I’m involved in the running of GTi Business Network, a local face-to-face networking group and I’ve attended many others. Some people are clearly consummate networkers, but there are others who don’t seem to ‘get it’. From the guy who aggressively pushes his product or service to everyone in the room until he’s ‘used up’ that group of contacts and he has to move on to a different meeting, to those who attend once, never come back and don’t seem to get anything from the experience. Networking is an art, but not a black one, anyone can do it.
A BNI colleague used to say, ‘It’s not net-play or net-eat, it’s net-WORK!’ by which he means that you have to be prepared to put in some effort beyond just turning up and eating the food. Referral networking, done right, is perhaps the best way of getting more business if you offer services to other businesses, so it’s something well worth getting better at.
A colleague of mine in the IT industry, Richard Tubb, has a couple of excellent webcasts on the subject. The first titled Finding Customers Through Networking and the second titled Effectively Using Social Networking to Build Your IT Business. At the time of writing, the second of these presentations is yet to air. Judging from the first, even though there is a bit of an IT slant, they material is general enough that any networker can benefit. I’ve met Richard when he ran Netlink IT, a new start-up on a shoestring budget. In those days he used to ask people like me for advice, but he quickly outgrew that as his business thrived and grew into into a company that Microsoft announced as their first ever UK Small Business Champions. He’s now known in the IT community internationally and is well known for his use of networking and social media. So, he’s ‘walked the talk’ and I think we can all learn something from him.
One further resource, if you’re at all nervous about networking (as I am and I suspect most people are): Alexis Bauer gave a great talk with down-to-earth practical advice on How to Work a Crowd as an Ignite presentation.
Finally, if you’re in South Wales on any Third Thursday of the month, pop in and see us at the GTi Business Network for a spot of lunch and to practice your new-found networking skills!
Many great people I know and am friends with online are very comfortable with the social networking medium these days. So much so that they feel like they can post anything, and that includes bad language and photos of themselves in questionable situations.
I think people need to think about what they’re doing! A post on Facebook, or Twitter, or LinkedIn is like shouting out loud in a public place – it will likely be viewed by everyone you know and probably many people you don’t know, both now and in the future. A bit of banter between friends is perfectly ok face-to-face, but do you really want your family, co-workers, your boss or potential employer to think you’re a foul-mouthed yob? The fact is, once you post something online, it is out there forever. You never know who will see it and what unforeseen consequences that may have for you in the future. Imagine you have just applied for your dream job. Your potential employer looks you up on Google, Facebook, Twitter – what impression of you will they get? Go ahead, try it, Google yourself. How do you look?
We need to be careful what we post online – but that doesn’t mean you should be afraid to post anything. When properly managed, social networking is a great promotional tool, it can be used to market a business, a person, or just good clean fun. It is essential to post positive things about yourself online, because no-one else will do it for you. Whether you like it or not, people will talk about you or your company online. It’s up to you to control your online persona by ensuring that the stuff you want people to see gets published. If there are bad things about you online, swamp them with good things. Take control of your online persona.
Timto Birthdays and the Noah’s Ark Appeal have teamed up with a special Christmas campaign that I hope you will consider supporting, either by making a contribution or by passing the information along to your various networks.
Timto is an innovative idea from a British company – it’s not often we get something on the Internet first but in this case we have, so please support them in whatever way you can. I know the Timto directors personally and they are trying really hard to have a positive impact on as many good causes as possible, so I’m only too happy to pass on this information as my small contribution to their effort.
Luke Cornish (Timto Director) writes:
I am delighted to announce that the Christmas appeal for the Children’s Hospital for Wales has now been launched:
http://www.timto.co.uk/noahsarkappeal-fund.
We also have a Facebook page for the appeal, so I’d be very grateful if you would join and maybe tell all your friends?!?!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Noahs-Ark-Appeal-timto-Christmas-there-is-more-to-Christmas/107486999319307
Below is short summary about the appeal and how your business can might be able to help:
· Summary of the appeal
The online Christmas appeal offers businesses, schools and individuals an easy opportunity to make the Children of the Children’s Hospital for Wales very special this year! We are not asking people to purchase individual presents, but to contribute to a fund that will be used to buy specialist toys for the children this Christmas and also be put towards the phase two development of the hospital. The appeal will run from Wednesday 10th November through to the 17th December and it only takes a matter of seconds to donate!
· CSR opportunity for business
For those business that would like to promote the appeal to their staff, we can provide promo material and a record of the contributions made by their employees to help assist with any possible CSR objectives, community programmes or just to feel good!
Any fans of Windows Live Mesh may have already received an announcement from Microsoft that the beta is ending. However, it is being replaced by a new and better product that does more-or-less the same thing.
The announcement’s ‘Microsoft Speak’ is a bit confusing so allow me translate. Microsoft says it is scrapping Live Mesh and replacing it with a new product, called…. Live Mesh. So what’s changed? Well, what has actually happened is that there were two rival products, one called Live Mesh and the other called Live Sync, there was a lot of overlap between the two products. What Microsoft has done is merge the two products, using the best features of each. So the new Live Mesh, which is part of Windows Live 2011 release, has improved (faster) file sync and improved remote control features. Unfortunately though, the product isn’t backward compatible so you need to follow the instructions below to ensure no data loss. The clue to the new product’s heritage was clear during the Windows Live 2011 beta, throughout which the new product was called ‘Live Sync’ only being re-branded ‘Live Mesh’ at the last moment. I’ve been beta-testing the new product for some time and it does work very well. The new file sync also synchronises all your IE favourites, plus office templates, stationery and email signatures. The new remote desktop feature works better with multiple monitors and lets you pan and zoom the display. The online part of the service is now integrated with Windows Live SkyDrive instead of being called Live Mesh Desktop. Herein lies the one downside of the new product, the allocation of online storage has reduced to 5Gb. This is a surprising decision, seeing as SkyDrive allows up to 25Gb of free online storage. However, in practice, I’ve rarely needed to use the online storage so the loss is bearable.
Live Mesh is still a great product for anyone who uses multiple computers and needs to keep their stuff in sync.
Avoiding Data Loss
According to Microsoft’s announcement, this is what you need to do to avoid data loss.
What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down
To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.
2. Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.
What you can do moving forward
If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade
Microsoft today announced that Microsoft Security Essentials will be available free of charge to small businesses with up to 10 computers, from October.
This is great news! My company, TiGra Networks, always recommends using the Microsoft product where one is available. Why? Because it guarantees you the best compatibility and integration with Microsoft Windows. Microsoft software tends to work well, be less intrusive and less ‘noisy’ than third party offerings. Plus, some of the third party offerings out there are using engines based on code that is appallingly out of date. Antivirus can sometimes cause nearly as many problems as it cures. So we’re delighted at this move by Microsoft and will be recommending the product to our micro-business customers.
Combined with our Exchange Defender email hygiene and business continuity solution, this means that you never need to pay for antivirus software again (as long as you have 10 or fewer PCs).
If you think you need this solution, please contact TiGra Networks through our web site.
Seth Godin describes his experience setting up a PC for a friend. He notes that it’s not really a computer any more, but one big up sell opportunity. He describes it as “A race to the bottom, […] a sleazy carnival complete with hawkers, barkers and a bearded lady”. He laments “It’s no wonder they [customers] don’t trust us [marketers].”
Well, Seth, I agree. I’m perplexed that Microsoft would allow OEMs to sell their products in such a crippled, bloated, spam-ridden state. Not just PCs, but Windows Mobile phones, too. The biggest problem is that the OEMs take a nice clean copy of the Windows OS, then they brand the hell out of it, fill it up with trial-ware and bloat-ware, the darned thing is often on its knees before the user ever gets to log in.
On the other hand, there’s a reason that OEMs do this. The advertising brings down the cost of their products. Given two otherwise similar laptops, would you buy the one that didn’t have any trial-ware installed, or was £50 cheaper? Do you even know or care why it matters? Be honest now…
As an IT business, TiGra Networks had to choose between going after the customers who shop for quality, or price. They are very different markets. We’ve chosen to focus on quality and we look for customers who seek high quality and good value for money over the lowest price. We think that when you ask for three quotes and take the cheapest, you’ve guaranteed yourself a poor service with perhaps an inherent conflict of interest, with the contractor relying on your equipment to fail, so he gets called out more often and can bill you more. Consequently, the computers that we sell, each one hand built and tested, use only branded, warrantied and WHQL-certified components and drivers, and they only contain a crisp, pristine copy of Microsoft Windows and (optionally) Microsoft Office. Except where Microsoft requires us to customise the products, we leave everything just as it was meant to be, nothing added or taken away. We’ve never had a disappointed customer, those who buy our PCs love them – but finding those people from the crowd of lowest-price-or-bust customers is a challenge. What kind of customer are you? Do you want the lowest price or the best value?
TiGra Networks would be pleased to carry out a free security review of your desktop or laptop PC, when you bring it to our offices at Valleys Innovation Centre, Abercynon and check-in at @GTi Business Suite on FourSquare. We’ll check for malware and make sure that you have adequate anti-virus and anti-spyware software and that your firewall is properly configured. If you don’t have any, we’ll install it for free. We’ll even make you a cup of coffee while you wait.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not; it’s a genuine offer. So what’s the catch? There’s no catch, no hard sell, just an expert IT engineer. We just want to meet you and introduce ourselves so you know where you can find helpful, highly qualified small business IT experts for when your business needs to move to the next level. It’s an investment in our future, if you like, because we’re so convinced you will like our service that you will never want to use any other IT company. We are proud to have one of only two Small Business Server MVPs in the entire UK. A Microsoft MVP – or ‘Most Valuable Professional’ – is an award given by Microsoft to those who demonstrate excellence and community involvement within the IT industry, it cannot be bought or obtained, it can only be awarded and is considered an extremely high vote of confidence in the IT industry.
According to e-crime Wales, as many as 25% of Welsh businesses are victims of e-crime each year, so our free security review would be a great first step in avoiding that pitfall. You have nothing to lose, so Find us on FourSquare and get your free security review before you become a statistic!
The gloves are off between Google and Microsoft, with Google announcing availability of a tool to migrate from Exchange Server to Google Apps.
The problem is, Google Apps is a ‘cloud service’. Lately, I’ve been badly let down by some cloud services, so personally, I don’t feel like I completely trust them yet. Not until I can take my data off the cloud and put it on my own server any time I need to. Many cloud services today don’t let you do that. Either you can’t get your data at all, or it’s in a format that is not immediately usable.
I’m not saying the cloud is all bad; I myself am involved in a venture (www.livecrm.biz) that provides hosted CRM solutions. Our service is different, though. Should you wish it, we will give you a copy of your CRM database on a DVD or hard drive, you can upload it to your own server running the exact same software and carry on running. We don’t lock you in, I’ll even help you install your on-premise sever if that’s what you need. So tell me, how do I get my data out of Google? How do I then load that data onto my own server and continue running? I don’t have an answer to that, and that worries me.
I worry about cloud services vanishing and leaving me high and dry. I worry about my data being indexed and analyzed and used to spam me. I worry about being forced to upgrade my software when it suits the service provider, not when it suits me. I worry about being locked in. I worry about privacy and data security. Maybe I am a control freak, but I worry about these things.
So, borrowing from the words of my esteemed MVP colleague Wayne Small, be careful that The Cloud isn't a thunder storm. Thanks but no thanks, Google; I’ll keep my exchange server right here where I can point to it and say “That’s my data”.
So many people buy the very cheapest add-ons for their computer, or just buy the first thing they see on the shelves. Let me tell you, there is a lot of nasty rubbish out there. It all looks good in the box, but when you get it home and plug it in, things don’t go so well. We’ve all been there – devices that don’t work after you resume from standby, blue screens when unplugging USB connectors.
My advice: don’t waste your time and money on cheap rubbish. When buying computer add-ons, first visit the Windows 7 Compatibility web site and see which devices meet the standards recommended by Microsoft. When you buy a device from this list, you might pay slightly more, but you can be highly confident that it will work well and will not cause compatibility problems with your other hardware and software.
Software and hardware bearing the “compatible with Windows 7” logo, shown here, has passed stringent tests at Microsoft’s Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) and guarantees you:
So please, only buy software and hardware that bears the Compatible with Windows 7 logo. Here’s an example of what you’ll find on the web site:
I’ve always jokingly said that my favourite computer game is Microsoft Office. Well, I think Microsoft must have heard me, because now, you can play Ribbon Hero and have fun while you learn how to become an Office power user.
They say that if you find a job you love, you’ll never work another day in your life. So it has to be worth brightening up those mundane tasks with a bit of fun! Remember when games used to have a ‘boss key’ that you could hit when your boss was approaching, to instantly hide the game? Ribbon Hero really stands all that on its head. Maybe you WANT your boss to see you playing this?
“Hey look boss, on-the-job training for free!”.
“Well done Smithers, have a pay rise”.
Those canny people at Office Labs have produced another winner. But wait… it gets better. By linking Ribbon Hero to your facebook account, you can publish your scores online and compete with your friends.
What a wonderful idea. Oh no! David is beating me in his sleep! Must… earn… more… points… :)
Did your business suffer because of the snow? Employees unable to make it into the office?How many staff hours have you lost because of freak weather, transportation problems, sickness or family emergencies?
Get a 60-second overview of how Small Business Server 2008 could have saved you time and money by empowering your staff to work from home (or anywhere there is an Internet connection). Small Business Server 2008 truly is the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of small business technology, enabling many productivity features in a single cost-effective purchase. The addition of a VoIP telephone system can enable flexible working practices that save you time, money.
The whole thing set up and maintained by TiGra Networks (the Small Business Server Specialists) will pay for itself many times over. If you like what you see, talk to TiGra Networks, Wales’ foremost experts on Small Business computing, and the only company in Wales recognised as such by Microsoft with their unique Most Valuable Professional award.
Successful information technology requires vision and strategy. People sometimes ask me why I work exclusively with Microsoft products, when there are free alternatives available. There are many reasons, and one big one is because Microsoft has the vision and strategy that others lack. When I use technology, I want to use products from a company that knows where it’s headed, 1, 5, 10 years from now.
Which brings me nicely to the Future Vision series produced by Microsoft Office Labs. These videos set out a vision of the future, envisioning how computing might be ten years from now in 2019. They are deliberately far fetched, but they are inspiring and in the few months they’ve been available, some of the pieces have already come onto the market. For example, I’ve seen a demonstration of a video projector the size of a cell phone and a plastic, transparent flat screen display. The more I watch these videos, the more realistic they become. So take a glimpse of what business computing might be like ten years from now (click on the image to view the video).
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| Banking | Retail | Future Vision Montage |
So, in a few days we start a new decade. Could this be how we end it? I’m going to stick my neck out and make some predictions: I believe that 2010 will see the death of the magnetic moving-head hard drive, the death of the Mouse as the primary input tool and the emergence of ultra-thin, flexible, lightweight displays. Let’s see if any of my predictions come true. Happy New Year!
Everything You Do is Marketing
I see lots of individuals and worse, businesses who project a shoddy half-assed online persona. Businesses should really understand this: everything you do says something about your company. Your online presence is perhaps the biggest piece of marketing you’ll ever do. Just because it costs almost nothing, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay it any attention. It’s at least as important as your business card – would you give out a shoddy-looking business card? I don’t think so.
Some people, particularly Baby Boomers and older, shy away from the web, fearing invasion of privacy or that people might say bad things about them. Again, understand this: the Internet is like oxygen to Generation X and Y. The Internet will happen, whether you like it or not. People are talking about you and your company, even if you are not there to see it. If you don’t take control of your online presence, you’re letting other people control it for you. It’s important to be proactive online. The way to get positive things said about you is to be positive and publish positive content. And remember: everything you do is marketing. Never say anything online that you wouldn't say face-to-face with a customer. Never say anything online about a person or organisation that you wouldn’t say to them directly.
So, when you sign up for an online service, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, whatever – put some effort into it! Make sure your avatar (the image of you or your company logo) appears correctly on the site. If you can’t make it look good, design a new image specifically for online use. Make sure your profile is completed and that you say something about your company. Wherever you get the opportunity, make sure there is a link back to your company web site or blog. This is the number one way you will get Google Page Rank. Please, check your spelling and grammar.
Examples of Bad Online Personae
 | Twitter: pointless mangled logo image. No attention to detail? I wonder if this company’s customer service is this slap-dash? |
 | Facebook – pointless mangled logo image. Do these IT consultants really know what they are doing? |
 | LinkedIn – no avatar image. Too lazy? Would I give this person a job? |
 | LinkedIn – Billy No-Mates. No connections? Really? What’s wrong with this guy? |
Two of the above are real-world acquaintances and I know that in reality they are well respected and/or professional, but their online persona tells a different story. There’s really no excuse. I know we’re all busy, but marketing is important, and make no mistake, this is marketing. It is a mistake not to get these things right just because they cost nothing!
It’s easy to get this stuff right. If you have no copywriting or graphic design skills, hire someone to do it for you. You can ask my company, TiGra Networks, for advice on your online presence, we’ll be only too happy to help or to put you in touch with someone who can.
Those cunning Japanese have figured out a great way to commemorate Windows 7 General Availability: The Windows 7 Whopper!
TiGra Networks was involved in beta testing Windows 7m so we’ve been running it as our main operating system since early this year. As is our company policy, on day 1 of general availability we’re ready to support our current and new customers who want to upgrade to the latest and greatest version of Windows.
We’ve been highly impressed with it, it’s a step up from Windows Vista, more stable, easier to use and more resource efficient, so it works better on the same hardware. We’ve had it running on desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and net books and even in virtual machines. It just works.
As one Microsoft engineer described it, “There are a thousand tiny little things that no longer poke you in the eye when you try to use them”.
If you’ve resisted upgrading from Windows XP for compatibility reasons, fear not! The new “Windows XP Mode” (business editions only) mean you can now run your entire Windows XP system in a window on Windows 7. You can even continue to use your old printers, scanners and other peripherals (with a USB interface) even if they don’t have a Windows 7 driver.
We recommend upgrading straight away. There’s absolutely no reason not to!
Blogging can be an effective publicity tool for any size business. It can help you keep your customers in the loop, provide a means of support, feedback and customer service, be a marketing channel for distributing announcements, offers and product information and reaching out to new customers. For free. Blogging and other forms of social media are slowly but surely revolutionising the way we do business, like it or not. Initially, many companies feared social media but now the more progressive companies embrace it and encourage their employees to blog. We’re starting to see the emergence of CRM tools that let companies monitor, quantify and control their social media marketing activities. When it is done sincerely, blogging can be a highly effective marketing channel.
Social media is still a mystery to many and blogging can seem like a black art, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. In this article, I’m focusing on editing tools. I’ve discovered a few ‘must have’ editing tools, so I’m giving you a peek into my blogging toolbox.
There are many ways to blog, the default method for a new blogger is to use the web interface of the blog hosting provider, but web interfaces are ‘clunky’ and slow. Maybe you’ll start editing your articles offline, in a word processor, then use copy & paste to send it to the blog engine, but that often results in mangled, poorly-formatted work that will not create a good image for your business. To really make an impact, the most effective bloggers quickly accrue a set of editing tools which makes blogging easier, hides the mechanics of the blog engine and lets them focus on content and aesthetics. I began blogging in early 2005 and on my voyage of discovery I’ve experimented with various blogging engines and editing tools and we operate our own in-house social media server. I currently blog for TiGra Networks and on my own personal blog, Electric Dreams. I’ve recently been invited to participate in the University of Glamorgan's new G-Blog initiative. So I’m serious about blogging and here’s how I do it.
Windows Live Writer
This is my personal favourite and is surely the ultimate blogging tool, supporting all of the main blog providers including Wordpress, Live Spaces, Community Server, SharePoint, Blogger, Typepad and many more. Live Writer lets you edit your articles as easily as using notepad, save draft copies, helps with including pictures and formatting your text and adding categories and tags to your articles. Best of all, it lets you see exactly what your article will look like before you publish. For me, discovering Live Writer was like a light bulb switching on and it really revolutionised the way I approach blogging. It simplifies the whole process and enables me to create good-looking impactful blog articles.
Live Writer includes a series of plug-ins, with more available online, that make it easy to insert and edit rich content such as video, photo galleries, maps, formatted source code and so on. It has a feature that automatically adds hyperlinks to commonly referenced items, and it let’s you get down-and-dirty with the raw HTML source code if you really need to.
Windows Live Writer is free and is available from http://download.live.com/writer
Microsoft Word 2007
In the same vein as Live Writer, Word 2007 supports blogging as standard. Although not purpose-designed and therefore not quite as well suited to blogging as Live Writer, this option is great if you already have content in a word document that you need to send to a blog, or if you simply prefer using Word. Click the Office button, select Publish and then Blog. Enter your blog provider’s details and away you go!
Microsoft Word 2007 is not free, but you probably already have it.
BlogMailR
This service lets you post to your blogs by email. You’ll need to visit www.blogmailr.com and create your account, then tell BlogMailR the addresses of your blogs and it'll give you a unique email address to use for each blog. Tip: create a contact in your email program for each blog. Then, simply write an email to your blog, send it and the article will appear there as if by magic. BlogMailR comes in handy if you need to blog from someone else’s computer, an Internet cafe using web mail or an email-enabled mobile device.
BlogMailR is free for personal use from http://www.blogmailr.com/
Ask The Experts
If you’d like help in using any of these tools, or you’d like to set up a practice blog, start your own blog or even set up a blogging server for your company, then TiGra Networks would love to assist. Pop into our office at GTi and join us for a cup of coffee (or we’ll come to you) and we can talk it over.
See you online!
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