Business on a silver platter...(shakes head)

One thing that really annoys me is when I attempt to land quality business right on the doorstep of others and they don't even acknowledge the email, tweet, plurk, or phone message I may leave or a combination thereof in some cases...

Yes it's true, I may smell...

That said however, it may be likely that "they" are the ones smelling up the joint. Smelling of arrogance, rudeness and possibly incompetence. There's no doubt I'm better off, I certainly wouldn't want to put my clients within a country mile of someone so ignorant. In this day and age of multiple ways of communication and notification...there's simply no excuse.

I was just chatting with a client about how brutal some business people have become at actually following up.

So, the status of which firm will be getting the video/portal/seo work on one of my projects is, simple. That nice piece of business will now be directed to a competitor.

Want more business? Learn to be nice and to follow-up effectively...

What's the point of using micro-blogging, if when someone reaches out to do business, you ignore them to talk about BS instead? It makes little sense to me...

Acknowledging me would have taken 3 seconds on Twitter...this girl is well-known on Twitter and Plurk and else where...even Guy Kawasaki and the gazillion emails he gets has returned my emails...class act.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, plurk, Web 2.0, social networking, micro-blogging

Is Guy Kawasaki/Alltop about "meaning" or "money?"

Back in February, Jeremiah Owyang updated (he called it an analysis, and as you'll read in his post, even Forrester Research analysts make mistakes like the rest of us) he had previously written about Guy Kawasaki's new (in his words - "gimmick" site) Alltop.com. The overall reviews from Owyang's twitter followers (follow me here) of Guy's site were mixed at best. Alltop.com was criticized for being a non-innovative "clone" of existing sites like popurls, originalsignal.com. Many did compliment Guy (including Owyang) on his ability to market the site (the Influence model). Citing for example his leveraging of existing "A-listers" in his ego topic section for example to garner attention for Alltop. Further, that "Techcrunch took the bait." Many concluded the attention was really more for Guy, than Alltop.

However, some time has passed now and we all recognize Guy's motivation here is to like most other sites make money. I know that many of you have seen Guy talk ( in person or on video) about his preference for sites or businesses that are about "making meaning "as their core purpose as being the ones that win over those who just want to grow and be acquired from the outset.

So my question to the readers of this post is. If you could only pick one answer: Do you think Alltop.com is about "making meaning" or "making money?"

A second question may be: Has Guy won you over with Alltop yet? It seems that if you search those who have made one of his various lists, that seems to be a proud moment for most... How about you "B-listers" out there...does making an Alltop topic list make a difference? Enquiring minds at fusedlogic want to know...

Social Network User Demographics

Here's some interesting stats...sorry I'm crazy busy today and this is the best I can do...

Here Comes The Pain!

Growing pains that is. For many who know me the fact that I've decided to "grow" fusedlogic will come as a bit of a surprise. Why? Because for nearly a decade now I've stuck to my business plan which has been to keep my company small. Seems weird doesn't it? A corporation who uses the term "accelerate business leaders" in its tag line to represent the "growth" that we enable our clients to experience has itself been focused on staying small. This for me has always been a life-balance and harmony issue.

This has also been an internal struggle of mine, again those who know me well also know I'm aggressive and business growth is in my DNA. I've been fortunate to come across great projects that have afforded fusedlogic the ability to stay a boutique firm. That said, now that my daughter is 3 and we're on to bigger and better things like training wheels and still the odd potty training episode...I'm ready in my heart and so is my wife, it's time to turn up the heat on fusedlogic. I'm feeling frisky these days, actually "amazingly excited" is a more accurate term. The opportunities for fusedlogic to grow like crazy are EVERYWHERE and have been calling out to me for a year now...

REINVENT ITSELF: That's exactly what I've done. The NEW PLAN is in place and really since early 2005 I've been researching, studying and experimenting with Web 2.0, social media and all the widgets and online apps I could possibly stand, researching traffic generation etc...I've been watching Google, Yahoo, MSN, and watching for gaps that my clients could exploit...Well I've found more than just one. I continue to search for key people around the world from whom fusedlogic and I can learn from, align and work with. That list is ever growing and it's very cool as it sits today. This reinvention has been in the works for years now...

GAPS: We have and will continue to take our knowledge, our growing global team and bring it to bear on our client's dreams. Applying Web 2.0 strategies and online marketing tactics that work for them, positioning them ahead and away from their competition. fusedlogic is now solely focused on Web 2.0 work moving forward, even though we have sparked growth for many companies doing what many people have tried to describe as the traditional management consulting approach, that's all changed now. We were never really traditional in anything we did...we were always renegades.

STILL RENEGADES: As more projects come in and I expand my team of collaborators with smart, capable and creative minds, our culture will be that of never say die ground breakers...I'll set the tone by pushing hard to keep us brave and mobile, slippery and sleek. There have in fusedlogic's past been some hard times, when I was in a car accident and couldn't work, when my daughter was born, my wife had to spend three months basically in the hospital with hypertension...but we've come through those difficulties and we're stronger than ever...2007 was a record year and 2008 well there's lots of real estate left in this year but so far..."we happy."

OUR CLIENTS: Our clients are awesome human beings and have always been willing participants in new directions, open to suggestions, change and challenges that push their limits of bravery. Growth will come for all of us because in our hearts we're ready, we're ready for the road ahead and even though there will be some bumps, sharp curves and construction zones, we're ready. The growing pains will be something we can and will handle...

So I say, "bring it on boys and girls...let's rock!"


By the way, don't forget to come out to our Yahoo! Canada luncheon on May 21st. RSVP here

You can also register with the Edmonton LinkedIn network as well...

See you there...

My friend David Cree, ClearpathSEO

It is with pleasure that I mention to you that I'm a friend and business colleague of David Cree, he's the owner of ClearpathSEO (among other ventures soon to be announced). I'm currently sitting in the crowd here at the Business Link and waiting in anticipation for David to start his presentation on SEO and online marketing. He and I are collaborating as many of you may know by now on the Disruptor School seminar series.

The room is filling as we speak and David is saying hello to everyone...

We've been brainstorming on new ideas and certainly David has some great ones as the coming weeks will prove. I find that he and I get along really well despite the fact that we're both creative leaders and take action types...there is much more to this story moving forward.

The exciting thing will be when we match his Russian development team and my guys from around the world to collaborate on some really cool ideas...really bright times ahead to be sure...

Ok, I'm going to listen now...I'll report back later...

Comscore report says integrate video...

ComScore released an eye-opening report that shows that nearly 1 billion search results each and every month now contain an "Universal Search" result. Universal Search results are defined as anything other than a standard web result or paid search result, such as video, maps, local information, news, weather, etc. And its clear that video is playing a large part in those results.

From Small Business SEM:

• of 1.2 billion queries, 220 million contained a universal result
• 16% of total clicks involved a universal result
• 87 million people searched, 58% saw a Universal result (38% of people saw video, 34% news, 19% images, 10% maps/stocks/weather)

This change in search results bodes well for local advertisers that take advantage of video as part of their online marketing strategy. By leveraging video local business has a better opportunity of appearing higher in universal search results. Video can also be included in map results and local results making video a multi-faceted search improver.

In addition to inclusion in Universal Search video remains a powerful branding and direct response medium for the web for small businesses. As Universal Search becomes more prominent video benefits will continue to grow as a vital part of online marketing for small businesses.

Here's a link to the Turnhere blog where the above post comes from, please excuse my laziness on a Saturday. However, the fact remains that if you're a small business owner, Realtor or any organization for that matter who wants to increase your exposure....video is here to stay. Our push at fusedlogic in this area is paying dividends for our clients and ourselves. View the fusedlogic youtube channel here.

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