Business Life Archives - Page 176 of 186

Gmail Filesystem for Linux

March 3, 2006 by Liz

And now something for Linux users:

Richard Jones has been working. He’s put together a Linux filing system for Gmail.

Gmail Filesystem provides a mountable Linux filesystem which uses your Gmail account as its storage medium. Gmail Filesystem is a Python application and uses the FUSE userland filesystem infrastructure to help provide the filesystem, and libgmail to communicate with Gmail.

[via reddit]

Hope you didn’t think I forgot you. Click the logo to check it out.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Who’s Listening?

Washingtonpost.com Blog Buzz Article screenshot

You’re looking for a new TV. . . . You’re not certain whether you want Hi-Def or plasma screen. You decide to research it online. You find a few blogs and forums. You start reading, asking questions, making comments about the TV that you have now.

You’re a saavy Internet user. You know that not all you read will be true–that some folks will be talking without knowing anything, and some will be there to just sell you. You also know that what you say will stay where you wrote it long after you leave it behind.

But did you know that sophisticated software could be picking up your comments, evaluating them, and sending that information back to the manufacturer? Blogging, list serve, and forum comments have become a predictor of consumer trends.

The comments are particularly valuable for measuring customer sentiment because they’re gut-level and spontaneous. “Internet word of mouth is extremely important,” said Steve Rubel, a marketing expert and senior vice president at Edelman public relations. “You see what the most vocal consumers have to say about you and about your competitors — and they’re saying it without necessarily knowing you’re watching them.” –from Washingtonpost.com Blog Buzz Helps Companies Catch Trends in the Making, March 3, 2006

It was inevitable.

Nielsen Ratings? No Nielsen BuzzMetrics

In a merger that took place last week, BuzzMetrics joined with Intelliseek to form Nielsen BuzzMetrics. The new enterprise uses trawling software to collect, sort, and evaluate consumer comments to a level of sophistication that allows an overall rank of positive or negative, with details that to the other way. An example of that might be

I’m totally sold on the new plasma screen by Company K, but I worry about their customer service.

Neilsen BuzzMetrics captures hundreds of thousands of comments daily. They are literally tracking word of mouth–well, word of keyword as mouth proxy. The data is sorted, compiled to meet specific job parameters, and trends are plotted for client companies.

What Does This Mean?

As with any new technology, it’s only as smart as the people who use it. As with any data tool, the art is in how you choose to sort and interpret it.

This new process could mean that consumer companies will start doing things that need to get done, because consumer issues will come to light.
It could mean companies will hear faster and move faster when they have a customer base that is unhappy with them.
It could mean that customer service would happen and companies will be more profitable–the economy could improve for everyone.

Companies could let the software make decision for them.
We could end up with even more “sit-com,” one-size-fits-all consumer solutions than we have already.

What I See

If you think about it, this is hi-tech version of a poll or a focus group and as such, it carries the same values and pitfalls. I can’t help but think about a court transcript that might read like this:

Policeman: May I have permission to search your car?
Driver: Oh yeah, that’s what I want.

Without context, it’s not certain whether the driver’s answer is a “Yes, please do.” or a “Not on your life.”

The leaders who know what to take and what to leave from a Nielsen BuzzMetrics report will make great gains. Those who blindly follow the numbers will be as lost as they were before.

The good news for small business is that trend, if it becomes the norm, provides one more temptation for big companies to be looking in the wrong direction–to be getting overly-involved with discussing the data rather than taking what they need and moving on.

While big companies are playing with this new toy that brings everything down to numbers. Small enterprises can channel their energy into building brands based on innovating and strong relationships with real people–their customers.

Business is relationships not numbers. No matter how you compile, sort, and plot it. If you don’t understand the people who are talking, it’s awfully hard to tell which words are important and which words don’t mean a thing.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Finding that Dream Company

March 2, 2006 by Liz

I am often asked

by would-be entrepreneurs

seeking escape from life within

huge corporate structures,

“How do I build a small firm for myself?”

The answer seems obvious:

“Buy a very large one and just wait”

–Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics

via Tom Peters

Did I hear a laugh of recognition?

Not all corporate structures are broken. Some have leaders and imagination.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Carnival of Entrepreneurship Is ON!

March 2, 2006 by Liz

Whether you’re blogging for business or blogging for fun, inside a company or inside your house, you have a little–or a lot–of entrepreneurial spirit. You can’t be a blogger and not be an entrepreneur of some sort. This is a carnival you might want to check out.

This week Martin Neumann, proprietor of ePublishing Daily, is hosting the

Martin said he had so many choices it was tough picking only seven. I’ve read through them, and the titles alone make good reading. Writers include Yaro Starak, Steve Pavlina, and carnival organizer, Scott Allen. Here’s a preview of what you’ll find when you get there.

If Customers ArenÃ¢â¬â¢t the Enemy, Then Who is?
You Become What You Listen To . . .
Joint Ventures Are the Way to Go
The Problem With Press Releases And Most Corporate Communications.

So head UP to click on the Carnival logo. It will take you DOWN to Australia. Visit the Carnival, and say hello to Martin too.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Leaders and Higher Ground

March 1, 2006 by Liz

Leaders and Higher Ground

There’s no person on the planet
who has not been a jerk.
That’s a fact.

Circumstances change.
People adapt.
Those are also facts.

Arguing with facts
wastes time and energy.
It’s not good practice
or effective leadership.

Leaders deal with facts about their weaknesses.
They work on building up their strengths.
Then they relace their shoes.

They keep on walking toward higher ground.
They don’t turn back.

They do all of this because that’s what leadership is.
It’s a harder hike, but the view is better.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

[for Sabine]

Blogs: The New Black in Corporate Communication

March 1, 2006 by Liz

PART 2 IN A SERIES

. . . Has the blogging sensation passed corporations by?

Not by a long shot. Instead of public blogs, think about blog technology. That’s the focus for many leading companies around the world. From McDonald’s (MCD ) to Cannondale Bicycle, corporations are using the software to revamp internal communications, reach out to suppliers, and remake corporate Intranets. Often the site doesn’t look much different from what it’s replacing. Sometimes there’s nothing particularly bloggy about the results.

But these corporate initiatives are interactive and cheap to deploy — making them an attractive form of communication. “Blogs are a way to bring our knowledge together,” says Dave Weick, chief information officer at McDonald’s. –Stephen Baker, Business Week Online, The Inside Story on Company Blogs

Who Said Blogging Has to Be Public? We might not find many Fortune 500 blogs on the Internet. That doesn’t mean that Fortune 500 companies don’t have them. It means that we’re not invited to their private party. Corporations are taking advantage of blogging technology inside their firewalls.

Move Over Website, Bye-Bye Intranet

Blog technology is slowly overtaking the traditional website and Intranet structure at some corporations. Why is that?

Blogs are low in cost to set up and less expensive to maintain.
Blogs require less technical expertise.
Blogs offer a sophisticated content management system that’s meant to be updated daily. They invite communication.
Blogs are interactive. They allow relationships to form between people.
Folks can blog from their desk, their home, the local coffeeshop, even their telephone.

Like employees from another era, websites and Intranets constantly need to be brought up to speed. Blogs have the right skillset for today’s knowledge-based enterprise–they’re innovative, fast, accessible, and made for constant changing . . . and they can be as beautiful as any website. What’s not to like? I’d hire one.

Communication in Every Direction

Ever heard the saying, We’re all 100% responsible for communication? Blog software is being used to make 100% communication happen in almost every direction.

Blogs are carrying on conversations between management and employees that allow them to get to know each other as people.
Blogs are providing safe storage and collection of team project information, so that the entire team can literally be “on the same page.”
Blogs are connecting vendors with buyers, replacing fax machines, messy email inboxes. and lost correspondence.
Blogs are establishing and maintaining unprecedented information flow between field reps and home office folks, drawing companies together.
Blogs are ensuring everyone in a group has access to the same information at the same time in the same way from almost any point on the planet.

Choose your options. You can have any color as long as it’s blog technology.

Why Do We Need to Know This?

Rare is the person who doesn’t already do business with, work for, or buy from a company who is already using blogs in these ways. It’s reasonable to think that a Fortune 500 company that has made any step toward putting a public blog online has experimented with internal blogging. Think–McDonalds.

The Internet website and company Intranet are quickly becoming just so . . . old hat.

If we want to be invited to the party, we need to dress the part, know the culture, and speak the language. We need to be prepared as vendors, consultants, customers, and employees. We need to factor in this data when we think about where we fit. How does this change the way I interact with companies? How might this information affect my brand, my business, or my life in general?

For this black tie party, blogging technology is definitely the new black.

The world is getting smaller. I’m starting to think there really is only one party.

If I’ve got this wrong, please set me straight. I’ll listen. I’m the nice one.

–ME “Liz” Strauss