The Biggest Internet Outage of 2010. Can we adapt in 2011? #business and Web reliance

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By Om Malik Dec. 28, 2010, 11:00am PDT 7 Comments Updated. If anything, 2010 was the year when our reliance on web services went through the roof. Whether it was social networking on Facebook, calling our friends on Skype or remixing content on Tumblr, we spent an inordinate amount of time on the Internet. And just as our usage went up, so did our expectations of uptime and reliability of these services. Nevertheless, as the recent Skype outage has shown, Internet-based services have a way of going down. Folks from AlertSite and Pingdom, two web-monitoring services, have put together a list of Internet outages that went down in 2010. I added some of my own to the list. Here is a summary of what I think were the top outages, followed by a small poll for you to pick the biggest web outage of 2010. Facebook. Outage started on Sept. 22 and ended on Sept. 23, 2010.  Service went down for about a third of the Facebook subscribers on day one, and nearly 66 percent on day two. Cause: Third party network provider. Facebook had a major outage in April 2010 as well. Twitter. It’s the most crash-prone social service out there, thanks partly to its communication underpinnings. Twitter crashed in Jan. 2010 in the wake of Haiti earthquake, then later during the World Cup in June 2010. Skype. On Dec. 22 and 23, the Internet telephony service went on the blink for millions of users. The cause was described as some errant Windows-based supernodes, but the real cause is still unknown. Tumblr. The New York-based blogging service was offline for nearly 24 hours and most of its users were offline in early December. Tumblr described it as a database cluster failing during maintenance. Updated: Gmail. Google’s email service had a rough 20102009. It was offline for about 2.5 hours, and the outage impacted many users in Feb. 20102009. It went down again in March 20102009 for 36 hours, and in Sept. 20102009, routing issues caused the service to go on the blink.The Gmail outages actually occurred in 2009, not 2010. It’s a testament to how dependent we are on Gmail that it was still fresh in our minds. As such, I’ve removed the Gmail option from the poll. 2010s Biggest Internet Outage Facebook (September 22-23) Twitter (June 2010) Skype (December 22-23) PayPal (October 29) Tumblr (December 5-6) Foursquare (October 5-6) Wordpress (February 18) VoteView Results Share ThisPolldaddy.com Foursquare. Down for 11 hours on Oct. 5 because of database problems. It crashed again on Oct. 6 for about six hours. PayPal. In Oct. 2010, PayPal went on the blink for about 4.5 hours, again due to networking problems. Bonus Mention: Wordpress.com. The hosted blogging service went down for 110 minutes in Feb. 2010 due to networking configuration problems. It took down a majority of the blogging world for a few hours. Read more at gigaom.com

 

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Gmail to Allow Users to Make Free Phone Calls to the US & Canada in 2011 via@mashable

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Google has announced that Gmail users will be able to make free phone calls to the U.S. and Canada through 2011. When calling was added to Gmail back in August, the company said that it’d be making such calls free “for at least the rest of the year,” with per minute rates starting at $0.02 per minute for international dialing.

The service made a major splash initially, with 1 million calls placed in the first 24 hours and pundits predictably calling the service a potential Skype killer. That said, we haven’t heard many updates about the traction the service is getting since then, though free calling for all of 2011 certainly stands to lure more users.

We’ve reached out to Google for some updated numbers and will post here if we hear back. In the meantime, let us know in the comments if you’re making phone calls from Gmail. Read more at mashable.com

 

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What Kris Kringle and The Winter Warlock know about Goals & Success. #SantaKnowsSuccess. #business

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What Kris Kringle and The Winter Warlock know about Goals and Success Did you watch “Santa Claus is coming to Town” the other night? One of my favorite moments in the classic holiday special is when Kris Kringle helps the Winter Warlock and sings *“Put One Foot in Front of the Other”. The lyrics of this holiday favorite  are pretty telling about goals. Put one foot in front of the other, soon you’ll be walking cross the floor. Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking out the door“. Setting goals is all about reaching something but to me, goals are not only the end result but the steps to get there. What are you doing every day, every week and every month to get there? That is as important and often more important then the actual goal itself. Why? Because if you can set goals that are achievable; how many cold calls you will do a day, how many existing or past clients you will meet within a week, how many strategic alliance meetings you will set in a month etc. etc. these things are controllable by you. Controllable mini goals allows you to track what is working and what isn’t so you can begin to carve out what is ultimately the steps to reach your ultimate goal. *Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking out the door You never will get where you’re going If you never get up on your feet Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing A fast walking man is hard to beat Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking out the door If you want to change your direction If your time of life is at hand Well don’t be the rule be the exception A good way to start is to stand Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor Put one foot in front of the other And soon you’ll be walking out the door If I want to change the reflection I see in the mirror each morn You mean that it’s just my election To vote for a chance to be reborn.  Click Here to Hear it:  http://www.santasearch.org/playmusic.asp?ID=2686  (sing it with me :) Sung by Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn in ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ (1970). Read more at gretaschulz.tumblr.com

 

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Best #Business Apps to help streamline your org via @Inc ~Love @TripIt & @DropBox. #iphone apps #android

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vote nowBuzz up! Best Business Apps of 2010 0 Hours0 Minutes5 Seconds 3 of 7 Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company

urtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Courtesy Company Dropbox (iPad) GroupMe (iPhone & Android) PDF Expert (iPad) Yammer 3.0 (iPhone) OmniFocus (iPad) Kik Messenger (iPhone and Android) TripIt (iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) Forget having to e-mail yourself documents. This descendent of the Web-based version lets users sync up their Dropbox files between desktop, mobile, and iPad and share links to documents in their Dropbox with just a few taps of the finger. Label a document as a favorite, and view it even when you don’t have an Internet connection. “I couldn’t live without this,” says Raven Zachary, president of app development and consulting firm Small Society. While the app is free, Dropbox’s service includes tiered monthly pricing for more than 2GB of storage. Price: Free Launched in August, this app allows users to organize phone contacts by groups and send text messages to those groups, smartphone user or not. The app also lets its users place a conference call with entire groups by dialing a dedicated number. For a company like Thrillist that throws frequent events, GroupMe has been a crucial addition to its business. “Everyone involved in throwing the event can be on one group text and can see what everyone else is seeing,” says Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer, whose VC firm has invested in the start-up. “Then if there’s an issue, one click and we’re all on a conference call together. Very slick.” Price: Free Need a great app for viewing and annotating PDF files? This is it. Users can add text notes to files or even draw additions with their finger. For Zachary of Small Society, this is the app he uses to sign and annotate contracts on the go. Price: $4.99 The service that some describe as "Twitter for business" released the third version of its iPhone app in 2010. The new version still lets bosses on the move communicate with their employees in group chats in real-time, but includes important new features such as the ability to e-mail and call contacts from the app. “I’m able to respond to inquiries, frustrations and successes on the fly,” says College Hunks Hauling Junk president Nick Friedman, “allowing for us to successfully implement a virtual open door policy in our organization." Price: Free This app is task management software on steroids -- minus all the creepy side effects. Have a task to complete in a specific location? The Map tab shows the distance between the task’s location and your current location. Or click on the Forecast tab to view tasks for the coming week. The price may be steep, but the combination of the features and an elegant user interface and design will make you forget about it. “This app is my brain,” says Jeff Scott, founder of 148apps.com, a popular app news and reviews site. “It’s a mega-organizer app with great options for keeping me on track.” Price: $39.99 This new app was recently pulled from Blackberry’s App World because of a dispute over its similarities to Blackberry Messenger, but it’s still extremely popular in the iPhone and Android app stores. The app turns text messages into real-time instant messages and lets users send them to users on different smartphone platforms. “Amazing for communicating like Blackberry Messenger, but with anyone and free no matter where in the world you are,” says Grasshopper Group co-founder David Hauser. Price: Free No, this app did not launch in 2010, but it earned a spot on this list for the continuous high marks it receives from business owners who travel often. “This has been so useful from checking a flight time to getting a hotel confirmation number,” says Hauser of Grasshopper Group. The app organizes all your trip itineraries in one place and offers maps and directions to make business travel as worry-free as possible. Price: Free ADVERTISEMENT Related Links Read more at www.inc.com

 

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Top Ten Ways to Ruin a Sale

Maybe your 2010 sales results have been disappointing. Or, perhaps, you're a dynamo whose efforts are amply rewarded with sales, but you still wouldn't mind a little improvement in your sales figures.

In either case, stop and ask yourself if you're guilty of any of the following top 10 sales mistakes. As you read through the list, do you see yourself looking back at yourself from the mirror? If so, you know where you need to start making improvements.

10. Not pre-qualifying a potential appointment before you commit to it. I still hear people say, "I go for the appointment. If I can get in front of them, I have a better chance of selling it." You also have a better chance of wasting lots of time on nothing but an opportunity that has a high chance of going nowhere.

9. Not allowing the power of silence. Silence is an important tool in negotiation. Its power lies in the fact that most people are uncomfortable with it. But, because the salesperson may be as uncomfortable as the prospect, she will speak again before giving time for the prospect to answer. When you ask a question, allow the prospect to have time to think about the answer. If you don't, you have lost control of the conversation and lost the advantage of the power of silence. More importantly, some people need time to think before answering. When you break the silence, you have interrupted the prospect's train of thought. Stop talking.

8. Not uncovering the next steps clearly enough. Some of us are sharp enough to know that we should ask what the next step is when on a sales appointment. But, there is more to it than that. For example, if you asked: "If I come back with a proposal you like, what will happen next?" and the prospect says: "We'll move forward," you would probably assume that means she will sign the deal. Are you sure? "Move forward" could mean lots of things, so make sure you understand specifically what the client means. Don't assume it means she will sign the deal - because you know what happens when you assume.

7. Putting a proposal together before understanding all that should go in it. I am floored at how many people still show up, ask a few questions and ask for the "privilege" of coming back with a proposal. What exactly are you proposing? Don't get caught up in the "if I can show them all the great things we do, they will buy" syndrome. They will buy only what is relevant to them.

6. Not utilizing relationships you have in the community to form alliances to help get you introduced to a potential prospect at a higher level than you would otherwise have access to. If you have a relationship you can lean on, do it. You can bet the other person won't hesitate to call in a reciprocal introduction from you if you can be of help to him. And even if he doesn't, or you don't know anyone who's useful to him, be sure to take full advantage of his acquaintanceships, friendships and other business-useful relationships. If you saw a sack of unclaimed money on the street, would you walk right past it? Then why are you letting these relationship goldmines slip through your fingers?

5. Defending your product or service. If people ask why you did something or your organization made a particular decision, don't defend the decision - ask why they are asking. Don't assume you know the reason for the question. You can get yourself in deep trouble that way.

4. Not asking for a referral because you are uncomfortable. The No. 1 complaint I hear from salespeople is that they hate cold calling. Do you hate it, too? Then get yourself out of the cold-call business and start asking for referrals. The two reasons we don't get more referrals are: We don't ask, and we don't ask properly. You must be specific about who and what you are looking for. No one knows better than you what a good referral looks like.

3. Not setting an agenda for a meeting. If you are calling on someone and you go in with the attitude that you will wing it, you are in trouble. People won't respect your time if you don't respect theirs. Set an agenda, discuss it with the prospect or client at the beginning of the meeting and get his agreement. That will help put him on the same page with you, and not leave him in the position of an adversary.

2. Giving the features and benefits of your product before you know which ones are relevant to your client or prospect. Don't assume you know which ones are important. Assuming is a mistake in many ways. The most damaging is not letting the prospect tell you the issues she's having before you make your recommendations. Even if they end up being the same issues you had in mind, people need to be heard.

1. Not shutting up

10 Burning Questions About Why Some Entrepreneurs Fail & Others Succeed. via @BusinessInsider. #business #success

URL:  http://www.businessinsider.com/entrepreneurship-failure...

Small business owners & entrepreneurs- this is worth a read.

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Agressive, Risky Bold.."People with 'warrior gene' better at risky decisions?

rest of article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19830-people-with-warrior-gene-better-at-risky-decisions.html

Amplify’d from www.newscientist.com

It's been called the "warrior gene" – a mutation that seems to make people more aggressive. Now researchers report that people with this gene may not be aggressive, just better at spotting their own interests.

Previous research has found that people with MAOA-L, a gene that controls signalling chemicals in the brain, can be more aggressive. But there is enormous controversy about this, as the gene's effects seem to vary with people's backgrounds.

Cary Frydman and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have now found that people with MAOA-L "just make better choices", says Frydman. "This isn't the same as aggression." Read more at www.newscientist.com

 

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How Many of These Networking Traits Do You Use on Regular Bases?

Top Five Networking Traits

http://ping.fm/uIZoW

Closing More Sales Tip: Track Closing Ratios

Track closing ratios. Measure the percent of proposals to deals won. If it’s below 60%, you're under-qualifying or can't get commitments.



Join me on Twitter: GretaSchulz

When’s the Best Time to Publish Blog Posts? via @problogger & @DanZarrella - favs for #blog

Very Interesting the different times and days that people read and respond to posts.

Amplify’d from www.problogger.net

When’s the Best Time to Publish Blog Posts?

Filed Under: Social Media 34 Comments

This guest post is by HubSpot’s social media scientist, Dan Zarrella.

Of all the data analysis that I’ve done, day-of-week and time-of-day data has been consistently the most popular. So in preparation for my upcoming webinar, titled Science of Blogging, I decided to combine all of my existing data on timing with my new research into one master post on the subject.

The first time I looked at blog post timing was when I was analyzing retweets. I found that retweets exhibit a strong diurnal pattern, in that they’re more common during the day and less so at night. I noticed that retweet activity tended to peak around 4pm EST, suggesting that this might be the best time to tweet a blog post for maximum potential retweet reach.

When I looked at retweet activity over the days of the week, I saw that they peaked later in the work week, specifically on Friday.

Since I first published this graph, the most frequently cited piece of this research has been the idea that Friday at 4pm is the most retweetable time of the week. While your niche maybe different, this data was based on analysis of nearly 100 million retweets, so in aggregate, Friday at 4pm is indeed the most retweetable time of the week.

Moving on from retweets, I started studying Facebook sharing and discovered some things that surprised me about timing there, too.

First, while major news sites and blogs publish articles during the work week, articles that are published on Saturday and Sunday tend to be shared on Facebook more than those published during the week. Perhaps one reason for this is that (as Wired reported), more than 50% of American companies block Facebook at work.

Next, I looked at the effect that the time articles were published had on the number of times they were shared on Facebook. I found that while there is a fair amount of variation, articles published in the morning, around 9a.m. EST, tended to be shared more on Facebook than articles published at other times of the day.

Looking back at these four data points, it may seem that they’re contradictory, but thinking through them a bit more, we can see that they is not necessarily so. Both day-of-week charts tell us that we should experiment with publishing articles later in the week—on Friday and Saturday specifically.

And by publishing posts early in the day, but tweeting them later in the afternoon, we can stimulate both Facebook shares and retweets.

I recently did a survey of over 1,400 blog readers and I asked them what time-of-day they read blogs. Morning was the most popular, followed in decreasing popularity by the rest of the day. Most respondents reported reading blogs at more than one time, so this piece of data reinforces my suggestion to publish early in the morning.

The best timing advice, however, may actually be around frequency. Last week, I analyzed 1000 of the most popular blogs on the web, according to Technorati. I compared their posting frequency with the number of incoming links and visitors they had attracted (according to Yahoo and Compete).

I found that among very popular blogs, publishing multiple times per day led to a huge increase in a blog’s success. This tells us that rather than focusing one perfect day or time, we should aim to publish at many times, and on many days.

Have you experimented with post timing and tweeting? What has your experience shown about the best times of day or week to reach your readers?

Dan Zarrella is HubSpot’s social media scientist. This post contains data from his upcoming webinar The Science of Blogging, taking place on December 9th. Read more at www.problogger.net

 

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Your Attitude Needs Adjusting to CLOSE More Sales - short Video Tells you how.

Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect http://dld.bz/z8bk 

exciting outlook from cyber monday!

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2010/12/01/cyber-monday-sales-hit-record-1b.html

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Try to please everyone and no one ends up happy with the results.

  

I don't know your exact path to success, but one path that leads to failure is trying to please everyone.

Chamber of Commerce Awards so important!#business #sales

I believe in these awards. Don't forget your clients, prospects and colleagues.Givers Gain!

Amplify’d from www.bizjournals.com

Chamber looking for 'Impact' businesses Phoenix Business Journal Date: Monday, November 15, 2010, 1:32pm MST The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for its annual IMPACT Awards through Jan. 19. Nominations are being accepted for enterprising business owners who have made an impact on their community in the past year. Awards will be given to businesses and owners in categories including innovation, response to adversity, community involvement, company culture and the Impact Business of the Year. Nominees must have three years in business, be a member of the chamber or partner chambers, and have a business with no more than 150 workers. The awards will be presented during the annual Impact luncheon to be held in May of next year. For more: www.phoenixchamber.com/impactawards Read more at www.bizjournals.com

 

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Business Cards - Best Option to make them Convert to Clients

Is Your Business Card Worth $100.00?
When I go anywhere -- a lunch, a networking event, a fundraiser -- people are constantly giving me business cards, sometimes even before they say "hello." We put so much emphasis on these 2-by-3 cards -- and for what? Do you think it's going to sell for you? Have you experienced the people who hand out so many cards that you want to know where they get them printed so you can buy stock?
We also get this question from lots of our clients: "What title should we put on our salespersons' business cards? If we want them to be consultants, we should say consultant. Or how about account manager?" I shake my head. They don't get it. Who cares? It's how you act, not what you say on your card, that makes you a salesperson or a consultant.
While we're on the subject, let's address business cards in general. I don't think the format has been changed in 100 years. Ask yourself, when you look for a business card, what are you looking for 90 percent of the time? You know, so just say it: It's the phone number.
Let's start from the top. First and foremost, you should have a logo or name of your company on the card. Top left corner or across the top is fine. No need to scream across the card what your company name is. Don't worry, we can see it.
Second, your name. Let's make it legible and large enough to read. This is one of the most important things on your card. Let's remember that.
Third, the phone number. Why we put the most important thing on the card in 6-point type that even with my granny glasses (no snickering) I still can't see is beyond me. Make it easy to see. Big, bold, green ... something.
Finally, the fax number. When was the last time you pulled out a business card to fax something? You didn't. You spoke to the person on the phone and they asked you to fax something, at which point you asked for their fax number. So leave it out.
Business cards are what we hand out after we have a conversation with someone, not before, so force yourself to engage in conversation with someone first. Ask about their business, what they do, how long they've been doing it, etc. Don't just hand out a card. Build relationships first by asking good questions.
Try this: Pretend your business card is worth $100. If it were, you would make sure you didn't just give it out like food samples in the grocery store. You would first see if there's value. This mindset will force you to engage in conversation with people and begin to form a relationship with them through learning about them, not "telling" them about you, especially through the use of a business card. Isn't this what you are really looking for anyway?

Connect with me on Twitter: GretaSchulz

Business Cards are still an important tool for Networking Events

How to Change Your Attitude to Increase Sales

Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect.  Watch this short video to learn more:  http://dld.bz/z8bk #sales #training