Answer Guy Central

There’s been buzz about for the last few months that Michael Arrington, impresario at the TechCruch family of blogs was about to release something called a CrunchPad. The device was to be a mobile computing tablet that did just about anything, in a form factor that blew away just about everything. Have you heard about Apple Computer’s not-yet-released MacTablet? The CrunchPad was going to be better.

Today, Arrington announced that the device was dead, because his manufacturing partner had decided to rip him off.

I don’t know what the bigger story is here, that a supposedly very smart guy who happens to have been a corporate lawyer before becoming an internet entrepreneur was ripped off in this way (or not and is trying for lots of extra press . . . or both), or that it took less than an hour from the time Mr. Arrington announced his problems to the world for highly-trafficked, well-regarded blogs Gizmodo and Engadget to repeat Mike’s tale of woe.

At least Engadget acknowledged that the CruchPad was only vapor.

Particularly in the aftermath of the Tiger-Woods-Domestic-Violence news debacle from this weekend, it seemed important to point this out to you, and to remind you to be careful who you believe.

Did you enjoy your weekend?  How much time did you spend speculating on what really happened at Tiger Woods’ house?

Is Mrs. Woods all upset about Tiger’s supposed extra-marital activities, and did she smash out the back window of his SUV in a rage, or was she rescuing him after he hit that fire hydrant? I DON’T CARE.

But I do care about this: the reporting on this issue was all over the map. Some of it was well put together, others a mess hurried to press with an eye toward speed at the expense of accuracy or thought. And the delineating line wasn’t traditional press versus blog; inconsistency and inaccuracy were everywhere.

This is happening repeatedly, and if you don’t figure out how to integrate that reality into the way you manage business change you’re going to get in trouble. We’re seeing it in the way Rupert Murdoch‘s might-or-might-not-be-happening negotiations with Microsoft and Bing are going; will deals between media outlets and search engines control what you see and where, moving forward? Almost certainly, but stay tuned for how.

People pay us for business advice, and I’d like to think they get their money’s worth and then some. Well here’s a simple one I’ve been tossing about for years. In analyzing your choices, ALWAYS remember this:

Good, Fast, Cheap; Pick Any Two

And now, from the land where the sun never sets, real business change through Social Networking.

IKEA, everybody’s favorite retailing-as-world-dominance outlet, is using Facebook in a way that’s proving incredibly successful.

While its cost is such that I can’t recommend this plan to everyone—or almost anyone, really—it’s innovative as can be and brilliant if you happen to be a huge retailer staring down the barrel of an expensive “come see our new store” campaign.

But isn’t there a small-business equivalent? No, you don’t have the reach of an IKEA, and giving away one of each of your inventoried items might break you. But maybe you can find something that resonates, say, maybe like this idea.

Keep innovating. And if you aren’t doing it already make sure you start using Social Media in your marketing plans.

A few years ago I was talking with a friend who manages money for big acts. Britney Spears, N*Sync, Janet Jackson . . . you get the idea.

Everybody’s then-favorite boy group had a big stadium concert scheduled for that evening, and over bagels and a schmear my friend revealed something amazing: you know those glow sticks kids buy at concerts for $15 each? He’d paid three cents for the stock that would be sold at the venue that night.

While this could be a story about profit margins and how great life feels on those days when you make a killing like that one, it’s really about business change. Specifically, the way things “are” when you make money at something other than what you and your clients/fans/patients believe to be your business.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about how difficult it is to be in the music business. Nonsense. It’s hard to be the label, but musicians are making more money than ever. Athletes, too, if not the owners of their teams. Actors, if not production companies.

When former hoops star Alonzo Mourning first moved from schoolboy to professional status he had a contract with a sneaker company that paid him even more than the very large salary he was earning to be a basketball player. Asked who he worked for his answer sounded a lot like “Nike. They pay me to play basketball in the NBA and wear their shoes“.

Whose shoes do you wear?  Are you making enough money to justify that choice?

Help us with an experiment. Hire Us for Free.

In the interest of science, business change, the science of business change, and . . . maybe because we’re crazy, I’m offering professional services from The Computer Answer Guy, free-ish.

Am I crazy? Likely so, which is where that “ish” comes into play. But this is an idea that springs from articles in the New York Times that were published in September and October. Fascinating articles about the idea of using a “pay what you wish” business model. Business Change, indeed.

It’s not an entirely new model, of course, but in a world that works the way ours does right now I think it’s one worth revisiting. Regardless of what their bills say, for example, doctors take what insurance companies are willing to pay, and I know some who will take that amount from patients—if the patient asks.

Shareware is an idea that’s always followed a “pay if you wish” model. Not exactly the same thing as “pay what you wish”, but close. By the way, as the author of Uninstall for Windows I can tell you that it works. True, only a small percentage of our users paid, but the effort sure was profitable.

So here’s the offer:

1. Drop us a line, from this page (yes, we can tell where your note came from).
2. Make sure the first words you type in the field named How Can The Answer Guy Help You? are “Pay What You Wish Business Change“.
3. IMPORTANT: you must fill out and send the form between Midnight EST on Friday November 27 2009 and 6PM EST on Thursday December 3 2009. The form must be filled out completely, and after the words specified above you should tell us something about how we can help you.
4. Be located in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, or the Williamsburg, Green Point, or Brooklyn Heights sections of Brooklyn.
5. Be one of the first ten people who ask, and you get ten hours of time, in person,  and you can pay us whatever you think the time was worth.
6. We reserve the right to describe the experience, including what we were paid. If you wish, you may respond to any descriptions made about our experience working with you, and we will publish that response.

Up for it? Good. Now:

Let the business change commence . . .

Did you know a policeman can order you to Tweet, and If you refuse you can be arrested?

Got your attention, didn’t I? It’s true; at an event promoting the actions of one of the latest teen sensations, the crowd got out of control. One of the people responsible for the event was asked to use Twitter to help reign in the hysteria, and failed to do so. Result? Stainless Steel Bracelets.

Speaking from my not-a-lawyer-or-a-police-officer-or-government-official position, I’m trying to wrap my arms around this, and having a hard time.

We all have legal responsibilities that govern our behavior. For example, your right to free speech ends, as the saying goes, when you yell “fire!” in a crowded theater. But that’s what you can’t say. I’ve never heard of being in a position where you must say something.

The event “custodian” could have used the microphone on stage to ask people to calm down or disperse. Or if he didn’t wish to participate directly in the effort he could have allowed the peace officers seeking his help to use the microphone, megaphone, or whatever was at his disposal. But compelling someone to speak personally? Yikes.

Let me be clear: I think he should have helped. Now ask yourself again how important Twitter, Facebook, and other tools like them are, and whether you have an effective strategy for using them.

Why is Business Change So Hard to Enact?

Because to make it happen you need to think. Really think. Go past what you know. Go past what works. Find solutions where then are none.

Last month, a six-year-old boy in Delaware was first suspended from school, then sent to reform school for forty-five days. His offense? Bringing a pocket knife—replete with eating utensils— in to use at lunch.

The issue was his school district’s policy on barred items, and the fact that it was a zero-tolerance policy. No second chances, no tribunals to decide consequences. Just a book with prescribed actions. Done.

I’m not going to spin opinion of what happened to the little boy either way. His story was that he was a new Cub Scout, excited about his new tool, and just acting like a kid in that position would be expected to act. The school’s position was that a zero-tolerance means zero-tolerance, and that their hands were tied. What if, for example, the boy had lost his tool to an older child with less honorable intentions than his?

The problem as it confronts business change is to avoid setting yourself up this way.

At small businesses it isn’t that much of a problem. Management makes decisions as they go. Documents get written, “policies” get initiated, and the culture changes over time, but up until that moment when things get set in stone there’s flexibility to change.

Larger businesses, weighed down by their sheer mass, tend to have rules for everything. And they’re designed to create as few mistakes as possible.

Whichever side of the decision-making-critical-mass line your business sits on, business change can only happen when you recognize that position and make your decisions accordingly. Avoid creating “no choice” situations.

Oh, yeah. I went there.

• Point #1: I don’t really believe that
• Point #2: Unless I do

And I don’t. At all. But here’s the thing: your clients hired you because you have some sort of expertise that they need. You’re the expert on something. So why do you speak to them as though they understand the things that are second-nature to you?

I’m not for a moment suggesting that you treat your clients like children or speak to them that way. For that matter, I’m not suggesting you speak to your children “like children”. But when you have a multi-step process to explain and you start with “A”, go through “C”, and then skip to “R”, people who don’t know what you know won’t know what you’re talking about.

This doesn’t always matter, of course. You don’t care how your computer works, only that it works. You know, unless you’re Nick Burns, Your Company’s Computer Guy:

Now, here’s where it gets complicated:

1. If clients don’t care, don’t teach
2. If They do care don’t do it like Nick Burns; do it like The Computer Answer Guy.
3. If they really don’t care, try something even cleaner, like PC-VIP.

But remember that as the expert it’s your job to know what your clients want to know, teach them, and then stop.

Not an easy tightrope to walk. And one you must master. Now . . . mooooooove.

Rupert Murdoch has been sounding pretty stupid for the last year or so, talking ad nauseum about how the Internet can be overcome and we can all be forced to pay for the content we consume.

Uh-oh. I think he might be right.

The lord of Newscorp is looking at Amazon’s Kindle book reader and thinking he finally has the business change model to get back the revenue that his print outlets have been losing, and even add new revenue for broadcast. Here’s how it will work: As we all start using “devices” (Kindle, advanced mobile phones, whatever), we also learn to add content to them. It’s true; I have more media streaming into my Droid then I ever read simply because “there’s an app for that”.

Well, what if the apps that show content required subscriptions? And what if the folks who create that content simply stop putting their content on-line in places where search engines like Google can find them? Bang. Newspapers get subscribed to again, and even previously-free TV outlets can create viewership revenue.

I was beginning to think that Mr. Murdoch was a dinosaur. I’ve changed my mind. And you’re about to change the way you use the internet. Get your strategy together, now.

By the way: the part of the interview where he talks about this topic starts at about 1:50 of the video.

Is This News? Dilbert 's Scott Adams is Still One Smart Guy!

Scott Adams is one of the funniest guys in the world. At least I think so.

Is repackaging of news news? You might be tempted to say no, but when The Daily Show does it, many of Jon Stewart’s fans are getting their only news of the day. Sad to say, MSNBC and FoxNews are guilty, too; they spend tons “reporting”, but then their editorial spin is where all the real attention goes. Not “Fair and Balanced” in any of the above cases, especially in the televised versions.

So the value-add becomes the news. It’s what differentiates one version from the next.

Are you adding value?

Here’s why business change is everything:

In Silicon Valley, a guy named Guy is getting closer and closer to owning you—or at least your in-box. Guy Kawasaki has been around the block plenty, and the former Tech Evangelist for Apple Computer is now landing in my in-box every day. Three times. And magnanimously teaching me how to drop it to one. Sort of.

Some background: Mr. Kawasaki, a Venture Capitalist by trade, has amassed nearly 200,000 followers on Twitter. He sends out so many updates each day that following him feels almost like he’s standing next to you. And . . . now he’s sending out each tweet three times. Automatically. And you can do it, too.

My reference above to “sort of” was about whether Guy was being a nice guy, or whether it was about exerting even more leverage in multiple places. And it’s the latter. And that’s OK.

Here’s Guy Kawasaki ‘s explanation of how to get each of his tweets one time instead of three. It’s straightforward. It’s honest, complete, and clearly written. He tweeted it out. And it covers more ground than I’ve ever seen anyone cover in 140 characters.

1. Guy wants you to visit his web site, Alltop.com
2. Guy wants you to think he’s being a nice guy
3. Guy wants to promote the service that handles the multi-tweet policy he’s using
   • He acknowledges being an “adviser” to that service, which since he’s a Venture Capitalist certainly translates to “owner”.
4. Guy wants you to see how smart he is (and he is; READ the post, please)

All from a tweet. And an incredibly well-thought-out strategy.

Am I praising Guy Kawasaki? Yes. Am I criticizing him, too? I thought I would be when I started planning this piece, but no; Guy Kawasaki is simply the smartest guy on my radar.

And all he’s doing is mixing his interests together in a way you could be too, if you embraced business change and put some thought into it.

The squeeze starts when you decide it does. Or let us help.

If you watched the Beijing Olympics last year, I’ll bet that you were both impressed/amazed and horrified by all those synchronized drummers at the opening ceremony. A truly impressive feat of choreography, it also stirred feelings we learned watching evil governments indoctrinate their citizens.

And maybe it explains why China can do no wrong economically, while here in the USA we continue to struggle with the bad issues that accompany our homegrown economic policy. No, I’m not bashing capitalism. But it does seem to have helped create a few problems.

In the group-think mentality of China, things are just . . . different. And this article explains the issue in a way I’d never before thought about.

Communist Manifesto as Business Change. Wow.

I remember when cell phone towers started going up all across the country. At the time, I was involved in a local business organization, and watched as one of the other members spent tens of thousands of dollars forcing a new tower’s construction to be moved 600 feet down the road from where it had been proposed. And it was all NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) stuff. He had no studies on health effects. He had no small children to be careful about. He fought because he didn’t want to accept things becoming different than they had been. Of course now the towers are everywhere.

Oh, and by the way, my friend was older, but not so old that he didn’t have a cell phone. As did his wife.

When Business Change knocks, answer the door. And even if it hurts, at least try to think “IMBY” instead of “NIMBY”.

A story of business change gone wrong:

I’ve recently started using a Google/Verizon Droid SmartPhone. Running the Google Android operating system, it is one slick toy, and having waited as long as I could to make the jump I believe I’ve made the right choice.

Part of getting the device to work the way I need it to has involved finding the right software to install on it. One of my needs is a password manager, and for me SplashID from SplashData is the best choice out there. I’ve used it for almost ten years, first on a Palm Pilot, and then on a WindowsMobile PDA. So I was really happy to find it available on Android.

The software consists of both a phone-based component and software you run on your computer, and under both Palm and WindowsMobile they spoke to each other automatically; any changes you made on one appeared on the other almost by magic. And to their credit, the folks at SplashData didn’t make me pay for a new version of the desktop software. I only had to spend $9.95 on the Android software.

And now, the story gets very, very bad.

With Android, the synchronization process doesn’t happen over a wire as it did with the other versions. Sounds great. But then it turns out that I have to use Wi-Fi instead of the phone network to make the two pieces of software talk to each other. It’s a bit annoying and could have been avoided, but I can live with this requirement. Wait . . . and I have to have both pieces of software connected to the same Wi-Fi network to make them sync. And it’s a manual process, not automatic as in the other versions. And I can only initiate the process from the Android side, but it won’t work unless the software is also active on the computer. Oh, and one more problem: I have to know and type the IP address of the computer into my Droid for the two devices to talk.

If you don’t quite understand the issues I’ve just listed, or how easy it would have been to address them, that’s OK. The point is that Splashdata has taken a great piece of software and turned it into something I wish I hadn’t bought from them for a third time.

So strike that “great customer service” comment, because just being nice isn’t good enough. They’ve chased off a loyal customer. Oh, and by the way, I pointed out the issues I had experienced to them and their response was basically “yeah, software development is hard”.

Business change is a complicated thing; had Splashdata come to The Answer Guy, we would have steered them through this before it became a mess. Instead, they’ve ruined their software, and alienated a loyal customer who regularly sold their software for them.

So file it under “don’t let this happen to you”.

UPDATE 4 June 2010 : OK . . . so . . . SplashData has just upgraded The SplashID software to a 5.x version that “Works with Android”. Stay tuned . . .

Update #2 for 4 June 2010: The folks at SplashData sent me a key to upgrade to Version 5 desktop. I’ve done it. Here’s what I’ve found.

I don’t love fast food, but I have kids who do. Results are as you expect.

But I can fight back in my way: since it all tastes the same to me—and don’t ask me how a McNugget and a Big Mac can taste the same, but they do—at least I can try to make it inexpensive. Thank goodness for that “Dollar Menu”.

So I’ve noticed that Burger King is touting their expanded Dollar Menu, and it includes a double cheeseburger. And I was wondering how that’s possible. It must cost at least that much to make one, right?

Turns out that yes, it does. And so a group of Burger King Franchisees have filed a lawsuit against Burger King to take back control of their own prices. Ever noticed how commercials for special offers often carry disclaimers like “pricing and participation may vary”? Or “higher in Manhattan”? Well, not Burger King. If they say you’ll sell a Whopper for $1, then you will; apparently it’s part of their franchise agreement.

So what’s a hard-pressed business change agent to do? In this case, I’m guessing the answer is “eat it”. But most of the time it’s a very simple complicated order: track and control everything. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Because that’s what makes business. You write the formulas. You control the business change.

So a young man gets arrested for a robbery. Then he gets the charges dropped after Facebook confirms he was home at the time.

Because he posted to his account “from his home computer”.

Seriously?

Ignore the simple fact that someone else could have been logged into his Facebook account at the time, perhaps even—gasp!—an accomplice! Move on to the technical reality that the tools for controlling a computer from a remote location (thereby making the IP records that services like Facebook maintain say you were somewhere other than where you really were) are easy to find, and free or nearly so. I had this one installed and running about 2 hours after activating my new Droid. iPhone users have similar tools at their disposal. And many, many people know about it.

I have no opinion on whether this guy was at home using his computer, or out committing a robbery. And there’s a part of me that finds it unlikely that someone who commits crimes of that sort owns an iPhone or knows how to use it. OH WAIT. NO, THERE ISN’T.

Forget this crime. Think instead about the crime you’re committing against yourself if you don’t open your eyes to the reality of change happening around you.