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Consulting 101

Have you ever stopped to think… what is a consultant?

I’ve been pondering the true definition of this profession myself and according to the dictionary, it is defined as a person who gives professional or expert advice. In fact, there are a ton of how-to websites for one who might consider this practice. For me, a consultant is someone who gives perspective.

People pay therapists to provide perspective about a current or past situation in their lives.

And in looking at it this way, I started thinking about the independent contractors that I hire to help keep my company going, and the truth of the matter is I can do everything that I pay them to do. All I’m doing is seeking perspective. Gaining perspective gives you a choice.  Having a choice gives you the freedom to reach your full potential.

Is that what being a consultant entails? 

I think it pays to have perspective or receive a different point of view.  When you really look at it, all of you are my consultants or anyone who comments on a blog can act as a consultant.  You’re comment simply validates that particular thought or challenges the blogger to see the topic in a different light. The spring of technology and its access has put all of us in the driver’s seat, and that’s something to be excited about. 

Keep the learning going...pass it on!

~Peter

The New Web

Between my Business 2.0, Wired, Entrepreneur, etc. magazines, articles posted on various websites all over the web and the buzz between business peers and seminars, Web 2.0 is quite the word right now…and I can see why. It’s funny how I take all of this technology for granted and expect that the web will keep on evolving at a quick (and possibly quicker pace). Maybe it is my generation. I remember repeatedly being taught about Moore’s law while working on my MBA as well – well technology sure is doubling at a rapid speed!

For those of you who do not know what Web 2.0 is – it is the new or upgraded version of the Internet where changing (once again) how people and businesses interact with each other. For instance, sites such as MySpace, Flickr, ThinkFree.com, and YouTube are all part of the many sites out there.

Speaking of YouTube, two business colleagues, Dale Canning of Premier Technical and a buddy of his, Ben Jones, of ImageBrew Designs teamed up and took advantage of a similar site called Current TV. Instead of posting amateur short clips or videos such as on YouTube, Current TV allows viewers to vote for these videos (give a green light), which then can later be viewed on DirectTV if they make the cut. Check out Dale’s and Ben’s video: The Adirondack Guideboat.

~ Maria

What do you use for work?

Adam Dewitz never fails to surprise me with what he shows me! He recently tagged me in his Blog, Printmode.net to continue What do you use for work? meme, (a Blog-based chain letter), which I had no idea existed until this point. Although it really shouldn’t surprise me, Adam has helped me get this Blog up and running as well as introduced me to the world of Wiki’s! (By the way, if you haven’t done so already, check out printwiki.org).

 Tools that I use for work… I have both a PC and a Mac. The PC – a Dell Inspiron 710 is for work and the iMac G5 is for personal purposes. I also have a HP all-in-one printer, that allows me to scan and print documents.

Screenshot of my Dell:

Screenshot of my Mac:

On both my PC and Mac, I use the Microsoft Office Suite on a daily basis for multitasking between work schedules, e-mail, creating/editing presentations, writing up proposals or blog posts, etc. To edit pictures I used Adobe Photoshop (PC).

 As for internet applications, I have been using Mozilla Firefox as my web browser for quite some time now and rarely use Explorer (PC) or Safari (MAC). To communicate I use MSN Messenger, AIM, Skype and Google Talk. Skype has been a useful tool with their VoIP option. Peter and I use this to communicate quite frequently, and I use the SkypeOut option to call out while in my office. On my Mac I use a client called Adium that allows me to use MSN, AIM and Google Talk in one interface.

To upload and view all of my pictures, Webshots and the Webshots desktop application.

On both computers I use iTunes to listen to my music or the radio - and I also subscribe to some podcasts.

Passing it along:

Dr. Joe Webb
Luke Vaillancourt

~ Maria

 

Avatars

Have you noticed those personalized cartoon-like character's of people showing up on websites or in print? These are called Avatars and can be as simple as an impersonalized clip-art type icon of maybe your favorite football team or favorite flower to a personalized characterization of yourself that you can create. Some sites such as IKEA (below) have their own Avatar designated to guiding you around a site or answering questions.

Anna is IKEA’s spokesperson (look for her in the lower left hand corner) and is available to answer any questions you have specifically about IKEA. If you try to ask her anything else, she is more than happy to assure you that her interests lie in IKEA and that is it.

Companies like Site Pal are capitalizing on this and helping businesses create their own avatars.

One of the simpler forms of personalizing your own avatar is Yahoo Avatars. It takes you through a series of questions (in picture form) of your facial features, hair, clothing styles, accessories, etc. You are then able to create “yourself” however you feel like. Here I am:

Designhergals.com took this a step further and you can create your own avatar that can be attached to e-mail or printed on stationary, notepads, index cards, invites, t-shirts, mugs, etc. This one is only oriented towards creating female avatars, but I believe that you can have a male created for a fee of $100 if you send them a picture.

~ Maria

Wikis

I recently stumbled upon Google Docs & Spreadsheets and was quite impressed with another innovative service Google offers.  This allows you to sign into a Google interface (you create your own account) and share uploaded or newly created documents and spreadsheets so that others (or yourself) can download, edit, and even review any changes that occur within a document (and even revert back to an older version if needed!) This would have been so useful back when I was in Grad school, and now I am thinking of ways that I can use it for any new documents that I create and share with colleagues.

This further lead to a conversation with a few people of the benefits of Wiki’s, the opportunities they are creating and how they are changing the way people communicate and are communicated to!  One very well known wiki is Wikipedia, where anyone can contribute to a large encyclopedia that is growing larger daily. Or there is a wikiHow allowing people to contribute ideas on how to do things correctly. One in the print industry is PrintWiki.

How do we learn to collaborate in a large or small organization in a cost effective manner? Wikis may be one answer.

Here are some recent articles on wikis and maybe something that we can all learn from…

Why Wiki Works

From artists to spies, more going wiki on web: This article discusses how wikis are being used by all industries to gather and distribute information

Company widens world of wiki: A company allows employees to use wikis

'Wiki wars' rage in political arena: How and why political wiki entries were banned on wikipedia

Hands On: Why you need a wiki

~ Maria

Yes, You Too Can Publish!

As many of you may or may not know, publishing a book is becoming easier and easier nowadays with on demand printing. Bob Young, founder of Lulu.com and John Lacagnina, founder, president and CEO of ColorCentric Corporation jumped on this opportunity to help anyone get published! Not only can you publish your own book, you can create a calendar, cd, dvd, e-book, music, etc.  Lulu.com is also continually working on their business development mindset by using multiple mediums to communicate with their customers using Blogs , Lulu TV, and Lulu Radio. They are also invested in educating and enhancing their customers experience by offering workshops. Talk about taking advantage of technology and reaching their audience on different levels!

We also wrote an article about our experience buying a book from Lulu.com that happened to be co-written by Patricia Sorce, Administrative Chair of the School of Print Media at Rochester Institute of Technology and Michael Pletka, Manager of Customer Business Development at Xerox Corporation titled Data-Driven Print: Strategy and Implementation. This book discusses how to leverage the power of digital printing with the use of customized communications.

You can download this article by following the link:

Download yes_you_too_can_publish.pdf

~ Maria

Free Radio, Fee Radio and the Future of Broadcasting

Missing Some of the Programming Made Finding it that Much More Rewarding
On Tuesday evening I was listening to the Kojo Nnamdi show on NPR. Tuesday's are for his TechTalk show and his topic was about the future of radio. I didn't get to hear the entire program. So last night I went to the web and to NPR.org (in DC I tune to www.wamu.org) and found Tuesdays program. My choices were many. I could listen to a rebroadcast via RealAudio or Windows Media Player. Have a CD, Cassette or written transcript sent to me. And finally I can download the Podcast to my iTunes and iPod. Wow! Some of you already know this, I knew about it, but I never really took advantage of it.

Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program
Kojo and his three guests had a lively discussion about terrestrial radio, satellite radio, HD Radio and streaming radio too! His guests included:

·       Leslie Stimson, News Editor and Washington Bureau Chief, Radio World

·       Brian Cooley, Editor-at-large, CNET.com

·       Michael Bergman, Vice President, New Digital Technologies, Kenwood

Kojo did a great job guiding the conversation through the choices we have in listening to media today. Since we at Bizucate serve the communications industry, with a focus on print media, I was fascinated by how broadcasters have branched out to new mediums to get their content out and for the commercial folks--get some advertising dollars to support it too! You should listen to the whole program--it was really worth it!

One of the best quotes of the show was from Michael Bergman form Kenwood. He was adamant about making a point that "XM and Sirius are clearly defined as media companies. The fact that they are satellite radio technology providers is a convenience at the moment, but they are not tied to being available only by satellite--both channels can be streamed over the net." Michael's point goes to the heart of what the future of communications is all about--it's about people having choices. And many are willing to pay a premium for that choice.

Many believe the next "life of radio" will be enabled by the cell phone of today. Brian Cooley from CNET said, "Give consumers what they want, where they want it, when they want it and that’s why a multifunction device is key. What’s a multifunction device you’ll never leave the house without? You’ll leave your MP3 player behind. But you won’t leave your phone behind." Cell phones will continue to evolve from phone to camera to computer to satellite receiver to radio and beyond!

Another cool point to support live broadcasted media is the idea of getting out of a stored, saved or cached world. Listening to an iPod or any other MP3 player is different than listening to a live concert, radio show or news broadcast. By hooking into what's live or nearly-live connects us back to the real world and as Brian Cooley said, "It feels good."

 

If we look at the big picture, lots of people like lots of things. Instead of being a broadcasting company that only provides it one way, why not look at diversifying your content and give people the ability to choose what they want to listen to, how they can listen to it and when they want to? Giving people choices like that creates value.

For many of the designing, printing, and technology manufacturing companies we at Bizucate serve--please consider the difference between content and the medium. People will continue to choose different mediums to be communicated to, but if it's the right message delivered in a medium they prefer--well you can get paid to help figure that out and provide those approaches and methods to your customer's opportunities.

Proof is in the Action!
I guess the best proof is the fact that after I found the show I was looking for and I signed up for a few other Podcasts I also sent NPR a check to show my support. I believed so much in what they are doing for me I wanted to show them I believed in them. That's the proof in justifying the jump into the media mix. Content is separate from medium. Figure out how to get the right stuff to people who want to hear it--and you could even get paid for it.

What's HD Radio
What's Satellite Radio

Is Terrestrial Radio On on it's Way Out?
Boston globe article talking about "On Demand" services and what they are about.

OnDemand Killed the Radio Star
Boston Globe white paper journaling the research of OnDemand listening.

Pass the Learning On!

~Peter

Printwiki.org

This morning I was reading my e-mail when a press release came in from Adam Dewitz about one of his many ongoing projects: Printwiki.org. Adam states in his press release:

"The PrintWiki.org website provides a collaborative platform that enables anyone to contribute to the collective knowledge of the printing and publishing community. The result is a rewarding, constantly improving experience for anyone seeking or sharing knowledge about printing and publishing."

He further states:

"Anyone can contribute and edit content to the catalog of quality information on the printing and publishing industry. The site belongs to no single person or group. The site will be continually updated, expanded, and improved upon by the community."

I encourage all of you experts out there to help out and post away! You can find this site at: http://printwiki.org/

~ Maria