Pluperfecter: internet marketing, music promotions, web usability, blogs, social media, Peoria, IL

Kompakt.fm music player

2012-01-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

I really like this music player, that mimics a turntable, needle, and vinyl record.

The music genres on Kompakt.fm are what I would call Electronic Experimentation, Glitch Dance Ambient, and Techno Minimalism which can be very relaxing.

Not sure why there is a dropout type instance with vinyl surface scratch noise every so often on these songs. That's kind of strange and a bit annoying.

If it was between tracks, that would make sense. Perhaps it's done to divide sections of a song? No, it doesn't seem to coincide with that. A weird flaw on an otherwise nice presentation.

I wish there was a company that enabled musicians to upload their songs and have them presented in such an online device. Kompakt.fm is a record label started by some techno guys in Berlin I believe.

You can move the needle cartridge arm with your web browser cursor, just move your cursor to the cartridge, see a pointing hand appear, click on the cartridge, drag and drop, hold and slide the cartridge to the desired spot on the vinyl disc simulation.

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YouTube account closed message

2012-01-27T02:37:00.000-06:00

This channel is no longer available because the user closed their account.

Don't give up on sharing video.

Customers like to learn skills and gain information by watching tutorial videos. Why not do your own branded video tutorials, thereby helping customers and positioning your company as the expert?

When was the last time you recorded a video of yourself explaining the corporate mission in laymen's terms? Or promoting some new product or venture?

If you're a CEO, business owner, store manager, entrepreneur, musician, film artist, or do anything that needs to be seen in action or experienced as if in the presence of it, video is vital for your success.

People like to watch interesting, informative, and entertaining video, especially if it has a spontaneous quality to it, making the presenter seem more authentic, human, and approachable.

Keep endeavoring to perfect your audio-visual presentations. Learn how to do product demonstrations, deliver CEO announcements, and create a relationship with customers for enhanced brand loyalty and increased sales.

Get that company representative out there, in high quality, superior videography, on YouTube, developing an interactive connection with customers, peers, investors, and the general public.

Or contact me and I'll do it for you.

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Customer Reality vs Shiny Objects

2012-01-25T16:05:00.006-06:00

While it's important to know what's available in marketing technology, it's not effective marketing to chase after brightly colored tool suites and flavor of the month social media platforms. Raw, ridiculous, refreshing customer reality must be the primary focus, then with customer-centric solutions in mind, explore the gadgets and gimmickry.

I found myself responding professionally to a strategy hinted at in a recent quote provided by Danny Sullivan on GooglePlus in reference to his reaction to the article on Marketing Land entitled "Is GooglePlus Mandatory for Marketers? And Is That So Bad?"

[QUOTE]

"I get the feeling some the folks pontificating about the pros and cons of Google’s dominance have forgotten what it’s like to be sitting in front of a CMO talking about the relationship between search, social media and other online marketing disciplines. What’s most important — one of the biggest challenges marketers face — is determining which of the latest shiny objects deserve precious resources"

- good thoughts from +Kevin Ryan

[END QUOTE]

No. I disagree that marketers need to select certain shiny objects, for themselves and/or their clients, according to the claims of the objects and the budgetary constraints of agency or client.

"We're on the new SlapJack social network!" or "Check out our automated instant order shoppers kiosk" may arouse curiosity in some, but without a consistent social media marketing plan, hopping from one trendy spot to another, and trying to keep up with it all in a rich, relevant, personally interactive manner, may exhaust resources, yet accomplish little.

Shiny objects. Pick the right ones, the best mix, and you'll win the prize!

This strategy, vaguely indicated in the Marketing Land article, but the trace is unmistakable, is, I think, this:

"Shiny objects will do the job, now which ones should we pick?"

which can be more completely expressed by including this underlying attitude:

"If we use as many shiny toys and tools as are currently trendy and sufficiently shouted about by the pundits, we'll have the appearance of doing social and digital media. Then, also, if it attracts an audience that drives itself, interacting with each other, without much inteference by us, and the content is automatically generated (curated or scraped from other sites), we'll be free to move onto other things."

Automated social media is not in compliance with the core values of social media. Authenticity. Transparency. Genuine Personal Interactivity. Sharing. Caring. Providing expertise by linking to good information and by personally answering questions and remarking on suggestions from customers.

This is the top priority. To enter fully and deeply into the world inhabited by the customer. Frustrations and expectations. Trouble and rejoicing. What are they trying to solve, fix, or enhance? Find that goal, inspect it from every possible angle, listen to the exact words used by customers when describing it. Consider only slightly editing their wording for use in marketing campaigns.

What must ring true is the ground your marketing is founded upon. That ground must be a pure and enlightened understanding of the raw reality in which your product provides a solution for a needy customer.

What is it exactly that is making the customer feel dissatisfied, incomplete, suffering some type of loss or missed opportunity? What is the overarching goal and underlying desperation of the customer?

What we must focus on is not the vast array of shiny objects. The focus must start and remain upon customers. Customer needs. Customer interests. Customer problems. Customer experience. Customer relations. Customer acquisition. Customer retention. Customer word of mouth. Customer service. Customer loyalty programs. Customer feedback. Customer conversations. Customer rewards.

We must get in the dirt and grime, the misery and hopes of customers. Then let that light, that insight into customers, guide our every subsequent move. Object selection will then be secure in market reality.

Social media consultants must assess the wide variety of social network marketing tools, know how to navigate them in a manner that is not annoyingly commercial or inappropriately personal, and which ones are key to the client's objectives.

One client may need to prioritize working an audience interactivity campaign in Twitter, GooglePlus, Reddit, and LinkedIn.

Another client may be better served by building first a strong presence in BlogTalkRadio, YouTube, and Pinterest.

GooglePlus is where your customers will want to be, just as is true with all web objects and internet properties, when your presence there provides great news, information, insight, discounts, interaction, friendship, and other value to the customer. That's what's hard about social media marketing: determining what to provide, or better, how to provide your expertise and solutions in a way that relates to the consumer and is easy to derive value from spending time there.

If your presence on a specific social network is all hype all the time, with no genuine interaction with community members, if you delegate or automate it all, you won't have a real personalized presence there.

People may be attracted to your brand and check it out, but after the initial burst of interest, participation will fall off and all you'll have is an echo chamber, broadcasting messages that nobody cares about, because you didn't prove you cared about them.

I generally advise people to begin with a website that does all the right things, and then a blog where the CEO, owner, manager, marketing department, or official staff blogger, some jubilant personality representing the company, becomes extremely approachable, neighborly, relaxed, and self-revealing. Not all business all the time, but also not unprofessionally personal (like expressing hot political opinions or self-congratulatory trivia others could not relate to).

The central hub of all client news, products, and information should be the twin properties of ecommerce website and corporate blog. The website needs a News page that features links to blog posts as they're published, while the blog should refer back to specific product pages in the ecommerce site when reviewing these products.

The website acts as the store front.

The blog is the inside circle, the interior office, the online customer service channel, the direct line to the boss, the inner sanctum of the presidency, the livingroom of the corporate suite -- where people are relaxed and get quick results. Comments get fast replies. Actions are taken on complaints. Help is given to solve problems.

At the website, customers see what you have and what you do.

In the blog, customers get to know you as a real, living, caring person and a distinct, differentiated professional of high standards and good practices.

The most shiny object of all must be the clear message of how the customer will benefit. Polish up how you present the driving idea behind your business: how you solve the customer problem effectively and economically.

A great solution at a fair price, with superior service. Tell customers what their bragging rights will consist of, using words derived from customer engagements in the store, office, or social networks.

Establishing the customer base in all its reality, and knowing the mission of the company in social media, what must be achieved and how it must be done, are the top priorities for strategy in social media marketing.

From these two torches of guidance radiate out all the ramifications and directions that impel our progress to increased sales and reinforced customer loyalty.

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Lack of Creativity in Hollywood Film Posters

2012-01-22T22:36:00.000-06:00

Here's another great example proving that if you're genuinely creative, you have almost no competition.

Alireza Yavari displayed this poster montage on a GooglePlus stream post, as part of his "Funny Trends in Designing Movie Posters".

These Hollywood film posters show a distinct style being repeated by competing movies.

Big heads in clouds and people walking along a beach.

That's the style and it's being used over and over again. Romance and adventure, longing and belonging, emotions and exotic locations. A visual theme that is imitated until it is truly trite, annoying, dull.

This is what happens when people want to work in a special field, but aren't qualified to do anything original. It's safe to do what everybody else is doing. Your boss may approve, if he or she is dull like you. But you won't stand out from the pack. Your work will sit there, boringly acceptable, tiresomely appropriate, unthinkingly faithful to the specifications of the project.

If your work looks like everybody else's work, you don't know what you're doing.

If you can't find something extraordinary about a product, it means you're mediocre yourself. There is always an undiscovered angle, a special anomaly, a differentiation that sets one thing apart from all the others.

By conveying the message "This is safe because it's very similar to what you already like", you may not increase sales as much as what can be achieved by communicating "This is similar to what you already like, but here's why it's different and why that difference makes this very special and exciting."

People may want what they already like, but many blockbuster products pave their own road to fame and fortune. They do something similar, but also different, and that difference must be captured, understood, and presented to the customer.

Familiarity coupled with Extraordinary.

That's a key to success in creativity.

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Astonish Your Customers or Lose Them

2012-01-19T01:06:00.003-06:00

Somebody started a Facebook page for IKEA customers who wanted IKEA to host a sleepover.

IKEA went to the trouble and expense of providing it. They know the value of insanely loyal and wildly enthusiastic customers.

Times are tough. It's not getting better, and it cannot get better. You must face the reality that business is going to get worse and worse until you eventually are ruined -- unless you take radical steps right now.

Thrill your customers with incredible events and mind-blowing service.

How? Ask them what they'd love to see you do. Let them be as imaginative as they want to be. Consider every suggestion. Look at what your competitors are doing. Study what other businesses are doing to please and amaze their customers.

Business during good times often seems like a party. You display your products, unlock the door, and shoppers arrive to spend money at your store. Everybody's happy, faces are smiling, wallets are opening, cash is flowing.

Not anymore.

Those days are over, probably never to return.

The golden age of modern commerce is done.

We're in a new environment now, one that is hostile to small business and sucking up to Wall Street banks and mega-corporations. If you're not in their league, you're doomed. And you know it. You see the writing on the wall. You need to get your act together like never before.

You will either start today to astonish your customers and be remarkable -- or starting right now, your business is going down, never to recover. It's your choice. Make your decision now and stick to it.

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Social Media Consulting

2012-01-14T02:07:00.003-06:00

When someone really understands a client's business, and has solutions for fixing what seems a bit less than fully functional, or enhancing and strengthening the best things that are already being done, it's like looking up at a chilly crisp sky and feeling a strong sense of purpose and promise.

To efficiently apply your expertise to a business problem, and then see how happy the client becomes, that's what the work is all about.

The project well done and super professional throughout.

A marketing sector masterfully entered and starting to see a trend toward dominating the category, as the top of mind choice for consumers.

Social marketing consultants vary greatly in their skills, experience, and technical savvy. Many will recommend many things, but only be able to personally produce a very limited range of marketing strategies and types of web content.

The client typically requires more than just chatting in a status update loop on several hot social networks. A good social media strategy must include a variety of content delivery modules: long-form blogging, micro-blogging, mobile networking, CEO videos, product demonstration videos, audio podcasts, photo galleries, and micro-market nichecasting.

All of which fall under the responsibility of the social media consultant, and preferably, will be accomplished or personally overseen by the consultant.

Armed with a good comprehension of the business, its products, target customer segments, and sales goals, you commit to specific goals, not just doing something in an unsophisticated though enthusiastic manner. The client wants to rest assured that the consultant is doing the right thing, in the right way, all the time.

Improvement in search engine rankings, increased store traffic, sales upsurges directly linked to social media marketing campaigns, and other objectives must be considered and used as quantifiable results in assessing the success of the consultant's work.

Once these goals are in order, the next in importance is for the client to grasp their level of responsibility for helping the project succeed. Sometimes this responsibility doesn't extend any further than occasionally evaluating your program, ensuring that the main thing remains the main thing, and keeping the project heading in the right direction.

A social media consultant is expected to rely on the client's periodic feedback to engender a confidence that the work is being done in a satisfactory and efficient manner, but even more so: that it's pointed at the exact goal now aimed at, which can change as a project grows, intensifies, and generates ramifications.

Social media must be played like a delicate instrument. Hit the wrong note, even just a few times, and your performance is pretty much over. Your intended audience that you intend to interact with must be accommodated and appeased.

It can be a challenge to get a CEO, or to act on his or her behalf, and still be normal without appearing too slack, to act like a regular person, a typical social network participant, who just happens to own or manage a business.

To behave in a relaxed manner, be a sincere, genuine, warm, caring, very human guy or gal, but also keep strict professional standards and never say anything that could be represented as being inappropriate, insensitive, or unprofessional.

What if accelerated interactions with customers on social networks results in too many customers coming into the store, so that your staff feels temporarily overwhelmed, not being accustomed to that much purchasing power pouring in that quickly?

What if people keep urging the client to get on a certain flavor of the month social media site, but there have been some dubious practices reported over there? What if it's all hype, with a lot of glitches, some unavailability, user dangers, or it's just of very uncertain value to the business?

Often the client clearly comprehends that some amount of assistance may be required, sporadically or consistently, in the form of assessments and guidance input, including answers to questions, responses to customer feedback, and similar interactions.

This compliance by the client to certain new, but mutually agreed upon, conditions and routines that have been duly established in keeping with the consultant's strategy and methodology must be acknowledged and accepted by both parties to the project, client and consultant.

The most effectively handled project loads derive from a good balance of client guidance and consultant research, taking what the sometimes changing or evolving needs of the client into consideration with outside studies of what the competition is doing and what the customer is starting to want.

To meet the changing needs of customers requires a merging of the consultant's expertise with the client's intimate knowledge of products, customers, and industry sector. Together, guided by an ever-increasing understanding of customer needs and interests, the business can thrive, while others are barely surviving.

Growth is possible, even in unfavorable economic conditions.

Let your customers be a primary source of information about how you're doing now, and how you can prepare to remain successful in the future.

This is where a good social media consultant steps in. Customer intelligence is vital and it's happening on social media. People are describing problems, specifying things they want, revealing their conditions and circumstances, and looking for solutions, or someone who can guide them to one.

Know it and show it.

Know what it is they're searching for, and the best way to supply it, and you've got yourself a market share. You can't help but win, even if you do a lot of things not so perfectly. A customer-centric online marketing strategy can separate the triumphant from the tried and giving up.

Having a solid, consistent, altruistic, not-always-commercial presence right where your customers like to hang out, this is the new marketing and it's getting more powerful and pervasive every day.

What's really nice is it's a lot less expensive, and easier to modify on-the-fly, than traditional media, some forms of which are rapidly declining.

It makes sense to use social media for competitive advantage. By the time your competitors really wake up and try to play catch-up, you'll already have the experience and results of social media marketing, occupying a position that will not be easy to usurp.

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YouTube Copyright Infringement and Average People

2012-01-13T23:53:00.007-06:00

It's not easy explaining to people why you refuse to upload videos to YouTube of a local musician doing cover songs. Here I am, protecting the musician from lawsuits -- in addition to protecting myself from lawsuits and having my YouTube account terminated -- but they think I'm the bad guy.

They see copyright infringement videos on YouTube. They think or assume or feel that you once recorded some cover songs by a musician friend. They are now angry at you for not uploading these video sessions to YouTube, and -- forgetting about, and not appreciating the legally displayable and distributable material that you have uploaded -- you are attacked for not uploading everything.

They want you to do what the law says you cannot do.

Mainly because they've seen other people violate the law and seem to get away with it.

It's similar to drunk driving. They know other people who drive intoxicated and never get busted for DUI. So, it's not fair, in their minds, that they should be arrested for drunk driving, or even be warned by concerned friends to not drive drunk.

Sure, they may see some unknown person in a kitchen doing a Beatles song on a YouTube video. "How come it's okay for him to do it?" they ask. "You're just depriving us of seeing our friend do Beatles and Bob Dylan songs on video. You're on the side of the censorship forces."

They don't realize that if they look for that video in 6 weeks, 6 months, or 3 years, it will probably have disappeared. Chances are, it won't stay on YouTube very long, I don't care how many cover song videos they find.

I tell them: "You yourself do a video of a cover song and upload it to YouTube, then see what happens. You don't even have to play guitar. Just sing or quote the lyrics in a video. It may be 6 months or 3 years, but eventually, they'll find it and demand you take it down, or pay for permission, or sue you."

I'm trying to comply with the harsh laws out there.

I try to explain that it's not my fault, these are not my own invented rules. This is federal law. Obama's Justice Department is involved. I tell them that DOJ is taking down entire websites, deemed to be infringing on recording industry copyright, and exact this punishment without warning, notice, or legal recourse on the part of the uploader or the provider of streaming material online.

You must own the rights to every tiny second of every video you upload, every nano-image, every flash of content. You must be the legally recognized composer and originator of each bit of sound or visual contained in your end product, your video presentation or film.

It is even getting risky using public domain music or film. Some big corporations are claiming ownership rights of film and music material that they don't legally have a right to, including what was generated by federal agencies with taxpayer money, according to some reports.

The average person doesn't understand any of this, and cares less. They have a desire. You almost fulfilled it entirely, and where you leave gaps in gratification, you are just being a jerk, and probably inconsistent about it, too.

In the average person's way of thinking, people should be able to upload videos of cover songs.

Why? Because they want to drink a lot of beer and watch their musician friend play music, anybody's music, his own or the Beatles and Bob Dylan, and nobody should prevent that from happening. It's what they want, it must be delivered to them.

They're not interested in the facts or the law. They're often the same people who do many questionable things, without fear or guilt, due to thinking they'll never get caught.

I'm depriving them of some enjoyment.

I'm the "bad guy".

LOL

Read more about what YouTube has to say about uploading videos and the copyright laws:

YouTube Copyright Tips

YouTube: What Happens if You Upload Infringing Content?

YouTube: Resources for YouTube Users

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Simple Plan for Business Survival

2012-01-12T15:50:00.002-06:00

I am pleased to meet you.

My name is Steven Streight.

I'm an internet marketing strategist and web content developer.

I specialize, in other words, in making a business look good, and also help and please customers, on the internet. Principles I apply to online community networks can also be adopted in the real world interactions between staff and customers.

Discovering what needs to be done, then immediately implementing finely-crafted solutions. That's my method. Finding out what you are needing to accomplish, then developing the tools and systems that will achieve the goal.

It's the content that separates winners from losers on the web. Relevant, trustworthy content related to your products and to problems your customers are trying to solve, plus rich interactions with customers online and in your place of business, will keep your company afloat in the stormiest economic seas.

I'm combative in a professional sense. Waging the war of the mind, fighting to make the client seen as the dependable, trustworthy, expert source of solutions, enhancements, need gratification in a product category or service field.

Using social media to interact in a fully human manner with customers and the local community, in pursuit of becoming the top of mind provider.

Positioning the business as, while demanding that it indeed in reality be, the go-to source of expertise, advice, news, analysis, and information -- along with good product at a fair price, supported by helpful staff, and superior service mixed with genuine friendliness and sincere caring.

Simple. Powerful. Proven.

Take the steps you need to take right now, before it's too late.

Contact me.

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Conquest and Challenge Syndrome why customer service is bad and loyalty low

2012-01-11T02:56:00.000-06:00

Walk into any store and see if you're noticed.

Look at a few products. Gather them up in your arms, then stand them next to each other on a table or countertop. Stare at them. Scratch your chin. Then your head.

Keeping picking up products and reading their packaging propaganda. Point at parts of the products like you're doing a presentation to an audience. Stamp your feet when you're feeling really frustrated.

Appear quizzical, confused, uncertain. Scurry around, unable to find an item which is not in a logical sector of the store. You'll know what the word alone can really mean.

You're on your own in many American business operations. Your wallet, appearing at frequent intervals, seems to be all that really matters. Your satisfaction and loyalty are given lip service. That's as far as it goes. No genuine concern for anything but success, or for some, simple survival.

You, as the customer, need to completely understand your own problem or desire. You must know the dollar amount of what you need to spend to get a good solution. You must know the exact product classification, brand, model, size, or amount that will meet your need.

Don't expect any highly trained, knowledgeable, or friendly staff to greet you, help you, answer your questions, or guide you to the best solution.

Here's where a company can gain a distinct competitive advantage. Using a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and GooglePlus to communicate with customers, advise them, mentor them, become the one with all the answers and a charming personality.

Respond quickly to the slightest movement of any social media participant toward you. Rapidly reply to every like, share, comment, direct message, question, compliment, and suggestion. Be sure to click like and share, and post comments, to other online community members.

Don't just receive attention. Give it. Act like an average person -- who just happens to be making a living with a business. Engage in acts of non-productive, non-sales oriented kindness. Unselfish altruism. Share your expertise. Explain a technicality in plain English. Recommend good links, books, videos, etc. by people you admire in your industry.

Post a quick, nice remark when a fan, follower, or friend in social media uploads a video or photo. It may be a video of a song they like, or a daughter or son's high school graduation photo. Say something pleasant. Avoid anything inappropriate, but be relaxed and in common person mode, with your tie slacked and your shirt sleeves rolled up.

Being warm, human, and personable on social media can be good training for your in-store work in this area. It can set the tone and pave the way to meat space interactions. Either way, you must start somewhere and get all your employees on board, no exceptions. One bad apple can ruin the whole program. Everybody must be in customer service mode at all times, even when contact with customers is not expected.

Customer service needs to be vastly improved, both online and in your place of business. Concentrate on getting across this plan of improved customer relations in your social networks, website, YouTube, and other internet presences. Additionally, you need to focus on better customer relations in phone conversations and face-to-face interactions at your store or office.

Exceptions to poor service are memorable because they're so rare. Good service and after-sales support is being done with brilliant implementation in a lot of smart, successful companies.Customers will sometimes rave about really great service when they experience it.

Unfortunately, more typically, they tend to widely distribute their sour critiques of lousy service. People like to complain and get angry about stuff, especially personal injustices. They gush out with great zeal their dreadful customer relations nightmare. This gloomy tale is told even to strangers, their drive to unburden themselves of the insulting situation is so strong.

Somehow telling the bad story to others, in person, on the phone, in email, or in social networks, makes it seem a load that is communally shared, and oh brother, something is shared alright: negative buzz about your business.

Why is it that customer service is not really regarded, in practice, as a key to business success and survival?

Why are there so few books published on this topic of customer relations, while there are tons of books on sales, entrepreneurs, start-ups, management, networking, social media, brand building, digital media, and marketing?

It's the Conquest and Challenge Syndrome.

All that matters is conquest (sales, the plundering of your bank account). Once an individual is conquered, it is assumed that repeat victories will automatically occur, without any effort by the business owner, manager, or CEO. So you forget about the recent conquest, lured by the excitement of the next challenge.

In other words, once a person is conquered, becomes a conquest, he or she is no longer challenging. Of no interest anymore. Worthy only of a special discount coupon once in a while or a free in-store sample.

They move from conquest to challenge. The challenge becomes a conquest, and on it goes. Ever pursuing that new challenge, until it's converted into a conquest, a sale, an exchange of money from customer to store.

It's like the guy who is unfaithful to his current girlfriend because he's already looking for the next one, while assuming he can enjoy the benefits of the current love interest until he finds a new woman. Conquest, then move on to the next challenge.

What makes it worse is that customer acquisition, the conquest or conversion of a stranger into a paying customer, this whole process is typically delegated to advertising, marketing, and public relations.

"If we sit around and wait for our promotions to work, they will come" seems to be the slogan underlying this inertia. Let the print ads, TV commercials, website, and radio jingles bring us new customers.

People aren't stupid. They make mental notes on how a business treats them. One bad experience can negate a lifetime of great relations with a business. One colossal instance of disrespect. One garish example of getting ripped off. One lie. One time-consuming, frustrating, wild goose chase to get something done.

Customers love to share with everybody, even strangers sometimes, angry tales of bad customer services.

People have feelings, not just wallets. They don't want to be ignored, unappreciated, assumed. Business owners assume those who want the product and know about the store will eventually find their way there.

If you think having the right products at a good price, plus a lot of expensive advertising and occasional discounts and special events, are going to obtain and retain customers, you're wrong. It's not enough. It's a big mistake to lean on externals and the extraordinary.

Be friendly, helpful, customer-centric right there in the store or business location. Face to face contact is where the real marketing occurs. The moment the customer walks into your building, or visits your website, that's when sales begins and customer service kicks in. Before they even buy something, your treatment of the customer is felt, sensed, and seen.

From the minute any contact is made with any employee, customer relations has started to burn a "brand" into the consciousness of the consumer. This mental "branding" is far more important than any brand campaign cooked up to push a framework and motivation onto a customer.

The impression your staff makes on each customer is what builds the momentum of word of mouth and online buzz. Your advertising cannot combat the real world experiences of store traffic or customer assistance programs. Eventually, the truth will get out, and your slogans will be laughed at, if not despised.

As CEO, business owner, or manager, you need to provide the model of ideal sales and ideal customer service. You set the example, then enforce the standards your business must strive for to attract new customers, increase sales, and retain loyal advocates, who, as satisfied customers, are happy to find a business that really cares.

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Computer Clubs vs Social Media

2012-01-10T20:39:00.006-06:00

Has social media entirely replaced computer clubs? I'm not sure. But social networks can supplement computer user groups and robot hobbyist organizations.

Someone on GooglePlus, a social media site, it was a certain Chris Pirillo (catch my interview with Chris Pirillo on my Blog Talk Radio show) asked the question: "Do you belong to a computer club?".

Some people chimed in with their opinion that people do on social networks what they used to do in real world computer clubs, only it's faster, easier, and more convenient now to update their status and grind out content on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and GooglePlus.

Computer clubs can have appropriate names.

* Detroit Perl Mongers

* Central Illinois Robotics Club

* Metro Detroit Linux Users Gropu

* Older Persons Center Computer Club

* Southeastern Michigan Computer Organization

* Central Illinois Apple and Macintosh Users Group (CIAMUG)

Of course, this all goes back to the band of outsiders who brought us the first personal computers, the Homebrew Computer Club.

According to Wikipedia:

[QUOTE]

This was an early computer hobbyist users' group in Silicon Valley, which met (under that name) from March 5, 1975 to December 1986. Several very high-profilehackers and IT entrepreneurs emerged from its ranks, including the founders of Apple Inc.

Though the Homebrew members were hobbyists, most of them had an electronic engineering or programming background. They came to the meetings to talk about the Altair 8800 and other technical topics and to exchange schematics and programming tips.

From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Bob Marsh, George Morrow, Adam Osborne,Lee Felsenstein (wielder of "the big stick", a blackboard pointer used as a prop for his form of moderation), and Apple founders Steve Jobsand Steve Wozniak. John Draper was also a member of the club, as was Jerry Lawson, creator of the first cartridge-based video game system. Ron Jones (Crashed Platter Products and other small businesses) and Jerry Lawson were the only African-American members of the club.[5]

The Homebrew Computer Club's newsletter was one of the most influential forces in the formation of the culture of Silicon Valley. Created and edited by its members, it initiated the idea of the Personal Computer, and helped its members build the original kit computers, like the Altair. One such influential event was the publication of Bill Gates's Open Letter to Hobbyists, which lambasted the early hackers of the time for pirating commercial software programs.

The first issue of the newsletter was published on March 15, 1975, and continued through several designs, ending after 21 issues in December 1977.

[END QUOTE]

I happen to know the Chief Facilitator of the Peoria Area Robot and Computer Appreciation Association (PARCAA), pronounced "par kay", a group that is far deeper and more complex than the club name might suggest to the outsider.

They are active in digital rights of web users, corporate accountability for customer data, demonstrating new gadgets and accessories, opinionated about haptic immersive technology, hopping rides on the interplanetary internet, and often drinking coffee from budget brands Yuban, Walgreens Nice, and Eight O'Clock, to the more upscale Kupi Luwak, Los Planes, St. Helena, Rwanda Blue Bourbon, Fazenda Sao Benedito, Dallmayr Prodomo, Zanzibar Liberica, and Monkey Parchment.

None of them use social media, preferring email, video chat, or QR code communications planted on flyers posted physically on pre-determined objects in the university campus area, where you scan the code and see a message or video presentation.

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Loopmasters gives astonishing customer service

2011-12-27T15:09:00.002-06:00

Loopmasters -- my favorite source of music production loops and samples for my Str8 Sounds projects -- gives 3 huge 200 MB loop package zip files as Christmas gifts this year ... and I've never bought a single product from Loopmasters.

I've just registered at their website and downloaded a free sample introductory package, plus tons of free sample loops every time a new loop package is made available.

They create about 6 new products each week. I get an email message with links to each new loop package. When I log in to the site, I can download free loops from each new package.

I have previously purchased all my loop packages from Sony ACID and have been very pleased with them. But now Loopmasters is luring me into their realm, enticing me with gifts, and convincing me to start buying loop packages from them. They are vastly more productive than Sony, pumping out a lot more product. Sony has about 3 new loop package per month. Loopmasters offers about 10 per week.

A few days ago, Loopmasters emailed me a 200 MB zip file called "Loops of Christmas Past". Today I received "Loops of Christmas Present". On December 31, they said they'd send me "Loops of Christmas Future".

These are not loops of Christmas music sounds like jingle bells, these are kick-ass dancehall burning bits of drums, percussion, sound FX, bass, synth melodies, and other hot sounds you can mix into your music creations.

Even though I have not actually paid them a single penny yet, I am treated like some major big spending customer! I mean, this is shocking. Most companies treat customers like crap. Most companies act like they expect you to be loyal and buy a lot, but won't lift a finger to deserve it.

Loopmasters is my favorite company for 2011.

They are generous and treat even the least profitable, non-paying customer like gold. They not only sell music production loop packages, they also provide great information about mixing and other production topics in their blog.

For example, this post: "10 Ways to Dirty Up Your Sounds"

What's more, on their website, at the bottom of the home page, they link to industry sites like Computer Music magazine, product hubs like Sonic State, and various DAW sites. It's easy to see that they want to be of maximum service to the computer musician, digital recording artist, and professional DJ communities.

Loopmasters does product innovation, customer service, free samples, and blogging in a superior, professional, and memorable manner.

If you make computer-based music in a digital audio workstation (DAW) environment like Sony ACID, Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Reason, Cakewalk, or Audacity, you should check out this premiere provider of royalty-free sounds.

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Merry Modern Christmas to all

2011-12-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

Let's be thankful for the Christmas message: peace to the earth and good will to all. A savior has been born to rescue us from the forces of darkness, violence, and despair. A man who was more than mere man. A being who can heal and astonish and redeem.

Creativity itself became a little baby and lived a life of poverty and blessing so we could be citizens of heaven.

Innovation. Art. Success. Love. Joy. Productivity. Think outside the box by being outside the box. Put a new twist on what you do, in ways that will benefit and delight others.

Be extra-ordinary, over-achieving, super-celestial, hyper-fantastic in every single detail. Thrive by helping others survive. Triumph by enabling others to succeed.

Radiate the best that is in you and increase in goodness and truth. Ascend to the highest heights of glory and majesty by remaining humble in selfless service to all.

Christmas Gift to You 15 FREE Online Tools

2011-12-23T20:50:00.011-06:00

Merry Christmas to all.

As this year's Christmas present to my online friends and fans, here are 15 of my favorite, some of them formerly top secret, valuable, useful FREE online tools.

Plus FREE downloadable 320 kbps MP3s of two recently produced songs by Str8 Sounds: "Christian Meditation" and "New Heaven New Earth" -- from the CD "Music for the End Times".

15 of My Favorite FREE Online Tools

(1) YouTube to MP3 Converter

http://www.youtube-mp3.org/

(2) QR Code Generator by Delivr

http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator

(3) Internet Archive and Way Back Machine

http://www.archive.org/

(4) AT&T Natural Voice Text to Speech Converter

http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

(5) Loopmasters

http://www.loopmasters.com/home

(6) ɹǝpunoɹɐ ɹǝddıךɟ ʇxǝʇ

http://pzyko.de/textflip/

(7) BankRate Mortgage Calculator

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-calculator.aspx

(8) Math.com Basic Calculator

http://www.math.com/students/calculators/source/basic.htm

(9) Sound Dogs

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects.asp

(10) TinyChat

http://tinychat.com/

(11) ShoutCast Internet Radio

http://www.shoutcast.com/

(12) JetAudio

http://www.jetaudio.com/

(13) WFMU Free Music Archive

http://freemusicarchive.org/

(14) Canadian Electroacoustic Community (free CD mp3s)

http://cec.sonus.ca/cd/index.html

http://cec.sonus.ca/

(15) Looperman

http://www.looperman.com/

BONUS: MediaFire

http://www.mediafire.com/index.php

Christian Meditation by str8sounds

Click on the down arrow in the players to download the FREE 320 kbps MP3s to your hard drive.

New Heaven New Earth by str8sounds

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Chris Pirillo Customer Service Nightmare at Target VIDEO

2011-12-22T14:06:00.002-06:00

This video fits in nicely, being published one day after my latest blog post "7 Essential Tips on Improving Customer Service", which itself is a precursor or foretaste of my upcoming article for InterBusiness Issues magazine, entitled "Customer Service: The Achilles Heel of American Business."

I love Chris Pirillo's style of video ranting. He is a very popular geek personality. I interviewed Chris recently on my Blog Talk Radio program: Streight interviews Chris Pirillo, boy genius.

I agree about talking on the phone. I hate it. Especially, as he says, when it's an online problem you're trying to solve.

His list of things he shops for (food items, items for my home, geeky things, goods and services) made me laugh. Like Chris had to explain what he shops for, to prove he is indeed a consumer.

Business owners hope for a miracle, rather than be self-aware and analyze what they're doing wrong.

Check out Chris Pirillo on YouTube.

Check out Chris Pirillo on GooglePlus.

SOPA as Hypocritical Scheme to Control the Internet VIDEO

2011-12-21T17:53:00.003-06:00

The companies who support the idiotic SOPA bill are the same companies that distributed and promoted the file sharing software and encouraged piracy. Michael Mozart explains this scam that our lawmakers are falling for like dopes.

#1 culprit is CBS/Viacom.

.

7 Essential Tips on Improving Customer Service

2011-12-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

In the year 2012 that we are rapidly approaching, we must get perfect in customer service -- or perish.

Perfect customer service?

Of course. What other kinds are there? In the minds of your customers, service is bipolar. It's either great or it's horrible. Very rarely is customer service considered okay or merely adequate. People tend to rave happily about a business -- or complain bitterly. There's almost no neutral ground.

Customer service is the Achille's heel of American business. That's where the vast majority of your competitors are vulnerable. Most of them refuse to even consider how to perfect their relationships with customers. Arrogance, deficiency in self-awareness, lack of marketing savvy, fear of change, fear of confronting mediocre employees, and passively hoping for a miracle are responsible for much of this inertia.

The prevailing ideology seems to be: provide desirable products at a good price. Why is it then that this business model is failing? Why are so many customers disgruntled? Why are customers running off to each new competitor that sets up shop in their community? Why are customers lacking in loyalty and sluggish about telling their friends about a company?

Here are some basic, fundamental insights into how you can enhance your customer service to gain a competitive advantage and ensure the survival and growth of your business.

On a personal note, as a marketing consultant and web content provider, I take these recommendations seriously and strive to implement them in my own business.

7 Essential Tips on
Improving Customer Service

(1) Know thyself -- how do you really feel about customers?

Ask yourself if you really, sincerely, deeply care about your customers in the first place. Are they just wallets that you hope will open and from which cash and plastic money springs forth?

Or do you really sympathize with the needs, hopes, dreams, and desires of the people who shop at your store or pay you for your services?

(2) Know your products -- how are customers really using them?

Don't assume that because you know the product description and stats, you understand the needs these products are fulfilling. You might be astonished at the actual reasons why people buy a particular product, or what they really do with it and how they personally feel about the product.

You don't understand products by talking to vendors, viewing TV commercials, studying brochures, or reading catalog copy. The only way to truly comprehend what a product means to a customer is to do some customer research.

One way to accomplish this research is to simply get out by the cash registers and ask some customers how they plan to use a product or what they like about it. Most customers will feel flattered that the boss, owner, manager, or CEO is actually asking for their opinions and showing interest in their feelings.

(3) Know your customers -- by talking with them in person.

Do you spend much time talking with customers? Do you try to get to know their needs and what they're trying to accomplish through the purchase of products? Or do you hide in your office in the back of the store or company headquarters? Could you sketch out a realistic composite description of a typical customer, what their average age, income, education, experiences, philosophy, mood, lifestyle, family is like?

(4) Know your customers -- by interacting with them on social media.

Go beyond just setting up social network profiles and fan pages. Get in there and click on Like and Share buttons. Post comments on other people's status updates. Reply personally to comments on your page.

Do NOT just delegate these duties to an outside consultant, an intern, a designated employee, or your internal marketing staff. They may be speaking and interacting on your behalf, which is what you're paying them to do, but they need you to set an example now and then. Would it kill you to step in from time to time and speak in your own voice and share your thoughts, your expertise, or your industry savvy?

(5) Know your competitors -- check out what they're doing to satisfy customers.

Go to the websites of your competitors. Do they suck? Are they ugly, dysfunctional, difficult to use and to navigate? Are there no photos of the staff? Do the sites seem cold, aloof, uncaring, boring?

Go to the blogs of your competitors. Are they consistently providing interesting information? Are they sharing expertise and insights? Or are they just hyping and pushing sales messages over and over?

Go to the stores or business offices of your competitors. Are you treated like a friend or a wallet? Do you feel welcome? Does the staff treat you with respect and joy? Or are you treated like a nuisance?

What are your competitors doing to satisfy customers? Are there any ideas that you could use and adapt to your own business? Are there any blind spots you can take advantage of? Any lessons, positive or negative, to be learned from how your competitors treat customers?

(6) Know your staff -- are they conscientious and continually in training?

How good are your employees when it comes to satisfying customers and treating them properly? Do you spend the time necessary to observe them or test them? Do you tolerate bitter, surly, careless employees, or do you have a high standard of service that is constantly and fairly enforced?

Do you have some employees that do their job, but without joy, without caring much about the customers or products, without trying to remain kind and helpful at all times? Do your employees really know enough to assist customers in solving problems and picking the right product for their purposes?

Training should be perpetually ongoing to some degree. It can cost you nothing. There are so many tutorials and informative blogs and free training sites online, you can easily assign training material to your staff, then test them on it.

Buy them books on topics related to your field, and make them write book reports or take a quiz on the information contained in the books.

Give them special projects in sales training, industry expertise, competitive analysis, and product knowledge. Make it mandatory. Weed out the slackers and the mediocre, the disrespectful dolts and the indifferent clock watchers.

Help your dedicated employees to keep progressing in their understanding of your general field of service and in the nuts and bolts of what you sell.

(7) Know your impact on employees -- set a good, imitated example.

Don't just mandate better customer service. Show your employees how it's done. Be the shining role model they expect you to be. Meet a customer need, right there on the sales floor where everyone can watch it happen. Make a big sale. Welcome a new customer. Congratulate a current customer on going with a great product choice.

Make small talk chit chat with people as they enter your business. Crack a few jokes. Ask some pertinent questions. Express genuine interest in customers, their families, their occupation, their hobbies, and their needs that are related to what you sell.

Your goal should be to replicate your own zeal, compassion, enthusiasm, and knowledge in each person who works for you, as you yourself keep surpassing your own achievements and savvy.

CONCLUSION: Keep these tips in mind and you'll be well on your way to superior customer service, perfecting it on an ongoing, deeply committed basis.

You'll benefit from a startling increase in customer loyalty, increased sales, and new customer acquisition.

Against Sticky Websites and the Facebook Timeline Rollout

2011-12-15T16:28:00.001-06:00

Someone said today on GooglePlus that, in spite of all the hostility and backlash toward Facebook's rolling out their intrusive, invasive, non-permission based Timeline and Ticker garbage, at least these nefarious, diabolical spyware gimmicks might increase the "stickiness" of Facebook.

Facebook is a Web Disease. A minefield of rogue apps, malware, phishing exploits, spammy game invites, stalkers, predators, and identity theft. Who wants that mess to be sticking like bad gum on the shoes of your web surfing?

Web users have tasks to accomplish. They are not seeking sites that hold them, imprison them, confine or corral them like cattle, detaining them needlessly. They don't want to spend a lot of time on any website. They want to get something done, then go elsewhere. Website design should facilitate this.

The concepts of "stickiness" and "sticky websites" is a horrible, old fashioned, outmoded concept. It hearkens back to the Web 1.0 days when all you could do is stare at a web page and maybe buy some junk. There was little to no interaction. Companies didn't want to listen to any input, suggestions, questions, complaints, or feedback from customers. They had a message to shout at you and products to sell. They cared about nothing else.

They wanted their ecommerce or corporate fluff sites to be "sticky", meaning you were stuck there, like in a trap, even though it was mostly irrelevant, boring, and We-oriented.

But the purpose of web design is to help the user ignore most of the content, to zero in, to focus on what is immediately relevant, a piece of information, a task, a tool that meets a current need -- and then move on to other things.

"Welcome to our website!!! Look around, enjoy yourself, hang out." was the stupid message that greeted users on old fashioned corporate fluff websites. Sometimes they even disabled the Back button, to force people to "stick around" like they had nothing better to do.

If Facebook is hoping that the Frictionless (non-permissive, invasive) Sharing of the Timeline and Ticker are going to keep people on Facebook longer, luxuriating in all the idiotic trivia of other people's every move and motion, they're dead wrong.

The new Timeline and Ticker are designed to collect more data, to track your every move on the internet, and then sell that information to advertisers and organizations who will use it to exploit you.

These gimmicks are some of the last, desperate gasps of a dying and rotten web platform, a social media that is really a surveillance trap.

We will be so happy when Facebook finally dies and disappears off the face of the internet.

Long live GooglePlus.

Small Business Failure Checklist

2011-12-03T05:27:00.002-06:00

As the economy continues to decline, with horrible Federal Reserve policies, turmoil in the Middle East, and the financial collapse of the European Union contributing to the uncertainty, there are some simple things you can do to protect your business.

One of the worst attitudes you can have is to just hope that the economy improves, so customers will start buying more product off your shelves. This is a common practice with small business owners. Instead of making tough decisions, they prefer to just fret and complain and hope for a miracle.

To make the necessary business survival steps more vivid, let's view them from the negative angle: what to do to make sure your company goes bankrupt.

Small Business Failure Checklist

* Just hope that the economy improves -- and customers magically start spending more money in your store.

* Blame your sales slump on the competition -- and hope they fail so you don't have to do anything to improve what you're doing.

* Keep ordering more product, and cluttering your store with things nobody cares about, rather than determining which products are selling best, and focusing on them.

* Scatter your product categories all over the store, rather than grouping them together, so that when a customer is shopping for a specific category, they won't see all the alternatives and options in one place, but have to hunt and hope they found everything available.

* Purchase whatever your vendors suggest, trusting them to be concerned with your best interests rather than their own profits.

* Don't exhibit products based on the change of seasons, holidays, news stories, internet buzz, trends in the industry, focus groups, surveys, customer suggestions, competitive maneuvers, or any other data -- just leave things alone and hope for the best.

* Don't have daily morning inspirational briefings with your staff, to keep them excited and informed.

* Don't talk to customers to find out how you could improve your operation.

* Don't ask your staff for ideas on how to improve things, because then they might start thinking you're not an all-knowing being with godlike powers and unquestionable authority.

* Trust the media salesmen who want you to keep buying advertising on radio, TV, and newspapers, but don't provide statistics on how effective these media buys are for you.

* Delegate social media strategy to employees who have no business education or proven marketing skills.

* Treat your customers the same way you always have, without looking for ways to reach out to them in creative, innovative ways.

* Ignore what your competitors are doing to meet customer needs, stick your head in the sand, and continue to hope those methods will fail, because you don't want to change anything you're doing.

* Never tie in with holidays, just hope that customers will come to you for their holiday needs, even though you don't decorate your store appropriately, provide holiday-oriented products, or offer holiday-oriented discounts.

* Remodel your store but refrain from remodeling your sales staff with good motivational material.

* Don't bother training your staff, even with free material they can view on the internet, because people don't like homework or exerting themselves to save their jobs or keep their employer prosperous.

* Don't have any gift card programs to reward customers for usable testimonials, because you just don't care about investing in genuine, customer-generated marketing.

* Ignore any marketing ideas from employees or outside consultants, because you know everything, and how dare they suggest there might be something you could learn.

* Don't use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, QR codes, or any new technology to promote your business -- because you don't want people to think you are keeping pace with modern methods and strategies.

* Ignore the reality of online sales, cell phone shopping, partnering with other local businesses, and local search -- since these emerging trends are confusing and you are too busy shuffling papers around on your desk.

* Don't provide a Suggestion Box in your store, with note paper and pens, or if you do, don't bother reading the suggestions.

* Delegate social media work to someone, then stay away from it, don't jump in from time to time with your own remarks and content, because you're paying someone else to represent you, and you don't want to present your own thoughts to online community members.

* Ignore changes in the market place -- if your competitors are selling hot wings and pizza, you don't have to do so, because why worry about what customers want or expect?

* Strut around like a big deal and treat employees and vendors like slaves or nobodies -- after all, you are highly exalted and superior to everybody else.

* Don't educate your customers about how you are different and better than your competitors -- just assume they already know this and don't need any reminders.

* Don't help your customers choose the product best suited for their needs -- just display product and hope they select what they need without any assistance from you or your staff.

* Don't confront any employee who comes in late all the time, is rude to customers, wastes time on the job, has a bad attitude, violates company policy, or spends too much time on personal activities -- who cares about excellence or company morale?

* Just push product on social media, rather than sharing expertise, personal interests, funny anecdotes, company history, product selection and comparison tips, human warmth, genuine interactions with social media participants, or non-commercial content.

* Stay in the back of the store, in your office, with the door closed -- why get out and mingle with customers or provide a salesmanship role model for your staff?

* Don't promote your blog, ecommerce site, or social media web addresses aggressively with the URLS printed on business cards, tee shirts, coffee mugs, pens, hand-outs, or signs in the store -- just hope customers find your online presences by magic or luck.

If you follow these simple tips, that require no brains or effort, I guarantee your business will close within 6 to 12 months. Trust me. I've seen it happen, but I refrain from naming names to protect the ignorant.

:^)

InterBusiness Issues articles by Steven Streight

2011-11-30T01:42:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to some of my articles published in InterBusiness Issues: Steven Streight on InterBusiness Issues.

I am currently wrapping up a new article, "GooglePlus Invades the Social Media Scene", for the January 2012 issue.

Audience Reactions vs Inner Vision

2011-11-11T01:16:00.000-06:00

Which is the Best Audience Reaction?

(1) Audience is skyrocketing in wild popularity and raving ecstatically about how great your content is.

(2) Audience is steadily growing and somewhat pleased with your content.

(3) Audience numbers are modest, slightly increasing, and mildly approving of your content.

(4) Audience is holding steady, with mixed reactions, or general indifference, to your content.

(5) Audience is declining, with growing negativity toward your content.

(6) What audience? Universal contempt or apathy toward your content.

What do you think about these 6 common reactions of an audience?

Which reaction would motivate you the most to generate high quality content?

Which reaction would make you feel that your work was important, relevant, and may have enduring value?

Which reaction would you be most proud of?

Which reaction would increase your feeling of legitimacy, worth, and self-esteem?

Which reaction is ideal?

Which reaction would make it all seem worthwhile and would spur you on to greater and greater achievements?

ANSWER = None of the above.

Audience reactions are important only when selling product. Your marketing must appeal to and please your customers. Or when you're running for political office. Or trying to get a date.

Your personal output, self-expressive art or philosophical musings, should not be tied to any external standards of popularity vs obscurity. Your work must not be influenced by public approval and disapproval.

You should build a body of work and keep improving it and expanding it, according to your own vision, goals, and standards.

If nobody likes it, if everybody hates it, that should not matter in the slightest. In some cases, it may mean your work is horrible, ugly, destructive, or irrelevant, and you should consider examining your vision, standards, and goals.

If everybody loves it, if all people praise it, that should be more annoying than satisfying.

Universal admiration should make you wonder if your work is too mainstream, too similar to what's already popular, too safe, too trendy, too mediocre, or too much in tune with the vulgar, violent, and perverse interests of the masses and not representing any threat or critique of ruling powers.

But in most cases, indifference and hostility are the hallmarks of innovation or prophecy.

Biblical prophets, for example, were generally proclaiming unpleasant realities, antagonistic rebukes, and stern warnings.

Prophets were killed, not adored. Only many years later did the hypocrites erect monuments to the dead prophets, in an attempt to transfer the credibility of the prophets, proven right by history, to themselves.

As long as you feel good about what you're doing, keep at it.

As long as your content is a good representation of your expertise or ideals, don't give up.

As long as you know within yourself that your work could be of value to others, if someday it is discovered, understood, and correctly implemented, continue grinding it out.

Producing content is good for you, no matter who loves or hates it. By not giving up, you increase your own tenacity and reinforce the idea of working without reliance on external support.

Just creating quality work can be its own reward.

When the applause or rotten tomatoes come, and they probably will eventually, be steeled against caring one way or another.

Praise and support can sometimes be more destructive than ridicule and opposition, especially when the adoration is insincere and manipulative.

Let your work exist in and for itself. If it remains in perpetual obscurity, be happy knowing that your talent and specialty keep improving day by day.

Luke 6:26 "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

Glass Half Full or Half Empty or

2011-11-08T20:55:00.006-06:00

How Would You Describe a Glass Containing Water Up to the Midway Level?

(1) half full (said the optimist)

(2) half empty (said the pessimist)

(3) twice as big as it needs to be (said the engineer)

(4) too far for me to reach it (said the cynic)

(5) full of irrelevance (said the drowning man)

(6) full of pollution (said the paranoid)

(7) a new source of tax revenue (said the socialist)

(8) a profit opportunity (said the capitalist)

(9) a free drink anyone can claim (said the anarchist)

(10) poor customer service (said the consumer advocate)

(11) since it's on our table, it's something to which we can affix a hidden surcharge (said the bank)

(12) the property of The Proletariat, which the Party shall now confiscate (said the Communist)

(13) another random event generated by chance operations (said the atheist)

(14) something to give to the thirsty poor (said the Christian)

(15) a manifestation of nirvana and result of molecular karma (said the Buddhist)

(16) full -- 50% water and 50% air (said the pragmatist)

(17) a dream come true (said the cotton-mouthed pot smoker)

(18) it should be beer (said the guy in the pub) [Contributed by +Matthew Wilkinson ]

(19) not my fault (said the politician)

(20) pretty (said the artist) [Contributed by +John Lewis ]

(21) a rip-off (said the accountant)

(22) assault (said the lawyer)

(23) the exact right amount of water for my needs (said the diplomat)

(24) part of my hush-money golden parachute? (asked the CEO)

.

Brands Do Nothing

2011-10-30T00:10:00.000-05:00

You often hear "brands have the power to change society" or "brands make life more meaningful" or "brands connect with consumer passions" or "brands are now more interactive with consumers".

But...that's crazy talk.

Brands are something, but they do nothing.

A brand is simply a collection of slogans, color schemes, logos, trademarks, identity demarcations, and emotional appeals to a targeted audience. A brand is what is applied to a product, or line of products, in hopes of attracting more attention, enhancing mental positioning, and increasing customer loyalty.

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name."

The brand provides no benefits to the customer. It's the product that solves a problem, meets a need. confers bragging rights (inflate the ego and impress peers), or enhances a lifestyle. The branding is just the whistles and bells that are added to the message about the product.

The Coca Cola brand does not help the customer. The Coca Cola brand helps Coca Cola generate interest in theoretically thirsty consumers. It's the actual Coca Cola product that quenches thirst, not the brand.

When an agency or consultant says they "do branding" for a company, it basically just means they integrate all the company's marketing efforts for consistency and relevance to the target audience.

As I've stated many times, the real "branding" of a product is what occurs when the value of the product is "burned" into the consciousness and memory of a customer when they use the product to solve a problem, meet a need, confer bragging rights (inflate the ego and impress peers), or enhance a lifestyle.

My definition is reinforced by this Wikipedia entry:

"The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity — it affects the personality of a product, company or service. It is defined by a perception, good or bad, that your customers or prospects have about you.

...People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique."

But a brand is just an aura surrounding a product and it may not be realistic, true, or genuine. It may be deceptive, contrived, or gimmicky.

A product has no intrinsic "personality". All it can do is appeal to and try to fit in with the personality and milieu of the customer who incorporates the product into their life.

There is no "sad soda pop" targeted to depressed people, for example. But the branding of a soda pop may try to make it look as though successful people who are happy and having fun tend to prefer Soda Pop X, and don't you want to join them? Then buy Soda Pop X.

Nobody wants to experience or interact with a brand. They want to identify with a product that symbolizes or represents certain qualities the customer wishes to have transferred to him, or that he really does have. The brand simply attempts to communicate those desirable qualities of the product, and that's all.

A brand does not sponsor a charity event. The company does. A brand does not engage in activism. The employees do. A brand does not engage in interactions with people on social media. The marketing department or intern or PR staff or product spokesperson or media consultant does.

Enough with all this silly talk. No more attributing magical powers to the abstract entity known as the brand.

If product sales are declining, or you want to reach new markets, don't work exclusively on the brand. Get to know what the customer needs, expectations, and interests are, modify or position the product as the solution, and then tweak the branding efforts.

But the connection must be made between the product reality and the customer reality.

Microsoft Windows 7 epic share COMMERCIAL

2011-10-21T23:29:00.002-05:00

This is Windows 7 commercial from Microsoft, called "Epic Share", is one of my favorite TV commercials of all time.

Why?

(1) It's short, yet packs a lot of information and product benefit into a tiny amount of time.

(2) I love and make techno music.

(3) It shows a family together having fun in the home.

(4) It tells a compact, concise story that communicates value to people.

(5) It shows how easy it is to perform a desired function (videotaping a dad dancing silly to a techno song, transferring the video to a PC, and watching on social media, in a private share (selected friends, not total public) mode, it just seconds after dad's performance).

(6) It promotes safe use of social media.

(7) It doesn't rely on sex or violence to sell a product.

I searched YouTube for this specific TV commercial. First I searched "Microsoft Windows 7 Commercial" but I got page after page of fan videos and parody videos that were home-made and not official Microsoft commercials.

When I searched YouTube for just "Microsoft Windows 7", I saw a lot of tech pundit videos and various tutorials. Not what I wanted.

So I decided to search YouTube with "Microsoft channel" as the key phrase, then found and went to the official Microsoft channel. There, at the top of the list. was the commercial for which I was looking.

I'm so happy to see Microsoft providing embed code so fans of Microsoft, or fans of this particular commercial, can post it on their own blogs, thus giving Microsoft free promotion.

Why is embed code vital for making videos go viral, making them become super popular, and getting your message, art, or expertise to a wider audience? Because you can promote your video yourself to a certain extent, but you amplify and magnify the promotion by tapping into passionate fans, when you make video embed code available.

I am a big advocate of this practice of enabling fans to embed TV commercials -- and I cannot understand why any corporation would not put their TV commercial videos both on their own website and on YouTube.

See my article "Making TV Commercials Go Viral via Embed Code".

Thanks to anonymous comment posters for tracking down the music of the 2nd song used in this video, as follows:

Falcon - The Born by HonorRoll

Falcon is a producer. Honor Roll Music is a production house.

"The Born" was created by Falcon for Honor Roll Music and licensed to Microsoft for use in the Microsoft Epic Share commercial.
.

Brands are For Cow Hides, Use Social Media to Humanize

2011-10-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

A brand is a symbol of a ranch that is burned into the hide of cattle to identify that cattle as legally belonging to that ranch. Once a cow has been branded, it is a crime for some other ranch to capture that cow, add it to their herd, and claim it as their own.

People are not cattle. Consumers aren't looking to have a company's mark burned painfully into their skin.

There is a "brand" of sorts that is burned into the customer: how well the product achieves the goal of satisfying the customer's need. When the customer uses the product to fulfill the purpose for which it was purchased, to solve a problem or enhance a lifestyle, the result is "burned" like a brand into the mind, the consciousness of that customer.

Companies have to stop thinking of themselves as "brands", as something they burn into the skin of consumers as a mark. They are not a "brand", a frenzied mess of symbolic gestures and catchy slogans, dreamed up in ad agency conference rooms.

A company is a collection of people who have produced a product that (hopefully) meets the needs of other people. As such, as concerned individuals, they then interact with those people who potentially could benefit from their expertise and from their product.

That's how a company, or company spokesperson, must behave in social media. Not pushing product, product, product. Not flooding the online community with sales messages, discount coupons, and aggressive hype. Not dropping marketing bombs then zooming away.

Nobody joins social media to receive relentless commercial messages. People seek companionship, friendly conversations, and sometimes they need answers to questions or solutions to specific problems.

Assign someone to handle your social media. Someone who's on fire for what your product can do for those who need it. Someone who understands marketing and sales, but also understands psychology and social media interactions.

Use social media to socialize. Use social media to present a warm, sharing and caring, genuinely human face.

People think of corporations as cold, aloof, arrogant, and uncaring. Provide superior customer service, help people choose which model of your product is most suited for their budget and needs.

Give them insight into the general area of life your product exists within. Share your expertise, even if a particular insight is not immediately followed by a sales message. Position your company in the minds of consumers as the thought leader, the company with good answers and value and solutions.

Nobody wants to interact with a "brand".

Nobody seeks a deeper relationship with a "brand".

People have problems, interests, needs, and questions.

Address those issues, and your "branding" will take a new turn and be a humanized, altruistic success -- with sales growth as a natural and well-deserved consequence.

Lensing and Shuttering photo blog

2011-10-08T13:01:00.002-05:00

I have a new blog wherein I showcase my photographic skills. It's called Lensing and Shuttering.

I'm displaying the images in extra large size, to increase their impact.

My photos are aesthetically pleasing, avant garde, Peoria historic, funny, and almost never posed or predictable. If you enjoy images that are well composed, brilliant in color, and a joy to behold, check out my new photo blog.

STR8 SOUNDS on your death bed VIDEO

2011-09-30T23:12:00.001-05:00

Str8 Sounds "On Your Death Bed"

From "Mighty Mental Angels" CD.

What will you think about
when you're on your death bed?
Will you regret a while
things you did and said?
What will you think about
on your death bed?
Will images of insanity
flow through your head?
All the stupid things you did
and all that folly
will you regret it and
will you be sorry?
Don't come over here
and try to tell me
that life is just a
fantastic ride for thee.
Don't tell me you've got one hand
grasping to chocolate
the other has a glass of champagne
and you like to talk a lot.
Don't tell that your life
is just a ride dizzy
and by chasing pleasures
is how you keep yourself busy.
You are a prisoner
of your selfish ego
and where your lusts point
that is where you go.
I was like that and in fact
I still am too often, the attack
is ruining us, putting us down.
We are deaf, we cannot hear the sound
of God calling us in His love and mercy.
But still what will you
think about when you're dead?
All those stupid things you did and said?
On your death bed
as you approach the end of your life
will you be proud of all the
suffering and strife
you contributed to in this land
all the things you did
at your command
the back of your hand?
Will you regret the things you did?
All the things you did and said
on your death bed?

Diaspora Deal Breaker or Why Designers Hate Readable Text

2011-09-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

I signed up to be a Disaspora early tester and now that this new social media site is in alpha, I was sent an invite to join and give it a test drive.

Use this link to Sign up for a Diaspora invite. Check out the Diaspora blog for more information.

I've been on Diaspora for two days now, and I already hate it. Why? Because I can't read anything. Their designers have made a bad, but common, decision: most of the text is light grey on a white background.

Designers may say light colored text on a white or light colored background is "subtle" or "subdued" or aesthetically pleasing. I know why they say such stupid things. They don't like text. That's right. They prefer their art designs and pictures and drawings and photos and borders and boxes. They don't like to read. They don't like text. Text just gets in the way of their design.

Don't believe me? You should. I've worked with artists and designers, both on the web and in print advertising and direct mail, for decades. They're basically all the same.

I used to tell them, "That's the headline. Make it big" and other such things, because, bless their hearts, they just were not oriented to text. They were trained to focus on colors and shapes and figures and grids, but not on words. Words were alien to their sensibilities. I'm not saying they are all illiterate. I'm not saying they don't read books now and then. What I'm saying is that they have a blind spot when it comes to text. Words are just not their cup of tea.

Remember when music was distributed on CDs? If you have any music CDs sitting around in a box somewhere collecting dust, go grab it and look at the artwork. I'll bet you that 8 out of 10 CD covers and inserts are beautiful or interesting to look at, but difficult to read. CD cover artists are notorious for making text, the song listing and musician information, nearly impossible to read.

Designers think text is just another graphic element. One that they don't like dealing with.

They don't see their job as being to create a lovely or compelling setting for the text. Designers want to emphasize their design. They see text as an intrusion, an invasion, a non-pleasing interruption in their color fields. If they could, they'd eliminate text, and just have pictures and other graphic elements. In fact, there are some music CDs that are mysterious and contain no textual information. You have to just know that it's the new album by such and such band.

The music CD itself is another good example. How many music CDs, the plastic disk itself, has no textual information on it? Think way back when those ancient disks were what you listened to music with. Recall how many had just some artistic image on them. You had to just know and remember who the artist was and which album it was.

Hatred of text. This is a deal breaker for me.

If Diaspora does not make text more readable on their social media site, I'm done with it.

Doesn't anybody do usability testing anymore?

RIP Johnny Cash on 8th year anniversary of his death

2011-09-12T17:20:00.002-05:00

Here's what real, socially conscious Christian music sounds like. If a Christian band never sings about the poor and downtrodden, the miserable rich and the negligent materialists, the corrupt power structures and misguided patriotism, it's not a spiritual band.

Jesus himself didn't just praise and worship God with his hands flapping around in the air. He got up and helped people, fed the poor, healed the sick, and condemned the religious leaders and oppressors.

"On this day in 2003, Johnny Cash, American singer/songwriter, died of respiratory failure at the age of 71. He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

I can’t think of anyone apart from Elvis who has had such an influence and hold on musical culture for over 40 years, the singer became an imposing and influential figure. Johnny Cash didn't sound like county music from Nashville, nor did he sound like a rock and roll singer. He created his own sub-genre, halfway between folk, rock and roll, and the world-weariness of country.....

He is the only person to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame AND The Songwriter's Hall of Fame. The image of the Man In Black is as deeply American as the stars and stripes themselves."

-- Neil Cossar, The Morton Report "Johnny Cash: He Walked the Line"

Johnny Cash - "Man In Black"

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

ALSO SEE:

Johnny Cash

"God's Gonna Cut You Down"

video on YouTube.

Truth about Brands and Branding

2011-09-10T19:07:00.002-05:00

"Brands" as a term has slowly evolved into a clever euphemism for corporations, companies, businesses -- although it originally was meant to refer to a product line and the themes associated with it.

[QUOTE]

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name."

A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity — it affects the personality of a product, company or service.

-- Wikipedia "Brand" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

[END QUOTE]

Now "brand" is a word that dubious or malicious companies hide behind as they launch their exploitation machinery on a hapless public.

Marketing people speak of such silly things as "people engaging in conversations with our brand" and "brand interactions". But nobody is seeking to "interact with a brand". People seek solutions to problems -- and sincere companies who genuinely care about their customers and listen to them.

A "brand" is something they want you to trust and swear allegiance to. It started in full force when corporate logos became trendy on clothing back in the 1980s, so that dumb consumers thought it was hip to be unpaid, walking advertisements for Nike, Coca Cola, Apple, Calvin Klein, etc. I think of such people as "brand zombies".

A "brand" is a second level abstraction, an artificially construed personality or aura that is strategically imposed upon a product or product line. Branding is not generally derived from any true benefit or characteristic of a product, but is invented by an advertising agency. It is fundamentally synonymous with "positioning".

You need to define a product and differentiate it from competitors, so you proclaim your product to be "the choice of the younger generation" (Pepsi) or "what the rich elites all use" (Rolex) or "the must-have item for a true geek" (iPhone).

The word "brand" thus acts as a cloaking device, to soothe and pacify critique, and make the public feel good. It often refers primarily to the colors, design artifacts, messaging, and feelings that they hope are invigorated within a customer as they shell out their hard earned money for miscellaneous crap.

A "brand" is thus an image, a concept that ad agencies hope to wrap a product in, so that people get excited about the product, because of the hype and status associated with the product, and not necessarily on any true assessment of the worth or value of the product.

The true definition of "branding" is "that mental impression that is burned into the consciousness of a customer as they use a product to solve a problem or enhance a lifestyle."

No matter what "branding" campaign and slogans the ad agencies sling around, the mark that is "branded" on the hide of the consumer's mind is the only thing that really matters. And this authentic branding or mental positioning is not under the control of any ad agency, as it happens independently, in real life situations of product usage.

This is why it is vital to probe the minds of customers and discover what they think about a product.

You should consider using their ideas about the product, even their exact words, in your marketing, what actual users appreciate about it, rather than trying to impose some random idea upon the product, which may not be intrinsic to the product or the way users feel about it.

A contrived aura for a product can collapse from the sheer weight of its falseness, leaving you with disappointed customers and negative word of mouth advertising.

A good example of this is "brand Obama", which many former supporters are becoming disgruntled with, compelling them to seek a new brand to replace it. Other brands that are in trouble recently, for various reasons, include Yahoo, Readers Digest, NPR, Sara Lee, Frontier Airlines, Michelob, Milwaukee's Best, Facebook, T-Mobile, RadioShack, Office Depot, E*Trade, Gateway, and AOL.

READ MORE

Forbes "The Trouble With My Brand is Me"

Yahoo Finance "10 Brands That May Disappear in 2011"

Daily Finance "10 American Companies That May Disappear in 2011"

Late One Night FILM

2011-09-05T23:52:00.001-05:00

Late One Night

A Dave Christiano Films presentation.

I used to show this film to my students when I taught junior high Sunday school. I have a collection of many other Christiano films. All of them are well-written and interesting, being realistic portrayals of faith in a broken world, with flawed believers and difficult situations.

Late One Night, and several other Dave Christiano films, have a Twilight Zone feel to them.

At age 28, in the summer of 1985, Dave wrote, produced and directed his first film called The Daylight Zone. It was a Christian version of the old TV series, The Twilight Zone. Dave's brother Rich Christiano co-financed the project. Filmed in south Texas, the movie was shot on 16mm film and released by Christiano Brothers Films in the spring of 1986.

No More Resumes: Land a Job by Proving You Can Do the Work

2011-08-29T00:50:00.000-05:00

I don't think resumes work much anymore. Resumes give employers reasons to reject you. Employers are flooded with resumes. How do you get their attention?

Consider what employers are looking for -- people who can get results and accomplish goals. They aren't looking for terrific resumes. They are looking for terrific people. Employers avoid taking risks. If all you've got is a resume and a smooth talk, you're in trouble.

Employers aren't looking for raw talent or potential. They are looking for proof that you can do something that solves a problem for the employer.

Employers don't want somebody that can talk the talk. They want people who can walk the walk. They don't want to hear about how enthusiastic you are. They don't want to hear about how much you love a particular field. They don't care about your ideas, motivation, personality, team playing, or intelligence.

All these qualities have their place, but the bottom line is employers want results. Plenty of people can act enthusiastic. Lots of people can display finesse and poise during a job interview. Many folks have nailed the best replies to tricky interview questions.

All this is playing games and wasting time. A large number of new hires turn out to be bad decisions and are fired when the employer realizes that they were people who cheated on tests and have very little substance.

What can you do to astonish a prospective employer? What have you got that proves you can do something they want done? If you can put that proof online, in a series of blog articles, videos, podcasts, or photos, you might be able to stand out and be memorable.

Blow their minds with proof. Post a video of you doing something or a video of your thing and how it solves a problem. Post a body of work that showcases your skills: writing, web design, advertising, fashion photography, music, sculpture, math, science, whatever expertise you have and can prove you have it.

That's how I got my first job in marketing, many years ago. I wrote some speculative ads and showed them to an employer. My portfolio of spec work was not the primary reason I got hired, but it proved that I had some expertise and ambition, even at a young age.

No experience in your field? Create your own experience as volunteer if you can. Spend some of your time looking for work and some of your time volunteering as an unpaid or low pay worker, learning the operation, making contacts.

Employers dread combing through generic resumes that all contain the same basic drivel.

Maybe you'll keep your resume and still use it when required, but don't count on it to open many doors. You need to add something remarkable to that resume. Print out some of your online portfolio and provide a link to the rest of it.

Str8 Sounds canticle 1 VIDEO

2011-08-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

Str8 Sounds "Canticle 1"

From "Techno Canticles" CD. August 2011.

LYRICS:

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end.
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end.
That is so wicked and evil,
we can no longer pretend
that it is something a
rational person could defend.
We can no longer pretend
that it is something a
rational person could defend.
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end.
Shake up the evil and do not befriend
people who are evil and have evil aims.
They play only malicious games.
Frustrate the plans of the wicked.
Let the evil come to an abrupt end.
Purge the planet of crime
and war games in time.
Their right hand is full of bribes.
In their mouth is tons of lies.
In their right hand there are bribes
and in their mouth are tons of lies.
Purge the planet of crime
and war games in time.
O the evil of man, please end.
Positive vibrations we now send.
Frustrate the plans of evil men.
Love and harmony vibrations we send.
Enough, Lord, they have done more than enough.
They are not gentle, Lord, they are always so rough.
Enough, Lord, now they have done more than enough.
They are distant from peace and joy and love.
Bring the evil of wicked men to an end
and then your love and peace and joy please send.

14 Characteristics of a Classic Internet Troll

2011-08-21T16:33:00.001-05:00

What exactly is an internet troll? How can you spot one with any degree of certainty? Aren't they just people who express a contrary opinion? Who are you to call anyone a "troll"?

To answer such questions, and to help you detect the presence of that peculiar species of creature called the internet troll, no matter where they may be slithering, here's a list of Key Troll Attributes commonly found in the wild. When you see someone engaged in any, or a combination of, these behaviors, they are almost certainly the entity known as the troll.

(1) Posts inflammatory comments, not to engage in serious conversation, but to "grief" or annoy an online community.

(2) An obvious glee and elated satisfaction is aroused in them when people join the fight and reply to their deliberately disruptive comments.

(3) Copies and pastes large blocks of text to exhaust the readers of a topic thread, thus driving away legitimate posters of sincere comments. These blocks of text are often recycled and appeared on a variety of threads.

(4) Tends to avoid complimenting people who disagree with them, even when those in opposition to the troll make some valid points.

(5) Shuns any conciliatory statements like "You have obviously spent a lot of time studying this subject, and I'm not certain how to reply to your last remark, so let's shake hands, part as friends, and move on."

(6) Never ends a debate with "Thanks for the discussion" or "I'll consider what you say" or any other finalizing remark, because they love arguing and disrupting civilized conversations.

(7) Keeps an argument going a lot longer than a normal person would, to the point where people will start asking a moderator to turn off comments or block the troll. However, sometimes people will do this just because they can't tolerate contrary opinions and are angry at seeing them posted to a thread they enjoyed reading. The mark of a troll is to keep hammering away at a point in an obsessive manner.

Click on image above for larger view

so you can read the text.

(8) Acts innocent when called a troll, and states "I'm just stating a contrary opinion, and you can't handle it", but the reality is they are not innocent, they are trouble-makers who only post inflammatory remarks, rarely contributing any real value or good information to a discussion.

(9) Starts saying filthy words and making wild accusations when confronted. Their hostility and provoking rhetoric escalates when you ask them if they might be a troll or if they are simply trying to stir up trouble.

(10) When you mention the name of another well-known forum, Second Life, or blogospheric troll, they defend them and accuse you of not understanding that person because you're a tyrannical censoring fascist or whatever.

(11) Will try to bring up issues that they are angry about, no matter what the topic of a thread is. For example, they will say things like "sounds like the Open Source movement" or "reminds me of Tea Baggers" or "you're sounding like a typical commie libtard now" or "you sound like some irrational Creationism crank" or "you atheists are all the same", or whatever it is they're hostile toward, in an attempt to start a new argument within the current debate.

(12) When people realize or are warned that the person is a troll, and the troll is then ignored, and nobody will respond to anything they say, the trolling person tends to give up and go to some other thread. They crave attention and they try to get it by being obnoxious in a juvenile, or scholarly, manner.

(13) They use a nickname, are anonymous, or use a real sounding name, but do not embed a link to their blog or website in their name, as is common in comment forms. This lack of accountability enables them to get away with saying anything they want, to anybody, and even tell outright lies about what they saw or heard.

(14) They, when not confronted or exposed sufficiently, will seek to have the last word in an online discussion. When nobody responds to their last troll comment, they will proudly proclaim that they "won" what they fantasize as a "content" or "battle".

Blogocombat means friendly online discussions, as well as heated debates. I use the term "blogocombat" to refer to both. But where the rubber meets the road is when you have to deal with the internet troll.

There are no winners or losers in a civilized discussion. There are just people who express their thoughts and people who learn a bit more about a subject and improve their presentation of ideas by engaging in conversations with worthy opponents.

"Trolling" has nothing to do with sincere expression of contrary opinions or stubborn dedication to an idea. Trolling is all in how the comments are phrased and how the comment poster behaves, especially when confronted.

You know it's an immature attention-getting scheme when they respond quickly to every single comment posted in response to theirs, and their rhetoric tends to escalate in intense hatred, absurd rambling, and malicious provocation.

See also "Amanda Chapel Anti-blogosphere Team Troll".

Pictured above: my car loaded

with the devices necessary for

detecting and smashing internet trolls.

Click on images for

larger view to read the text.

25 Reasons Why People Don't Post Comments

2011-08-20T02:57:00.000-05:00

Here are my speculations as to why people don't reply to your online content (blog posts, Twitter tweets, G+ articles, etc.), based on my observations and my research on this topic. I think this is the most complete listing you'll find on the internet.

(1) Inarticulate Not being good at expressing themselves, they don't even try to respond, though they have strong opinions.

(2) Fear They're afraid of saying something that others may consider stupid or extreme or silly.

(3) Busy People are generally in a hurry when they're online. They don't have time to read a post, think deeply about it, mentally formulate a valid response, then post that comment at every article they read.

(4) Lazy Some people are under-achievers. They do just enough to get by. If it's not mandatory, they prefer to skip it. Posting a comment is work. They don't like work. They like leisure.

(5) Dumbfounded You have stated something so completely, so intelligently, so funny, or so profoundly, they are astonished, at a loss for words, and cannot think of an adequate reply that would add anything to what you said. They think that anything they have to say would only detract from your brilliant article and look bad in comparison to what you wrote.

(6) Lurking Some people have no intention of interacting with anybody online. For a variety of reasons, they prefer to just read and move on, collecting data, absorbing information, which they may then disseminate in the offline world.

(7) Passive There are sluggish people in this world who have been trained by TV, spectator sports, and Hollywood to passively soak up entertainment. They don't participate, they are sponges.

(8) Drunk Some folks are wasted when they read your post, and you should be glad they refrain from posting a comment on your articles.

(9) Shy There are people who don't like the spotlight. If they posted a comment, they're afraid that would attract unwanted attention to themselves.

(10) Non-argumentative Some people feel that by posting a comment, it would be an invitation for someone else to start a debate with them, and they hate arguing, or are not very good at heated discussions. It's similar to those who fear public speaking.

(11) Not smart I want to say this nicely: some people are not intelligent enough to understand your content, and don't want the whole world to see that.

(12) Irrelevant To some people, your content is not relevant to them, so they may read it, or skim over it, but are not very interested in the topic, and thus, refrain from adding to the conversation.

(13) Wrong field If someone is not educated, trained, or experienced in the specific field related to your article, there is no point in them trying to saying something, or pretending to know something, on this topic.

(14) Bad presentation You may have written your article in a manner that offends the person, so they punish you by not posting any comment. You were rude, extreme, angry, vulgar, haughty, arrogant, prideful, condescending, silly, dopey, or too intellectual in your style.

(15) Controversial Your article is too inflammatory, negative, political, religious, sexual, edgy, or radical for them. They may admire you for expressing your opinion, and may secretly agree with you, but don't want to interact with the article, for a variety of reasons. For example, fear that their employer will read their comment and not like it.

(16) Non-interactive You never or rarely respond to comments, and they see that as being a reason to not interact with your articles. Can you blame them?

(17) Comment begging You plead with people to post comments, and your neediness turns them off. You sound too desperate. They interpret it as fishing for compliments or an insecure seeking for approval.

(18) 3rd party comment apps Count me in as one of those people who can't stand Disqus, LiveFyre, Haloscan, and other third party comment management applications. They don't want to take the time to sign up and create a password for yet another account. Using such services will severely limit the quantity of comments you receive.

(19) Login Many people don't want to login to post a comment. If you forcet them to login with their Facebook, Twitter, Google, or other account, you are placing an obstacle in their path. Just require a valid email address to post comments.

(20) CAPTCHA There's really no valid reason to force people to interpret a bunch of squiggly letters or numbers, then enter them correctly in a text entry box. Just moderate your comments to filter out spam and abuse comments.

(21) Anonymous trolls welcome If you allow anonymous comments, with no link to the comment poster's blog, this will turn people off, and also could cause them to fear retaliation, since most nickname and anonymous comment posters tend to be trolls, abusers, and jerks.

(22) Impersonal Your post has no personality. It's too scholarly, inhuman, textbooky. The cold, aloof style leaves them with no motivation to interact with you.

(23) Elitist You have an insider group that interacts with you via comments, but they feel like an outsider. They don't want to be seen as an intruder. They're afraid of interrupting what seems to be a party to which they were not specifically invited.

(24) Unasked Some people will post comments if you ask for reactions. Not beg for comments, but simply say "what do you think?" or "what have you experienced in this regard?" or "what do you recommend I do in this situation?"

(25) Infrequent posts You don't publish posts very often, so people think you aren't really into engaging in conversations, you just post sporadic articles to build a body of self-originated content.

6 Special Breeds of Trolls on GooglePlus

2011-08-18T00:30:00.004-05:00

There are trolls on G+ (Gotcha Trolls, Real Name Policy Trolls, Reverse Trolls, Concerned Trolls, Covert Filth Trolls, and Diplomatic Trolls) and many of them are using nicknames and weird avatars that are not photos of their faces.

These fake name trolls have slipped past the G+ radar somehow. Do not mention this fact, act like you don't notice that aspect of their methodology. A good way to expose them is to say "You sound like a troll" or "Do you call anyone who disagrees with you a troll?"

Blogocombat is a term I use to describe both civil conversations and troll smashing. But blogocombat does not mean engaging in long arguments with trolls, for one of the best ways to deal with a troll is to ignore them, refuse to reply to anything they say. They crave attention. Don't gratify that wish.

Trolls think discussions are things with "winners" and "losers". When you stop debating them, they think you "gave up" due to their superior rhetoric, infallible logic, and indisputable "facts". Don't let them drag you into endless argumentation. The moment you realize you're interacting with a troll, leave the conversation. Expose them and move on.

Now let's look at these commonly encountered trolls that lurk on Google+.

(1) Gotcha Troll = Poses a question or makes a statement that is inflammatory to lure opinionated people in who will post a contrary viewpoint. After this troll and his buddies argue with the person who disagrees with them, they give up, and their last resort, to save face, is to call the post "troll bait" and the person with a contrary view a "troll".

(2) Real Name Policy Troll = Relentlessly attacks the GooglePlus Real Name Policy, accuses Google of being "intolerant" or "against freedom to choose an identity", and will not listen to any other viewpoint. Exhibits a distinct lack of sympathy or sensitivity to people who have been stalked and abused by nickname and anonymous users. They get angry with the "you can't wear a Halloween mask to hide your identity in a bank" analogy and emphasize the fringe exceptions to authenticity, such as whistleblowers, people who don't want their boss to read their political comments, or those who live in oppressive countries.

(3) Reverse Troll = Keeps asking innocent sounding questions, in a nice way that is atypical for most trolls, but is trying to derail a conversation (threadjacking), or trying to get attention, not by being abrasive, but by acting dumb and needy. They are the reverse of a regular troll, who tries to get attention by being hateful, accusatory, and filthy.

(4) Concerned Troll = Pretends to agree with a post, but expresses "concerns" ("I agree with what you're saying, but what about ....?") that are designed to disrupt the thread and make people argue about an off topic issue or get them to abandon their opinion, due to the "validity" of these "concerns".

(5) Covert Filth Troll = Will post innocent sounding comments that contradict or mock what someone posts, but remains relatively mild and civil -- until you confront them with their true trollish goals. When you test them by posting "you sound like a troll", they show their true colors by calling you filthy names and accusing you of being a troll (similar to the Gotcha Troll).

(6) Diplomatic Troll = Acts like they are the only mature and rational person in the conversation. Will invite you to expound further on your views supporting the "intolerance" and "disrespect" you are showing to humanity by not agreeing with them. For example, if you oppose pseudonyms and anonymous users, they call it "intolerance" and "disrespect for a person's right to choose a fake identity". They will disregard your mention of there being exceptions, and will focus on the part of your position that they don't like, trying to make you look extreme, fanatical, or irrational. By name calling, and saying they hope to "win you over", they express their own intolerance and disrespect of opposing views. If you question an authority figure they like and voted for, they accuse you of being anarchist, or hating all authority in general. Their pseudo professorial demeanor is a disguise to trick people into thinking they are being sincere and seeking to reconcile, while they insult and provoke.

Block them and, if they post abusive comments on your posts, delete their comments.

Go to the Options Menu tool of a specific post (see circled down arrow at far right). Click on "Report or Delete a Comment". Then you'll see an X to the right of each comment. Click the X Delete Comment. Then you'll see a strikethrough line going through it. When you refresh the page, the comment is gone.

Click 4chan image below for larger view.

You may then be able to read it.

Nosebook Olfactory Social Media

2011-08-14T19:42:00.001-05:00

I am working with a very bright team of developers on what I predict will be The Facebook Killer.

Nosebook. People post fragrances, aromas, stenches, and assorted stinks to the website, and community members vote up or down on them, and post their own smells.

MP3s, podcasts, photos, videos, text blogs, tweets, wall posts...It takes way too much time to read, look at, and listen to things posted on the web, but takes just a second to get a whiff of something.

Fluid phase stimuli and airborne volatile substances will finally find a place on the Internets. Transducing chemical signals into perception will arise to a whole new and lofty level.

This olfactory social media concept is so brilliant, I am ashamed of humanity that it was up to me and my crew to invent it.

Please spread this meme: "Why tell it, when they can just smell it?"

Photos from Schmoeger Park

2011-08-13T01:06:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from the past few days.

Vaspers at Schmoeger Park.

Love of a Lily.

Lemon Chiffon Cone Flower (Echinacea).

Monitoring the Surveillance Camera.

Yellow Tubing.

Around baseball diamonds at Schmoeger Park.

Buddy on the Schmoeger Park Bridge.

Snake Vine.

At Schmoeger Park.

Please Curb Your Dog.

Butterfly on Flower.

Buddy Polices the Property.

White and Rust (Shed).

Buddy Looks Out Over Schmoeger Park Bridge.

Wood and Iron Bridge at Schmoeger Park.

Waiting for the Never.

Weeds vs. Baseball Bench.

Schmoeger Park Hedgeapples.

Sky Portal at Schmoeger Park Playground.

Metallic Orange Swirl.

Yellow Flower Claw.

Branding and Sports.

Steven E Streight PROMO video

2011-08-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

I did this short introduction video for my Steven E. Streight Peoria CitiSlicker profile page.

Peoria CitiSlicker is a newly launched social media site, created by my friend Ron Wallace. It's sort of a Facebook for the local Peoria area.

As I really don't like talking head videos where a person is staring into the video camera and blabbing on and on, I made this brief with a static photographic image. A striking departure from my dynamic, pulsating, kaleidoscopically intense music videos.

Adding My GooglePlus Profile Link to Every Blogger Post

2011-08-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

To help promote my two most important web presence locations, my Google+ profile and my Blog Talk Radio podcast channel, I am automating the inclusion of graphic links at the end of every post, as you see below.

Treat Every Customer As If They Were Your ONLY Customer

2011-08-05T13:17:00.001-05:00

Since each customer is extremely important, and a person in a store is generally close to a buying decision, far closer than your average potential buyer on a list, you simply must treat each customer As If They Were Your ONLY Customer.

Yes, you heard me.

Like they were your ONLY customer.

Someday, they may be.

Treat each person you meet as if they were the only other person on Earth, and you'll be amazed at how kind and forgiving and helpful you might be. Use the same process of imagination on your customers.

Treat each customer as though they were the most important event in your life at that moment. Pay total attention to every word and nuance and body language expression. Try to get at the core problem or the real meaning behind a compliment or request.

Identify with customer problems, expectations, desires.

Remember how you want to be treated at the shops you yourself frequent. Keep in mind the euphoric thrill that comes from treating others kindly and being treated kindly by others.

You do that and you'll be providing astonishing, viral buzzy customer service.

Stop hanging out with fellow business associates in pity parties and get down and "dirty" with the folks who put money in your pocket.

Customer service is probably the #1 vulnerability of all your competitors, the bigger they are, the more they may suck at it.

Charge forward, smiling, advising, both in the store and on social media. Provide expertise, product model guidance, differentiation from competitors, strong reasons why customers should be loyal to you.

Always keep in the forefront of your consciousness how lousy you have been treated in some stores and places of business. Recall the insults, mediocrity, incompetence, uncaring attitudes. Burn them in your brain, without anger, but with zeal to do the opposite.

Listen to your fans. Pay attention to the needs, complaints, hatreds, fondnesses, questions, praise, and problems your customers express online and in person.

Take their input very very very seriously. Let their attitudes dethrone your pet perceptions. Identify with them and meet them genuinely in their valley of need.

It is far easier and cheaper to properly serve and upsell current customers -- than it is to acquire new customers. Business has been seduced into the more exciting and flashy customer acquisition strategies, packages, and programs, while neglecting their most valuable asset: the customer base.

Too often, business people try to increase sales and attract customers with reduced pricing or special events. These are band-aids, they don't address the root problem.

Want to increase sales? Improve customer service.

Want more new customers? Improve customer service.

Want more public goodwill? Improve customer service.

Want more store traffic? Improve customer service.

And this means training and enforcing effective customer relations with every employee, from the CEO to the janitor. Every contact a customer makes with any aspect pf or person in your organization is an opportunity to showcase your service and corporate culture.

Start with the customer closest at hand and work your way outward.

Str8 Sounds head light pouring in VIDEO

2011-08-04T00:09:00.001-05:00

Interview with Business Coach Spike Humer

2011-08-03T12:32:00.001-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Spike Humer, of Spike Humer International, acclaimed business coach and marketing strategist, shares his insights into what are the most important things any small business should be doing right now in order to survive and succeed.

Discover the most common mistakes small businesses tend to make and how to avoid or overcome them, and succeed, even in a bad economy with shrinking markets.

For 25 years, Spike has been at the forefront of formulating innovative business growth and explosive marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and multi-million dollar organizations. He’s been the “go-to” guy for scores of individuals and business-owners around the world.

Sharing the stage and program platforms with such luminaries and thought-leaders as Tony Blair, Jay Abraham, Chet Holmes, Stephen M.R. Covey, and many others Spike has been applauded for his straight-forward message. Check out SuccessBug on BTR.

Spike’s proven business acceleration strategies have helped generate tens of millions of dollars in revenues for his clients and program attendees. He is renowned for creating quantum leaps in profitability and business performance–all in record time.

Spike’s “10-Day Turnaround Technologies” have engineered entrepreneurial success stories in dozens and dozens of industries the world over.

His “Strategy for Significance” has helped his clients almost instantly earn the attention, trust, and profit-boosting relationships with their prospects and clients. Spike’s “Overnight Entrepreneur” methodology has put countless people on the path to financial-freedom and personal prosperity.

Str8 Sounds eternal tornado VIDEO

2011-08-02T01:55:00.000-05:00

Str8 Sounds songs for August 2011 MP3 PLAYER

2011-08-01T23:54:00.004-05:00

Here, at the top of this ReverbNation mp3 player, the first several songs, are the required listening for August 2011 from Str8 Sounds.

Click on Download to snag the free mp3 of each song, if you care to carry them around with you.

From the new Str8 Sounds "Accretion Disks" CD...

New to/for/in your ears:

* Head Light Pouring In

* Automated Penlight Bird

* Eternal Tornado

* Explosion on the Sun

* Ascetic Persecution

* Pure Flow

* Get Up Get Young

Interview with Langdon Winner on Techno-Politics

2011-07-31T23:53:00.001-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Langdon Winner is a political theorist who focuses upon social and political issues that surround modern technological change. His blog is Technopolis.

Professor Winner is the author of Autonomous Technology, a study of the idea of "technology-out-of-control" in modern social thought, The Whale and The Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology, and editor of Democracy in a Technological Society.

Praised by The Wall Street Journal as "The leading academic on the politics of technology", Mr. Winner was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California.

He received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

He is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Best of GooglePlus Shared Images

2011-07-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

GooglePlus (Google+) is a terrific social media networking experience, and the images people are sharing are really funny, sometimes brilliant.

Here are some of my favorites. Some were uploaded by others, several were contributed by me.

Shown above is my official Google+ fingerbox which came in the mail a few days ago, for elite early adaptors only.

So they're going to (1) clone us (2) reformat our minds

(3) then kill us?

I call the picture above "Craving as Buddha Explained It".

Interview with Ken Freedman of WFMU Freeform Radio

2011-07-25T23:30:00.002-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Ken Freedman is the Station Manager of WFMU (wfmu.org), the longest running and most renowned freeform radio station in the United States. Under his guidance, WFMU became independent of Upsala College, WFMU's original owner.

Freedman also developed WFMU's internet presence, making it one of the most popular and forward looking internet radio stations in the United States.

He recently founded the Free Music Archive (freemusicarchive.org), an online music library and social site based on curated music licensed under alternative copyrights such as creative commons licenses. Freedman has served on the board of public science and technology companies and is a technology advisor to the National Federation of Community (NFCB) broadcasters.

He has spoken and presented at conferences sponsored by The Future of Music Coalition, National Public Radio, the Integrated Media Association, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

Death Supports Everyones Troops

2011-07-23T13:28:00.003-05:00

War is big business. There are huge profits to be made. Peace is bad for business.

Yet the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Libya are costing the USA about $4 trillion.

[QUOTE]

War profiteering is one of the main pillars that support war. The military-industrial complex has a long record of pushing for the development of a war industry and of battlefields to test its products. War profiteering has many forms and a wide range of impacts. The most notorious forms of war profiteering are the arms industry and the arms trade, but there are also many other forms, such as companies involved in war “reconstruction”, companies to which military functions are outsourced, financial institutions backing warfare, companies profiting from the extraction of resources in conflict areas and many more.

-- War Resisters League "War Profiteers"

[END QUOTE]

Seems like the Eternal War doctrine is in full swing. Fight wars endlessly, who cares about winning, just keep buying arms and sacrificing lives, in the name of democracy, or freedom, or justice. A military myth is "we have to fight wars every generation, to get the combat experience and stay in shape." A lot of good it's doing.

[QUOTE]

“One can say without exaggeration that inflation is an indispensable means of militarism,” Ludwig von Mises wrote. “Without it, the repercussions of war on welfare become obvious much more quickly and penetratingly; war weariness would set in much earlier.”

This explains why American politicians have always resorted to the legalized counterfeiting of central banking to finance wars, the most expensive of all government programs. If citizens had a clearer picture of the true costs, they would be more inclined to oppose non-defensive intervention and to force all wars to hastier conclusions.

Government can finance war (and everything else) by only three methods: taxes, debt, and the printing of money. Taxes are the most visible and painful, followed by debt finance, which crowds out private borrowing, drives up interest rates, and imposes the double burden of principal and interest.

Money creation, on the other hand, makes war seem costless to the average citizen. But of course there is no such thing as a free lunch.

As a general rule, the longer a war lasts, the more centrally planned and government-controlled the entire economy becomes. And it remains so to some degree after the war has ended. War is the health of the state, as Randolph Bourne famously declared, and the growth of the state means a decline in liberty and prosperity.

-- The American Conservative "Inflating War"

[END QUOTE]

When will we stop wasting money and lives on wars we cannot, or choose not to, win? We cannot afford these military adventures. They're draining us financially and in terms of human lives. Innocent civilians are killed.

Robots are violating Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

We have robots killing humans now. They're called drones and other devices. Let's hope these killer robots don't turn against the entire human race, with a lust for blood similar to human violence-lovers.

[QUOTE]

As Christians we believe in the infinite value of every human life. As Kant said, we should treat each person as an end in himself, not as a means to an end. We thus oppose any kind of revolutionary tactic which sacrifices persons for the sake of goals.

Rather, from our Christian perspective we believe that deterioration occurs when people follow a course of violence as an answer to the world’s ills. Believing in the sanctity of human life, we cannot be involved in anything, whether it is social injustice, violence, war or poverty, which interrupts a person’s opportunities for a full life.

-- Intervarsity Christian Fellowship "Christian Pacifism"

[END QUOTE]

USA is involved in warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia, last time I checked. We're not winning any of them. We have no specific goals or exit strategies. We have no real justification. Keeping our nation free? How free are we?

We now wage undeclared wars, acts of national sovereignty violation, acts of lethal combat, and kinetic military actions, against the will of the majority of The People of the United States, without moral or logistical justification, and without approval of Congress.

We cannot afford all this military prancing around in the clown costumes called "uniforms".

The demons of hate and destruction are having a good old time.

Protest. Dissent. Stop these stupid wars.

QR code promo 1 for Naturally Yours Grocery

2011-07-23T01:54:00.000-05:00

The poster above, containing a QR (quick response) code, is the first QR code in-store promotion designed for my client Naturally Yours Grocery. The customer just scans the QR code image with the bar code scanner of their mobile device or smart phone, which will then display a discount coupon.

I will change the poster each week, on Saturdays, with a different QR code, which will link to a different discount coupon.

The poster is printed out, then laminated to make it stiff, and displayed prominently in the store. I think I'll place it near the cash registers at the front of the store.

The purpose of this is to (1) save the customer money (2) demonstrate that the store is using new technology (3) acknowledge the increasing usage of mobile computing devices and smart phones (4) make shopping a little more fun.

Brands Want to Invade GooglePlus

2011-07-22T12:25:00.003-05:00

Google+ (GooglePlus) is rapidly growing, to put it mildly. I'm honored to be included in the early adaptor beta testing program for GooglePlus. I call it the Disney Land of social media, because there's so much to do and see there.

But wait. There's more. An group of entities called "brands" is desperately trying to break into the new online community. These companies and businesses have even tried to sneak in or bully their way in, and have been slapped down, thank goodness.

Google wants to keep its GooglePlus data "clean", i.e. free from commmercial pollutants. Google is tracking what we say, what we link to, what we do on Google+ to improve search engine performance.

But the brands want in. They demand the right to join our party. Brands can't wait to start slinging their spammy sales hype at everybody. Brands think consumers like to interact with brands. Brands are greedy and opportunistic. They suck.

I say it everywhere I go on the internet, and I'll say it again. Nobody joins a social network to receive sales messages. People are on social media to meet others with shared interests, to interact with other people, to ask questions, and to engage in human communication that is mutually satisfying.

If we like a company, we appreciate having updates on new products and upgrades and contests, but we don't want to be flooded with one-way broadcast sales messaging, as though social media was just another advertising platform to exploit.

A business that gets on a social media platform should provide expertise, share interesting information that doesn't always necessarily lead to increased sales. I call this corporate altruism "non-commercial interaction". Social media and blogs are a way for companies to overcome the common perception that they're cold, aloof, uncaring, non-sharing, greedy, deceptive, arrogant, and exploitive.

[Click GIF image below to see it animated.]

When I stated this fact on Google+ as a comment to a thread, I received this rebuke from Jonathan Torres

[QUOTE]

+Steven Streight As someone who makes a living representing brands, I find your comment to be somewhat ignorant and myopic. Through your interaction and by providing your "expertise" are you not promoting or "selling" yourself? As with Facebook, if not for the brands and businesses spending time and money to distribute their their sales hype, these companies could not generate revenue to remain in operation. One can only go to the VC well so many times to stay afloat. Besides all of that, joining a page or following a brand is voluntary. If you don't like it, don't like it or follow it. It's that simple.

[END QUOTE]

I've seen many brands exploit Twitter and Facebook, and mismanage their corporate blog, by using them as one-way broadcast platforms, instead of human interaction zones.

Here's my reply to Jonathan Torres, plus some reactions.

[QUOTE]

Steven Streight - +Jonathan Torres I also make a living representing brands on social media. I try to do it in an altruistic manner, interacting with people in the name of the company, and I'm up front about who I am and what I'm doing for the brands I represent and speak on behalf of. But I assure you, nobody joins a social network to receive spammy sales messages. Many brands do not behave like human beings on social media, they merely crank out sales hype. They don't interact. They don't answer questions, They don't say what they did for Memorial Day. They are vending machines, thus missing the opportunity to negate the impression that businesses are greedy, selfish, arrogant, and uncaring.

Jonathan Torres - +Steven Streight In that, I agree. Unfortunately, many of these brands are applauded for their efforts regardless simply because they have large fan bases and big budgets.

Steven Streight - Who REALLY wants to interact with a brand on social media? Not me, unless they answer questions, provide good customer service and discounts, share their expertise in a non-commercial manner, etc. Apart from that altruism, brands suck on social media.

Erin Kinikin - Nice comment, +Steven Streight Reads like a requirements list for Google+ business pages!

[END QUOTE]

When a business gets on social media, of course there will be sales messages, discounts, deals, product news, and other self-serving information to distribute to those who might be interested. There's no denying that brands can successfully use social media to attract new customers and engage loyal fans.

Google+ has announced that there will be a way for business to join the online community, but it is not ready yet. Did the brands respect that reality, or did some of them act pig-headed, stubborn, demanding, and try to force their way in?

There was a bit of a rough road in this process and some pundits are criticizing Google+ for not letting the brands in right along with the human beta testers and early adaptors.

TechCrunch did an article on this subject entitled "Vic Gundrotra on How Google+ Handled Brands: It Was Probably a Mistake".

Here's the first comment posted under the TechCrunch post.

[QUOTE]

Jason Stapels · Apalachin, New York

1) Google releases Google+ for personal profiles to a private invite-only beta.
2) Google+ becomes a much bigger success than expected.
3) Brands immediately want in on the action.
4) Google says Google+ isn't ready for brands yet.
5) Brands don't care and do it anyways.
6) Google pulls brands pages because, as it said, they're not ready yet.
7) Brands get pissed at Google... because they're private beta is ready for brands yet?

What's the lesson to be learned here? Don't let your product become popular until it's ready? I understand it can be frustrating for a brand to not get free advertising, but I don't think Google is to blame here.

[END QUOTE]

Yes, there will be Google+ Business pages coming soon. And yes, I'll offer to represent my clients on this commercial platform or at least help them get started and navigate the waters.

But capitalism has created its own negative publicity through its grasping and lustful behavior when it comes to our wallets. This whole Brands vs. Google+ fiasco reminds me of how telemarketers demand the right to spam us during our dinner. They want to use the telephone, our communication tool, to flood us with unsolicited sales hype. And they never offer to put any of it in writing.

Let the frenzied brands cool down and be rational for once. It might do them some good. In the meantime, you and I can enjoy great interactions, with human people, and not automated hype machines or callous snake oil salesmen and carnival barkers. Nice.

Here's the obituary on how BoingBoing tried to sneak into Google+ with what I believe was a Fake Intern account or something. It's so weird and convoluted.

[QUOTE]

Xeni Jardin

º º º º º º KILL JILL º º º º º º

Did she died? Yes. +Jackhammer Jill ("Jackhammer Jill" on Google+) is no more.

I've been talking with BB friends here on Google+, and I've been talking with the Google+ team at Google, and today we decided to let our "Boing Boing intern" die. Just seems kind of pointless, given that they're pushing so hard to do biz/org/brand support right as soon as possible, and seems silly to continue this workaround in light of the past 24 hours of internet-handwringing around the 'net. To be clear, nobody "told us to," and we don't regret experimenting eagerly, and early. Just seems time to kill an intern, and publish a "Sad Guy" GIF.

I have much more to say, and will do so separately—I'm fascinated by all of the discussions and new ideas Google+ has sparked in lo these last... two weeks? But for now, a moment of silence, and a single tear.

[END QUOTE]

P.S. There is also a backlash going on against Google+ introducing Farmville and Mafia Wars type games to the social media platform. Check out Chris Brogan's thread on Google+ games.

[Click GIF image below to see it animated.]

Matthew David on HTML5

2011-07-21T14:32:00.026-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Listen to my Blog Talk Radio interview with Matthew David, author of HTML5: Designing Rich Internet Applications, a book I purchased recently and find it to be very informative and well written.

We discuss the new HTML5 that offers web designers the ability to encode meaning into web content via block elements, thus creating what is called the Semantic Web. HTML5 also include CSS3, web browser data storage, and better ways to embed video and audio.

I pose some questions that Matthew David handles quite well. You'll learn a lot about the new web programming standard that is expected to replace HTML4 and XHTML and remain, with some evolution, the standard for decades to come.

Interview with Shel Israel

2011-07-19T18:36:00.000-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Shel Israel consults, writes and speaks about social media. His blog is Global Neighborhoods.

He has advised companies of all sizes on how to use social media to achieve pragmatic business goals. His clients have ranged from Fortune 50 companies to two-guys-meeting-in-a-Starbucks.

Israel is co-author [with Robert Scoble] of Naked Conversations considered by many to be the seminal book in popularizing social media in traditional businesses. I (Steven Streight) helped them with the title of the book. They originally wanted to call it Blog or Die. I told them in some countries, it's Blog and Die. They took that to heart and rejected Blog or Die as the title.

Shel mentions how I was also the most prolific contributor to The Red Couch blog, which formed the basis of the Naked Conversations book. At the time, it was the one of the most important places to be for business bloggers and blog pundits.

Shel is also author of Twitterville and The Conversational Corporation, a Dow Jones, e-book.

He is currently working on a new book, The Disruptors—Fire Starters of the Conversational Age. As he has successfully done with previous books, Israel is posting interview notes and chapter drafts on his blog, Global Neighbourhoods where he invites reader feedback.

A former journalist, he has contributed to BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Forbes, Business Intelligence and other publications. He left writing to start and run his own PR agency for many years, before selling it to employees and spending his fulltime energies in social media-related activities.

An accomplished public speaker, Israel has keynoted in 10 countries and has spoken — always on social media-related issues — more than 75 times.

Robert Scoble: Google Plus for Beginners

2011-07-11T19:30:00.001-05:00

I rarely do this, re-post somebody else's post, but this is pretty good for those new to Google+ (GooglePlus).

Robert Scoble posted these tips for beginners.

[QUOTE]

Oh, Google+ has a problem. If you start a full-on blog post from a Share of someone else's post, it isn't collapsable or sharable. Sorry about that.

So, here's my tips for Google+ new users:

My tips for newer users of Google+:

1. Learn what circles are and how to put people into them. When I first started out I went crazy with circles, opening up something like 20 of them. That wasn't very smart, it turned out. Now I'm back to seven. Simple ones like "friends, family, coworkers, geeks, VCs, tech press." Etc.

2. Learn how to distribute content to circles, or public, or certain people. When you post here you don't need to send it to everyone. You can send it just to people you've put in a specific circle, like "friends" or you can send it to a specific person, like me.

2b: Learn not to use your home feed as your main place to visit. Start a circle called "my home circle." Now when you add people you can add them to multiple circles, but if you don't want to see someone everyday you can keep them out of your home circle (unfortunately if you follow people they will always be on your actual main feed).

3. Find a few "seed followers" that you like to follow. Then look at who they are following. You'll find lots more people to follow that way. For instance, I'm following 3,200 geeks, including most of the execs, tech press, VCs, etc. If those kinds of people float your boat, look through my list and pick and choose who you also want to follow.

4. Remember, posts with photos or video do better than just text posts, so see if you can figure out how to get other media in here.

5. If someone gets too noisy, let's cover how to handle that.

A. Too many posts. Sometimes you'll follow someone like +Chris Pirillo who posts a lot. What I've done with those folks, is put them into a "Noisy buttheads" circle. That way they don't pollute all your other circles, although they still will show up on your home feed. Feel free to put me in that circle for now.

B. Too many comments on some posts. Some posts will go viral here. It won't just happen to me. For instance, it might happen to you now that I've pushed you into 33,000 people's view by resharing your post (more on that in a second). If this happens to just one post, you can click the drop-down-menu over to the right of a post and choose "mute." You'll never see that post again. This is a good way to get rid of some things that are cluttering up your feed.

C. Consistently high engagement noise (there are already about 50 people who are consistently getting high engagement, folks like me, Trey Ratcliff, Leo Laporte, etc etc) and for us you just need to segregate us into our own circle. Or just put up with that kind of noise (I enjoy engaging in a lot of rapid-fire comments).

6. Turn off email notifications, or learn to filter them with Gmail's filters. I have turned them off. Too much email, too fast, especially if you get hit by one of the whales here (sorry for hitting you on the first day).

7. Setup your profile and make sure it's hyper complete. Look at mine at https://profiles.google.com/scobleizer and then go set yours up at https://profiles.google.com (I've spent a lot of time on mine).

8. Try to talk about something other than Google+. Try to say what you'll be doing with this. Post something original. Or, start a good debate about something that you care about. Etc. I'm really trying to do this because I'm getting bored with talking about Google+, but I see a lot of new people coming in here, so wanted to write down my thoughts based on my first 13 days.

9. Try using keyboard. J moves down. K moves up. I'm sure there's others coming.

10. If you use Google Chrome as your browser, there are a bunch of extensions you should try: http://pear.ly/fDvaa

11. Learn how resharing works. For instance, I took your original post and reshared it with my audience. Right now that causes some duplication noise (folks following both of us will see your post twice, once from you, once reshared from me) and there will be separate comments under both. Fragmentation is gonna be a problem until Google fixes that here. But resharing is how things are getting very viral. For instance, I just reshared your item with 33,000 people. Now, what if 10% of those reshared it with THEIR audiences? This is why things get crazy very quickly.

Anyway, that's some things. I'm sure you'll hear lots of other advice today. Have fun and looking forward to seeing what you post here.

[END QUOTE]

GooglePlus is the Facebook Killer

2011-07-09T03:15:00.001-05:00

Google+ (Twitter hash tag is #GooglePlus) is the new social media platform from Google. It has many of the features and tools that users have been screaming for on Twitter and Facebook, but those platforms ignore user needs.

I've been on Google+ for a while now, and I like what I see.

Google+ will kill Facebook and I can't wait until it's entirely dead and gone.

Facebook needs to die, wither away, and be eternally forgotten. Facebook is the worst thing that ever happened to the web. It's a mine field of spammy game invites, malicious rogue apps, and personal data quicksand sucking the life and identity out of users.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has famously stated that people are stupid to share all their personal information and preferences on Facebook, as this data is feed to advertisers who use it to target ads at potential customers. All you can do on Facebook is reveal more and more about yourself by clicking Like and Share buttons. It's all rather pointless and futile.

In managing Facebook accounts for clients, I notice that most people only publish one wall post per day, and it's generally frivolous remarks about trendy news events or personal items concerning family, sports, politics, or other private feelings. The goofiest or most inflammatory posts get some comment feedback, but generally nobody interacts with anybody else.

Inspirational quotes pollute the platform as unimaginative consultants hope to make people like them by rehashing the statements of others, rather than share their own expertise in their own words. Companies generally grind out product announcements and sales messages, with very little human warmth or desire to interact with customers.

The dysfunctionality of Facebook is legendary. Your "news feed" contains updates from only a tiny percentage of your friends and it's hard to tell what filters are eliminating the wall posts you thought you'd be seeing. That's okay actually, since Facebook contains mostly trivial banter, silly comments, and sales hype.

I tried using Facebook a couple of times, but finally deleted my account permanently. There is no value to be gained by being on Facebook, unless you have a retail business and want to use it to send messages to customers about new products and discount coupons.

Basically, I consider Facebook to be "Blogging for Dummies" and that's all it will ever be. You can't tweak your page or personalize it easily. It's just a big stupid billboard full of nonsense, spam, and phishing exploits.

Google+ on the other hand is sophisticated platform that empowers users. You can assign people to circles categorizing them as friends, family, acquaintances, or just someone you're following. You have a lot of control over your content, and who gets to see it.

The biggest problem that I've seen in Google+ is the domineering attitude of popular "A Lister" tech pundits who are flooding the platform with relentless links, photos, animated GIFs, and blabbering. They seem to treat Google+ as an alternative Twitter, a frenzied chat room, and get tons of boring comments on every post they publish.

That nonsense will die down as the platform matures and the frenzy abates.

What's nice is that Google+ is intentionally, or by default, poised to be the Facebook Killer, and many smart users are already dancing on the rotting corpse that is Facebook. Die monster die. It's time for users to mutiny and move on to a social media platform that respects user privacy and user-centric features.

Let's just hope the API, when opened to developers, doesn't result in floods of spammy game invites.

Headless Heroes radio theater PODCAST

2011-07-08T01:27:00.001-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

I participated in the Army's TUWIT (Totally Unthinkable Warfare and Information Tactics) program and become a Headless Hero. My head was amputated and the organs of seeing, hearing, kissing, thinking, etc. were relocated.

We really freaked out the enemy. They scrambled like hell when headless soldiers ran toward them. It was fun. I was a big hit with the ladies, too.

But at a certain point, I got bored. I wanted them to re-install my head so I could leave the Army and start a normal, headed life.

That's when the story gets really sad.

Social Media is Not a Psychiatrist Couch

2011-07-05T21:00:00.005-05:00

When will people wake up?

You should NEVER confess to crimes, criminal intent, racism, hatred of a specific person or nationality, or any other unseemly attitudes on social media. Every illegal, dangerous, and stupid thing you say on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and forums can be found by a current employer, prospective employer, or law enforcement.

I have seen people on social media make hateful statements and even threats of violence and harm made against specific politicians, Canadians, liberals, Tea Party, French, Muslims, blacks, whites, you name it.

I have been interviewing various thought leaders in the social media realm. When I ask why people continue to engage in risky online behavior, I usually get the answer: "They are used to blurting out anything because that's what their friends do. It's second nature."

Is it true that people, especially the younger generation, are conditioned to blurt out anything they feel like saying on social media? Are they posting naked photos, complaining about their employer, saying hateful things, and bragging about crimes or criminal intent on social media -- because they are addicted to social media as some kind of confessional?

Is social media a psychiatrist couch? A shoulder to cry on? A platform for soliciting sympathy? A soapbox upon which to preach hate? Should you say anything you feel like saying, to blow off steam or to let the world know how angry you are? NO.

I've been blogging since 2004, and I was one of the first bloggers to sound the alarm about the dangers of personal blogging. In fact, my post "Dangers of Personal Blogging" is

You can blab too much. You can express too much, and later, you may bitterly regret it.

It's very common to see people "expressing themselves" on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, and other social media. What is being expressed is often the worst part of their nature, a temporary feeling, or a flash of emotion that may make a person appear to be deranged, evil, or perverse.

I'm shocked at how people who condemn white supremacy and racism will think it's fine to talk about how much they hate a particular nationality. Hating an entire race is wrong, but hating an entire nation is okay? What kind of logic is this? It's irrational and may be indicative of deep seated emotional problems.

Oh sure, I bash leadership in general, politicians, trolls, and various corporations that I think are worthy of being criticized. But I will not threaten anyone, express a wish to harm anyone, or say anything that could be misinterpreted as insane. I joke around. I transmit harsh opinions when I deem it important. But there is a line that I will not cross.

"I'd love to (harm, injure, attack, destroy, terrify) a (person, company, store, race, nationality) right now" is stupid talk on social media.

Why does anyone think that expressing the worst aspects of your nature is a good idea on social media?

Employers tend to periodically monitor employee activity online. If you're using your real name, as you should, in social media, your employer can simply Google your name and find all your social media chatter, all your photos and videos, all your podcasts and blog posts.

Don't think that by not revealing what company you work for, you're safe from scrutiny. You can be fired for saying the wrong thing online, and it won't matter that you said it as a private individual during non-work hours.

"I've already blabbed a lot that I regret. What's the point in stopping it? I might as well continue being a big mouth, eh?" WRONG.

Why compound the problem? Why dig your hole even deeper? Why give law enforcement, employers, and identity thieves more information?

Social media is NOT a platform for expressing every ignorant thought and despicable feeling. Once you post something to the internet, it stays there forever. There is no undoing it.

Think before you type something on your keyboard. Pause before clicking Submit. Look before you leap. Use your reason before your blurt out something emotional. Consider possible ramifications of your gushing.

What we have now is Social Media Exhibitionism Syndrome: the compulsive spewing forth of private thoughts and personal issues. You seek approval or sympathy. You hope others will join in with your hostility. You think, in keeping with a weird, masochistic version of "transparency", you are bravely putting your personality on display.

You're being very unwise if you march to the sinister drumbeat of Publicness of Personal Data Online. Learn the meaning of "too much information" and "loose lips sink ships".

If you're employed and you complain about your job, boss, customers, or vendors, on Facebook or Twitter or other social media, you are clueless about how employers use Google to evaluate job applicants and to find bad apples in their organization.

If you really feel you must record your negative feelings, grab a paper notebook and a pen, and do it old skool. Write it down and show it to some offline friends if it makes you feel better. That way, you can burn your diary later, and nobody will be able to trace your nutty thoughts back to the source.

Be yourself on social media, but be your best self.

Consumer Reports "Social Network Users Post Risky Information"

CSO Data Protection "Social Media Risks"

GigaOm "Biggest Danger on Social Networks Isn't Hackers It's Dumb Employees "

SF Gate "Social Networking Has Hidden Dangers for Teens"

Junta42 "Dangers of Social Media in the Workplace -A Real Life Example"

Mashable "Social Media and Subpoenas: A Broken System That Puts Journalistic Sources at Risk"

PhoneBoy Blog "Dangers of Social Media"

BankRate "3 Financial Dangers of Social Media"

Book Coupon for Naturally Yours Grocery

2011-07-01T11:34:00.014-05:00

Every home should have a few good health reference books. Here are two that are very helpful, popular, and authoritative. Now you can save money when you buy them at Naturally Yours Grocery.

HOW TO PRINT THE COUPON: Click on the coupon image above, to see the coupon all by itself in your web browser. Then print it, and bring it with you the next time you're in Naturally Yours Grocery in Peoria or Bloomington-Normal.

Print it as many times as you want. One coupon per customer per day. Cannot be combined with other offers.

MOBILE USERS: You may also show us the coupon on your cell phone or mobile computing device when you're at the check out counter.

Worst How To Books Ever Published PODCAST

2011-07-01T00:47:00.006-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Join me as I review on my Blog Talk Radio internet radio show "The Worst How To Books Ever Published", deal with a troll who shoots a sissy pistol at me, manage a fidgety robot, and much more.

I share my insights and disgust with such titles as:

* Slightly Positive Affirmations: The Timid Autosuggestion System

* Because I Said So: Human Communication Concepts for Business Managers

* Don't Delegate Golf: How To Keep Underlings Busy So You Can Goof Off

* Shovel Ready Jobs: Your Career As a Grave Digger

* Overhyped, Overbearing and Overbrunched: Radiate Charisma by Being Rude and Obnoxious

* Build Your Dream Home for $1.49

* Advanced Panhandling Techniques in a Sluggish Economy

* We Keep Getting Stranger: A Guide to Asocial Media

* Succeed at Anything by Doing Nothing at All

* I Don't Feel Like It: A Manual for Underachievers,

* You Will Know Them By Their Suits (Not Fruits)

* Sleep and Get Rich

* Be Your Own Butler

* Make Money WIth Childish Art That Poses as Primitive

* Dumbing Down for Dummies: Make People Like You For Being Stupider Than Them.

...with these smash hit songs from government music bands:

Randy the Robot And His Merry Servomechanism Lads "Iron Man with a Soft Heart"

Jaymee Louie And The Porcupine Mystery Tentacles of Uncertain Gloom "Tripping".

Be sure to also listen to these Vaspers radio theater podcasts:

Misadventures of a Day Actuarian

Amoeba Mice

Trouble at Robot Land Labs

Rent a Party

Robot Rejects vs. the Moon Mutants

Adventures in Robot Land

Blogocombat and Confident Self Expression

2011-06-28T03:59:00.000-05:00

Blogocombat is a general term that I coined many years ago (Google the word and see hundreds of pages of posts from me on this topic).

I use the broad term "blogocombat" to refer to all types of online discussion, debate, argument, confrontation, challenge, wrangling, hog tied and heckleding, rhetorical conflict, and text vs. text communications of a heated, intense, and multiple opinion nature.

The word "blogocombat" does not necessarily mean that there is anger, hurt feelings, revenge, harmful intent, desire to humiliate, raging jealousy, sadistic hostility, or hate-mongering conflict going on. Blogocombat, as I use the term, can embrace the whole spectrum of what people do, online, using a computer or mobile device, when presenting viewpoints, facts, and principles that are non-homogenous, diverse, and incongruent.

There can be great harmony in an enthusiastic discussion involving smart, educated, experienced professionals. The very essence of scientific method, so highly esteemed by those who value rational thought processes and reasonable behavior, is to test different hypotheses, consider new ideas, and remain open to perceptions and data that are not self-derived.

Oh, but it goes downhill fast when people are uncomfortable with dissent or experiences that seem alien to their own.

To insist that a discussion never be argumentative, never make one participant appear to be not in synch ideologically with another participant, is unrealistic and unprofitable for seeking answers to complex and fundamental questions. While there are polite, mild, and friendly ways to disagree, we must never agree to never disagree.

Listening to a group of people who completely agree with each other is boring. Have you ever tried it? You feel like it's a mutual admiration society and the voices seem to blend and blur into each other, then the whole discussion seems contrived, infomercially bland, unexciting, too artificially harmonious to be a real conversation by real people.

Moving in lockstep with a group, a mentor, a work superior, or any organization, is a guaranteed way to become bland, fuzzy, uncreative, non-innovative, prepared only for what is proscribed in some well-intended but limited training session, lesson program, or political manifesto.

So the anxiously anticipated dissertation on the Hot Blogocombat Techniques for Summer 2011 is clearly revolving around this major theme: your right to express your views and to request clarification when accused.

Express your views. Engage in discussions with others who may have opposing, contradictory, or somewhat non-analogous views. Expect some polite disagreement. Don't be overly sensitive when someone shares some information that you did not know about nor expect to find tossed into the mix. Don't see a discussion as some silly game with winners and losers.

Discussions are not contests to see who can overpower who. Conversations are about sharing and learning and discovering. We talk and listen to each other because we want to help others and gain more wisdom for ourselves.

Only an insecure, controlling personality would want every discussion, conversation, debate, argument, and communication to go his way all the time, make him feel big and important, and result in converting everybody to his way of thinking.

You should feel happy to express yourself, even when you know that your audience is opposed to what you believe. Even when you know your idea will not be popular, will draw dismissive remarks, and may cause some people to dislike you as a person, still, you must be confident and cheerful in presenting your thoughts.

The most cowardly form of trolling is to simply silence the opponent, command him to STFU, howl hysterically about being at a disadvantage, and beg a moderator to restrict a person's utterances and use of links to online information that the troll cannot refute or dismiss. "Shut up", the troll implies when coming up with a list of vague grievances and strict new rules to prevent any further disruption of the troll's tirades and rants.

I have recently had to deal with malicious internet trolls on some client blogs.

These musings are a direct result of having solved some nasty troll issues. These remarks are simplified statements of some base realities to keep in mind when you find yourself surrounded by vicious flamers, rabid detractors, and frenzied haters in the online realm.

Don't let a troll prevent you from saying whatever you deem appropriate to say, even if it means quoting relevant material you researched and prepared, thus making the troll look sloppy, disorganized, or stupid. If you're a dedicated over-achiever, the mediocres will resent your extra work, prolific gusto, and conscientious attention to detail.

Communicate according to your own standards and the perceived context and needs in the situation. You don't have to listen to lectures on how your zeal for excellence is upsetting the applecart and making lazies look bad. You keep building your expertise and growing in your understanding of advanced issues, no matter who is comfortable with it, pays you for it, or pats your head because of it.

Another recent development in trolling is the Reverse Troll, of which I have spoken in some recent podcasts.

The latest tactics of Reverse Trolls include drawing a person into an argument, then backing off suddenly, and acting like the other person is the one who started it. From that point, the troll will consider the discussion over, he won the argument, and now it's time to move on to other things. The pathetically disguised and unmet need underlying this strategy is obvious. The wish to dominate is so strong, and the fulfillment of this desire seems so increasingly unobtainable, the troll must arbitrarily declare the debate to be over.

If you attempt to correct a factual error concerning your actions or intentions, you are gleefully branded a troublemaker, and the troll will comb his hair, smiling into the pool of narcissism that was so recently rippled and disturbed.

You can only respond by politely but firmly advancing a proper presentation of your views and let it rest. To spend too much time in a debate makes it a time drain. I will not say "and an emotional drain", for I have already taught you that you can not allow yourself to feel anything when you read online text or submit online text.

All blogocombat is only text vs. text. There is no need to humanize it. You are not obligated to feel insulted, upset, happy, satisfied, elated, or disappointed when you engage in online conversations. You see some text. You respond with some more text. And so it goes, on and on, until you stop. Then you move on to some other activity.

If you keep all these things in mind, I think you'll be successful in your discussions with people on the internet.

Best wishes to all, and may the best man or woman, er... not "win"... but convince others of at least a little bit of what they communicate to them! LOL

Vaspers interviews DJ Bennett of Killradio PODCAST

2011-06-27T23:47:00.004-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

The Aborted Interview with Bennett Theissen

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

The Re-scheduled Interview with Bennett Theissen

Chillroom DJ on KillRadio.org

Bennett Theissen began online services working for Rhino Records back in 1995, preparing audio excerpts of new releases for their website.

An expert on artists like Sun Ra, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Mothers of Invention, and Bob Dylan, he was "Dr. Rhino" answering music questions. In 1997 Bennett was part of the low powered pirate radio KBLT-FM in Silver Lake, and his program The Chill Room, a collage radio show, premiered there in 1997. KBLT was shut down by the FCC in 1998.

Bennett has been with killradio.org since its premiere at the Democratic National Convention in LA in 2000. In its 11th year streaming, Killradio is one of the longest continually active internet collective radio stations in the world. In 2001 Bennett became a continuous news anchor on kill, and he still does the Weekly News in Review (in conjunction with harpers.org) on killradio every week.

Bennett also actively participated in Critical Mass, an attempt to make a network of a group of internet stations back in 2004 and 2005. But maybe that was too soon!

Bennett's Chill Room shows can be found on the www.killradio.org archive page, on his podomatic page http://chillroom.podomatic.com/, and on radio4all.net at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/1541.

Be sure to also listen to these Vaspers radio theater podcasts:

Worst How To Books Ever Published

Misadventures of a Day Actuarian

Amoeba Mice

Trouble at Robot Land Labs

Rent a Party

Robot Rejects vs. the Moon Mutants

Adventures in Robot Land

Vaspers interviews Chris Pirillo PODCAST

2011-06-26T04:25:00.003-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

This happening was a special event within the Vaspers Presents program on Blog Talk Radio. It was a free-for-all technology discussion placed neatly and politey on the calendar on Friday, June 24, 2011.

"It's better to make history than money, because money goes away, but history is forever." - From the intro by Vaspers the Grate aka Steven Streight.

follow the Vaspers New Reformed Blogorama show!!!!!

Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, etc. Ladies and gents, the infotaining and irrepressible Lockergnome himself, Chris Pirillo.

Participating eccentrically in Internet conversations since 1992, Chris Pirillo launched Lockergnome as a content publishing network and built Gnomedex to be one of the blogosphere’s highly regarded conferences. In 1998, he authored the authoritative book on e-mail publishing — further establishing himself as a thought leader.

His presentation style and technology achievements are legendary. And now you have a ringside seat at an intimate Chris Pirillo Experience that will be memorable, instructive, and inspiring.

Trouble at Robot Land Labs PODCAST

2011-06-25T04:47:00.002-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Very weird meets extremely strange. Go figure. A solar ellipsis surface-burst engenders black hole polkadot swirls that have cryptically damaged Robot Land Labs, all 12 top secret underground levels.

Synthetics run amok, mutant creatures slither around, dysfunct droids morph into simulations of lab staff. My female lab assistant, Patti Smarch, may not even be human anymore.

What was I doing, when the super-colliding sunspot erupted? Working on some routine deteriorating spectral summits. My virtual lasso fell into a malicious loop and many hungry mutants started feasting on Russian technicians.

Find out if I can unravel this mess, or will shame myself in a weakly designed and miserably uncertain attempt.

Myth of Human Progress and Neutral Technology

2011-06-24T17:26:00.002-05:00

In preparation for my Blog Talk Radio interview with Professor Langdon Winner of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and author of Autonomous Technology and The Whale and the Reactor, I have assembled my thoughts on the Myth of Human Progress and so-called Neutral (Amoral) Technology.

I see very little true human progress in any sphere of life. Am I super cynical? Or are increasing numbers of people alarmed at the decline in life quality, freedom, and security that are rooted in unbridled technological advancements?

Oh sure, we have many inventions that make life easier and more comfortable. But does ease and comfort equate to stronger, happier people? Or do they make us weak, fat. lazy, stupid, pampered -- and not as self-reliant as the less "civilized" humans of the past?

Langdon Winner has exposed the potentially malevolent aspect of The Technological Imperative, which I sum up in the phrase "What can be made, must be made, and humanity must submit and adjust to it." In other words, technocrats push the false belief system that all technology is morally neutral. It all depends on how you use the technology. There is no technology that is inherently malevolent. So they say.

Darkness hates the light. Cruel people don't want to be exposed. Insane geniuses want to emphasize the "genius" side of their activities and suppress the "insane" side of their natures. Dr. Frankenstein wanted to animate a dead corpse. Why? To grant eternal life to decent, productive, law-abiding people who had died? Or just "to see if it can be done"?

Technicians, not all of them, but many, seek fame and fortune -- and resist moral interpretations of their work. If one of their inventions ends up being intrinsically harmful, or can easily be used in malicious, destructive ways, why should they care? They resist being held accountable for the Pandora's box they inflict on humanity.

How quickly we forget the completely evil technology of the Nazis with their gas chambers and sadistic human experimentation. I also categorize all animal testing as malevolent and unnecessary. Why test a harsh shampoo on the eyes of a rabbit, to see if it will blind it? Why paralyze a rat, then give it medicines to see if they will help to reverse the crippling?

It's easy to make up flimsy justifications for such cruelty, in the name of benefiting humanity. But I think in the olden days, doctors would experiment and test substances on themselves, not lab animals or paid human volunteers. A person who enjoys inflicting pain and suffering on animals can become a serial killer -- or a product testing lab technician.

There are natural remedies for many ailments, and they have no or few negative side effects when used correctly. Since many of these natural remedies can be grown by individuals, or imported cheaply, because they grow abundantly, there is not much money to be made with them, or you can't patent the naturally occurring substances. The human testing has already been done and there are ancient traditions, like Chinese herbology, that support their use.

When Big Pharma discovers an effective therapeutic plant, they tend to synthesize it, make a chemical analogue of it, so it can be manufactured in laboratories en masse. Here is where the detrimental side effects are introduced. With enough research and advertising, Big Pharma hopes to make a huge profit. But when the drug is taken off the market and class action lawsuits proliferate, we see the so-called "unintended consequences".

Has humanity progressed? Is technology creating a utopia?

Not in my view.

Slavery, racism, sexism, insanity, addiction, war, rape, poverty, pollution, disease, species extinction, wildlife habitat deprivation, ecological disasters, and many other bad realities are rampant. We have "progressed" in many comforts and conveniences, but at what cost?

We are improving in our ability to destroy the environment, poison our soil, mutate our food, dumb down our children, and wage war against both combatants and civilians.

Technocrats want us to submit without question to all new technology. They hide behind Progress as their god. They evade ethics issues. They resent any attempt to hold them accountable for the results of their toys and tools. They seek to dominate society, make us dependent on their mysterious and increasingly complex machines, and reap great fortunes and accolades from their peers.

Yes, a knife can be used to peel an apple and murder a person. Some technology is neutral in essence. The same electricity that powers our computers and enables us to communicate with each other also enables us to launch nuclear missiles and make drone strikes in nations against which we have not (yet) declared war.

Man as a tool making animal is not necessarily the best definition of humanity. As Langdon Winner states, man is better defined as a mind making animal. Before we had technological toys to amuse us, divert our attention from more important concerns, and waste our time, humans were not bored. We spent our free time in contemplation, meditation, observation, and philosphical speculations.

How many children spend time philosophizing today?

How many children play games that are gentle and altruistic?

Slasher films, violent video games, silly fantasies involving demonic beings and superstitious occult powers tend to be the norm.

Wars are increasing, citizens are revolting, governments are becoming more tyrannical, and technology is ramping up the surveillance and control features to enslave us and make us more "transparent" and predictable, while corporations and governments hide in opaque shadows of secrecy and backroom dealings.

Human progress? Neutral technology?

Nice myths for those who put their faith in science as the new religion to which all must conform.

What good is more information -- when people are being stressed with multi-tasking, schedule juggling, weakened memory, and declining powers of observation, memorization, and concentration? Tons of newly available information does little good for those who suffer from attention deficit disorder and inability to reach a rational decision.

Tech gurus and social media pundits tend to praise every new networking tool and gadget. If you bring to their attention the downsides, like how social media is becoming surveillance media, enabling identity thieves and other predators to be more efficient in their crimes, they will dismiss you as paranoid, or claim that such activity is marginal and is compensated by the many "benefits" of the technology.

Let's keep our eyes open and our minds clear. Instead of letting the steamroller smash you into the pavement, resist the false "inevitability" of the machine and question the operators thereof.

Vaspers interviews Cindy Krum author Mobile Marketing PODCAST

2011-06-23T04:45:00.001-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Cindy Krum -- author of Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are -- reveals the secrets to a mobile ad campaign.

Cindy Krum is the CEO and Founder of Mobile Moxie (formerly Rank-Mobile) based in Denver, CO. She brings fresh and creative ideas to her clients, speaking at national and international trade events about mobile web marketing, social network marketing and international SEO.

Cindy is an SEOmoz Assoicate and hosts a weekly radio show about mobile marketing on WebMasterRadio.fm called Mobile Presence.

She writes for industry publications, and has been published in Website Magazine, Advertising & Marketing Review, Search Engine Land, the Bruce Clay Blog, and quoted by many respected publications including Thompson & Reuters, PC World, TechWorld, Internet Retailer, Search Marketing Standard and Direct Magazine.

Some of the events that Cindy regularly presents at include Search Marketing Expo (SMX), Search Engine Strategies (SES), adTech, Affiliate Conference and Online Marketing Strategies (OMS).

Cindy also served as the co-chair of the SEMPO Emerging Technologies Mobile Web Task Force, and is an active member of the search community. She is passionate about bringing creative online marketing solutions to clients, and working with clients to develop high level, integrated mobile marketing strategies.

Vaspers interviews CEO Gini Dietrich PODCAST

2011-06-21T20:11:00.022-05:00

Listen to internet radio with StevenStreight on Blog Talk Radio

Listen now to my interview with Gini Dietrich on my Vaspers New Reformed Blogoram internet podcast show on Blog Talk Radio.

Gini Dietrich is Founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, Inc., a firm using non-traditional marketing in a digital world.

Author of Spin Sucks, the 2010 Readers Choice Blog of the Year, a Top 42 Content Marketing Blog from Junta42, a top 10 social media blog from Social Media Examiner, and an AdAge Power 150 blog, Gini has delivered numerous keynotes, panel discussions, coaching sessions, and workshops across North America on using online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR.

One of the top rated communication professionals on the social networks, Gini was recently named the number one PR person, according to Klout and TechCrunch, on the channels, and number one on Twitter, according to TweetLevel.

She also can be found writing at Crain's Chicago Business, AllBusiness, and Franchise Times.