Five Best Practices for Business Blogging

1. Be sincere. If all you enter on your blog is company marketing copy then you will never attract a following.

2. Be consistent. Publish on a schedule and don't divert from it. People like consistency.

3. Be brief. Blogs seem to work better if you keep the content short. I don't personally follow that rule but that's a personal choice.

4. Be aware. Try to model yourself after successful blogs.

5. Be yourself. Don't try to be something you aren't.

Now, stop reading about it and start blogging. I admit that I started blogging for purely business reasons and now I find it very enjoyable.

Using This Recession Wisely

You don't have to be an economist to figure out that any decline in GDP always translates into a decline in technology spending. During the last recession (2001-2003), tech spending collapsed as companies around the country pulled the plug on new projects and slashed IT budgets.

However, things have changed dramatically since 2003. There are now 3 times more cell phone users. Internet users have more than doubled, with even grandmothers getting online now. Technology has penetrated into almost every corner of our lives. Where once an office might have one computer for 50 employees, now there are more computers than employees. Information technology has become Business Technology.

So, while tech spending might drop over the next three years, we will see the birth of some amazing new techs at the same time. We will see:

• A new host of gadgets for the national wireless broadband networks.
• Magnetic plastics that will revolutionize data storage.
• Laptops will start to vanish when ultra-thin, flexible display screens come standard on cell phones.
• New generations of cloud computing platforms will emerge.
• Enterprise social networks will become commonplace.
• Nanotechnology will become more pervasive with applications expanding into more industries.
• Biotechnology will continue to make phenomenal leaps forward.

These are just a few of the changes for the next 3 years. The recession will not stop them.

You need to ask yourself:

• How do these changes impact my business?
• Do these changes create new opportunities?
• How do I take advantage of these techs?

Technology is poised to take some staggering steps over the next three years. You must think on these emerging techs so you can stay ahead of the curve. The changes that are coming will be significant and they will impact every aspect of your business.

Are you ready for the future?

Firm Wisdom

Would you like to be able to:

• Minimize training costs
• Eliminate repetitive questions
• Aggregate important business data
• Enable collaboration between workers
• Tap into the collective intelligence of your entire organization
• Build stronger business teams
• Provide seamless communication between departments
• Gather all your best business ideas together
• Open a frank dialogue with your customers
• Build a strong business culture even across geographic divisions
• Enable key customers to provide feedback during R&D
• Convert your customers into a "tribe"
• Convert your customers into fanatics for your products

Sounds great doesn't it? So much power all available to you and your workers, and all you need is a Business Social Network, or what I prefer to call Firm Wisdom.

By harnessing the power of Facebook or LinkedIn within your organization, you can unleash the collective knowledge of all your employees and customers. You will build a community centered around your business which will further strengthen your brand and encourage customers to promote your products.

Get started building Firm Wisdom. Find out how by contacting me today.

Keeping Up In The Digital Age

The Digital Age means everything moves faster. Are you keeping up?

There are changing paradigms in the business world that are happening now. What the media has clumsily named "Web 2.0" is nothing more than the liberation of ideas and individuals.

The original Internet was all about "pages." We applied traditional business ideas to the new Internet frontier. We tried to abolish brick-and-mortar and learned the hard truth that consumers prefer Clicks-and-Mortar. But, the Internet also liberated everyone to publish their ideas online.

Everyone suddenly had a voice. Whether it's a website, a blog, a LinkedIn profile or a Facebook page, every person with access to a computer and the Internet has a voice.

You put your message in a bottle and you throw it into an ocean of bottles. With proper planning, you can make sure they find your online message when they search for it. And if they like what they see and read, they will stay.

Information is power. Knowledge is the Internet commodity. But there are half a million bozos online with some of the craziest ideas you could image, so credibility matters! You must provide valuable, useful and actionable information.

Just don't away so much they don't need your help at all. You must establish trust but don't give away all the business secrets. It's a tightrope but you have to walk it or you will lose.

Either the Internet has evolved or we have just discovered something new about this new business frontier. Whatever the case may be, the smart business will adapt to the change and will reap the benefits.

You Have 2.8 Seconds to Impress

Apparently, Al Gore didn't realize that inventing the Internet would also eliminate attention spans. You have 2.8 seconds to capture someone's attention when they land on your webpage. If you fail to impress, inform and help your visitor to achieve their goals, you will lose them.

There is so much information out there most people will click away from your website for the slightest reason. Too wordy, too short, too ugly, bad colors, too slooow, where's the buttons, too confusing and "too old fashioned looking."

The Internet has bred snobs.

This doesn't mean your website must be enormously expensive, it just means you need to know the new rules.

The Internet continues to evolve. If even a fragment of your business is online, you need to stay on top of these new changes. It is pretty clear that Dr. Whitehead's brilliant observation continues to apply to business. The changes in the Internet will impact how you do business.

Your success online is based on adapting to new paradigms. The Internet continues to evolve and change, you need to stay on top of that change or you will not survive.

How Progress Wrecks Everything

"The major advances in civilization
are processes that all but wreck
the societies in which they occur."

- Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
Mathematician, Author & Philosopher

Every great leap forward, everything we've invented has caused major changes in how we live. As new technologies are born there are also changes in how we do business.

The fax machine nearly put couriers out of business. The explosion in home computer sales almost killed IBM back in 1993. When Al Gore invented the Internet he re-wrote the rules of business. Every change in how we work causes a huge impact. How we adapt to these changes determines whether or not we survive.

Amazon.Com started as the Internet bookstore. They were a media darling with investors lining up to give away their money. The stock stayed high even when they were hemorraghing money! Then the Internet bubble burst. But Amazon learned the wisdom of the long tail so, they added every product in the solar system. Now, what started as a humble bookstore has turned into the world's largest and most phenomenally well-stocked General Store.

Amazon recognized a major change caused by the Internet. They adapted, with some bumps, but now they thrive. But plenty of others never survived. Hopefully you weren't invested in any of them when they collapsed.

And, no, I don't miss the damn sock puppet commercials.

The Digital Age has made everything move faster. The Internet continues to evolve and change. You cannot stop the march of progress.

Best to pay attention.

5 Warning Signs of a Ponderous Business

They say that the miracle of the dancing bear is not how well it dances, but that it dances at all. That reminds me of some companies I've worked with over the years. They were bloated, ponderous business enterprises that were slow to react to change and burdened down by poor processes. The miracle is not how well they survived, but that they survived at all. In a slow economy, you cannot afford to let your ponderous business slow you further.

Fortunately there are five signs that can warn you if your business is ponderous and slow.

1. Nasty Surprises
Frankly, as a business owner, I hate surprises. Usually because they are rarely good surprises. I can't remember the last time my accountant called me with good news. Do you understand what I mean? Do you get too many nasty surpsies? If you do, there is a serious problem with your information systems.

2. Breakdowns in communication
Do your subordinates know The Big Picture? Are they on board and pulling in the same direction? Are all the teams playing nicely and sharing information with one another? Have meetings ever turned into sessions of "Pass the Blame"? Do people complain about a lack of communication? If you understand what I mean than you have a serious information problem.

3. Constant firefighting
Are you constantly fighting fires? Are you being pulled back and forth by the crisis of the hour? Have you ever had to abandon a crisis to fight a bigger disaster only to be summoned to battle a catastrophe? Is there always something that demands your immediate attention, right now or the world will end? If so, than you have a serious problem.

4. Constant errors
Have you stopped to think what a bad decision can cost your business? Have you ever wondered if the data you use to make decisions is accurate? Do you have evidence of a time when bad data lead to a bad decision? Can bad information cause you to make a career ending error? If so, than you have a serious data problem.

5. Slow response times
Does it take forever to get answers to questions? Do you wait hours/days/weeks for reports? How long does it take a decision to be implemented? How does your company react to adversity? Does your business react smoothly, avoiding obstacles by adapting or does it grind to a halt? If not, than you have a serious problem.

Ponderous Beast
You need to retool your business! You need to trim down and prepare for hard economic times. You need to accomplish more with less and that's just the hard truth of it. If your business is slow to react, does not adapt easily to change, is constantly on the brink of a disaster or has concerns about the quality of information then you need to contact me immediately. I will happily explain how I can solve those problems for you.

Free telephone consultation.
(800) 784-8045 ext. 500

Ideal Use of Web 2.0 for the Enterprise

Web 2.0 is about the liberation of ideas. It is about establishing a democracy of ideas where the best concepts rise to the top. It is about unleashing the powers of decentralization within highly regimented and centralized organizations. It permits for the free flow of ideas and innovation within an organization without limits imposed by heirarchy and departmental structure.

When properly implemented a Web 2.0 strategy for the enterprise can be an enormous benefit as a means of building entreprise-wide collaboration and information exchange. Therefore, any ideal implementation of Web 2.0 within the enterprise must keep all this in mind.

For enterprise Web 2.0 strategies and development, contact R-Squared Computing.

Web 2.0: A Democracy of Ideas

Anything that expands the reach of your business into new markets and also provides additional avenues for customers to communicate with you are beneficial. The internet has opened a new range of opportunities for business and consumers to create an environment where value is more important than hype. More and more studies are proving that people are tired of Interruption Advertising. That means the traditional marketing methods are becoming less and less effective every day. So, to set to yourself apart from the herd, smart businesses will start to provide value before the sale. That means sharing expertise and ideas free of charge.

Ultimately, that is what Web 2.0 is all about. It is the empowerment of the consumer by developing communities where experts are established by the consensus of the group. It is the ultimate expression of the democracy of ideas. Good ideas and concepts will rise to the top.

So, what good ideas and concepts are you promoting? What is your business social networking strategy? How are you working with Web 2.0 technologies to expand your brand awareness?

Linked In: A Second Glance

I like LinkedIn. There are some features that annoy me. I don't like that video on the home page. Anything that slows me down is bad. Otherwise, I have steadily built a pretty diverse network of contacts online. As of today, I have 228 connections that link me to 4,613,500+ professionals!

That's cool. There are now 4 million new people I can reach out to. Incredible.

The world is genuinely getting smaller. I have had wonderful email conversations with people all over the globe. A brilliant young entrepreneur in India, a canny negotiator in Dubai, a brilliant scientist that gave me a great idea for a kid's party. It is amazing as I reach out and meet these wonderful and interesting people I get a chance to learn something new.

LinkedIn also has a Q&A section where people ask questions and people get to post answers. I love this area! I have sparked some interesting email conversations with my answers. I think it's great being able to reach out and speak to people about their concerns and issues. And before you think of it, I am not being a web shrink! I mean business issues and questions.

So, so far it's a cool experiment. I like it better than any of the other social networking sites. I am already on several others but I don't use them. LinkedIn is pretty neat.

Please join me.

View my online resume: Louis Rosas-Guyon

Give a Damn About Your Wired Reputation

Employers are increasingly turning to the web to find out information about potential hires. As more and more people post their inner secrets, foibles and adventures on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, employers are using this information to get an idea about who they are hiring. While it might be entertaining to post the details of last Friday's drunken madness, it will definitely count against you. Swords have two edges which seems to go for technology also. Beware what you post because now everyone has access.

Reputation is really just another concept for credibility. Credibility is the only currency that has any real value anymore. Your personal integrity is the yardstick by which you are measured and you must defend it with every weapon in your arsenal. In many ways, we must become like the gentlemen of old that fought duels for their honor and reputation. However, now our weapons are blogs, forum posts and social networking sites. Credibility is the key to everything you wish to accomplish in life. Protect your reputation and be smart about what you post for the world to see. Or, as the proverb goes "Don't air your dirty laundry in public."

Learn more: Lifehacker: Manage Your Online Reputation

Innovation & the Social Web

There are a number of ways a business can leverage the benefits of social networking and other open collaboration websites to assist in product innovation. When you think of the incredible community of people willing to express their opinions for free that the web makes available, you now have the largest virtual test market for new ideas ever seen. Also, you can leverage the knowledge of engineers and scientists depending on which open community you tap.

Corporations should be making a large investment of time in developing relationships within these different communities as best suits their needs. By building up their "street credit" within these organizations they will grow a strong base of support for new products. Think of the hype Apple managed to build for the iPhone largely through the clever use of the internet. Consider the huge fundraising advantage won by presidential primary candidate Barack Obama, again all through judicious and intelligent use of available internet resources.

Those companies best able to make the transition away from traditionally secretive and closed development cycles towards more open and community-based development will reap the largest rewards. They will benefit from the accumulated wisdom of the masses and get a better understanding for what features and designs will best meet the needs and desires of their target consumer base.

Evolution of the Web

While it is foolish to imagine we can label the variations in the World Wide Web like we label software versions, it is a good idea to throw up the occasional sign post as a means of tracking the progress of the internet. As with any large, complex organized system, the internet will evolve. While I have never been a champion of "bleeding edge" technology, it is important to understand where the changes in technology have taken us. As business becomes more dependent on the incredible communications capability inherent to the internet, it is mandatory that we keep abreast of changes and developments so that we can be best positioned to take advantage of new technologies.

First, let's look at where we have been and where we are now:

Web 1.0: Where We Were (ca. 1994-2004):

• HTML Web pages


• Browsers


• E-mail becomes ubiquitous as business tool


• Online stores


• Search engines


• Dot-com boom (and bust!)

Web 2.0: Where We Are (ca. 2004 – present)

• Fast connections enable more vibrant content


• User generation of much of that content


• Online sales become a measurable and increasingly important part of the economy


• Key words to enhance search engine position


• Click-through advertising


• Social networking sites – MySpace, YouTube, etc. – create online communities and vastly enhance online marketing (including viral marketing)


• Wikis


• Wireless devices

And now that we are just getting used to Web 2.0 and all paradigm shift that has provided a forum for everyone from genius to wacko, there is a small percentage that is already discussing Web 3.0.

I am not negating the importance of looking ahead. Quite to the contrary. Forward thinking people are the pioneers that will open new terrain on the internet frontier. But, since my clients expect me to stay ahead of the curve for them, I will herein post my thoughts on what will be called Web 3.0.

First, Web 3.0 will begin to see the real birth of the semantic web. The current web requires human command and control to determine the usefulness of content, the semantic web is "...a vision of information that is understandable by computers, so that they can perform more of the tedious work involved in finding, sharing and combining information on the web." The architectural foundations for this shift will be laid soon as the necessary means of tracking user informational preferences are being understood through such social data experiments as Digg and other bookmarking sites.

Artificial intelligence will begin to take a larger role on the internet. Early versions of AI can be found on most dating web sites as the programmers attempt to expand their ability to understand and communicate with people in these environments. Current AI systems are limited to simple response and answer relationships but will continue to expand and evolve as more data becomes available to them. I am not predicting the birth of the HAL 9000 by any stretch of the imagination, but continued advances in AI will begin to reap real benefits for regular users.

Web 3.0 will also extend the reach of web-based applications such as Google Apps. New technology will "close the connection loop" with these web based applications by allowing users the ability to utilize those applications even when they are disconnected from the internet. Once this functionality is deployed, a larger percentage of the business world will adopt these online applications.

Also we will see a blurring of the lines between web users. The web will become a true communal medium where the most timely and well-accepted opinions and ideas will gain credence. In essence, the web will become a truly democratic marketplace for ideas. The freely written opinions of users will have the same power as the marketing budgets of multinational corporations. Credibility will become the real currency of the web as those who establish themselves as experts in a field of knowledge will have greater sway over subscribed opinions.

Essentially, Web 3.0 will be an extension of Web 2.0 concepts and ideology with further growth in online applications capability. If you have an idea for how this might benefit your business then I recommend you contact me so we can start making plans for you to take advantage.

Sources:
1) bMighty.Com Article: Web 3.0
2) Wikipedia: Web 3.0
3) PC Magazine Article: Web 3.0

Join Me on Linked In

For those who are not yet familiar, LinkedIn is a social networking site aimed at career and business development. I have reconnected with many colleagues from past companies and I look forward to building new and exciting relationships.

Membership is free and you can start building your personal network immediately. I think it is well worth the effort.

Check out my profile by clicking below!