Archive for the 'Online technologies' Category

There’s an app for high tech, not high touch

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 14, 2011
in Mobile technology and Online technologies
. 0 Comments

“There’s an app for that.”

This marketing slogan refers to a mobile app. A mobile app converts content and resources that otherwise would have been consumed through a browser on a computer desktop, to the much smaller and variably shaped screens on the many different kinds of hand-held devices. Mobile apps are proliferating because they are almost always handier and sexier than their website counterparts.

In 1998, broadband Internet connection was in less than 4% of households and almost no businesses. Reporting on this emerging capability, I made the macro prediction that the world would change when broadband Internet became ubiquitous and broadly adopted. Well, broadband ubiquity, today thy name is mobile. The proliferation of WiFi and mobile networks we know as 3G and 4G, has spawned mobile apps which are at once exciting and disruptive.

In 1998, broadband Internet connection was in less than 4% of households and almost no businesses. Reporting on this emerging capability, I made the macro prediction that the world would change when broadband Internet became ubiquitous and broadly adopted. Well, broadband ubiquity, today thy name is mobile. The proliferation of WiFi and mobile networks we know as 3G and 4G, has spawned mobile apps which are at once exciting and disruptive.

A generation before my broadband prognostication, a real prophet, John Naisbitt, published his landmark book, Megatrends, in which he prophesied, “The more high tech we have, the more high touch we will want.” In the 21st century, Naisbitt’s Law, balance technology and humanity, must be the North Star for any successful small business strategy.

So, how does a small business maintain a competitive advantage in the face of pressure from high tech innovation and the primordial human desire for high touch connection? The answer, as with so many 21st century questions, is not either/or, but both/and.

If you want customers to keep your business at their fingertips wherever they are, there’s an app for that. If a customer relationship would benefit from a welcoming smile, there is no app for that.

If a product tutorial video posted on your YouTube channel would help a customer in the field, there’s an app for that. To be able to interpret the troubled look on the face of a customer as a clue that you haven’t yet healed their pain, there is no app for that.

If customers want to check the status of an order they placed with you, whenever and wherever they are, a mobile app can be built for that. If customers do business with you because you remember their face, name and what they like, there is no app for that.

Remember Naisbitt’s Law: Blend and balance the power of high-tech with the humanity of high-touch.

There’s an app for high tech, but there isn’t one for high touch.

Click here to listen to more about blending high tech and high touch.

Check out other great SBA content HERE!

Are you feeling the pain of peer-to-peer?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on September 9, 2011
in Networking, Online technologies and Technology
. 0 Comments

How does your organization produce, share and secure digital information: peer-to-peer or server-based?

Peer-to-peer means stand-alone personal computers for every employee, connected to each other – if at all – over a local network also delivering Internet connection. Each PC has its own programs, files, data back-up and security. File sharing is possible, but not elegant. This is a classic small business system because of how we start and grow: one employee and PC at a time.

A server-based environment is the next level up. Growing businesses find that a server set-up provides more control over file management, sharing, back-up and security, plus efficiency when adding people.

A server is to a PC what a pair of overalls is to a hand-tailored suit – rugged, utilitarian and plain. It comes with a central processing unit (CPU) and hard drive(s), and is designed to “serve” workstations. All programs, storage, back-up and security resides on the server, instead of at the desktop. And file sharing? Servers are born to share files like a thoroughbred is born to run.

So how does a small business know when to make the leap from peer-to-peer to server?

The rap on converting to server-based has long been that it was big business complicated. For a small business to jump to a server system, the peer-to-peer environment had to be so unproductive that the pain had to be worse than the conversion challenges. But here’s good news: Today you can convert before the pain becomes unbearable.

For a few years now, technology companies have made server hardware and software much more adoption and user friendly for smaller companies, especially with the creation of something called a “server appliance.” This is a features-rich server with pre-loaded software designed to reduce conversion headaches. You just plug your new box into an electrical outlet and your network and, bada-bing, bada-bam, you’re server-based, baby, with central data back-up, security, file sharing – maybe even a phone system. Now, adding a new user is much easier than buying a new PC.

Most providers of these small business-friendly servers distribute them through one of your neighbors, a local small business computer company. Contact one in your area and let them help you decide if it’s time to make the jump to a server platform and which system is best for you.

Don’t let peer-to-peer pain get too bad before considering converting to a server.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: Browser Wars 2011

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on September 2, 2011
in Online technologies and Technology
. 0 Comments

Recently, in the Small Business Advocate poll, we asked this question: “You have many browsers options to choose from as you surf the Internet. Which of these browsers do you use most often?” Here are the results:

24% - Firefox
48% - Internet Explorer
12% - Safari
16% - Chrome
0% - Other

Jim’s Comments:

Sometime in the spring of 1995, businesses and the public were allowed for the first time to post commercial HTML “web” pages on the Internet. If you remember those early days, you might enjoy being reminded that the browser you used was likely the Netscape Navigator.

We didn’t ask too much of Navigator, we were just glad to have a piece of software that would give you better access to the information super-highway. Then, like most things, someone came along and tinkered with improving browser capability as folks began to see the power of this Internet interface.

Of course, the Big Daddy of browsers is now Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or simply “IE.” The reason IE reached the level of being the most used browser was due to it being bundled with Microsoft Windows operating system that was loaded on virtually every PC purchased in the last dozen years that wasn’t a Macintosh.

Today, Internet users have an array of browser platforms to choose from, each with their own loyal users. In fact, it didn’t take too long after 1995 for the “Browser Wars” to start, which included International anti-trust cases.

We wanted to know what browsers our listeners and readers use, so last week we asked this question: “You have many browser options to choose from as you surf the Internet. Which of these browsers do you use most often?”

It was no surprise to me that the top vote-getter was Internet Explorer, coming in at 48%. But it must be noted that the size of IE’s dominance is diminishing.

It was also predictable that Mozilla’s Firefox came in second, with almost one-fourth of respondents preferring this platform. Firefox users may not be the largest, but they seem to be the most ardent devotees of a browser, so much so that I like to tease them by calling them Firefox elitists, or snobs.

Google’s Chrome browser came in with a strong 16% of our sample. Many people are drawn to all things Google. And Apple’s Safari came in last, with 14% making this choice. This number is likely up due to the growth of the iPad, which uses Safari as the default browser.

On my primary computer, a laptop, I use IE most of the time and Firefox to a lesser degree. With my iPad I use what Apple loaded on it, Safari. I have never used Chrome.

The good news is we have lots of browser choices, except with the iPad, which apparently only allows Safari.

Be sure to take this week’s poll HERE!

Access other great SBA content HERE!

Small Business Advocate Poll: How do you consume online media?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on August 17, 2011
in Mobile technology and Online technologies
. 0 Comments

Which Internet-connecting device do you use most often for surfing, social media, podcasts, and video?

94% - Personal computer (desktop or notebook)

6% - Smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc.)

0% - Tablet (iPad, etc.)

My Commentary:

For most of the last 16 years, the device we used to consume online content - text, graphic and streaming media - was the personal computer - desktops and laptops. But simultaneous with improvements to content delivery software, innovators were also busy creating new hardware and broadband capability that expanded our device and mobility horizons: laptops, small-form computers, tablets and the increasingly ubiquitous Smart Phone, all with connections to the Internet by WiFi and mobile 3G and 4G networks.

With all of these choices, we wanted to know what our small business audience was using, so recently, we asked this question: “Which Internet-connecting device do you use most often for surfing, social media, podcasts and video?”

It was no surprise that the personal computer came in first, but we were surprised to see that it was still so dominant, with 94% of our respondents using PCs as their primary device. The Smart Phone (iPhone, Android, etc.) came in second, with a surprisingly low 6% of our respondents.

The biggest surprise was that none of our sample chose the Tablet (iPad, etc.) as their primary device. But that will change.

When we take this poll again a year from now, Smart Phones and Tablets will have taken a much bigger bite out of PC usage.

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Check out other great SBA content HERE!

What kind of mobile phone do you use?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on June 2, 2011
in Mobile strategy, Mobile technology, Online strategy and Online technologies
. 0 Comments

For some time now, I’ve been encouraging small business owners to buy and use a smart phone - the kind that allows those cool mobile apps to be downloaded - like an iPhone or a phone with Google Droid operating system. The reason is because mobile computing is the future. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google said he expected Google to be more successful in the future with mobile than they ever had been with the desktop.

We wanted to know what kind of hand-held communication device you were using, so last week we asked this question: What kind of mobile phone do you have? Here’s what our small business audience told us:

Those who said they used some kind of a smart phone, represented 53% of our respondents. The rest, 47%, said they were still using a regular cell phone. Based on industry numbers about the smart phone adoption rate of all users (27%), our survey would indicate that small business owners are employing smart phones to a higher degree.

I love it when people listen to me.

On The Small Business Advocate Show, I’ve talked with Chuck Martin, author of the new book, The Third Screen, many times about the future of mobile computing and creating a mobile strategy to remain relevant in the 21st century. Click here to see all of the conversations I’ve had with Chuck on this important topic.

Don’t make a business wardrobe faux pas

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 28, 2010
in Online technologies and e-Business
. 0 Comments

The late comedian, George Gobel, once joked that he felt like the whole world was a tuxedo and he was a pair of brown shoes. Some small businesses may be starting to relate due to their uncompetitive Internet capability.

 

Not too long ago, a national survey indicated that half of small businesses don’t have a website. This number is difficult to believe, but it’s probably pretty accurate. Some business owners still don’t understand that a website is not just for selling things online, the way Amazon does. More often than not, customers just want to find out who you are, what you sell, why they should care and how to contact you.

 

Recently, when we asked our audience about their websites in an online poll, six of 10 of our respondents said their website is a critical part of their business. And a little more than a third said they have a website, but it was just an online brochure. Even the five percent who don’t have a website said they intend to get one.

 

So why do our findings differ so much from the research mentioned first? Clearly, members of my audience, by definition, are smarter and higher adopters of technology than the average small business owner. After all, how could you hang around with me for very long without succumbing to the pressure, guilt and shame I lay on anyone who is not taking advantage of the Internet? To paraphrase Erich Segal, tough love means never having to say you’re sorry.

But while it’s difficult to believe that 50% of small businesses do not have a website, our 95% adoption number likely indicates that those who don’t have a website won’t admit it, even anonymously.  It might seem like twisted logic, but it’s a good thing to be self-conscience, if not embarrassed, about not having something so essential to 21st century business success.

 

Your world of customers and competitors is proceeding to dress itself up with the online capability equivalent of a tuxedo. If you’re inadequate Internet capability has you feeling uncomfortable about being uncompetitive or, worse, irrelevant, congratulations; not because you showed up at a formal event in a pair of brown shoes, but because being aware of the deficiency is the first step of many toward getting your business properly dressed for success.

Here are three of several places where you can get a website produced and hosted quickly and for low or no cost.  Yola.com, Homestead.com and Webs.com.

 

If you have a Web presence, keep improving and upgrading it. If you don’t, get one.

Recently on The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about the importance of having a web presence with Anita Rosen, author of several books, including E-Commerce a Question and Answer Book, and e-Learning 2.0. Anita is also president of ReadyGo.com and a valued member of my Brain Trust. Click on one of the links below to listen to our conversation, and, as always, leave your comments.

 

How difficult is it for prospects to find your business online? with Anita Rosen 

How does your website serve prospects and customers? with Anita Rosen