Finding time to blog

This month I have been horrible about blogging. Between client projects, trying to enjoy the summer, some time off and building the new DDM website blogging has not risen to the top of the list. This is not a good thing. Finding time to write even a short blog is important, because we can to keep readers coming back, Google coming back and just to be interesting.

One of the ways DDM will work to add more content is by bringing in posts from social networks. The new DDM blog will aggregate(collect) posts from Twitter and Delicious and possibly other networks as well.

Denver DataMan has lots of exciting things going on and we hope to share them with you soon, on the new DDM blog and website top be launched next week and some of our client projects. A very special thanks to Chris Reed for his efforts as the Denver DataMan, summer Intern (computer super hero in training) for working to migrate content from one site to another. None of this would happen without him!

Chris Reed's 1st Post

I'm Chris Reed.

I learned several things at Denver DataMan, I've studied the components of a website and its development such as:Content Management System,Search Engine Optimization, organizing and categorizing data, improving website presentation to the client(s), and other skills.

Content Management System that uses a database and allows the person(s) who designed the website to make alterations without changing the code of the page. Search Engine Optimization makes it easier your website to be found on the internet.

Presentation the the client is of significant importance for helping the client know what we do or for mutual business activity. Denver DataMan helps you learn other valuable skills if one wants to be a part of the Denver DataMan team.

ABL

In business we often hear the mantra ABC or always be closing. Closing sales is always a good thing in business. The mantra skips any mention of how effective the close will be. That is why I like the manta ABL or Always Be Learning. If you keep learning you will be able to provide more value to your clients, in doing so closing more sales.

This weekend I have been at Drupal Camp Colorado learning about the Content Management System that Denver DataMan uses for our clients. I have attended sessions on topics that not only fall in my normal comfort zone but have also required me to learn new skills as well.

Whether you are learning about computers, something in your field, or something completely unrelated to your field remember to ABL.

Being Dynamic

This morning I went to a forum at the South Metro Chamber of Commerce on a very charged issue. The forum had people with various political leanings on the issue, some who would shout their opinions from the roof tops and others who would not share without some level of privacy. Even when we are not talking about politically charged issues seeking feedback and using that dynamically in presentations and the way we interact with our customers is critical for effective communication.

At this morning’s event the team that did the presentations gave each of us a credit card sized remote with the numbers 1 - 10 on it. Many questions from demographics to opinions about the issues were asked and the skilled presenters were able to use the data to discuss the view of the room in comparison with the views of others in the State.

The software that presenter used had tabulated the results instantly, giving immediate feedback to the room using graphs. The data is also being collected so that they have an arsenal of live data to use in other forums and when lobbying.

This type of active feedback is not only important for public presentations. How would it be to have an “I Will Buy It Meter” over every prospects head? We could know so much more about how to better engage with prospects and even the casual browser who might walk out of our store and tell his friends how cool the new gadget he/she saw.

The Internet provides us tools like this. In the past I have written about analytics and how we can look at data retrospectively to understand how our sites’ visitors use our website.

New technologies like live chat and polling make it easy to find out what our customers want as they are engaging with us in our informational websites as well as online store fronts.

Think about all the great ways you can engage your clients and prospects and be dynamic.

Where should I blog?

I often get the question where should I blog or if I blog on my website should I do it with a different domain name?

The best place to blog is on your website. If you don’t have a website that let’s you easily add content without knowing code or needing a computer science degree. If this is not the
case for you then Blogger (where this blog is held) is a great free and easy tool.

Building a blog on your own website should be done by a professional. When blogs are made well they are great search engine optimization (SEO) tools. You are adding lots of new content about the topics; you want people to find you with text so Google and other search engines can pick it up.

The question of whether or not you should use a different domain name (website address) requires a little more SEO knowledge. Search engines try and make sure they are sharing the most relevant content. Mind you, we are asking a computer to define what relevant content is. One of the things that search engines use to determine the relevancy of content is its uniqueness and another is how often you update the content.

Because we want our content to be unique we want to write an article or blog post and put it in one place. We then want to link to it from many places, we just don’t want to copy and paste the same article in multiple places. For example this post is on my blog, I do not want to turn around and put this same exact post on Teach Street for example. I will however, link to it from Facebook, Twitter and other sites.

The frequency factor in determining relevancy is also very important. Blogs give you an easy tool to add keyword rich content to your site on a regular basis. Denver DataMan recommends adding content at least once per-week to any site you want to be found using search engines.

In general our goal is to get people to come to our main site. Provide value added information and by doing it in a venue where a sale can be closed is all the better. If you use an alternative URL for your blog you are gathering traffic for an address that is not your primary website. If you have your primary website address for your blog and another address for your blog you can be hit with the duplicate content problem if you don’t do it right.

In general I think that not having a separate address for a blog is a good thing. Tell people denverdataman.com/blog not someothersite.com. I think it gives you a clearer marketing platform as well as a good SEO strategy.

Now, you might ask why am I reading this article here and not at denverdataman.com/blog? Well, you see, when I built this blog I thought demonstrating a free tool was a good idea. Since then I have not been able to capitalize on the SEO value of the content I create. This is why the re-designed DenverDataMan.com will have the blog on the site.

You Think Tech Is Small

Ever wonder how they make that new tech thing so small? Ever complain that you laptop battery does not make it the whole flight? These are the questions that a business person might ask when they are designing new technology. When Coby Leuscke makes something new he wants to know he can make it smaller, lighter, faster and run with less electricity in the harshest conditions on earth.

Cody is the president and stunt scientist for Metanomy a nonprofit in Fort Collins that works to create technology that can anywhere for first responders in disasters and eventually anyone who wants to do extreme things with technology.

One project is BeakGeek that monitors what birds come to a bird feeder by taking pictures and then uploading them directly to the Internet. You might ask why? I did. By taking pictures of birds when they feed all over the country those interested could track birds for science or fun as they migrate around the country. This is great for science students and natural scientists and each unit can be made for around $300 including the solar panels.

Pictures from BeakGeek units are put on Flikr (a photo sharing site) where people from around the world can use social networking to comment, tag and share the images collected. This is open source science.

Another project that Coby highlighted in his presentation tonight to the CNTC group is a trailer that is designed to be a mobile command post that can make it to any disaster in the world and is smaller and costs less than anything else currently produced.

All of Coby's projects are green because the use of solar and other sustainable technologies requires them to be. When you need to make sure a computer stays on for 3 days you ought to be green!

The presentation that Coby gave on behalf of Metanomy was excellent and opened my eyes to many new things.

Please Keep Advertising - The Video

This is a good example of a YouTube video that is being used for commercial benefit.




The premise of this video is very true. We have to keep advertising or we will loose ground with our brand. However, given that there are shifts in the current media market that have impacts well beyond the current economic situation focusing on the right place to put yours advertising dollars is critical. Look at tools in the social media that might save money and have a better more relevant reach.

This video is a great example of a way to post an ad in a social forum and to use the social media to your advantage. The biggest lesson here is that this ad does not look like it was posted by its creator but it was still posted. If you do not use social media your clients or ditractors will use it for you!