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Monthly Archives: October 2009

Throwing Money at Bad Ideas Doesn’t Make Business Change Winners

Posted on October 30, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 1 Comment

I’ve always known I would have made a good billionaire. I’d give my money to people that need it. You know: charities, children’s organizations, the downtrodden in general. Even my wife.

Sergey Brin, founder of Google, and all-around-decent-if-incredibly-arrogant guy, loaned ten million dollars to his wife’s company, 23AndMe. This is a company that Mr. Brin’s wife started, and which is mapping the human genome. Not being a genetic scientist this leaves me unable to say much beyond “I’m sure that’s really important and will eventually lead to lots of amazing medical benefits”. ... READ MORE of Throwing Money at Bad Ideas Doesn’t Make Business Change Winners at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

The Business Change of Creating or Moving a Web Site. Or Losing One

Posted on October 29, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Is your web site yours? Does anyone disagree? Is your business change, business practice, or any other part of your business REALLY yours?

How do you know?

I was working on a few domain transfers this week for a client. And it wasn’t fun. There’s a process in place for doing this that’s supposed to protect everyone, and when it works it does its job wonderfully. When it doesn’t, though, business change becomes business impossible. And the clock is running, both on the client’s business change choices and on my “meter”. ... READ MORE of The Business Change of Creating or Moving a Web Site. Or Losing One at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (221 words, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Facebook and Twitter are Illegal. Does that Make for Business Change?

Posted on October 28, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

I talk all the time about managing the business change that social networking through sites like Twitter and Facebook necessitates. Well here’s a change: what if using Facebook or Twitter was illegal?

This week, Richard Ketchum, CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, suggested that social networking might be against the law at US banks. Facebook and Twitter? Not for them. And not for their employees, either.

If you’re a banker and this idea has escaped you, well, you’re welcome. Ditto that if you work in any kind of regulated environment. Insurance Company? Doctor’s Office? Uh-Oh. ... READ MORE of Facebook and Twitter are Illegal. Does that Make for Business Change? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (251 words, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Want Real Business Change? The Answer Guy Says “Just Answer Me”.

Posted on October 27, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Question: What do you get when you ask a question and the answer just raises more questions? Answer: Pretty much nothing.

In fact, less than nothing, since it usually means you have to circle back, form a new question, and hope an actual answer comes out. Or give up and start on something else.

Have you noticed how often people avoid business change by just not giving an answer to direct questions? The Computer Answer Guy says it’s time to stop that. ... READ MORE of Want Real Business Change? The Answer Guy Says “Just Answer Me”. at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (213 words, estimated 51 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Business Change: AOL The Next Newspaper and Media Superstar?

Posted on October 26, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 4 Comments

Umm, No.

So last week, AOL’s latest CEO Tim Armstrong started talking about some plans afoot at the once-and-never-again online activity leader. And I’m glad to see that Tim has a plan.

And it isn’t going to work.

The good news: Mr. Armstrong has quite the media pedigree. Seriously, this guy’s the real deal, experience-wise. The bad news: this is the same plan AOL used in the 1990s. It created mediocre content then, and will do something even worse now. It is not business change. ... READ MORE of Business Change: AOL The Next Newspaper and Media Superstar? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (300 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

A Real Change From Twitter: The New Cliff Notes!

Posted on October 23, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

OK, I pick on Twitter a lot, but now I take it back. Twitter does so have a use. Change comes in many forms:

If you’ve ever watched a student struggle over a piece of “classical literature”, only to shorten and simplify things by turning to Cliff Notes or Monarch Notes, you’ve . . . probably been upset. Good enough.

But what if you want to embrace change and go even shorter? Two students have taken on the task of converting already-shortened classics to a form even the attention-deprived generation can wrap their minds around. That’s right; literature 140 characters at a time! ... READ MORE of A Real Change From Twitter: The New Cliff Notes! at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (118 words, estimated 28 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Obligatory Windows 7 Post. Is This Microsoft Business Change?

Posted on October 22, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

I was resisting the impulse to say anything at all about Microsoft’s <ahem> lovely new operating system, Windows 7. And then I read this.

I really don’t care about the new version of Windows very much. I’m happy that I can buy it (we’ve actually paid extra at Answer Guy Central just to stay away from Windows Vista on computers purchased in the last couple of years), but I have no plans to upgrade any of our computers. I just don’t see the point. ... READ MORE of The Obligatory Windows 7 Post. Is This Microsoft Business Change? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (122 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Twitter + Google + Bing Equals Scary Business Change

Posted on October 22, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

And now for something completely different:

Hmm . . . it’s just this moment occurred to me how brilliant the Monty Python guys really were. Business Change is sometimes about making the same old thing look different. And now, through new partners Google and Bing, Twitter is making their stuff matter. In a way that scares me. Don’t worry: I will figure out how to take advantage of that for you.

Yesterday, Google Goddess Marissa Mayer announced the search monster’s new deal with Twitter to use tweets in real-time search results (Microsoft’s Bing got a similar deal). Everyone wins. ... READ MORE of Twitter + Google + Bing Equals Scary Business Change at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (205 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Google Chief Larry Page Has Social Issues. Do You?

Posted on October 22, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

File this under “Don’t let your kids . . .”

Google Founder Larry Page’s Too-Social Behavior

And I thought I had a problem with texting at the dinner table.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Twitter Killing Suggested User List. Not a Real Business Change

Posted on October 21, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 1 Comment

Did you hear the one about the CEO who wanted to create business change that would hurt his company?

No, I’m not talking about Miley Cyrus killing her Twitter account. Yesterday, Evan Williams, CEO and founder of Twitter, said that he wants, really, really badly to kill off the “suggested user” feature of Twitter. I say “hooey”.

Make no mistake: Mr. Williams doesn’t want to kill that feature; he just wants it to be of more utility to Twitter (and, I’m happy to say, to users). ... READ MORE of Twitter Killing Suggested User List. Not a Real Business Change at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (196 words, estimated 47 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Music Labels & Newspapers Think It’s 1980. Where’s Business Change?

Posted on October 20, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

Craig Newmark is a very smart man. Sure, you can be cynical and look at Craigslist as a fluke, or a ‘first-to-market’ that got lucky and think otherwise, but that would be a mistake. The guy continues to churn out one smart business change after another at the service that bears his name, and has become a featured commentator at Huffington Post, where that blog’s huge numbers give Mr. Newmark a very large platform for stating his opinions. ... READ MORE of Music Labels & Newspapers Think It’s 1980. Where’s Business Change? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (271 words, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

We Fear What We Don’t Understand

Posted on October 19, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Once again, brilliant marketing dude Seth Godin has me thinking. Read his story about apples and experts.

Here’s what that makes me think of:

We act as our clients’ experts in various fields. The Computer Answer Guy fixes broken IT models. PC-VIP introduces a whole new one. And Answer Guy Central fills in the blanks for many different things, from business strategy to media creation to . . . well, pretty much anything that could improve in your business. People come to us and we fix broken things, and make things that are good, great. ... READ MORE of We Fear What We Don’t Understand at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (274 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

Google World Domination Business Change Continues

Posted on October 16, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 4 Comments

Do you use Gmail? What about Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or any of the other “free” e-mail options? Wait; you’re surprised by my use of quotes on the word free?

You’ve probably noticed that when you send e-mail using the services I mention they get appended with ads. You may have noticed that the ads are smart, too; they aren’t random, but refer to products or services that you and your correspondents might be interested in. Well, hold on to your hat: ... READ MORE of Google World Domination Business Change Continues at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (233 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

The Brady Bunch and Business Change: Hello FlohClub.com!

Posted on October 15, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Part of my day is spent looking for new trends. How could I comment on business change otherwise?

Now I want Mrs. Brady to be my technical support guru. Yep. Florence Henderson — Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch fame — is in the technical support business. C’mon, Mrs. Brady, lay your hands on my computer.

I wanted to make fun of this idea, and I don’t for the life of me understand why the owners of Mrs. Brady’s Technical Support Company are using  flohclub.com instead of floclub.com, which they also own and is the pronunciation they’re going with. But you know what? It’s good stuff. And WOW is it “business change”. ... READ MORE of The Brady Bunch and Business Change: Hello FlohClub.com! at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

The Biggest Business Change EVER

Posted on October 14, 2009 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

OK, folks, READ THIS, and then listen up . . .

I’ve said before that Seth Godin is a genius, and for me this just proves it, more, and again.

The one that stopped me in my tracks was this tip for holding on to customers:

You can create switching costs, so that the hassle and cost of moving to a cheaper competitor is so great, it’s just not worth it.

Yikes. And true. ... READ MORE of The Biggest Business Change EVER at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (147 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Marketing




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