Category Archives: Technology / Office

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Mine Your Search Engine Data

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What are interested parties interested in when they visit your website?  That very critical marketing intelligence is often not quite obvious when we plan and contract to build our website. We know to include a description of the products and/or services we sell.  Those who sell products on their site know to include an e-commerce function.  Those who schedule on-line appointments know to include a booking function and perhaps also a pay online feature.

But what information,  surveys,  videos,  white papers or whatever grab attention and keep visitors on a certain website page and convey details that prospective customers need to make a decision about doing business with you,  helping to convert prospects into customers?  Well,  you have to build the thing before you figure out the nuances of what information and features best serve your prospects and business,  but once you’ve done that Google Analytics can help in a big way and as of September 29,  even more than before.  Let’s take a look at Site Search Analysis (SSA) and two new Google offerings,  Real-Time Analytics and Analytics Premium.

SSA functions as  Search Engine Optimization  (SEO)  for your website,  extracting  and reporting valuable data about  site visitors that will provide clues on how to effectively fine-tune the sales tool that is your website.  This is not inbound lead generation  (nor is it actual SEO).  SSA analyzes data generated by your website’s own search engine.  Analytics Premium and Real-Time Analytics will make the information more timely and comprehensive.

The big advantage of Real-Time Analytics is that it will produce a set of reports that show what’s happening on your website as it happens.  You will receive instant insight into the visit count and much other valuable information about what resonates with visitors directly from the search engine of your website.  Real-Time will also measure the activity of social media linked to your website and it will allow you to monitor the impact of new content and marketing campaigns.  Once you’re registered with Google Analytics,  you must enable the Real-Time feature by clicking “new version.”

The more traffic your website receives and the more search queries occur,  the more extensive and revealing the story.  The data from this internal search process will identify what prospective customers want from your website and your business.  What are they curious about?  What information do they seek?  SSA internal search data lets you know the ways your website does and does not deliver information and answer visitor’s questions.

You will be able to evaluate website content—do you provide enough of the right information,  do you tell the right story in the way that prospective customers can understand?  Or you may have the right content,  but analyzing search data can tell you if visitors to your site somehow become frustrated and wind up exiting the site,  perhaps because the desired information is hard to find because it’s buried somewhere that prospects don’t expect to find it,  meaning you need to re-arrange and re-configure pages.  Maybe your information needs to be presented in a more eye-catching fashion or the text and terms used should be clarified,  expressed in language that your clients use and will better understand?

Analytics Premium is a paid service that reportedly will produce more specific website traffic data than the free service.  Premium will offer more customizable variables and downloadable reports.   There will also be guaranteed service level agreements for data collection,  processing and reporting,  plus  24/7  customer service reps available to assist with installing the program.

In closing,  I offer you a caveat:  SSA provides much intriguing data about how prospective customers respond to your website,  but you have to interpret the meaning of it all and decide what smart thing to do with the information.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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What’s Your Influencer Score?

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If you have a Facebook,  LinkedIn or Twitter account, get ready to have rating points assigned to your online presence.  There’s yet another way to keep score in this world and the newest yardstick is your social media reach. The rating system resembles a credit score or Google page ranking and it assesses your social media power and influence.  Three companies, Klout, Peer Index and Twitter Grader, will analyze and determine who the heavy hitters are.

Who are the movers and shakers,  experts and taste makers,  across a range of topics and specialties within a certain geolocation? Marketing departments want to know.  While authors, celebrities, politicians and athletes have traditionally been capable of influencing opinions on a large scale, social media have given a powerful voice to ordinary citizens and a new league of authorities has emerged.

The rating companies measure your Facebook (Klout),  LinkedIn  (Klout, coming soon)  and Twitter  (all three)  friends,  connections and tweets on their respective algorithms.  According to analysts at Hewlett Packard who tried to crack the codes,  a large network of contacts and friends is not the primary value of the influencer score.

Peer Index focuses on topic resonance  (how much interest you generate within your area of expertise),  subject authority  (perceived credibility and trust)  and activity  (how much content you generate within your topic)  in its ranking recipe.  If you’re looking to game the system  (you wouldn’t try that, would you?),  it is beneficial to become well known for a particular topic and avoid being a generalist.

In other words,  go narrow and deep.  Boost your influencer score  (and online brand)  by demonstrating knowledge and expertise,  trustworthiness and credibility and enthusiasm and passion for your preferred subject.

Furthermore,  demonstrate your ability to influence those in your network with calls to action and recommendations that engage and inspire followers and friends and cause them to spread the word about your choices and opinions.  Did you get out the vote for Obama or persuade people to join the revolution in Cairo? If so, then you are an influential social media darling.

Surprisingly,  blogs,  newsletters and YouTube are not in the ratings mix at this time,  but tweets and online profiles most definitely are.  The rankings of your connections and friends also factor impact your score,  as do the rankings of those who retweet you.

It’s possible to sign yourself up for free and learn your Twitter rating on Peer Index http://peerindex.net or Twitter Grader http://twitter.grader.com and your Facebook score on Klout http://klout.com.  The latter recently announced a deal to rank LinkedIn profiles  (I wonder if activity on the Answers Forum will be in the algorithm?).

So what’s in it for high scorers? Thousands of companies have already signed on to buy data and big influencers are positioned to receive all manner of promotional goodies.  As reported in The New York Times on June 26, 2011,  Audi will begin to offer special promotions to Facebook users based on their Klout scores.

Last year, Virgin America selected highly rated Facebook influencers in Toronto and rewarded them with free round-trip flights to Los Angeles or San Francisco.  The Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas used Klout scores to choose Facebook influencers and give them either free room upgrades or free admission to Cirque du Soleil.

Nevertheless,  a corrective is in order.  While it is apparent that social media influencers exist and in certain circumstances they are able to impact the actions and opinions of others,  they do not necessarily live up to the hype.  Duncan Watts,  author of  “Everything is Obvious Once You Know the Answer” (2011),  asserts that the  “influencers”  do not always obtain impact through their expertise,  persuasiveness,  popularity or reputation.

Watts used computer simulations to model how information is likely to disperse through social media and found that the spread of an idea or story depends upon  “a critical mass of easily influenced people,  who in turn influence other easy-to-influence people.”  When this critical mass exists,  “even an average individual is capable of triggering a large cascade.”

Well,  so much for algorithms.  However,  it may be fun to sign up and get your influencer score anyway. You might somehow manage to get a high rating,  perhaps because you’re connected to other high influencers,  and get some promotional comps as a result.  But then again,  being connected to the right people has always  been how to get the goodies,  with or without social media influence!

Thanks for reading,
Kim

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In the Cloud

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Cloud computing hooks you up to numerous computer based business functions,  including email,  website hosting and data storage,  directly through the internet.  Access to those computer functions,  which you select based on your needs,  is available from any computer that has an internet connection.  When your computer functions are in the cloud,  your business is truly mobile.  You can tap into your data and work from anywhere in the world.

Needless to say,  cloud computing offers big advantages to businesses and individuals.  A big plus is the tremendous flexibility available.  It’s possible to access numerous computer applications and software functions and operate your business entirely in the cloud.  Users of cloud computing essentially rent space on a virtual server and order a la carte the applications and functions that are desired,  be it Linux or Windows.

From the cloud,  you can request functions specific to your business,  without buying an entire software package that may cause you to pay for and install what is not useful to you.  One can order online accounting and payroll management functions,  for example,  rather than buying Intuit’s QuickBooks software.

Cloud based website hosting can be customized to provide the appropriate bandwidth to support video,  audio,  e-commerce, survey, etc.  Furthermore,  cloud computing is significantly less expensive to operate as compared to buying separate software components like the latest Windows,  traditional website hosting,  plus whatever else your business must run to operate efficiently.

There will be less money tied up in technology and more money available for marketing,  customer outreach and otherwise carrying out the business mission.  Prices start at about $4.95 US per month.  Amazon,  Google,  IBM,  Microsoft and Yahoo are among the companies that offer cloud computing services.

Many familiar online functions already live in the cloud: gmail and Hotmail; VoIP telephone services like Google and Skype;  social media sites,  including Facebook,  LinkedIn and Twitter;  media services like Flickr and YouTube;  and Microsoft WebApps,  which offers internet-based access to Excel,  Outlook, Power Point, Word,  etc.

So should you migrate your online operations to the cloud?  Maybe,  maybe not.  Cloud computing may be pervasive,  but it’s not yet perfect.  Reliability,  security and privacy are real concerns.  The major cloud service providers claim they deliver 99.95% availability with 5 hours/year downtime on average.

Nevertheless, during the week of April 21-24 of this year,  the data center that houses Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud servers (EC2) went down and internet access for thousands of businesses was lost as a result.  Although this exciting new technology is being promoted as safe,  comprehensive,  user-friendly and inexpensive,  the underlying infrastructure may not be there yet.

Moreover,  can some pimple-faced brat hack his/her way into your data and wreak havoc on your business?  Let’s pray that never happens,  but to provide the maximum available protection to the integrity and security of your cloud computing,  be sure to use secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption to keep your user name and password safe.

Issues of capability and capacity have also been raised.  Can the present technology support the fast expanding weight of VoIP,  website hosting,  video streams and data storage demands?  What happens as developing nations in Africa,  Asia and Latin America ramp up their internet access and 3 billion more global citizens elect to join the cloud?

All that remains to be seen,  but my guess is that the necessary upgrades will be made to accommodate new cloud users,  because money is the mother of invention.  Data security is probably the larger issue.

On Friday June 10,  the International Monetary Fund learned it was the victim of a major cyber attack.  The data breach occurred over several months and has the potential to expose highly confidential information about the fiscal condition of many nations.  In an article that appeared in the June 12, 2011 New York Times,  the incident was called  “political dynamite”.  There was no mention as to whether the IMF computer system operated in the cloud.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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IT Update: What A Freelancer Needs Part II

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Communicate with clients in your office or from anywhere in the world with practical IT tools that will help you do business effectively and efficiently.  Freelancers must strive to create and reinforce an impression of capability and professionalism that inspires client confidence and trust.  Some clients may doubt our ability to take on the most important jobs and instead may elect to call in a big consulting firm.  Savvy use of selected IT tools may enhance your image and reassure clients.

The Computer, or Mission Control

Your first decision will be PC  vs.  Mac.  Graphics gurus,  photographers and marcomm writers choose  Macs for their sophisticated color and font style options.  The rest of us gravitate toward PCs, which work well for standard business functions.

Your next decision will be desktop vs. laptop vs. netbook.  Desktop units have  larger screens,  making them suitable to function as mini-home theaters.  Laptop units are smaller and portable  and for most of us  have excellent functionality and memory.

When you need a computer for the road,  a netbook is the smart choice.  Smaller,  lighter and less expensive than a laptop,  netbooks can run on battery power for long stretches.  Pick up free wifi internet access in schools, cafes, hotels and other office buildings while you’re there.  The trade-off  is netbooks don’t have much memory and they’re primarily suitable for web browsing and word processing.

A printer is standard,  even if you don’t print often.  You can find a  reliable inkjet color printer for under $200.00.  A scanner is also useful hardware to own.  The ability to convert hard copy documents into electronic form,  including a nice photo of yourself to upload to your social media profile (or blog!),  is beneficial.  You can have documents scanned at Staples for a quarter a page and  photos at CVS or Walgreens for about $1.00 – $2.00,  but if you can budget the price of a scanner (around $175-$200),  I recommend you do so.

You’ll also want to have a couple of portable memory devices,  i.e. flash drives,  in your possession.  When you go to Staples to scan documents, that’s where the data is transferred.  My flash drives are important storage units for me as my laptop runs out of memory.  They hold many of my files.

When I have a speaking engagement,  I transfer the Power Points to a flash drive and plug into the A/V equipment at the venue (if there is good A/V equipment).  That’s so much easier and safer than dragging around my laptop.

Cloud Computing

Processes that are usually performed through software running on your computer,  but are instead accessed directly via the internet,  is an elementary definition of cloud computing.  The cloud allows you to perform all manner of functions from anywhere there is internet access and a keyboard.

Service providers like Amazon,  Google,  Yahoo,  IBM and Microsoft maintain the servers, provide the content and charge customers  according to the services accessed via the cloud.  Flickr,  Office 2.0,  Googleapps and Googledocs are examples of how you may already use cloud computing.

Network storage that backs up and archives data,  application hosting and virtual IT that acts as an extension of  a company’s in-house IT network are other functions available through the cloud.

There is a perceived threat to the security of documents stored via the cloud, however, and sensitive documents perhaps should not be stored in that manner.  Archives and sensitive data can be safely stored on portable memory devices.

Software
Whether or not certain of your IT functions are in the cloud,  your computer still needs operating system software.  My tech expert colleague Craig,  owner of Roan Solutions roansolutions.com,  likes Windows 7.0.  Bookkeeping and financial statements can be handled with  Intuit QuickBooks Simple Start or Microsoft Office Accounting.  Another nice software feature is Microsoft Fax or other online faxing services that allow you to send and receive faxes directly from your computer.

VoIP

Voice-over-Internet Protocol services like Skype and Vonage allow you to make calls directly from your PC.  Local and international calling will be either free or cheap.  You can even get VoIP for your cell phone.  Voice,  video  and conference  calls,  voice mail,  faxing,  instant messaging and caller ID are all available through VoIP.  Use the video calling feature to set up a real time virtual face to face  meeting with team members based in various locations around the world.

Land Lines and Smart Phones

Let’s start small.  Get your phone company to add conference calling to your land line, because every once in a while you need to have a 3 or 4 way conversation to hash out an issue.

Now on to the smart phones,  which join together the features  of cell phones and personal digital assistants like Palm Pilot.  Smart phones provide you with a date book,  contact list,  to-do list,  email and internet access.  You can even create and edit Microsoft Word documents,  edit photos,  access  GPS  assistance  and create a play list of your favorite songs,  depending on the unit you purchase.

There is a standard keyboard for ease of typing.  You can text,  have voice mail and yes, make phone calls.  If you are away from your office for long stretches and would like to have internet and email service plus a telephone,  you’ll need a smart phone.

Hope I’ve helped to untangle your technology options.  Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Kim

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IT Update: What A Freelancer Needs Part I

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I am not the techie type.  I don’t own an iPhone or BlackBerry and I may never own an iPad.  Cell phones with app attitude are not on my must-have list and they will not be,  unless my business changes and I find myself away from the office for long stretches and unable to respond to emails on time.

I’ve lived and worked on both sides of the technology divide.  I have typed on an IBM Selectric.  I remember mainframes and teletype (the first fax machines).  I am not a Luddite and I’ve never completely eschewed the many technological advances,  but neither am I enamored of them all.  I have never played a video game in my life and have no plans to do so.  I prefer the low tech life,  yet I spend lots of time online.

Around 1986,  my employer decided that its entire workforce would receive computer training.  Region by region,  department by department,  each employee in the white collar workforce and managerial level employees in our blue collar workforce,  spent 5 days from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM in computer skills training classes.

It was a massive undertaking.  Businesses the world over had no choice but to provide such training for their employees in response to a paradigm shift that was as powerful as the transition from the farm economy to the industrial age.  Small businesses struggled to  not only finance  the significant cost of  purchasing computers for many of their staff,  but also the cost of training staff.  Freelancers eventually had to enroll in training classes that seemed to average around $300.00 +.  Typewriters were out and word processing was in.  DOS ruled the day.

I was happy to receive the training.  Computers were the wave of the future and I was grateful to develop a vital skill set on the corporate dime.  Scott,  my manager, was thrilled that I was a fast learner and did not rebel against the training.  The same could not be said for several of my co-workers.

I’ve been able to recognize which tech tools are essential for me and I have acquired them.  I was an early adopter of fax machines and have owned a phone / fax since at least 1995.  We rarely fax now, but they’re still good to have around.

I also had an electronic date book in 1995,  pre-Palm Pilot.  After the memory ran out in ’97,  I switched back to paper date books.  For some things paper and pencil are easier, cheaper and more reliable.  Paper and pencil never crash or freeze up.

Like every Freelancer,  I maintain a home office.  I write to you on an aging laptop that’s real short on memory.  I need to buy a new one very soon—come on, clients!  I dislike spending money on that kind of stuff.  I’d much rather buy designer belts and bags, or  art,  jewelry and vacations to the world’s great capitals.  If I must spend a thousand-plus bucks on something,  I’d rather it be on what I enjoy and not on electronics that may be nonoperational or outmoded in 5 years (or less).

But Bill Gates and Larry Ellison have us by the short hairs and they will not let go.  Cloud computing is here to stay until the Next Big Thing overtakes it.  Plus,  some of that techie stuff is quite useful—when it works right.

So what are the must-haves for the average Freelancer in the office and in the field? Next week,  I’ll present an overview of the basics that will keep you and your business up to code,  technologically speaking.

More later,
Kim

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Feng Shui Your Office

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Wind, water, qi.  Can you feng shui your way to prosperity? Maybe.

Back in the mid-90s,  I hired someone to work on my (previous) apartment.  I did not become wealthy, happy or fortunate.  In fact, I was laid off from my corporate job.  Nevertheless,  about 7 years ago,  I decided to give feng shui another chance and called in a consultant named Mary Roberts to work on my current apartment, which includes my home office.

Clutter management was high on the list,  because  feng shui demands order.  What I wouldn’t do for one extra room!  Feng shui also demands cleanliness,  so weekly housework became a must.  I figured if the system really worked,  I might be able to afford a maid.  But I am not there yet…

Feng shui will perhaps yield more of its promised benefits of harmony, health and wealth if you pay an expert $150-$500 (depending on the size of the space and the going rates in your area) to visit your home / office and make specific recommendations.  Alternatively, you can buy a book and a compass and DIY.

A compass is recommended because the feng shui system divides the space into directional quadrants and works with properties and energies that are assumed to be associated with each.   Beneficial objects and colors, along with objects and colors that guard against negative energy,  are placed in the quadrants (wherever practical).   Further refinements are made when northeast,  southwest, etc. subsections are defined, so that auspicious and protective objects and colors can be added there also.

So let’s get you started with feng shui! Since this blog is about business, I will provide some general tips that may help attract prosperity to your business center.  We will begin with the shape of the room.  Ideally, all rooms should have a regular shape and four 90 degree angles.  If the room does not have a regular shape,  you may “correct” the room with a faceted,  round,  clear crystal that will be suspended from a red silk ribbon (good luck color) and hung from a hook placed high up on the wall.  If you can’t find a crystal with a notch to thread the ribbon, then plants—no cactus or sharp leaves!—can be placed in front of the jutting walls,  either on a table or on the floor.  Immediately replace any unhealthy plants.

Here are a few more things you can do to attract feng shui benefits into the space where you conduct business:

DO:

-Place your desk at a diagonal to the office door. This gives you the “command” position.

-Let your back face either a corner or a wall. This will give you support (the wall will “have your back”).

-Have good lighting (natural and artificial) and air quality in your office.  Plants are good to purify the air and provide oxygen.

-Place your computer in the north or west quadrant of your office,  to enhance your creativity.   Place your computer in the southeast if you use it to generate income (online business).

-Treat your business files with respect. They represent your past,  present and future business.  Store files neatly and keep them organized.

-Keep the electrical cords in your office well hidden. This diminishes clutter and allows for the free flow of qi, or life energy, throughout the space  (I just moved the tangle of cords that are attached to my power strip from a place where I tripped over them repeatedly to a less intrusive place.  Not only does my office look better,  but I feel SO much more relaxed).

DON’T:

-Hang any mirrors in your office,  unless placed to deflect negative energy.

-Sit in line with the office door,  since that puts you in the path of negative energy that may cling to passersby.

-Face a wall when sitting at your desk.  If you have no choice in the matter, “correct” with vibrant art and/or lots of your favorite photos.

-Have your back to the door in an office where you are conducting business.  Opportunities  symbolically flow in through the door,  so do not turn your back on them.

-Arrange your office so that you look straight out onto a corridor,  staircase,  storage rooms,  closets,  elevators,  escalators or rest rooms.

I have incorporated several of these elements into my office.  Billable hours are not rolling in like a tsunami. Would I have even fewer active clients had I not used feng shui? Who knows? Still,  I feel happy in my environment.  Maybe we can just call this stuff  spring cleaning.

Thanks for reading,
Kim