Virtually New Networks

Have you noticed the changes in computing in the last 10 years?  

Much has happened, is there anything we can’t do on our computing devices?  That right there– computing devices– that concept has changed.  10 years ago the desktop still ruled.  Many of us have used laptops, but the majority of the devices around were desktop computers. Today, that’s just not so.  Many people have even abandoned their notebook computer for a tablet such as iPad or Android– and a Smartphone.  They check their email on either device.  They get directions, find restaurants, buy movie tickets or anything else on one of these.  

Do you ever take time to think about how networks have changed?  A network was something you had in your office.  You probably had a server or a few servers, and your shared files and printers with everyone on your staff. You probably still do.

Today we talk about cloud computing, but sometimes people don’t know what they mean by that.  Cloud computing is really just about how the functions we do every day are now available on any device we want to use.  The device doesn’t matter, the real power is in the cloud.  That means it’s on a server but usually not like the old server.  This server is in a professionally managed Data Center somewhere– anywhere.  It is climate controlled, and protected like you can’t believe.  Most of us don’t even know where these Data Centers are.  And we don’t need to know.  It’s just there when we need it.  And we get all stressed if it isn’t around for a few hours or even a few minutes.  

Most of my work life I’ve worked with smaller networks.  These networks changed in complexity over the years but I still worked with small to mid-sized companies who were providing services for between 4 and 100 workstations.  Today I have a hard time suggesting the same setup for my customers.  Things changed.  While the cost of technology has come down, the cost of servers has gone up.  The network is really now, The Internet.  We are all connected whether we think we are or not.  Actual prices of servers are up, and the management of those servers becomes costly.  And every 3 to 5 years we need to swap it all out and do it again.  We can try to make that cycle longer, but there are all kinds of pressures to change.  It becomes very expensive and the costs are out of our control for the most part.

But the Cloud is going to help the small customer as well.  The small customer can now use the power of the Cloud for their benefit.  I hope to explore some of the ways we can benefit in follow up articles.  But basically a Network can now be purchased as a Service in The Cloud.  This is called Network as a Service (NaaS).  You don’t buy hardware to update it.  You don’t buy tape backup units, or dedicate a room to the Servers.  You order what you need as a Service.  You can scale up or scale back down as your business requires.  You don’t have to wait for replacement parts to be shipped to you, and you may not even need to worry about software licenses of standard OS or Major Applications.  You can add servers for special projects even.  Everything is taken care of for your standard monthly fee.

Sure there may be some things that are outside of the standard fee but the basics are generally handled.  This changes how you make decisions about your local (or virtual) network.  The rules are completely different. Some are already using Software as a Service (SaaS).  Maybe you use a hosted version of your accounting program or your email.  If so, you have already made one step.  Why not move the whole network?  It makes a lot of sense as the next step.

You don’t have to worry about what used to frighten you.  You now worry more about your business and not about the Network.  As I say I have some follow ups from this concept and lots to share, but for now this is a good start.  Just know that it can all be much easier.  The small business can act like a big business.  And the small business can actually afford it.

Transfer Large Files

I needed to transfer a 300+ MB file from one computer to another over the Internet.  Typically there a a few options available to me for this purpose but in the particular case none of those worked.

So I begin a search for Transferring Large files and I found an article that reviewed some tools for doing this.  I tried to leave it up in a browser so I could post a link to it but last night my computer loaded some updates and reboot and now I can’t find it again.  If I do I will post it. 

One of the options I came across and have used before was yousendit.com .  The problem was this has a limit of something like 100 MB and most of the solutions have such a limit unless you pay for a subscription.  I don’t need a subscription to do this like 2 times a year. 

A couple of the options caught my eye because they allowed for pretty large files and you didn’t even have to register or give them your name.

One that I tried was transferbigfiles.com this was pretty cool.  I believe it would transfer 1GB files for free.  You tell it the file name and give them an email to send it to.  They upload the file to their storage using Amazon S3 technology (which is basically Amazon selling huge amounts of internet storage for little money).  The only problem I had was not knowing it it was uploading.  This size file would take over an hour to upload and the status meter just froze.  Of course as the site says this is in Beta so it may or may not have been working but I wasn’t patient.

The winner, and the one I ended up using was pipebytes.com.  It worked great.  You tell it which file to send and it gives you a web address for the recipient to go to to begin the transfer.  You don’t give them  any other info and the file doesn’t go onto their servers.  It is transferred directly from one computer to another.  And the best news is it gave me a progress meter that worked (but it is also still in Beta).  It’s free too.  However for free you only get a transfer rate of 512 Kbps.  I suppose that could be adequate but I went ahead and  bought what they called a speedpass.  I was under the gun and it was getting late so didn’t want to take a chance that it would be super slow.  With a speedpass it will transfer as fast as 3 Mbps (depending on the sending and receiving network setup).  I purchased a 24 hour speedpass for $.99.  Less than a dollar and my 300+ MB file transferred in about 1 hour.  It worked like a charm and I thought I would share it.

Sometimes life just meshes

So We’ve been working on a test.  This test went well.  We started about 7 months ago or so but I don’t remember the exact date.  Here was the issue…

We are a small business with a few computers in the office, Laptops are key because we take them with us wherever we go.  But like a lot of people we don’t have great backups.  We don’t have a server currently (although we have in the past).  We also don’t have a good tape backup system in case everything crashes, even though I recommend them for some customers our resources don’t require it.  In the past we kept files on the laptops backed up to the server.  We bought an external drive to keep some files backed up but only had one drive to share between computers which doesn’t really work that well.  Also it doesn’t work great to have an external drive for each computer because it becomes difficult to know where a file is or should be.  We are small but do need to share files sometimes which without a server didn’t work well.  Then a hard drive crashed on one laptop and although many files are on the External drive there were still some key things lost.

So we had tried a few different ways of working around these issues and then I came across an notification of a new product by Microsoft called Mesh (www.mesh.com)  They say Sync, Share, Access.

I thought this could help.  So first step was install the mesh app on our laptops (need a Live ID for this such as a hotmail account etc.)  So by doing that and setting up some mesh folders for my important docs I now have an Internet backup of my files for free up to 5 Gigabytes.  This is very cool -- one big problem down.  Now if my hard drive crashes I still have my files in “the cloud”.  I previously played with Microsoft’s Skydrive and this is a cool tool but you have to upload the files you want to backup and download them if you want to use them.  Skydrive can work well for archiving files that I don’t access regularly or for placing files I need when at a customers office such as drivers or some work files.  However with Mesh I just use the files on my computer (in the mesh folders) and if I change them they are automatically synched for me.  I hope they expand the size to 25 GB like Skydrive did. 

Now the next step in the test.   Sync was taken care of now for Share.  We created a folder which we can share.  So we have files in this folder which all of us can work on.  If I open the file and make a change I then save it, once it is synched the others can open it and see the changes I made.  Very cool and we don’t even have to be in the same building on the same network.  Of course these days everybody is all on the same network and that is the point isn’t it.  So Share worked out great for us.  We work on the same files without having to worry about version copies or duplicates getting confused.

The next step is Access but I haven’t played with that because I always have my laptop around and I don’t need to access it remotely.  Maybe someday I’ll test that feature as well but just with the Sync and Share I’m a happy person.  A lot of problems are solved and Microsoft has a winner.  This is the future of the Internet, there are other takes on the subject and we will see more done in this world of mass-collaboration.  This one is simple and worked wonders for me.  Solves some of my problems and if you think ahead actually provides many new opportunities for me to collaborate with others.  Maybe someday you and I will have a shared folder.  Then our lives will Mesh!

Make sure your business is listed in an Internet search!

Last Sunday I found out about another great tool for businesses. And it’s FREE! Ever go searching online for a local veterinarian or plumber? Remember how cool it was when you typed the city, state, and business category … and …voila – a list of businesses appeared for you to research? I probably use that type of search every day for one reason or another. In the back of my mind I’ve wondered if I could list my business there as well. Turns out I can, and so can you.

Google and Microsoft (Bing) both offer the opportunity to plug businesses into their search engines for local business searches. Google’s option is in their Local Business Center (http://www.google.com/local/add) and Microsoft Bing is in their Local Listing Center (https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx). The two services are virtually identical and allow you to create a business listing for your business complete with address, phone, website, email, and a brief description of your product or services. They even show where you are on a map! I think that’s pretty cool. I don’t know why, but all this technology stuff still excites me! You can also input additional details about your business including your business category (type of business), operating hours, and the payment options that you allow. Upload a video (next on my list!) or pictures; input other information such as parking availability and the brands that you carry. They even leave some blank fields for you to add information relevant to your business specifically. Your information is validated with a phone call (Google - be sure to be right by the phone because they call immediately) or by mailing you a post card (Google or Bing). Simple as that. Oh, did I mention, IT’S FREE!

If you have a business and don’t want to pay a fortune (I mean a fortune!) to advertise in the yellow pages, this is the way to go. I mean how many of you actually go to one of those old paper phone books that they still to this day deliver to your doorstep when looking for a business? Not me, when I’m looking for someone to repair my leaky faucet, the first place I go is to the internet. And the search engines I use are Google and Bing. Now when your prospective customers are looking for your product or service, maybe they’ll see your Local Business Listing and give you a call. That big phone book is good for other things though, like giving your little ones a boost at the table or killing flies! Save a tree, list your business in the online search engines. Being internet savvy is being “green”!

[Chester Adds] On the Google Local Business Center you can also enter coupons! That’s right you can offer a special deal on your super-duper whatever for the month of August and hopefully generate a little extra business from the people who find you in a search. Google AdWords will cost you, but these Local Business Center Coupons are also… FREE. Ok, maybe you already knew all of this and if you did, how come you didn’t tell us? We want to make sure all of you who have small (or even big) businesses know about this feature. Even if you run a side business out of your house you can list your business, direct people to your website or blog, and offer coupons to first time customers without doing anything more than spending a little of your time to set it up. And I would like to see Kristin kill a fly with a phone book… a person could hurt themselves doing that.

Costco refills InkJet Printer Cartridges

Ok maybe you already knew this.  I’ve seen places that refill Ink Cartridges but my thinking was I wonder if you really get a good deal and if the quality is any good. 

Then I’m walking in Costco and saw a sign that says we refill print cartridges now.  I didn’t go WOW or anything but it somehow stuck.  My wife says to me, “we need to purchase some new ink cartridges for the printer” and POP there came back the memory.  Extra bonus was that my wife had been saving cartridges because she was going to donate them or recycle them or something.  So I take the cartridges over to Costco and they refilled them in about 20 minutes.  One of the color cartridges wouldn’t refill properly. 

So the whole thing cost about a third of what it would have cost to buy new.  I trust Costco more than some other place.  Apparently not all Costcos provide this service.  Also from calling around a little I found that some of the Costcos send it out to a store that does do it and it can take 3 days to turn them around.  Usually this service is done in the One Hour Photo section of the store. 

I thought this was pretty cool.

What can you do with twitter? Shop til you drop.

I have seen people ask questions about twitter.com and the quick answer is twitter is a micro-blogging tool giving you 140 characters to write whatever you want.  But then you just kind of look around and say, so!  None-the-less twitter has become popular so you have to figure that there must be more.  In technology all great companies are not just building something cool but providing a platform on which very cool stuff can be added.  So twitter is apparently providing such a platform.

Just found out about this new service which is based on twitter and can help you find answers while shopping.  You can send a question and get answers within minutes, Techcrunch calls it a shopping 411 service.  If you can twitter mobile then you can get your info while out at the store.  If you are shopping on your computer you get it there. 

I don’t know about you but when I am shopping I have a bunch of questions, this could very well be helpful. 

http://www.imshopping.com/ (You can go to this site to see what they say about themselves and see some of the questions people are asking.  When I looked somebody asked “Where can I get Oaxaca Mole paste in the bay area?”  It had been asked 9 minutes before and was already answered with two locations to try.)

http://twitter.com/imshopping (on twitter you can see what’s happening and follow them)

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/29/imshopping-is-a-human-powered-product-search-engine-for-twitter/ (Techcruch’s posting about this new service.

Have fun shopping, and now you are not alone.

Technorati Tags: IMShopping,shopping,twitter

Does saving money mean cutting back quality?

In a word NO, at least I don’t think so.  It can mean that-- but today, or really at any point in history it doesn’t really mean that the quality of your product/service has to become worse.  In fact I believe that often when we go through tough economic times we find out what is necessary and cut out fat – or unproductive efforts.  Often once we find out what is really important and focus on that, we actually improve the quality of our service.  For some reason when times are good we bloat as companies (and often as people).

Challenge: If your business is currently hurting due to tough economics then take some of the free time you probably now have to reconsider your operation.  Look at what is important.  Try to think of better ways to take care of your customers.  When you do this consider using cheaper technology to help (as a technology person for 25 years I believe today we have some of the coolest and cheapest technology available right now for operating, marketing and accounting for your business).

I did this back a while ago.  I considered my business of supporting customers corporate networks:  People wanted to use their networks but often when they just jump in without rules or a plan they mess up their computers and the costs to support their systems were climbing.  I wanted to help but I couldn’t see providing my service for free or lowering my hourly rate.

So, I reconsidered the whole thing.  I came up with an idea I called proAktivR.  In this plan I felt that I could monitor some key functions on a corporate network for a flat amount each month and that this would lower my customers support costs.  Added to this would be some rules that the computer users should follow (and then of course monitor if they are indeed following those rules).  This isn’t about restricting they way people use their computers to perform their jobs, it is about keeping computers running to perform the job and doing so at less cost.  Every company has slightly different rules because people need to be able to do different things.  Sorry if this sounds like an advertisement I probably could have come up with other examples but this one is close to me, so it’s more personal.

This is what I’m talking about.  Cut costs but not the quality.  This may be a bad example because people won’t want to hear it but it’s like a DIET.  You often don’t need to eat less just eat different.  If you are eating High Sugar, High Carb foods that process through your system quickly and don’t provide the proper nutrition you need you won’t be operating at peek performance and you may be more bloated than if you ate better proteins, better carbs and more vegetables.  Both eating plans will keep your tummy full but they are very different. 

Maybe it’s time for business to change it’s eating plan.  It’s definitely time to become more creative.

Inspiration from the Depression

A little bit ago I read a book about the Great Depression and posted about it,  I gave some reasons that I found it depressing.  Those are probably still valid but today I am finding a really cool benefit about studying that time period in our history. 

You know how if you go look at a car in the showroom all the sudden you seem to start seeing those kind of cars everywhere.  Well that's happening in this subject.  I seem to come across stories about business from the era of the Great Depression.  I have to admit that my reason for reading the book and studying the subject was that I figured some people came out of the Depression ok.  Not everybody had to suffer.  Well the stories that keep coming up are of people hurt financially during the Depression who struck out and started a new business and succeeded.  I was reading about a guy who actually started a Stock Brokerage in 1930 (1929 was the big crash).  He actually made a living doing it.

This has been exciting to me and as I look around now I don't see as much despair I see opportunities.  In fact there are likely opportunities in the very areas that are hurting the most, if history has any bearing on this situation.  It's very difficult for me to explain how excited I actually am as I look around and think... what if!  I'm not noticing the problems -- I'm seeing opportunities and that is very liberating.  Something else I wrote about before is that our thoughts become our realities and boy that means good times are ahead not bad one.  Keep your head up, notice the opportunity and get excited.

Sometimes computer support is humorous

Like the other day I was taking calls from different customers.  One customer had a situation in which email attachments had become blocked and they couldn't be opened.  I tried to say that wasn't all bad because of the rash of virus' problems we are having with attachments.  They wanted the situation remedied anyway so they could open attachments.  Then later I get a call from another customer who just had their computer wiped out by a virus from an email attachment.  Ok maybe it's not funny but it's interesting how things like that work out.

Click your way to destruction

I have written before and warned my customers as well as friends to be careful where you click.  I would like to believe I've been pretty helpful but I also feel I should  let everyone know about more.

Many of us are getting on social networks, a big one that many of my friends are on is facebook (one friend of mine joked that he was trying to find everyone on assbook before he realized where we were, we looked it up and it's a real site).  Facebook (FB) is a great place to connect with friends.  It is a safe contained environment in which you interact primarily with friends you have in the real world, maybe a few extras.  So your friends wouldn't do anything to harm you  would they?

Well back in the days of cool viruses such as *Melissa* and *I Love You* your friends would send you an email with the virus attached.  They didn't mean to but that's how viruses are.  Now we have junk folders and Microsoft is basically blocking all attachments by default.  If you get in and make the changes to allow attachments then the message is clear, "it's your fault if you get hosed". 

Well, a few days ago I had my facebook page open and  it has this cool Chat feature.  One of my friends sent me a chat, curiously as soon as she did the little circle by her name was red indicating she was offline.  The chat claimed she had gone to a website, filled out info and received a free iPhone--- I could also the link was right there.  I didn't click because I'm always suspicious, I also wasn't curious to find out what it was.  A few months back another friend was posting things on people's wall saying something about somebody having a crush on them, I think it was that it's been a while.

The point here is that people have figured out a way to use your facebook account to do things as you.  According to what I read on the facebook security page it appears this most likely happens as a result of phishing.  Phishing is a method of tricking you into giving up information about yourself such as your account name and password.  They do this to get into your bank account but also to do damage to your computer.  To become a victim of phishing you probably have to also click on something so always, always... ALWAYS be careful where you click.  Be careful of opening email attachments, and be careful of hyperlinks.  Make sure they go where they say they go (you can usually rest the mouse on the link and the real link will display).  Sometimes I don't even believe that so I have to check a lot of things first.  Often I still won't click on the link, there are a lot of things that aren't critical and those I just ignore.  If I think it is something I may need to see I may go to the site on my own not by clicking on the link.

So it's bad when you can't even trust your FB friends, but that's all part of being safe.  I have provided a link to some info about facebook security items and information.  Click it if you dare!

 

http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=420

The Great Depression is Depressing

Just been reading a book called "The Great Depression: Opposing Viewpoints".  I started reading it because of the problems our economy is in and talk has sometimes come around to the Depression.  Joe Bidden mentioned the Stock Market crash of 1929 during the Presidential election.  He made some errors about the facts but the issue is on some minds.  I wanted to see if there were similarities between then and now.  I have often heard that we learned a lot from those times and we now have safeguards in place so we keep it from happening again.

My reason for reading the book was to see if I could determine what people did who avoided much of the problems of the Depression, after all not everybody was hungry and destitute.  The best answer I can come up with is that it is better to be the person who has money and is lending it out rather than the person who is borrowing money.  I believe you are probably better off to have a few thousand dollars but don't owe anything on your car or house than to be a person with millions in debt flying around in a leased Jet.  Many of us would rather be the second guy but that may change.

So now I finished the book and I'm worried.  The book makes use of speeches and newspaper articles, etc written at the time of the Depression and written on both sides of a topic.  Both sides sometimes did not mean Liberal or Conservative but sometimes meant Liberal and Radically Liberal.  As I read these viewpoints I hear a lot of familiar statements.  In many ways it sounds much like today's news. 

There are two really big questions I still have about the Great Depression, Why did it start? What happened to bring it to an end?

I don't believe anybody has the "real" answer to those two questions.  There are many theories and most of those come from whether you believe Government should regulate businesses as well as the people or not.  Both sides made really good points.  I personally tend to think that the Government should stay out of our business for the most part and that if it did problems would correct themselves.  Of course I have no way of knowing if that would really work because it's not been tried under pressure.  On the other hand a person who believes in Government regulations may also say their methods haven't been tried either as many believed FDR did not go far enough with his resolutions and that is why it took about 10 years to come out of the problems. 

Maybe the answer as in much of life is *balance*.  Most of the time the Government should stay out of the way but in times of crisis the Governments (Federal, State, Local) are in unique positions to  devote money and resources to correct.  As with the Depression many programs were begun but are no longer with us.  Only a few survived once the economy recovered. 

Any way causes or solutions I don't have an answer-- but unfortunately I am of the belief that we have not yet learned enough to avoid the problem again.  I hope I'm wrong.  We have difficult financial times which much of the current news blames on lack of management by the outgoing Republican Administration.  We now have an incoming Democrat Administration determined to "fix" the problems by Government regulation. Maybe they can fix the problem in 10 years or maybe their regulation will drag us through difficulty for 10 years.  I personally hope neither is true, mainly because I don't want to go through 10 years of difficulty no matter what the reason.  But I do think it's beginning to sound a lot like 1932.

Live Online Chat

Ok, so I was trying to use technology and rather than call the number on the website I clicked on their little button that says "Chat Online".  I've used these before and the communication can be tricky but this one was funny I thought.  For my purposes absolutely useless but funny.    I was trying to find out some details about their online Exchange Hosting.  A separate window came up and here is what I got:

Kelly Says: My name is Kelly and I am a chat representative with Web.com here to answer any questions you may have.

Kelly Says: Just type 'HI' or 'Hello' in the space below to let me know you are there.

You: HI

Kelly Says: Hi, thanks for chatting with me today - I am here to answer any questions you have.

Kelly Says: What are your questions on Web.com’s services?

You: I'm looking at the Hosted Exchange service.

Kelly Says:CLICK HERE for a FREE web consultation on what our experts can do for you.

You: I don't understand how that relates.

Kelly Says: Web.com offers a virtual one-stop-shop of simple, feature-rich web tools and services including do-it-yourself and professional website design, website hosting, eCommerce, web marketing and e-mail.

You: is this a real person and are you reading my comments?

Kelly Says: My name is Kelly and I'm a live virtual agent.

You: Ok, like I said I'm looking at the Exchange Hosting.

Kelly Says: At Web.com, we know how important it is to have personal service at your fingertips – that’s why we have a team of professional designers, customer support and technical assistance dedicated to helping your web presence succeed!

You: your not live.

Kelly Says: A website is only as good as the services and support behind it. Web.com has combined professional web design, on-demand website modifications and cutting-edge online marketing services to help businesses succeed online.

After this I just stopped typing, what was the use.  Not sure what I learned from this but maybe someday if I have an online chat feature for customers I probably shouldn't use a program to respond, or be up front that we will be mostly putting out our marketing message not responding to your actual questions, on my side I guess I never did get around to asking the question I wanted to find out, mostly because I had doubts that it would be understood.

 

I though this was a bit of humor to my otherwise stressful day.

Change

It's political season with the election of a new U.S. President.  And of course one thing we keep hearing is "change".  The candidates promise that they will change things.  It's hard to believe them and yet they keep using that line. 

There are many phrases that we hear so often they don't seem to have any meaning any longer... and yet they are still important.  Ok so I'm not going to go on and on about politics it's just that I am campaigning myself to change my company.  For me it's pretty easy its a one and a half person company basically (my wife helps part time).  I don't really see that part changing any time soon but I do want to expand beyond what I can do myself.   I have written before about these plans and you know what.  No matter how much I want to do something it is still difficult to change a small company like mine.  (It doesn't give me much hope that a politician will change the whole country.) 

So I'm out campaigning for change again and trying desperately to make it happen.  The key this time is that I'm forcing myself to think and work differently.  I won't get into too many specifics but basically I've chained myself to the desk (or computer) and I'm forcing myself to find other ways to get things done.  I'm thinking more like all businesses.  Take a doctor for example.  Used to be they made house calls.  If you got sick they would come over and take a look.  They don't do that any more, and why???   Well because it's not very cost effective.  You have to come to their office now.  And if it's a real emergency they send over an ambulance to pick you up.  They outsourced that service and do it better really.  The ambulance can drive at top speeds to get to you with lights flashing.  They have tons of equipment and they can bring you in if they need to.  They even have a bed in the back for you.  By everyone focusing on their strengths the response available in an emergency today is amazing.  The little country doctor could hardly conceive of a service the way it is.  So now you could tell me there are all kinds of problems in the field of health care but can you really imagine us going back to the doctor who makes office visits.  I'm sure they still exist and are extremely well paid. at that. 

Things change and so must I.  That's what I'm looking at and it still isn't easy but like I say it's necessary.  It seems like nobody wants me to change and I even fight it but it must happen no matter what.  That's exciting.  Hopefully somebody will still vote for me.

Be careful what you think,because your thoughts run your life.

The title of this blog is from an ancient proverb.  I'm writing about this because I keep coming across the concept in business books and after years it's beginning to sink in.

What you think becomes what you do and who you are!

The thoughts in your head are real... or at least they become real.  The bad news is it's not only good thought but also bad thoughts.

As I say, this isn't a new thing.  Business books have talked about it for a long time.  The grandfather of all inspirational business books is by an author called Napoleon Hill and it's called "Think and Grow Rich".  I have to admit I haven't read the book yet and now after reading so many of the follow-up books I realize I need to read it.

Of course the concept existed long before that.  The ancient proverb titling this post was written about 3000 years ago.

I have become convinced that it is true that you can sit around and imagine things will go wrong in your plans and eventually they will.  You can also control your mind to think that you will be successful in your plan even if adversity arises.  When a problem comes up you control what the outcome is.  You can decide that this set-back is only temporary.  You can come up with a solution or a work-around.  This is how successful people of all kinds do their work and have done for years.  This is of course a much bigger picture than money and finances, it applies to everything.  You set your goals and then you decide what to do as you work on those goals as "real life" comes along. 

The real life we live and work in is truly a battlefield in our head first.  Control your thinking and you will control your life.  What you think is reality much more so than what circumstances are happening around you.

Technorati Tags: thoughts become reality,think,becareful what you think

Is there such a thing as a good meeting?

I fortunately don't have to go to many meetings.  I'm glad about that.

I think my problem with meetings is that I don't understand how to have a good one.  I guess if you consider a meeting a social event in which friendships are built then I have had some good ones.  Most of the time however they seem to me a waste of time. 

With current online tools it seems to me that there are more efficient ways to get things accomplished than meetings.  Online meetings for example are better than running around and certainly than flying in for the meeting. 

Seems to me the best meeting is one in which a lot of preparation is done.  If preparation is done then there are often more efficient ways to present that information that wasting an hour just to be in each others presence.  That said getting to know people personally and professionally is a good thing but it just seems there are more fun ways to accomplish that than a meeting.

I'm going to try to work on this topic.  If anybody has any advice I look forward to hearing from you.  I'm looking for better ways to accomplish work than in a meeting.  Emails are good but they can lead to much mis-communication.  Like I say working on a way to improve the process.

Tell the Truth

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day, actually emailing is more accurate... about business.  He is in Germany and he said he has discovered that he is too nice to be fully effective in business.  He tries to "soften the blow" so to speak when it comes to sensitive matters.  Sometimes customers disagree and he doesn't want to offend so he is careful how he phrases what he tells them.  Well the problem is the customer ends up with a low opinion about his skills.  How does my friend know this?  He watches others with less skill than him succeed with the customer by telling them they are idiots.

So my friend figures he needs to tell the customer they are idiots!

I thought must be tough to work in Germany, then I thought well, "it's probably like that in New York from what I hear".  And then I realized it's really like that everywhere.  Well sort of.

Both my friend and I realize we aren't made that way, we can't tell the customer they are an idiot if they do something.  BUT... we can tell the truth. 

When it comes to computers, I have been there.  I have been in front a customer with a computer/network problem.  I have come up with a reason that the problem was coming up and the customer wasn't receptive, because they would have to change their ways.  I have at that point noticed they weren't really receiving the message and tried to "soften the blow" rather than stick to what I think.  The result is they love me for a few moments more but eventually they become frustrated and blame me for their problems.  But, but, I tried to tell them!

So now I try to be brutally honest and everything goes well.  Oops, I'm supposed to be telling the truth.  No it doesn't always go well.  I have lost customers telling them the way I see it and sticking to the facts as I see them.  That really hurts.  The sad part is I knew I was right and eventually they find out I was right but it still hurts and I still don't have that business ($$$). 

But I would rather loose business for telling the truth than for letting them feel good about being an idiot.

Time Travel

I often wish I could go back in time and make a few adjustments.  of course when I think about it I really like the way things have turned out so I would only want to change the past if I could still learn the valuable lessons. 

So since that is all impossible I have another idea about time.  Maybe it's Time Management but really it's about having more free time.

When you have your own business it seems that you can work as much as you would like to.  Some entrepreneurs are work-a-holics and they go into business so they can work night and day and have it count for them.  I'm not really after that myself.  When I talk about Time Management I don't want to try to cram more stuff into my day.  I want to have lots of free time and make every minute count double for the effort I put in.

As a technology buff (nice way of saying geek) I fall into the trap of plugging into my computer at the beginning of the day.  I have my Cell Phone, my Vonage VoIP phone and Skype all at my disposal.  In addition I also have Windows Live Messenger loaded up so people can chat with me in real time and I can see my attached Hotmail messages... and of course Outlook is always open which receives (and sends) email from about 5 email accounts (and aliases) I have for business and personal uses.  So I am plugged in and am excited about the possibilities of even being more connected. 

I am realizing what that means... Lot's of Interruptions.  I may as well carry my laptop into a mall or some other busy location just to see if I can become any less productive. 

So I am working on trying to control these interruptions by setting "meeting" times during which I handle my communications.  The difficulty I face is that I can't unplug or my customers may consider me un-reachable.  I have always tried to respond back to them as quickly as I can. This is yet another opportunity to use Other People's Time (OPT). 

I don't have all the answers figured out yet but as always it's fun to get out some of the ideas.  Maybe someday I'll get some replies to these posts and I'll learn some better ways.

Motivation from Mixed Nuts

Many times I get fired up by reading a new book.  When I read I find my mind begins to get creative and think of new possibilities.  Last night motivation came from watching a Movie.  The movie was titled "Mixed Nuts"(1994) and the plot is described as "The events focus around a crisis hotline business on one crazy night during the Christmas holidays." 

Why did it motivate me?  I'm not exactly sure.  In the movie Steve Martin's character is having a number of business challenges.  By the end of the movie all the events come together to make some really good things happen.

So first of all I'm glad that in my business challenges I have never had the kinds of difficulties his Crisis Hotline experiences.  I haven't had the absolute level of craziness.  That's good but I haven't also had the events all wrap up so neatly either... that's too bad.

Also there is a message that sometimes when an event happens and I think it is going to turn out absolutely horrible it doesn't.  Sometimes... Often good things can come out of negative circumstances.  Some times you have to look harder than others.

This movie has been out for a while and I had watched it before.  I didn't recall it much and previously it didn't provide the motivation.  But now years later I was in the right frame of mind and open to the particular craziness that went on in the movie.  Also it was a Free Movie on my Comcast - OnDemand programming that will expire soon. 

This was a fun movie, reminded me to focus on the good things that come out of a situation and I recommend it.  More or less good for the Christmas Spirit attitude as well.

Listening...

Today I have been thinking about this business skill.  When I started my morning by weight lifting for some reason I was thinking about Listening.  There was some reason but it was at 5am so it was too early to remember the why only that I was thinking about that. 

Then later in the day about 8 am I was talking to a friend of mine in Hamburg Germany, Marc Martinez of Strategic Media (www.strategic-media.de).  Marc provides consulting for Radio Stations among other creative ventures (I am a techy-accounting type with a bunch of creative friends, something to be figured out later).  Marc moved to Germany after the Berlin Wall came down and Radio Stations were moving into private hands.  He had by that time worked for many years in Radio in a number of big city markets.  He has worked in many aspects of Radio and communications Media including various forms of advertising (which by the way is generally how Radio Stations make their money, it's not by playing music).  Marc and I were talking about various business issues as well as personal issues since we have been friends for a long, long time (plus a few more years).  We didn't specifically talk about listening but because it was kind of my theme for the day I was thinking about it while we were talking. 

Marc and I talked about sales some.  I would venture that like me he at least considers himself somewhat a salesman.  We don't make our living purely as salesmen but we do have to sell our services to customers.  Can you imagine selling anything without listening? 

Ok so full disclosure -- whenever I write about something it is usually something I'm struggling with and trying to work out.  I don't always listen.  I LOVE to talk.  I want people to listen to ME and think I am a brilliant guy.  BUT, I am trying to learn how to become a better listener.  I write this blog to be a better communicator but in my quest for communication excellence I realize the most important skill is listening. 

I have ideas and I often thick they are brilliant ideas that would really enhance others lives.  I truly believe that if they listened to me they may learn something or avoid the mistakes I have made... and that is precisely why I must be a better listener.  I don't want to keep making such stupid mistakes.  There have been times that I wish I had listened better.  I have had some excellent advice while sitting at the beach with my wife's uncles.  Many of them have much success in business.  They got there the hard way, by working for it.  They have learned a thing or two and yet when I was younger I didn't listen as much as I should have.  I did listen to some of the ideas but not everything.

Ok, as I write I have many thoughts come to mind and could keep on giving all kinds of examples but if you are reading this I'm sure you get my point.  I am going to try to remember the good advice I have received but...

Now I think I will shut up and listen for a while.

 

 

Technorati tags: Radio Consulting, Listening, Radio Advertising, Media Consulting

I make mistakes!!!!!

This is not an apology.  I am saying this proudly. 

Today I was thinking how important this is to business-- the art of making mistakes.  No seriously.

If you are afraid of making a mistake you will probably not last very long as a business owner or starter (Entrepreneur).  Many people are in this boat.  They don't want to come across as stupid so they take one of two steps.

1. They don't even try.
2. They plan it down to every detail and take so long that by the time they start it doesn't really have much punch.

Do you look at a successful person and think they never made a mistake?  I do!  It's probably not true.  There are some people that seem to make every correct decision from the beginning and everything went their way.  Those people make the business journals and it is impressive.  I find myself hoping they can hold on because I am pretty sure that at some point they will make a mistake and then what do they do?  Their mistake is much more public than mine.  How embarrassing.

To be successful in business for a long term say 30 years I am pretty sure that you will come across a mistake and will have to recover from that mistake.  This is the next group of people and they also seem to do one of two things:

1. They give up!
2. They become frustrated and try to learn everything they can from that expensive mistake.  And if it isn't an expensive mistake it wasn't good enough. 

You have to recover from mistakes to be successful.  Today I was remembering some of my big mistakes and thinking about all the truly important lessons I learned from them.  It is crucial to keep picking yourself up and try, try again.  No it isn't easy.  It's embarrassing.  It will mess with your feelings of self-worth.  If you do it right even your friends and family will wonder if you will ever make anything of yourself.  YOU will wonder if you will ever make anything of yourself.  It makes you feel stupid to make a big mistake. 

One of the best things you learn from making a huge mistake is how to recognize a mistake earlier and take action.  You also learn what not to do next time (hopefully). 

Making mistakes is extremely important in business.  If you are really smart you will notice your mistakes early and recover from them quickly.  I hope you do, but it appears that the normal way this goes is that people make big mistakes and that's how they learn to pay more attention to small mistakes.

I Promise that I will keep making mistakes and I also promise that I will try to learn as much as I can from those mistakes.  I apologize if my mistake causes you any problems.  Know that I didn't mean to make the mistake.  I didn't set out to do it but it did happen.