September 8, 2010
How a New Breed Of Small Businesses is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies
A small seafood restaurant attracts new customers with virtually no marketing budget. A four-person iPad case manufacturer generates more than $1M in revenue in four months with only four employees. A voice-over company is able to connect thousands of artists with opportunities, all without expensive hardware and software. A law firm increases access to key information while dramatically reducing technology-related costs and risks.
And these four companies are hardly unique. A new breed of small businesses is using Software as a Service (SaaS), free and open source software, social media and networks, mobility, cloud computing, and other emerging technologies to do things simply not possible even five years ago.
April 30, 2010
How To "Follow Companies" on LinkedIn
Starting today, you can be in the loop on new developments, potential business opportunities or even job opportunities by following companies of interest to you.
Learn how to follow companies and I'll share some quick links for creating your own company profile so others can follow you.
April 27, 2010
My Favorite Business Audiobooks
Audiobooks are becoming very popular these days. Everyone is constantly on the run, constantly moving, so it's very hard for them to sit down and read a book.
Fortunately, the advancement in technological prowess has been so astounding that many people have found a way to offset this. They have opted to listen to audiobooks whenever they get the chance, to appease their thirst for knowledge.
Audiobooks are basically books on tape where talented voice actors, also known as narrators, record an entire book, which usually takes many long hours of reading and recording before it's finished. Then the book is sold usually either on CD or as an MP3 file from websites like Audible or the Apple Store, and played on portable MP3 players such as iPods.
Audiobooks are perfect because usually, no matter what you are physically doing, you can be listening to something at the same time.
January 14, 2010
Voices.com Moves Into The Convergence Centre
You and your colleagues are invited to the official Opening Event of the new Convergence Centre at 999 Collip Circle at the University of Western Ontario Research Park, London Campus.
The event will include a formal opening planned for 1:15pm, along with an open house throughout the afternoon that will allow tenants, guests, and members of the public a chance to drop-in whenever they are available. We'll provide food and music, tours of the new building, and we will have talks by Windermere Manor's Writer-in-Residence, Christine Walde, and artist Troy Ouellette about their work and cultural activities happening and planned for the Research Park.
Click through for all the details...
August 10, 2009
Call Centre Week Canada
Keeping customers and winning new ones via word of mouth is the key to maintaining top line revenue - you can never cut costs enough to survive if you can't maintain the top
line. However, customers are now much less tolerant of any service glitch.
Delivering flawless service is critical to maintaining reasonable margins and taking advantage of the most cost-effective marketing mechanism... word of mouth.
Businesses of any size can take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to hear how other companies operate and utilize their call centres to create memorable customer experiences and spur on positive word of mouth.
Next week, I'll be speaking at Canada's most highly anticipated call centre event alongside 35+ award winning speakers, all of whom are prepared to share their call centre solutions.
March 17, 2009
Salesforce Launches New AppExchange
Today, marks the launch of the redesigned AppExchange, a online application store for business users where they can extend the functionality of Salesforce.
As many of your know, I'm a strong advocate of Salesforce for both small and big business. In fact, we started with the Professional Edition focused on the Customer Relationship Management elements and have since upgraded to the Enterprise version and have taken advantage of the full suite of tools.
Many of those tools have been found in the AppExchange, including Salesforce for Google Apps, Salesforce for Google Adwords and Salesforce Mobile.
January 4, 2009
Industry Report Will Go Deeper Next Year
Last week I had published the annual Report on the Voice Over Industry that was well received. Thanks to all the people who blogged about it.
At voxmarketising, Peter O'Connell has some praise as well as shared some dislikes that I'd like to discuss here.
Let's run though some of the comments shall we?
January 3, 2009
Annual Website Maintenance Checklist
It's the time of year when we make resolutions are made. I'm not much of a resolution-maker myself, but I'm going to suggest that small business owners make one. Namely, it's a suggestion that you resolve to fix up your web site and pay attention to things you might have ignored for too long. I know you're busy and your time is valuable, so chances are good that you've missed a few minor issues that are making your web site look old and outdated.
Think about this way: Your car needs a tune-up every 15,000 miles or so to keep it running at its best. Your teeth need a checkup at least once or twice a year. Well, a regular checkup will also keep your web site running in peak condition.
January 2, 2009
Update The ⓒ Copyright Year On Your Website
First of all, Happy New Year!
And, with the new year comes some annual maintenance that every webmaster should be conscious of. Here's a quick tip from my list of annual website maintenance.
June 11, 2008
Voices.com CEO Speaks at OIART's Entrepreneur Week
As many of you know, I'm an honors graduate of OIART, the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology - one of the top audio production schools in the industry.
One of the many reasons I chose to attend OIART was the high job placement rate of their graduates which results in excellent connections within the industry. Graduates are invited back to OIART as guest lecturers, and this year I was happy to speak and share my experiences as an entrepreneur.
April 25, 2008
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
In personal and professional development it's my belief that everyone has a seed of success within them. It's also true that few ever realize their success potential.
Why is that?
Here are four reasons why people who are poised for success may not reach their potential, and how you can apply some simple truths to experience your own break through.
April 19, 2008
The Best Leaders are Listeners
Friday, I attended the Maximum Impact Advance Simulcast that provides the business professional with a wealth of information designed to help people grow their influence. I joined 50,000 leaders, across North America, renowned authors, businessmen and leadership experts for an event that won’t be forgotten.
The founder, John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker and author who has sold over 13 million books. His organizations have trained more than 2 milion leaders worldwide. Every year, he speaks with Fortune 500 Companies, international government leaders and organizations as diverse as the United States Military Academy at West Point and the National Football League.
In his session, "Leadership Gold", Dr. Maxwell explained a simple truth: The best leaders are listeners.
April 14, 2008
Salesforce and Google Link CRM Apps to Office Tools
This morning, the Official Salesforce Blog announced that they have expanded their partnership with Google and together have delivered an industry-changing new product called Salesforce for Google Apps.
Techmeme and the New York Times has some great coverage on this developing story.
As heavy Salesforce and Google Apps users, we're pleased with this development and can see how we'll be using this dynamic duo for greater productivity and ultimately our ability to deliver a better service.
March 26, 2008
Leo Laporte Should Record an Audiobook
Monday evenings, I typically grab an hour to listen to my favorite podcast, This Week in Tech (TWiT) hosted by Leo Laporte, with frequent guests John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton and others who analyze the weekly news in from the world of technology.
Seeing as Audible is their major sponsor, I knew the time would come when they discussed recording audiobooks, the time required and how much narrators get paid.
Well, I've got some answers for you.
February 18, 2008
Why Online Resources Add Value and Create a Competitive Advantage
"The customer is king" is one of the older cliches of modern business. While its never exactly false, the phrase usually pays lip service to the idea of customer experience rather than listening to feedback that results in change.
How does an online business make the most of customer feedback? One avenue to explore is the development of downloadable content, specifically audio, video and text resources that truly add value and give customers the experience they've asked for.
February 5, 2008
Podcasting Continues to Grow
I never stopped believing in the power of podcasting. Not only does audio does work in ways that video can't, but it's far more memorable. Just think, you can probably remember a favorite song from high school, a jingle from a decade ago or even a one-liner from a commercial that seemed to just stick.
January 16, 2008
1to1 Impact Award is Recognition for a Winning Customer-Centric Approach
This week, I had the good fortune of accepting a 1to1 Impact Award on behalf of our entire team in Phoenix Arizona at the Frost & Sullivan Sales and Marketing Conference.
Read on and gain some insight into how we operate Voices.com by putting you, our valued customer, at the center of all our business activities.
November 28, 2007
What To Look For in a Business Phone System
If you're business is growing, there comes a point in time when you'll need to consider acquiring a small business telephone system. Get 5 great tips for what you should be evaluating in a new phone system.
October 25, 2007
Why More Companies Are Choosing Professional Voice Talent
From our research, here are the main reasons we’ve discovered why so many business are incorporating voice-overs as a part of their marketing strategy.
June 26, 2007
Internet Radio Stations Go Silent in Protest
Popular web-based music services and some traditional radio stations that offer Internet audio streams are set to shut off their online programming until midnight tonight to protest the outrageous rates recently set by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C.
June 4, 2007
Guest Lecture at OIART
Many of you know that I graduated from the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, the "Harvard of Audio Engineering".
Recently, I had the good fortune of sharing of being invited back to share about the life of an entrepreneur, how OIART played a part in the development of my career and naturally what is happening at Voices.com these days.
January 12, 2007
CBS/Google Radio Ad Deal Is Imminent
In a report issued by Merrill Lynch, lead broadcast analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said a CBS/Google deal would likely be "wide-ranging" and would include both advertising and content elements.
December 19, 2006
The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab
The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab (RAEL) is possibly the most exciting initiative undertaken by the Radio industry in recent years. Conceived and launched in 2001, RAEL’s goal is to further the industry’s understanding of how Radio advertising works and to measure its effectiveness, thereby increasing advertiser/agency confidence in Radio as an advertising medium.
October 25, 2006
Research and Development of Intellectual Property
Research and development is part of every technology business, however not all organizations document the progress in a manner that will protect them in the future. Today I'll pose a number of questions that will generate thought on your own Intellectual Property Strategy.
October 24, 2006
Intellectual Property
To continue the discussion on entrepreneurship, we'll explore the topic of "intellectual property" and the various forms it takes on. Learn all about patents and why you should apply for a patent for your business.
October 23, 2006
What's in a business plan?
Over the past few weeks, I've been participating in a course at the Richard Ivey School of Business on the subject of entrepreneurship. The first session discussed the importance of having a business plan. Here are some of the highlights.
September 11, 2006
What's "The Biz" All About?
I've read blog posts by other entrepreneurs and industry critics raising a question. Does the world need another blog? I'd like to refine that question. Does the world need another web 2.0 blog? My short answer is "yes", and here's why.
September 10, 2006
Re-Branding Your Company
Here's the behind the scenes story of why our team decided to change our name from InteractiveVoices to Voices.com and how it could help you with your re-branding strategies.
