Successful Blog

CES: When Business Networks Rely on Business Broadband

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A Guest Post by Jake Green

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I just got back from a trip to the enormous and spectacular International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. As the world’s largest trade show for anything tech, CES brings together businesses of all kinds – from software engineers and industrial designers to auto industry executives and media personalities. I actually saw Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, standing in the same room with the flamboyant pop icon Lady Gaga.

Las Vegas T1: At CES, The Internet Is King

In this kind of setting, networking is vital; you never know where you’ll make an important connection. The theme of connectivity was present even in the technology itself, as new and unusual products and technologies emerged, all aiming to promote a connected lifestyle. Throughout the show, the biggest technology trend I saw was the move toward 3D TV, which I have to say I find a bit creepy. But the second biggest trend was that of Internet connectivity in more and more unexpected places. This year, both your new Panasonic TV and your new Ford sedan will be connected to the Internet.

In the business world, as in the entertainment world, the Internet is everywhere. To me, the need for fast and reliable Internet connectivity has never been more apparent or more pronounced than it was at CES 2010. Even the lightening fast T1 connection at the Las Vegas Convention Center, over which information flowed effortlessly before the show began, struggled to keep up with the demand as more than a hundred thousand attendees tested the next generation of connected gadgets. One small software company tried to demo a new security application for business broadband users, but had to postpone because of problems with their satellite Internet service. How important it is for a business to establish fast, dependable Internet services from the right provider.

Leaving the show, I reflected on the diverse uses of the Internet, as I had seen them in action at CES. One company demonstrated an affordable way for small businesses to use MPLS VPN connections for faster and safer credit card transactions; another used the Internet to beam 3-dimensional images of a shark to a television set across the room. But when it comes down to it, the Internet, like any network, is about making connections.

I suppose the world of consumer electronics is no different from the world of business in general: the more connections you make, the better off you’ll be.

How much does your business network work rely on a reliable Internet network?

Jake Green is a freelance writer for Wpromote, Inc. , the #1 search marketing firm in the US as ranked by Inc. 500. He writes about PPC Management and how to grow online small business. Wpromote is also at http://www.twitter.com/Wpromote.

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Thanks Jake!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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10 Prompts to Start a Blog Post When Your Screen Is Blank

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Start with a Few Words

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Sometimes a few words can get a whole lot started. Try these prompts when you’re facing a blank screen and don’t know where to go …

  1. When I look at all of these social media tools, I think we need . . .
  2. Enough of this . . .
  3. When I started hanging out online, I thought it was about …
  4. If someone offered $500K to move away from network of friends and family, . . .
  5. Every relationship has an ROI. . . .
  6. Marketers dream of . . .
  7. Can you help me out here? Is this a new thing? . . .
  8. All the talk about smart phones . . .
  9. Every Friday, . . .
  10. At this very moment, somewhere in the universe, . . .

Add your own in the comment box if some jump to mind.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Want More Fans, a Bigger List? There’s No Skipping this Step …

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We Make It Harder Than It Is

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Sometimes we try too hard. Sometimes we reach too far. Sometimes we take the long way home because we never stopped to think about the easier one.

Are you looking trying to expand your community, your business, your sales, your blog readership? Want more followers on Twitter, more fans on your Facebook page, more members in your community?

I’m going to tell you straight out, there’s one step you can’t skip.

If you want more folks to love what you do, you have to be able to tell them why you love it yourself — clean, clear, fast — in ways they enjoy and understand.

It’s not that hard to do. It works this way …

If we make beautiful glass like this …

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… we have to be able to tell people what’s to love about it. Here’s how to do that.

  • Find the love stories in what you do. You can love the challenge. You can love the chase. You can love the heroic heritage. You can love what it does for people. You can love the time it saves. I love beautiful glass because it reminds me of the beautiful, beveled mirrors my dad used make. He taught me to appreciate the value of hot-sweat and workmanship.
  • Once you have the stories, find the ideal people to share those stories with. The people who love what you love are sure to think a lot like you do. You probably already know some of them. The first ones are probably very close to you. They probably have a few friends who have a few friends. To find the folks who value what you do, just share the irresistible stories and love behind the work that you do.
  • Tell the stories in ways that invite them to share stories of their own. Stories connect us in ways that small talk and transactions never will.
  • Listen carefully for details and doorways. Their stories will reveal their values — some the same and some unimaginably different from your own.
  • Pass on their stories to connect with new people new ways. Those might be people who work with what you make, who want to use it in different ways, who have ideas for partnerships.

The stories of what we value define us and better and faster than anything can. When we share those stories our relationships, our knowledge, our networks and our collections of stories expand. It’s a natural progression.

Whether we’re a huge corporation or a solopreneur, there’s no skipping this step …

If we want more fans, we have be a fan first.

How do you share your love for your work?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Be Irresistible!

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Check Out GizaPage! Bring Facebook and Twitter Fans Back Home to YOU

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Yesterday I got a chance to try out a new white label social media hub for brands and bloggers. It took me seconds to click a link and sign in.

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A click through and I was here. In seconds, I could access my social profiles from one page.

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But that’s not what makes it cool.

GizaPage lets fans engage across all social media profiles from within the brand’s or blogger’s website.

Direct-To-Profile GizaLinks allow a brand or a blogger to send fans directly into their various social profiles without ever leaving their own website.

For example, consider the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History – An original Facebook link on Smithsonian’s homepage would direct the fans away from Smithsonian’s website to http://www.facebook.com/nmnh.fanpage?ref=ts. However, with a Direct-To-Profile GizaLink, Facebook would open within Smithsonian’s own website, http://social.mnh.si.edu/facebook. The fans can then engage on Facebook, Twitter, or any of the brand’s social profiles in one unified environment.

Click this screenshot to see it live.

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And did I say that GizaPage comes with analytics?

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It’s worth checking out.

And after you try it. I’d like to know how it worked for you.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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How Your Instincts Will Blow It for You, if You Don’t STOP!

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Strategy Is More Than Meets the Eye

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When I was small I liked to hold up my thumb and index finger to frame a tall building in the horizon to make it seem as if the building was smaller than my hand. Today I took picture of the face of my full-sized keyboard that makes it appear as if all of the keys fit into less than a 2-inch high span.

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We know it isn’t true, but our eyes want to believe it. Humans do that kind of thing a lot. Our senses and our instincts sometimes lead us down a shaky path. They tell us that the Earth is flat; that stars are tiny; and that when we are threatened we should fight or run.

It’s all perspective and assumptions.

How Your Instincts Will Blow It for You, if You Don’t STOP!

We have a conflict in a meeting, get a nasty comment on Twitter or some writes a critical blog post about us and instinct kicks in. Our hearts start pumping and our minds begin to form a defense. It’s the “flight or fight” instinct and it will blow it for us, if we don’t watch out.

Few things in our work or social lives need the protection from deadly consequence of the fight or flight instinct. We’re more rational now. Yet the reptile part of our brains still emits the adrenalin that makes us want to respond more quickly than our thinking. We’re ready to put out fires, but the best firefighters focus on the results.

If we respond while we’re still focused on the event, our perspective and assumptions are like the pictures of the building and keyboard — out of proportion to reality. We lose sight of other points of view and possibilities. Other people become tiny enough to squash. It’s easy to snap, crack, bend, or break something or ourselves, only to find out later that we didn’t have the whole plot.

Hard as it might be to STOP and walk it off, a little time and distance from the “event” usually brings a clearer, calmer and more appropriate response.

  • Think about every possible reason, ludicrous and crazy that might have caused the event.
  • Think of how hard it might be to explain your fury to a stranger 10 years from now.
  • Realize the power you give when you take on the defense.
  • Decide how the person you want to be would rise to a response.
  • Think of the impact of your response on the people around you. If you respond on the Internet, think how you’ll see that response 1, 2, or 10 years from now when you see your words again.

You might question the behavior. You might ignore it. You might express your thoughts and future expectations. Or you might end a relationships because you’ve found out that your values don’t match up. It’s unlikely that you’ll instinctively throw water on a grease fire and make things worse.

Strategy is not automatic. Strategy is doing what works.

How do you keep your instincts from blowing for you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Beach Notes: Sandimal 3 – Cedric The Crocodile

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

This is our third “Sandimal” post, this time with the sand sculpture of a crocodile we have dubbed Cedric.

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The challenge we had with coming up with a few thoughts prompted by Cedric was that some of them were frankly scary. Although for Cedric it’s just about getting dinner on time.

Then we thought that a couple of things that have enabled Cedric’s kind to survive through 200 million years is that somewhere along the line they became very observant and very fast to take action at the right time, from apparent total inertia to explosive movement.

So here’s the thought. Secrets of survival – be highly observant and move very fast when opportunity knocks. In business it’s called “speed to market”.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh