultimately, not great for the web site owner.

Effective web sites focus on what the visitor wants and needs, their experience of the web site, and their emotional connection to the company through the web site. If their online experience is frustration, they will connect that emotion with the company.

Marketers aren't the only flakey wimps; some clients are too.

Read the entire post at Web Ink Now.

Making Virtual Connections: Friends, Dating, Love and Business Online

Spring may be wedding season, but with Valentine’s Day, February is the month for love. And love is big business, especially online (and I’m not talking about porn – which is whole other online industry with huge profits).

Online Dating

40 million Americans use online dating services; that's about 40 percent of our entire U.S. single-people pool. You’ve probably seen the TV commercials for online dating services like Match.com and eHarmony. Just type “online dating” into Google and you’ll get 284 million results. “Christian dating” alone brings in 121 million results with sites like ChristianSingles.com, SinglesofFaith.com, and ChristianLoveNetwork.com. Whatever your passion, you're likely to find a singles group for it.

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do

What do Britney Spears and the Prime Minister of Finland have in common? According to the tabloids, they both broke up with their significant others electronically—via text message. Technology has brought wedding bells to many people’s lives, but technology also has had an impact on one of our most agonizing rites of passage: The break up (aka “e-dumping”). An estimated 48 percent of online daters report that their breakups have happened over email.

But if email or text messages are too direct, there’s a guy who advertises on Craig’s List that he’ll break up with your psychotic girlfriend for you for as little as “$50 and a 6-pack.” If you happen to live in Berlin, and have a romance you'd like to end, Bernd Dressler founded the Separation Agency to inform dumpees that their relationship is over. By the way, he’s interested in franchising to other countries.

Teen Communities

PewInternet.org reports that more than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster, or FaceBook. A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of Internet users.

These online community sites aren't just for teens. Just look at the explosion of YouTube over the past 2 years, the interest in renewing lost connections through Classmates.com, and the desire to share and compare photos at Flickr.

SNS for Profits and Nots

Social networking sites have moved into the business world with sites like LinkedIn, and Ryze. There is growing evidence to support claims that some social networking services (SNS for short) can be powerful professional allies to businesses — in particular, independent entrepreneurs and smaller companies, for whom each new personal connection is a significant business building block. Now you can start a social network on your own web site with help from services like KickApps.com and CommunityServer.org.

After more than 12 years, actor Kevin Bacon has finally submitted to the popular college game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” to create a new charitable social network, SixDegrees.org. You can join stars like Robert Duvall and Bette Midler in promoting your favorite charity or donate to one of theirs.

Albert Escalarte has put together a meta-list of social networking sites at the Social Software Weblog, where you're sure to find one that fits your interest. If not, why not start one and get listed?

For Love of Blogging

If you’re looking for a blog about love and relationships, just go to technorati and search for “love” in the blog directory and you’ll have over 140,000 to choose from; “love relationships” delivers over 1.3 million blog posts. They offer commentary on marriage, dating, family, children, hearbreak, being single, loving your job, how to love yourself, and nearly anything else you can think of to love. Today, over a million posts are referencing Valentine’s Day.

As you can see, virtual communities and cyber dating have evolved from guestbooks, email and forums to much more dynamic villages where people are introduced, get to know one another, and develop real relationships.

The Internet is a powerful force for connecting. How will you leverage that power to build your business? Whole Brain Technologies can help.

Whole Brain Technologies: Smarter solutions for business on the Web.

Guerrilla marketing goes national

Cartoon Network: the next logical step? Click here or on the image to read the article.

Thanks Nedra Weinreich and her Social Marketing Blog for this.

Brainstorm! - Love is in the Air and on the Web

Love is in the Air and on the Web

That's the theme for the February issue of Brainstorm! - Whole Brain Technologies' monthly e-newsletter. It has a new look, to go along with the new design of the web site, and lots of new information:

1. Making Virtual Connections: Friends, Dating, LOVE and Business Online - and article about the explosion of online social networks like MySpace, LinkedIn, and Match.com.
2. The Business of Love: 9 Best Practices for Improving the Bottom Line of Your Relationship - a great book by Dr. John Curtis about applying business concepts to your marriage.
3. 10 +1 Things to make me LOVE your business email - a blog post by Liz Strauss at SOB (Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers)).
4. Plus other news and announcements going on at the WBT Headquarters.

Don't miss out. Read it now.

The $avvy Giver

If you'd like to spend your money and do something good at the same time, The $avvy Giver is definately a blog you have to visit time and time again. Joe Waters gives information on a string of great charities that offer ways to spend money on things you'd probably buy anyway - like an iPod, cell phone, coffee, chocolate or Home Depot gift cards - while supporting a worthy cause.

And while you're at it, stop by Joe's campanion site - Selfish Giving - for information on cause-related marketing (CRM). Did you know that a recent IEG study finds that cause marketing spending totaled $1.34 billion in 2006 -- an increase of 7.5% -- and is expected to reach $1.44 billion this year? It's true. This is one of the hottest ways to partner for-profits with nonprofits in a win-win relationship. And be sure to check out the blogroll for more info on CRM.

Unicycles & banjos online

Let go by IBM and deeply in debt, a family man turned his childhood passion for unicycles into a thriving online start-up. Then he added a banjo business.

MSNBC/Newsweek: How I became a Big Wheel

The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog

I've been wanting to post this for awhile now, but just didn't have the time. Other more pressing issues have come up, like Tami Gosnell's American Idol progress on my Pedicab Blog.

Guy Kawasaki has some great tips on how to get the word out about your blog. I think one of the biggest and most difficult things is to write lots of content on your blog even before you start telling people about it. Blogging can be tough when you think you're just writing for yourself and no one's paying attention. But it's important that people see your content and style so they can decide to add your blog to their feedreader.

How to Change the World: The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog

We don't need no stinking bylaws

A group of us are starting a 501(c)6 not-for-profit association for Denver pedicabs. I just need to say, "I hate writing bylaws!" Anytime you start a new business, the paperwork is always the worst part. I know, that's what you pay an attorney and an accountant for. They seem to like headaches like this. But no matter what - bylaws, business plans, financials - some of it you just have to do yourself.

Blegch! I feel better now. Just had to get that out of my system.

Lessons from Bill Cosby

Last week we were up late watching The Tonight Show. Jay Leno's first guest of the evening was Bill Cosby, a man I'd grown up with - I Spy, Fat Albert, The Bill Cosby Show, Cosby, etc. I hadn't seen him in awhile, but knew I'd be entertained by his wit and charm as always.

I was amazed by his storytelling as he talked about his first time in a really hot car (Selene Mustang). You probably know that Leno is a car fanatic.

I knew that if I tried to tell the same story it would take me less than 60 seconds - and anyone who knows me knows I can talk. But Cosby talked for at least 4 or 5 minutes with all the great facial expressions and sound effects that are hallmarks of the Cosby style. Laughing so hard, we were nearly rolling on the floor along with Jay Leno.

So here's the lesson: We all need to be great storytellers. People relate to stories. People respond emotionally to stories. People are more interested in what you can do for them than how wonderful you are and stories are a great way to tell them.

You know the story of your business and the stories of your clients better than anyone. How can you tell those stories so people will listen? What opportunities do you have to tell your story?

If you're looking for a new 30-second commercial to use at networking events, why not think about a story you can tell? If you just tell the beginning of the story, they'll be intrigued to ask for more. For example, when someone asks what I do or what my business is, I might say something like, "I got a phone call the other day from a woman who had spent a lot of money on her web site but she was really frustrated because nobody is showing up? In my business I find solutions for problems like that. Do you know anyone like that?"

What stories can you come up with about your business that would encourage people to ask for more? What problems have you solved? What is interesting or unique about what you do?

Do you share your stories on your web site? In articles or on your blog? In brochures? In classes or presentations?

I don't really know if Bill Cosby's story is true or not, but I'd like to believe it is. Somehow now I feel like I've been included in his life - at least vicariously. And if I ever get in a Selene Mustang, or any other really loud, really fast car, I'll remember that story -- and smile.

Blogging for nonprofits?

Statistically, nonprofits perform poorly when it comes to using online communication to keep in touch with their donors and other stakeholders. Even now, the majority of nonprofit web sites fail to collect email addresses from visitors. Blogging may be a bit beyond many nonprofits, but if used correctly, can be a great way to get the message out about your organization.

Bob Johnson offers some ideas for using blogs to boost nonprofit interest. And be sure to check out Nancy Schwartz's web site and add her blog to your Feed Reader. I did.

By the way, all you nonproft consultants out there (including me) may be interested in the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants (Kivi Leroux Miller) where you can submit your best blog posts for nonprofits.

SEO for Newbies

I was thrilled to read this post by Lee Odden. Finally, someone else embraces the holistic approach to business and the web and the power of integration. It's always seemed obvious to me that everything needs to work together, and a challenge to segregate all the little pieces. I'm just a big picture person, I guess.

http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/01/seo-for-newbies/

FREE book

Everyone likes getting something for free. So how would you like to get Seth Godin's book "Small is the New Big" for free? All you have to do is visit his Squidoo Lens and download a new chapter each week. You'll also find some added bonuses.

Cool huh?

http://www.squidoo.com/smallis/

If you want to just buy it outright...
Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas

The Chosen One - funny

Wow! I can relate!

Small Business Trends for 2007

If you're a small business, I'm certain you've faced some of the employment trends/challenges highlighted in this blog post by John Mariotti. And if you're thinking about starting your own small business, you might get a clue about what holes you can fill by looking at the tips for solving some of these dilemmas.

And in another post, highlighting a study by Intuit on the Future of Small Business, you'll see diversity, the rise of personal business, and growth in entrepreneurial education topping the list of trends.

And while you're there, Craig, take a look at the Pet Industry Trends for your awesome gourmet pet food and treats business - Colorado Pet Chef.

Business plan? Who needs one?

In a recent post, Guy Kawasaki references a Babson College study on alums who started businesses with and without business plans. Their findings may fly in the face of popular business [training] thought - and a lot of business planners may be unhappy. "...the study found no statistical difference in success between those businesses started with formal written plans and those without them..."

So the basic recommendation is that you not spend hours and hours on a formal written business plan unless you're going for money - like investors, loans, capital, etc. It can serve to improve communication and get your team moving in the same direction. I think the most important statement was, "A great plan won’t make a lousy idea successful, and a lousy plan won’t necessarily stop a great idea."

I've seen too many great ideas get bogged down in over-planning, over-thinking - what some people call analysis paralysis. For some folks, planning is safer than actually doing. There's real risk involved in starting a new business. You have to put your whole self on the line. That can be a very scary proposition.

Granted, I'm generally an early adopter who jumps in quickly (although age and experience has tempered that impulsive urge a bit - just ask my mom). I've learned to spend a little more time researching and analyzing the challenges and opportunities. Guy's recommendation to keep your business plan short and not spend more than 2 weeks on it fits perfectly.

After being involved in the start-up of several successful businesses (none with formal written business plans), I say "go for it!"

Which are you?

In his blog, Seth Godin asks the important question: "Which are you?" It's much better to be a "the" than an "a". Are you A realtor or THE realtor? Are you A salesperson or THE salesperson? Whatever your profession, strive to be THE, not A.

The 59 Smartest Nonprofits Online

Whether you're a nonprofit who wants some insight into how to do it better, or you're just interested in finding a high-quality charity to support, you definately need to check out this list of the 59 Smartest Orgs Online. There's a lot any for-profit business can learn from the examples on this list. Learn to tell a great story and you'll win people over. If you're looking for a new way to reach your constituents, donors, clients, buyers, you may get some ideas here. And after you've spent time reviewing the online presentation of these nonprofits, vote for your favorite.

Stolen goods sold on Ebay

I saw an article on the Today Show this morning about organized crime using eBay to fence stolen property. When I googled "ebay stolen property" I got pages of links to articles about people using eBay for this illegal purpose. Although I haven't really thought much about it before, it really didn't surprise me. eBay (like Craig's List and others) is built on trust, and overall it works. Less than 5% of merchandise sold on eBay is stolen.

It reminds me that unscrupulous people will always try to take advantage of a good thing and use it for their own purposes. After the tsunami disaster, someone used an email soliciting donations to disaster relief to send a computer worm. And after the gulf coast hurricanes, fake disaster relief sites popped up on the internet exploiting the kind generosity of strangers (see my article, Give Generously but Give Wisely).

I'm not a cynic, but I am cautious. Mostly, I'm angry and disappointed.

It's up!

I've worked hours to launch a new look for the Whole Brain Technologies web site, and now it's finally up and running. Actually, it's been up for a few days. I'm still doing some tweeking and adjusting. The devil definately is in the details. But overall, I'm pretty happy with it. A very liberating experience, I'm relieved to finally claim the company as my own (more about that later).

I have a renewed appreciation for anyone spending time, money and energy on a web site - like my clients. I spent hours just looking for photos to use on the site. Going through the old site and deciding what to keep and what to leave behind was a valuable review of the company's past direction. Now it was time to articulate it's direction moving forward in 2007.

I decided to update the corporate colors and change the tagline. That was a refreshing change. I like the connection green (rather than the old teal) has to growth. I've always liked purple, so I couldn't get rid of that color. Plus, it forced me to update the designs for letterhead, business cards, and other collaterals. I even adjusted the colors for this blog.

The best thing is that now I'm free emotionally and psychologically to move forward. I've reclaimed the company as my own - something I no longer need to share with anyone.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Google's Philosophy

I've been working diligently on redesigning the Whole Brain web site while I'm recreating my company and myself (more on this later). I was looking for some samples of a business philosophy because I want to include one on the new site when I ran into this one from Google. I thought it was very interesting to see how they think about what they do. Although it's lengthy, it's not terribly boring because it's written in a "google-style" -- friendly, conversational, open -- not a lot of fancy wording, just talk. See for yourself.

Lessons for Pat O'Brien

For those of you who don't keep up on all the celebrity gossip, Pat O'Brien (Access Hollywood, The Insider) has checked himself into rehab after making some critical email and voicemail errors. Perhaps it's a lesson not only for Pat, but for the rest of us too.

Before leaving Access Hollywood in summer 2004, O'Brien sent out a drunken email critiquing his co-hosts including Nancy O'Dell. The email was promptly followed by a public apology and an admission of a drinking problem.

Lesson #1 for Pat O'Brien: If you write an email while intoxicated, sober up before hitting the send button.

After leaving Access Hollywood, O'Brien got his own entertainment gossip show called the Insider. At first it looked like O'Brien got his drinking under control. However, he apparently decided to get drunk, do a few lines of cocaine and leave a string of dirty voice-mail messages all over the place.

Lesson #2 for Pat O'Brien: If you are "horny" and doing illegal drugs, don't call everyone in your address book and tell them. You are a celebrity damn it! Especially don't leave voice mail evidence that can be recorded and leaked all over the internet.

If you're out of the loop and want more info on this critical issue, check out this article at MethodShop. Or better yet, read the blog (and buy a t-shirt while you're there) or this little inside commentary.

Just a thought (since before I read the commentary) -- what's with everyone checking into rehab these days? Kennedy, Foley, and now O'Brien. I guess it's that devil alcohol that made me do it.

And those two glasses of red wine made me write this post. Rrrrriiiiiigggghhhhtttt. Oh what the hell!

Marketers: Practice what you preach

After you read this post from Duct Tape Marketing, consider where your internal and external realities meet. Do you walk the walk or just talk the talk? If you don't believe what you're saying, why should anyone else?

Marketing is what you do and what you say

Lessons from the Lemonade Stand

For anyone in a management position -- whether you work for yourself or someone else -- these common-sense tips are a wealth of information! Included in these 101 little gems of wisdom are managing yourself, time, resources, people and more.

"Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: 101 Common Sense Management Tips"

And if you want to try your hand at running your own lemonade stand, check out this free online game: Lemonade Stand.

Life and economics are all about choices: play your way to success with Get Real! Or become a neighborhood tycoon as you run your own Lemonade Stand. Games from Moneyville.

One of the best seminars I've ever attended was The Accounting Game, based on running a lemonade stand. It was so much fun and a great way to learn to manage the numbers and read financials. (Yes, accounting can be fun.)

The Accounting Game : Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand

Image spam - example 2

I have a really good spam filter on my email, but this one still got through with the subject: "Re: a question" from Dr. William Clark.It included some random nonsense words in text at the bottom, but that was about it. Notice the instructions not to click on a link. That's because there's no link to click on. That's pretty much how it was able to get through the filters.

Just what I needed -- more crap!

Are you an addict?

More than one in eight adults in the US show signs of being addicted to the internet, a study has shown. A typical addict is a single, white college-educated male in his 30s, who spends more than 30 hours a week on "non-essential" computer use.

Users spend hours online each day, surfing the Web, trading stocks, instant messaging or blogging, and a fast-rising number are becoming addicted to Internet video games. This is an increasing problem for employers and families. "We are seeing more people who lost their jobs because of too much time spent surfing the Internet during work. More relationships are breaking up because of spouses sneaking out of bed to check e-mail in the middle of the night," says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude -- principal author of the study and head of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Though it's not yet an officially recognized psychological disorder, just Google "internet addition" and you'll find a bevy of links to recovery centers and programs.

When the future of BlackBerry was in doubt due to a patent infringement lawsuit in 2006, it was feared that Washington DC would shut down. Since it hit the market seven years ago, BlackBerry has accelerated the pace of business and bred a generation of workers who rely on constant e-mail updates. At a weekend seminar I hosted a couple of months ago, one of the attendees couldn't give up his CrackBerry habit, continually reading and messaging during class, breaks and dinner, hardly pausing to look up. Drove me nuts! Are these people the adrenalin junkies of the technology age?

Are you one of the 14% who can't stay away from the Internet? I know I am, but I have an excuse... it's my job. Heh heh.

BBC: US shows signs of 'Net addiction