As a small business or “solopreneur”, it’s hard not to be dazzled by the array of “free” tools available at your digital fingertips. But “free” has a hidden price and sometimes it takes thousands of hours or a large chunk of revenue to figure things out. Many of us learned these lessons the hard way…
Category Archives: Business leadership
Reducing data privacy risks by adopting a service-mentality
In today’s technology-driven world; privacy professionals – particularly in regulated industries – have a unique and difficult challenge. Data, of all sorts, is the basis for much of the economy today and data use is evolving as new technologies are continuously introduced to the market. It is more than daunting to determine the best approach…
Creating effective governance for social media and social networks in regulated business environments
New social technologies have become part of the mainstream and they will clearly impact the privacy landscape for the foreseeable future. However, the web 2.0 world is very much the wild, wild West with technology advances far outstripping existing consumer protections and regulatory statues. While we are strong advocates of the use of these tools…
Keeping up with the endless fire hose of data – how do you remain current and relevant online?
As today’s business students prepare for their future careers, new professions are opening up in social media even in the most mainstream businesses. Companies, eager to create an “online brand presence”, clearly understand the need for educated resources who are comfortable online whether its developing and/or managing social media sites, online communities, blogs, podcasts, video…
Social media, virtual networking and the gender advantages
I spoke with many interesting, smart people last week who are struggling with the whole social media, virtual networking thing. These people are small business owners, consultants, corporate citizens and people in “transition” (the new PC term for professionals currently between jobs). They are men and women, mostly over 40 who are trying to understand…
Social media, technology, the future of communication and the new normal
I had a conversation with one of my favorite three-year-olds this Saturday. He called me from his parents’ cell phone to ask me if I wanted to Skype with him to talk about my upcoming visit. He wanted to discuss his plans for my stay. Looks like I’m going to be watching a lot of…
The age we live in: ignoring customers has a business cost that’s getting bigger by the minute
I listen to NPR all the time and one of my favorite shows is Marketplace Money . These folks are smart, savvy and easy to understand – it’s a great place to catch up on my financial news and hear what’s up in the consumer market. This weekend, they ran their normal “Getting Personal” segment…
Listen Up – Change is a Smart Business Strategy
I spend a lot of time speaking with business folks about change. Not surprising really given it’s my business and the general state of the world today is forcing everyone to contend with it. But under any circumstances, whether we like to acknowledge it or not, change is a constant. Convincing people to change (and…
Confessions of a certain age: fascination and fear of social networking
Alright, I’ll admit it, I was never a gamer. I was too busy sailing or running or cooking or biking or doing most anything physical (I have a hard time sitting still). As I got a bit (dare I say it?) older, I was very busy with my job. I was so busy doing things…
A reminder of the power of the personal endorsement
I attended a fascinating event in Foxboro, MA last week called the Inbound Marketing Summit. Hosted by a company called New Marketing Labs (http://newmarketinglabs.com/), a self-professed team of new media “evangelists” who are nimble, proficient users, this group hosts events around the country to educate business people on effective ways to use social media for…
