Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

Do you always notice how fashion follows technology? Here we are one day fumbling to get our gloves off while driving or skiing so we can text or make a phone call from our smart phones.  Texting while on a ski lift is definitely a challenge.  While trying to secure your glove and poles between your leg and the lift, it can easily slip and drop 50 feet below, never to be found. I suffered many of these awkward moments on ski lifts when my daughter was texting me to find out where I was on the mountain. First, I had to take off my glove off to respond, and then my fingers went in to instant freeze mode. To add insult to injury,  time runs out where you have to get off the lift and scramble to get your glove back on.

Then one day someone has an AHA moment and  designs a solution.

And now you have the hottest gift of the season,  the “Touchscreen Glove” aka “Smarttouch Glove”. Thank you whoever you are. In my pursuit of the best ones on the market, I started doing my homework, made some phone calls to manufacturers for clients wanting to give them out as holiday gifts, and then ventured out yesterday to test some.

And here’s what I found. Who makes them?  Freehands, Northface, Dots, Etre, AGloves, ) Echo and Isotoner, Igloves (who claims to be the first, and “authentic one” and has an exclusive distribution deal with Neiman Marcus) among others. They come in acrylics, fleece, cashmere, leather and ski styles.

Some have special special dots or fabric tips on the pointer and thumb, others have holdback tips and then there are ones that simply are made of fabrics with  skin-like responsiveness. Rivaling for the lead seems to be Freehands but gaining a competitive edge at retail is Echo.

Personally, I don’t like the ones with the tips that you fold back to expose your fingertips — too much work. Most of the fabric tips work amazingly well.

These gloves have actually been around since 2009, where they were touted by David Pogue who writes a weekly technology column for the New York Times.  But they are just gaining mainstream popularity.  Previously available only in specialty shops, they now have their own section in department store accessory departments.

So keep your gloves on, you are now longer in danger of frostbyte.

ZAGAT OR ZAGNOT? – THE PITFALLS OF VIRTUAL REVIEWS

In the beginning there was Zagat’s. Instead of relying on just one restaurant critic to voice their opinion about an eatery, they democratized the process by aggregating reviews of nonprofessionals to form a consensus. Then came the internet, which further opened things up to people who wanted to write reviews about hotels, resorts, books, doctors, – you name it.

These days, before you head out of town, your first stop might be to TripAdvisor, or Citysearch to check out reviews on hotels and restaurants –oh the beauty of the technology.  No more running to Barnes and Noble to get the latest travel guide, no need to call your travel agent – just go straight to the Internet.

But what about the integrity of the reviews? Don’t be surprised to find out that some of those 5 star hotels have taken to paying for positive reviews. A  recent study has been designed to try and decipher which reviews are authentic and which are posted by paid reviewers who have never even visited a given venue.

The outcome so far has proven that paid reviews or “non visitors” leave out the details and talk more in the first person about their alleged visit.

What started out as a great idea is now being corrupted by the rise of the “review factories,” where freelance writers are paid to pump out phony reviews extolling the virtues of hotels, restaurants and a hoard of products and services they’ve never experienced. Sites like fiverr.com,  and Craigslist offer a platform for people to advertise services they want to buy or sell for $5.00-$10.00 a pop.

So travelers BEWARE!!  The integrity of reviews on such Web sites such as TripAdvisor, Citisearch, Yelp and Amazon’s  Mechanical Turk need to be carefully scrutinized.  A former General Counsel of Epinions.com which reviews consumer products said recently that fake reviews  are “ a pervasive problem on the Internet”  No sh-t!

Resorts, book publishers and restaurants depend on these positive ratings which translate to more attention and usage of their products and services. Some Cornell researchers  have launched a study to devise an algorithm to ferret out the real from the faux  reviews that overuse superlatives, and are not description-based and tend to overuse “I” and ‘me” , thus identifying people who have never visited a property. Unfortunately, they only work 90% of the time.

influential sites like Yelp have developed their own algorithm to identify fake reviews and allow users to see “filtered reviews”.  But it’s precisely these type of sites that have given birth to the underground of disreputable entrepreneurs.

There’s nothing really new here.  Companies have long planted negative reviews about competitors’ products and services, spawning online reputation control sites like Main Street Hub and Reputation.com. Conversely, they solicit patrons for positive reviews in exchange for free or discounted this or that, another example of offline influence peddling.

The government calls this practice “astroturfing”, where employees pose as consumers and post positive reviews on Web sites and Internet message boards about their own company. The rise of consumer review and advice sites has fueled the practice of online deception.

And what of the good old days when your travel agent (despite traveling virtually free, courtesy of resorts) and restaurant reviewers (courtesy of their publisher), could visit and review resorts and restaurants and write “unbiased” reviews. Even if the opinion of your agent didn’t always comport with yours… at least they’d actually visited the restaurant or property to talk about the pros and cons and give you tips and advice on best room locations, local sites, restaurants and shopping.

A new set of guidelines for Internet endorsements introduced last year by the Bureau of Consumer Protection set new rules for bloggers and covers anyone writing reviews on Web sites or promoting products through Facebook and Twitter. These new guidelines are designed to impose the same truth-in-advertising principles that have long been in effect. But only one PR firm has thus far been targeted for violating the rules.

This whole anonymity game that governs customer service at companies begets a similar lack of accountability. The customer service person that you’re talking to seems to have only a first name like “George” – no last name – and no direct contact information. And what exactly are they protecting? It feels something like these anonymous people using pseudonyms to write phony reviews.

So how can we trust anything we read? When businesses are competing for share of market, there are no holds barred and the policing of this underground assault appears to be elusive.

This lack of integrity seems to have polluted our political landscape as well,  which appears to be just as ugly these days.  Blatant mistruths contaminate the democratic process and there  are those who are fighting the new guidelines restricting freedom of speech on the Internet by suggesting that this is another example of political overreach. These uninformed and misguided assaults serve to further polarize an already dysfunctional public discourse.

What’s Black & White, Checkered and Everywhere?

QR codes, aka quick response codes are fast becoming a powerful force in marketing, acting as a conduit between the offline and online world.  They’re everywhere you look these days, those mostly black and white geometric, checkered, pixelated square bar codes you’re seeing in magazines and newspaper ads, and in store window posters.

If you’re wondering what they are, and what to do with them, here’s the skinny.

QR, or quick response codes are special bar codes, which can be scanned by iPhones, Blackberrys, Droids and other smart phones. They use a special app that provides an instant link to a website or Facebook page, to get product information, reviews and online offers.

As I started to write this piece, I saw that David Pogue, the NY Times technology columnist was marveling at them too.

This tool gives companies more bang for their buck by driving more traffic to their  websites and social networking platforms and letting customers and potential customers learn more about their companies.

Here’s how it works and what you can do with it:

First you have to make sure your phone can scan a QR code with its camera, with pre-installed software or,  you must download an app. You’ll have to use a browser to find out what application to use for a QR Reader for your phone,  

Nearly everything we buy has a UPC code printed on it. If you don’t have a scanner preloaded in your phone, you’ll need to get one. Try Scan Life, it’s a good app that scans easily, understands a variety of codes, and gets you to the correct information quickly.

Once you’ve started the app, just point your smartphone’s auto-focus camera at the bar code and click (to take a picture). The app does the decoding of the information. Not all codes work with all apps. The UPC code is standardized by an international non-profit. QR codes are more and more common each day, but may only work with specific apps so you must do your homework.

There are plenty of creative ideas for how businesses can use QR codes to market and communicate. You will see QR codes on bus stops, train stations and subway stations. A quick scan can give you real time information on when the next bus, train or subway might arrive. And this is just a sample of what you can get from QR codes.

BUSINESS USES:

Photographers: Can put a QR code in or on your portfolio cover so which links to your website, flickr profile, and  photography resume .

Museums: Posted next to painting and sculptures, visitors can learn more about an artist and with links to other works by the artist, related artists, and allow you to buy one of the artists images on something from the museum shop.

Direct Mail:  QR codes can link to a PURL (personalized URL) and in case you’ve wondered, URL is the acronym for Uniform Resource Locator.

Tourist sites and Hiking trails,: a QR code can explain the significance of the site with more detail than a plaque.

For Sale Signs: at residential of commercial buildings,  codes can include sell sheet information and video walkthroughs.

E-Mail Newsletters: you can build your subscriber base by having quick links to an email signup box.

E-Learning. a QR code can generate an email that starts an autoresponder, sending emails filled with lessons and related information.

Grocery Stores: Shoppers can get quick access to recipes that include ingredients to purchase while in the store. On produce you could include information about the farm, organic or conventional growing, best buy dates, etc.

 Wine & Spirits

Wineries can put them on bottles of wine to provide vineyard information and ideas for food pairings and let consumers buy a case of that bottle that they enjoyed at a restaurant instead of steaming off the label!

At on premise events, codes can be printed on cocktail napkins with links to drink recipes–great for new products. Bars can link to advertiser’s websites, or FB page with photos to connect with people after the event.

Trade Shows:

Conference Signage: next to the name of the upcoming session to get the full description, speaker bios, and to check available space.

Print on Name Tags: Instead of trading business cards, just scan them.

Instead of dropping a business card in a fish bowl, booths can get all the pertinent information and give away prizes to people who scanned the most (like Foursquare check ins!)

Magazine, Books and Newspapers:

In articles: With QR codes you can quickly get the online version and see other reader comments, or steer readers to discount codes and directions. On recipes to provide a quick link to videos, review and feedback at the website. Or, scan a picture to wind a free prize.

Movies

On posters or the back of theatre seats– a Qr code can take you to a preview of the movie.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE LOCATIONS TO DISPLAY QR CODES:

Indoor play areas, golf driving ranges, sports centers – Use QR codes to provide sports info, special discounts,  local dining info. etc.

Ski mountain chair lifts – put code on the safety bar

Elevators – great place for restaurants (take-out menus), flower co’s, dry cleaning to put a QR code.

Video Games: Embed to share avatars

Bars, Clubs – QR codes can be posted so people can find music if the QR code is displayed where the DJ is or taxi cabs can post codes

Wedding Invitations: instead of RSVP cards, let people scan a QR and save a tree and a stamp.

Libraries – to encourage feedback, and advertise seminars

Banks – use them for special offers.: for window shoppers, post on windshields with sticker price and other info.

The “You” in YouTube

In its five year history, YouTube, has enjoyed a meteoric rise. A natural outgrowth of such shows as ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos, and video sharing via email, Facebook and other social media sites, YouTube satisfies that primal voyeur in us all and particularly in the Generation Y culture. Teenagers just can’t seem to get enough of seeing themselves on camera.

I marvel at how many videos and pictures they post on social media sites. Malcolm Gladwell would have a field day with teenagers defining role in influencing pop culture trends.

With over half a billion users, YouTube makes it possible for people to watch and share original content, and has become a forum for people to connect, inform, entertain and engage by sharing videos. More than 2 billion videos are viewed on a given day.

But for all the enjoyment that YouTube brings, a lot of controversy surrounds it.  YouTube, owned by Google, relies on users to police the content and flags videos that promote inappropriate content.

YouTube says that they review videos with a high “flag-to-view” ratio and remove content that violates the site’s terms of use. But, they are a little vague about the process. A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the slippery slope that this medium provides for those with an objectionable agenda.

And now to the nitty gritty……

The Do’s and Don’ts

You can upload up to 2 GB of high definition video, 15 minutes in length.

DO NOT infringe on someone’s copyright – that means don’t upload TV shows, music videos, music concerts or commercials without authorization.

Brand yourself. Before you upload videos, choose a username that points to “you”. This will help to “legitimize” your channel. For example, if your name is Jane Doe, don’t use something random that doesn’t help identify you. Use your name or JanesMobileApp which tells people what your brand is all about.

BUSINESS BRANDING

Customize your channel by including information about you and/or your business and add your logo to link to your website.

Make sure your branding is embedded before, during and after the video. Start the video with your logo, add it to the top right during the video and end with your logo. With this approach, no matter where it lands, you’ll get free advertising.

Businesses can establish channels, or a home page that lists videos, playlists and contact information.

Create Playlists

For example, if you have a dog training video, find some other great videos on the same topic (from other people) and create a playlist. Call it “Dog Training Tips”.

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

As in the case with all social media, build a “community” by keeping content current and posting updates regularly. Build goodwill by commenting on your subscribers and friends homepages while promoting your channel.

Be funny and provocative. If your video goes viral, it’s free advertising. To gain traction, send out your video to bloggers and editors.

Demonstrate products and offer instruction by creating “how-to” videos, particularly if you have products that require training.  Assemble an instructional video library to reduce customer questions, and phone support.

MARKETING

Cross pollinate, this is very important! If you post a video to YouTube make sure to tweet the link, post it on your Facebook brand page and share clips on Google Reader.

You can add friends and message them, join groups, create your own group and use the bulletin board to interact with the YouTube community.
 Overlay text in your videos with calls to action like:

• Share this video with friends.
• Check out my channel.
• Subscribe to my videos.
• Post your comments.
• Please rate this video.
• Visit my blog for more videos (then you can capture email addresses)

Other things you can do:

• Email your YouTube link to friends and contacts.
• Embed videos in your website or blog
• Use contests to encourage people to subscribe to your channel
• Email friends when you post a new video
• Piggyback on other video’s traffic by posting your videos as responses to videos with related content.

Use YouTube’s Analytics and Tools to measure the effect of your videos. After reviewing the metrics and seeing which “hot spots” that viewers rewind and watch again, you can rethink your approach to make it more compelling or shorten them.

YouTube Channels

Submit your videos and see if you can get YouTube to post your video on one of their channels:

• Autos and Vehicles
• Comedy
• Education
• Entertainment
• Film and Animation
• Gaming

Most videos that make it big are NOT professionally produced. They’re just amateurs in front of a camera talking about what they enjoy or know best. Here some tips that might help grow your company:

• Spend some time watching YouTube videos and learn what works.
• Find out what videos get the most views, best ratings and most comments.
• Find out who has the most subscribers

Use Keywords and add your URL to your description to help people find your videos.  Use the same keyword in the title, description and tags.

Example: (Keywords are in red)

Title: Deer-Free Gardens

Description: http://www.YourSite.com/blog – Do you want to know how to plant a deer-free garden? This video reveals the 9 secrets of planting deer-free gardens.

Tags: planting a deer-free garden, deer free gardens, deer-free plants

Now get those video cameras rolling.

Out in the clouds

The new catch phrase : Cloud Computing

If you want to focus your energy on managing and growing your business and not on constantly changing technology, then you might want to consider cloud computing.

And what exactly is cloud computing? Not necessarily a new concept, it’s a technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications.

Cloud computing simply allows you to use software and applications without having to install them on your own computer and lets you access files at any computer with Internet access. This technology offers almost unlimited storage, memory, processing and bandwidth. It refers to any situation in which computing is done in a remote location (i.e., out in the clouds), rather than on your desktop or handheld device.  Networks, databases and servers are backed up at multiple locations called “data centers.”

All kinds of services live “in the cloud” and are accessible through the web. You can choose to install and support a product on your own site or use a service that lives “in the cloud”. This includes everything from email to word processing to photo sharing,

Cloud computing gives you the ability to tap into computing power on the Web as simply as plugging into an electrical outlet.

With cloud computing you can increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without, training new staff, investing in new infrastructure or licensing new software. Cloud computing is a subscription-based or pay-per-use service accessed over the Internet, which extends information technology’s existing capabilities.

Instead of worrying about broken servers, technology budgets, running out of storage space or obsolete hardware, you can use products that live “in the cloud” using your own web browser.  And you only pay for the storage and products you use at any given time. Cloud computing eliminates the threat of losing unrecoverable date on your computer if your server fails. If a server fails “in the cloud”, the service provider simply shifts the load to another server or a backup server.

Another benefit of cloud computing is sustainability… another millennium buzzword. Without the need to buy additional hardware, companies can reduce the size of their carbon footprint — one less piece of hardware and you reduce your consumption of electricity. And you can eliminate the need to get software upgrades as they are done automatically in cloud computing.

A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email or Gmail. You don’t need software or a server to use them. All you need is an Internet connection to send emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud (Internet) and is managed by the service provider, i.e., Yahoo, Google, etc.

And what are the most common uses? 
Web services that require tremendous computing power, like Web search and social networking sites such as Facebook. Many businesses are tapping into Google and Amazon’s immense data centers to mine large stores of Web data for business intelligence. While Google’s is ideal for sorting through data, Salesforce.com’s is the best known for running business applications like customer management and accounting software. Companies can write their own programs to run on its servers.

Concerns:  The great debate is over data ownership. Does it belong to the client or the company that owns the physical equipment storing the data? What happens if a client goes out of business? And what about sensitive data?

The jury is still out.

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A blog by any other name………..

I first heard the term “blog” about 5 years ago and had no idea why anyone would read or write one. So I empathize when I talk about blogs and get these sheepish looks and blank stares.

Here’s an easy-to-understand explanation. A blog is a web-log, or an updated account of events or ideas posted on the web. The shortened name “blog” was coined by little-known Peter Merholz, founder of Adaptive Path, in 1999.

Blogs are informal and can be addictive. They give us a platform to expand the scope of news and ideally are a collaboration between readers and writers.

Most well-read blogs are about something people are already thinking about – like current events. If you blog, you can share your expertise, or rant about something. Bloggers can be motivated by anything, from venting about the world’s injustices to extolling the virtues of people, products and institutions.

In a relatively short time, the blogosphere has gotten crowded. So if you decide you want to get on the bandwagon and write one, you should try to find a niche.

Some blogs combine factual information with musings; that playful mixture of fact and opinion, and are a wonderful opportunity for creative expression. In a nutshell, the purpose of blogging is to start a conversation, and see how others respond.

Some blogs are like mini websites. A great example of this is CTBites, an award- winning food blog, one of my favorites. Click on the link and check it out.

Some people create blogs to share experiences while they are travelling instead of sending postcards or email blasts, creating, in effect, a travel log on the web.

To explore monetizing (finding a way to get some revenue from) a blog, you can use tools like Google AdSense. Advertising on blogs has grown to over a billion dollars; still meager compared to TV or print advertising, but giving traditional media a run for its money.

If you’re thinking about starting a blog, the first thing you need to do is choose a service provider. Some of the most popular and user friendly are:

Blogger, www.blogger.com – owned by Google and free, but you need a gmail account.

TypePad, http://www.typepad.com, – blogging software for professionals and small businesses. Not free.

LiveJournal, www.livejournal.com – combines blogging with social networking.

WordPress, www.wordpress.org, or www.wordpress.com or the hosted version, www.wordpress.com. – free. You can either download the software and host it on your own site or, like Blogger, they will host it for you.

For more blogging software programs, check out weblog software on Wikipedia.

Some helpful hints.

Try and keep your posts under 600 words (I snuck  this one in at 598!) and include things like pictures, links to websites with similar content, and/or to Wikipedia for explanations. Creating “buzz” and getting people to read your blog is another story. To gain traction, start by announcing your blog to friends, colleagues and other potentially interested parties through email and other social media sharing tools like Facebook and Twitter.

If you don’t want to write a blog, you might find it interesting to read some others. Check out Technorati, which conducts a blogging “census” that tracks over 100 million blogs. Here you can find the 100 most popular blogs or search by subjects of interest. Most blogs never get the attention of more than a handful of viewers but some of the most popular get millions of monthly visitors

So go out and join the conversation and spend some time commenting on blogs. Let your voice be heard. It can be a lot of fun.