This was the topic at the most recent Tech Biz Connection event in Aliso Viejo, CA. Here are the notes I took from listening to the panelists and their interactions with the audience.

continue reading "Marketing and Promoting Your Company On a Small Budget"

Senior Detective Dave Street, of the Moreno Valley Sheriffs department, gave a presentation to the Riverside Tech CEO Forum about Identity Theft & Fraud. I found the presentation to be fascinating and disturbing. Based on the facts he provided, I believe everyone should take the time and review the information he presents. In this post I summarize the presentation, if you would like to view the full Power Point presentation, please download and/or view it at DocStoc.

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Scott Hamilton of Allign, recently spoke about Internal Branding at a CICAMA meeting. Following are some insights I gleaned from that talk. Enjoy!

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This information comes from a panel I attended at Social Media School. For your benefit, I have captured the key points. Enjoy!

continue reading "Getting Investment Capital for Your Social Media Application"

There are two books I recommend to any startup: The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything and Getting Real. I created a guide based on the former, and now I have created a mind map based on the latter. I suggest that you use the mind map for review or to gain an overview of the key points. You can download the mind map here (it is in the FreeMind format): Getting Real Mind Map.

I am a Google Apps evangelist. I use their services for both sides of our business and I also have a personal account. Now, with the addition of new features, they have become very close to providing a total platform for an agile business. With all of that goodness, there are four main features that are missing. Here is my plea to Google.
continue reading "4 Essential Features Google Apps Needs to Achieve World Domination"

37 signals knows how to promote their sites with low overhead. They have a built a large user base around those promotions. Take a look at the formula they use, and think about how you can incorporate their ideas into your next Web 2.0 project.

continue reading "9 Key Elements for Building a Powerful Promotional Website"

Top salespeople know the value of good qualification methods. Proper qualification can skyrocket your closing ratio and save a tremendous amount of time. These 13 questions are derived from Doug Dayton’s Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World’s Most Successful Company.

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Lucky Gmail users have been able to use these features for some time now, while us Google Apps users have been quietly waiting. Personally, I’m glad Google took the time to get the features working flawlessly before deploying for business use. After spending some time understanding the new features, I have found some great new productivity enhancements to share.
continue reading "Using the New Google Apps Features to Enhance Your Business"

Many people I have talked with about non-profit fund raising, seem to focus on the large sponsorship opportunities. While that is ultimate goal, there are many opportunities to get help at smaller levels that can eventually lead to the large sponsorships. If you have a non-profit and your fund raising is stalled, read on.
continue reading "How to Get Small Amounts of Funding for Non-Profits"