BizStratBlog2

Tom Golisano talks about Entrepreneurship

In keeping with this month's Business Strategies Magazine focus on the entrepreneur, there's a valuable video posted on the Simon School blog from Tom Golisano's speech at the Rochester Entrepreneurship Conference held there on March 9.

Golisano describes his very different experiences in starting, building, and leaving Paychex over many years vs. acquiring and turning around the Buffalo Sabres hockey team in the last four years -- with many instructive lessons for entrepreneurs. He also talks about his ideas on education and the Bishop Kearney High School initiatives.

With Q&A, the video runs over 43 minutes, but well worth the time.

"All Marketers are Liars" - Seth Godin speaks at Google

Some of you got a chance earlier this year to attend Seth Godin's presentation here in Rochester, sponsored by the Rochester Chapter of the AMA, RAMA.

Recently, Seth Godin, author of six bestsellers, including Permission Marketing, an Amazon Top 100 bestseller for a year and a Fortune Best Business Book, spoke to an audience at Google about their success, what they did that was unusual and creative, and how to avoid a future implosion.

If you didn't get a chance to see Seth speak earlier in the year - this is definitely a video you don't want to miss. If you DID get a chance to see him, this is a great refresher on the contet he presented here in Rochester, with an interesting twist.

This video is part of the Authors@Google series.

Citizen Marketers

One might believe, if one is actively engaged in marketing in today's digital world, that consumer generated content rules. This week Rochester will have the opportunity to hear an expert speak on the subject, at Mario's Via Abruzzi, one of our best restaurants.

Jackie Huba, of Church of the Customer, will be discussing citizen journalism - of which this blog is part. Her new book, Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message, will be offered as a free give away at the luncheon.

But, is that really where the world of marketing and advertising is going?

Is the highly regarded profession of journalism and reporting going the way of the ball-point pen? (I mean, who uses a ball-point pen these days? Few people, I'm guessing.) Are newspapers and magazines in danger of being shredded into oblivion?

Not likely. While it's true that blogs and wikis and user-generated content seem to be consuming the net, there is no danger of losing our print publications. The print version of Business Strategies magazine offers a great deal to the reader - as much if not more than they get here, on this blog. More in content, value, and focus. The print publication has its place - on CEO's desks, executive's desks, on the table in the lobby where visitors can read it, and in briefcases going to the airport, or on a bus traveling to work, not to mention, in the library. This blog is always here, to be accessed at will - as long as you have an Internet connection.

We need to be aware of all of our options - using the Internet, reading books, subscribing to blogs and  magazines. The citizens of the world need to express themselves - online and in print; on TV and on the radio; in whatever form is best suited to their message. Most often - it's many forms. It's a variety of platforms.

I hope many of you get to see Jackie Huba. She has a message that should not be ignored. Just don't think she (or I, or anyone else) is predicting the end of print. Some things are just too good to let go of. Print publications are among those.

Business Strategies, anyone?

Put Your Best Word Forward

            How RU? GTG. BRB. TTYL8R. Do these terms mean anything to you? Maybe so, but, will they mean anything to the individual to whom you are writing? It’s likely they won’t.

            Writing in—and for—business communication is a delicate (and lost) art. Individuals—yes, even business professionals, and maybe even your colleagues—have lost touch with the fine art of business letter writing.      Whether writing an e-mail, or putting together a letter on a piece of paper and dropping it in the mail, put your best words forward. Begin with a salutation: a Dear Sue, Good morning John, or even a Dear Mr. Doe.

            Organize your thoughts. What is the purpose of the missive? A follow-up to a prior conversation? A request for information? Consider your audience. Are you writing for the first time to a potential client? Corresponding with a long-time business colleague? Regardless of the audience or how well you know it, be professional. Words, once put to paper, cannot be taken back.  As author Robert Whipple wrote in Understanding E-Body Language, individuals need to learn how their words will be "understood" by the recipient when body language isn't part of the equation.

            Proofread, edit, and re-read before you either hit send or the print button. Make sure every word counts and conveys the message you want it to.

            Close your letter with a “Sincerely” or a “Best regards.” Sign it and send it.

            Go back through your past correspondence, does it make you cringe or are you proud of your efforts? Remember, professionalism in business communication trumps shortcuts and shorthand e-lingo.

Robbi Hess

            

Paradigm Shift - are you ready for it?

My good friend Andy Drago from The Aurora Group sent me this video the other day - asking if I was ready for the paradigm shift we're all in the middle of. 

I can't vouch for all of the statistics in the video (they didn't give reference materials) but I think the message is fairly clear - not only is the world changing quickly, it's changing even more quickly than we imagined it could change.  As a reader of science fiction none of this comes as a big surprise to me - but put together as it is in this video it certainly drives home a series of linked events in a way that is powerful and persuasive.

So the next question is - what do we do about it?  How do we prepare ourselves for this shift in the world order:

glumbert.com - Shift Happens

It's monday - do you know when your appointments are?

It would be a good idea to check your appointments - both on your calendar, and on your smartphone, palm or blackberry today.  Be sure that your clock (in the lower left on your desktop if using Windows XP) is set to the right time (that it properly rolled over to DST) and that your appointments are all where you expect them to be in your calendar.

2007 DST Update

Noticeable in its absence in my original post on DST updates was any tools to update older, unsupported Microsoft operating systems.  There are some fairly complex ways to update these systems, but many involve things like registry changes and patches to operating system files. 

My good friend David Gray (a fellow Viruswarn author) has put together a free utility to help people with programs such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, to update their systems without advanced operating system support knowledge.  If you have one of these older systems and you wish to update to Daylight Savings Time changes you should check out his post at www.viruswarn.com and download his tool from his website. 

Although the tool is free for individuals under 5 users, David would love it if you could voluntarily donate $75 since he did the work to develop it for free.  He does have licensing agreements for organizations with more users, or corporate users that wish to do larger or business oriented deployments.  The cost is per site and is a very reasonable $75.

If you do not update these you may have problems with programs that use dates and recognize Daylight Savings time.

- Lee Drake

Longevity Calculator

According to my crystal ball, I should live to be 99 years old. Not bad, but I was aiming for 100. 

Well, actually, there's no crystal ball but it's true that many predictable lifestyle factors can calculate risk and reasonably project longevity. In this past Sunday's USA Weekend, the cover was full of people who had answered questions for the longevity calculator to figure their age. I decided to take the test.

After years in the fitness profession, I've seen various types of risk factor calculations and found this one very interesting with its compilation of questions and recommendations by Thomas Perls, MD, author of Living To 100, Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age. The enlightening part is that many of us can improve our "score" and add years to our life with just a few minor behavior adjustments. 

According to the"personalized recommendations" that immediately followed my questionnaire, if I cut back on the daily caffeine and live closer to relatives (hmmm), I can add a few more months to my total. Thankfully, my score was good in the exercise and stress management categories. Not smoking and getting plenty of sleep also added at least a decade to my score.

Ready to calculate your own age?

If you're less than 50 years old, go to www.livingto100.com to take the assessment that considers your lifestyle, stress levels, general nutrition habits and family history to figure out how long you will live. If you happen to be over 50 years old, then you need to take the assessment at www.eons.com  The main goal is to maximize what you have, while you have it.  A good policy for all of us. So, maybe I will make it to 100 after all.

Y2K7 - In March?

It's happening again..... we thought we'd gotten all our date arithmetic problems out of the way back in the year 2000.  That event was held up as a technological apocalypse waiting to happen - and technology companies and software vendors scrambled to address the problems for as much as 3-5 years before it all happened. 

In the end, due mostly to hard work and midnight oil burned by software and hardware companies nationwide, the event was a pretty much a fizzle.  A few minor programs here and there broke, but the media looked in vain for the technological meltdown the pundits were predicting.

Well, this event just might make up for it.  As most of you are no doubt aware - the government decided a couple years ago that as an energy saving measure they would move the dates of Daylight Savings up by a few weeks in spring, and forward by a week in October.  This means that less "midnight oil" is burned, and potentially less costs in energy. 

Unlike with Y2K  - the industry hasn't had nearly the time to respond to this change.  But the results of non-compliance with the new DST start and end times could range from inconvenient to downright dangerous.

In the 7 years since the year 2000 we've created a world where everything links together.  Our phones talk to our computers, our thermostats link into our home network, our power meters "phone home" and report on energy useage.  Almost all of these things rely on accurate times in the connected systems to work properly.  In some of them, it's embedded in chips in the hardware (power meters), in others it's part of the software (computers), or a combination of both - smart phones.

Unfortunately all of these things will require patching, and in some cases that just won't happen before next Sunday when the DST changes go into effect. 

But you should double check systems this week, and next week after the DST change is supposed to happen to be sure that you have everything synced up.  REad onto the post continuation for some good websites to visit for more DST 2007 change information for your Windows XP, Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, Apple based computer, Novell network, etc.

It Isn't Britney or Christina or Anna Nicole

It's you and me and the things we're interested in.

What is 'it'? IT is communication. The new tools used to share and convey thoughts, ideas, research, and more. It revolves around digital and the Internet (I know, some folks have stopped capitalizing Internet, but...it's still a proper noun to me).

Last year I was asked to be a judge for Ad:Tech, an interactive advertising and technology conference "dedicated to connecting all sides of today's brand marketing landscape." The conferences are held on both coasts...and overseas. Currently, AdTech is in Paris - ah! the romance, the food, the memories! (in my dreams! I've never been to Paris.)

The next event will be in San Francisco at ConnectLive, where the awards for this year's submissions will be announced. It's pretty exciting to be a part of that - by being a judge.

As I go through the submissions - from some fairly big ad agencies and brand name companies - I'm struck by how many of them are focused on being interactive. Social media has finally hit the tipping point, I think. Many of the ads I'm reviewing move and shout and engage the reader, in wonderful, exciting ways, that they make me laugh and giggle and whisper, "wow."

They aren't static "look at me, buy me, here's what I can do for you" types of ads. They're more, "hey, click here and watch this - then write about it," or, "have some fun with this - join in and participate." They recognize the emerging market of young people...as evidenced by the image, here.

I would love to see Rochester get in on this. I would love to see some of our Top 100 jump onto the social media trampoline and start a party with their customers or clients - online. You can try it here - on this blog - if you like. Just email me and we'll talk. I would also advise you to attend next month's marketing event sponsored by our local chapter of the AMA. Jackie Huba will be here. She's an expert in social media. As evidenced by this chart on her blog, Church of the Customer.

Otherwise, well... Rochester will continue to be left behind. We can continue to tout our strengths and expertise - and say we're with it, embracing social networking and technology but the truth will out. Because the rest of the world will be at YouTube... watching Kodak's outstanding venture into social media.