WebPointX

This has maybe gotten out of hand. Sure, I work in the online industry, but multiple computers, handheld devices, etc. Do I really need all this stuff? Maybe not. Maybe I could trim down a bit. But as much trouble as all the updates and management, etc. is, I think overall I get more value than it costs me. And the good news? It’s getting easier, not harder. Today’s more consumer focused Software as a Service (SaaS) options mean I don’t have to do as much really effort filled tasks as I used to for the same goals. Everyone has their own needs, but I thought I’d share some of my current strategies for managing my personal data items.

If you’re facing similar issues, personally or family wide, maybe some of these strategies are useful to you.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

 

What I have to remember is how lucky I am. I have the privilege of having most of my friends and family and colleagues being pretty much sane. Yes, we give each other a lot of crap. And there’s the usual joking around about this one or that one is crazy. But… basically sane. Unfortunately though, beyond this group of people is some of the rawest stupidity and selfishness and foolishness that can be had anywhere on the planet. It may be true that 90% of my fellow metro NY area cohabitants are also perfectly great to know people. But that still leaves around TWO MILLION morons. Sadly, most anyone reading this will probably nod their head in agreement, with 10% of them not understanding they’re in the moron group. [Read the rest of this entry...]

 

Just for the record… in case anyone who does happen to read this is so foolish as to think it real, this is a bad joke. It’s just some thoughts about a potentially dystopian future when very cool, useful and valuable technology is abused in interesting ways. I’m usually not this dark or even all that creative in writing things. I’m actually a fan of Microsoft and both like and recommend the Kinect product. It’s awesome. Still, what started out as some bad jokes in chats with others turned into this little story…

———

Redmond, WA – April 1st, 2012 — Mr. Noah P. Bode, 39, is under arrest for murder tonight in the seaside island town of Nantucket, MA, while across the country, his accuser is questioned by police here in Seattle. Washington State Police say that a Microsoft Operations Administrator, Bobby Leet Gatson, 23, responsible for managing aspects of the Kinect videogame, claims he witnessed a murder in the partially finished basement of Mr. Bode.

Apparently, Mr. Bode attacked his wife of 12 years when he attacked her with a knife as she was in a compromising Yoga pose in front of the couple’s Xbox 360 Kinect game unit. Mr. Bode has claimed that he merely tackled her as part of the game play and she accidentally landed on an exposed piece of metal in their as yet unfinished basement. Police say this story is highly suspect as it was Mr. Gatson in Seattle who had called police to inform them of the seeming attempted murder. Mr. Gatson apparently took some time to call police as he felt he was in a compromising position himself as he shouldn’t have been observing the Bode’s via their Kinect’s sensor camera. [Read the rest of this entry...]

 

Master Showman Steven P. Jobs, who is now no longer just hero to the tragically hip, but App Lovers of all sorts, stockholders, and more, claims many things i to be Magic. I’m no longer so sure about that. The all around User Experience (UX) of my relatively new iThings is great. My first move into Appledom was the iPhone a couple of years ago. I’ve since added an iPad, which I find amazingly useful for a whole variety of things. And I type this on my two month old MacBook Pro, which is a week away from fully displacing an old PC.

But magic? No. Linux? Yes. GREAT industrial design? Yes. Even beauty? Yes. Magic? Ok, I said no, but maybe a little. But today… today I saw something different. Apple says Think Different. But Microsoft, who’s been seemingly asleep at the switch for awhile and especially in Mobile, has just impressed me. Big Time. A bunch of someone’s have been busy back in the lab. The place where real science happens. And they’ve come up with a consumer gadget that’s going to have who knows what kind of other long term implications for how we interact with machines. As with so many things, I think this friendly, innocent, game play introduction to this technology is just a harbinger of things to come. [Read the rest of this entry...]

 

This Facebook Marketing Checklist has a simple goal: Give you a list of line items with fairly short  annotations of the various ways you can use Facebook for your marketing needs. It will  not take up five pages to tell you to make a Facebook Page. There’ll be some links for you to learn more about various items, but it’s meant to just let you go through the basics. Implementing every item here may not make sense for you. Use your judgment and remember, there’s nothing worse than an empty, lifeless presence in a social media environment. It’s been said “social media is a commitment, not a campaign.” If you’re not going to tend to whatever tactic you implement below, strongly re-consider it’s use.

Happy Marketing!

Facebook Marketing Checklist

Prepare

Educate those managing your Facebook presence.

If you’re a large business, it’s possible you outsource your social media activities to an agency. While some make strong arguments that this can’t offer a fully authentic voice for your business, if you’ve chosen to do this, you’ll still have someone internally managing the relationship. Make sure they understand and have a feel for the Facebook environment.

Create Policies & Procedures

This is mostly for larger businesses that may work in a complex legal environment or controversial content.

Setting Up Facebook Presence

Create a Profile

You need a profile before doing anything else. Technically, terms of service say this must be a real person. So you must use a real name and email, (even if it’s an email dedicated just for creating this account).

Create a Facebook Page

An oddity here is that a Page can only created by and owned by a profile. This is strange in that this means a particular person needs to own a page, as opposed to a business that has someone’s role assigned to maintain a page. This goes a little deeper than just handing off a password as if someone were to leave a company, your businesses page may still be ‘owned’ by them. Ownership may be transferred by making someone else an Admin of a page, and that person can then remove the other admin. But in any case, anyone who sets up your company’s web page must be a highly trusted individual.

Create a Facebook Place

If your business has a physical presence, you should claim or create your Facebook Place. Search for your business name and if it is there, use the “Is this your business” or similar link. If you can’t find this, click on the add button. You’ll be given instructions for how to verify. Once done, you can also add Deals to your place. These will show up when people access your FB place via browswer, or better yet, mobile device when they happen to be nearby!

Use Facebook Ads

Facebook has it’s own advertising system. Test it out. Like any advertising provider, evaluate results based on whatever Key Performance Indicators you’d typically use.

Consider Facebook Groups, but not too deeply

Unless you desperately feel you want to keep a constant bulletin board type presence on FB, this isn’t for you. Besides, there’s limits to volume here and if you have any size / growth at all, Groups won’t grow with you.

From Mashable: Facebook Pages vs. Groups: What’s the Difference

Create and Use Facebook Badges

Badges can be used on your blog or other pages to show you’ve got a presence on FB and provide a link for those interested in interacting with you there.

Participating in Facebook Community

Social Bookmark Tools

Facebook Connect

Advanced Topics