Alberta Business Marketing

Our clients at Ulistic challenge us from time to time.  Encouraging us to think outside the box when it comes to functionality with their online marketing, blogging and social media.  I would like to believe that my 15 years of experience as a Calgary IT consultant helps me understand how things work technically and then I love to put my creative layer over top and see where things go.  It is pretty cool and without great clients to push us…we would never be where Ulistic is today.  Thank You.

Blogging platforms are a dime a dozen.  Everyone has their favourite.  For me, when it comes to blogging platforms, WordPress is a hands down winner. I have used Blogger, TypePad and a wealth of other options and personally I haven’t used a platform that is as feature-rich plus offers the ease of use many small business marketing professionals are craving for with all of their online marketing solutions.

During a recent Internet Marketing Coaching call with one of our clients in Tampa, FL. I was challenged by them to add particular functionality to help with getting their message out online.  They needed to add a signature component at the end of each blog post so they don’t have to constantly type in a calls-to-action or quick blurbs about their business.  Sounded pretty simple and with my experience I knew WordPress would already have something I could recommend to my client.

The WordPress community did not disappoint.

I stumbled upon this great new plugin for WordPress which met our client’s need.  The FT Signature plugin designed by FullThrottle Development offered everything they  and we were looking for to meet this particular requirement but all now we have something we can use with all of our fully-managed online marketing clients.

The FT Signature plugin provides bloggers and clients of Ulistic, the ability to append a signature file at the end of each of their posts.  Just like you would with Microsoft Outlook.  You will see a great example of the FT Signature plugin in action at the end of this post.

It is customizable with a bit of HTML knowledge and can be turned on or off when you are composing your blog post.  This is a pretty powerful plugin for the WordPress platform.

If you haven’t heard of FullThrottle before, they provide full service web development in Raleigh, NC. Thanks to the team at FullThrottle for helping us out.

Learn more about how to automatically insert your signature on a WordPress blog today.

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Ulistic focuses on serving the needs of Canadian Small Business, REALTORS, and Information Technology firms across Canada and United States. Helping your business understand, deploy and leverage social media, search engine optimization and online communications to generate business opportunities and make an impact inside your community and industry.

My business partner David and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email Stuart at scrawford@ulistic.com.

Tags: Blog software, Business/Finance, Calgary IT consultant, Computing, Content management systems, florida, FullThrottle Development, HTML, Microsoft Corporation, North Carolina, online marketing clients, online marketing solutions, Online Solutions, PHP programming language, Raleigh, recent Internet Marketing Coaching call, social media, tampa, Technology/Internet, ulistic, web development, wordpress, World Wide Web
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Now it is time to forget about those expense, complex and perhaps unreliable network servers for simply sharing information amongst members of your team!  Small Business now has a robust, easy to manage, pain-free solution to manage their day-to-day sharing of information across team members everyday.  During a recent trip to Tampa, my partner David stumbled upon a fantastic solution that solves most of our file sharing challenges and at a price that fits our business budget.

Have you heard of Dropbox?

Dropbox is a web-based file storage, online backup and synchronization platform for small business and also can scale to support larger teams.  Dropbox was easy to install and flexible enough to support our small business needs.  No complex setups, no super high IT costs for a simple service like sharing information and we have the peace of mind knowing our business information is safe and sound, accessable wherever our travels take us and our overall cost of ownership is next to nothing.

At Ulistic we run a number of different platforms.  David and I both run Apples Macintosh systems of some flavour, we have the odd Windows machine kicking around the office and David runs Linux when he is on the road.  For a small business we have a wide variety of business systems.  Dropbox provides us the flexibility to run our business and access our information on all of these robust platforms.  Did I mention…with no headaches and no super high IT bills each month.

In addition, with its synchronization abilities when a file stored our team Dropbox account changes we have the ability to be notified.  Great when you are working and collaborating on a project together.

Are you ready for the price?

2 GB of storage and under is FREE! That’s right, it doesn’t cost you a cent to set up your own Dropbox account and copy your critical files to your account and off of your computer system.  Dropbox once installed shows up as a resource in Finder and also in your Windows Explorer.  It was so simple, even I installed it without the help of anyone.

For those concerned about security.  Dropbox allows you to lock down who has access to what.  All access is encrypted using AES-256 encryption and they claim that Dropbox employees do not have access to your information.  That is pretty good security in my eyes and especially for the information we work with daily.

Web and Mobility is also looked after.  Dropbox has applications for the iPad, iPhone and Android operating systems plus is fully accessible via a web browser.

Give it a try.  Pricing for storage is pretty reasonable after 2 GB.  For 100 GB of storage…$20 a month.  Wow, pretty reasonable!

Tags: android, business systems, Cloud storage, Computing, Data synchronization, David, Dropbox, fantastic solution, File hosting, File sharing, iPad, iphone, Linux, Microsoft Windows, online backup, Online backup services, Online Solutions, operating systems, pain-free solution, tampa, Technology/Internet, Ubuntu One, USD, using AES-256 encryption, web browser, web-based file storage
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Does your business have a CEO? The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) many times in a small business is also the President, Salesperson, consultant, technician, bottle washer and accountant.  However, the CEO position is an essential role within many successful small and large enterprises.

My good buddy Joe who runs a number of technology blogs recently shared a great article on the topic of CEOs in the Managed IT Services business.  You can read Joe’s article from the MSPMentor.net site here.  Joe mentions he was inspired by an article that appear in Inc. magazine, I will have to track this one down.  Our new client in Tampa who focuses on back to work programs in the US also gave me a copy of Inc. this past week…so now I have to check it out.

What is a CEO? Does your business have one?  Perhaps you have it printed on your business card.  If it is you, are you acting like a CEO?

Joe’s article shares a number of key and highly valid points about what or how a CEO needs to function in their business.  I am sure there are many great examples of “how a CEO should behave” and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Over the past several years, I have worked for a number of people who have called themselves the CEO (some great and some still under development) who have inspired me one way or another in my own personal development.   The one who has inspired me the most from an overall leadership perspective has to be Pat Davis from Passion Parties.

Pat shared with me the importance of “leadership by walking around”.  I still remember discussing these points with her in Passion Parties’ Brisbane, CA office a few years ago.  During that time I was helping Passion Parties with their complete technology overall and also assisting in the move to their new Las Vegas HQ.  Pat and I would often discuss technology in the direct marketing business and how technology will enhance their overall business.  At that time I was working in the small business computer networking business and as a technology professional was very much in development of my own business acumen.

Pat and I would discuss the importance technology will play in business often, but she also told me computers are tools and tools only.  Nothing will ever beat the importance of getting off your backside and walking around the office, getting out in the community and shaking the hands of those around you.  Pat is an expert at speaking with her staff, talking with her consultants and she is the master at leveraging the media.  Just Google her and you will see what comes up.

A CEO in my opinion has to be the face of the organization, you can’t sit in the backroom, head down in your laptop sending out email after email.  A CEO has to get out of the office and meet people eyeball to eyeball.  A CEO has to speak with the media and not be shy of the camera.  A CEO needs to know everyone in their organization and their families (bigger firms will find this a challenge).  A CEO needs to do a lot of the grunt work and it is not an easy job, that is why only a handful do it successfully.

What does this have to do with social media? Social Media services now enhance the reach of a CEO, their circle of trust just got a lot bigger.  Those they can touch and inspire just exploded in size.  A CEO must be a company blogger.  A CEO needs to own the company social media services.  A CEO needs to connect with people and especially connect online.  Did I say the face of the company, yes I believe I did.  The CEO must be the voice of the company, before someone else claims that voice.

I personally work with a number of CEO’s across North America master their online appearance.  Some are getting it, some are still having a challenge.  Need to chat…call me 403.775.2205.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Brisbane, Business, business computer networking, Business/Finance, CEO, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), company social media services, consultant technician, consultant technician and accountant, Data General, Google Inc., importance technology, Joe, Las Vegas HQ, leadership, media services, MSPMentor.net, North America, online appearance, passion parties, Pat, Pat Davis, Person Communication and Meetings, President, salesperson, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, tampa, technician bottle washer and accountant, technology blogs, technology professional, Technology/Internet, United States
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Greetings from Florida everyone.   David and I are in Tampa this week meeting with clients and partners of our Calgary-based Internet Marketing firm, Ulistic.  After washing away the ice and snow from our United Airlines flight in Calgary we were on our way through Denver and eventually Tampa, Florida.  A long day in the air however the flight crews and staff with United Airlines took great care of us and we got here with no major challenges or delays.

When we arrived at our destination on the east end of Tampa we had to go out and check out the local sites.  Plus I have never been over to St. Petersburg or Clearwater especially after working with firms like Tech Data for so many years who has their US headquarters in the Clearwater area.  David and I picked up our rental car and started to explore the wonderful sites of the Gulf coast.  Those bridges across the bay are amazing, the sand was delightful and we didn’t see any oil washing up on the shores of West Florida.

After a drive and walk around the beach we decided to get some dinner and found a wonderful beach front cafe/restaurant.  I have to share with you our awesome experiences at Frenchy’s South Beach Cafe on Gulfview Blvd in Clearwater.  It was great and plenty of food to feed an army or at least enough for my kids to eat.  The service, food and staff are simply amazing and our server Jenny provided us with an overall pleasurable experience.  Frenchy’s is just a stone’s throw from the Gulf of Mexico and the sights and sounds of the sea add to the enjoyment of our night out before a couple of business days in the Bay area.

The food was great and in typical American style, way too much food for this Canadian boy.  I am sure the servings are at least half to double the size of what we are used to in Canadian restaurants.  Not a bad thing but you have to go in hungry.  Also, the Key Lime Pie is great and something you have to experience.

Why are we sharing our feedback with our experiences with this restaurant on the beach in Florida.  We believe in sharing our experiences with local business (they are the glue holding together our economy right now) and also sharing something great when we see it or experience it.  There is way too much negativity in our world today and this slight shot of something positive in our blogs, day-to-day business dealings and wherever or whatever we do helps us feel good about what we do and why we are here to do it.

If you are ever in Clearwater, Florida or even Tampa it is worth the drive, walk, cab ride to check out Frenchy’s South Beach Cafe.

Tags: Calgary, denver, Film, florida, food, Frenchy's South Beach Cafe, Grease, Gulf of Mexico, Hospitality/Recreation, Internet Marketing, Jenny, Small Time Crooks, Stuart's ramblings, tampa, Tampa Florida, UAL Corporation, ulistic
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Be careful what you wish for eh!  Ulistic is having one crazy busy week but we are having a blast.

My blogging has been pretty light this week, some of you may actually be happy about this.  It is simply because we have an abundance of proposals and training sessions going on this week.  In the past week Ulistic has brought on two new mentoring clients in the US, working with firms in Houston and Seattle and most recently speaking to another firm in Tampa about how we can help them win new opportunities with effective online marketing strategies.  Combine this with our local obligations…well it is amazing and we are very blessed to say the least.  I simply love to serve those companies interested in learning more about how their business can prosper by leveraging online marketing.

I started a Facebook debate on Wednesday evening around the “Social Media Expert” topic.  For those who follow my blog know that I absolutely detest those who claim to be social media experts and have no business substance or experience to support their claim.  This Facebook discussion focuses around those who claim to be social media experts however lack business acumen on how social media can actually fit into their business model and the actual goals of the corporation.

Want to the join the discussion, visit Stuart Crawford Facebook profile to join in.

Tags: blog, Blog hosting services, Business/Finance, collaboration, Criticism of Facebook, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Houston, media experts, online marketing strategies, Online social networking, Seattle, Social information processing, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, stuart crawford, Stuart's ramblings, tampa, The Facebook Era, United States, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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