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According to Morgan Stanley, the future of computing is going mobile. They say that mobile Internet usage will surpass desktop Internet use by 2014. Yes the world is going mobile and getting smarter, turning to Smartphones that is. For those uncertain of the term Smartphones , cell phones with advanced computing capabilities including Internet browsing.

May be you have one or know someone who has one but according to Nielsenwire, apparently we are in the early adopter phase of Smartphones. Only about 23% of the cell phone users in the US are using Smartphones. Of the scores of different Smartphones available, Blackberries, iPhones and iPads dominate new Smartphone sales with the Droid gaining market share by the day.

These Smartphones have more computing power than the computer that first put a man on the moon in 1969. Phone calls, emailing, texting, getting directions, and Internet browsing from one small handheld device are now luxuries enjoyed by these early adopters. However as the wireless networks get faster, Smartphone Internet usage will become cheaper, easier and more prevalent. Walt Mossberg says, “…in a nutshell, most of the industry is gradually moving from “3G” networks to faster networks called “4G,” or fourth generation. This will take several years and billions of dollars, and will be turned on city by city.”

In the future, bigger is not necessarily going to be better. Do you remember how excited you were when you went from a 15-inch computer monitor to a 17-inch monitor? I do. Then up to a 19-inch? Then a 21 inch? Then 26? A 30-inch monitor? Now we are going the other way. Today, web sites must be designed for these huge monitors and for Smartphones with very tiny screens at the same time. Web sites must look good, be effective, and work properly on both a large and a small format screens. If your web site is more than 3 years old, it is likely time to consider a redesign. More importantly, is that your web site be ready for the mobile, smarter, faster, and smaller world.

Google and other search engines are losing out to online video: 33 billion video views per month compared to 15 billion searches. That’s more than double. The latest issue of Website Magazine reported that consumers are watching an average of 12.71 hours of online video per month. Those clues tell us how important web video has become.

Just 10 years ago if you were to ask the same question, what about web video on my site the answer would have been a definite no. Xing technology, a pioneer in streaming technologies began right here California’s Central Coast. Before it was sold to Real Networks in 1999, Xing invented StreamWorks, the first live 24-hour video and the first live 24-hour audio broadcast system for the Internet. Web video back then, was resource intensive. Moving the vast amounts of data around the Internet using the old 56k modems during the 1990’s was painfully slow. I remember waiting 45 minutes for a Maria Carey music video clip to download in 1995. Not only was the video the size of a postage stamp but also it was less than one minute long.

Today’s technology makes it easy and accessible to produce videos for the web, unlike in the pioneering days of webcasting in the 1990s.  With video portals like YouTube, Hulu, and Brightcove, finding and watching them is easy too.

But should you use video on YOUR site? The short answer is – probably. However, just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s right for your business. Revisit your business goals, ask yourself what you would like to achieve and whether video will help you reach your objective.

Then, before you even think of picking up a camera, do your homework.

• What’s the objective of your video? Get clear on this right at the start. Is it to promote a new product, get sign ups for a seminar, do damage control, introduce your new CEO, answer frequently asked questions, provide customer support? Something else? Knowing what you want to achieve will help you focus the content.
• How long does your video need to be in order to reach your objective? 30-seconds, 3-minutes, 23-minutes? Or more?
• Who is your audience? What are the demographics of your target audience? Are they male or female? How old are they? What is their level of education? What do they want to know? What do you want them to know? What do you want them to experience? Getting to know your audience will narrow down your content even further and keep you on track.
• Define your message. Focus your entire video on getting your message across, but be specific. A very general message is less likely to hit home with your viewers or get more than a ho-hum reaction from them. That’s not what you want.
• Who will write the script? You do need one. Winging it may sound like fun, but the results won’t measure up and your video will be a dud. Will you write the script yourself or do you need to hire a scriptwriter?
• Who is going to produce your video? Anyone with a video camera, a Macbook, iMovie, and the Adobe Suite can produce a video for the web. But ask yourself whether an amateur video will create the impression you want. If not, it’s time to hire a professional team.
• Figure out your budget. Nothing puts a damper on enthusiasm as quickly as running out of money before a project is finished. In addition to a videographer and scriptwriter, add in the costs for renting equipment, editing the video, hiring other professional talent both on and off camera. Finally, if you want an added dimension to your video, include the cost for the background music, or music bed as it is called.
• How are you going to post it on your web site: as a QuickTime movie? As a Flash movie? Or simply upload it to YouTube?  YouTube is free and but consider whether it’s the best place for a business related video. If the answer is yes, make sure to embed your video into the web page or you run the risk of losing your audience to YouTube’s site.

Yes, consider video as a way to get your company message out to your audience. Then think the project through and plan in advance BEFORE the camera rolls. You’ll save time, money and aggravation, and you’ll end up with a video that gets your viewers excited.

By now, everyone knows what a blog is, but not everyone understands how to use one to develop business. Here’s the critical factor: it’s not just WHAT you say, it’s also HOW and WHEN you say it that determines whether or not you build a large readership. Honoring the following 7 Golden Rules will help make your blog a success.

1.) Spelling Counts! – Like it or not, we are judged on details and first impressions. Sure, the message counts. But grammatical and spelling errors make you and your company look sloppy. Readers assume that your employees aren’t the best and the brightest if they can’t spell properly. Don’t give your readers a reason to devalue your company before they finish reading your article.

2.) Don’t Try to Sell – Of course you want to get business from your blog.  But you don’t do that by making it sound like your marketing department! The most successful blogs offer value to their readers with candid, insightful information into the company and the industry. If your CEO is willing to be the face of the company blog, that’s even better. Over time your readers get to know your company, you gain credibility with them because of your knowledge – and that’s when business happens.

3.) Keep an Eye on Your Industry – You need to know who your competitors are and what they’re doing. Follow leaders and bloggers in your industry to keep abreast of the latest trends and topics. Commenting on blogs and allowing others to comment on yours is a great way to create worthwhile connections with other bloggers and your readers.

4.) Keep it Real – Be transparent. Don’t hide behind fake usernames and “anonymous” comments on other blogs. Use your real name. Make it clear that you work in the industry. Readers value and respect companies who present themselves honestly.

5.) Keywords are (well um)…KEY – They’re called keywords for a reason, right? Using relevant and interesting keywords in the title of your blog entry draws in readers; they also help the search engines find you. But make sure the keywords relate to your article: if readers don’t find what they expected, they’ll feel cheated and chances are they won’t come back.

6.) Post Often – New content encourages readers to come back. It also helps your search engine rankings.  Develop a schedule and stick to it. Often it’s easier and less time-consuming to write several articles at once and then you always have one ready to post on schedule.

7.) Be Relevant – This is often a major roadblock in maintaining a company blog. The topics are obvious (anything related to your field). However sometimes it’s hard to find new angles for the same old subjects, without drifting off into irrelevance. Readers come to your blog expecting to find posts about a certain subject: it turns them off when they find something different. And they lose interest in you.

Follow these 7 Rules to avoid the most common pitfalls of blogging –  and your blog will become a treasure trove of resources and useful insights into your industry.

Social media can be daunting. How do you find your way around it? Is it even worth getting involved, especially for a small business?

Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp or others, social media is an essential part of your marketing mix because it’s a way to reach out to customers more easily and at a lower cost than with traditional marketing methods. It’s the online equivalent of "word of mouth" marketing: people are turning to it more and more to find recommendations for goods and services.

To help you get started, here are some basic dos and don’ts.

DOs
1. DO respect the community. Learn the proper etiquette for online dialogues in general, and for the application you are using in particular. Always keep your comments constructive, even if someone makes you angry.
2. DO participate. Otherwise no one knows who you are or what you have to say. Monitor topics and contributors that are important to your industry and interact with them through their social media. Instead of posting everywhere just to get your name out, focus on bringing value to the conversation – you’ll gain more respect.
3. DO write original content. It’s a violation of copyright law to lift someone else’s material directly off the Internet and pass it off as your own. You will be caught! Remember that you are a leading authority in your field and people want to hear YOUR thoughts and opinions.
4. DO monitor your efforts. As with all marketing efforts, it’s important to know what results you’re getting. You can use one of the social media monitoring tools to find out what people are saying about you and whether the time you spend on social media is leading to increased business. The tools also help you stay engaged in the conversations that matter most to you. Businesses that stay on top of the buzz about their company can respond quickly when they need to.
5. DO stay current. Social media is constantly changing. Tools that are popular today may be considered ancient tomorrow. Follow the trends. Know what’s available but don’t jump on every bandwagon just because you can. Know which tools help your business make the biggest impact.

DON’Ts
1. DON’T lie. Social media is based on trust, and trust must be earned. Shady tactics can backfire and create huge negative publicity. Don’t say things about yourself or your competitors that are untrue, and don’t create aliases to post comments to artificially boost your reputation.
2. DON’T spam. Many social media applications require people to subscribe in order to receive your messages, but that doesn’t give you a license to flood their inbox. When you overrun the application with your messages, you risk alienating your fans and they will turn you off.
3. DON’T overdo your presence. Sure, you want your company’s name spread around as much as possible. However, it’s best to stick to a few core social media applications. When you attempt to post in too many places, it becomes overwhelming and you’ll end up posting exactly the same content everywhere. That’s likely to annoy your readers. Or you’ll run out of worthwhile things to say.
4. DON’T be a pest. Everyone wants the biggest and most important people to be their fan or friend. However, if they haven’t responded to your request, don’t keep resending it in case it got "lost in the mail". At best, they might continue to ignore you, at worst you may have annoyed them enough that they call you out on it publicly.
5. DON’T connect with just anyone. When you want to build authentic relationships, be wary about connecting with strangers whose only goal is to sell you something. They are unlikely to add anything to your relationships. Ideally you want your fans to be people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say and offer, and who will respond to and interact with you.

There you have it: simple ways to make sure that your social media spreads the word about your business in a way that creates a positive impression and gets you noticed. For a comparison of various major social networking applications and ways in which you can leverage them for your business, check out this guide to the social landscape.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday – Go Saints! After 5 years our new web site is live and running. I am grateful to all who have helped us come to this momentous occasion. The new site is up and running!

Grand Kudos to Jennifer Eubanks – web developer for First Crescent; Andrea Arredondo – Art Director for First Crescent; Gina Vivona GVCreative; Maggie Dennison Copy Writer; Janie Hewson Marketing Creatives; Santi Visalli Photographer; my lovely wife of 20 years – Joanna Morgan and anybody else who helped me get this puppy launched.

The Journey has just begun!