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Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Facemail Will Be A Disaster For Businesses

December 2nd, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

“Email is dead,” claimed Mark Zuckerberg as he launched the new Facemail Messaging service a few weeks ago.

Zuckerberg believes the messaging service – which is “not e-mail” – will mark the end of traditional e-mail as we know it.

Essentially, Facemail will:

- replace a subject-based list of email with a people-based list.

- unify some media.

- archive messages permanently.

Innovative for sure, but will Facemail really replace enterprise email?

Not so fast.

Facemail poses many problems for businesses – large and small.

How?

First, let’s look at the issue of replacing subject-based lists with a people-based lists.

Facebook would have us believe that the standard email setup of subject/recipients/text is antiquated. It proposes that the inbox is better organized as a list of conversations with people, not as a list of topics.

In the new Facebook Messaging, you’ll see a list of people; when you click on a person, you’ll see a list of all the messages you and that person have ever exchanged.

It’s certainly possible that this idea would be useful for a social inbox, but for business? Not so much. Most business users need to be able to follow the thread of a conversation, yet keep several conversations on different topics separate — even if the conversations are with the same people.

It also looks as though Facebook won’t provide control over the recipient list when replying to a thread. This, too, is bad for business — it’s important for users to be able to add and delete recipients and spawn side-conversations.

Second, the issue of unified media.

Facemail is email, text messaging, and instant messaging (or chat) all rolled into one. There’s talk of Skype being included as well. This isn’t exactly triumphant news. Many enterprise email systems already have unified messaging features – and guess what? They’re great for those people who communicate in a social context, but for business it’s much less important. The tools are always available for everyone to get email when they need it.

Lastly, the permanent archival of messages.

Facebook says it will preserve these messages – text, chat, messages – forever. And, THAT could be very problematic for employers and inhouse counsel which have their own retention policies in place. For instance, if a company typically deletes e-mail every 90 days, it will be unable to enforce that on e-mails created in Facemail.

Keeping data forever is just not an option for companies. The legal risk is too overwhelming.

Now, companies that already have policies in place for handling outside e-mail and chat providers will have to ask their inhouse counsel to develop new policies that categorize Facebook with the rest of those services.

E-mail is still a useful service – and contrary to what Zuckerberg believes, it’s not going away just yet.

Can you picture a leading company exec sending a top secret inner-office memo to a colleague through Facemail?

Sorry Zuckerberg, but we’re not quite there yet.

 Tags: business users, enterprise email, facebook, facemail, mark zuckerberg, messaging service, traditional email

Google Gets Us Even MORE Productive

November 23rd, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business, Technology | No Comments »

I’m a staunch supporter of all things Google – well almost all (remember Buzz?)

I use Google’s search engine. I use its browser, Chrome. I use its voice service… and sometimes, even chat. But, lately, what’s really come in handy is Docs.

I know Google Docs has been around a while, but sadly I’ve only just discovered how useful and convenient it really is. I rely on it primarily because I work from a MacBook and most of my colleagues work from MS Office on their pc’s. Docs lets me convert my work into any type of file… allowing seamless document circulation between parties. Docs also enables me to share my work with other people by granting them email access. All they have to do is log in.

I know. I know. This is nothing new to a lot of people. But what IS new is a just introduced Google Docs beta feature called Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office.

Basically, Google Cloud Connect is an add-on for Office that syncs documents, spreadsheets and presentations from Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 with the cloud. In other words, it takes data on the desktop and makes a backup copy in Google Docs, gives it a unique URL and constantly syncs the data with anybody else that might be sharing the same document.

The technology behind Google Cloud Connect derives from DocVerse, a productivity tool that Google acquired earlier this year that lets multiple users collaborate and edit Microsoft Office documents.

What’s fantastic is that a business team can edit a document from either Microsoft Office or Google Docs simultaneously – and Docs will save all of the revisions, so if someone messes up someone else’s edits, it’s easy to revert them.

This new launch is all about getting Office users – like my old self – to ditch the software permanently and switch to Google Docs and the cloud. Admittedly, I had resisted the change… but once I went cloud, I knew I was never going back.

Microsoft’s productivity suite had its time in the sun. Now it’s Google’s turn to shine – and it’s oh so bright.

 Tags: business collaboration, google cloud connect for microsoft office, google docs, office documents

What’s a Facebook Business Page Worth to Consumers?

November 4th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business, Small Business | No Comments »

I have a friend who on Facebook recently has becoming a fan of every product under the sun – Renuzit, Ronzoni, Ziplock, Folgers, ect.

I’ve been seeing these products she is a fan of – because each and every one gets prominently displayed in my home feed –  and I think… really? This woman is really telling all of her friends which air freshener product she likes? Who flippin’ cares?

I certainly don’t. In fact, I think it’s annoying.

Coincidentally a new study was just released last week that addresses this very topic: Why consumers fan Facebook pages.

The report, conducted by ExactTarget and CoTweet, found that discounts and “social badging” were the primary reasons consumers “like” brands on Facebook.

Nearly 40% of Facebook users who become fans do so to receive discounts and promotions and 39% become fans to show their support for a brand to their friends.

Some other interesting findings from the study include:

- 43% of the Facebook users surveyed said they “like”, or are fans of, at least one brand on Facebook.

- 34% of Facebook users say they “like” brands in order to stay informed about company activities or to get updates on future products.

- 17% say they’re more likely to buy after liking that brand on Facebook.

Sure, Facebook is a dynamic way for brands to mobilize their fans and get introduced to even more fans – but what are those business Fan Pages really worth to consumers besides a social badge?

The answer: Absolutely nothing, unless something is in it for them.

Turns out my friend who was liking all of those products only did it for the coupon incentives the companies sent her after she became a fan of their pages. But, the brands’ marketing plans backfired, in my opinion. Sure, they got my friend’s “like” of approval – but her friends are now giving these products a BIG DISLIKE because of the sheer annoyance of seeing them on their main Facebook feeds.

This whole incentive stuff is for the birds. I say brands should stay organic. Let people come to them because they truly like their services or products. If they don’t – and continue to offer these stupid discounts – they’ll end up shooting themselves in the proverbial left foot, because you know why?

All of those fans who were lured in aren’t going to stick around. They’re not loyal. They are fair feather – just like my friend. She has “un-liked” every one of those products.

 Tags: brands on facebook, facebook business pages, facebook pages, fan pages, social badging, social media

Social Media Doesn’t Stack Up for Small Business

October 13th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business, Twitter | No Comments »

Social media marketing for business is sinking.

Tweets on Twitter are being ignored. Facebook updates are getting buried – and businesses are taking note. The ROI is simply not there.

A September 2010 survey by Econsultancy, sponsored by digital marketing agency bigmouthmedia, found nearly half of companies worldwide felt they were not able to measure the return on their social media investment — even to put a value on it relative to their other marketing activities.

Econsultancy’s report also suggested integration with many other marketing channels was lacking. While the vast majority of companies had managed to integrate email and social media, search engine optimization was the only other marketing channel that came close in integration efforts.

What’s more, a Wired story released via CNN this week indicated – quite bluntly – that Twitter is a waste of time. Toronto-based social media analytics company Sysomos scanned 1.2 billion messages that were sent in August and September 2009 and found that 71% of tweets get absolutely no response. Seven in ten tweets are ignored!

This is tough to swallow – even for me. But it was inevitable. Social media’s swan song appears to be over.

Now what?

 Tags: facebook updates, marketing for business, ROI, social media investment, social media marketing, tweets are ignored, tweets on twitter

Can Google Read Our Minds?

September 22nd, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business | No Comments »

The launch of Google Instant has more than raised a few eyebrows. It has left many people wondering what the hell is really going on beyond those doors over there in Mountain View CA?

Has Google, in fact, come up with a way to read our minds.

The answer is no. Thank God. But, it’s damn near close.

Google Instant is not a mind reader. But, based on your keystrokes, it can predict what you’re going to type based on the zillions of previous searches it has studied and analyzed.

“Faster than the speed of type” is how Google describes Instant. It plays off research which shows that the eye can see as much as 10 times faster than the hand can type. So begin to type in “software” and you’ll get ten search terms related to software even before you’ve finished typing.

No doubt this is a faster way to search the Web. So fast, in fact, Google says Instant can shave two-to-five seconds off the time it takes to perform a search in Google Classic. In other words, if everyone use Google Instant it could save as much as 11 hours every second, of every day.

Google Instant is also more relevant. Results come back even when the searcher is not sure of words to type to get the best results. The prediction – and it is a prediction – for the search is shown in light grey text in the drop down box below the search queue. There is no need to type a complete word or sentence.

There’s also Google Instant for mobile phone users too! When users search for a particular business or want to know the weather forecast, Google Instant will use GPS to show location based results – in real time.

As brilliant as this innovation is, many people – Web marketers in particular – are fearful of the impact Google Instant will have on Internet marketing.

Is SEO/SEM dead? Or, is it now more important than ever?

In my opinion, it’s the latter.

Page 1 of Google is so out. Google’s crystal ball prediction box is in.

That’s where you want to be found.

And, that’s where you’ll find me – searching.

 Tags: Business, can google read our minds, google instant, google instant for mobile, internet marketing, seo sem