William Allbrook's Blog

Google+ 2

2012-01-26T06:47:00.001-08:00

Time to Blog again! Google+ is evolving and evolving fast and for the first time we are seeing Google behaving in an unchacteristically 'Applesque' way. Google+ is now intimately related to its search algorithms and it hasn't taken very long for people to figure this out....hence the recent noise about Google turning away from its 'Do no evil' mantra. They have finally realised that their whole ecosystem might be under threat. Their moves to develop Google+ to push Android and then buy Motorola are to all intents and purposes like building the walls and filling the moat (Castles remember!). The drawbridge remains most definitely down however and people can come and go...for the moment!

So if you are logged into your Google account and like many this might be all of the time because your company is using Gmail your web searches are going to be infected by the people in your Google+ circles. This could be a good or a bad thing,... think about it.

Now I have three Google+accounts, not something I wanted to do but as an outsourced marketeer I need them and guess what I have 3 associated Google+ accounts too...I am bloody confused!

Making sense of all this is NOT straightforward but I'm going to figure it out and blog again very shortly. My good friend Guy Hoogewerf (@ncompass) and I are going to work together and start putting down our thoughts starting next week. Watch this space!

Google+

2011-07-22T04:51:00.001-07:00

Google+ is yet another social network to get attached to. How many more can there be? How much time do we have in our lives to participate in this activity?

Well I think it comes down to several things but I think I find myself in a minority here. Facebook would have you believe that there is only one you, not a work you a family you or a close friends you etc. Well this is where I take issue with Facebook. Unless you have multiple accounts there's no way that it can be all things to all men. I have a serious work persona...well reasonably serious, and I have another reserved for friends and family. It doesn't mean I'm schitzo just that there are different ways of communicating with different types of people.

Until Google+ there was Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is for business pure and simple. Twitter is for tracking and posting opinions and a little bit of direct communications. Facebook is there for banter and stalking and since most of my 50+ mates and family don't engage with it, I hardly use it. My kids however are on it all the time.

Google+ is however trying to cater for people like me. It has circles of contacts, friends, family business acquaintances etc. It seems much more logical. I'll be watching it as it morphs (at present on an almost hourly basis) into something really useful. It would be good if they concentrated on the user interface...there's just so much form filling I can take!

A day in the life

2011-06-29T08:19:00.001-07:00

It has been an interesting week and really quite gratifying from several points of view. Firstly there are people who in the past have been keen social media skeptics that are now taking up the cudgels and jumping in both feet first...be there or be square!

One of my clients has had great success working the Internet to their advantage with very little budget, a good deal of tenacity and a down to earth belief that this would work for them. Bravo! Nice to work with like minds.

This week has seen a flurry of releases from Google including Google + and Swiffy (a Flash to HTML 5 convertor). Google has also defended its own online collaboration apps against Microsoft's Office 365. So the major incumbents are keeping themselves in the news at least!

Also in a month where it has been reported that Facebook has started to lose US and UK subscribers it would appear that we are still in the kindergarten stage of connectivity and the Internet. When we can all talk to each other in the same language without having to fill in a form, it may be considered mature!

As for Google Apps I have started to use them and am quite impressed by their simplicity, ease of use and the way in which they enable collaborative working. During the last few months network problems at the school where I am a Governor suggest that this may be the way forward..."put it up in the Cloud and let someone else manage it while we get on with what we are good at!" The big hump is not so much the apps but the file systems and directories, we need, dare I say it... a paradigm shift!

ScribeFire

2011-06-20T07:31:00.001-07:00

Hmm, another tool to get all fired up about...and confused about too! I am posting this blog with 'ScribeFire' (browser plugin/extension) right from inside my browser. It should make blogging much easier and convenient. If you want to find out more you can go to:

http://www.scribefire.com

I'll report on progress in due course.

Apple's new App Store

2011-01-30T04:46:00.000-08:00

App started the App Store thing with the iPhone, no one else had anything like it really. Last week Apple reported that the App Store had hosted it 10 billionth download, which by anybody's reckoning is impressive.

Earlier in January Apple introduced an OSX App Store built right in to the operating system. Developers have taken to it well and a little know English developer, Pixelmator have already generated $1m in revenue since the App Store launch. For developers from small to large this is a brilliant development but for resellers this is a disaster and I see the market for 'boxed' software already withering on the vine.

From a user point of view this couldn't be more convenient. However if you design or produce packaging for software or are a big supplier of software CDs and DVDs, your time is nearly up.

Does anyone disagree?

You're too busy...well lucky you!

2011-01-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

I am too busy to get involved in any of this Social Media malarkey and anyway my kids spend all their time stalking each other on Facebook, it is such a waste of time, time that I haven't got.

STOP! Look up from what you are currently engrossed in and clear your mind - bliss eh!

Who's running this business anyway? Well that's true you are driving it and have brought it to where it is today but yesterday's certainties are just that...yesterday's. The times, they are a changing... fast!

In the old days sales and marketing was outbound. You send stuff out to people, cold call, visit exhibitions and conferences, exhibit at some or speak at others. Latterly you even had a website, in many cases these were simply online brochures. For some, especially those with products to sell, search engine optimisation and pay-per-click have become a required form of lead-generation, while blogging and social media techniques have not yet reached mainstream status...WRONG!

Today you have to have an inbound strategy too. Why's that I hear you ask? Well it is simple, people in buying positions today are increasingly using the Internet and related media to learn about the products and services that best meet their needs and it's no longer down to a Google search. Companies that wish to move forward need to get found in other ways too. I can sum this up in three words:

Blog, Tweet, Connect

Chutzpah! - Apple iPhone 4

2010-07-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

How dare anybody question Apple's latest incarnation of the iPhone?

For so many reasons the release of the iPhone 4 has become a big deal and it's very interesting from a marketing standpoint.

What's in a name? - iPhone, iPhone 3G - for 3G, iPhone 3GS - for speed, iPhone 4 - for next in sequence...hardly state of the art product naming!

Product - I always use Dieter Rams' 10 principles of good design (http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign) when I take a look at a new product, the iPhone 4 ticks most of those boxes.

Beauty - I like things that are well engineered and look nice. Sit the iPhone 4 down next to a Leica camera and you'll see what I mean, it's pleasing to hold and look at.

Does it work? - Well now there's a question! Like most smartphones the iPhone 4 is not just a phone, it's an iPod, a connected device(wifi or phone network), a portable computer and some. Apart from the antenna problem...not a problem for me so far, i.e. I can't say I noticed, I can say that this is the best iPhone yet and by a long way. I'll be keeping mine. Anyone who is disappointed can get a free case or a refund, it will be interesting to see the return rates.

Does it sell - Yup! - 3m in 22 days so far.

So what does all this tell me about the iPhone from a marketing standpoint.

• Not brilliantly named
• Usual Apple pre-launch event to dangle the carrot worked
• Object of desire that obviously presses the right consumer buttons
• Reasonably swift response to 'Attenagate'

Will Apple get over this? Oh I think so, but I reckon next year's model will have a new form factor.

Apple sets its sights high but it will always be criticised by those who just don't get the reasons behind its tight control of hardware and software. There are many who do but like open platforms better, fair enough there's plenty more fish in the sea. In fact there has never been more choice. As a long time Apple convert there's one thing I'd like Mr Jobs to work on and that is Apple's environmental record, good, but could try harder: http://bit.ly/dlsD5Y

Ordnance Survey - Terra future - 10th March

2010-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ordnance Survey are hosting a free 'Forging Link' seminar.

Still pushing DNF but also looking at the interesting area of linked data.

The event is taking place on the 10th March at the Ordnance Survey Business Centre in Southampton. It will be of interest to people in the linked data community wishing to find out more about geographic data or vice versa...if you get my drift. Find out more from here:

http://www.terrafuture.com/resources/docs/terra-future-2010-agenda.pdf

Protection

2009-09-29T02:49:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I get asked about design protection. The answer is yes you should do it if you think you have something to protect. It can however be quite complicated so before you start you need to get your head around what protection you actually need. You can go to a simple introduction on this site www.allbrook.net/intelligence/protection.html and then I suggest you make for Trevor Baylis' site (yes he of clockwork radio fame) at http://bit.ly/3Ie2bz.

He is a bit of a fanatic when it comes to design protection so that is why it is worth listening to what he has to say. His company even offers consultancy.

A lot of what you do is covered by copyright, but I recommend trademarking names that you want to keep and use long term. It is only when you get into registered designs and patents that things start getting both complex and pricey but like I say if it's worth protecting...

Time to get back to work

2009-09-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

Funny old year 2009, a summer that never materialised a deep recession with high unemployment... oh and a lot of people just not doing very much, horns retracted! Well it's September now holidays are over, it is time to get back to work and make the economy sing again.

From a marketing point of view the number one step is to remind your clients that you still exist, get in touch, get out and meet them take them out to lunch. Whatever you do just make sure you actually DO something!

You can DO other things too, refresh your website, start writing that blog again, be out there!

...oh I forgot and do it with style!

Marketing Gold

2009-06-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

In times of recession businesses are always looking for new customers however the 'gold' might be found in a business' own records. That's right if you can access your own customers effectively you can market to them safe in the knowledge that they are probably already onside.

I wonder why so many companies fail to exploit their own customer records. Quite often it is because the information is 'stuck' in a system and difficult to retrieve, sometimes there are worries about marketing to customers because of data protection issues.

The main point here is that customers can be a business' most valuable asset, there may be many reasons why they have not bought from you for some time. Nurture them, keep in touch and trust that they have a reason to come back if you have not heard from them for some time.

How? Hmm, how big is your business? CRM, Salesforce.com, Goldmine... actually there will always be a technical solution but that alone will not do it. It needs to be part and parcel of the culture.

Web 2.0

2009-04-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Twitter, Facebook, blogging are all part of the Web 2.0 scene and with the 'Y' generation joining the workforce in numbers, it is worth recognising that in this 24/7 world people can be connected almost all of the time.

Unfortunately there are a lot of businesses jumping on the band wagon, so of course they have Twitter and Facebook accounts and tweet and post regularly. The problem is that most of these communications are corporate in style and that to my mind turns people off and debases the power of the medium. It's all about the appropriate language and communication skills.

My advice, is to lighten up and throw away the formal straight jacket. If your company does want to get involved and has something interesting to say rather than just something to promote take the conversational approach drop the jargon and imagine you are talking to your interested neighbour rather than somebody already in the know.

Pip pip!

Software Upgrades

2009-02-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have been using Microsoft Word and Excel on a Mac since about 1988. I
have probably upgraded more times than I care to remember and yes along with each new iteration there is some new feature that seems pretty neat at the time.

Last year the time came to upgrade to Office 2008 for Mac and I didn't take the plunge. Why? I just couldn't justify it. It seemed extravagant. Instead I purchased iWork '08 for the Mac but although this was a decent, very good value suite of software, I work almost entirely in the Windows world so sharing documents between platforms is essential and iWork doesn't make this easy, even in its latest '09 iteration.

I know companies have to make money by upgrading their software, but the Office upgrade is too much (especially if there is a major interface change to learn when you do) and the iWork upgrade isn't even that, you just buy the latest version, no concession to loyalty at all. The same with Bento, FileMaker Inc's basic database app. If you want to upgrade you have no choice you just have to buy the latest £29 version. OK I agree a no brainer for most.

Upgrading software should be about providing greater productivity rather than functionality. What can I do quicker, better, more intuitively than I could with the previous version? This comes first...then come the fantastic new features which make you appear super talented!

It is as simple as that. When is an upgrade an upgrade? When it's worth it.

Windows on a Mac

2009-01-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

I am having to access Microsoft CRM over the Internet which also requires Internet Explorer. I do not own a PC but my Mac can now run Windows as well as OSX

It is easy. You can either set up a partition on your Mac's hard disk and use Apple's built-in Bootcamp or use Virtual Machine software.

Bootcamp is OK but it means every time you want to run Windows you have to quit the Max OS and boot up in Windows.

The Virtual Machine option means that Windows can simply run in a window under Mac OSX ... with complete drag and drop integration. I used VM Fusion and Windows Vista. It took a while to install but everything seems to work fine. There is some hit on performance but it is really acceptable.

Still prefer my Mac though.

GimmeSomeTunes

2009-01-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I come across software that is just fantastic and I want to tell everybody about it.

Today I found GimmeSomeTunes (http://www.eternalstorms.at/gimmesometune/) which is just that..fantastic! If you have a Mac and are running OS X 10.5 or above with iTunes, this software goes out onto the web and grabs song lyrics and album cover artwork as you play each tune. Once you have played a tune the lyrics are in iTunes and that's it.

You can choose to view lyrics or not and there are some nice interface tweaks and even an Internet Radio facility. Go to the website I implore you, it explains it much better than I can. Another great reason for running a Mac! Enjoy.

That Twitter Thing

2009-01-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

Twice in the last few months the news has got out first through Twitter. Twitter in case you didn't already know is a micro-blogging service. (Humph what's that!)

First it was the terror strikes in Mumbai and then last week it was the Hudson River air crash in New York. A passer by took a picture on his iPhone and posted the image using Twitter on to an associated website (http://twitpic.com/135xa) and he got there way before the networks who were still up in their helicopters looking for the plane. The pic got some nearly 100,000 views within hours of the post.

So what does this say about Twitter, well some eminent journalists have likened it to a very cheap and not very reliable news agency but for me it has all sorts of other applications, for the most part keeping in touch and making connections... a member of the family on holiday comes to mind, student backpacking that sort of thing. All you need to do is let your mind wander and all sorts of other things seem possible... go on let your imagination run riot! Just imagine if someone took a few pics of Jean Charles de Menezes that fateful day in July 2005.

There's lots of software out there for PCs, Macs and smartphones and apparently you can even get involved using Facebook, SMS or Instant Messaging. The iPhone has lots of free client software but I have started using Tweetie today on the strength of the New York story break!

Proper URLs

2009-01-09T00:28:00.000-08:00

Well the site now has proper URLs, so what you see in the browser title bar reflects what you see on the web page and it was so easy.

The more I play with RapidWeaver, 'play' being the operative word, the more impressed I am. So far this simple site has Twitter, Skype, LinkeIn and Google Analytics and it was all relatively easy to do. For anyone with a Mac wanting to build a simple website I would recommend it.

A Proper Blog

2009-01-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Whoa! My website now has a proper blog. This one can be viewed on both blogger.com and right here on my website. This site is developed in RapidWeaver, a Mac only theme based web creation package that in my opinion has a lot going for it. For any of you who are interested visit:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com

RapidWeaver has a vibrant developer community producing themes and plugins that add functionality to the basic package. This site uses the Chameleon theme from Elixir Graphics (http://www.elixirgraphics.com/themes/chameleon/index.html) the Blocks plugin from YourHead Software (http://www.yourhead.com/blocks) and the RapidBlog plugin from Loghound.com (http://loghound.com/rapidblog/index.html). This last plugin enables you to use Google Blogger, and thus be able to create blog posts from anywhere with an Internet connection and links them directly to your own website. You can also create a post within RapidWeaver, publish it and hey presto it also appears on blogger.com.

The Blocks plugin is also very good and I plan to use it extensively as I develop this site. The Twitter, Skype and LinkedIn links were all dropped in with ease using Blocks.

That's it for now.