Monthly Archives: May 2010

Kiss Flat-Rate Data Goodbye: Here Come the 4G Phones

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

It’s almost here. 4G cell phone networks and the way-faster data transfer speeds that come with them are about to get switched on. Now, your Smartphone will feel . . . even smarter.

And Verizon will be making you pay for that.

Presumably all carriers will be doing the same, so Verizon only deserves credit for opening the floodgates. But Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam is on record: fixed-cost all-you-can-eat data plans will be going away for 4G SmartPhone users.

Telecommunications companies have a rich history of charging more for things that actually cost them less; how else can you explain the 20-cents-per-message charge for text messages for those of us who don’t buy bundles? And Mr. McAdam had acknowledged that it will actually cost Verizon less to deliver data over their new 4G network than it does on the current one. ... READ MORE of this article, Kiss Flat-Rate Data Goodbye: Here Come the 4G Phones from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (238 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Tagged with: bandwidth, smartphone, telecommunications, verizon
Posted in business change

How Much Bandwidth is Enough? What Would You Pay For More?

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

Yesterday I was excited to hear that Comcast has announced a new level of Internet service and bandwidth that until now simply wasn’t available in The United States. Soon, you’ll be able to have 105 mbps downloads and 10 mpbs uploads.

My excitement lasted about five seconds.

First, the good news: the routers we’re buying today (and for the last couple of years) will support the kind of speeds that Comcast is about to start selling as the first ISP in the United States to do so. The bad news? Everything else.

Comcast’s offer is for residential service. You’ll be fine running your business off it if the service is sold to a person and delivered to a residential rather than a business address. But it costs $200 per month. “People” won’t pay that. Contrast this to the similar speed service that’s been delivered by residential ISPs in Korea for several years at about one fourth that price. ... READ MORE of this article, How Much Bandwidth is Enough? What Would You Pay For More? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (483 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "105 mbps", bandwidth, comcast, internet
Posted in business change

Matt Cutts, Google Analytics, Business Change Responsibility

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

A couple of months ago, word leaked out that Google was about to make it so that you could opt out of Google Analytics.

I pointed out at the time that Google allowing people to have their browsers instruct the web sites they were visiting to ignore their visits renders Google Analytics worthless. Yesterday, Google flipped the switch. It’s now easy to instruct Google Analytics to ignore you when you surf.

Privacy concerns aside (and that’s addressed in the post I’ve linked above), having people be able to not exist really does make the idea of counting traffic mean less. I have no problem with anonymizing yourself, but to pretend that even the anonymous you never visited a web site has implications for the way commerce is conducted on the Internet, and they’re bad.

I could go on for a very long time about that, and maybe some day I will. Today’s topic, though, is responsibility. ... READ MORE of this article, Matt Cutts, Google Analytics, Business Change Responsibility from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (459 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "search engine optimization", google analytics, Matt Cutts
Posted in business change, Search Engine Optimization SEO

New York Times to Become Pay Site! No It Won’t! Yes It Will!

Posted on May 25, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

If you’re one of those “The Internet and Information Should Be Free” people, you probably don’t much care for the Wall Street Journal. The House that Rupert Murdoch Re-Built is one of the few places on the Internet where content has been pay-only since day one and has managed to thrive that way.

I admire Mr. Murdoch’s resolve, and his ability to make money where most others have failed, even if I believe he’s way off the mark in the way he goes about things.

But I more admire the management of The New York Times, who have signaled that when they start charging for access to their content sometime next year that they’ll not be roping off articles from their newspaper against bloggers and other outside links. ... READ MORE of this article, New York Times to Become Pay Site! No It Won’t! Yes It Will! from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (414 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Tagged with: blogging, internet, New York Times, Rupert Murdoch, WSJ
Posted in business change

Clear Your Business Change Head. Eat Business Change Fish.

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

A couple of days ago, while talking about about planning and genuine, substantive business change, I told you about Dan Barber. Dan’s the chef/owner of Blue Hill Farm in Westchester County NY, where for a mere $650 or so you and a friend can have dinner.

If you haven’t read that post, I encourage you to do so now, and most important, watch the video of Dan talking about fish.

Fish could be your biggest business change. Ever.

My mind was wandering this morning, and I skipped back to something Dilbert creator Scott Adams wrote almost a year ago. Scott’s a very smart guy, and I’ve mentioned him here several times. Last June, he shared his thoughts on several earthly crises with a common theme: think better, act better, do better. ... READ MORE of this article, Clear Your Business Change Head. Eat Business Change Fish. from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (329 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "scott adams", Dan Barber, dilbert
Posted in business change

Just Get Noticed! Would Jon Stewart & Glenn Beck Lie?

Posted on May 17, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — 2 Comments ↓

A dirty secret of the publishing business: most press outlets care more about the headlines they use to get your attention than they do about the stuff that comes after. Back in the day when I ran IYM Software Review and occasionally freelanced for big magazines like PCWorld, there were sometimes stories published over my name that looked nothing at all like what I had written, and had lost their relevance to the subject at hand. But BOY did they have snappy titles!

And on the Internet, that’s more true than ever. Big, little, or in between, the idea is to grab you by the throat and not let go. Headlines and titles are how this is done. ... READ MORE of this article, Just Get Noticed! Would Jon Stewart & Glenn Beck Lie? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (575 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "long tail marketing", glenn beck, jon stewart, New York Times, SEO
Posted in business change, Search Engine Optimization SEO

Cougars:Bad. Sugar Daddies:Good. WHAT Business Change?

Posted on May 14, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

With the weekend upon us, I want to thank Google for getting things off on the right foot. Yes, today our topic is business change as it applies to . . . Cougars.

I don’t mean the medium-sized wildcat kind of cougar. Google has no issue with those. I’m talking about the kind that walks on two high-heeled legs, wears expensive designer clothing, and likes what she likes.

Google has rejected advertising for the Cougarlife.com web site. Their explanation is that they don’t carry ads that aren’t family friendly, and that Cougarlife’s ads cross the line. But there’s a clear conflict between Google’s statement and their practices.

The question is . . . why? Follow this link and you’ll get a run-down of the story complete with video examples illustrating the issue . . . and I just don’t get it. Is Google in the business of policing obscenity? Have they decided that society needs censoring? And if so, why are they being selective about it? ... READ MORE of this article, Cougars:Bad. Sugar Daddies:Good. WHAT Business Change? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (310 words, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

Tagged with: advertising, censorship, cougars, Google, marissa mayer, Obscenity, society, sugar daddies
Posted in business change

A New Market Develops: What IS a Virtual Assistant, Apple?

Posted on May 13, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

A couple of weeks ago, Apple bought Siri, a company that has developed “virtual assistant” software for the iPhone. Being familiar with both Siri and the virtual assistant market, when I heard about this I . . . shrugged.

A virtual assistant helps you get things done. Most frequently that means you hand off the tasks you don’t have time or expertise for to another person, or in the case of us here at Virtual VIP, another company.

Software can do part of that, but ultimately the only time software “does something” for you is when you spend lots of time instructing it in how to do what you want. That’s not what a virtual assistant is, and explains why I’ve never spoken about the well-hyped and well-funded Siri before. ... READ MORE of this article, A New Market Develops: What IS a Virtual Assistant, Apple? from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (285 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "virtual assistant", apple, iphone, marketing, siri
Posted in business change

Motorola As a Software Company: Uncontrolled Business Change

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

Forgive me for lack of speed; I needed to let this one roll around in my head for a few days:

Motorola is enjoying a business resurgence. Owing to their decision to start making SmartPhones based on the Google Android operating system, Motorola has become profitable after many quarters of moving in the wrong direction. Palm, on the other hand, is no more, having been acquired by Hewlett Packard for reasons that HP has thus far kept close to the vest.

This article in the New York Times compares the fate of the two companies, and I wasn’t sure what the real point of the comparison was until I gave it some thought. ... READ MORE of this article, Motorola As a Software Company: Uncontrolled Business Change from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (548 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Tagged with: Android, droid, Google, motorola, New York Times, smartphone, verizon
Posted in business change

Copy Machines: Finding the Line Between Panic and Practice

Posted on May 11, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Business Change & SEO Consultant — No Comments ↓

Yesterday I received an email from my sister. She had come across this video from CBS News:

(if you don’t want to watch the video you can read the accompanying story here)

The point of the story is simple: almost every copy machine in service today has a hard drive in it, and every copy that gets made gets saved to that hard drive. This means that when you take personal documents to a copy center to reproduce them you’re leaving a copy behind, and it also means (for example) that when your personal information is used in completely normal and legal ways at insurance companies they are leaving copies behind unless they take steps to do something about it.

And they aren’t always doing that. ... READ MORE of this article, Copy Machines: Finding the Line Between Panic and Practice from Answer Guy Central, your Business Change, SEO Consulting / Search Engine Optimization & Computer Support Source by Clicking Here (473 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Tagged with: "computer care", "managed computer care for small business", CBS News, copy machines
Posted in business change