Monday, February 25, 2008

How to Crash the Internet, Religious Sensorship, Pakistan and Youtube

Was this yet again another example of religious intolerance and fear that led to a cascading effect on the Internet on Sunday?

In my opinion absolutely. Further, Pakistan, by deliberately blocking access to Youtube has most likely had the exact opposite reaction that Pakistani government officials wanted. The controversy surrounding Youtube cartoons posted by Dutch Politician Geert Wilders related to the Islamic prophet Mohammad are now most likely more popular then ever with Pakistani Muslims and non-Muslims from around the world alike...not "popular" as in necessarily agreeing with the subject matter but rather due to the fact that the "viral marketing" nature of the Internet is now if full effect on the issue. It's like a horrific car crash, you simply can't help but slow down and rubber neck. Proof is in the pudding that this is a very powerful medium and with the advent of social networking now more powerful than ever.

My recommendation: just try to get along and be tolerant of others, so we can all get back to making money.

Question: Would you ignore something that upset you on the Internet or would you engage, thereby most likely bringing even more attention to it?

Friday, February 22, 2008

Traffic is Rocketing, Facebook, Youtube, Blog, Walter Schwabe...

If you've been paying attention to this blog and my company for the past 7-10 days you've noticed a transformation taking place - in fact, you've been a big part of it. 2008 is the year of Global Micro-branding fusedlogic and as we are coming off a record breaking year last year, I've set our mandate to surpass that success. Happy to say we just added another new client today and that completely rocks!

We intend to accomplish the task of generating another RECORD BREAKING YEAR by way of first, creating a strategic plan for fusedlogic that will help us transition from a pure street level business acceleration firm with active project work in many locations throughout Canada, the US and elsewhere around the world, to one that is a hybrid. DONE! Now it's time for ACTION.

Further and without going into great detail here regarding the strategic plan, step two is to convert and move our knowledge capital and assets developed over our nearly (8) year history into consumable formats for purchase by those of you online who would want access to this highly unique and very valuable documentation, stories, brainstorming sessions, case studies, exercises, courses, interviews, etc... That's in progress.

Also as mentioned and in progress is an aggressive global micro-branding campaign for fusedlogic and if you're reading this right now, that's one indication our efforts thus far are beginning to pay off. Thank-you for your attention and time. In the last week we've increased our readership, subscribers also our traffic to the corporate site to be the best ever since we launched it almost (8) years ago, over 110 thousand ad impressions on Facebook, (here's our group - come join) youtube (go watch the whales) traffic steadily climbing, our ranking is climbing when you search for fusedlogic or Walter Schwabe.

Here's why you'll want to subscribe and come back often. As we revamp the corporate fusedlogic site we'll be adding great features and changing the content format a lot. I've always wanted the content to be very consumable and easy to navigate and that will continue, however, look for more video coming your way...in fact, I'll be adding more video everywhere so you'll have to get used to my mug showin up all over the place...I hope to keep all our videos below the (5) minute mark as much as possible to respectful of your time.

Finally, we're growing in terms of people. On our team right now we have writers, designers, programmers, illustrators, project managers, consultants and SEO experts that on occasion will work on a per project basis - this is the fusedlogic DISRUPTOR TEAM you've been hearing me talk so much about the past videos on the blog and elsewhere...these guys rock and if you need to generate more revenue over a short period of time...we may be the answer you've been searching for.

How would you engage us in a monthly coaching or micro-branding project? Well that's easy, as we've added AlertPay to our arsenal and it's cool...all you need is a credit card and an email address...bingo bango you're golden! We're super excited about being able to share this expertise with you in the effort to drive your success for you like a getaway vehicle at a heist...so you may not be ready to engage us in a coaching project today and that's ok, however, we would love to hear you're opinion and that doesn't require any commitment other than a bit more of your time.

Speak up, speak out...speak easy....

Send me 1 Million Free Visitors!
This post brought to you by Yikesite.com "I Yike it!"

facebook blocked this video on their site.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Facebook, forced invites must go!

If you're on Facebook, join this group to send a message to stop "forced invites". If you don't know what they are, it's simple. When you as a Facebook member sign up for a new application, typically you are asked to invite 20 of your friends to sign up as well. In many cases the application won't let you proceed or holds back information that you want until this task is done. Frankly, I and many others are tired of it.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

TrafficJam.com - Who freakin cares????

I received an email today from the guys at Blogrush announcing today's launch of TrafficJam.com, as their answer to "information overload". They call it a "headline testing machine" in their email, I suppose we'll see about that. My opinion goes as follows. First, I find that the Blogrush app does deliver as promised, it's simple, it works and I use it, more over I believe that everyone who installs it uses it too. This thing is fast becoming highly viral. The same for example cannot be said about YouChoose.net. I've uninstalled that app.

So based on this company's short history, TrafficJam.com should deliver as well. At first glance, I believe that everyone of the Blogrush members, myself included are really pumped and very excited about TrafficJam.com. Hopefully there are plans to integrate some cool analytical overlap from Blogrush and TrafficJam to go along with this cool destination.

So to answer the question - Who freakin cares??? I believe the answer will soon be millions of bloggers...way to go guys, I can't wait for the traction to grab - I'm lovin it!


Yikesite.com - "I Yike it!"

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

5 Critical Web 2.0 Questions ...

I consider myself a moderate "techno-geek/entrepreneur" (someone comfortable with technology and this is probably you too).

However, it's also possible that many reading this are not "uber-geeky" and therefore not up on the latest proven technologies available for your small business; specifically in this case, those technologies related to Web2.0. Of course, even if you are a "techno-geek/entrepreneur" it's nearly impossible to be super familiar with all things massively cool on the Web2.0 tech and apps front. After all, everyone needs to save a minute or two during the day to actually run their businesses and generate revenue right?

That said, regardless of your level of understanding or for that matter enthusiasm re this "MASSIVE Internet revolution" "I'm gonna need you to go ahead and..."ask yourself (4) critical questions regarding your use of technology in your business..."mmmK?"

1. If we leveraged Web 2.0 technology more effectively, could we shift the market and gain a credible advantage?

2. Are "we" number one in our market space in terms of Web 2.0 technological capabilities or levels of appropriate adoption?

3. Are we working to ensure we're positioned as number one two years from now?

4. What consideration if any, have we put towards recognizing innovative ways Web 2.0 can be used to improve how we generate tremendous customer experiences?

5. What role can Web 2.0 play in our business to dramatically strengthen customer loyalty?

Contemplating the above questions may help you to generate new ideas that will help you position yourself away from your competition while simultaneously strengthening your relationships.

I would further recommend engaging your customers in this process, ask about their habits as it relates to Web 2.0 or social networking activities. (Another reason to speak with them in a meaningful way) Are they on Facebook, myspace, LinkedIn, youtube etc...? Correspond this information with your existing demographic data related to your target market to see if there's a match in the making. Pay close attention to women and the baby boomer markets particularly (good advice regardless) and recognize that they ARE adopting these tools at an alarming rate...here is an interesting set of articles by Ray Knight for reference.


This post brought to you by Yikesite.com - "I Yike it!"

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Blogrush versus YouChoose.net

I've been noticing lately that as I use these two cool technologies that Blogrush seems to have considerably more action, it's easy to navigate and works well. I find the YouChoose widget interface not as clean, the flash expansion sizing element is actually kind of annoying...there also seems to be far less activity...I think thus far I have to give the edge to Blogrush over YouChoose.net.

By the way, apparently Jeff at Yikesite.com is having nightmares about "CAPITAL LETTERS re the fact that I, up to this point, have chosen to not use capitals where things should be capitalized in my posts. So, in order to show Jeff that I'm listening to his concerns, look for that to change...at least until I get lazy some night at 2 in the morning and revert back...rest easy Jeff, rest easy...

Saturday, February 16, 2008

social networking - does it suck???

many complain that social networking wastes their time, generates little to no results, isn't secure...your thoughts? does it suck or not? my opinion is that to do it well it does take time, the right strategy and approach...a thick skin too sometimes...however, i like the technology and how user friendly it's becoming for a non-programmer like myself...social networking affords me the ability to build my network really quickly on a global basis and as i continue to cultivate it, opportunity increases...so my answer is social networking doesn't suck...

an article on helium...

Too often business people overlook the power of these simple rules.

Stop and ask yourself why? Why did you start this particular business? Was it because it was the only thing that you could afford? You thought you were smarter than the boss? Whatever your reason, if you didn't start by aligning it with your "soul purpose" for being on the planet, chances are you may not achieve "true" success. The kind of success most people only dream about. You may make some money, it may last more than a few years but it would be like eating food that isn't your absolute favorite but happens to fill you up. Even worse, eating food put before you that you can't stand but don't want to offend the person who made it.

Rule #1 - Only start businesses that are true to who you are as a human being, your true purpose in life. Put all other contributing factors secondary.

Rule #2 - Control your inner thoughts to reflect confidence, positive energy and your belief in your ability to be ultra successful.

Rule #3 - Make decisions quickly, procrastination kills a business.

Rule #4 - Give back to the universe. What goes around comes around.

Rule #5 - Utilize experts, the good ones will make all the difference in your abilities and results. They will save you massive amounts of time, money and frustration

Friday, February 15, 2008

Saturday, February 09, 2008

my vote for the coolest software...

if only my blackberry could take video...


take precise action today - dream

Bit Gravity ROCKS!

Thursday, February 07, 2008

microooo or yahsoft

either way you slice it...i hate the deal.

microsoft's $44 billion dollar bid for yahoo will end up destroying yahoo. true the house that yang and filo built has fallen from grace a bit since google's search algorithm began to vault them to the top in 1998...and yet yahoo i feel, is still a decent company for a lot of reasons.

microsoft will poison this company. microsoft since the days of windows 3.1 hasn't been able to design a truly user friendly piece of software since. win 3.1 wasn't elegant but it was at least disruptive technology.

since then it's been about world domination and positioning of lousy software...

Yahoo will die on the vine an ugly hated death if they accept this deal. the only reason this gets approved is out of "pure 61% per share increase" greed.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

whales in banderas bay...