Probably not…but I think I took a good step forward on Saturday.

I have been a huge supporter of the blogging platform WordPress for many years.  Like many of you, I cut my teeth on the free versions of WordPress and Blogger.  However, when I started to take blogging seriously, I stumbled on a company called Siteground.com and the rest is history.  Blogging is now part of my daily routine and this blog reaches thousands of folks each day.

WordPress offers one of the most reliable and easy to use blogging platforms available today.  Over the course of my regular business day, I work with many Calgary and global companies on how they can leverage blogs in their business.  Ulistic offers a wide range of blogging consulting services for business.  From blog consulting to coaching.  Contact me if I can help you with your business blogs at anytime.

WordPress is evolving to a fully functional web development platform.

For many years WordPress has strictly been used as a blogging platform.  For a while, some of the leading web developers started developing great looking websites on WordPress.  However over the past little while WordPress has become more acceptable in the mainstream web development world.   WordPress is now making serious moves towards offering a full-featured and rich content management system and web development platform.

On Friday, I met up with a good friend of mine and fellow WordPress blogger in Calgary and we immediately jumped into sharing tips and tricks on how we can make our WordPress blogs really sing.  I shared a few great plugins that I have found and started to use every day.  Many of our Ulistic clients are also leveraging these great additional functions on their WordPress blog.  Some of the plugins allow you to scroll testimonials, perform grammar/spelling checking and a wealth of other great added features.  You can even send a thank you note to those folks who leave a comment on your blog.

Then my friend shared with me a service he has been using and having some great success with, headwaythemes.com.  Headway is a blog development platform for WordPress.  You can see it on this blog, this weekend I changed the layout of my blog to a headway designed blog.  It took a bit of playing around at first, but after you learn how it really works and read the manual  or watch the YouTube videos it is quite awesome.  Headway takes all the confusion of CSS and HTML  and offers a powerful interface for you to develop your own professional business blog.  Upload your own header, change colours and really take ownership of your blog.

Don’t kiss your web developer goodbye just yet, but here is another web tool you can take advantage of for your blogs.  Your web developer combined with Headway can really make your blog rock n’roll.  I am not a developer, but as an avid blogger and marketing professional…I get this and the power a great locking blog can do for business.

Headway only works on your hosted WordPress blog.

Sorry folks…you need to have your own hosted version of WordPress to make this work.  If you have your blog hosted on the free WordPress servers, you can’t take advantage of the power headway offers.  However, don’t worry I have a solution for you.  Get a hosted version of WordPress with your own domain name for only $9.95 for the first year.  Click Here – Cheap WordPress Hosting.  After the first year, your hosting is only $120 for the year.  Great deal to get started.

Headway is about $90 for a personal version which allows you to run it on 2 of your websites, upgrade to the developers version for about $160.00 and use it on unlimited sites.  This is an awesome tool for WordPress, if you are serious about your blogging – this service if for you.

A full onslaught war is brewing online between Google and Microsoft.  For those military friends…forces are assembling and loading the mags.  As a career Microsoft Partner (Ulistic is a Microsoft Partner) who wandered away from the mother ship for a while I am starting to slowly move some of my day-to-day technology use back my colleagues from Redmond.  I am very excited about the upcoming Microsoft Office 2011 for the Mac and interested in learning more about what Microsoft has to offer online through there Office Cloud.

My friends at CRN Canada recently reported that the new Microsoft Office Cloud (get Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote online) has been opened up to Microsoft SkyDrive clients as a response to Google slamming the Redmond software powerhouse a few weeks ago urging Office users to switch to Google Apps.  Microsoft Office Cloud solutions is a  free Web-based Office applications, dubbed Web Apps, gives users access to Web version so Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Web Apps has been in beta for roughly nine months but no Outlook or email client.  Maybe Microsoft still wants people to use Windows Mail or some other mail solution.  Microsoft claims that Office online will work exactly like the desktop version…looking forward to testing it out on June 15, 2010.

Prepare the forces, a war is brewing on another front between Microsoft and Google.

I wonder how it will work with Safari on the iPad?

I am sure readers of this blog can go and find examples of where I praised Google and their Apps solution as a suitable replacement to Office.  I gave Google Apps and Google Doc an honest attempt in my early days at Ulistic but since those days I really missed the functionality Microsoft’s productivity solutions and I recently moved back to Office.  Electing to go with Office 2008 on my MacBook and now I rarely use Google’s online apps.  The move back was brought on simply by a lack of simple and common features that Microsoft offers that are nowhere to be seen in Google Apps.  Simple features that may not mean much to the average user but this power user who requires basic functionality to work noticed.

Sure my email is hosted with Google on the back-end, as a mail platform Google is pretty good for $50 per year.  However you really need a mail client.  I have elected to go back to my MacMail which is a good mail platform on the MacBook.  But nothing beats the look and feel of a robust email client (something I miss by not having Microsoft Outlook) and with Office 2011 bringing in the powerful Outlook application that will be a wonderful upgrade from Entourage.

But, who should you trust with your data.  Do you trust Google or Microsoft?  You will get a chance on June 15 to test drive Microsoft Web Apps and compare to Google.  Both solutions are free for you to test out or use.  Give it a chance…but keep in mind where the data is housed.  Web solutions normally offer storage and the Microsoft offering with SkyDrive or Google both supply a limited amount of data storage as part of the free offering.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

For those who are concerned on what is missing:

1.  Booking meetings across multiple time zones (calendaring)

2.  Page breaks (Google Docs vs. Word)

3.  Smart Art (Google Docs vs. PowerPoint)

For the record…I still love my MacBook..but need Office to survive!

The Internet and social media is definitely the Wild West.  Actually it is worse than the wild west.

You know what it reminds me of?

If I reflect back around 2004/2005 when I first started to attend Harry Brelsford’s SMB Nation at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, WA.  There was a buzz back then in the early talks about Managed IT Services that continues on today.  Should I be focused on managed services?  How do I do it?

Now for my friends outside the IT industry, managed services was a way to charge a business a flat rate for providing IT tech services instead of billing by the hour or selling a small business a retainer type of service and drawing down on that retainer.  Managed Services introduced new concepts and spun a whole new industry of companies selling products and services to those of us who provided the actually service.  Some did well, while some lost focus and actually suffered and if they just kept their original business plan instead of buying into the hype…perhaps would have done well.

The introduction of Managed Services caused a tremendous amount of chaos in the technology industry that continues today. Almost five years later there are still discussions on,  what tool do you use?  How do you do this? How do you do that?  These questions were the norm and my team at IT Matters, back in the day didn’t have everything nailed down tight (nor did we really care) with regards to managed services and we actually did a pretty poor job at it compared to others…but you know something, compared to others where it mattered the most, we were profitable and continued to inch closer to that $5M in sales number before my departure in late 2008.

Is Social Media and Internet Consulting going that way and should I take what I learned with IT Matters and apply it again?

I read a thread recently on the Social Media Today LinkedIn group that brought back the nightmares or memories of 2004/2005 SMB Nation events, depending on the way you look at things.  There is an ongoing debate on how much to charge (seen this with managed services) organizations for your services.  Discussions about tools to measure success (see them as well) and how to charge clients (been there, done that).  Plus, there are new organizations out there spinning up to sell tools, products and coach social media consultants on how to do their jobs better.

What are we doing at Ulistic?  What I have always done…focus on our clients and their needs first.

True, you can fix what you don’t measure.  But don’t we have tools already to measure success online.  I read an article by my friend Denise Deveau on Google Analytics and a flower shop in Toronto where this retail store in the GTA is using something as simple as a Google tool to measure the success of their business.  What can I share with my colleagues in the social media business…focus on the needs of your clients first (they are your oxygen mask) and then put on the mask of the person beside you (your business).  Use the tools out there but don’t get hung up on them and when you decide on one, stick with it.  The other big thing about Managed IT services is how easy people changed tools and services and dropped 50K.

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!

Curb appeal, what does this mean? It used to mean at one time when I drove up to your office or store that your business looked appealing, it was professional and it was clean.  Your business created a powerful first impression and perhaps even sold me before I walked through the front door. What does curb appeal mean today? Do you still need to have your bushes trimmed and the trash picked up in the areas that your clients or customers will walk through? Absolutely…however, curb appeal goes much deeper, long before someone gets in their car and drives to your business.

Your business online.  Great curb appeal online will position you well ahead of your competitors before I even pick up the phone.  Curb appeal has now extended to the online world.  Stop reading this and have a look at your website, blog or social media sites, do they portray the professionalism that you want your business to show the world?  Does your great curb appeal lower your Google bounce rate?

I am very picky about the look and the feel of a blog, social media site and even your business’ main marketing website. The smallest of things get my attention in a positive way.   Alignment, font size, images and ease of use are critical success factors in creating a web presence that draws people in to do business with you.

Have a look at your site again.  Is it professionally done or are you using some $75 theme that you pulled off some template site?  Sorry folks, but I care about your image enough to sometimes point out how great your site is or where it may need a complete redo. Does your online activities mirror your physical activities?  Are you telling the world that you wear a suit online but show up at the office with track pants?

There is a lot to be said about you and your business by the way it is presented.  Remember the saying “How you do anything is how you do everything”.

When your business has curb appeal you open yourself up to going after those larger clients and bigger opportunities. Doors have opened because of the way your business is presented and the professionalism you want to portray.  Your website, blog, Facebook Page and Twitter wallpaper are your new business cards, how are they looking?  Is your brand consistent through.  Sorry folks the free blogger and WordPress sites with the free templates no longer cut it.

In my travels as a Calgary Search Engine Optimization professional I see lots of great examples of what businesses are doing today to attract new opportunity out in the market today.  There are tonnes of opportunity if you know how to present yourself and can position yourself well amongst the red ocean out there.

Are you ready to take that first step?

David and I will be heading to the Ontario Capital this June for a great Search Engine Optimization event.  We are planning to play a vital role with our blogging from this year’s Toronto Search Engine Strategies Conference, it should a wonderful three days of learning and networking with leaders in the Canadian SEO market.  This will be my first time at this event and from what I understand from reading blogs from the previous years, it is going to be an awesome time.  Will be different from the IT conferences I have attended?

During some discussions in our office recently about who should represent Ulistic at this event, we basically figured out that we all need to be there.  That is right, the majority of our Ulistic team is investing the time to learn from the best in our industry and how we can serve our Calgary and Information Technology clients with practical SEO advice which will enhance their online marketing efforts.  You may ask yourself why does a Calgary SEO firm need to send a good portion of their team to a conference on the other side of the country?  Well, to learn and to share our learnings with our community.  If you are leader, you must continue to sharpen your saw…something I learned once.

The world of online marketing and Internet marketing is constantly changing.  Just ask our first batch of graduates coming out of our Ulistic Calgary Online Marketing Mentoring program.  Change is already occurring and they are just finishing their programs with Ulistic. So yes, we all must continue to learn the new things in the world of Internet Marketing.

Over the next few weeks, David and I will be blogging about the Toronto Search Engine Strategies Conference and sharing who will be there and what will be happening. Also keep an eye on the Ulistic Facebook page and our Twitter account for up to the minute news.

SES Toronto typically attracts Canada’s and U.S.’s leading search engine marketing (SEM) professionals – from the very experienced to the novice. Marketers can take advantage of the special early-bird registration and save up to $200 by registering by May 21. Click here to review SES Toronto rates and registration details.

The SES Toronto 2010 conference, which will be held on June 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, 370 King Street.

Our conversations usually cover many topics ranging from hockey to business when we grab our Starbucks and catch up.  On this day we focused on the importance of small business training, education and what the average business owner needs to do to keep their skills sharp, we were really focused from a couple of entrepreneurs.  One question that came up in our coffee chat was, what is a suitable investment for the average small business to make in continuous learning and team development?

I know when I was running IT Matters with Rob Hay and Tony Mah, we invested up to $5000 each year per employee in training our staff.  It was a very critical part of our employee retention program and important to ensure every member of our team had the skills they needed to do their job.  If you read all the books or listen to all the CDs from the world’s renowned authors such as Jeffrey Gitomer, Harv Eker and others.  These authors are always speaking on the importance of continuous learning and education.  We understood this at IT Matters.

Now, in my new career as a Calgary Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing professional I have to continuously invest in my own learning and always sharpening my own saw.  Leslie confirmed this during our conversation about the importance of small business training in Canada and especially here at home in Calgary.

I have to give kudos to Leslie and her amazing team at GoForth.  They ensure the Canadian Entrepreneur has the right tools in their business toolbox so they can become successful.  Give them a call at 403 242 2546 to learn more.

Ulistic has received a number of calls and emails lately from our clients asking us about an email they are receiving about ASIA and CHINESE domain names.  They are wondering how they should respond to this email they have received.  Simple answer, just delete it and forget about it.

The email claims to be from Chinese domain registration firms asserting that there is a potential conflict with your brand name or trademark.  Again, this is a SCAM and needs to be deleted immediately.  These firms want to have you register asian domain names (like yourbusiness.cn or yourbusiness.asia) which you don’t need to worry about and you don’t need PERIOD!

Here is what the SCAM letter looks like;

Dear Manager:
We are a Domain Name registration service company, which is a professional Internet Domain Name Registration and dispute resolution organization in China.On March,17th,2010, We received QIFA Investment company’s application that they are registering the name “YOURDOMAIN_OR_COMPANYNAME” as their Internet Trademark and “YOURDOMAINNAME.cn”,”perfectlydivinebody.com.cn” ,”YOURDOMAINNAME.asia”domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third-party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!

Looking forward to your reply.

Kind regards
Angela
———————————–
Oversea marketing manager?Tel:+86(0)21 XXXXXXX50?Fax:+86(0)21 XXXXXX557 ?web:www.ygnXXXXXXrk.cn

The objective of the scammer is to have you register these domain names under their registrar account for stupid prices which are extremely overpriced.

Single registration fee:

(.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/.org.cn) Domain name:160USD/ 5 Years Per Name
(.hk/.tw) Domain name: 405USD/ 5 Years Per Name
(.mobi) Domain name: 320USD/ 5 Years Per Name
(.cc) Domain name: 340USD/ 5 Years Per Name
(.asia) Domain name: 840USD/ 5 Years Per Name
.Internet brand keyword: 705EUR/ 5 Years Per Name

Domain name registrations typically cost between $9 and $22.00 depending on the extension you are registering. For example .com may cost more than .ca.

If indeed you would like to secure .CN or .ASIA domain name extensions, contact your current domain registrar or contact your Ulistic Internet Consultant for help.

But, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for Erick Simpson at MSPU.  So, why not share this information for him after all he helped me big time over the past few years.

Before I start with strategy I need to figure out the social landscape. Has it really changed?  I want to say it hasn’t but my gut keeps telling me it has.  What are we trying to achieve with our business in the online, digital connected, everyone googles and searches for information world that we live in.

I think Chris Brogan is right, trust is the cornerstone

Trust has to plays  crucial role in all business interactions including the online world plus when we meet at the Chamber of Commerce, our networking clubs or in the lineup at Calgary CO-OP.  Trust in an amazing thing win your grant a trusted relationship, from you guys reading this blog to the folks that are calling your business after reading a blog post you have crafted.

Is it social media?  Or is this plain ole business acumen?  What has spurred the flurry of interest in social media in the past 6 to 18 months?  Is it the availability and the free tools which is driving?  Would we have this amount of interest if you had to pay $10 each month for a Twitter account?  Kinda goes against our “free mindset” in today’s world.

Over the past few days I have been trying to figure out the social online landscape and perhaps I am a further step ahead since I spoke at the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce about social media in Airdrie and social media in Calgary.  Each day I feel that I am another step closer to figuring this all out.  Oh yeah, thanks Leslie for your help.

What is the Social Landscape theory?

• Social Media
• Social Networking
• Social Technologies
• Social Currency

My goal is over the next few days to expand on these areas.  I am continuing to have a number of A-HA moments as my mind begins to focus on how businesses can use the entire social landscape to win new opportunities in the marketplace, become a voice in the community and share knowledge and information.

The big question that I still get asked is, how does business monetize when using the social landscape?  Not sure if this is small thinking though and the bigger question is how can our business become the thought leader, the online connector and the place people come for information.  Will social currency reap ongoing rewards?  Can we practice online what my good friend Bob Burg mentions in his “Endless Referrals” book?

More thought is needed….