Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Video of Google Datacenter - Must See!
Google has released a video showing a data center of theirs. This is one of the computer farms (or you might think of it as one supercomputer or a part of one) where your requests to Google, like its search engine, get crunched. Google says this data center has slots for over 45,000 servers in 45 containers
Monday, September 21, 2009
5 Tips for Making an Unsolicited LinkedIn Recommendation
The credibility of LinkedIn recommendations has come under scrutiny lately with Jeremiah Owyang, Web Strategist for Forrester Research, publicly announcing he will no longer be making LinkedIn recommendations, see “Requested Recommendations on Social Networks: Why I Won’t Do It.”
Adam Nash, Sr. Director, Product & User Experience at LinkedIn, responded by making a case for the value of recommendations in today’s Reputation Economy. He further suggested people make five “unsolicited” recommendations. The theory is that recommendations not specifically requested are more credible and valuable.
While we don’t suggest a number, we suggest you make one unsolicited LinkedIn recommendation to someone you feel deserves it and share your experience with us. Before making that recommendation, please keep these five tips in mind:
1. Think about YOUR reputation. The person making the recommendation weighs more heavily than the recommendation itself. Do not waste your reputation and sphere of influence on a less than stellar candidate.
2. Be honest. This speaks for itself.
3. Be specific. Avoid puffery. Use detailed skill and character descriptions tied to a specific outcome, i.e., “Jane Doe’s strong work ethic and excellent project management skills kept a very difficult redesign project in budget and on track with the support of the entire team. The client was so pleased with the results, they referred three new clients to our firm.”
4. Don’t expect anything back. As with a Random Act of Kindness, the joy is in the giving.
5. Tweet it! Extending the reach of your recommendation on Twitter spreads the good word to your followers and through the search engines. A referral is the best recommendation you can make.
Please share your experience on our blog. What are your thoughts regarding recommendations on LinkedIn? We would love to hear your comments.
connect with meon Linkedin. http://www.linkedin.com/in/dotcomexpert
Thursday, September 3, 2009
15 Steps On How To Welcome Your New Employees
Looking after a new employee during their first few weeks at work can mean the difference between their success and failure as employees as well as your success and failure as an employer, manager or supervisor.
Proper orientation determines how fast the new employee can be productive and efficient in his or her new job while giving you a good opportunity to make your new employee an efficient part of your team.
Below are 15 suggestions that will help you deal with your new employees during their first few weeks to help make sure that they get started on the right track.
1. Have a induction policy for welcoming and training new employees. Don't just leave it to whoever is available. Human resources should cover the HR side of the induction with a trainer (if you have one) or a senior manager or supervisor covering the more hands on part of the job. Either way the following is a minimum of what is required.
2. Give your employee a warm welcome. Don't just point them to the area they work and let them get on with it. Nothing makes a new employee feel comfortable more than a warm welcome.
3. Give them a brief description about your role as a supervisor. Knowing who's in charge and what you expect from them will make them more comfortable with you as the boss.
4. Give your new employee a welcome tour of the whole department or, if the site isn't too big, the whole site. Make sure they know how to get to the bathroom, emergency exits, cafeteria, etc.
5. Give them a brief summary about the company, its history as well as its mission and objectives.
6. If possible demonstrate your company’s products and/or services, paying particular attention to the products relating to the area in which the employee will work. This will make them more secure and confident with the work that they are going to be doing.
7. Explain to your new employee how the company works particularly if the company has any unusual working practices or a different structure than the norm. Again, this will help familiarize them with the company.
8. Tell your new employee about the company’s competitors and what is being done to make sure that the company is staying ahead of the competition.
9. Explain in detail your new employee’s responsibilities and describe their job functions. Don't leave it to the other employees to teach them the basics unless there is a trained member of staff whose job it is.
10. Let your new employee be aware of what you and the company expect from them. This includes proper work ethics, productivity, teamwork, and appearance.
11. Explain the specific conditions and requirements of employment, including hours, pay, pay periods, holiday pay, sickness provisions, pension, medical benefits, lateness etc.
12. Be very clear about the safety rules, policies, procedures and regulations. Explain and show proper use of safety devices.
13.Introduce your new employee to his or her co workers along with a brief description of their jobs and responsibilities.
14. Outline opportunities for promotions and other opportunities.
15. To give them time to acclimatize give them a work buddy, a friendly experienced worker, to show them the job and work with them for the first week of two.
Covering all of these basics will help new employees settle in and they will be more efficient able to be contribute much more quickly compared to employees that are just left to their own devices.
Proper orientation determines how fast the new employee can be productive and efficient in his or her new job while giving you a good opportunity to make your new employee an efficient part of your team.
Below are 15 suggestions that will help you deal with your new employees during their first few weeks to help make sure that they get started on the right track.
1. Have a induction policy for welcoming and training new employees. Don't just leave it to whoever is available. Human resources should cover the HR side of the induction with a trainer (if you have one) or a senior manager or supervisor covering the more hands on part of the job. Either way the following is a minimum of what is required.
2. Give your employee a warm welcome. Don't just point them to the area they work and let them get on with it. Nothing makes a new employee feel comfortable more than a warm welcome.
3. Give them a brief description about your role as a supervisor. Knowing who's in charge and what you expect from them will make them more comfortable with you as the boss.
4. Give your new employee a welcome tour of the whole department or, if the site isn't too big, the whole site. Make sure they know how to get to the bathroom, emergency exits, cafeteria, etc.
5. Give them a brief summary about the company, its history as well as its mission and objectives.
6. If possible demonstrate your company’s products and/or services, paying particular attention to the products relating to the area in which the employee will work. This will make them more secure and confident with the work that they are going to be doing.
7. Explain to your new employee how the company works particularly if the company has any unusual working practices or a different structure than the norm. Again, this will help familiarize them with the company.
8. Tell your new employee about the company’s competitors and what is being done to make sure that the company is staying ahead of the competition.
9. Explain in detail your new employee’s responsibilities and describe their job functions. Don't leave it to the other employees to teach them the basics unless there is a trained member of staff whose job it is.
10. Let your new employee be aware of what you and the company expect from them. This includes proper work ethics, productivity, teamwork, and appearance.
11. Explain the specific conditions and requirements of employment, including hours, pay, pay periods, holiday pay, sickness provisions, pension, medical benefits, lateness etc.
12. Be very clear about the safety rules, policies, procedures and regulations. Explain and show proper use of safety devices.
13.Introduce your new employee to his or her co workers along with a brief description of their jobs and responsibilities.
14. Outline opportunities for promotions and other opportunities.
15. To give them time to acclimatize give them a work buddy, a friendly experienced worker, to show them the job and work with them for the first week of two.
Covering all of these basics will help new employees settle in and they will be more efficient able to be contribute much more quickly compared to employees that are just left to their own devices.
4 Reasons Why You Need Testimonials to Sell More
The other day I was writing a sales brochure for a West Coast manufacturer. As I got to what I’ll call the “proof” section of the brochure, I was rummaging around for testimonials.
The company already had a full-blown Web site and a solid PowerPoint presentation. So I was hopeful that I’d find some ready made testimonials or at least some material I could use to create some.
As it turned out, they had one case study with a couple of customer quotes. I pieced the material together to create one measly testimonial. It was less than adequate.
Well, maybe it’s no big deal. After all, I wrote strong copy. Why even bother with testimonials? I’ll give you four good reasons.
1. Credibility
Testimonials give your company, product, or service credibility. Everyone is bombarded with advertising messages every day. It’s a brutal marketplace. If you want to sell something to somebody, you stand a much better chance if you can convince them that you’re credible. Testimonials are like references on a resume. They’re the people who vouch for you.
2. Identification
Your prospects identify with your customers who are providing the testimonials. They have similar concerns, problems, hopes and desires. They commiserate. This is good. You want this in your marketing. (Sorry, but your prospects don’t identify with you. Not really. You’re trying to sell them something!)
3. Proof
Proof, alone, is reason enough to gather and use testimonials. This is where your customers say, in effect, “They’re right, Mr. or Ms. Prospect. They can save you 50% ... or make you feel 18 again ... or make you enough money to retire at 50. They did it for me and I’m thrilled!” Testimonials notarize your marketing speak.
4. Closure
Testimonials help close the sale. Sure, they can be used throughout a marketing piece. But they definitely come in handy toward the end. You’ve introduced the problem or need, your product or service, the features and benefits, and more. Then you line up your testimonials, all the customers whose heads are nodding and saying, “Yep, it worked for me.” Soon after, you ask for the order.
For many reasons, testimonials give your prospects the confidence they need to buy from you for the first time. And once your prospects turn into new customers, the door to repeat sales swings wide open.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
The company already had a full-blown Web site and a solid PowerPoint presentation. So I was hopeful that I’d find some ready made testimonials or at least some material I could use to create some.
As it turned out, they had one case study with a couple of customer quotes. I pieced the material together to create one measly testimonial. It was less than adequate.
Well, maybe it’s no big deal. After all, I wrote strong copy. Why even bother with testimonials? I’ll give you four good reasons.
1. Credibility
Testimonials give your company, product, or service credibility. Everyone is bombarded with advertising messages every day. It’s a brutal marketplace. If you want to sell something to somebody, you stand a much better chance if you can convince them that you’re credible. Testimonials are like references on a resume. They’re the people who vouch for you.
2. Identification
Your prospects identify with your customers who are providing the testimonials. They have similar concerns, problems, hopes and desires. They commiserate. This is good. You want this in your marketing. (Sorry, but your prospects don’t identify with you. Not really. You’re trying to sell them something!)
3. Proof
Proof, alone, is reason enough to gather and use testimonials. This is where your customers say, in effect, “They’re right, Mr. or Ms. Prospect. They can save you 50% ... or make you feel 18 again ... or make you enough money to retire at 50. They did it for me and I’m thrilled!” Testimonials notarize your marketing speak.
4. Closure
Testimonials help close the sale. Sure, they can be used throughout a marketing piece. But they definitely come in handy toward the end. You’ve introduced the problem or need, your product or service, the features and benefits, and more. Then you line up your testimonials, all the customers whose heads are nodding and saying, “Yep, it worked for me.” Soon after, you ask for the order.
For many reasons, testimonials give your prospects the confidence they need to buy from you for the first time. And once your prospects turn into new customers, the door to repeat sales swings wide open.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
Facebook info
Facebook is a social networking utility that connects people together based on networks. Networks can be based on a wide variety of things and based on the information you provide in your user profile when you sign up for Facebook, you can connect to a wide variety of networks and meet a number of people that are similar to you. Many people have used Facebook in order to meet a lot of great people and if you are interested in using the internet to meet people then Facebook might be the website you’re looking for.
Considering the small bit of history mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it should come as no surprise that the founder of Facebook was a student at Harvard University. A man by the name of Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook and ran it for a very long time as a hobby project during his time at University.
There are many different ways that a person can get security but the one that has specifically been created to meet the demand for security is what is known as a Facebook proxy.
Now that facebook has become so popular, two of the three initial creators have dropped out of university and dedicated themselves full time to improving and maintaining Face book layouts and all of its facilities. Today the Facebook website is used by people from thousands of University campuses across the English speaking world and is also enjoyed by a number of different companies and religious groups as well.
In terms of total users,
Facebook has approximately 200,000,000. This number places it amongst the top social networking websites in the world; not bad for a website that was started as a hobby project by a Harvard student. This 200,000,000 number is reputed to contain multiple accounts; in other words there is an assertion out there that there are not actually 200,000,000 people using the Facebook service but that many people have more than one account on it.
To end on a high note in this game of statistics, here is something that you might find very shocking. According to web traffic numbers and taking into account the 30 billion page views Facebook gets on a monthly basis, it is now the 7th most visited site within the United States.
7 Ways To Advertise Your Business For Free
1. Free directories: directories are perfect for customers that are searching for a particular topic. What’s great about them is that you only have to post once and they are good for long periods of time. It saves a lot of your time when you don’t have to resubmit your information every week or every month. The bad news is most of your traffic won’t come from here. I still feel it is worth it to get your link out there. Just take one day and set it aside for posting to free directories. You won’t need to do it again for at least 6 months.
2. Classified Ads: These are great for work from home businesses. Think about it. Where do people go when they are looking for a job? That’s right-the classifieds. The only downside to classified ads is that you have to resubmit them quite frequently. Once you find which classifieds bring you the most traffic you can concentrate on them and weed the others out. So it is really more time consuming in the beginning, and doesn’t have to be later on when you get the hang of things.
3. Free article submissions/ezines: The best way to inform others about your product or service is to write an article about it. In your authors resource box, you can tell readers about yourself and where they can go to check out your product or service. This is also an excellent way to get free links to your site if you have one. There are a lot of webmasters out there who are looking for good articles they can post on their site. If they post yours, that is another site that is doing the advertising for you. All for free.
4. URL Submissions: Probably the quickest and easiest thing to do to advertise your site. Just type “Free URL submission” in your search engine. When you get a list just enter the URL you are promoting and click submit. That’s it. It only takes a few seconds and your done. Just set a day aside once every 3 months and do this.
5. Forum Posts: Put your product or service website in your signature file when you sign up on some forums. It will be displayed every time you make a post. Try to look for topics that you have some knowledge on, and can give a relevant answer too. Do not spam anyone, you will get kicked off the forum and you will get a bad reputation. Get involved asking and answering questions that pertain to your area of business. Forums are great because once you make a post it stays there forever. It will get moved to the archives eventually, but someone could still find it if they were searching the archives. Yes, there are many people who do.
6. Traffic Exchanges: Probably the most time consuming way to advertise for free, but definately the most effective. Most forums I have visited have said in many posts that they received a lot of their profit from traffic exchanges. If you don’t want to spend the time surfing for credits, you do have the option of buying them. I would look into a program that lets you surf multiple websites at once like crazy browser. There are others and they are free to download. That way you can just spend one hour a day and get all your surfing in at once.
7. News-groups: Become involved in a group that has to do with your kind of business. You can usually mail the group once per day, but I would encourage you to find something fresh to talk about each day. People will tune you out if they see the same message all the time. Remember to never Spam anyone. Only join groups with the same interests as yours. In other words, don’t sign up for a recipe swapping group when you are advertising shaving cream.
2. Classified Ads: These are great for work from home businesses. Think about it. Where do people go when they are looking for a job? That’s right-the classifieds. The only downside to classified ads is that you have to resubmit them quite frequently. Once you find which classifieds bring you the most traffic you can concentrate on them and weed the others out. So it is really more time consuming in the beginning, and doesn’t have to be later on when you get the hang of things.
3. Free article submissions/ezines: The best way to inform others about your product or service is to write an article about it. In your authors resource box, you can tell readers about yourself and where they can go to check out your product or service. This is also an excellent way to get free links to your site if you have one. There are a lot of webmasters out there who are looking for good articles they can post on their site. If they post yours, that is another site that is doing the advertising for you. All for free.
4. URL Submissions: Probably the quickest and easiest thing to do to advertise your site. Just type “Free URL submission” in your search engine. When you get a list just enter the URL you are promoting and click submit. That’s it. It only takes a few seconds and your done. Just set a day aside once every 3 months and do this.
5. Forum Posts: Put your product or service website in your signature file when you sign up on some forums. It will be displayed every time you make a post. Try to look for topics that you have some knowledge on, and can give a relevant answer too. Do not spam anyone, you will get kicked off the forum and you will get a bad reputation. Get involved asking and answering questions that pertain to your area of business. Forums are great because once you make a post it stays there forever. It will get moved to the archives eventually, but someone could still find it if they were searching the archives. Yes, there are many people who do.
6. Traffic Exchanges: Probably the most time consuming way to advertise for free, but definately the most effective. Most forums I have visited have said in many posts that they received a lot of their profit from traffic exchanges. If you don’t want to spend the time surfing for credits, you do have the option of buying them. I would look into a program that lets you surf multiple websites at once like crazy browser. There are others and they are free to download. That way you can just spend one hour a day and get all your surfing in at once.
7. News-groups: Become involved in a group that has to do with your kind of business. You can usually mail the group once per day, but I would encourage you to find something fresh to talk about each day. People will tune you out if they see the same message all the time. Remember to never Spam anyone. Only join groups with the same interests as yours. In other words, don’t sign up for a recipe swapping group when you are advertising shaving cream.
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