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Working In A Virtual World

July 23, 2009 By Jim Turner Leave a Comment

I used to have an office in Downtown Denver at a place called The Hive, a co-working community office not unlike others we see across the country like Independents Hall and Citizen Agency. It allowed me to have a place to call my office and yet it didn’t bankrupt my budget. I do reccomentd this situation to others if you have the opportunity.

I now work in a virtual office out of my home. I actually have a dedicated office and it has not one but two desks and computer equipment and printers and a dead fax machine and not unlike many offices. The only thing is the noise that surrounds me is beeps and clicks, blips and many other application noises. Yes, even the chirp of the Tweetdeck that everyone wonders about while I am on the phone.

This is my virtual Cube Farm. I used to work in corporate America for about 17 years and at a private law firm for 5 years before that, and I understand what that is like. I was not the greatest fan of cubicles and white button down shirts. Even after the adoption of "business casual" I still did not fit in completely. I guess it comes from my younger years working outside and loving fresh air an sunshine. The scene from Joe Versus the Volcano best described me as the light fixtures sucking out my soul.

I love working virtually from the comfort of my own home. I am much more productive. My commute is very green friendly and my uniform, well, let’s just described it as somewhere south of Business Casual.

I still have the whack a mole type conversations that I used to see happening the cube farm atmosphere, but they are preceded by a whistle or a beep or a bing as it were. I talk and chat virtually with my co-workers all day long. If you can hold on a second I need to quickly have a meeting with my financial advisor and counselor (yes, my three year old fills this role for me).

Mr. Waturi: "And what’s this lamp for? Isn’t there enough light in here for you?"

Joe: "The florescents affect me. They make me feel blotchy and puffy. I thought this this light would…"

Mr. Waturi: "Get rid of the light. This is not your bedroom, Joe. This is an office. Maybe if you start treating this like a job instead of some kind of a welfare hospital, you’ll shape up!"

Photo via MShades

Tags: Virtual Office, Community Office, Cubicle Farm, Corporate Working, HR

Filed Under: BTW, Marketing, Professional Blogging, Services

The Changing Face of Journalism or Fixing BusinessWeek

July 20, 2009 By Jim Turner 2 Comments

I have been a huge fan of BusinessWeek since I can remember. I am also a big fan because of the likes of Stephen Baker who I have been reading in the blogosphere for quite some time as well. I found Stephen’s post related to How to Fix BusinessWeek at his The Numerati blog and I was sad when I read it. It was done in a manner that made me thing that fixing or saving journalism is a simple task but nearly impossible to execute. I don’t think the likes of newspapers and other periodicals will be saved as they cannot be saved. The numbers will make it insurmountable. This opening from Stephen was very telling:

Monday I learned that BusinessWeek, where I’ve worked for 22 years, is on the block. It may be sold, or stay in McGraw-Hill (where it’s been for 80 years). But the business is losing money (I don’t know how much). Whoever ends up with it is going to have to figure out quickly how to turn a business news operation built primarily as a weekly magazine into a profitable franchise for the age of near ubiquitous and real-time information.

Losing money–that seems to be an understatement when you think of the offices and the infrastructure that is all the things that BusinessWeek has. Huge buildings, rent, equipment, well the list goes without saying. They have a huge budget to cover to bring us the news and the information or content we consume for free on the Internet. Stephen follows that post with After The Madison Avenue Bubble. This post hammers home another point that seems to be putting a nail in the coffin of the likes of BusinessWeek:

I just got up from my desk and took a stroll through these Midtown offices of BusinessWeek. In a matter of months, if someone buys the magazine, we’ll be gone. It’s terrific real estate. Down by the top editors’ offices, the big windows look across the Hudson. The eastern view looks across Rockefeller Center and toward the Chysler Building. These are expensive digs.

It took me a while to get used to working for a magazine that spent money like this.

That seems to be the biggest issue that will seal the fate of the likes of old media. Spending money like they do and still producing what I can get for free elsewhere. I am not a mogul in the business world but it seems to me that might be a problem. It appears from what Stephen ended this latest post with was almost an acceptance stage of grief when he states:

But in the end, my initial read turned out to be correct. The rich model for a weekly magazine was not sustainable. Those who want to be foreign correspondents today will be lucky to get what I expected: modest pay to work out of their apartments. It will attract mostly young people, which isn’t a bad thing. (They might ask more unschooled questions, but they’re more likely to move to the action and take chances.) It turns out we rode something of a Madison Ave bubble for a few decades, and now it has popped.

Like Jeff Jarvis however, this seems to me to be quite an asset and something that could and should be fixed or in another word–saved.

Well, now, BusinessWeek is for sale and whoever gets it – it is a valuable franchise with a very valuable and wise crowd – will need to reinvent it. I was going to suggest that the magazine do for itself what we were thinking of doing for GM. But Steve beat me to it.

How do I fix BusinessWeek? Easy, in a manner of speaking, I would level the playing field. I have said many times at conferences, at business meetings, and over coffee with colleagues, if the journalists figure out new media, we are all out of a job. Level the playing field is not as easy as it sounds. But if we were to put journalists that have been reporting, writing and selling and have been on top of their game into the positions now being held by new media types at the places like TechCrunch, or other blogging networks, we would see the real cream of the crop.

BusinessWeek is taking their overhead, basically a champagne budget, and putting it up against the likes of Joe and Mary Blogger, publishing from free applications downloaded from the Internet from the comfort of their own home. Joe and Mary’s overhead is nominal at best but they are being compared on the same plane now with those on Madison Avenue. How do you compete with that? Well certainly BusinessWeek has better access and better connections than does Joe and Mary, but that is beginning to change as well as bloggers gain access to back rooms and walled gardens that were usually only for "special people." The scales were always tipped in favor of the "journalist" as they had the access, the diploma, the expense account and the social capital. The latter of which has shifted in favor of those with the most voice, those with the most eyeballs, perhaps those with the most Twitter followers these days. That seems to be the competition now, but that is another post. Getting scooped by the guy in the building over from yours on Madison Avenue was expected, getting scooped from Joe or Mary the Pajama wearing citizen journalist is something entirely different.

Media costs are not even close to level. You must level them to compete. That means no more overhead. Stephen mentions his 5% as being what BusinessWeek has, and Jeff Jarvis said it was what makes BusinessWeek better. The other 95% has to compete in their eyes, and that can only be done by making the remaining 95% carry the same costs as paying the rent on the corner office, not on Madison Avenue, but on West Elm street in the corner of the kitchen.

Not anyone can write well. I know that there is no possible way I could compete with the likes of Stephen Baker in covering the latest in business news and writing and reporting. The only way for me to compete is to provide the story hope someone sees it and that gets me recognized. The only thing I have going for me is I am not being paid a six figure salary and paying $100,000 per month in rent for an office building and paying for the infrastructure that goes with that empire. When Stephen starts working out of his home like I do and doing the same thing, I don’t stand a chance. How do they fix BusinessWeek? Just download WordPress have Stephen work from the corner of his kitchen and do what he has been doing. No way does their competition compete. Now, the remaining problem, how do you charge the companies wanting to advertise for that model? Welcome to the game BusinessWeek.

photo via BusinessWeek

Tags: BusinessWeek, Journalism, Blogging, Old Media, New Media

Filed Under: Blogonomics, Business Blogging, Featured Articles, Media, Services

Blog Comments Help You Learn: The Road To Becoming An Expert

July 15, 2009 By Jim Turner 2 Comments

I am not yet an expert, but I am trying to learn to be an expert in my area. This is why I read experts. I pay attention to what they are doing and I learn from them. If I listen and store away what they are providing me I garner wisdom. I read people from all walks of life, I read from the marketer, the advertiser, the public relations person and yes, the baker and candlestick maker. All of the people I read and learn from provide me a path to the knowledge about how I can help other businesses.

If I comment on blogs and if I leave a question or provide another perspective on a post, it is because I have read the bit of wisdom and have participated. It is not much different from sitting in a classroom and hearing a lecture and then participating in that lecture by commenting, asking questions or debating an issue. This is my classroom and how I am hoping to earn my thousands of hours to get to be an expert in what I do (I think I only have 5 years or 10,000 more hours of study).

I tend to read a large number of blog posts. In fact, I have more than one feed reader and they are broken down themselves into business reader and personal reader, and even that has some cross over between them so I even read some blogs twice just in case. I try to absorb as much as possible from those around me I do consider an expert to help me get to the next level. Comments foster learning just like it did in grade school when you wanted to know why clouds produced rain or why the sky was blue and all those things of wonder that come to your mind during class. Ask questions, get involved, leave a comment.

Photo via Vito

Tags: Social Media Experts, Social Media, Blog Comments, Blogging, New Media

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Tips, Bloggers and Blogs, Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Marketing, Media, RSS, Services, Social Media

How Does Listening Convert?

June 26, 2009 By Jim Turner 1 Comment

I have been talking about 2009 being the "Year of Listening". This may be a little ahead of its time as we are still getting sign on for the idea that social media as a doctrine is even worth the space or tab for the business plan or model. I think that social media gives an opportunity to do more listening and less shouting. I even do this in the real world. I tend to sit back and gather intelligence in a situation before I ever enter into the discussion or argument or whatever might be the mode of communication at the time. I get more accomplished by first hearing what is being said and then contributing. I tend to learn more about a subject and the people discussing that subject than I would if I jumped into the conversation early. Many times I have done that I find myself with foot in mouth and backing out of the conversation sooner than later. My first advice to many companies to to listen.

Now the other side of that coin that is usually the first reason many companies are not quick to sign on to the idea is listening does not convert. I have heard many an executive tell me, "listening doesn’t sell." After all that is the bottom line in a company selling your product or your service to the person that holds the money. I recently spoke to a group and later the owner of the company met me in the hall and said "oh good someone that will explain how social media is going to help us SELL." That four letter word is the only one I tend to hear from the likes of those looking at the bottom line. I can assure you if sell is not the goal I will hear other four letter words that will describe certain feelings. It really is only about the sell so how do you impart listening as a way to get the sale? Listening does not convert. Sure that statement might be true but when does your program have the ability to know when someone wants to buy or better yet what they want to buy?

I have been showing some companies that listening actually helps them sell. I like to use the idea behind the tire swing.

Listening actually gets you to the final image, knowing what it is your customer actually wants. The problem with that scenario is that the CEO or head of the department or whoever seems to be the decision maker has to be thinking about all the other panels in the cartoon above. They have learned that making all the other departments happy and still coming in under a budget is what it is actually all about. This is not listening. If more of us actually listened for a while to find out what the customer actually wants, we could sell them that product every time. Perhaps the problem is not that they don’t know what the customer actually wants, its what they can provide the customer from their company. Maybe they sell jungle gyms and not tire swings. This is a problem, and not something that social media will help them overcome. Listening converts but only if you actually listen.

Photo via sonyradio.com

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Business Blogging, Client Sites, Companies Needing Blogs, Corporate Blogs, Findability, Marketing, Media, Services, Social Media

Why Robert Scoble Is A Better Blogger Than Me

June 25, 2009 By Jim Turner Leave a Comment

I have been traveling quite a bit lately and that has caused me to get seriously behind on a large amount of work that I need to accomplish. I have finally caught up with my email inbox which usually hovers around 60 unread messages at any given time, which usually equates to the amount of Twitter bios I need to read to approve or discard. I began digging into the RSS feed readers (yes plural) that I have disregarded that have been so overwhelmed that many of the search feeds I have for the likes of “business blogging” and “social media consulting” are defaulting to the most it will store. In other words, I have much work and little time to get it done. I know I play this off with the idea that I am also the stay at home dad of 4 kids at the ages of 9, 8, 4, and 3, and that has some merit but for the most part I have times when they are sleeping or are not in the picture that I spend catching up but I still think I can be more efficient. I know I need to explain the title of this post. One of the things I need to catch up on that I have not been doing much of lately is finding what my mentors and friends and colleagues are talking about. One of the people I admire and one that I think has his finger on the pulse of my industry is Robert Scoble. I don’t intend for this to be a “Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah” about Robert, so let me explain using him as my example.

Robert is a busy person. I thought that I was busy and had my hands in a lot of things and doing a lot of work, but for the most part I am not much different than your ordinary overworked and underpaid entrepreneur. I have been to conferences and walked into that blogger lounge at 1:00 a.m. and have seen Robert’s wife Maryam begging to leave but he is still uploading the latest video and editing the last blog post before he turns in. That is dedication and it is what inspires me most of the time when I am feeling overworked. It makes me buck up and get things done more often. Put to simple terms working hard makes you successful. I know Gary Vaynerchuk preaches that from his own pulpit. Working hard does actually payoff, but I must say I have worked hard for other people and all it did was make them more successful so I limit that to we entrepreneurs that want to get on top of the heap. Sure I have been rewarded when working for others, but for the most part my hard work for them is just that, for them. I swear there is a point in here somewhere.

I just spent part of the morning reading blogs. I have read all of the folks I love to read in my business, Chris Brogan, David Armano, Beth Harte, Amber Naslund, and yes the list goes on and on. Many of them are also very much like Robert Scoble, and I could have used most of them as my title, but for me, Robert has been a blogger that has been cutting the trail for most of us in this business. He is consistently good at what he does with his blog. Let me give you some of the reasons he is good and why I often use him as an example to people when they want to know about how to be a good blogger.

Consistency - Even when he is inconsistent he is consistent. He puts things up to read during slow news days and up when things are going crazy. Sure he does not have a blog post every single day but posts when he wants and has something to say, which in itself is very consistent.
Opinionated – He gives us his opinion. He may be adding to the echo chamber of sorts but he always gets into his posts why he feels it is important. Telling us why Twitter is cool is one thing but why YOU think it is cool and how YOU are using it or making it part of your life is another.
Academic – He is a smart guy. I have made fun of him in the past about being a “camera salesman” and I mean that more in jest than anything, but he is very smart about business. He has seen the emergence of some very cool technologies that have gone on to be big players and he seems to know what works and has great insights into what businesses can do with their product or service. I can see why he has VC friends. They want to know what he thinks is cool.
Human – He shows his human side. I know when he is angry or when he is fed up or when he is happy about something. I can see his humanness come through in his blog posts. Not many people allow that or even begin to know how to impart that in their blog posts.
Integrity – In a world full of “sponsored conversations” and sell-outs to the little tidbits of advertising dollars, he stays true to what he does, good blogging. This has offered far more rewards than a $500 gift card or a free T-shirt. This has also allowed his access to some of the brightest minds and has opened doors for him that others will never have offered to them. He keeps his eyes on the big prize.
Passionate – You can hear it in the way he talks about things. His job, his wife and sons, and his friends. I have this passion when I am a Daddy blogger and it helped me become a better blogger. I have that passion but it does not always come out in my writing here. Some days I write a post because I think Google might forget about me. That is the wrong reason to put up a post.

As I indicated before, there are many many bloggers out there that have this very same resume and are doing it just as well in these areas or better. I merely wanted to single Robert out as I had his RSS feeds on my list today and I began to feel very small in this big pond after reading and then looking back on my own blog and seeing how I have not been doing things well at all. I have had some great posts and flashes of greatness in the past, but for the most part I can take what I have been taught by those doing it well and try to keep up with them. I am not sure that is possible but I can hope to some day be like that. It took me back to a time when Robert called me out about my job as a blogger and I think maybe I need to go back to being better. I am going to see if I can get into that swing and set out some goals for myself to add to the signal and not the noise. For the moment I will leave you with that as I run into the next room to see if I can figure out what the kids just shattered on the kitchen floor. Is summer over yet? Thanks Robert, and when are you going to start that Daddy blog?

Photo via Wikipedia

Tags: Blogging, Robert Scoble, Scobleizer, Business Blogs, Social Media, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund, David Armano, Beth Harte, Blog Posts, How To Blog

Filed Under: Blog Consulting, Blog Tips, Bloggers and Blogs, BTW, Business Blogging, Marketing, Media, Professional Blogging, Services, Social Media, The Site

Living in a Facebook World?

June 24, 2009 By Jim Turner 1 Comment

For a long time I have been touting that we all live in a Google world. We cannot seem to leave our house without first checking directions on Google, or order Chinese food without getting the local menu and number from Google, etc. Many companies have come to us and asked, "How do we get on page one of Google’s search results?" That has been the mainstay of my presentations about why companies need to get into blogging and other forms of social media. I have yet to figure into the mix, Facebook.

Reading the article today that Wired put out about the "Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network’s Plan to Dominate the Internet — and Keep Google Out", I began to think of living in a Facebook world. I never really considered these to be rivals in the big scheme of things as Facebook is a social network and Google a search engine, but I see now that there are many players all jockeying for position in world of the Internet.

I also think there is another small player that might be making things interesting and that of course is the social media darling of the bunch, Twitter. They can help perform the function of both search and of the social network. All of it actually has to do with data. As we begin to see the emergence of what I call 2009 The Year of Listening, more and more companies are concentrating on brand monitoring and reputation monitoring and how they can get into community and infiltrate them with their brand, their message and their mission. Yes, it is all about the business after all and that is the company that will win. Which one will provide the best of all worlds? Right now we are still living in the Google world, but there are some other players in the Internet solar system.

Tags: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks

Filed Under: Blog Consulting, Blog Metrics, Blog Revenue, Marketing, Media, Search Engine Optimization, Services, Social Media

Nuts About Social Media

June 12, 2009 By Jim Turner Leave a Comment

I have been trying to figure a way to work into the mix some of the businesses I visited and met while I was out in the islands and one of the things I thought of for the people at Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory was to allow them to talk about the processing of their delicious snack and how it is packaged and sent out to the various parts of the world. I thought about how they could get a blog to their site to describe each of the seasons of growing, and harvesting, and also more importantly making their already open to the public tour a part of their everyday broadcast to the social media world.

They have a building where they do their packaging and processing and roasting. As a group we were allowed to check out their assembly line type of roasting, processing and packaging. I thought it would be a simple way to show the rest of the world this process using a simple web cam and their blog. A page could be set up and the live stream run on the plant while they prepared and shipped their product. This could also be monitored for questions about the process, or a Q&A about what is being done and how. A few short hours a day could really turn into some sales for them overall.

They are a very retail oriented operation and I was thinking that they could generate a few more sales that would not only pay for their program, but also help with their brand. The big Island was a wonderful place and this business is only one of them that is doing well on the island. Social media might just get them a little further as time goes on. Now to see if I can find their Twitter page or if I can find them on Facebook.

Tags: Mauna Loa, Macadamia Nuts, Social Media, Hawaii, So Much More Hawaii Tour, Marketing, e-Commerce

Filed Under: Advertising, Blog Consulting, Blog Tips, Companies Needing Blogs, Corporate Blogs, Findability, Marketing, Media, Search Engine Optimization, Services, Social Media

A Fond Farewell From Hawaii

June 4, 2009 By Jim Turner 1 Comment

I thought I would give you a taste of my new favorite Hawaiian singer and what we have heard just about everywhere here while in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Advertising, Blogs and PR, Business Blogging, Findability, Marketing, Media, Services, Social Media Tagged With: Diamond Head, Hawaii, So Much More Hawaii Tour, Waikiki Beach

A Nice Cool Dip In The Pacific

June 1, 2009 By Jim Turner Leave a Comment

Captain Tim asked, "Are you with our group?"

"I am," I said as I looked at my phone to catch my last emails before I got aboard the raft we would be taking to Lanai.

"How much does a boat like this cost?" Not that this was relevant to taking a snorkeling tour in Hawaii, which created a strange look from Captain Tim. I was truly interested in the business of snorkeling and other things here while I visit. I have been asking a number of questions related to the business aspects of tourism and excursions and other parts of the Hawaiian experience.

"$80,000 approximately", was the response from our Captain.

"Wow, not bad for a couple of long balloons and an outboard motor," I said in jest to let him know that I thought that was pretty high.

I then began to wonder how tourism sets the price for what we do here on Hawaii. I wondered how much I Captain made in tips and was paid as a result of the job that he did here. We are here but a short time and he has to live here year round. I heard him make cracks about the $8 per gallon charge for milk, and hearing about the free drinks and giveaway pupu (appetizers) at the bar in town and thought, here is a man that is truly scratching out a living doing what he is passionate about.

He took us out across the channel to our destination which was called "The Aquarium". Once I jumped into the crystal clear water I knew exactly why it was called that. I could see everything, and the coral structure and the brilliant fish colors were awesome. We swam and looked at puffer fish and many other varieties and then as I got out of the boat and said "WOW", I was handed a cool passion orange juice and was also given some breakfast. This is the life of the Captain, seeing the look on the face of those as I they exit the water after seeing Hawaii from underwater, and handing them some fresh fruit and breakfast. I would say that is a good salary there, but it doesn’t pay all the bills. I reflected that in my tip as I headed off and away from this Captain for what will probably be forever. Thanks Captain Tim and enjoy your job as only you can!

For more information on Ocean Rafting you can visit their site.

Photo via: Island Star Excursions

Tags: Hawaii Ocean Rafting, Snorkeling, Hawaii, HawaiiHTA, Hawaii Tourism

Filed Under: BTW, Business Blogging, Findability, Marketing, Media, Services, Social Media

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