Publish & Prosper - Blogging for your Business - posted by Day Tooley

This is the book I wish I had a year ago when I first started the EasyStreet Business Blog.

DL Byron and Steve Broback are experienced bloggers and business blogging consultants who have condensed their practical advice into a friendly 180 page book.

Byron and Steve demonstrate how businesses are blogging and how you can use blogging technology to converse with your customers to build your brand and sell your products.  One of their clients is Boeing who is achieving much positive attention from their InFlightHQ.com blog.

They observe that Google loves blogs because of their up-to-date content and accessible structure.  And readers likewise find blogs relevant and personal in a way that creates conversations.

Blogging is economical and easy for small businesses. Mike Landfair of Landfair Furniture in Portland, Oregon credits his www.LandfairFurniture.blogspot.com blog: "In an economy that still seems a little slow, our traffic to our main store has increased, and sales are up a healthy percentage over last year."

I am lucky.  EasyStreet allows me the freedom to host this blog and follow where it leads in service to our customers.  With nearly a year of experience to compare with the advice in this book and with continuing input from you, my growing community of readers, this blog will grow stronger and more useful.

Publish & Prosper - Blogging for your Business
DL Byron & Steve Broback
ISBN: 0321395387
$21.99 US 

After you read the book, share your thoughts here. 

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The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint - posted by Day Tooley

A couple of years ago at a special SAO breakfast presentation, I heard Guy Kawasaki speak about the Art of the Start for small business startups.  There were 10 slides in his presentation.

Business communications would benefit if more of us followed his advice.  Kawasaki's 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint (10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point minimum font size) makes sense.

Take a look at Guy's reasoning on his blog. 

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Net Neutrality in the Senate - Money, Self-Interest and Social Responsibility - posted by Day Tooley

Senator Ron Wyden  has placed a hold on major telecommunications legislation recently approved by the Senate Commerce Committee until clear language is included in the legislation that prevents discrimination in Internet access.

The senate legislation, as currently written, does not provide an effective policy on net neutrality.  Instead, the legislation opens the Internet up to large telecommunications companies and cable providers to charge consumers and small businesses new and discriminatory fees on top of those they already charge for Internet access.

Have you made yourself heard on this issue?  This is the time to weigh in with your US Senator and ensure that the Internet remains accessible to all, including small businesses who are the main employers and drivers of a robust economy.

Contact your US Senator:

Oregon:

Gorden H. Smith

Ron Wyden 

Washington: 

Maria Cantwell

Patty Murray 

Other states:

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Opera 9 Becomes The Vanguard Of Next-Generation Browsers - posted by Day Tooley

I am tempted to swap my beloved Firefox 1.5 browser for Opera's new release.  There is a lot to like.

All good browsers support tabs (even Internet Explorer 7 will have tabs), but Opera 9 has some nice features including a tab preview of the page and it's title when you hover over the tab.  If you close a tab, it can be recovered from a little trash can.

Power users will appreciate the efficient use of computer resources.  With 20 tabs open, Firefox was using 140MB of RAM and 35% of my CPU. Opera with 20 tabs open used a modest 78MB of RAM and only 2% of my CPU!

With Web 2.0 gaining traction, Opera's inclusion of widgets promises extending browser customization to suit each user.  I like the weather widget, particularly touchtheSky.  And of course, the tinyURL is a must.  It isn't as easy to use as the right-click ease in Firefox. But widgets seem to be the future doorway, just look at Google.

The way that Opera 9 captures RSS feeds is effortless and displays content as formatted.  However, it only shows the last 10 posts, which won't work for active sites who have dozens or hundreds of posts such as Slashdot.  I'll stay with my SharpReader.

Another strong feature is that it can Identify as Internet Explorer and convince IE-Only sites such as Microsoft Exchange web administration to reveal all without having to launch IE.  That should attract those still stuck with using IE 6.

Finally, Opera 9 can be voice activated and can read web content to you through your computer speakers.  Highlight some text and press 'v'.  Here's what this paragraph sounds like: (Click Player Below)

You can download a copy of Opera 9 and see all the features here.  If only Opera could bring me a latte. 

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

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