I would love to have Google Fiber Internet come to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has submitted their bid. I used my Google account to write them my support and aside form the Stupid Pet Tricks aspect of this show, I think Pittsburgh has a pretty fair chance.
As you may know I am a fan of dumping cable and using the Internet to stream video to my TV. It does pretty well for me with plain DSL and I get a great variety of streaming programs to watch.
It would be really great to be able to stream in HD to all of my TV’s at once and I really believe this will be the future of Television viewing, but what worries me is the lack of competition. I have had only two choices of ISPs and my sister who is out of town a bit only has one choice and no prospect for any more soon.
The most important thing about what Google plans is
“We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.”
Competition is what will drive the market on this. It will provide more innovation and lower prices. You can be sure that the current content providers will do their best to hinder this in other places, so please Google, Pick Pittsburgh.
I like networking events. I find it’s a great way to promote myself and my business. I’ve been to quite a few and I’ve found I need to limit myself to just a couple a month in order to get any work done. So I needed to pick the best ones.
The thing about networking is that they are social. That means you need to give and take. People who attend these events with the goal of sticking their business cards in everyone’s hands will not get anything out of them. So what works best for me is not just the quality of the group of people, but more importantly how well the interaction occurs. If you are with the best group of people, but never find out anything about them or them about you is does no good.
For that reason I like the ones where there’s a meal. Lunches are good because they are less expensive, but sitting around a table at any meal with 5 or 6 other people is a great way to get to know them and not just hear their 30 second “elevator speech”.
It’s been my experience that you don’t want to do business with them (although that’s not bad) as much as you want them to refer you to their contacts. No one will do that unless they know you, like you and trust you.
I also try to pick one or two people a month and invite them to meet for coffee somewhere for a one on one chat.
Here’s something just for some fun on a Friday. (Not responsible if you get caught playing at work)
The name pretty much says it all.
When I speak with a new customer or an interested person at a networking event the question that I continue to get asked over and over is “How can I get more traffic from the search engines?”
I’ve written before that today, the most important factor is inbound links from other sites. The more highly regarded the site is, the more value the link has. Links have been the backbone of the Internet since the beginning, but how they are treated by the search engines is always changing.
The best explanation of how links affect your search rankings that I’ve read lately is on the Search Engine Guide Site, called
One of my customers is looking for a way to have video conference training for his affiliates.
He has two requirements.
- He has quite a few affiliates, so it has to handle 30 to 50 at once.
- He also wants to record them to be either put on his website or on a DVD.
The standard solutions for larger groups of people are very pricey and others don’t let you record the video.
I did some checking and it looks like the best bet may be Skype. It’s free to use if all users have Skype installed and call/conferencing recording software is cheap.
The best part is that it’s free to try, so he can see if it works. If it does work well it will be a much better alternative to several hundred dollars a month solutions.
I’ll follow up and let you know the results.
There’s a WordPress slideshow program that I use, like and recommend. It’s called ShowTime Slideshow.
You can just plug it in and it works great, but you can also change almost any setting for your show.
First you post your text and then put your images at the end of the post, in thumbnails one right after the other.
Use the thumbnail mode and press the “link to image” button. So if your visitor clicks one they will see the larger image.
Then anywhere that you want the slideshow to appear you add
You get
(post continues past slideshow)
If the visitor’s browser can’t see the slideshow, it degrades nicely.
You get a row of clickable thumbnails.
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One of my belief’s has been that with digital information you can make more money from it by allowing it to be shared. I’ve been saying pretty much the same thing since 1986 when I first discovered shareware.
Mike Masnick at TechDirt says that as soon as you digitize something it becomes infinitely available (reproducible). I agree. Rather than fighting against the current and trying to hide it, why not go with the flow and allow your stuff to be shared.
Why on earth would you hide your work from your fans?
So, how do you find a way to make money using that (free) as a business model?
There is no better way to have your work viewed by a potentially huge audience. If you can promote this in other avenues, so much the better. Good word of mouth is the best sales tool that there is.
I always try to keep things where I can control them so I would start with my own website. Anyone can easily sell from their site these days. Digital downloads, cd’s, tee shirts, or pretty much anything. Many of the physical products can be dropped shipped.
I also believe many of your fans will still pay for something even though they can get it for free. There are many others who will pay because they got it for free and liked it. You just have give them an easy to do it and ask.
Here’s one way that you could do it. Put your files in a zip file along with a readme file. I would suggest html, but plain text is OK.
I would write…
We (name) expressly allow you to share this (song, movie, book) as long as you include this page.
If you liked it or even if you didn’t send please send it on to a couple of friends and see what they think.
Please visit our site (link to site)
or
If you’re inclined, send us a buck (PayPal donate button)
Thanks for helping us.
Cheers,
(signature)
