Nasty Solar Storms

The sun follows an 11 year pattern of activity/(relative) dormancy.  You may not care except for this point – the sun is starting an active cycle as explained in this Fast Company article.

The sun is about to get a lot more active, which could have ill effects on Earth. So to prepare, top sun scientists met Tuesday to discuss the best ways to protect Earth’s satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar storms.

Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun’s activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period.

…

People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. But smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity.

This may put a damper on the new iPhone…and all other cell phones for that matter.

If you're new here and like what you read, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Stimulus-Response Marketing

I always give pause when I wade into the marketing arena.  I am a psych major by education and a salesperson by experience.  Clearly that combination validates my marketing mojo!  Ok, maybe not but I’m still pressing forward.

I’ve seen a trend in the older sales/marketers I talk to about marketing campaigns – they seem to have a direct-response mentality.  To put it in psychological parlance, it is a stimulus-response mindset.  “I completed this one marketing thing and now I want to see monetary responses from the market.”  I am all for that response too, but it is far less common today.

Marketing in this present Information Age (or whatever the present descriptor is) requires a consistent message over time in multiple mediums.  Perhaps a better description is stimulus-stimulus-stimulus-stimulus-response.  Or even more stimuli.  You get the point.  Method has become as important as message.

One-off, laser-focused campaigns are not effective in today’s world of instant, ubiquitous information.  The better approach is to use a consistent message over multiple mediums.  A simple example would be a focused campaign carried out over email blasts, videos and websites.  We can help with these items.

The key is to put together a plan, lay it out on a timeline and be realistic about each step.  Some steps are simply for exposure while others are for response.  Realize that it is probably going to take some coordination and patience to execute a successful marketing campaign in today’s business world.

The iPad Killer

From Inc.com:

The CEO of Verizon, Lowell McAdam, is making no secret of it. They are officially in cahoots with Google developing what they hope will be the iPad killer.

Interesting, but I am always loathe to bet against Apple.  Here is the one mitigating factor that gives me pause:

4. For all the same reasons the Droid is shaking up the iPhone; touch screen tablets will wage the same war just on another battlefield. Google’s Android is making headway because its available on multiple brands of devices and with multiple carriers. Apple let’s you use AT&T, AT&T or AT&T on their hardware. Period.

That is one important point.

Out of Office Replies

This is great – from Inc.com:

The best in out-of-office auto-responders Guy Kawasaki unearthed this post from self-professed marketing geek Dave Duarte that’s been making it’s way around the business blogs. Our favorites from Dave’s top ten list? “You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn’t have received anything at all.” There’s also, “Hi, I’m thinking about what you’ve just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.” And finally, “Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.”

Please wait by your PC for my response…classic!

4G Means Speed

The latest cell phone speed craze is 4G which is available only from Sprint right now.  However, all carriers will be rolling out their 4G networks over the next year or so.  This article from Inc.com provides an in-depth description of 4G and why it matters.  It basically comes down to the speed:

“If I’m getting mail from my server, with 4G it takes micro-seconds. With 3G, it could take 5 to 10 seconds to download the same email,” Abramson says. In general, he adds, though service providers may claim faster speeds, most 3G transmissions are in the 1 megabyte per second range. “With 4G, I’m getting speeds that are three to four times faster, he reports.

As some people have migrated away from land lines for their telephone, some companies will migrate away from a land-based Internet connection and switch to a 4G network.

“It can replace broadband for a very small shop,” Ganguly says. For some small businesses it might make sense to have every laptop enabled with 4G, or to use a card that broadcasts wireless Internet to up to five devices, such as the MiFi or Overdrive, he adds.

I am still stuck on 3G which has mediocre speeds.  4G does seem like it will be a real game changer and well worth considering an upgrade.

The Internet – “Trendy and Oversold”

Here’s a good post from NettSolutions blog that links to an old Newsweek article from 1995.  Newsweek’s description of the new Internet is the title of the post.  A funny comparison from the post:

- In 1995 acid washed jeans were in. In 2010, MEN are wearing super low rise, skinny jeans.

- In 1995 a best picture nominee was Babe. 2010 has Avatar in 3D/IMAX special effects.

- In 1995 Juno was a major email service provider. In 2010 Gmail is the new Juno & Juno is now a movie about teen pregnancy.

- In 1995 Saint’s fans wore paper bags over their heads. In 2010 the Saints are no longer the Aints.

- In 1995 Prince’s lyrics, “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999,” had relevancy. In 2010 Prince no longer has a name, but rather a symbol.

- In 1995 Jay Leno hosted the Tonight show. In 2010, the host is Conan O’br… um, nevermind.

And to you have to follow the link to the Newsweek article which is a riot to read in hindsight.  The pull quote for me:

Then there’s cyberbusiness. We’re promised instant catalog shopping—just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete (sic.). So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet—which there isn’t—the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.

Read it all.