The 4WD Button

One night I got the 2 AM call every parent dreads:  “Dad, I’ve been in an accident!” My 18-year-old son, on his way home from work, was fine but shaken up.  It was winter and the roads were snow packed with spots of ice.  He was an experienced winter driver, but cruising down the freeway at 60 MPH in the middle of the night he hit a patch of ice, lost control and went into the median. Because of deep snow, the Blazer was propelled in then out on the other side, into the opposite traffic lanes.  Fortunately, there was little traffic at that hour, so there were no other cars around.

Smashing into the median bent the frame, pushed the engine back, cracked the radiator and other damage.  Check out the picture of the front license plate holder and you’ll get an idea of the devastation.

He was able to drive it to a friend’s repair shop, and I went to pick him up.  On the way home he shared the details and revealed that he had failed to push the 4- wheel drive button.  “Why??” I asked.  “I didn’t think I needed it,” was his response.

The Chevy Blazer he was driving had a button on the dashboard that engaged the 4- wheel drive.  Most of the time we drove in 2-wheel drive mode since the gas milage was better.  But when it snowed, that button was great! One click, double the power and control.  But he didn’t think he needed it!

$2500 in repairs or engage the 4-wheel drive?  Seems like an easy choice but it wasn’t as simple as that.

Today we see the same rationale. I hear people say ‘oh, I don’t need Linkedin’ or ‘I just don’t get Twitter’.  These are the new 4-wheel drive buttons of marketing.   Failure to use them will cost you.  

Internet marketing demands that your organization leverage every tool and advantage you can employ, including:

• Youtube video. The second largest search engine on the web and owned by Google.  Ignore it at your peril.
• Social media, especially Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.  Depending on your product, service and audience, one can be more effective than another.  It’s vital to know which applies to you and why.
• Press releases.  News of product offering, expansion, customers, awards, etc., helps push your name and site in search engine results.  Tell the world your news.
• Blogging.  Consistent posting of solid information is the foundation of organic SEO.  Blog about your customers and how they use your product, or changes in the industry.  The list is endless.  Make sure it’s well written, interesting and helpful.
• Think creatively.  The first rule of marketing is to set yourself apart from your competition.  In other words, don’t follow the leader.
• How can you tell your story differently?  Think of the memorable ads of the past.  Most of them were creative and emotional.

These activities are critical to your internet identity and building strong, organic SEO.   Not understanding and engaging them will cost you.  Just like driving in the snow without engaging the 4-wheel drive.

Memo to All Employees: Cough up your Facebook password… now!

Did you know that your employer can legally require you to turn over your Facebook password?  That is unless you live in California or Illinois.  Early this month, new laws went into effect in those state prohibiting companies from engaging in that practice.  But for the rest of us, all they have to do is ask.

Be careful what you post on social media…it could get your fired!

Why would a company ask for it?  Social media have become so pervasive and potentially damaging that companies strive to aggressively protect themselves from slander, disclosure of trade secrets and malicious posts.  Your company should have a policy governing what you can and cannot post on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, etc. accounts.

People often mistake the nature of social media and think it is private, personal and anonymous.  Some of us equate a Facebook post with a note passed in high school class.  It’s all good unless the teacher intercepts it and reads it aloud to the class.  We should realize, however, that the reality of posting on social media is like the contents of that note being published on the front page of every newspaper in the country.

What you post becomes part of  the permanent record of the web.  A bank recently posted a job listing for information technology specialist.  Several applications came in.  The HR department reviewed them, then checked the web for Facebook, Twitter or other postings.  One person had posted that his mission at work was “to do as little as possible and just get through the day.”  The CIO instructed HR to inform him that, if he came in for an interview, his Facebook comment would be discussed.  He never came in.  The CIO commented that young people especially, do not realize that on-line activities become part of your professional profile and will stay out there for a long, long time.

If you post material or comments that are prohibited by your employer’s Social Media use policy, you risk disciplinary action, even termination.  Consider this case from Buffalo, NY.

After Lydia Cruz-Moore told Marianna Cole-Rivera that she planned to discuss her concerns about employee performance with the Executive Director of Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc. (HUB), Ms. Cole-Rivera posted:

Lydia Cruz, a coworker feels that we don’t help our clients enough at HUB. I about had it!  My fellow coworkers how do u feel?

Four co-workers responded, all on their personal computers and on their own time. The employees generally objected to the assertion that their performance was substandard. Ms. Cruz-Moore complained to HUB management about the posts, and on the first workday after the Facebook posts, HUB fired Ms. Cole-Rivera and her four co-workers. The Executive Director of HUB justified the terminations on the ground that the posts violated HUB’s zero-tolerance policy for bullying and harassment.  http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/nlrb-sides-with-employees-fired-over-fac-84243/

This has happened over and over again, to people in positions from new hire to senior executives.  More and more,  companies and organizations monitor any posting that may reflect poorly on them.

What you post can have long-term repercussions.  Remember, whatever you write on the web stays on the web and may be seen by the world.  So, think twice… or even three times before you hit that post button!

Weak Passwords: “Jesus” Can’t Save You From Password Hackers

“Jesus” is the 21st most common password employed by internet users, but it’s not strong enough to protect your data.  Hackers work around the clock looking for ways to steal your identity, money, and private information. And poor password choices makes their work easier.  http://www.youtube.com/user/CoppermoonWebDesign

Use ‘strong’ passwords to protect your data

We tend to use passwords that are easy to remember, without considering their security strength.  If you are on the internet, you use passwords to look up your bank account, get mail, access Facebook or Twitter, buy the latest best seller from Amazon… each task requires a password.  Most of us view website password management as annoying at best, and a real headache at worst.  Your opinion probably depends on how many password accounts you have.  The more you have, the more of a hassle it seems.

What does a secure password look like?  At least 8 (12 is best) characters, with upper and lower case letters, symbols and at least one number.   Something like ‘A9bQgJt1rzL&’ . But that is hard to remember, so most of settle for something like ‘abc123’ (number 4 on the list) or ‘ninja‘ (number 23).

There are ways to make your passwords both secure and memorable.  For example, let’s say you moved to Phoenix in 1991.  Intermix the letters and numbers, something like this: PHo19en91iX  That is a strong password and one you can remember.

Security software developer Splashdata just released its annual list of the most used and insecure passwords. Their list is based on analysis of file dumps from online hackers.  Some of the entries are surprising, others not so much.  The most used password?  ‘password’ .

Here are some basic password rules to protect your identity, money and information.

• Never post or send your password via email, text, instant message, or on social media sites
• Don’t use your name as your password
• Don’t use the names of your spouse, kids, or pets as passwords
• Change all of your passwords at least twice a year
• Don’t use passwords that could be cracked by looking at your Facebook page.
• Never disclose your passwords in response to an email or a phone call
• Use some type of password management program that can be locked (of course, you have to remember the password for that!).

Here’s the list of the most commonly used passwords, in order of popularity.  If you use ANY password on this list, change it immediately!

password

123456

12345678

abc123

qwerty

monkey

letmein

dragon

111111

baseball

iloveyou

trustno1

1234567

sunshine

master

123123

welcome

shadow

ashley

football

jesus

michael

ninja

mustang

password1

Multiple Computing Devices: Do You Have An App For That?

How do people use your website? Do you have a mobile app specifically for smartphones? What about an app for tablets such as the iPad? When would a visitor access your site from a desktop or laptop?  Consider what you want people to do when they come to your site, and under what circumstances they would use each of these devices.  Consult your Google analytics to see which devices and browsers are used to view your site.  The answers will guide you in developing the correct web design strategy for each platform.

We don’t replace technology, we add devices

The other day I walked into my office and glanced at my desk, with the 2 large monitors connected to a MacPro tower desktop.   Next to the monitor was my laptop with my iPad sitting on top of it, and my smart phone on top of the iPad

It struck me, as I looked at the stack of electronics on my desk, that we don’t replace technology, we add devices.  Each one serves a unique computing purpose, depending on where we are and what we are doing. The device we use is dictated by need and location, not by the website we want to access.  In fact, we expect the website to deliver regardless of the device we choose!

Last month we visited Disneyland in California.  Before and during the trip, I used all 4 of my devices in distinct ways.  I used my desktop to map the route we would take, not to print and follow, but to calculate the budget we would need for gas.  I wanted to see the distance in miles based on the various routes we might take into Orange County.

Once on the road, my iPad was handy to show where we were en route, and possible places to make potty stops (very important!).  When we checked into the hotel, I used the laptop to look for details about the attractions and lore of Disneyland.
Did you know that after the place closes and everyone has gone home, the park is overrun by feral cats to keep the mice population in check? We trust Mickey had a Fast Pass to get away from them!

Once in the park my smartphone apps told us the wait time for specific rides, about places to eat, and of course, the weather.

When we adopt a new technology, we don’t replace the old stuff.  We just add capability.  Your website must deliver your message regardless of how it is accessed.  Otherwise, visitors will move on to someone’s who will.

Person of Interest: Mike Ballif

Rock band guitarist, concert promoter, real estate professional, college professor, and internet entrepreneur.  These are just some of the roles played by Mike Ballif.  Today, his company Class Star http://classstar.comdelivers online continuing education for real estate professionals.  The course takes the student through the lessons, presents tests, and electronically certifies to the state licensing agency that the mandated training is completed.  He understands the power of web video and how it contributes to the success of your website.

Mike Ballif, CEO of CLass Star
Click to watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCS5DZ_G2hY

A few years ago, Mike saw the revolution taking place before him.  He embraced the possibilities of using the web to deliver the required learning and certifications to streamline the CE process. He now wants to take his success to other professionals. Online learning has developed rapidly over the past 10 years.  Universities, technical programs, and even high school courses provide web-based training, certifications and degrees.  These programs and systems recognize the diverse needs of students while offering a variety of teaching and learning methods. Developers have noticed the trend and thousands of learning management tools have been created.  Some are full, web-based systems or plug-ins, while others integrate to other software powering an ever-growing field of online learning sites. A Google search of ‘online learning’ yields about 722 million results!  Everything from simple tutorials on YouTube  how to sew on a button http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSs_DiJ-ZA  to MBA programs.  Even small companies can utilize these tools to train their staffs without great costs. All of these programs face the same challenge – delivering high quality content in an interesting way, so most programs include some type of video presentation. But dry lectures are worse online than in person.  A video talking head reading a lesson is more effective than Ambien.   At least in a classroom you can torment a neighbor to keep both of you awake.  However, interesting and interactive video can hold students’ interest while delivering powerful lessons.

So now will Mike add video star to his resume?  Keep an eye on his website to find out.

Big Data: Target Knows If Your Daughter Is Pregnant

In his book “The Power of Habit”, Charles Duhigg relates a most interesting tale.  A man enters a Minneapolis area Target store and demands to talk to the manager.  The manager listens as the gentleman angrily asks why Target mailed offers and coupons for baby clothes, furniture and other maternity items to his high school-age daughter.  Embarrassed, the manager apologizes and tries to explain it must have been some kind of mistake and promises to contact Target headquarters about the matter.  A few days later, the manager calls the gentleman to apologize again.  Sheepishly, the father admits that when he returned home, he spoke to his daughter.  She was indeed pregnant.

Target’s data analysis programs predicted that she was pregnant based on the girl’s purchases. Items such as unscented shampoo and lotions, vitamins and washcloths, as well as coupons she used, and other demographic data, all added to her customer profile.  And they are right better than 70% of the time.

As we walk, bike or drive with a smart phone, GPS, or tablet device, systems track our location. When we get email, go to a website, text, tweet or Facebook, our actions are stored.  Credit card data, on line purchases, coupons and gift cards used, and much more data, is all stored and analyzed for trends, patterns and anomalies. Why? All the better to market to you, my dear!

Companies and organizations need to know a lot about you, without you specifically telling them to accurately predict which book or movie you’re likely to buy, whether a cruise or bike trip is probably in your future, or which candidate you’ll vote for.  Many organizations predict whether a hurricane will hit New Orleans or Miami, study the human genome, or guess which players to trade for best shot at the world series.  All of this in turn requires a lot of data storage and management. A lot.

Welcome to the world of big data.

How much data you ask?  To put it in perspective, let’s use something we’re all familiar with as a basis of data storage- a music CD. A commercial CD holds about 3/4 of a gigabyte, or 750 megabytes (MB) of data for about an hour of music.  Your computer’s hard drive probably stores in gigabytes, or GB.  If you have a 500 GB drive, that’s about equal to 667 or so CDs.

1,000 gigabytes equals a terabyte (TB) or about 1,430 CDs.  Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, claims it uses 5.87 terabytes to store all of the entries.  The Library of Congress adds about 5 terabytes per month, and as of April 2011 estimate the data size of all its media at 235 terabytes.

A petabyte (PB) equals 1,000 terabytes, enough to fill 1.43 million CDs.  Now we’re into big data.  Walmart processes about a million customer transactions per hour, world wide. The download of this data comes out to 2.5 petabytes per month, or 167 times more than the media in the Library of Congress.

And what about Google?  How much data do they have?  Mountain View is very protective of this information, so no one really knows. But analysts guess it’s in the well over 200 petabytes in approximately 900,000 (that’s not a typo!) servers across the globe.

Orwell’s 1984 vision of an ever-watching ‘big brother’ doesn’t seem so far fetched in today’s wired and wireless world.  But instead of the government making you toe the line, Target wants to sell you a stroller.

Google Sees Your Website Like An MRI

A few years ago I had an increasing pain in my neck and down my arm.  I went to the doctor and he ordered an MRI.  When it was over, the tech gave me a CD and told me to show it to the doc.  Being curious, I plugged it in to my computer and watched what appeared to be an X-Ray movie of my neck and spine.  Interesting, but I couldn’t really tell what was wrong.  (Watch this video as Dr. Corenman explains a neck/spine MRI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO3xmPLrvvM)

After viewing, my doctor said I had a ruptured disk and was leaking the goo (he compared it to the filling in a Twinkie!) that separates the vertebrae. It wasn’t going away and I needed surgery to repair it.  The procedure was scheduled and I spend 3 days in hospital.

For most people, looking at your Google Analytics report of website traffic is about as clear as an medical MRI.  But it can reveal serious problems and opportunities, as well as track the marketing success of your website.

Google Analytics is powerful program that tracks all activity on your website.  http://coppermoonusa.com/analytics.html Google offers it free in exchange for sharing the anonymous data it collects.  The system shows how many visitors per day come to your site, which pages they visited, how long they spend on the each page, what keywords they used to find you, and much, much more.

Why is this of value?  Like the MRI, understanding the meaning of the data will improve your internet marketing performance and can increase your ROI.

Here are two quick examples.  One of our clients averages about 200 visitors to their site per day, and they pay an SEO (search engine optimization) firm to push them to page 1 of Google search.  But when we looked at the analytics, we saw that very few people are coming to their site using the keywords they are paying for. Armed with this data, they adjusted the keyword campaign to drive more traffic to their site.

For most credit unions and banks, visitors frequently come to their site and launch online banking.  Only a small percentage of visitors browse the rest of the site for information or offers.  Consequently, the site must deliver a clear and compelling message.  Many marketing departments spend a great deal of time and energy developing art and text, but have no idea how effective they are.  If there is an auto loan offer?  What percentage of visitors see it?  How many complete an application?  Of those, how many loans are approved?  This information gives you insight into how visitors behave on the site and what can be changed to improve performance.

Google Analytics, installed, properly configured and interpreted, can guide your internet marketing efforts to increase business and ROI.  Without it, measuring your online efforts are nothing more than opinion and blind luck.

Design vs Art

Most business people understand that today your website is your new lobby.  It’s design gives people an impression of your organization; often a first impression.   Surveys shows that more than 80% of people do research on line before making any purchase of a product or service.  Potential members, customers, patients, clients, or donors, make that initial judgement about your organizations within about 30 seconds of landing on your site.  If it appears inviting, easy to understand, and simple, they’ll stay and give you a chance to tell your story.  If you fail, they are gone in a mouse click.

Someone said great art speaks to each person differently, while great design speaks to each person the same.  Design makes the world easy to use, while art is a personal taste and changes from person to person.  There has long been a debate between art and design:  Which is more important, effectual, and desirable?

Andy Warhol’s painting of a soup can sold for $11 million at auction in 2006.  However, in 2011 Campbell’s Soup Co. sold $778 million worth of soup.  So, does good design sell more than good art?

Good and bad design is all around us.  It makes everyday things easy, or hard, to use.  Consider the car.  All cars have a steering wheel, not a choice of steering wheel, joystick or navigational stalk.  When you jump into the drivers seat of the latest model or a vintage car from ‘40s, an experienced driver can figure it out pretty quickly.

The design aspect of your website is critically important.  Good sites have clean navigation, and a well thought out menu of choices on the top or side, but not all over the place.  The titles are clear, concise and accurately describe their content to easily guide visitors along.  Bad web design can be frustrating for the visitor and drive away business, wasting the time and money you spent on getting traffic.

Most designers agree that Amazon is one of the best sites on the web.  It’s design is clear and simple to use, it’s easy to find what you want, and above all, easy to shop.  It looks nice, but its not a work of art.

WebsitesThatSuck.com highlights what you shouldn’t do, and demonstrates that organization size doesn’t inoculate anyone against stupidity.  Using a common sense driven check list, each year they select the worst sites on the web.  2011’s list includes big names like Xerox, Sony and Symantec, along with some not so famous companies and people. Check out the list to see the worst of the worst.   If your site looks at all like any of these, get some new web people.

John D Barry wrote “Only when the design fails does it draw attention to itself; when it succeeds, it’s invisible.”  Design well and prosper.