Thursday, April 15, 2010

DaDig: 24 hours of social media for 4/15/10

Happy Tax Day!

DA-DIG, the Daily Digest of social media and networking in Greenviille for 4/15/10.


What’s been going on in Greenville’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn world in the past 24 hours? Here’s a digest of the hits of interest for small business.

@TVAmy tweets you can get free coffee at Starbucks all day today (tax day) if you bring your own mug.

Does your organizational cultrual reward patriotism and good citizenship?http://ow.ly/1yKCK posted by @Incentinel

I am not normally going to talk about news stories, but this caught my eye (http://bit.ly/dzIyWm) from The State. The SC Senate has overwhelming overrided the governor’s veto of a bill allowing warrantless searches of parolees and those with criminal records.

How much of the Twitter conversation is a one-way street? @MackCollier takes a look at what some Tweetstats (http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-conversational-are-twitters-power.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheViralGarden+%28The+Viral+Garden%29" ) have to tell us. (a lot of one way talk!). Want to know what your stats are? Check them out at www.tweetstats.com

Computer Reports blog tackles the thorny issue of how many gigabytes you need in your iPad..(http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/04/apple-ipad-qa-questions-answers-capacity-gigbytes16-32-64-gb-movies-songs-pictures-photos-size.html?EXTKEY=I91CONL&CMP=OTC-ConsumeristRSS)

Think Greenville doesn’t have poverty? @OEWO (Our eyes were opened, a non-profit organization) will be touring the area tomorrow from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Maybe it will open our eyes, too. DM OEWO if you’re interested.

Gil Gerretsen tweets this link (http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/real-estate/why-cant-i-get-a-mortgage-loan/?cid=1230) to an article on what banks are making home loans. Good to know.

@Tvamy is looking for photos of the tea party event in Boiling Springs. Email ‘em if you’ve got ‘em to amywoodtv@gmail.com

Happiest tweet of the day: @TVAmy reports that Jenny Sanford – the governor’s ex – is dating. You go girl!
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Is there a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, Twitterer you think we should check out for the digest? Let us know at twitter.com/portfoliosc. Use #DaDig. Or comment to this post.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

DaDig: 24 hours of Tweets and posts boiled down for you

Today, we're going to try something new. A lot of folks new to social media complain about not having time to follow all the information services out there. And, often the time spent requires a lot of digging around to separate the wheat from the chaff.

So as an experiment, we're starting DaDig - a daily digest of social media and networking posts, comments, emails of interest to the Greenville business community - and perhaps beyond the city. Although events, etc., are geographically limited to the Upstate SC area.

Obviously, this is a subjective analysis so you have to take that with a grain of salt. We are really interested in your ideas and comments and whether or not this is a useful, fun or interesting tool for you. And also let us know if there's a person or organization you think we should follow.

So here's the first edition of DaDig.

DaDig, the Daily Digest of social media and networking in Greenviille for 4/14/10.

What’s been going on in Greenville’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn world in the past 24 hours? Here’s a digest of the hits of interest for small business.

Devereaux will be location for April’s network event sponsored by Upstate Entrepreneur Forum. You must be business owner or C-level to attend. Get info at http://theuef.com.

Business Black Box is promoting this weekend’s Launch Greenville with a coupon code and a drawing for free tickets. http://www.enterpriselaunch.com/launch-greenville

Phil Yanov and Gil Gerretson promoting Connectorati event on April 27 at Embassy Suites. It’s a half-day of intense seminars on how to Create, Connect and Conquer your business. http://www.connectorati.com is also home to a series of interesting podcasts and what’s making business networking and social media work.

A meetup (www.meetup.com) called Planning for Success in Times of Economic Uncertainty is scheduled for Monday April 19 at 6:30. Speaker will be Nancy Eichstadt, President and CEO of The Carolina Leadership Group, LLC and Managing Partner of Leadership Management International. More info at: http://www.meetup.com/smallbusinessnetworking/calendar/13035745/

For businesses planning to exhibit at the upcoming Grow Expo at the Carolina First Center on May 25, the Clemson U. Small Business Development Council has a blog post with tips for exhibitors. Good ideas that would help any small business refine its message and focus its marketing and networking. Check it out at http://greenvillesbdc.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/trade-show-tips-and-tricks/.

The Mauldin Chamber of Commerce has still got some sponsorships available for upcoming golf outing at Holly Tree on May 24. Email mailto:info@mauldinchamber.org.

Most intriguing tweet in the last 24 hours: From ghs_org: Due to technical difficulties not related to surgery, our tweets covering the body contouring surgery will be delayed

Social Media newbie question of the day: Foursquare and Gowalla appear to be competing for hottest social locator tool. We now have a visual map of several people’s culinary preferences. I may not get it, but it is a hot ticket! -----

Is there a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, Twitterer you think we should check out for the digest? Let us know at twitter.com/portfoliosc. Use #DaDig. Or leave comment on this post!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

5 bad reasons for standing still

Let's cut to the chase. Why stand still in your business?

1. There's too much going on. All the more reason to move forward. When there's a lot happening, you need to move your business and workforce forward. You need to maximize your performance so that you can more effectively handle a lot more business.

2. There's not enough going on. So, why bother, right? Wrong. A lull in your schedule (and hopefully it's seasonal and not that your business is being passed over) isn't time for a rest. It's time to plan and prepare. You are lucky if you have a little breathing room and you can make sure the important things in your business that are often overlooked in busy times can be tackled.

3. Someone is chasing me. You hear footsteps behind you? Is that a good time to stand still. We're not dinosaurs, you know. We're businesses and standing still makes you a target for someone who isn't. What separates you from the competition? Figure that out and then cultivate it and move it forward whether it’s a product or a team.

4. No one's chasing me. There are two reasons for this: your business is the gold standard and no one can touch you - the Coca-Cola of your industry - OR your competitors are going around you, over you or through you. If it's the former, congratulations. If it's anything else, you need to stop standing still and start chasing someone. If you stand still, you are losing ground every day.

5. We can't find the map or in the words of Yogi Berra: "we don't know where we're going but we're making great time." Don't worry, you're probably like many companies trying to navigate a changing business climate. An important part of that dynamic is a workforce that is capable of handling the technology today's businesses must master to compete. From desktop apps to proprietary systems, your business must be technologically astute to hold your own with your competition. A workforce that can't use the tools, can't dig you out of the recession.

Most of these reasons have been used by businesses as an explanation for delaying, denying or deferring training.

All of these are common refrains but the most prevalent is: "We're too busy."

In reality, a busy season should be a significant motivator to improving employee performance. Better-trained employees waste less time, perform more efficiently, get more done. Sounds good to me.

I have often seen companies spend millions on new systems and then cut the training budget to save $10K. Not surprisingly, the new system never exactly manages to produce the expected results.

Technology has made training today a much more viable and affordable options for companies of all sizes. Inexpensive webinars, targeted training sessions, tip sheets and one-on-one online support are all elements of an effective training strategy.

What isn’t effective is standing still.

Need help getting started? Portfolio can help. Contact us at www.portfoliosc.com for information and signup for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/rXS9.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

What's in your iPad?

Do you have to have 3G or is Wi-Fi good enough? http://ping.fm/waJ5p

Friday, April 2, 2010

Stumbled on?

Everyone's focusing on iPad today, but I stumbled across this cool Mac function today. If you're like me, you can find yourself with multiple browser windows open and multiple tabs. But you really need to get them together.

In Safari, you can do that by clicking on a tab in one window and dragging it to the tab bar in a second browser window. The tab is removed from the first window and moved to the second. I had three or four windows open with multiple tabs and was able to consolidate them into one in just a few keystrokes.

I did not test this in Windows or Firefox for Mac, so maybe someone would try it and see if it works. Add comment and let us know!