Conversations Used as Marketing
At the recent Bakersfield Business Referral Network meet up–there were discussions started regarding what marketing and tools other owners use to find new business and clients.
There was some great brainstorming going on, but not nearly enough time to discuss the massive changes and shifts happening on the Internet. Thus, the reason I was inspired to share some ideas about what I see coming.
How do you deal with Content Overload?
Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with personal content overload. I searched for similar articles and found a couple here and here. And while tools to make it easier is one solution, I’m coming to the realization that it’s more of a discipline issue more than anything.
What I mean is that while I find myself using iPhone applications such as Tweetie and FaceBook to quickly upload some content, that doesn’t work when taking pictures with my SLR, shooting video with the Vado, or recording audio with my iRiver.
So until I have a device that has both quality and the ability to instantly upload to the cloud in an easy way, I’m going to have to focus of making myself process the content.
And one thing I have realized when it comes to processing content, is the longer I wait to deal with it, the less chance this task has of being completed.
In other words, for me, what I’ve found that works best is to transfer and upload the content as soon as possible afterwards. If I wait longer than 2-3 weeks I usually won’t deal with it.
For example, WordCamp San Francisco was almost 3 weeks ago as of this writing, so unless I process the audio and video I captured this coming weekend, more than likely it will never get done.
I guess this is not much different from other tasks in life–but it just seems like with so many devices and content becoming part of our daily lives, it makes it seem so overwhelming sometimes. So how do you deal with content overload?
Nonprofit Agencies can Learn from Tech Startup Challenges
I attended a United Way grant workshop this morning, and as is the case for many nonprofit agencies, most will be dealing with reduced budgets this year, and more than likely for future years.
Not only was there talk of agencies running leaner and meaner, but two other points that were mentioned were in regard to collaboration, and the need for agencies to be able to show measurable outcomes.
And while both of these ideas are not new concepts, in either the private or nonprofit world, the discussion reminded me of a recent email article Jason Calacanis wrote in regard to what to do if your startup is about to fail.
Believe me, I’m not hoping any nonprofits or other agencies fail, but I think Jason’s thoughts can be translated to almost any situation, good or bad.
In fact, many of Jason’s recent articles have inspired me to push even harder during these difficult times in both my day job and ‘second life’ IT business.
If your nonprofit or other agency is also dealing with budget challenges, I would recommend reading a reprint of his article (and any others you can find).
They may be geared toward the private tech sector, but there is lot’s of good advice that can be used by all, regardless of what you do. If you too are inspired by his thoughts and writings, you can sign up for future articles here.
2009 Bakersfield Computer Goals, Projects, and Ideas
This year I’m going to do something a little different and not only post some of my goals for 2009, but also offer up some project and business ideas that all I’ve been doing is keeping to myself. Read more
Google Street View in Bakersfield
‘Most’ of Bakersfield is now part of a limited Google map feature called Street View. In its LatLon Blog, Google recently announced adding the Street View feature for the California cities of Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, and Stockton. Read more
WordPress Plugin for DonorsChoose.org
I recently found the website, donorschoose.org, which allows educators to create proposals for classroom project materials. Once the proposal is approved, it is posted on the donorschoose.org website, where individuals can then fund the project by donating money.
WordCamp San Francisco State of the Word Audio
It’s funny as I type this, as I had been ocassionally searching for the video that John Pozadzides shot at WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco, but I couldn’t find it (yet), which I totally understand. Then I did a search tonight after posting this, and many of the sessions are now available on video.
Meanwhile, I recorded some audio from the event, including Matt Mullenweg’s The State of the Word session, and this weekend I finally got around to processing it.
Although John’s video from The State of the Word is the real deal, if you are interested, you can download the audio portion of the talk here, or you can play it below.
As for the specs, I recorded it using an iRiver iFP-890 (internal mic), sent it through Levelator, and exported it using Audacity.
WordPress Digital Scrapbook Example
Created by Mike Pilley
I wrote an article earlier this year about using WordPress as a digital scrapbook. Although it has been a while, I finally put an example together based on my original thought.
My son and I recently went camping, so I put some of the content from the trip together in a post. The elements of the post included using an embedded Google map based on the GPS location I took at the campsite; an information balloon within the map that contains information about the campsite, weather during the trip, and links to a Picasa album; scanned PDF of the campsite map; and a narrative of our trip and some highlights.
Below is the Google map and a link to the campsite map. I used the Google Maps Quicktag by Daniel Denk, as I regularly use the Google My Maps and this plugin was the easiest to incorporate the embed link to display the map.
Here’s a slideshow:
To take the digital scrapbook idea to another level, you could create a My Maps of a larger area (say the United States) with markers of event locations that would link to smaller focus maps.
By combining available content such as pictures, video, GPS coordinates, and Google maps within WordPress, you can easily create a digital scrapbook to capture life events in a format available to family and friends.
Below is a narrative of day one of the camping trip.
Read more
Afterthoughts of Creating and Producing a Podcast
Stockcarzone, a Podcast for NASCAR fans, was a great experiment. I had ideas of grandeur when Corey Costelloe and I first started the podcast–but reality was, it was a lot harder to make money than I thought. The podcast really turned out to be more of a hobby than a money maker, and this year Corey and I decided not to continue the show. Regardless of the outcome, I wanted to share some afterthoughts of the experiment. Read more
Brighthouse Networks Charging for Home Networking?
Recently, some friends asked me about installing a wireless router on their network. The need was to get an Xbox 360 connected to Xbox Live. My friend currently uses a cable connection through Brighthouse Networks, and after doing some research via Google, I was shocked to find time-after-time in multiple areas, Brighthouse Networks is trying to charge an outrageous $14.95 per month for what it calls Home Networking. For what this charge is for, I am not sure.
