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Business Productivity on the iPad

I recently acquired an iPad to serve as my primary mobile device. Here is my personal list of essential business and productivity apps.

1. Dropbox (free)

This application allows you to synchronize (simply and elegantly) all your files across multiple computers and mobile devices.  

2. Quickoffice ($14.99)

QuickOffice HD allows you to view and edit most standard document, presentation and spreadsheet types. The ability to save, access and edit files and synchronize across multiple devices and the internet is it's most useful feature (through either Dropbox, Box.Net or Google Docs).

3. iThoughts HD ($7.99)

Mindmapping software which allows use to create diagrams and workflows easily. Flexible export formats and sharing facilities (can save to Dropbox). A useful app for organizing your thoughts or visualizing processes.

4. Evernote (free)

Everyday you come across ideas and information. Evernote acts as your "second brain" allowing you to dump all of this unstructured data (text, audio, images) into a central repository and making it universally searchable and accessible.

5. The Australian ($4.99 monthly)

The best attempt by a mainstream publication at digitizing the printed format.

6. ABC (free)

The ABC has continued lead in the publication of digital media. This app provides access to the ABCs extensive library of digital content.

7. Flipboard (free)

Flipboard is making waves through its intuitive representation and aggregation of blogs, news and social media channels.

8. Kindle (free)

The Kindle app allows you access and consume Amazon's library of eBooks on practically any device.

9. Zenbe ($2.99)

You could do a lot worse than this intuitive to-do application.

The path to social media acceptance - Kübler-Ross Grief Cycle

Organisations which are brand centric risk being stuck in denial about the sea-change in customer behavior. The path to social media acceptance is akin to the grief cycle. Identifying your company's position within this process is an important first step to executing some short-term initiatives to help get you there. There is no point in starting to think about channels if key stakeholders are at a different stage in the cycle.

1. Denial - "Twitter, Facebook, this social network stuff is inane, frivolous and an absolute waste of time"
2. Anger - "Participate? Who? ME? US? Go and do some real work!"
3. Bargaining -  "OK, so there are people conversing, some of them may be customers"  
4. Depression -  "Hang on, there's a social media party going on and I'm not invited. What do I do?"
5. Acceptance - "Let's connect with customers, employees and suppliers to maximize value for all."

Where do you find yourself in this process? Is your business participating or are you being dragged along kicking and screaming? 

 

 

Why foursquare is great for retailers

 

Foursquare is a social tool focused on making it easy to share experiences about places. Accessible on most mobile devices, it allows you to "check-in" to a given shop, restaurant, bar, theatre or any other point of interest. When checking in you can leave a comment or recommendation (tip) and share that activity with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. Foursquare rewards contribution by issuing "badges" which denote a level of activity on the service. The pinnacle is the "mayor" badge which designates the person with the most activity at a point of interest. There can only be one mayor at a time at a given location but this can change at any time.

When considering the participation this generates it becomes apparent that retailers can derive tremendous value by encouraging check-ins and commentary of their business.

By rewarding "mayors" of their establishment, retailers can drive awareness, engagement and loyalty of their brand in a way few online marketing initiatives can match.

For example, a retailer with a footprint of say, 150 stores. On Foursquare there would be 150 mayors - 1 for each outlet at any given time. Rewarding each of them with say, a 5% discount on purchases would create tremendous virality and brand engagement amongst your most loyal customers providing a tantalising return on your marketing investment.

Here are some of the ways retailers are using Foursquare http://foursquare.com/businesses

Social Web Primer for IT Professionals

I was recently discussing with an IT executive what it means to run your business on the internet. In early discussions the usual questions of security and integration are front of mind. Once those concerns are addressed however (and they are not always addressed satisfactorily by every cloud provider), the conversation inevitably turns to the reality of the impact on employee productivity. So asks the IT Exec, "if I cannot get my head around search vs categorize how is the rest of the organisation supposed to?"

The answer is simple, the vast majority of employees coming into your organisation have the web in the DNA. The web and more importantly the social web as it is today, is embedded into their psyche so much so that many ask, "is Facebook accessible from my corporate desktop?" before accepting a job offer.

So I decided to share 3 activities every IT professional can be doing to help them understand the social web and the opportunities presented by cloud computing to achieve business goals.

1. Google Reader

Using Google Reader is essential if only to understand some basic technologies and concepts, such as RSS, searching, tagging and flat data structures. Clear your inbox by unsubscribing from all email lists and use Google Reader to subscribe instead.

Once there, you can subscribe to two of the preeminent thought leaders on the subject.

Dion Hinchcliffe http://feeds2.feedburner.com/zdnet/Hinchcliffe

Phil Wainewright http://feeds2.feedburner.com/zdnet/SAAS

2. Participate on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Once you have established these accounts you can focus on the following.

• LISTEN to the conversation, monitor what is said about your brand and connect with your personal and professional network. Understanding the concept of "one to many" as opposed to  "one to one" is crucial. Follow relevant individuals and thought leaders in your industry.
• PARTICIPATE by scheduling 30mins a week to update each account. Social media need not be a time waster. Scheduling 30mins to participate will ensure you maximize the value you get out of each.
• INTEGRATE by linking each of the three statuses (so you can update all three from Twitter). This will give you a glimpse into the future of decentralized sharing of information inside and outside the firewall.

3. Search, search, search

Research suggests that if customers don't find what they're looking for on your website through the navigation within 10 seconds they will revert to search.

If you're categorizing and navigating past a single tier (eg. in Outlook or in your documents),  you are wasting your time and you need to stop!

Keep your folder structures to a single tier. Install a desktop search tool and configure it to search your email and documents.

These suggestions might seem like no-brainers but you'd be surprised how many IT professionals are still dismissive of the relevance and impact of the web inside and outside their organization.

 

Da Vinci, the art of the science

The IT Strategy Triad - 3 focus areas for an optimized IT Operation

 
 
 

Email is dead... long live Yammer

In the past couple of years I've come to the realization that email is becoming ineffective as a business communication medium, delivering a stagnating ROI and generally diluting the value of face to face communication.

There are a number of micro-blogging services for the enterprise that could do a better job, Yammer is one of the most popular.

5 reasons why Yammer can replace email...

1. Context - receive the right information, when you need it.

2. Accessibility - Use it on the web, on your mac, on your PC, iPhone, Blackberry, at home or on the road.

3. Engagement - Flatten out your organisation and allow your team to engage at all levels.

4. Integration - RSS integration provides an opportunity to present and monitor the collective intelligence of your organisation in real time.

5. Transparency - The relative privacy afforded by email is no longer relevant. If its sensitive, say it in person. If it's not, share it with everyone.

Of course, this would be impractical for most companies and it doesn't solve the problem of communicating with external parties. Nevertheless, a quiet revolution is underway to disrupt the way we communicate @work.

Social Media... show me the money!

Will display advertising deliver the monetization social networks need to stay afloat. I'm not so sure.

Apple have it right with their App Store. Salesforce.com are making money from force.com, Google Apps ditto. What do all of these have in common?

Platforms, platforms, platforms, platforms. I think the future of monetization on the web will be in platforms that can deliver a rich application ecosystem. People will pay for applications that are priced right and deliver functionality (or frivolity). Each of these platforms of course have a unique value proposition - mobility for the App Store, social graph for Facebook, usability for Google Apps, business productivity for Salesforce. Certainly, every mobile vendor under the sun now has an app store.

I recently paid $70 for a GPS app on the iPhone. Why? Because I didn't have a GPS and it made sense to purchase a $70 app rather than another $300 gadget. There is no reason why I wouldn't pay for the right app at the right price on Facebook.

 

Is Twitter A Fad?

 Those who are calling Twitter a fad are missing the point. Twitter is simply a very effective "one to many" communication medium. Twitter as we know it will certainly pass, either evolving or being superseded by something else. Does that mean individuals and business should not be investing time and resources building their presence on it? No. Does that mean that it has disrupted how we communicate and congregate across geographical boundaries? Yes. Will understanding and building strategies around Twitter hold you in good stead for "the next big thing"? Yes. Calling twitter a fad is doing a disservice to your customers. Engage today comfortable with the knowledge that you're building loyalty which transcends the tools. 

Meaningful dialogue the key to social media

Think about it, if you had an opportunity to conduct a meaningful, ongoing dialogue about your brand, company or product would you take it? When viewing social media this way it provides the basis for the development of a social media strategy. Mention meaningful conversation or ongoing dialogue to your CEO however and you would most likely be met with a blank stare or bemused smile. So how can a company utilize social media to engage with current and potential customers?

1. The first step would be to identify the top social networks where your customers or potential customers may frequent and join in the conversation (and it is a conversation).

• Twitter - Search on keywords, individuals and companies to follow relevant to your industry. Contribute. Add value.
  
• Facebook - Search and join relevant groups, pages. Contribute content. Build  and promote community.
• LinkedIn - Answer questions about your area of expertise. Ask questions, help the professional community.
• RSS - Blog about your industry, upload relevant content. Use Feedburner. There is a significant subset of people who chose to utilize email subscriptions and RSS. Don't neglect them.

2. Measure your success! Implement analytics (Google Analytics) on your website. Measure the most effective activities which drive traffic to and activity on your website. For an overall brand engagement metric, you can try Net Promoter Score as a way to measure your success. Adjust and focus your social media efforts accordingly.

3. Start today. Most suggestions in this post can be implemented immediately and at an incremental cost. The most effective use of social media is to start using social media.

So the common thread for effective social media marketing is to promote community around your brand, add value and initiate and contribute to meaningful conversations - if you're doing none of those things what are you waiting for?