PLN - Part 4

My original plan for the foundation of my PLN  was to mainly stick with people in my physical network of associates, friends, and family, I have come to realize that very few of those folks are active social media users. In keeping with the spirit of this class, I know I have to branch out further and more creatively. Besides, I have also come to terms with the fact that my time and availability is limited and I simply have to be able to learn and grow professionally as my crazy schedule permits, even if it is 4:00 in the morning.

I found a couple of sources that I think can help me with this. The first source is Constant Contact. The site has a blog page dedicated to their own staff contributors as well as a place for community bloggers. I found a number of free "webinars" in the Community portion of the site one of which, I have written on my calendar.. I am following them on Twitter and have subscribed to their blog lists. I like that I can follow just the one blog page without having to subscribe to all of the staff blogs individually.

Another source that I especially like is Open Forum.  Sponsored by American Express, this site offers a wealth of resources for business owners - videos, articles, blogs, podcasts, and expert advice to boost my business. To take full advantage of all of the features of the site, you need to log in. In order to do so, you must have be an American Express account holder. At the moment, I am not one, although I do plan on applying for a business account soon. There is, however, plenty of information that is accessible without being a  member. There is an entire section called Crash Courses, which I have browsed through and subscribed to. There is a lot to be learned here. There is a community blog section here as well and a section on Women in Business, which I am very interested in.


For me, this is one stop shopping! I can follow both of these sites easily and feel as if I will be getting a good return on my investment of time and mental energy. What do you think?

PLN - Part 3

In keeping with my PLN plan to tap into the knowledge of the vendors in my business area, I made inroads in a couple of areas.

I had a Facebook page for my business which was pretty basic and more than a little underutilized. Because the page was attached to my personal account, if I wanted to "like" another business, it would show as a "like" from me personally, when I wanted it to appear from the store. I learned how to toggle back and forth between the account name from my personal account name to my store page name, depending on what I was trying to do. As a result, there is now an area on the page which shows business to business "likes". These act as endorsements, of sorts, and are always reciprocated in kind. It has proved to be a good opportunity for team-building and conversation starting. The nice website developer who works at the theater across the street was kind enough to show me how to do it when I mentioned it when I bumped into him at the cafe next door. I love my work neighbors!

Additionally, I did not have a email address for the business. Prior, I was filtering everything through my personal email address. I created a dedicated e-mail account, which is helping me keep things straight personally and professionally. This will be especially important in my role as the new secretary of the Merchants Association. I added the new information to the Facebook page and it will soon show on the store website, which is still in development, but should be up within a week or two.

I also signed up for a Twitter account for the store. Anyone interested in following us can do so at @HipGypsyNT. I linked the Twitter account to the Facebook page, but am having difficulty getting the tweets to show up on the page, although I know it is set up properly. There is apparently some disconnect between Twitter and secondary Facebook pages. My website developer friend is helping me try to figure out a workaround. Have I mentioned how I love my work neighbors?

I created a blog for the store and am having fun with that. My partners are blown away! Updated the Facebook page and tweeted it out there. I got a FB message from my very tech-savvy daughter in Japan yesterday. Apparently she is impressed with how much I am "evolving"! We shall see how it goes! Check out the blog and let me know what you think. In my first few posts, I was able to utilize a number of the tools we learned about this semester.

PLN - Part 2

As part of my PLN, I used Google Docs to put together a survey for the Merchants Association that I belong to for my business. It has been helpful as a means of gathering information not only those who participate regularly but also those who do not or cannot attend meetings regularly. The survey serves several purposes. It helps the Association meet the needs and desires of its existing membership while learning what issues or concerns might be preventing non-members from participating.

To see the survey I developed click here.

PLN - Part 1

In my very first blog post about developing my PLN, I mentioned that I thought I would start by building off of the relationships that were being established during the community-wide fund-raiser my business partners and I spear-headed in February. That being said, I have added as many of them as possible to my Symbaloo Web-Mix. Although not all involved have web pages, I did manage to locate a good portion of them.

This will give me a good opportunity to keep up with what is going on in the neighborhood, without all of the pavement pounding, which is sometimes impractical. Considering the weather, I am glad I am not out-and-about today. Check out the view of the neighborhood from our Gateway Harbor Web Cam as of 2 minutes ago. Brrrr... No one is shopping OR collaborating today!

Checking out everybody's website is proving to be a good way to become familiar not only with what merchandise/service is being offered, but also to continuously look for more opportunities to work with, and learn from each other going forward. I've noticed that just mentioning that you saw this or that on someone's website is a pretty effective conversation starter!

Case in point... I learned via a website visit to one area merchant that she offered classes in stained glass making. When I stopped by the store to get more information, we got to talking about the possibility of running a street-wide event for Mother's Day weekend. The merchant mentioned something known as a "shop hop". Never heard of one before, but was happy to do a little research. If you happen to be in the Webster Street area that weekend, check it out because we have some fun stuff in the works!

SoundCloud

                                   http://www.dubstep.lv/2010/07/27/dubstep-lv-soundcloud/


Even though everyone else in my family is familiar with SoundCloud, this was my first attempt at using it personally. I must say, this was kind of fun, even if I did sputter a little. Hey, I get nervous "speaking" in public! Have a listen by clicking here.

Manners Matter!

In Chapter 4 of Discovering the Internet, the authors briefly touched on a few e-mail etiquette rules we should be mindful of. Although I have never made any monumental etiquette blunders while using e-mail, I have heard more than a few horror stories over the years. While any number of books have been penned on the subject, a quick Internet search can bring up loads of articles and blog posts about the potential pitfalls awaiting any of us who use e-mail.

As I browsed through my search results for e-mail etiquette, I noticed that practically every other article quantified the number of "tips" being listed. Being in a "more is better" kind of mood, I skipped those that offered the top 3, 10, or 26 tips and went directly for the top 101!  Put out by netmanners.com., 101 Email Etiquette Tips was a pretty comprehensive list which covered proper protocol for e-mail, formatting, attachments, forwarding, business mail, IM, blogs, message boards, and forums. I learned a few things that I was doing wrong (like leaving the subject field blank and not editing out other e-mail addresses before forwarding).

My favorite tip, and the sagest advice, happened to be #101... "Type unto others as you would have them type unto you." Is that not perfect in its' simplicity and elementary truth? Check out the article and let me know what you think.

So many e-mail addresses, so little time...

                                                               http://www.highlandpolice.com/cid2.htm

I was thinking, while reading Chapter 4, that while I have used e-mail for some time, I never have felt the need to be a slave to it, as so many people seem to be. There was a time, not so long ago, that it would not be unusual for me to go days or even weeks without ever looking at my e-mail. Needless to say, it also wasn't unusual to find a mountain of messages waiting for me when I let too much time pass between log-in's. This never bothered me too much since most of what I found there was what I considered "mental litter'...advertising and coupons from stores I frequented, forwarded jokes or inspirational messages from my contacts, solicitations from political or social groups that I expressed an interest in, newsletters, the occasional Nigerian Sting, and every once in a while, something pertinent. I probably spent as much time hitting the delete button as I did reading all that stuff!

These days, I suddenly found myself juggling multiple e-mail addresses from multiple e-mail services. Between my personal one, my work one, my store one, and most recently, my school one, this had the potential to be a recipe for disaster for a e-mail slacker like me!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had acquired my first smart phone.  I gotta say.. that phone, which I was only mildly interested in, has become a great e-mail management system for me! I am happy to report that my e-mail accounts are being attended to quite regularly these days! There is something almost liberating about the ability to delete the junk almost instantaneously while knowing that I am not missing anything crucial.

                                                                 http://www.getcws.com

How I wish I could manage the rest of my life as easily as I can now manage my e-mail(s)! How do you manage?

Symbaloo-A-Roo!

So I have started adding Tiles for the other businesses in the Merchant Association to which I belong. I have a ways to go, but it's a start...

Surveys!

I am always so encouraged when I get to apply some of what I am learning in school to life in the 'real world'. It is gratifying to realize that this long, sometimes arduous, and rather expensive process has meaningful and valuable application to my here-and-now life. I have recently had two opportunities to do just this.

The Merchant Association that I belong to through my business is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. The group has seen membership decline by more than half over the last 10 years. Those that remain have been members practically from the associations' inception. As a result of new business growth in the area recently, however, interest in reinvigorating the group has soared. The old guard, who have been tirelessly holding it together, has decided that the time has come for some fresh ideas, younger leadership, and some new blood to take up the torch of association development. They are ready for a rest from the necessary chore of keeping a cohesive and eclectic assortment of players moving in the same direction and focused on the same long-range goal, which is the success of the area as a shopping destination. They have earned the right to take a breather. The task has, at times, been likened to trying to heard cats...impossibly difficult.

The group recently expressed a need for a strongly worded cease-and-desist type letter to be written to a rather rouge member who had self-appointed herself to head up an important association-sponsored community event against the wishes of the majority of the membership. While wanting to approach the matter delicately but emphatically, the letter required some level of legal overtones. Asked to pen the letter on behalf of the group, I had my first opportunity to put my paralegal writing skills to real use.  The opportunity preceded my learning of Google Docs. Had it not, I can see how much more efficiently I could have circulated the draft letter amongst the membership in order to make the numerous but necessary revisions. As it was, I used a combination of e-mail, face-to-face, pavement-pounding, and telephone to come up with the final product. Although the end-product came out well, it certainly took a great deal more effort than it could have.

At our last couple of meetings, there has been talk about conducting a  survey amongst all of the merchants in the area, members and non-members, to see how membership could be grown. I had already made up a mock survey for the Google Doc assignment, so this was perfect timing! I volunteered to draft an actual survey on behalf of the group. I plan to use Google Docs for this project and save myself a whole lot of time. I'm excited for the opportunity to put another newly acquired skill to practical use. The only challenge I am facing is trying to muscle e-mail addresses from the old guard...they are privacy loving people of the highest order. They are not giving them up easily. Considering all that I have learned this semester, I think I am just the girl for the job! What do you think?

Baby-Stepping to Mobility!

                                          http://passionped.wordpress.com/

I haven’t exactly made it a secret that I am not the world’s biggest embracer of technology. In my business however, I am miles ahead of my two partners. One partner has a home computer and a basic cell phone with nary a single phone number in her contacts - it's all in her head, she claims. The other one has a smart phone but no home computer. She rejects e-mail, rarely answers her phone, and hardly ever listens to voice-mail. Neither has any idea what social media is. They are artists, full of whimsical and creative ideas. I am the practical one and the de facto realist. The task of dragging us, as a business, into the 21^st century is going, it seems, to fall to me. While I have done my fair share of whining about technology on this blog, I am finding the prospect of introducing some mobile device technology into our business strategy a little less daunting than I might have previously because of what I have learned in that last few months and in my recent research. Actually, I am feeling downright inspired at the moment... kind of!

Feeling so inspired, I dragged the netbook computer I received as a gift last year out from its home under the couch and blew the dust off.  I am now taking it to work with me daily and have started using it to track my inventory and place orders on-line. I have also started updating our Facebook page more frequently, and have used the netbook for some on-line business banking. I have also been using it for product research as well as being more timely with my business correspondence.  While I was performing these tasks already, I was doing them from home after business hours, hoping that I didn’t forget anything between the store and home.  Often times, this was contingent on the stuff-of-life not interfering. Real-time and on-site is making me feel mighty efficient these day and makes my personal time much more pleasant as well. I recently acquired my first smart phone and am still learning how to use it, but my head is starting to swim with ideas and possibilities!

My partner-peeps are even starting to drink the mobile device Kool-Aide a little bit too. This, in and of itself, is HUGE! I knew we were making strides when I was asked to leave the netbook at the store for them to use on their days at the helm. The mere mention of Twitter is no longer being dismissed with a wave of the hand as unnecessary to business growth, and there has been a sudden epiphany that moving money between bank accounts does not always require a special trip to the actual bank. Progress is being made. Admittedly, it’s in baby steps, but at least it’s in a forward direction! 

I love the series of Verizon Wireless commercials about the little girl entrepreneur and the mobile devices she used to build her lemonade business.  This is the first of the series. I want that little credit card swiper for my phone so we can accept credit sales when we are off-site at shows, which has always been an issue.  I’ve already started doing the research! I am a bit concerned about security with this particular mobile device, but so far, the research says it's quite safe.

Oh, and I see a tablet in my near future as well! Anything else I should be looking at?

Jing Video of an Advanced Search

With three unsuccessful attempts under my belt, I am over the moon with joy this morning! I got this little Jing-y thing-y to work! Going to celebrate this small victory by treating myself to a donut or something...

Booyah on Boolean Searching!

                                          http://www.internettutorials.net/boolean.asp

In my daily life, I am all about shortcuts. If there is a way to perform a task more efficiently, or more quickly, without sacrificing the end-result, I am totally open to checking it out. My little home library of how-to books contain plenty of suggestions for useful short-cuts that will make life a little bit easier... how to be more organized; how to remove a stubborn stain; how to fix this or fix that; how to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less; how to clean my house from top to bottom in one morning...you get the drill.

With regards to short-cuts, however, one area where I know I fall down miserably is in my computer use. I hold hard and fast to the processes I know well and that I know work for me. Call me mule-headed, but I tend to be one of those who doesn't like to stray too far out of my comfort zone with this technology stuff. (If you have been following my blog posts, you have already figured this out about me!) Accepting that this is just part of my personality, I have been perfectly content to complete 10 steps in a process where 2 different ones might work just as well, simply because I trust that the way I learned it originally will continue to work every time. Understanding that this manifests from my irrational fear that any piece of technology under my control is just a single key-stroke away from certain annihilation, I truly am trying to be less fossil-like and to maybe learn a few things here. It is not always easy, and is certainly humbling.

If I had to pick the most personally useful information from Chapter 3 of Shelly, Napier, and Rivers' Discovering the Internet, I think it would definitely have to be the section on Boolean operators. Besides the fact that learning about them had me humming the theme song from School House Rock's "Conjunction Junction" in my head all day, it made me realize that had I known about them when my earlier classes were  heavily research and writing based, I could have saved myself loads of time and probably netted better results. Going forward, I know that I will be using this short-cut a lot.

As I've said before, I am primarily a visual learner. I am also a big YouTube fan. Check out this funny little explanation of Boolean Searching. It gave me a real chuckle, and made me homesick for my two sweet southern girl friends. I do love their accents! Did any single topic in Chapter Three stand out for you?

Lunchroom Chat

http://youtu.be/cs4py0OB9vk

OK...so I have been beyond frustrated. I couldn't seem to figure out how to get my cute little video to run except through a link as opposed to a video. While it would appear, it wouldn't run from the thumbnail while I was working in draft or in the preview mode. A process that was supposed to be relatively self-explanatory turned into a two day thorn in my side. I tried to get this thing working properly at least three times, from every angle I could think of.

I decided to throw up my hands in defeat and post it anyways. Fully prepared to cry "Uncle" and beg for advice from my readers,  imagine how silly I felt when I hit publish and everything seems to be running properly. Picture who quickly I scrambled to edit my original text, which admittedly bordered on hysterical. Feeling mighty foolish, foolish, foolish!

If I am lucky, my family will eventually forgive me for foisting my little problem on them and ruining what should have been a peaceful weekend! I am suddenly reminded of the line from the movie A League of Their Own", where Tom Hanks states, "There's no crying in baseball!" Well, as far as I am concerned, there shouldn't be any crying on Blogger, either. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me this weekend.  I'm starting to think that this old dog can't be (or shouldn't be) taught any of these new tricks....

My PLN is Right Outside My Door...

                       Grand Finale - Hip Gypsy Fashion Extravaganza - February 12, 2012

So, I started digging into this whole PLN thing. At first blush, I was a little bit intimidated because most of the information seemed geared for educators. Concluding that it will require a little thinking outside of the box, it occurred to me that I have just had the experience of learning through a PLN and didn't even realize it!

My business partners and I had the privilege of coordinating a fashion show in our business neighborhood to benefit a local charity earlier this month. While our goal was to do a little good for our community, it would be disingenuous to say that, as newcomers to the community, we also weren't also hoping to promote our own business as well. We floated the original idea at our local merchant's association meeting back in November to a rather lukewarm response. Knowing that this was a project we could not pull off on solely on our own, we started reaching out to other businesses in the neighborhood who were not actively involved in the association.

Across the street from our store happens to be a historical old theater. They offered up a venue for the event. We started visiting our neighbors to brainstorm how they might be involved in the project. Long story short... we had buy-in from nearly all of them! Our show, which was really  more of a theatrical production than a traditional runway show, included merchandise from numerous antique stores, thrift shops, art galleries, the local Harley Davidson dealer, a tack shop, and even the two area tattoo parlors! Our models, consisted of or friends, families, and customers. By mixing and blending our collective wares, we pulled off, in six weeks time, a professionally choreographed production that blended fashion, skin art, cowboy, biker, vintage, and gypsy. We even threw in a little PG-rated pole dancing for good measure. Our restaurant neighbors got involved by providing the food and beverages. A local limousine company taxied VIP's from the parking lot to the theater red carpet where the paparazzi snapped pictures as they entered the theater. The local newspaper helped us promote the event in advance and we tapped into every resource we had at our disposal. The evening was a huge success, with over 400 in attendance, and culminated in a tear-jerking tribute to our veterans, Jimi Hendrix-style. The entire street is abuzz with plans for next year and how we can make it even bigger and better!

Upon reflection, it occurs to me that all of these business owners, some sophisticated in their business practices, some not as much, can be the foundation of my PLN. Many of these folks have successfully run businesses in our neighborhood for many years. Now that we are all on such friendly and collaborative terms, I think I have found a good jumping off point. What do you think?

I Wonder What Will Happen If I Push This Little Button...

                                         http://comics.dp.cx/dailystrips-2009.11.27.html

So… after reading Chapter 2 – Browsing the Web in the class text, I come away realizing how little I really understood as far as even the most basic workings of a simple web browser. While as a rule, I don’t use Internet Explorer; I do have occasion to use it at certain times; mainly if I am using my net book while at my store, or if I am using my work computer at my office.  At home, we mostly use Firefox, mainly because it seems to run more efficiently out here in the back-of-beyond where I live and is the majority favorite in my family.

I’m probably the only uber-dork who actually followed along with the book and went through all the practice exercises. For a visual learner like me, the process of going through all of the steps, simultaneously reading and doing, is actually quite helpful, although I’m feeling even more amateur-ish than usual now that I know what many of those little icons actually represent! Prior, they were just a bunch of scary things that I was afraid to click on lest I (1) launch myself into some great abyss in the internet ether, never to find my way back to where I started, or (2) blow up the darned computer. How happy am I to learn that neither of those things was going to happen??

I am shaking my head over how much time I can save myself now that I know about some of those handy-dandy browser shortcuts. While I did use the Favorites and History options quite regularly, I now know about Web Slices and Accelerators! Those were buttons I would previously never touch, for the reasons mentioned above! The RSS Reader is a tool that I would see on sites as I surfed, but again…never willing to go there. If I am going to be spending time in the blogging world, I think that particular tool will be extremely helpful!

Because I am a self-proclaimed privacy-lover, and because I recently had my personal e-mail address hijacked (and for the record, I was NOT peddling an ED pill to everyone in my e-mail address book), the section on the various risks and safeguards while using the Web was helpful to me. I think I will definitely do as the textbook recommends and make a point of deleting and restricting acceptance of cookies, as well as check out the opt-out features of more web sites. Anyone besides me like to keep their "biz-ness" as private as possible?

What is this Net Neutrality thing?

Net Neutrality is a term I’ve heard bandied about for the past few years.  Quite frankly, I really have not paid a whole lot of attention to it because it didn’t strike me as particularly relevant to the day-to-day workings of my little world.

It is the principle that all data traveling along an Internet connection should be treated equally. The practice of net neutrality would prevent network operators, namely Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) from giving preferential treatment to some content while slowing down or blocking other traffic. Historically, ISP’s have mostly been responsible for policing themselves on the matter without a whole lot of government intervention because the “rules” have not been codified into law.

Proponents of net neutrality argue that actual net neutrality regulations are necessary in order to prevent ISP’s from blocking or limiting the publics’ access to all of the on-line services, information, and technology that is currently available on the net. Anything less, it is argued, amounts to a violation of our free speech.

Detractors of net neutrality claim that ISP’s are entitled to control their networks as they see fit.  Without some modicum of control, portions of their customers are negatively impacted by a different segment of users who are utilizing greater bandwidth for some of their Internet activities.

As with most things these days, the topic has become a hot-button political issue, with camps on both sides of the isle. Pro net-neutrality advocates believe that government controls are necessary, while the anti net neutrality folks posit that the free market will drive fair play and the government needs to stay out of the way.

Having delved a little deeper now, I have mixed feelings about the whole issue. Having spent a lot of time studying the law for the last four years, I see a whole bunch of Constitutional issues coming into question. I just printed out my own copy of Comcast Corp. v.  Federal Communications Commission, which was decided in Federal Court last April. I plan to take a good look at it before deciding where I stand on the issue. 

Do you know where you stand yet?

So This is What The Hulabaloo Was All About!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35683720@N03/3304578212/

I will be the first to admit that I am one of those poor, unfortunate souls who, until recently, did not even realize that the Internet and the World Wide Web were not synonymous terms. I have recently become “enlightened” and now (I hope) finally get the distinction between these two separate but related things!  Better to be late to the party than to never arrive at all, I say!

Rather simplistically put, while the Internet is the hardware portion of this global communication equation, the World Wide Web essentially amounts to the software portion.

The Internet, which had military beginnings in the late 1960’s, is in essence, a giant network of networks. These networks are connected via wire, fiber optic cables, and/or wireless connections. Any computer can communicate and share information with any other computer in the world, providing each is connected to the Internet. Email, instant messaging, chat, and file transfer services all occur over the Internet.  A public computer network, the Internet is governed by a set of rules, laws, and regulations known as the Internet Protocol, which deals with data and its transmission via packets.

The World Wide Web is, in effect, built on top of the Internet. It depends upon the Internet to work and serves as a way to access information over the medium of the Internet. It is comprised of a collection of web pages connected through hyperlinks and URL’s. Governed by the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and utilizing a common language known as Hyper Text Mark Up Language (HTML), the Web’s basic premise is to link documents, files, folders, and pages of information from computer to computer.

The ways to connect to the Internet vary. For home use and many businesses, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) supplies Internet access. A Local Area Network (LAN) might be used to connect computers to the Internet in specific areas, such as in an office or in a building.  While there are other avenues to connect to the Internet, availability, and cost can vary. Dial-up, Cable, Satellite, Microwave, Wi-Fi, and Mobile Wireless are the most commonly known. Each carries it’s own pluses and minuses. Not every method is available everywhere. Geography matters, apparently! At my house, we use DSL, although we did give satellite a whirl, but found it too unreliable. Everyone except ol’ Mom also has mobile wireless access as well. I am the last hold out, although I did call "dibs" on the next phone up-grade! How about you? How do you connect?

How Did I Get From "There" to "Here"?

http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/images/blogging.jpg:

It’s funny how the circumstances of life can take you to places you never imagined yourself going. I don’t mean just in the big “cosmic" sense, but in the smaller, subtler “what just happened here?” sense as well. 

As a privacy-loving person, I vowed to myself years ago that I would eschew most social media unless absolutely necessary. For years, my technology-averse self  managed to muddle along quite nicely with basic e-mail, the bare-minimum computer skills to navigate through my on-line courses through ESC, and enough rudimentary texting capabilities to keep track of my children and their activities. Anything beyond that... just not for me!

When I found myself in the position to open my own retail business with two old friends last year, I never imagined that I would soon be the administrator of our stores’ Facebook page. Nor did I ever envision that I would contemplate dipping my toes into the waters of other social media outlets in order to advance the success of our business. Yet, here I am, the proud (?) owner of my very first blog. How did this happen? How did I get from there to here?  What do I do with this skill once this class is over? I am out of my comfort zone, and admittedly a little nervous. Like I said…life can be funny.

So, I’ve read all of the articles and explored every link. I’ve paid particular attention to the sources that concentrated on blogs for small business.  I’ve actually learned some good stuff!  I found Dave Zahorsky’s article What a Blog Can Do For Your Small Business  particularly useful.  He states that business blogs are a good way to share a company’s specialized expertise. It occurred to me that my partners and I have special marketable skills and talents that go beyond that which is obvious within the walls of our store. While a sign displayed in the store informing our customers that we offer specialized services might reach those who visit us, a blog could reach potential new clients that might not be aware that we offer custom drapery services, interior design services, or any number of made-to-order products. This is a really cool way to expand our footprint and reach a client base that might not otherwise venture into our place of business.

I found How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success, by Matthew Bandyk, to be an insightful read as well. According to the article, many people, myself included, actually rely on a Google search rather that a specific website search for initial information. With our own website under construction, this is information worth knowing.

The other articles offered good general information to help the uninitiated like me to get started. The practical tips on keeping a blog regular were helpful. It is easy to see how easy it could be to get carried away in the excitement of blogging at first blush, only to lose that momentum as the day-to-day realities of operating a business eat up your valuable time. Under promising and over delivering is very sage advice, I think.

Lastly, I assumed that the practice of  “viral marketing” was strictly a negative. Who knew that it is  more akin to a clever combination of creative art and precise science? I didn’t. Did you?