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Monthly Archives: June 2012

When Your Bank Pretends To Give You Something

Posted on June 26, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

PayPal Benefits And Gifts

Somewhere along the line, PayPal became a bank. Your bank. You probably missed it, but it happened.

And somewhere else, PayPal started acting like a bank, too. Now, when PayPal uses your money or profits off you, they talk as though they’re doing you a favor.

While I don’t store the kind of money Louis CK money has at PayPal, we do use PayPal to handle receivables at Answer Guy Central. Mostly, this is because PayPal started up in the business they’re in before anyone else, and having settled on them a long time ago we find that it would be painful to leave them. This in spite of PayPal eliminating their money market fund, and there being some pretty good PayPal alternatives, like Square and WePay. ... READ MORE of When Your Bank Pretends To Give You Something at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (530 words, 1 image, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Customer Service

Out of the Mouths of Babes (and 18-Year-Olds) . . .

Posted on June 25, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 1 Comment

The Independence in Business Change

When my youngest son graduated from high school, I compared him to Arianna Huffington. It was kind of an abstract comparison, but it fit; we all have to find our way through a constantly-changing set of circumstances. The other day, that same young adult threw these words on Twitter:

I don’t even ask my mom if I can go to concerts anymore. I kind of just tell her ... READ MORE of Out of the Mouths of Babes (and 18-Year-Olds) . . . at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (358 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

The Smartest Man In Business Today

Posted on June 22, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

We all have people whose every word we follow, hanging on to each and ever utterance out of our personal gurus’ mouths as though they were . . . well . . . gurus.

Much to my surprise, even I have a few followers who look to me like a seer of some sort. I’ve never been comfortable with that; I remember when I was doing TV and radio as The Computer Answer Guy and the occasional fan would contact me gushing compliments my reaction usually ran along the lines of mumbling “it’s just what I do . . . ” ... READ MORE of The Smartest Man In Business Today at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (981 words, 1 image, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Marketing, Media

Which: Search Engine Optimization? Marketing? Adwords? YES!

Posted on June 21, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 1 Comment

Search Engine Optimization for St. Louis Search Design

On the Internet, where everyone can hear you scream, your screams will only be loud enough if Google thinks they should be. This is where Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing come in.

What’s a marketer to do?

Aside from the obvious (contact The Answer Guy About Search Engine Optimization), the answer starts with understanding the difference between SEO and SEM. Search Engine Optimization is when you get Google to find you organically in search terms, and Search Engine Marketing is when you buy placement, such as through Google using Adwords. ... READ MORE of Which: Search Engine Optimization? Marketing? Adwords? YES! at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (476 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Content, Design, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization SEO

From AAA to ByeByeBye: How SpringPad Made Me Throw Them Away

Posted on June 20, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 7 Comments

One of the earliest pieces I wrote here and filed under “business change” was this one about changes made to password manager software SplashID. And while many of the thoughts I pass along are instructional from a cautionary tale/think twice perspective, it’s rare that I out and out say “Holy Cow, You Just Screwed Me And So Now  I’m Done Using Or Recommending Your Product”.

I stayed with SpalshID for a while after that piece was written, but the die was cast and I pretty well knew it had been. SpringPad’s just done something so heinous, there will be no second chances. ... READ MORE of From AAA to ByeByeBye: How SpringPad Made Me Throw Them Away at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (535 words, 1 image, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Marketing, Media

Chivalry, Vial Behavior, Morals, Journalism, and Arianna

Posted on June 19, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

Moral Foundations, Arianna Huffington, and Capitalism

Do you think that when Arianna Huffington re-tweeted those words, she noticed that chivalry had been made into something vial?

I suspect not.

I also suspect that for most of us, morals—if not absolutely rigid—are well enough defined that we don’t need to think about the moral implications of the things we do from moment to moment, day to day.

Today is my youngest son’s high school graduation. If you’re anything like me it’s occasions like that when you think the most about life’s progressions and how both you and others might interpret your morals. ... READ MORE of Chivalry, Vial Behavior, Morals, Journalism, and Arianna at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (313 words, 1 image, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

Verizon FIOS Quantum, and the 300 Mbps You’ll Never See

Posted on June 18, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 65 Comments

Verizon FIOS Quantum Speeds and 300 mbps

It was over two years ago that Comcast introduced 105 Mbps Internet speeds, and I told you you’d never see that speed. Today, Verizon is introducing Verizon FIOS Quantum with speeds of 300 mbps, because the Internet has come so far that you can now download illegal movies even faster.

Umm, no, you (still) can’t.

Here’s the good news: Verizon FIOS Quantum 300 mbps service theoretically offers three times what Comcast offered for downloads and six times the speeds for uploads, at the same price. So the “price of fast Internet” is coming down. ... READ MORE of Verizon FIOS Quantum, and the 300 Mbps You’ll Never See at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (777 words, 2 images, estimated 3:06 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Bill Gates, You’re No Bill Gates (or Steve Jobs) — Gladwell

Posted on June 15, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

You’d think that I’d write here about Bill Gates on a regular basis. You’d be wrong. Oh sure, I’ve written about Microsoft and their evolution from a software company to one that invents battery technology, and I’ve told you about Gate’s buddy Warren Buffett needing a new television, but Mr. Microsoft just doesn’t get much attention here.

Last week, Malcolm Gladwell showed me why that is: Bill Gates the businessman just isn’t very interesting . . . or even very important. Bill Gates the philanthropist, on the other hand, will be a man in whose honor statues are erected. ... READ MORE of Bill Gates, You’re No Bill Gates (or Steve Jobs) — Gladwell at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (364 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Verizon Has Made My Head—And Likely YOUR Wallet—Hurt. A LOT

Posted on June 13, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Your phone calls just became free. So did your text messages. Sounds great, right?

Guess again. If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer, your prices, under the guise of Verizon Wireless making plans that are theoretically less expensive, just went up. WAY up. If we hadn’t already christened The Verizon Wireless Customer Service Wall of Shame for them, this sleight of hand would have been enough to earn Big Red that honor.

... READ MORE of Verizon Has Made My Head—And Likely YOUR Wallet—Hurt. A LOT at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (501 words, 2 images, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Huffington Post, Consumerist: Indignant Over . . . WHAT?

Posted on June 11, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

If you see something on the Internet, it must be true.

Right?

It seems that at The Consumerist and at The Huffington Post, “it must be true” is what passes for journalism. Go ahead; check either the Consumerist or Huffington Post links and you’ll be treated to video from the CBS TV affiliate in Dallas Texas, showing you a piece purporting to tell a story.

Oh, it tells a story. CBS11 Dallas/Fort Worth, The Huffington Post, and Consumerist are all in the same business, and it isn’t journalism. ... READ MORE of Huffington Post, Consumerist: Indignant Over . . . WHAT? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (861 words, 1 image, estimated 3:27 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Media

What Happens When SEO Gets You Traffic On Your Own Name?

Posted on June 8, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

search engine optimization click-through rate chart

Yesterday, while doing analysis for one of our larger SEO clients, we came across what you see above. My apologies for blurring out the keywords, but showing them would compromise both our client’s identity and potentially the value of the work we do for them.

Take a look at line three. Over the course of a month, 3,000 inquiries were made on what happens to be the client’s company name. As you can see, their web site was ranked by Google, on average, at just over position #2 for search engine optimization purposes on that name. Fully two-thirds of all people who searched for their name both found and clicked through to their web site. That’s the good news. ... READ MORE of What Happens When SEO Gets You Traffic On Your Own Name? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (671 words, 1 image, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Marketing, Media, Search Engine Optimization SEO

Shawn and Sean In Search Of The Killer App. And It’s AIRTIME

Posted on June 7, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

It’s Airtime, Dude!

Much to my surprise given my background as a quasi-geek and the subject I write about most often, I hardly ever talk about “the killer app”. Killer Apps are the very definition of business change, and the kind of thing that I’d have thought before I checked this morning that gets more attention.

Then again, real killer apps come along so seldom, maybe it’s right that I don’t talk up the “next great thing” all that often. ... READ MORE of Shawn and Sean In Search Of The Killer App. And It’s AIRTIME at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (833 words, 4 images, estimated 3:20 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Design, Development

Black Hat Guys Go UnGoogled (Who Ya Gonna Call? SEO Busters)

Posted on June 6, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

I enjoy telling you about Search Engine Optimization. As I’ve mentioned before, part of the reason for that is that we sell SEO Consulting and Search Engine Optimization services, but I also like it because SEO presents the kinds of puzzle that I like trying to solve.

I try to be transparent about both my enthusiasm for SEO and the way we do Search Engine Optimization at Answer Guy Central, so much so that we show you a bunch of our SEO Results—which I’ve been told is rare. And when Google took issue with a test we did on a new SEO technique a couple of years back, I even showed you that. ... READ MORE of Black Hat Guys Go UnGoogled (Who Ya Gonna Call? SEO Busters) at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (444 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization SEO

A Year In, What’s Happening at Google+ ?

Posted on June 5, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

 

Jeff Yablon on Google Plus

 

Are you using Google+ ?

Here’s a better question to ponder before we try to answer that first one: do you know what Google+ is?

The folks at Neowin don’t. Welcome to business change, Google+ style. It’s a world where the search and advertising giant throws everything it has against a wall, waits to see what sticks, gathers up what fell to the ground, and starts throwing again. And while Neowin thinks that means Google+ has “no purpose”, they’re wrong. ... READ MORE of A Year In, What’s Happening at Google+ ? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (688 words, 1 image, estimated 2:45 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Search Engine Optimization SEO

Advertising, Do Not Track, Politics, Privacy, and You

Posted on June 4, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

If advertising is dead (and click that link to see why I assert that it is), “Do Not Track” is . . . well, I’m not sure Do Not Track is actually anything.

In the USA, we have a long history of government “protection” of our “privacy”. I put both of those words in quotes very much on purpose; despite growing efforts, our government is less and less capable of protecting us from much of anything, let alone information-based transgressions, and as for privacy, well, there is no privacy. ... READ MORE of Advertising, Do Not Track, Politics, Privacy, and You at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (584 words, 1 image, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Marketing, Media




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