Internet Marketing Without A Written Strategic Plan?: Would You Try to Build a House That Way?

This morning I continue to be amazed by small business owners and non-profit managers trying to develop their businesses without a well thought-out, written strategic business development plan which communicates how the organization intends to get "from here"... "to there" in systematic steps that build upon one another.  Imagine what kind of house you'd end up with if you tried to build a house without a plan? Imagine if you had someone just start with the "externals".. the roof... and paint job first...without a foundation, the framework, the plumbing, the heating and the electrical? 

Now imagine what the outcome and experience would be like, if instead of hiring  professionals to help design and build  your business, you hired a relative or friend "who knows how to build websites" without a clue about what it takes to build a business in a much more sophisticated and demanding marketplace? By now you should be getting the picture of the mess that many small business owners and non-profit managers get themselves in, wondering why nothing seems to work. The problem with websites and working with technology, is that now it is seductively easy to throw up a website with some content on it...without even knowing what you are doing, without a clear idea of what you'd like to go... and without any clear sense of the Internet marketplace and how sophisticated all this has now become. 

The solution is to work with seasoned professionals who can help you strategic plan, design,  develop and implement the kind of architecture, communications ...and learning that is now necessary in order to succeed. Call me today and let's talk about developing an effective written strategy that can both inform and shape not only your website but your entire business approach to a now much more demanding marketplace. 425-780-6872.

Bravo! New iLinc Release 11...Web Conferencing..Now includes Live Streaming.. and more

Bravo! What I am buzzing about this morning is  iLinc's new Release 11 web conferencing service ... with a new "Media" button that now includes a new feature that allows streaming of live video ...right in the presentation window. Nice!!! You can also easily stream YouTube videos and even upload videos on the fly. Here are just some other great new features:

• All new interface with understandable icons - This is really great when you are presenting. Access to key resources and instant online polling are right there so you don't have to get lost in your Library looking for content while your audience waits. Sweet.
  
  
• Tabbing of Attendees - This makes this a multi-webcam video conferencing system if attendees all have webcams or attendees can just have their still image avatar up there. If they don't have either then there are now more sillouettes that take up space.  Instead you just see them listed in the sidebar "matrix"...Nice!
  
  
• Floating of Components - This is a nice feature that allows you to move windows around. They system even remembers where you locate them and you can easy get back to default format. They understand  presenters' needs. Nice!
  
  
• Enhancement of the Audio - Folks at iLinc have really given working with both Internet audio as well as conferencing calling some thought with great instant control over participant audio.
  
  
• Real-time captioning - This is great for multi-lingual and hearing impaired audiences. A stenographer can be typing in the language as you go. Sweet!
  
  
• Connectivity with Social Media - This fits in well with a social media-based strategy that we can also help you implement in a now Web 3.0 world.
  
  
• And much, much more! - You'll just have to call us and meet with us..."inside" our iLinc Release 11-powered New World Meeting Room... "inside" our website and have you experience this first hand as we talk about working together to help you move your business forward.

What's next is how you actually practically apply this powerful resources to grow your business more sustainably in our now 21st century world.

That's where New World Communications comes in, to help local, regional, national, and international people and organizations Walk Through The Virtual Door ...developing sustainable business... for phenomenal advantage. For more information see our NWC Overview on our website at - http://www.newworldcom.com or call us today at 1-425-780-6872, e-mail me at artatnwc@gmail.com or use our Online Inquiries Form on our Contact Us page and we'll get right back to you.. 

A Washington State's Dream Team Storytelling Visit

This morning I am thinking about yesterday's great experience, a visit to one of deputy public school superintendent Erin Jone's wonderful Dream Team meetings down in Tacoma, held in a room provided by community-committed Evergreen State College, under the great leadership of Dr. Artie Young...and it all felt just like one big global family... though some newer immigrant community stakeholders were still not a part of this...something they all needed to do further work on.  When I got there, all the folks in the room were already buzzing about their passion for making public schools better for all children, not just for some...and in their own special deeply personal, committed way.

The failure of public school systems to provide a quality education is a huge issue that's been festering for a long, long time, like a huge fire-breathing dragon now terrorizing urban, suburban, and rural countrysides and now more lethal than ever, fueled by the economic crisis and budgetary shortfalls. It feels like the government in its anxiety to cut cost... has all gone mad ...even to the point of stepping on the rights of voters to elect and trust in their own elected official Superintendent of Public Instruction  Randy Dorn. They are talking about putting public instruction under the governor up to cut costs and help shore up a huge budget deficit, which is their short-term fiscal objective. 

The longer term issue ...and objective.. however has to do with improving economic competitiveness, so that Washington State and the U.S. can compete more favorably in a now global marketplace and a now 21st century world.. Talking about this now has to be more than mere lip service. Think about it. e.g. if we can all make more money, then government can enjoy a bigger tax base, but this is not going to happen if fixing public education is not invested in NOW and our students can't compete for jobs that demand a college or technical school education. Education has gotten so bad in this state...and around the country... that even the Army won't take people who can't read and write and do basic math.

So that's at least the beginning of the story....but how will it all play out, and what can we do now in a 21st century world that could help us all slay the dragon? When I was there visiting, I suggested several things... one of which was to leverage the power of the new television for educational innovation so that we can get to the happy ending....and wow did folks in the room pick up on that idea.  There was also some excellent global communications that went on communicating with an online math tudoring services provider...with the presenter "virtually present"... all the way in India....bringing home the point I was trying to make earlier that morning about the value of "virtualizing" physical world meetings. (Step One.)

Now after experiencing the goodwill and brilliance of all these folks, my own feeling is that our own creativity, our own innovation, our own humanity and our own bravery are the only thing left that can  save us now...but after experiencing these folks doing their thing...its really the only thing we really need to drive more support for fresh new directions in education. We just need to get the word out about the fine work they are already doing..and what I do with affordable technology can help do that.

Re-thinking education... and using affordable television and web conferencing... is just part of my strategy for Walking Through The Virtual Door ...See my NWC Overview on YouTube for more details...about what "The Walk" entails...and let's connect if you have some of your own innovative ideas about how to slay the dragon. 425-780-6872.

Google Apps Marketplace Is Excellent Way to Scale Businesses...of Any Size

This morning I was thinking about how I can add even more value to a Google Sites direction to business owners having to deal with multiple business issues....and BINGO...two major ways to add additional value come to mind. Let's start with the first way:

Adding Value the First Way: The first way is by using and leveraging some great resources that come free of charge... just by getting a "Gmail Account". Actually a Gmail account...is a Google Account...which is the door way to a whole suite of free mature applications and even some experimental or "Labs" ones. Here are some of my favorites:

• Gmail - Wow... Gmail keeps getting better and better especially the way "Groups" works to automatically organize my contacts and e-mails and documents associated with them. I use it like a mini-CRM system and have recently added the third-party Etacts.com plugin which also has social media connectivity and let's me know if my contact is also on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.  A friend and colleague also recently introduced me to the :"Labs" icon and there some really cool mini-apps that even add additional functionality. One Lab application I really like is one that can immediately turn an e-mail into a Google document...Nice!!
  
  
• Google Docs - This provides even the smallest micro-business with a virtual file service and free applications to do word processing (Documents), spreadsheet number crunching (Spreadsheet) and even input forms (Forms) that you can embed in your website that post to your spreadsheets. There is even a slide-making application (Presentations) that has a web conferencing capability that allows the presenter to push slides that other remote session attends can see while on a telephone conference call with them. If your computer or local files server's hard drive fails... with both your apps and your documents secure in the cloud uisng Google Docs you won't miss a beat.
  
  
• Picasa - This is a powerful digital image file organization system that consists of both a local application that finds all your images on your computer as an online web album that allows you to easily share images and collaborate with others. You can even make a self-running slide show that you can embed right on your website.
  
  
• YouTube  - YouTube is a revolutionary television phenomenon ...that is changing the entire television landscape. The biggie is that it allows any one to create... and program.. their own web television "channel" and embed it right on their website.  See my own New World Television Channel page.
  
  
• Google Sites - This is still a well-kept secret that most people who have Gmail account don't even know about or take advantage of. For many small businesses... and even some larger businesses its all that we need. See my my own web site built with Google Sites architecture - www.newworldcom.com
  
  
• Blogger - This is the blogging resource that I doing this blog with and how elegant and powerful it is. I can even put my post on Facebook, and Twitter in just a few clicks.. Nice!
  
  
• ...and countless other free Google applications - See this page  ... Every time I go the More link...Google has added even more free apps! Most (except Picasa) are all virtual too with updating done by Google... not you. This saves both time and money. 

Adding value the Google Apps and Google Apps Marketplace Way - Businesses who have multiple employees and who need to scale without an expensive in house IT operation will love Google's Google Apps and Google Appls Marketplace direction. The cost is only $50 per year per employee to access a domain name based "Google Apps" offering, where contacts can be shared and where you can upload to your own more private Google Video account. (See my blog about the Google Video corporate television opportunity)  Google has also established strategic business relations with third party applications developers as well as well as with service providers that can deliver phenomenal additional power in key areas of business. There are "free" and trial editions of applications that are also modestly priced.

Products - Just look at all these third party products - Browse them yourself.

• Accounting & Finance
• Admin Tools
• Calendar & Scheduling
• Customer Management
• Document Management
• Productivity
• Project Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Security & Compliance
• Workflow

Professional Services - And look at all the professional services providers - Browse them yourself.

• Archiving & Discovery Implementation
• Custom Application Development
• EDU Specialists
• Google Analytics
• Medium-Large Business Implementation
• Small Business Implementation
• Support & Managed Services
• Training & Change Management

So what's the smart way to go down the Google path? My answer to that has to good strategic planning with a sensible developmental, training, and change management path that can deliver value over time as we go as part of a longer-term relationship that can be way better than just working with a lone cowboy...or lone cowgirrl "web developer" not versed in doing much more than that. Today's demanding marketplace demands new project management skills and teamwork working with multiple experts.. which is where New World Communications is going with this stuff. Call me and let's connect and explore how we can all work together - 425-780-6872...for phenomenal advantage. Also please make sure you don't miss our limited time only December 2010 special offer on our own services.

Treat Your Business to Gifts That Keep On Giving...now in December...for a Special 15%-30% Limited Time Only Discount by Dec. 31st, 2010

This morning I am buzzing about some early gifts that you can treat your business to this month in December. These are special gifts that can keep on giving throughout the coming year:

• Strategic Marketing Plan: This is a rare and valuable gift that many small business owners have never treated their businesses to. It's a written document that serves as a road map for strategic marketing initiatives implemented throughout the year that can help you reach more customers, address their needs and result in more sales. The plan includes all  the physical world as well as virtual world "venues" that you will use to grow your business - e.g. Starting or joining a MeetUp.com group, upgrading you website, producing a promotional video, programming your own web television channel,  planning and doing your own webinar series.
  
  
• New Website: If informed by a good strategic marketing plan your website can be more on target with the audiences you intend to reach and in our now 21st century world. It can be way more than just a "home job" website with just pictures and text and can cost less to host too. We work with Google Sites architecture ourselves and are not paying one cent for hosting. See our own Google-powered website. We also added some powerful new capabilities like our New World Virtual Meeting Room, and our New World Learning Institute & Conference Center so that our customers can meet, learn, and convene with us..."inside" our website... using special green-metered web conferencing from iLinc.com... for zero carbon footprint...ultra green communications. (See their "demo")
  
  
• Promo Video: A good strategic marketing plan can also inform what you say about your business in a powerful promotional video that communicates your business's unique value proposition when people visit your website. Hosted on the Internet, your video can also be virally "shared" by others on Facebook and on Twitter. The good news is that the cost of all this has gone way down due to low cost technology and newer, more innovative approaches that we are pioneering. You can even have and program your own television channel on your website if you want..
  
  
• Webinar Series: Again a good strategic marketing plan can also inform what your existing and prospective customers need to learn more about....by planning and doing a series of well-done webinars. All webinars are not the same. Newer and better technology can communicate your "virtual presence" with a live webcam and  even roll in your promotional video. Newer technology with a special green meter... even communicate that yours too is a "green" business. Web conferencing is a big reach capability and can be really learning-rich with good strategic planning and implementation. Talk to me about this.

So "deck the halls"....and call me NOW. if you'd like a special season's greetings 15%-30% discount for moving forward in December 2010...so that you can come out of the chute running in 2011. 425-780-6872. This limited time only offer expires December 31, 2010.

Strategic Marketing in a 21st Century World...Business Can Be Way Better... When Your Horses Are All Pulling Together

This morning what's on my mind is strategic marketing in our now 21st century world ...and how much better business will be for my existing and prospective clients, once I help them add more "horses" to their marketing communications "mix" and get them all pulling together. The good news is that there is now a whole lot that can now be done marketing communications-wise ...in The New World Communications Landscape... even on a shoestring budget... that can make business a whole lot better. 

Here are just some of the powerful new "horses" that can be "harnessed" to all pull together...in a strategic marketing way....moving business phenomenally forward both for you as well as for your clients:

• Web Presence - Most websites I see are old and and out of date with not much "sizzle" to them. Most people are not even aware that our technology-driven web presence marketplace has now radically changed,  or that more capability can now be had for less money spent. Browse our new website on www.NewWorldCom.com developed with new Google architecture to get an idea of some of the newer possibilities. We can even have people meet and train with us..."inside" our website. What about yours? We also are not paying a dime for web hosting. How much are you still paying for yours? And if you are a non-profit, what is managing and developing donors costing you now...by still not taking fullest advantage of new membership-based hosted web application architectures that can even manage tiered membership plans as well as be "extended"...with all the "goodies"...virtual learning and conference center, web television channel, Amazon-powered store, Google e-commerce, etc.
  
  
• Television Channel - That's right.. "television" that we produce, program and distribute across the entire Internet using radically new and radically powerful low cost  but high quality video technology. See our New World Television Channel page on our own website...to get an idea of where we are now going with the new web television and leveraging our television systems, programming, and distance learning background.
  
  
• Blogging Campaign - Multiple stakeholders...including you are benefiting from mine already. Blogs are great for creating mindshare and search engines love our tags. Also the Google-owned technology we use (Blogger)...also easily sends my post to Facebook and to Twitter ..with just one click... See us on Facebook and on Twitter as well ..with very little extra effort.... Nice.
  
  
• Virtualized Meetings -  Instead of crying the blues about declining memberships and loss of revenue, membership-based business associations and non-profits can phenomenally grow their memberships, raise funds and develop their donors... increasing their revenue ... by adding a virtual world toolset - e.g. affordable web conferencing, and low-cost almost no cost web television. See this recent blog I posted about this -  "Need to Grow Your Membership and Organization's Bank Account?...Start by Virtualizing Your meetings"
  
  
• Critical Conversations & Virtual Focus Groups - These same associations and organizations could be way more effective if they also "virtualized" their conversations about topics of mission-critical interest and used big reach, learning rich web conferencing and web television to do it. In this way, they could "frame the conversion", creating more mindshare, gaining more focus and influencing many more people in many more key places.. at home, at businesses, in public school systems, and in government... locally and regionally and even nationally and internationally.
  
  
• Remote Consulting, E-Learning and Webinar Series - Most small business owners, not-for-profit, and government stakeholders I know could also phenomenally benefit from online coaching, remote consulting and various online training modalities that can be delivered via an innovatively architected and instructionally-designed approach. Development of a world-class remote consulting and e-learning practice that offers online courses and workshops as part of a professional development curriculum can also add a "net new" streams of revenue. If implemented innovatively, the same green communications and learning platform can to utilized to do distance learning facilitating enterprise-wide systemic change - See my recent blog about this.
  
  
• Virtual Conferences & Virtual Trade Shows - Fewer and fewer stakeholders have budget or time to travel to and participate in local, regional, and national conferences and trade shows. Using the same set of affordable web conferencing and web television...and value innovation.. as the "secret sauce" it is possible to do multi-day conferences and trade shows... completely online.... Integration with social media  e.g. Facebook, Twitter can still allow people to socially interact and connect. They can even do this face-to-face using webcams in special virtual lounges and chat rooms. For more info see my recent blog
  
  
• Twitter Marketing - Twitter is one of the more recent mini-blogging technologies that few people I know are leveraging or taking fuller advantage of. This is because they have not yet learned how to leverage it. A webinar about leveraging Twitter, delivered by one of the nation's experts on Twitter could change that...performance-based training works!
  
  
• Facebook Marketing - Facebook can be a professional time-waster if approach to it is not disciplined by a strategic marketing approach. Newer features such as new Facebook Groups however can filter out the time wasting content. Again a series of webinars about how to best take advantage of Facebook...without wasting so much time.. could do it.
  
  
• Physical World Networking - Finally there is the strategic question about how to make the best use of time and resources networking with people... instead of wasting precious time and resources at countless physical world meetings where nothing meaningful happens. Again some strategic planning combined with some of your own strategic networking initiatives doing business casuals and saving money using GroupOn.com coupons could better leverage your time and money, while moving business forward sooner... rather than later. There are also MeetUp.com and Biznik.com opportunities worthy of consideration. 

The bad news is that most small businesses, non-profits, and government clients are still not taking fullest advantage of these resources, getting all these "horses" to pull together. The BEST NEWS, however, is that New World Communications has now arrived to help change all that.. and help you move forward in a most strategic, more cost-effective... and more joyously energetic and positive way. For more information, let's connect and talk about moving forward...together. Call me today a 425-780-6872 and let's get started. 

The New World Communications Landscape: New Strategies & Tools to Move You Forward

This morning what's on my mind is how many small business owners, not-for-profit managers and government agency mangers and elected officials are needlessly stuck, still trying to the do business basically the same old expensive, unsustainable physical world way with the same old expensive carbon-intensive world toolsets and mindsets. Every day I hear them lamenting about how bad things are with "the  economy", scrambling and competing for dollars... with less and less success... when there is a whole new world communications landscape out there...chocked full of net-new opportunities waiting to be seized that could phenomenally improve their situations . Here are just a few of them:

• Strategic communications planning for business development - Most small businesses and non-profits still have not developed a comprehensive online communications and learning strategy using multiple 21st century tools & strategies that leverages what they do in the physical world to generate "net new" revenue streams.
  
  
• Web presence - It now possible to even meet with existing and prospective clients "inside" their websites and turn them into virtual learning and conference centers... greatly extending their business reach and improving their communications. Some web architectures are designed to manage tiered membership plans and a web television channel can even be added. Skills are also needed to instructionally-design the communications and the learning, but we here at New World Communications can provide that... as well as train others.
  
  
• Television - Television is in a class all by itself as the world's most powerful communications medium. Streamed across the Internet and affordably produced and streamed using low-cost, almost no cost video technology... Quality television programming can now be produced that can phenomenally move business forward in a myriad of ways - to promote businesses and programs, train multiple stakeholders and develop whole communities ...even nation-states. Used in conjunction with next-generation web conferencing and applied to small business development and educational reform applications, the new web television can change the world... and with a background in both television systems, programming, and distance learning, we know how to do that.
  
  
• Web conferencing - for e-meetings, collaborative work, collaborative fund-raising, and grants procurement, critical conversations, remote-consulting, and e-learning...This is an "ultra-green" big-reach capability that is potentially very "learning-rich" especially if it is used to develop a world-class remote consulting and e-learning practice capable of addressing the worlds many, many challenges.
  
  
• Mobile Communications - Both the television and the e-learning are now finding their way to mobile devices from laptops to iPhones, Android phones, and other smart mobile devices and big players like Google, Apple, and telephony providers are all driving that. 

These reason why many if not most small business owners,  non-profit managers, and government agency managers still haven't ventured onto the new world communications landscape and taken advantage of it has to do with the fact that most folks still are not "familiar with the neighborhood". The still have not acquired the tools, strategies....and most importantly...the Mindset needed to move forward. This is a "mission-critical" issue. If owners and managers still don't know to leverage new tools & resources in pursuit of their mission with the right "hybrid" world Mindset ...that combines best practices from both physical and virtual worlds, then they still remain "stuck"...and miserable. 

This is why we here at New World Communications are also committed to "providing the mission-critical learning a new world needs"...in order to move forward...with more joy...and even more fun...as we help move business forward more sustainably. Hopefully my daily blogs can help make folks aware that there are new ways to work that are much more sustainable than the way that they keep trying to work. Wow is it this a great time be be alive, aware, and skilled... with just the kinds of resources that people and organizations need now. Call me and let's connect. By working together, we can help you take advantage of the New World Communications Landscape - 425-780-6872.

Today's More Competitive Marketplace Ironically Demands More Cooperation Not Less

What's on my mind this morning is an interesting irony. On the one hand, never has the marketplace become more competitive, more sophisticated, and more challenging, yet on the other hand, never has the marketplace demanded more cooperation.

Internet Marketing is a good case in point. On the one hand, every small business entrepreneur is charged with making his or own decisions with respect with what to do with his or her business, but on the other hand, marketing in today's 21st century has become so technologically specialized, so sophisticated, and so social that today's smartest entrepreneur now realizes that building viable social relations with other entrepreneurs with specialized skills, resources, and possibly other contacts with people is also paramount to their individual business success.

So what groups does a small business entrepreneur join and what criteria is used? Race, gender, and culture have tended to traditionally foster minority-based, gender-based, and political party based business organizations in the physical world, but now even traditional lines of separation are now being eroded by the drive to get more authentic needs met in a broader online marketplace where there are more resources to choose from and where there are also more customers who could use what you provide. The Internet and social media are rapidly changing the new social landscape, based upon people searching for what they need and want in a social setting where new relationships are also being built based upon "communities of interest".

Marketing "communities of interest" in a 21st century world are critical due to the sophistication of today's technology, and new ones are forming, while older business associations in the physical world not serving people all that well are struggling to remain relevant. These newer online communities of interest are interestingly enough sharing the vital information they need, and some are even getting more organized to create their own series of workshops, webinars and even web television programs to promote businesses and to share the new knowledge. They also network in the physical world as well, but the basis is the online connection that has already been made.

Imagine how great it would be for you now, if instead of wasting time and money going to boring meetings where nothing happens, you instead actively participated in a series of powerful webinars, or "on-demand" web television series cooperatively put together that delivered the information you need, when you need it. This would be information of vital importance, driven by a series of initial web conference/conference call sessions that would allow us to gain focus and be right on target with what we need. 

That's what I and some other folks have been working on, because we can't afford to wait for it to come from  somewhere else any longer from organizations that have proven themselves to be ineffective. Here's a great question for you - In a webinar series and in a television series called "Developing Business in a 21st Century World", what subjects would you like to have addressed...and why? Call me and let's connect about all this 425-780-6872

Google Video...as part of Google Apps Offering Is An Excellent Resource For Corporate Television

This morning I woke up with Google Video on my mind. It's an excellent resource for distributed business organizations where more security and control is needed, and is part of Google's phenomenally powerful Google Apps offering that is taking corporate and government marketplaces by a storm. Google Video is also great for smaller small-to-medium business organizations with multiple locations as well. Great for training and employee development applications at multiple locations.

The history of Google Video is interesting. Google Video was a free resource that you could upload to before Google acquired YouTube, then Google re-thought its marketing approach to include in with their power Google Apps offering. The idea of doing corporate television takes own whole new meaning when viewed within the context of Google powerful front-running cloud computing direction... with multiple applications. Here are just some of them:

• Corporate Gmail account - This can use your own domain name...
• Google Docs - These are virtual files services with excellent online applications for creating, filing, and sharing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
• Google Video - This allows organizations to host and share their videos in a more protected setting than on more public sites. 
• Google Sites - This is Google's powerful website development on-line application... We've done our own website using Google Sites.
• ...and on and on... Google is continually adding new applications and updating existing one....plus with Droid and mobile... it doesn't stop.

There's lots to talk about here. Call me and let's connect about a whole new world of television opportunity ...for any sized business. 425-780-6872.

Five Things To Do Now to Help Move Business Forward

This afternoon...existing and prospective clients are on my mind ... and in my heart.  Wow.. I am already feeling great about how I can help them all. Here are five things that I can help them do...now.. to move their business forward... even in spite of tough economic times:

1. Help them Get Their Heads On Right - All the economic analysts say that the cause of our "economic crisis" has to to do with a "lack of confidence"... that creates a chain reaction of negative energy that ripples throughout society.attracting even more negative energy...poverty. If we instead create "abundant confidence"... now...instead of lack of it.. this can create a chain reaction of positive energy that ripples throughout society...and throughout the Universe... that attracts even more positive energy...sending wealth on it's way.  Here's a great read about this called Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting that I recently blogged about. Once you understand how to flow your energy right... you can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too...instead of allowing you and your business to get blown around by negative economic "winds"... that are all around us....messing with your own "confidence"...and your energy fields...attracting "no wealth"...instead of it's opposite...what you need and want.
   
   
2. Help Them Strategically Plan - Imagine what it would be like...trying to build a house without a plan. I could sit down with them.. and have them get more intentional... about everything.... asking them pressing questions like, "Who is your customer? What does your customer actually need? ...and how do you intend to reach your customer..first? And how in a now 21st century world ...chocked full of new world communications tools & strategies...changing each and every day... do you intend to do this? Do you intend to try to take on all this by yourself... or just rely on one consultant? Or might it be better to work with a consultant who also collaborates...with a whole team of consultants who specialize in just what you might need...like search engine optimization (SEO) or producing compelling television programming... or instructionally designing a customer education curriculum .....or putting together a series of "critical conversations" designed to move your business ...phenomenally forward?
   
   
3. Help Them Do a Comprehensive Business Make-over from End-to-End - With a disciplined mental approach, and informed by a strategic plan that is also with it new world communications-wise that takes advantage of the latest tools & strategies, I could help them with "computing in the cloud" using Google virtual applications....I help could help by helping them design their print collateral ...and by designing an attractive website that builds their brand...with all the goodies..including their own web television channel....maybe even with affordable or free web conferencing so that they can meet with people... "inside" their website.
   
   
4. Help Them Feel Good About Moving Forward Now ... to make moving forward... way easier because of the positive energy they''ll be flowing out... and be met with... as we work together to move forward.
   
   
5. Help Them Feel Even Better..Now ...once they call and connect them about moving forward... with some of this.. or possibly...even all of it. 425-780-6872.

More info about Google TV... and What's in it for You

This morning, after receiving an e-mail from a friend and colleague reporting how traditional media ...ABC, NBC, Fox is "underwhelmed" responding to Google TV, I decided to post more info about Google TV and what's in this for you.  See this article about "Top Networks Not Yet On Board with Google TV" in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal". What a hoot this article is.

What I walk away with is... is the fact that even though the major networks....ABC, NBC, Fox...who continue to dominate our consciousness supposedly are "underwhelmed",  the article goes on to say that Google TV...doesn't depend upon them. What the article didn't say is that Google TV depends on us to understand it... and to seize it.... to change the game... and change the world. 

So "What is Google TV?". The short answer...This brings Web to TV and TV to the Web. To learn more, see "What is Google TV?" on my New World Television Channel page. Also see this new Flash content about Google TV that Google just put on on their site that let's you browse main features.

Here is what's in Google TV for you, depending on what hats you wear:

• Personal/Spiritual Development Television ... content that we produce.. and content from others
• Health, Wellness and Wealth Television... content that we produce...and content from others.
• Creative Artists and Entrepreneurs Television...content that we produce and content from others.
• War Veteran's Television... content that we produce and content from others
• Peace Advocacy Television ...content that we produce and content from others
• Small Business Development Television ...content that we produce...and content from others
• Government Contracting Television ..content that we produce...and content from others
• Green Business Development Television...content that we produce...and content from others
• Community Action Television ..content that we produce...and content from others
• Immigrant Television ...content that we produce and content from others
• Native People's Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Gullah-Geechee Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Network Marketing Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Single Mothers Television ...content that we produce and content from others
• Families of Prisoners Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Prisoners Who Just Got Out Television...content that we produce and content from other
• Homeless Peoples Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Unemployed and Laid-off People's Television ...content that we produce and content from other
• Recycled Seniors Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Recycled Youth Television... content that we produce and content from others
• College-bound Youth Television...content that we produce and content from other
• Parent Advocacy Television... content that we produce and content from others.
• College Readiness Television... content that we produce and content from others
• Baby-Boomers Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Public Safety/Catastrophe Preparedness Television that we produce and content from others
• Education Change Television...content we produce and content from others
• Citizen/Voters Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Research and Development Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Innovation Television...content that we produce and content from others
• Political and Social Change Television...content that we produce and content from others.
• "The Network"... a prime-time television reality television show that I am putting together... with all of us starring in it. 

I can work with you and others to produce the communications and learning new world needs to produce the television a new world needs.. training and developing folks to create their own content... their own television "channels" and using low-cost almost no cost tools and strategies to do it. Call me and let's connect - 425-780-6872.

Adobe Premiere 9 Video Editing Software Makes Consumer-authored Television Even Easier

This morning I got an e-mail from Amazon.com about new Adobe Premiere 9 video editing software. I clicked through to watched their features video. Then I looked at the under $70 price ...after rebate... and the experience  put me into deep contemplation, thinking about how far television technology how now come and what the possibilities now are. 

Back in the day when I was a broadcast/industrial video systems sales engineer, everything was way more expensive, and it did  way less than what consumer gear over the Internet can do now...shooting for birthday parties?...  I not worried ... because often times things are not like they appear. The same mom that learns how to videotape her kids and tell stories about them can also develop into being a full-blown "new world communicator'' creating television that change the world.

Now is never a better time. From end-to-end, television technology has been radically transformed and put right into peoples hands. The only thing that still in the way...is awareness and consciousness...but even that is changing..as people get more comfortable using the medium. Wow is this a great time to be alive, awake, and aware of some the possibilities...like creating whole television channels even that this year will show up even on HDTV screens. The possibilities for business development, for economic development, for community development and for reforming education are nothing less than phenomenal. Call me and let's connect if you too are interested in seizing television in our now 21st century world - 425-780-6872

Reflections About Media These Last Few Days: What Sense Can Be Made of All This?

This morning, I am reflecting about the media... film and television these last few days... experiencing new possibilities for change in areas that really matter to me personally. Beginning with Oprah, the nation and the world was introduced to the Waiting for Superman film and school reform project with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Then there was the group view of the film, paid for by Stand for Children, a national interest group invested in leveraging the the films progressive charter schools message to mobilize a voting public, and putting all stakeholders on notice, including all teachers, their unions,  and principals, school superintendents...entire school systems. There were 600 people that showed up and filled the house... This is BIG.

The film debut downtown in Seattle was on Friday and there had other coordinated screenings...across the country... as well....then on Sunday nite on 60 minutes the public is treated to a rare glimpse of Bill and Melinda Gates at work... with a commitment of giving 60 billion dollars away... 90% of their wealth away for HIV, malaria, polio eliminations, and education... We see Bill Gates...again... this time as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates...team.. The message points were both philanthropic and human... as well as corporate...reflecting an enlightened understanding of our dependence upon one another...a good business to be in.

What I keep asking myself is "What Sense Can Be Made of All This?"... and why now?

What particularly speaks to me is the way that even commercial media is being leveraged to create a new reality that promises a better and more just world. I keep thinking to myself... how can I make the world better... with media that is now...in our own hands? We can produce films television programs ourselves.. and these programs can now be uploaded... to our own "channels"... There are also various business models that pay for television to study, learn from...and to practically apply..by those of us right here on the ground. Call me and let's connect 425-780-6872.

About Visualizing The New World Communications Landscape

This morning, after reflecting upon many issues I am being called upon to address, I decided that a good exercise for me would be to visualize what I, via my company New World Communications and my journey is about. After getting quiet for a moment...BINGO! what came forward to the foreground of my consciousness is a marvelous... new world communications landscape ... that I am both exploring, surveying and by working with others, helping to simultaneously develop.

The two major areas of the journey are what I call "Intelligent Communications" and "The Mission-critical Learning a New World Needs"...in order to create a truly new, fresh, and above-all, better world than most folks still painfully accept as "reality". My years of experience as a developing communications professional, as a consultant, and as human being have taught me that "learning" ...or lack of it...is always the mission-critical piece here... and even more so in a highly competitive, rapidly changing technology-influenced world.

For example, I am absolutely amazed by the fact that most small business people don't have a clue about marketing or communications, yet they all have a pressing need to market, to communicate and to develop their businesses using sophisticated 21st century marketing communications tools and strategies. Working in the dark, they waste time, and precious hard-earned money... going down the wrong road... and inevitably getting stuck there...because of wrong choices and poor judgment.

 How can they even make an informed business decision about which consultant to use if they are not themselves informed. by a good marketing communications understanding... that can light their way...fast-forwarded to a now technology-dominated world? Yes, they are all on Facebook...but without a more intelligent approach... they continue to waste tons of time, theirs ...as well as mine,  while both sets of bills accumulate.

The "intelligent" piece to communications... doing whatever... therefore also has to do with the learning.  What a challenge...and what an opportunity this is. For me, personally a half a glass of water is always half full rather than half empty...so this is about mindset,, and by flowing my energy in a positive way, I have discovered that I have unique strategic advantage.. that keeps moving me forward.

So this gets us to what needs to be learned...in order to be even able to accomplish one's mission and move forward, positively, hopefully and successfully. Wow, what has been popping for me consciousness-wise is that we all need to do some personal "homework" as people and as managers of our "reality" ourselves, if we are to be effective...in anything that we undertake to do.

I see it all the the time in many of the small business owners I communicate with. Even though I make a rational business case for moving forward, saving time, money, and for being more effective... many of us are "blocked" by deep personal issues that stand in the way of us being more effective than we are. Then there are the organizational learning issues that go hand in hand with personal leadership development stuff... that can't even been gotten to if the main decision-makers are "blocked"...Ouch!

So what is the workaround? and how can we all move move forward more cost-effectively, more intelligently, and more humanly in this now 21st century world to make it better? What I am learning is that the solution to this is both social and global in nature... and the new learning has just as much to do with learning how to be... as it does with learning what to do... because when you learn how to be...a decent human being... the Universe itself responds with just what you need...when you need it.... that's The New World Communications Landscape that I am navigating, surveying...and developing. How exciting and wonderful this new landscape is. Call me and let's communicate what you too are discovering - 425-780-6872.

Google TV for Small Business...What's in this for You?

This afternoon, and as a small business person... still buzzing about new Google TV, let me share with you what's in this for small business. The first thing you need to do is understand What Google TV is by going to my New World Television Channel page on my website and viewing Google's two-minute, twelve-second "What is Google TV?" video.

For me personally, it's one of the best two minutes and twelve seconds I've spent for the following reasons:

• Currently there are no less than about 4 billion television viewers worldwide... and Google TV streamed across the Internet...is also world wide. $70 billion a year is spent on television advertising...worldwide.
• My own Television Channel can be accessed by Google TV viewers...also...worldwide.. without having to go through...any other entity... no commercial television station gate-keeper...  no public television station gatekeeper... no government channel gate-keeper... no public access channel gate-keeper
• I can communicate my offering... with global business reach...beyond cable audiences... without paying a cent for broadcast advertising or cable advertising... Now I can reach local, regional, national, and international audiences with information of value... programming that can serve multiple audiences... phenomenally well.

Just get quiet a moment... forget TV and just contemplate the implications... related to the things you care about - small business development and capacity-building, mobilizing communities of interest, reforming public education, transforming organizations, growing not-for-profit organizational capacity, reforming government, growing green business, changing the world...making it a better place to live...then think about using Google TV channels...programmed...and...instructionally-designed... to do that.

My cup now runneth over thinking.. and flowing energy into practical...mission-critical... applications for a new world television. What about a television channel for something you care about? .... or even a Primetime television show idea that we can brainstorm together. Call me and let's connect. 425-780-6872.

Thumbtack.com is a nice high-tech business referral service...that's now generating new business

This morning I was thinking about the subject of this morning's blog and where the next opportunity would be coming from...and BINGO!, my Gmail inbox has a nice referral waiting for me from Thumbtack.com a new nation-wide high-tech professional services listing service out of San Francisco that makes its money by connecting people in need of local small business professional services with small business people who need them.

What a cool service Thumbtack.com is. Their listings are free you get rated if you supply them with information that makes your more credible in the eyes of people shopping for your services. One very cool feature is that you can post your Thumbtack ad on Craigslist for free and its already formatted with your avatar. After your Craiglist. ad runs for a week, then they automatically send you another e-mail to run the ad again. This morning's website development referral was only $2 which was well worth it... nice!

Call me if you need to know more about powerful new ways to promote your business. Doing new website with web television channel and webinar capability can really make a difference. Call me and let's connect 425-780-6872.

Catching that Perfect Wave and Reflections About Riding Out the Economy.

This morning, still resonating from the What is Google TV? experience...what I am feeling... and flowing now...is that feeling of what it most be like to catch, be inside of and ride that perfect wave...after paddling out and waiting for such a long time, for the currents to shift and for the energy to build...and crest...as I do my own part to go with it, over and over again, and getting better and better at each time... in between the wipe outs!.

Waves, surfing, and "Surfing the Waves" are great metaphors that my good friends and coaches consultants Matthew Ferry and Thach Nguyen help me get in touch with, in coping with life and dealing with the ebb and flow of it...and  riding out the economy.

In thinking of water, flow... and this economy, two phenomena come to mind, "Recession" and "Tsunami" helping me gain greater understanding of forces at work. Here's what I mean. Right before a Tsunami, all the water "recedes". It doesn't go away, it just seems like that. What is really happening  is that new energy is building... gathering up phenomenal force and power. Then it comes roaring back, taking people and things in its path not already on higher ground and positioned to withstand the force....so positioning is really important.

Sometimes the perfect place to be is right "inside" the curl... yet at other times it's way safer to be on higher ground...or to run like hell.

Interestingly the animals... especially elephants... wise old creatures with wrinkled skins sense the low frequency energy and danger and head for the hills before humans even know what's going on. Then after chaos, life returns to normal again... at least until the earth moves again. The lessons here really are multi-fold, paddle out and catch those waves, getting better, and better at it...balance-wise.. as you ride. That's what I am doing, paddling out to catch this new Google TV wave.  The other part I will leave to the animal kingdom and the Universe to pay attention to and take cues from. I welcome your own thoughts. Let's connect 425.780-6872.

Google TV...The Experience is Almost Like Having an Epiphany

Today is an afternoon publish ... after allowing more time... to have powerful ideas come tumbling forth as an outcome of deep contemplation of the phenomenal implications of the new Google TV.

Here's a nice little exercise and experiment to try. Watch this little well-crafted two minute and 21 second video ... What is Google TV?.. with nice female voice...on my New World Television Channel page... and then try to go about business as usual.. Then watch what comes tumbling forth to the foreground of your consciousness... in a few days.

For me personally, the experience because of my television systems and programming background...is close to having an epiphany ...close to my intellectual and spiritual core... as a communicator... as a educator... and most importantly as a living breathing 21st century... human being. Google's bringing Web to TV and TV to the Web...in such an elegantly simple way...completely changes "The Game" ...for me in my ability to serve multiple audiences from the smallest micro-business... to the largest nation-state.

And shared with other, minds, and hearts...and souls...it can positively change the world...in a marvelously powerful and joyous way. That's all I can say about this experience for now. What, after viewing this video.. comes forward for you... in a few days after trying this little experiment? Call me and let's connect. The entire world has already changed for me personally...resonating positively...thinking about... and now working with this stuff. 425-780-6872.

Peace

This Weekend I Participated in the Building of a Ceremonial Lodge

Here is kinda what our lodge structure looked like. We decided not to take pictures

This weekend I drove down to Lewis County with friends and participated in the building of a ceremonial lodge presided over by followers of the Lakota way. What a great experience this was, as we all came together as a diverse community, brought together by the common purpose of building a marvelous structure as one people. 

Each step we took, from smudging ourselves in sacred Sage smoke to locating and grounding ourselves within sacred space defined by cardinal points of East and West, and North and South took us deeper, and deeper to a peaceful place where the Spirits of our ancestors would come forward in this miniature dome of the world. 

The lodge poles we used were living things that we had to coax into bending for us. We were all taught to relate to them by bending them over our own bent backs while extending our arms over the top of them. Before they could be "planted" in the ground, we gave them offerings of corn meal, loose tobacco, and cedar in their holes, with quiet prayers to nourish them.. and to nourish and purify us. We then lovingly tied them altogether with  blood red muslin ribbons and experienced the structure take shape and get stronger before our very eyes, as we all admired our collective work. 

Then back at the house, we all had wonderful international meal of fresh caught King salmon, Ethiopian greens, broiled chicken, Indian dahl, cornbean, red beans and rice, and wonderful West African peanut soup that I sopped my bread into, as we all buzzed with warm energy even in our rain-soaked clothes. One more time some of us came back to the site to plant sacred poles facing each cardinal direction with prayers and offerings each time. 

This morning I still feel the aura of all this Spirit still around me, even as I blog about it on my laptop. Nice. With all this marvelous energy still flowing through me. Blogging this morning has never been easier and will even flow through my business day. Call me and let me share some that good energy with you 425-780-6872

Whaaat? Speed Dating to Conduct Green Business?

Today I am thinking about...is how weird it was to participate in an RFP Outreach Event designed as a "speed dating" event I attended yesterday...designed to supposedly hook me up with "prime contractors" bidding on a green business contract and having me define on the spot the role I needed to play... "prime contractor?"... "sub-contractor?".... the pursuer?"... or the pursued? ..or both? But isn't that the way that "true love" actually happens?

The RFP-related business outreach event I attended had to do with a fairly large contract currently held by an incumbent prime contractor, more than likely going after the contract again... with the bid due only 15 days later. Ouch! How can business match-making actually ...and authentically happen in that short a time frame?

After listening to officials present, and talk about how the proposal would be evaluated and awarded, it was clear to most of us that the incumbent prime contractor was the "heavy" here, and more than likely to be awarded the contract again, though special mention was made of public policy dividing the award up and of "aspiring" to be more inclusive from a "race and social justice initiative".. as well as from a "good business practice" prospective. Wow, did all of this have my head spinning. 

Inside I kept asking myself... how can "true love" happen so quickly, especially when I only have 3 minutes to connect....and to strut my stuff?  But then I took a deep breath.. and took a shot at playing this "speed dating" game thing. I still can't remember what it was that I said... and remembering faces has now become a blur but at least we exchanged "calling cards" allowing me to do an e-mail and phone follow-up today. What it felt like however was that there already were "secret love affairs" going on that most of us ... asked to play the game...were not even privy to. ... Weird... I hope that I am wrong and will be pleasantly surprised if I can participate in any of this business at all. It was a good way to get in a little face time with primes however so I actually highly applaud the idea. Let's connect if you have similar experience or insight about events like this. 425-780-6872.