The communication technology that I want to talk about is text and instant messaging. These two types of communication can bring a lot to the table, and save your business quite a bit of time.
It is much cheaper to send out a text to everybody in a department than it is to type up a memo, and you will also have a higher chance of getting responses than you would if you sent out an e-mail. This can empower your employees to accomplish more in less time; which in turn, would lead to higher customer satisfaction. (1) Instant messaging can also lead to quicker customer response time, and a higher rate of successful communication. The fact that a business has the option of directly contacting their customers, and knowing that if there is going to be a response that it will be almost instantaneous is of great value. (2)
There are some drawbacks from improper usage of text and instant messaging for business purposes. Such as, the fact that as technology increases so does government regulations; there is the chance of losing professional communication; possible productivity loss due to inappropriate use of text or instant messaging; could compromise sensitive information; there could be a loss of personal customer interaction; and they can sometimes be an inappropriate form of communication. (1)
In conclusion, I believe that as long as text/instant messaging is handled properly and professionally they can become great assets for any business.
1. Susan's 2:30 classes text and IM group presentation
2. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-article-a-1990-m-6-sc-39-small_businesses_marketing_with_text_messaging-i
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Ten Well-Created Personal Blogs
1. Neil Gaiman: I really like this blog for it's accessibility to the readers. The front page has all of the recent posts, while there is also a link to the archives of the blog. They also have a section where some of his entries are translated into different languages, so that people from all over the world can read and interact with the site. This is very interesting to me because I have never seen this on a blog-site before.
2. Bruce Sterling: This blog is probably one of the most interesting, content wise, that I have ever seen. Many posts are nothing more than long forgotten music videos, but they still seem to tie close enough together so as not to be ridiculous. Mr. Sterling also has some posts where he actually writes about topics and his feelings on them. These are then accentuated by the music that he posts.
3. The Sideshow: The reason that I felt this blog is very strong is how it backs up its information. The person who is posting on there always adds links to information that supports the points. This is extremely important, especially in the business world. Unless you are a recognized expert in the field you need evidence to support what you talk about.
4. Kathryn Cramer: Though the material in this blog is not very strong, there are a few things that I like about it. Like most blogs the newer topics are easily read on the front page. The earlier blogs, however, are listed to the left of the more recent posts. They are in grouped by topic and from there in order by date that they were written. This makes it very easy to traverse previous topics, looking for specific material.
5. Willy Sudiarto Raharjo: Though there's not a whole lot to this blog, the thing that caught my eye was the content. You can have a great blog that has many different functions and components that can easily fail if the content is not up to standards. There was just something about how this blog was written and the information that was presented, that made it more than worth my while to read.
6. Hugo Schwyzer: The topics that Mr. Schwyzer writes about are very interesting to me. Especially this one about Jimmy Carter. He talked about many writings or speeches that President Carter had given on religion and other topics. In a way, he reacted to those words, creating his own spin-offs of ideas and thoughts. This blog had the mark of really great writing which makes it very easy to read, and also makes the reader want to read what is written.
7. Geniustypes: Here was another video blog that I found. I loved how easily it was to read and understand what was going on, on this blog. The other great factor was the most read list on the side. I could see what subjects and blogs were being viewed by more people, which led to me reading close to seven or eight extra posts. This is a very good business tool to use, you can catch the reader's eyes, and maybe draw them into a topic they wouldn't have read before.
8. Pickthebrain: This is a great topic driven blog-site that I stumbled across. They have some great people write about some very complicated things. It also allows a lot of reader interaction, which is something not many sites really have. I mean few sites have authors that respond to the random comments left by those people who read the blog.
9. The Inner Actor: This blog had so many different types of post from many different people that I failed to see how they were related at first. Then I started reading each post, and I noticed that though the topics and people writing them were different, the underlying meaning for all of the blogs was very similar. When there are many posts all working towards the same goal, but showing different sides of the spectrum it adds to the value to the site as a whole.
10. Mind Hacks: An extremely interesting and creative blog. It talks a lot about psychology, and views from different mindsets. It's a very medical based blog; though, if you don't understand some of the terminology, almost every medical term is linked to a page that goes deeply into describing the word you clicked on. So not only can very difficult reading become much more accessible to the masses, you can learn a lot of really interesting and pertinent information as well.
1. http://journal.neilgaiman.com/
2. http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/
3.http://sideshow.me.uk/
4. http://www.kathryncramer.com/
5. http://willysr.blogspot.com/2008/03/top-10-traits-of-successful-business.html
6. http://hugoschwyzer.net/2009/07/27/jimmy-carter-progressive-faith-and-the-need-for-public-voices-reconciling-serious-faith-and-personal-autonomy/
7. http://geniustypes.com/
8. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/
9. http://theinneractor.com/
10. http://www.mindhacks.com/
2. Bruce Sterling: This blog is probably one of the most interesting, content wise, that I have ever seen. Many posts are nothing more than long forgotten music videos, but they still seem to tie close enough together so as not to be ridiculous. Mr. Sterling also has some posts where he actually writes about topics and his feelings on them. These are then accentuated by the music that he posts.
3. The Sideshow: The reason that I felt this blog is very strong is how it backs up its information. The person who is posting on there always adds links to information that supports the points. This is extremely important, especially in the business world. Unless you are a recognized expert in the field you need evidence to support what you talk about.
4. Kathryn Cramer: Though the material in this blog is not very strong, there are a few things that I like about it. Like most blogs the newer topics are easily read on the front page. The earlier blogs, however, are listed to the left of the more recent posts. They are in grouped by topic and from there in order by date that they were written. This makes it very easy to traverse previous topics, looking for specific material.
5. Willy Sudiarto Raharjo: Though there's not a whole lot to this blog, the thing that caught my eye was the content. You can have a great blog that has many different functions and components that can easily fail if the content is not up to standards. There was just something about how this blog was written and the information that was presented, that made it more than worth my while to read.
6. Hugo Schwyzer: The topics that Mr. Schwyzer writes about are very interesting to me. Especially this one about Jimmy Carter. He talked about many writings or speeches that President Carter had given on religion and other topics. In a way, he reacted to those words, creating his own spin-offs of ideas and thoughts. This blog had the mark of really great writing which makes it very easy to read, and also makes the reader want to read what is written.
7. Geniustypes: Here was another video blog that I found. I loved how easily it was to read and understand what was going on, on this blog. The other great factor was the most read list on the side. I could see what subjects and blogs were being viewed by more people, which led to me reading close to seven or eight extra posts. This is a very good business tool to use, you can catch the reader's eyes, and maybe draw them into a topic they wouldn't have read before.
8. Pickthebrain: This is a great topic driven blog-site that I stumbled across. They have some great people write about some very complicated things. It also allows a lot of reader interaction, which is something not many sites really have. I mean few sites have authors that respond to the random comments left by those people who read the blog.
9. The Inner Actor: This blog had so many different types of post from many different people that I failed to see how they were related at first. Then I started reading each post, and I noticed that though the topics and people writing them were different, the underlying meaning for all of the blogs was very similar. When there are many posts all working towards the same goal, but showing different sides of the spectrum it adds to the value to the site as a whole.
10. Mind Hacks: An extremely interesting and creative blog. It talks a lot about psychology, and views from different mindsets. It's a very medical based blog; though, if you don't understand some of the terminology, almost every medical term is linked to a page that goes deeply into describing the word you clicked on. So not only can very difficult reading become much more accessible to the masses, you can learn a lot of really interesting and pertinent information as well.
1. http://journal.neilgaiman.com/
2. http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/
3.http://sideshow.me.uk/
4. http://www.kathryncramer.com/
5. http://willysr.blogspot.com/2008/03/top-10-traits-of-successful-business.html
6. http://hugoschwyzer.net/2009/07/27/jimmy-carter-progressive-faith-and-the-need-for-public-voices-reconciling-serious-faith-and-personal-autonomy/
7. http://geniustypes.com/
8. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/
9. http://theinneractor.com/
10. http://www.mindhacks.com/
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Ten Well Made Corporate Blogs
1. Google- I really like Google's official blog because of how accessible it makes everything. If they are experiencing any technical difficulties they have really well made troubleshoots that are linked directly to the blog. Also, when they are introducing new technology they go into deep descriptions about the product, and include links so that you can find out more.
2. Wells Fargo- It's not very eye catching, but Wells Fargo definitely makes up for it in how it does its corporate blog site. There are different sections of topics, in which Wells Fargo has multiple people from the company talk about each topic, and address the concerns of their customers. Though it is slightly hard to find exactly what you want.
3. Best Buy- Best Buy has a really good search tool on their blog that works great to help the customers find what they are looking for. This is great, especially when customers are looking for specific announcements about products or replacement plans.
4. HP- I really like Hewlett Packard's blog because of it's very eye catching, and it is also very well mapped out. One thing that really stood out to me is right at the top they have a link to their blogging code of conduct. This way the employees can find out exactly what HP is expecting in their blogs.
5. Apple- The thing that stood out about Apple's blog to me is what kind of information they had. It was more about tearing down their competitors and showing why Apple products were better than anything else. Which is much different than most other professional blogs, though weather or not it is a good practice I'm not sure.
6. Nike- Nike's blog had two different types of searches on theirs, which is something that stood out to me. They had a search by type of blog, and then they also had the blogs archived by date and month, so you could search that way.
7. LG- LG launched a specific themed blog for their Malaysian consumers. Apparently they have specific themes for their blogs depending on the country you are from, though this could also alienate consumers it could also be a great business tool. Making customers feel special goes a long way.
8. Dell- Dell just recently launched their corporate blog. With this launch their first blog was about lessons in corporate blogging. This was meant to teach the people in their business about blogging and what Dell as a company wanted to get out of the blogging process.
9. Sony- Had a thing called live blogging. Which, essentially, is just a blog that people can interact with the writer as they are writing it. Which is very interesting to me.
2. Wells Fargo- It's not very eye catching, but Wells Fargo definitely makes up for it in how it does its corporate blog site. There are different sections of topics, in which Wells Fargo has multiple people from the company talk about each topic, and address the concerns of their customers. Though it is slightly hard to find exactly what you want.
3. Best Buy- Best Buy has a really good search tool on their blog that works great to help the customers find what they are looking for. This is great, especially when customers are looking for specific announcements about products or replacement plans.
4. HP- I really like Hewlett Packard's blog because of it's very eye catching, and it is also very well mapped out. One thing that really stood out to me is right at the top they have a link to their blogging code of conduct. This way the employees can find out exactly what HP is expecting in their blogs.
5. Apple- The thing that stood out about Apple's blog to me is what kind of information they had. It was more about tearing down their competitors and showing why Apple products were better than anything else. Which is much different than most other professional blogs, though weather or not it is a good practice I'm not sure.
6. Nike- Nike's blog had two different types of searches on theirs, which is something that stood out to me. They had a search by type of blog, and then they also had the blogs archived by date and month, so you could search that way.
7. LG- LG launched a specific themed blog for their Malaysian consumers. Apparently they have specific themes for their blogs depending on the country you are from, though this could also alienate consumers it could also be a great business tool. Making customers feel special goes a long way.
8. Dell- Dell just recently launched their corporate blog. With this launch their first blog was about lessons in corporate blogging. This was meant to teach the people in their business about blogging and what Dell as a company wanted to get out of the blogging process.
9. Sony- Had a thing called live blogging. Which, essentially, is just a blog that people can interact with the writer as they are writing it. Which is very interesting to me.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Blog Sites= Websites?
The fact that more people are using blogs in their business, and there are many more people reading these blogs sets perfect conditions for blog sites to grow and advance. Blogs and blog engines are much better suited for integrating interactive features, embedding widgets, and interconnecting social media accounts. 1 Depending on how many people are reading a blog, and who those people are can change how the owner of said blog will manage and post their information. Blogs that are getting hundreds, if not thousands, of hits a day are prime candidates for website advertising, which can lead to an incredible increase in revenue for a company.
Many websites now starting to run themselves on blog engines. Blog engines are much more flexible these days and for the most part allow easy integration of “widgets” and other tools to incorporate other social media into the blog. 2 This also allows for increased revenue for the blog owner.
Overall blog sites are becoming more manageable and more useful than using a normal website. It is definitely more worthwhile for a company to use these blog sites and blog engines for their internet businesses.
1 & 2. http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/02/12/are-web-sites-obsolete-yet/
Many websites now starting to run themselves on blog engines. Blog engines are much more flexible these days and for the most part allow easy integration of “widgets” and other tools to incorporate other social media into the blog. 2 This also allows for increased revenue for the blog owner.
Overall blog sites are becoming more manageable and more useful than using a normal website. It is definitely more worthwhile for a company to use these blog sites and blog engines for their internet businesses.
1 & 2. http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/02/12/are-web-sites-obsolete-yet/
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Every company needs to set rules for both professional and personal blogging that is going to be going on within their company. A blogging policy can forewarned the employees about the consequences of policy violations. 1 This way people within the company have a clear guideline to follow whenever they feel the necessity to blog. Otherwise, there could be an employee who writes a professional blog that does not adhere to the company's policies, and if something very racy or offensive was said it would not only fall back upon the individual but on the company as well.
The board of the company should play a key role in writing and deciding what kind of rules that it would like to apply to blogging within the company. For example, do they want the blogs to be open to the public or will they be private so that only the people within the certain department the blog is for can receive them? Will the company allow time during working hours for blogging?
Almost all companies have the following rules when it comes to blogs; you're personally responsible, abide by existing rules, keep the company's secrets, and be nice. While about half had the following; add value, respect copyright, follow the law, cite and link, and discuss with your manager. 2
Many companies are doing corporate blogs, but many are also pushing for employees to begin professional blogging about their work; any ideas they have to improve the process in the company, any complaints about how the company is currently being run, and even just about whether they like working at said company or not. So as blogging becomes even more critical in this day and age, so do the rules and precedences, that companies lay down for corporate blogging, become ever more important.
1. http://www.makkarlaw.com/businessblog/?p=3
2. & 3. http://www.corporateblogging.info/2005/06/policies-compared-todays-corporate.asp
The board of the company should play a key role in writing and deciding what kind of rules that it would like to apply to blogging within the company. For example, do they want the blogs to be open to the public or will they be private so that only the people within the certain department the blog is for can receive them? Will the company allow time during working hours for blogging?
Almost all companies have the following rules when it comes to blogs; you're personally responsible, abide by existing rules, keep the company's secrets, and be nice. While about half had the following; add value, respect copyright, follow the law, cite and link, and discuss with your manager. 2
Many companies are doing corporate blogs, but many are also pushing for employees to begin professional blogging about their work; any ideas they have to improve the process in the company, any complaints about how the company is currently being run, and even just about whether they like working at said company or not. So as blogging becomes even more critical in this day and age, so do the rules and precedences, that companies lay down for corporate blogging, become ever more important.
1. http://www.makkarlaw.com/businessblog/?p=3
2. & 3. http://www.corporateblogging.info/2005/06/policies-compared-todays-corporate.asp
Saturday, September 19, 2009
What can professional blogs do for businesses and organizations?
A professional blog can be a very important and effective tool in the business world. If a company posted a daily blog, then the employees could sign on first thing in the morning when they get to work and see what the company's goals for the day. This way they can immediately begin working knowing exactly what they should strive to accomplish for the day. Doing this could increase3 productivity and sales dramatically throughout the company. Similarly, if a tragedy were to occur within the company, a professional blog would be one of the easiest ways to share information with employees and the rest of the world.
A company can also set up a blog that not only went company wide but have one that is specific for each department that they have. The more communication one has with his employer, the more likely it is that that person understands what is going on inside the company and what she should strive to accomplish for the day.
A company can also set up a blog that not only went company wide but have one that is specific for each department that they have. The more communication one has with his employer, the more likely it is that that person understands what is going on inside the company and what she should strive to accomplish for the day.
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