Monthly Archives: April 2010

Don’t Be an American Idiot: Two Examples of Business Change

Posted on April 30, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Last night I went to the theater. I took my son to see the Broadway-ized version of Green Day’s Rock Opera American Idiot. I was ready to hate the show, and instead I loved it. I didn’t expect to find business change there. I was wrong. Hats off to Green Day and the entire production staff of American Idiot for a business change that worked.

But WOW do I have issues with Foursquare.

On the good side: as a long-time Green Day fan and coming from the position that American Idiot is one of the best examples of the Rock Opera Genre behind perhaps only The Who’s Tommy, I was worried that having the music Broadway-ized would ruin it. It didn’t. My review of American Idiot on Broadway is simple: see it. The music was fun, the production was amazing, and while I didn’t care for a couple of the performances, John Gallagher Jr. was simply fantastic. ... READ MORE of this article, Don’t Be an American Idiot: Two Examples of Business Change from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (398 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Tagged with: american idiot, foursquare, green day
Posted in business change

The Best Way To Grow Your Business: Do What You Promise

Posted on April 29, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — 1 Comment ↓

You know what I hate? Tofu (insert sound of angrily indignant health-conscious readers here).

Actually, what I really hate is when I do business with a company that makes a promise and doesn’t keep it. There are lots of flavors and shadings to that, of course, and I understand that sometimes there are things that are beyond your control.

Panera Bread, you lose.

I travel during my business day. I carry my Droid and from it I can manage a lot of what has to get done while I’m out. But sometimes I need to get on line from my laptop and so I go in search of a Wi-Fi signal. Starbucks gives me nearly-free Wi-Fi, and McDonalds does the same. So does Barnes & Noble. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see me as I move around. ... READ MORE of this article, The Best Way To Grow Your Business: Do What You Promise from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (629 words, estimated 2:31 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "business process", mcdonald's, panera, wi-fi
Posted in business change, Customer Service

The Most Important Business Tool? Reputation (DON’T Do THIS)

Posted on April 28, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Jason Calacanis, currently the CEO of Mahalo and a guy with a long track record of creating stuff in the tech world that sell for a bundle of money, isn’t known for being all warm and fuzzy. Or even a particularly nice guy.

OK . . . not direct enough. From all indications, Jason Calacanis is a bit of a jerk.

This week, he managed to outdo himself, responding to a politely-worded resignation letter from one of Mahalo’s employees in a way that can only be called “nasty”.

I don’t know whether to be more floored by his attitude there, or by his show of ego in delivering the Jason Calacanis manifesto on “the right way to resign”. I am amused, though, that Calacanis believes that his personal experience deserves prominent placement in a set of guidelines that everyone else should follow. ... READ MORE of this article, The Most Important Business Tool? Reputation (DON’T Do THIS) from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (295 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "business process", "human resources", jason calacanis
Posted in Uncategorized

To-Do Lists Make You Do Less. Try a Software Disciplinarian.

Posted on April 27, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Today is my birthday. I’m getting very little done because . . . well, because it’s my birthday! But on other days I don’t really have an excuse.

I use software to keep me on track, to track my time, and to keep me from forgetting things. I’ve carried a PDA of one sort or another since 1994 (a Sharp Zaurus), and because I was one of those people who wrote about technology trends was sent and started using a Palm Pilot about a month before they hit the street in the summer of 1996. Of course, I’ve been using a Droid since late last year.

But when it comes to managing the ever-growing-and-changing list of stuff I need to do every day, I’m as guilty as anyone of recycling; and this isn’t the kind of recycling that’s good for the environment or anything else. ... READ MORE of this article, To-Do Lists Make You Do Less. Try a Software Disciplinarian. from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Tagged with: discipline, productivity, to do lists, To→done
Posted in business change

Remember Google Bringing Nexus One to Verizon? Another Lie.

Posted on April 26, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Remember back when Google launched the Nexus One SmartPhone and told us we should expect to see “their” phone on every major phone network? I commented at the time that the Google Phone looked like way less business change than Google wanted us to believe they were creating, and later told you that Google’s fragmentation of the Android Operating System might kill phones they were less attached to, like the Verizon Droid.

Now it looks like the entire Google Phone movement and creating the Nexus One was nothing more than a red herring to get carriers to develop Android devices.

Last week, Google basically abandoned the Nexus One. This morning, Google told Verizon customers to buy the upcoming Droid Incredible instead of waiting for the Nexus One.

Let’s examine: ... READ MORE of this article, Remember Google Bringing Nexus One to Verizon? Another Lie. from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (325 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Tagged with: don't be evil, droid, Google, nexus one, smartphone, verizon
Posted in business change

Printing Through the Cloud Using Google: More to Break!

Posted on April 23, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Just yesterday I asked a question: can you really trust Google’s tools enough to run your business in the cloud? And it got me thinking about yet another initiative Google recently announced: printing documents in the cloud.

I’m not talking Google’s often-questionable security on this one. In fact, in a way I think cloud printing makes more sense than many of the other things we’ve all started doing virtually since Google became big brother. But because it’s so simple I pretty much ask “who cares”?

Let’s start with what the cloud is. In simple terms cloud computing means that you’re using resources you don’t actually possess or aren’t physically connected to. In a sense, if you’ve set up a wireless network to access the Internet in your home or at your business you’ve created your own cloud, albeit one with only a single virtual resource: your Internet connection. ... READ MORE of this article, Printing Through the Cloud Using Google: More to Break! from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (511 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Tagged with: Google, internet, the cloud
Posted in business change

If Google Stops Working, Will Your Business Keep Running?

Posted on April 22, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — 4 Comments ↓

The shoemaker’s kids don’t have shoes.

I’ve been known to apply that old saw to lots of situations. Friends get angry at me when I do it, clients pay me to teach them about making sure they have shoes of their own, and because I’m human I’m as guilty as anyone; the things I’m best at teaching to others I don’t always handle well for myself.

What do you do when Google shuts you down?

Chris Brogan, one of the business-gurus-of-the-moment, is going through it right now. I’ve scolded him in a comment on that post, and now I hope I can teach you something that Chris really should have known:

In business you always need to have a backup plan.

Chris has every right to be frustrated by all of his stuff suddenly not working. And hey: Google really does owe us a way to recover without having to cross a border (Europe for a week, anyone? At least Chris Brogan’s story has him in driving distance). ... READ MORE of this article, If Google Stops Working, Will Your Business Keep Running? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (316 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "business process", "chris brogan", business, Google
Posted in Uncategorized

Don’t Like A Privacy Policy? Tell Everyone! Google Is…

Posted on April 21, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Perhaps you’ve noticed that privacy has been getting repeated coverage here, lately. Whether it’s about the US Congress trying to pass new data privacy laws, the US Supreme Court protecting employer rights, or even something as superfluous as ChatRouletteMap, privacy has been on my mind, and of course the way it affects your business and the changes you’re trying to make to keep your business vibrant are effected by how you handle privacy.

Our friends at Google, a company that’s long been playing both sides of the privacy game, have a new tactic: Google has set up a page that shows a map with details about their data and privacy communications with governments.

The level of detail is impressive. And since government transparency is legally guaranteed here in the USA I’m a big fan of the information also being made available in such an easy-to-access-and-digest way. ... READ MORE of this article, Don’t Like A Privacy Policy? Tell Everyone! Google Is… from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (335 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Tagged with: china, Google, Government, privacy, supreme court ruling
Posted in business change

US Supreme Court to Overrule NJ Supreme Court on Privacy

Posted on April 20, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Whose business is it, anyway?

It was just a few weeks ago that the New Jersey Supreme Court made me embarrassed to have lived many years of my life in the often-unfairly-maligned state. Now, the United States Supreme Court looks to be ready to fix the problem.

Let’s recap:

First, there is no constitutional right to privacy. We have many laws in the United States that establish privacy as something that may be reasonably expected under certain circumstances, but privacy isn’t a right.

Second: when you run a business, you can set rules for how those working for you behave so long as those rules don’t break any laws. Human Resources Departments keep up on these issues, and standards of behavior can be made preconditions of continued employment. ... READ MORE of this article, US Supreme Court to Overrule NJ Supreme Court on Privacy from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (292 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "human resources", employment, law, privacy
Posted in business change

Best Business Change Ever: Customers Pay to Use Bathroom!

Posted on April 16, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Depending on your perspective, there’s a change brewing in the bowels of the airline industry that’s either the best, most brilliant business change of all time, or complete cocky-doodie. European short-haul carrier RyanAir, already notorious for making pretty near everything a paid extra in their flights between European cities, wants you to pay to use the bathroom.

Yes, you read that right. Always seeking new ways to make money, RyanAir, the airline that has been known to price the occasional seat at just one euro and make money instead on extras, has decided that using a bathroom needn’t be free.

Before you get your panties in a twist, let’s go over a few details. ... READ MORE of this article, Best Business Change Ever: Customers Pay to Use Bathroom! from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

First, the idea is only to be put in place for flights lasting under an hour. Given that you need to be strapped into your seat for the first and last 10-15 minutes of every flight anyway there’s really not much of a window to cover.

Tagged with: "customer service", pay bathroom, ryanair
Posted in business change, Customer Service

Data, Privacy, The Law, And A Mess You Can’t Clean Up

Posted on April 15, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

I’m all for privacy.

To be honest, privacy is a relatively new phenomenon sociologically and absent issues like identity theft and stealing from other simply by having their private data and knowing how to misuse it privacy shouldn’t really be that big a deal; just don’t do anything you’re ashamed of. But in the Internet / electronic age there’s a need to protect information. Privacy matters.

But as anyone who knows anything about the technological practicalities of privacy will tell you, there’s really no such thing; data systems will always get breached, and the best path to privacy isn’t about technology so much as knowing how technology you create will get used, and by whom.

Yeah, yeah . . . stop using Facebook right now. And with the US Library of Congress having just decided to start archiving the entire stream of everything that goes through Twitter, you’d better be really careful what you slap up there unless you don’t care about privacy. ... READ MORE of this article, Data, Privacy, The Law, And A Mess You Can’t Clean Up from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (457 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Tagged with: congress, free speech, privacy, telecommunications
Posted in Uncategorized

Are Bloggers Journalists? What IS Business Change, Google?

Posted on April 13, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — 5 Comments ↓

Over the years since this Internet thing started taking hold, there’s been a lot of debate over an important question: Are Bloggers Journalists?

Of course, the question seems more important to former journalists who are unable to find work than it does to most other people. Well, I know a few of those and the one point that I’ve heard a few times and sticks is that journalists are held to a set of professional standards that separates their work from what bloggers do by virtue of imposing external or reporting and editing chain of command accountability for the accuracy of what they write.

Merriam Webster is of no real help. They define journalist as one who reports “for a news medium” (this defends the old-school position), but also simply as “one who keeps a journal”, which does not, and one who “aims for a mass audience”, which can be argued either way. Dictionary.com helps a little more, suggesting that a journalist is one who is in the profession of journalism. ... READ MORE of this article, Are Bloggers Journalists? What IS Business Change, Google? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (448 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "search engine optimization", blogging, Google, journalism, SEO
Posted in business change, Search Engine Optimization SEO

Google: If Your Web Site is Fast, It Gets Higher SEO Ranking

Posted on April 12, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

How fast is your web site? You ask yourself that question all the time, right? You don’t want your customers waiting around for pages to load, and you certainly can’t risk losing the interest of someone new as they wait to see your web site for the first time.

It’s the biggest, if not only reason we’ve long recommended against heavy use of Flash. Now Google has added a reason for you to care about the speed of your web site: faster web sites will get higher rankings.

This troubles me.

While it’s obvious that faster is better, making speed a component of the formula that decides who matters most favors the better-capitalized business over the smaller one, further diluting the democratization of the web. In other words, if you have a better server with better bandwidth, this gives you an advantage. ... READ MORE of this article, Google: If Your Web Site is Fast, It Gets Higher SEO Ranking from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (694 words, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "business process", "search engine optimization", Google, SEO
Posted in Search Engine Optimization SEO