PodTech:Resonate With Customers

During my keynote speeches for the spring ITEC conferences, I explained to people from small and medium businesses how to use new marketing tools, like blogs, to better connect with customers. Since only about 10 percent of attendees admitted having their own company blogs, I focused less on blog technology and more on blog philosophy and value building a bond with customers.

PodTech:Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance

Russell Morgan, founder and president of ITSPA, discusses the group during a break while taping the Wells Fargo Small Business Webcast on Technology and Your Business. Morgan also explains bad ideas in big businesses others should avoid, and good ideas small businesses should learn from big businesses.

PodTech:Denise Wakeman, BlogSquad Cofounder

Denise Wakeman, half of The BlogSquad, explains how she helps companies make better blogs, and what makes a good blog. She received more viewer questions during the Wells Fargo Small Business Webcast than anyone, another indication, if needed, of continued interest in all things blog. Her advice site, Build A Better Blog, offers a wealth of blogging resource material.

Google Gouges Customers

Here’s a cautionary tale for both sides of the disagreement. In case you haven’t heard, Google decided to stop their Download To Own / Download To Rent (DTO/DTR) video site. That’s OK, because companies stop selling products and close divisions all the time.

The pain point comes when you compare the name of the service, Download To Own, with the reality: you can only watch downloaded videos through the special Google Player. When the service stops next week, the player goes away. A good overview can be read in The Register.

My New Friend Denise Wakeman

I’m one of the experts on small business to be asked by Wells Fargo to participate in their Webcast coming up on August 15th (register here). As always, I try to learn from everyone I meet, and one of the other panelists is Denise Wakeman, cofounder of The Blog Squad.

She’s been blogging (of course) about the Webcast in some detail, and here she mentions another blog I like: FlushTV, run by a Brooklyn plumbing company. Denise says it best, but this just proves any company can benefit when making themselves more open to their customers.

PodTech:Data Communications per ITS

During the Altiris user conference in Las Vegas, April 10-13th, I had a chance to visit with Wade Wyant, directory of technology services for ITS Communications of Grand Rapids, Mich. One of the premier voice and data communications companies in the Great Lakes Region, ITS communications added Altiris network management products to their solutions toolkit to satisfy customer demand.

PodTech:PR Advice for Small and Growing Companies

My first PodTech post, and a chance to visit with a friend who shares good information for companies ready to make their mark on the world.