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STORY LINE: Why iKilled my iPhone..

11/24/2012

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Part One: Opportunity & Motive

Basically, cell phone contracts in this of late, cold and windy country are a bitch - The cost, the service, the coverage; they literally sucks the money right out of your pocket, from my calculations, at a rate nearly 50% greater than the amount that you are expecting after walking outta the store. So...

I went into, the store, to bitch at a representative of the company named for one this countries greater business pioneers; the company that sadly no longer bares a resemblance to that pioneering spirit. To my pleasant surprise, I met Tracy. Tracy was GREAT, she immediately started going through my account, chopping, hacking and removing services that, in all honesty I must have been drunk or hung over, or distracted by the notion of getting drunk later that day, the day when I thought I'd needed all this dollar here, dollar there crap. She also found one service, the biggest offender, that duplicated a sub feature of another service that she was quite honestly ashamed that a colleague of hers would so dishonestly apply to my account...

After this contractual hair-cutting, I thought, well, here's a good time, and a good agent to help me (finally) work out some reasonable option to get my lover a phone when she gets here... As it turns out, the most efficient and cost effective thing to do was to set up a new account... DING DING DING... with a new accounts come a BRAND NEW phone! ...geting a brand new phone, well that now goes to motive.

The motivation to iKill my iPhone plays out in two halves. Firstly, although I have nothing but admiration for iProducts, love how they simply, work. Hey after 20++ years I have maintained a position on Apple's 100% satisfied customer rolls; which when run through the Job's version of the customer loyalty CRM calculator = 0 (that's zero) credits, bonuses, bump-ups or "thanks for all thats" premiums OR discounts...

...eh hem, So, I watched Apple roll out the fone 5 and tab-min and although I was as impressed as is demanded of me and as is as usual, I was left feeling... "is that all there is?"

Is this what the next 3, 4, 5 upgrade cycles are going to bring? Better-bigger taller-stronger screens and new tabs enhanced with "screen-size marketshare category killing back-fill"? - You know, come to think... I think if they'd a stuck a phone on that mini and maybe made it just a tad bit minier; I wouldn't be weaving this tale... I'm a sucker for screen real-estate (and i have huge hands).

Overwhelmed by a sense of ennui... C'mon, these ARE the best damned products on the market in their category, BUT... is all there is? Will it ultimately be that every time I go to to get me a new phone Apple's version of Tracy is simply going to go into the back, grab me a box and say... here's your new phone?

The second half of this motivation... I've spent the last month re-constructing my "universe" (oh gawd, why not just say it) my eco-system around Google Enterprise, gmail and a suite of apps, plug ins and 3rd party software - Given the opportunity to get a Spanky BRAND NEW PHONE, it really only made sense to give the Android a whirl. Apparently, its supposed to work with this "eco-system" of mine.

I've never pooh-poohed Android and always had a massive respect for Google; I didn't have to surrender to any evil-empire; the biggest negative I've every pointed at Android has related to my fear that all "open and stuff" environments have ultimately ended up confusing me AND making me feel, well... stupid. I mean, really who wants a phone I might have to learn to use because gee-wiz-by-golly you can do ANYTHING with it (as the not so cool, but cool in that geekish kinda way cool kids all around me here in this smallish town say to me, like, ALL the time)...

But REALLY, outside of email, txt and voice (in that order), what else would I want from my phone? Outside a devise that fits in my pocket and allows me to scan and, in a small way, interact with my "business"... what IS ones expectations of one of these new, non-rotary devices we now call, phones?

So, this experiment begins... Can this ugly Samsung with it's homely interface design and so far confusing UX become as much a tool for me to productively interact with my business as it is to send the odd piece of mail the million txts and that one voice call each week?  As the advertising has gone on these smart phones over the last 5 to 7 years, will my new Android pal become my super-duper productivity tool buddy?

Will this end with a... "Get me the hell outta here"; or with a pleasant "well that's nice now isn't it"... We'll know more in a few months... well, THREE bloody years according to my new pal Tracy.

One quick question here at the git-go... Can someone help me make this thing all less ugly?

Why I Killed my iPhone PART THREE
Why I Killed my iPhone PART TWO

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See you on Google+

11/21/2012

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So, I'm going to go "all in" here and say... 

This time next year, I'll be spending WAY more time on Google+ than I do on Facebook. Currently the ratio is likely 90:10 Facebook. Lets say, it'll be 75:25 Google+ by next December.

Here's why... after 20++ years, migrating mail (still the killer-app after all this time) from (whatever) to Eudora to Outlook (during my blue period) back to Eudora then to Thunderbird then to Apple Mail... each time hating the overdone NEW features and lamenting the loss of the really useful simple ones... I've given up on mail client/mail-app... crap... I've left my hard drive and settled on gmail.

I got myself a spiffy Google Enterprise account and have been furiously consolidating all mail, systems & services under this googly-umbrella; dropbox will linger, but everything is going for a google-"drive"... Things like Analytics, they were already in this 'newer' world, NOW they're just far more integrated into my (good-gawd I hate the word) eco-system.

NOW here's the bonus... I've recently been introduced to a little beauty of a contact database cloud app called Solve360 (made in Canada). Solve sits as a layer overtop of my gmail enterprise account and, for all intents and purpose adds 90% of the feature-set I abandoned when I left my last gig and the Netsuite install we'd just completed... top up Solve360 with another integrated app, Xero for accounting (and a couple of others)... AND, BANG, I pretty much have the fully integrated Sales, CRM & Accounting system I've been having spread-sheet laden wet dreams over of all these years. The fact that Solve360 rides on my email (still the killer app after all these years), rather than treating email as a "paste-on"... my little corner of paradise is in the cross-hairs (after all these years).

OK, Outlook IS headed in the same direction, but Outlook belongs to a universe in which I do not reside. Netsuite, SAP, Salesforce are (for now) far better more robust systems, but at a "five figure" buy-in; unless I land in Big-Bizland, these solutions are NOT geared to us mere mortal SMBs... In hindsight, trying to jam Netsuite onto a 6/7 person $5MM operation was a fools pursuits (in hind-hind site, my gmail/solve/xero etc... eco-system was not yet out of the development sandbox when we made that call)

SO... what's behind Google+'s nomination the "social app" end/access point of my new (arrgh) eco-system... SIMPLY... 100% integration to email (still the killer app after all these years), which means its totally integrated into my "real world" through Solve360 et al; it's not a toy, not another place I goto when I'm not really real-working... 

I can only hope the folks at LinkedIn are paying attention to this; that said, I can surely see them either aligning themselves with Netsuite, Salesforce, SAP or... being bought by one of the seemingly drunken tile-meister's at MicroSoft (do we still midcap that S?)

So, all in... I'll keep you posted. In the meantime; heck, here's an invite to join one of my "circles" on Google+ (damn, that's going to be hard to get used to)... I'm not going anywhere from Facebook, I'll always be here; HECK, I'm still on MySpace for goodness sake. Just, it'll be nice to have you over there too. :-)

[[...to be re-read and reviewed for accuracy, Nov 21st, 2013]]


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Article Review... "Overblown Hype About Facebook Ads Versus TV Does Social Media No Favors"

11/18/2012

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http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/17/overblown-hype-about-facebook-ads-versus-tv-does-social-media-no-favors/
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Quite simply the best article I've read in... bloddy YEARS, regarding (replace social with...) digital/internet marketing.

"Social media needs to change its pitch. We need to persuade sensible grown ups with grown-up budgets that they can profit from investing in Social Media. That it plays an important role in the marketing mix, not that it’s a panacea, or a replacement for TV."

SADLY... although I've dropped the "nothing new" mantra; this is ONE thing that is nothing NEW. Folks in my circles have been bleating on about digital with reckless abandone for years! - Alas it's tough to be a sane voice when every 5 years there is another wave of "fresh meat" graduating from Marketing 101, embracing all this as NEW, re-inventing the same old metric and revising the lexicography.

I maintain ONE metric, does it put a dollar in your cash register, for LESS than a dollar (how less is dependant on your business plan)...

This medium has given us a lot of magic bullets, extreme targeting, measurement, interaction... extremely contextual reach and a depth of participation unheard of in other medium... but it's nothing in of itself other than an aspect of your posture and presence. AND...

EVEN MORE SADLY, Madison Avenue still does NOT get it, for the most part... I'm starting to believe, after some 20++ years they may never will.

(end vent)

GREAT article :-)

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COMMENTS FOR: Your website is so... was

11/14/2012

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DRAFT 1, OCTOBER 27, 2012: There was no such thing as a website... I mean, really, did websites ever positively distinguish themselves from other communication medium, other format; magazines, catalogue, newspapers? Oh sure, there were some clever layouts, many employed a mix of media, animation, video... but most were just glorified glossies, brochures... babble. I for one am glad we don't have to put up with websites any longer.

In all seriousness; WHAT is your website? AND, when is your website?

Perhaps your your website an Island in the stream? Your collection of goo in the torrent of Facebook posts, tweets, instagrams blog posts, email even? It just sits there. ...sits there.

Your blob of goo, sitting there; in the stream... your Island in the stream. 

So, do you really think someone, 'surfing' that stream is actually going to stop? Have a look? And, if they do stop and have a look, do you really think they're going to stay? Are you, is your business really THAT special? - I doubt it.

Yup, its your island in the stream... hundred of millions of folks are racing by every nano-second; you've put up a flag, attempted notice... look at me, this is my island in the stream and these are my shiny things. Come over here and take a look.  Honestly, what are your expectations? Whatis your focus, your intent... Why on earth would do you want someone to stop? You really want to pull one of these folks off the stream (where they appear to be having, oh, just so much fun)... you really want to pull them over to your island in the stream, tie their jet ski to your dock? Have them "stop" and do, what exactly? Read all of your "About me" page?

Have you completely lost your mind?

Outside of taking a quick look at that big new arch-ee-tect designed house, maybe the flashy cars in the garage, your jetski, boat, whatever... who gives a rat's crap about all that GOO you've collected and set up on your little island in the stream... "What are you offering"? Nothing? Gotta go... go have fun on the stream.

You think you have a good story? A pretty picture? ...a Product? ...a Service? There are a bazillion products and millions of people offering these same services on billions of islands dotted all over this stream; many with much bigger, more shinier arch-ee-tech designed houses... much more enthralling "All About ME" pages...

So, eventually, you will come to realize, you are pathetic. You, sitting there on your Island in the stream, not that unique, that product; that service just another choice amongst millions.

Sell the Island, move back to the city? - I would never suggest anything so drastic...

I would however suggest... STOP focussing on your damned Island. Sure keep it neat and tidy. Spruce it up every now and again; better yet plant a garden and change it with every season, plant a few perennials, a couple of annuals... That big old arch-ee-tech house? Be honest now, the minute you moved in, it felt wrong, didn't it? It really didn't quite fit. That big o'l house... forget it, buy a nice tent. When you tire of it, pitch another.

For now, and to wrap this at a point... FOCUS ON THE STREAM... figure out what exactly it is you want people to DO if they visit your island in the stream; my guess, you want them to BUY something, OR at the very least become prepared to BUY something.

Focus on the stream, get out there... pull that boat of yours off the dock, get out there and start talking to folks. Bring your message to them, show it to them... HECK, bring your product and your service with you; they might just buy it OUT THERE, on the stream. 

Oh sure, invite them back to your little island in the stream; invite them to a nice dinner, show them around your library. If they sit for a while, relax and read, this is NEVER a bad thing, but this is NOT a business model.

Come on, they way you're set up now, really the chance of your being noticed is remote... AND even if you do get noticed the chance of anyone getting off their jetski long enough to get past your "All about ME" sign, and into the one room you want them to actually visiti in that big ol' arch-ee-tect home of yours... 0.000000000001% conversion...

[BO] eventually, more POINTS to be made:
1) Your website is merely a moment in your digital strategy
2) Focus on the whole, not the bits and pieces
3) Aggressively sell, don't sit on your Island flashing semaphore message out into the stream
4) Get out on the stream, engage your customer... tag them in the stream.
5) Oh sure, invite them to your Island in the stream; but really, when they get there offer them two things...

2 Comments

I am testing this as a way to allow free-form comments

11/14/2012

1 Comment

 
...this may take a few days. If you find this, please leave a comment, and hey, hello so that I can tweak it. Thanks! - gogo
1 Comment
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    Gordon Gower

    (as of October 24th 2013... this needs a bit of updating...)

    I am NOT a so-called blogger, nor do aspire to the fame and (massive) fortunes that seems to follow "the blogger's blogggers" these days... please see: about this, for more on that...

    All I ask is that IF you like the notions presented here, follow me on Twitter to be alerted to those odd times when I get around to committing to more of these... notions.

    ...so, I am NOT a blogger, I am simply a veteran* social media & digital business professional; With over 25 years experience in blah, blah... demonstrated blah success, implementing, blah, blah, blah... innovative ideas from, blah... start-up through to blah... projects for established Fortune 500 companies. 

    Comprehensive idea-generation ...blah, blah, blah problem solving skills with blah, blah, blah, blah... blah experience in a wide variety of markets.

    I do like to talk, even more, I like to think up, develop and implement, solutions. SO, lets talk :-)


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