Alberta Business Marketing

According to one online business coach, Internet Coaching can show you how to earn more, work less, and enjoy life online by living the Internet lifestyle.  It’s an alluring promise so perhaps it is no surprise that a search for ‘Online Business Coach’ results in 26.7 million items.  Here are some of the top ranking resources:

Clearly there is intense competition and it is gratifying that at least in this search SMM Internet Marketing Consultants came up at #2.  Given that Google now delivers personalized search results, you may find that a Google search for ‘Online Business Coach’ produces a slightly different list.

You will usually find that Terry Dean is in the top few, but perhaps the most surprising entry is Ken Troyer at #1.  He describes himself as an online business coach and mentor, who is quietly working behind the scenes.  In a previous post on online business coaches,  we did give a link to Terry Dean but he was the only one we mentioned.  However working ‘behind the scenes’, Ken Troyer clearly amasses large numbers of back links to appear so high in the Google rankings.

There is a real need for honest business coaching, since in some ways the Internet is a field of dreams.  It is true that you have the ability to communicate globally with a vast potential audience.  And yes, even if only a very tiny fraction of them could potentially buy your product or service, that can still total up to very significant revenues.

Where the dreams come in is that of course anyone else can look at that potential market place and jump in too.  If it is far too easy, then that could encourage a vast number of competitors.  Avoid such markets like the plague.  What you should consider is a market place where there is what the strategy experts call a barrier to entry.  For example if you must be certified to provide a particular service, then that is a barrier to entry.  If you are not certified, then you are not permitted to offer your services

Even if you have the skills and certification to be able to cross that barrier to entry, you may still find too long a list of potential competitors.  This then presents two challenges:

• how can you offer something that others cannot offer, in other words offer a competitive advantage, and
• how can you expect to stand out from this crowd.

Both questions require serious effort to find effective solutions and in some cases solutions will not be possible.  If you have really become extremely enthusiastic about your potential product or service, you may be blind to the reasons why success may be elusive.

This is where the right online business coach may render you immeasurable service.  Giving honest, frank advice will allow you to put effort into the things that matter. 

• Perhaps you have not defined the right market niche. 
• Perhaps you have to refine your service so you will truly be offering something that is unique for that niche. 
• Perhaps your cash flow plan does not allow for a slow startup. 

For more on those key questions you should be asking, check out The NUB Of Your Marketing Strategy.  In that title, NUB stands for Niche, Unique Selling Proposition and Bottom Line.

If your choice of online business coach is not asking you tough questions on such matters then be very wary.  If your online business coach is only painting pictures of the promised land, then move on.  What you really need are strong doses of realism.  The online business coach and mentor who can provide that is worth whatever they may charge.  Buyer beware.

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Online Business Coach – Choosing The Best One

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Tags: Business, Coach, Marketing strategy, Niche market, Unique Selling Proposition
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The Golden Ears Bridge across the Fraser River in British Columbia has been in operation for 9 months now. It was being constructed for almost two years before that. Unfortunately it has been invisible in Google Maps until now. Many have commented on the invisibility of the Golden Ears Bridge, which is a major landmark. Although repeated messages have been sent to places where Googlers congregate such as the Google Maps Forum, the organization seemed blind. As usual, they seemed to be relying on computer-generated data rather than inputs from humans.

It was said that the reason for the delay was that the Golden Ears Bridge had not been included in the database used by Google Maps.  One of these is maintained by TeleAtlas.  However the Bridge was added to the database as of March 31, 2010 and still there was no change.  MapQuest, the Google Maps competitor, was not asleep at the wheel and almost immediately included the Golden Ears Bridge in its directions information.

It was only this morning that finally Google has registered the Golden Ears Bridge in its database.  Use Google Maps to help you find the way across the Fraser River from Langley to Pitt Meadows and here is the route that Google will provide.

It was good to finally see the Bridge taking up the important role it now has in Fraser Valley transportation.  However in a somewhat ironic announcement, Google later in the morning announced that it was now Keeping Canada’s map current.

The map of Canada is constantly changing – new roads are being built, highways are being renamed, and bike trails are opening. To keep up with all these changes, we’ve started using new map data in Canada. This new base map is built from a wide range of sources, just as we recently announced for the US in October. In Canada, we’ve made use of data from organizations such as the National Hydrography Network and Canadian Council on Geomatics. Once again things like satellite imagery and Street View were also helpful to make a rich, thorough base map.

That’s all very well.  However if only they had worked more promptly in synchronizing with their existing map database contributors such as TeleAtlas, perhaps the Golden Ears Bridge would have been on our screens at least a month earlier.

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Golden Ears Bridge BC now on Google Maps

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Tags: google, Google Maps, Langley, MapQuest, Pitt Meadows
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Video games are big business on the Internet. That is not just the blockbusters like Modern Warfare 2 or World of Warcraft.  There is a vast array of video and computer games if you search around.  There will even be a Doctor Who video game to be released on June 5 by the BBC for Dr. Who enthusiasts.

Two recent events made me think more seriously about video games.  The first was a TED talk by Charles Leadbeater on innovation, which is well worth watching to bring you new insights.  Leadbeater has remarked on the rise of “pro-ams” — passionate amateurs who act like professionals, making breakthrough discoveries in many fields, from software to astronomy to kite-surfing.  He enthusiastically explores how this emerging culture of mass creativity and participation could reshape companies and governments.

In the talk, he mentions Timothy Chen:

Chen runs a company called Shanda, which is the largest computer games company in China. It has 9,000 servers all over China and 250 million subscribers. At any one time, there are 4 million people playing one of his games.

He gives subscribers a platform, he gives them some rules, he gives them the tools and then he kind of orchestrates the conversation; he orchestrates the action. But actually, a lot of the content is created by the users themselves. And it creates a kind of stickiness between the community and the company which is really, really powerful. … (It’s one example of) companies built on communities, that provide communities with tools, resources, platforms in which they can share. He’s not open source, but it’s very, very powerful

It is an incredible example of some of the kinds of communities that can arise on the Internet.  My thoughts were pushed in this direction by a discussion on my favourite online venue, Cre8asite Forums.

It was triggered by a blog post written by the owner, Kim Krause-Berg, titled Where Are Skilled, Generous SEO’s?  She was lamenting the apparent paucity of new generation SEO experts who were willing to get involved in SEO Forums to provide advice and counsel to the newcomers to Internet marketing.  This apparently irked some in the SEO community, with Lisa Barone being one of the most vigorous protagonists in an article she wrote, Who’s Responsible for Teaching, Protecting SEO?

As a result there is now a discussion in the Forums entitled Time To Close Forums. New Gen Has No Need For Them.  There is a suggestion that the new generation is more into the instant gratification world spawned by Facebook and Twitter.  Writing blogs and having instant comments gives them more visibility and feedback.

What was not discussed was the part that video games may play in creating communities.  Conceivably the new generation are all interacting in the virtual communities created through their video and computer games.  If so, that does not leave much time for real conversations with real people.  Perhaps it is true then that Forums are on a slow slide to oblivion.

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Video Games

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Tags: computer game, modern warfare 2, society, Video game, World Warcraft
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Earth Day In The United States

This is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which started in Ohio and has now spread around the world.  President Obama’s Earth Day message emphasizes that it is not about laws, it is about every individual.

President Obama issued an Earth Day message with a challenge: He wants you to take action. While Washington has its place, Obama argues that the environmental movement is not about the laws that are passed, but about citizens coming together to make demands for the Earth.  It can be as simple as riding the bus or the subway to work, making your home more energy efficient, or organizing your neighbors to clean up a nearby park.

You can see this message in the following video:

Americans are encouraged to sign the Earth Day 2010 Climate Declaration to demand a comprehensive climate bill from Congress.  Arts for the Earth is reaching out to artists worldwide to raise environmental awareness through the medium of art.

Earth Day in Canada

Earth Day Canada is a national environmental communications organization mandated to improve the state of the environment by empowering Canadians to achieve local solutions.  Local organizers are provided with resources to help arrange activities and events that will raise awareness.

Earth Day in Langley, British Columbia

One local activity that will use the medium of art to heighten environmental awareness is a poetry reading on earth goddesses and climate change that will take place on Earth Day itself, that’s Thursday April 22.

Local poet Susan McCaslin and Ontario poet Penn Kemp will be giving readings to celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month. This will be held in the Fort Gallery, 9048 Glover Rd., Fort Langley, from 7 to 9 pm.

The artist, Susan J. Falk, whose exhibition, Equine Persuasion, continues at the Fort Gallery until April 25, will also be present.  Posters of the exhibition are on sale and partial proceeds of the exhibition are being donated to Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association, a local charity that provides therapeutic riding to special needs children.  It should be an evening not to be missed.

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Earth Day in Langley BC

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Tags: british columbia, climate change, Earth Day, Environmentalism, society
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Unfortunately there is still no satisfactory answer for those UK State pensioners whose pensions are frozen despite the inequity of this situation.

As the BBC reported on 16 March 2010, some UK expat pensioners lost their pension freeze appeal in the European Court of Human Right in Strasbourg.   The rejection considering only the legal aspects of the case was by an 11 to 6 majority.

As might be expected, the Department for Work and Pensions welcomed the ruling and said the department’s first responsibility was to support pensioners in the UK.  Despite this clear dereliction of duty, the Department in fact treats half of all expat pensioners in exactly the same way as it does those in the UK.  Emigrate to Spain and you’ll even receive a fuel supplement even though the climate would not justify that. Only when pensioners have emigrated to the Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia, etc) and a few others does the Department stick to the terms of an unjust and inequitable set of legal agreements.

All UK State pensioners have by law paid in during their working lives in order to receive a pension.  There are certainly no moral arguments that would support withholding from some of these pensioners what is their rightful due.

Given that morality and equity are on their side, these unfairly treated pensioners will continue the fight.  There are a considerable number of supporters both within the UK and in the rest of the world who want to see fair play.  The International Consortium of British Pensioners is dug in for a fight particularly as all the political parties wish to be the winners in the next election.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ own figures show that every UK resident over the age of 60 costs the UK taxpayer annually £7,000 in their share of NHS costs and benefits over and above basic and additional pensions. By providing pension parity to all, at an average annual cost per capita of £1,000, there are potential savings of billions by making emigration easier and more appealing.

The UK is the only OECD country that does not provide equal pension portability rights to all of its citizens regardless of where they decide to live in their retirement. This is not a question of cost. It is a question of modernity, logic, and above all justice. People around the world continue to wonder that British standards of morality and fair play have fallen so far.

If you want to help, then join one of the groups around the world that is fighting for equity. You can also sign an online petition demanding parity for British pensioners abroad. You don’t have to be an expat or a pensioner to sign the petition.  If you are concerned about this callous treatment of its own pensioners by the UK government, then please sign on.

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Frozen Pensioners Fight On For British Fair Play

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Tags: Australia, canada, Department for Work and Pensions, frozen pensions, human rights, Pension, society
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