Why I haven't posted this week

Well, we have a new addition to the family. Meet Ozzie, a 3 month old Australian cattle dog who we just adopted. Between working with the great folks at the shelter, buying all the accoutrements and just hanging out with this guy it's been quite a whirlwind.

It will be interesting raising a puppy in this "plugged in" age. I've already plugged in to tons of dog-related information on the Internet, kept my iPhone at the ready to take adorable pictures and posted pictures on Flickr to keep the proud dog grandparents apprised of their furry grandchild's progress. Oh, and now I'm blogging about him!

It is good for me to remember, though, that no amount of being plugged in will achieve all my goals for taking care of Ozzie. He still managed to climb over the baby gate that we're using to keep him in the kitchen area -- without any technological devices at all!

Local Business and Online Advertising -- A Missed Connection?

Quite the hot little subject these days. There's a great discussion about a new report from emarketer on MediaPost's Online spin blog titled "Can You Do the Local Motion."

The main question raised by the blogger and commenters is whether online advertising by local businesses is the next hot thing. Given what was found in the Marchex report I blogged about last week (that only 5% of local business advertising dollars are being used for online advertising), this certainly is an area for growth. I think the question is "how?"

There's seems to be a fundamental difference in how online advertising might work for a local business as for a national business. Local businesses are going to need more word-of-mouth and referral approaches. That's why I think sites like Yelp.com might help pave the way for more investment in online approaches. As local businesses get more used to the idea that people turn to the Internet for information -- even on their local, family-owned, non-fancy business -- they might be more willing to utilize some of these approaches.

At least I hope so, because I think I can help them out :)

Time to get online?

A recent report from Marchex titled "Unlocking the Potential of the Local Internet" indicates that local businesses aren't doing such a good job of migrating their ad dollars to the Internet. In fact, only about 5% of the $100 billion expected to be spent in local outreach this year will go to online activities. The rest will be focused on traditional venues like yellow pages and local newspapers.

Hey, local small businesses -- snap out of it! No one wants you to ignore your traditional outlets but if you want to be successful (and, more specifically, if you want people to FIND YOU!) you'll need to invest more in online approaches. This means investing in local search outlets (like Citysearch.com) as well as consumer driven sites, like Yelp.com.

Truth is, many people these days turn to the Internet before they'll turn to the Yellow Pages or a local newspaper ad, even for local services. For many of us, it's the best way of finding services -- from plumbers to restaurants to dry cleaners.

So, if you run one of those businesses, take a minute to review the Marchex report and see what you can do to improve your standings. Who knows? Maybe the 20-somethings will start flocking to your doors.

Domain Names and Babies

You may have spent months picking out the perfect name for your baby -- but did you reserve the domain name? That's the key question behind a recent post at Yahoo's Tech site. Seems that parents these days are holding off on making the choice about a name until they can ascertain that some reasonable version of it is still available on the world wide web.

Another common practice is checking the name your considering for possible confusion with someone of ill-repute. I'm lucky because it seems that most of the Stephanie Vance's in the world are doing good things. I feel sorry for my friend Paula Jones -- just Google the name and you'll see what I mean (for those who don't remember, she was one of the first women to publicly accuse President Clinton of sxual harassment while he was Governor of Arkansas. My friend Paula Jones, on the other hand, hasn't, to my knowledge, ever met Bill Clinton or been to Arkansas.

So, before you decide on that "perfect" name, do a quick Google search. Or you may find you've named your child after a famous porn star -- and then what are you going to do about the domain name?

We Need a Social Network for Introverts

I'm a little embarassed to admit this, but I am somewhat friendless on Facebook and MySpace. Oh, I have a few (friends and family who took pity on my friendless status) -- and I have a respectable showing on LinkedIn. But I'm pretty low-down on the friend totem pole in the traditional socializing forums.

Now, don't get me wrong. I certainly get my share of requests -- often from the obviously creepy guys and party gals who are just trying to rack up online digital points (or, in some cases, offline hookups). Usually, by the time I've gone online to say "yes" or "no," the person making the request has already been booted off the system. So that makes it easy.

But the thing is, I'm not really into the network sites for the new friends as much as I am for looking up past friends or making new business connections. You see, I have enough friends. I can't even keep track of everyone I already know, much less the gazillions of other people out there. And, I'm of a generation that you don't just "friend" someone if you don't mean it... If I'm going to call someone a friend, I plan to interact with them every once in a while.

I think this is the plight of anyone logging on to a social network who are "of a certain age" (yep, that's me). We're not in the market for new social interaction. We're in the market for better maintenance of our existing interactions. So as soon as the powers that be invent a social networking site for those of us that don't really want to meet random people, I'll sign up. Maybe a "social network for introverts." One option might be Eons.com, but I'm not quite in the over 50 age group Iyet!)

In the meantime, maybe we'll take over the existing networks. In fact, that's what this Business Week article says we're about to do!

Wired "How To" Edition

The August edition of Wired (OK, I admit it, I just got to it... Sorry, but I was on vacation!) includes a fun and entertaining "How To" section reminiscent of all those books about how to do things with duct tape. It covers how to work, live and play -- pretty much everything! I found "How to Popularize Your Meme" and "How to Fill the Watercooler" of particular use.

I'm trying one now (popularizing the "Plugging In" meme) and was gratified to learn that I'm doing the right things (nothing like a little validation in one's life). I haven't tried the water cooler thing yet but that's on my agenda for next week. Oh, and I'm looking forward to applying the "Win at Scrabble" ideas to the next game with my husband. He never reads my blog, so he'll never know.

iPhone Apologist

OK, I admit it. I was one of those "chumps" that bought the new iPhone the day it came out at the original price. I waited in line for a few hours on that fateful day and was fortunate to get the very last phone in the store. That's right. The very last. I grabbed my precious box of technology, ran out the door and didn't look back.

Of course, that night I did look on EBay to see what I could sell it for. I wasn't going to, mind you. No way. But if I had wanted to I could have made about $1,000 over what I had paid. Not bad for a few hours in line.

At any rate, by all accounts I should be irrate by the fact that Apple recently cut the price of the iPhone by $200. I should be moping around, taking to the streets and, perhaps, burning all my Apple products in effigy.

You know what, though? I've looked long and hard through the depths of my soul for a little anger and, well, there isn't any. Sorry. Maybe I'm a sucker (actually, no doubt I am). But frankly I'm glad I was part of the initial excitement! It was worth $200 to be able to tell people "yeah, I stood in line and got the VERY LAST PHONE." It was worth $200 to bask in the techno-envy of all my friends for a few months. And now I get $100 to play with at my local Apple store. Really, it's not that bad.

Anyway, if that makes me a "chump" so be it -- at least I didn't buy it on EBay.

More on Niche Social Networks

The Wall Street Journal Best of Business blog had a great piece recently on niche social networks. In it, the author provides concrete ideas and examples for business related social networks, noting that social networking has, in many ways, "grown up."

True, many of us think of social networks as those online forums that kids use to make new friends and talk to each other in incomprehensible language (R U there? LOL). But many businesses are beginning to understand the value of connecting like-minded people together in cyber-space (and, preferably, on an issue that relates to the product or services of the company). For example, Playboy Enterprises is setting up a social network open to just college students. Hmmm, I wonder what products and services they'll be selling... Or, you can look at the niche (OK, VERY niche) social network for my company, Advocacy Associates.

As the author notes, the point here is that adults don't necessarily just want to "meet people" (hey, I have enough friends). We still turn to the Internet for information and idea exchange on the issues we care about. That's where a niche social network for new mothers, diet coke drinkers, CIA spies (yes, there is one) or Playboy enthusiasts might grab (figuratively, not literally) our attention.

Now, I'd link you to that site but the WSJ does not like to share its information with non-subscribers (I wonder how long they'll be able to keep that up once Rupert Murdoch gets his hot little hands on the site). So, if you want to read the piece for yourself, go to Google News and search for "niche social networks". Once you find it you'll have to scroll down after the title about Cigna -- not that Cigna's not interesting :).

Couldn't Help Myself

OK, there are times when I'm not officialy "plugged in." Here I am, for example at the bottom of the ocean in Maui. Yes, I know it looks like an aquarium, but believe me, it's the ocean. I didn't e-mail anyone from down here, although I was tempted to find a water-proof case for my iPhone and send some text messages.

Although, now that I think about it, perhaps the best technology to have down there at 40 feet was my scuba tank :)

Blogging: It's Not Just for the "Young"

Bill Marriott, age 75, recently launched his "Marriott on the Move" blog, introducing it as the new form of "management by walking around." For those not familiar with this business technique, it's basically just what it sounds like: managers take time to walk around their company and talk to everyone -- from the front desk person to the people in the warehouse to their VPs of public relations -- to get a sense of the "real" functionality (or non-functionality) of the company.

Clearly, Marriott (and others) have cozened on to the fact that online interactive tools like blogs and social networks can help immeasurably in their implementation of traditional management techniques, like "management by walking around." Anywhere from 6 to 10 people a day comment on Marriott's entries -- some customers, some employees, some random citizens. And the posts, while polite, aren't all postive.

In fact, here's what's really cool. People are actually allowed to -- GASP -- disagree with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Publicly! Without repercussions (well, I'm not sure what room they get when they check in to a Marriott). But the point is that this isn't just a corporate fluff piece. Real people with real concerns get to have a say and they're willing to speak up with less rancor and more thoughtfulness than you might expect.

The fact is that people these days, whether they're customers, employees or random web surfers EXPECT you to have a blog. It's a new business standard. So what are you going to do to get on board? One great place to start is my post on blogging. More to come soon.