The fastest way to have content removed from Google that infringes on your intellectual property is to file a DMCA notice.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in 1998. It provides owners of copyrighted material that is available online special protections and concise recourse to have it removed.

Removing Content from Google under the DMCA

If you have found a page that you would like removed from Google’s index because of a DMCA violation you can submit it to Google at Removing content from Google.

FRUITION FRUITION -

Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and Other Popular Sites Protest SOPA & PIPA

Internet giants are locking arms today and publically protesting Congress; urging them to not pass either of the two contraversial bills SOPA or PIPA. Many sites have simply put a message up on their homepage to contact your representatives. For example, Google is using their logo doodle to sent the message, but search is still accessible. Wikipedia on the otherhand, has completely blocked access to content to simulate some of the possible long term effects the legal measure may have.

What is SOPA & PIPA?

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) are two bills currently being debated in the US Senate and House of Reps dealing with piracy. For the most part they are two versions of the same bill. Here’s the deal… The MPAA (aka Hollywood) doesn’t like sites that pirate or faciliate the pirating of the movies they make. They spend all the cash to make the movie to entertain us and some people steal those movies.  So they approached Congress (read donated a ton of money to political campaigns) so they can protect their stuff.

That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Piracy is the same as stealing and they have the right to protect their intellectual property.

As always, there’s a catch. The bill gives the MPAA unprecedented authority and power to shut down any site that they feel violates their intellectual property rights. No judge, no jury, no accountability. This is why so many people are against it. That and there is a system in place already to handle these disputes, the civil legal system. Let’s say you run a site with movie reviews. You review the latest summer action movie and think it has no plot and really bad acting. This could be grounds for the MPAA to shut you down. Not just censor the page, shut down your whole site. If I link to your 1 star review, they may be able to shut down this site too. No cease and desist letter, no court ruling, just censorship.

How Would SOPA Effect SEO?

In a worst case scenario, your site is blocked. Ranking higher in Google will be the least of your concerns. In a slightly less worse scenario, Google removes you from the index to protect themselves from getting shut down for aiding people to find pirated content. Social media networks would no longer allow people to share links and content because someone may link to pirated content.

In essence, SOPA would kill SEO and the internet in general. Kill it in the sense that it would look nothing like it does today. The MPAA would have control over what you are allowed to see and do on the internet. If you want your site to get traffic, you have to bow down to their wishes, even if your site has nothing to do with movies.

Don’t we already have to bow down to Google’s rules? Getting a penalty from Google can get you banned from their search results. This is bad, but not the same thing. Google doesn’t have to give you a straight answer on why you were banned and their appeal process leaves something to be desired. However, you’re still online. Your current readers and visitors can still access your site, your content and services. People have a choice of which search engine they use so you can still be found through other search engines. You still get referral traffic from people who link to your site. People can still share your links on Facebook. SOPA would ban your entire domain from any traffic at all.

Will SOPA or PIPA Get Passed?

I don’t have a crystal ball. Knowing our political system, it is unlikely either would pass in its current form. It is far more likely Congress will milk both sides for campaign contributions as long as it can until the MPAA and the internet giants meet and find a compromise. Additionally, President Obama has said (in his wishy-washy non-committal way) that he opposes the measure. That’s not to say you shouldn’t take action. Wikipedia has a feature to find your representative’s contact info.

More Sites Participating in Today’s Blackout

Cheezburger Blackout Message

Wired.com Blackout

Craigslist.org SOPA Message

WordPress SOPA Blackout

Identi.ca Blackout

The Oatmeal Explains SOPA

Boing Boing Blackout Message

FRUITION FRUITION -

Creating an event out of Google Analytics only takes one small extra step. The benefit of getting the Google +1 data in Google analytics is two fold. First, you can segment traffic that +1′s your pages. This can help you determine if this traffic is generating more sales, spending more time on the site, and what I have found most interesting how it compares to traffic that uses Facebook’s Like button. Secondly, you get a good indicator of what causes people to it the +1 button. You can run A/B test to determine placement of the +1 button to improve this traffic.

To get started, and if you haven’t done so already, first get the Google Plus 1 code from their tool creator at Plusone-button.

When you get your Plus One code just add this line below it on your page. This will show up under Events in Google Analytics.

The next step you can do to get data is to create an Advanced Segment of traffic that presses the Plus One button.

FRUITION FRUITION -

Say what you will about Google Plus. It is here to stay. Yesterday, Google rolled out a new integrated search results that incorporates the Google+ network. If you search on something like “unicorn tears” and there are matching results that people in your Google+ circles have clicked +1, it will show you that there are some personalized results for you.

Clicking on this link displays all of the personalize results, as you might expect. I did a post on the Least Effective SEO Techniques a few months ago which used a screen grab of the serp for “unicorn tears”. Someone at Fruition clicked +1 and shared it on Fruition’s Google+ Business Page now that post is showing up under my personalized results.

In my opinion, it is too in your face and a major step backwards in user interface. It pushes results further down the page and below the fold. It’s the same reason why I hate the new looks for Google Reader and Gmail. It just takes up too much space. Google+ is failing as a social network and Google is trying to integrate it into service you use and love. You’ll either get to a point where you can’t ignore it any longer, or you will switch search engines and services. Google is hoping for the former.

Get Rid of It

You can click on the little globe icon to remove the extra special results, but your next search that matches with a personal result will bring it back. Here’s how to turn it off the feature permanently.

Go to the upper right corner of your browser window and click on the gear icon, then “Search Settings”.

Then scroll down to “Personal Results” and select “Do not use personal results”.

Google Personalized Results

This assumes you are signed into your Google account. This is a good assumption because you wouldn’t get personized results if you weren’t signed in. Be aware that this will turn off all personal customized search results. If you didn’t already know, Google keeps track of every search you do when signed into your Google account. They also track which results you click on. Using this information, they often will change the search engines results page to better guess what you will find most relevant based on your keyword search. For example, if two months ago you did research on an ereader and visited the landing page for an Amazon Kindle Touch. Then today, when you search on ereader accessories, you will see more results for Kindle accessories compared to someone who did not search and visit the sites you did previously.

Reasons to Keep It

Some people find this a huge privacy concern. Others find it surprisingly useful. Most have no idea that Google does this. If you turn the personal results off, it will not only turn off the special results that your friends have +1′d, but you will also lose the other personalized results. This can be bad if you’ve gotten used to these results. Have you ever done a search found a really great site after digging through 4-5 pags worth of results? Maybe it was an error message you got on your computer and finally found the right solution. A year later you get the same error message and can’t remember how to fix it. Personalized results may help you find that page again more easily, especially if you visited the page multiple times from the search results.

Overall, I think integrating the pages your friends +1 into your search results can be really useful. My only real complaint is Google’s GUI implementation. Let’s say a friend was searching around for a cloud based file sharing service. She found one she really liked and clicked on the +1 button. A week later you’re having lunch and she mentions it in passing, but can’t remember the name of the service. There are a huge number of these services out there. You get home and search on “cloud file sharing” and try to find the one with the “unicorn on the front page”. Instead of searching around for 45 minutes trying to find the site your friend told you about, you see it appear in your personalized results because she clicked +1 and she’s in one of your Google+ circles. Pretty nifty.

This could also seriously backfire on you. Let’s say you are looking to surprise your significant other with an engagement ring and click +1 on a store you liked. If your special someone happens to search on engagement ring, your +1 may show up in personal results and spoil the surprise.

Bottom line: Google needs to clean up the appearance of a fairly useful feature.

FRUITION FRUITION -

Last week, I started to go into some detail about the emotions involved in  a prospective customer’s decision to buy a product or service. Fear and Greed top the list (particularly Fear), but there are other emotions to consider as well.

Vanity is a powerful motivator. It is why the  beauty product industry, athletic clubs, the diet market and cosmetic surgeons all continue to thrive even in today’s current economic downturn. Everyone wants to feel better about themselves and like the person they see in the mirror (as well as be attractive to potential romantic interests) and they’re usually willing to pay good money toward that end. However, this does not mean that playing on vanity is limited to the sale of self-improvement products.

It’s something that auto makers have known since the 1920s, when automobiles transitioned from a rich man’s toy into an everyday tool of the masses. I recall an ad for a certain German sportscar that aired sometime in the mid-to-late 1970s. It began with a shot of a very handsome and well-dressed gentleman getting out of the vehicle and a voice-over narration that said (in a very deep, masculine and authoritative voice): “This man earns fifty thousand dollars a year…” (this was a time when $50K a year was considered quite a hefty income, of course).

All-in-all, it was a powerful image and presentation. It is not difficult to imagine how any man might have wanted to put himself in that guy’s shoes (need I mention that later in the ad, the driver winds up with a gorgeous young woman on his arm, which whom he later drives off with into the sunset?)

Designer clothing is another product that often relies on vanity in order to appeal to consumers. It is of course impossible to ignore the fact that the people (of both genders) who model such clothing are invariably beautiful and often placed into glamorous settings?

It’s not just designer clothing, of course. In fact, the clothing industry appeals to vanity in ways that are often subtle. Consider work boots and western wear, with ads depicting rugged, hard-working, tough-looking guys. Men who are part of this target market generally like to think of themselves this way; if wearing such clothing helps to reinforce this self image, they’re likely to buy it. Another example: certain clothing manufacturers who promote the fact that their products are made in the U.S.A. by workers making a family-wage working with environmentally-friendly, fair-trade  materials. Surely, supporting such a business is morally the right thing to do – but again, vanity can come into the equation here as well. After all, won’t others think better of you if you are supporting domestic industries and helping the planet?

Of course, nobody wants to be thought of as “vain” – but let’s be honest – all of us (myself included) have our vanties, whether it is about our looks, our posessions, our creations or something else. Deftly handled, vanity can be a powerful sales tool.

FRUITION FRUITION -

This is part three of a three part series focusing on cloud computing. Read part I, “The Long Circular Path” if you want to learn about how we got to the cloud computing era. Read part II, “Taking the Plunge” to learn about getting your files and software off your hard drive and into the cloud.

Internet Connected Devices: A look at things to come

Ok, I’ll admit the title to this post is a little sensationalist. Computers aren’t going to die and vanish. Far from it. As I predicted in Part I of this series, in the not so distant future, the lines between smart phones, computers, mp3 players, tablets, tv’s, video game consoles, and even household appliaces will be blurred. We’ll no longer think of these gadgets as separate specialty items, but simply tools to access our data and software to manipulate that data. There will just be internet connected devices, or better yet “connected devices”. The term “internet” will probably slowly die out too since it will become redundant. Don’t believe me? The device in your pocket or purse that you use to connect with friends and family, what do you call it? Do you still call it a cell phone? A smart phone? No, it’s just a phone. Even now, you aren’t limited to just phone calls to connect with others. You can call, text, email, Facebook, IM, even video chat. It’s a connected device.

Host your own cloud

There are two disadvantages to cloud computing. First, accessing your data is no longer free. Second, keeping your data is no longer free. Most of us already pay for a broadband internet connection at home and have it at work. So the first isn’t that big of a deal until you start using your phone’s data plan. Recently the big mobile providers have pulled in the reigns and killed unlimited data plans. This is something to keep in mind. Cloud storage is cheap, really cheap, but it still costs money and it’s usually a monthly or yearly fee. The more capacity you need, the higher the fee. Hard drive upgrades or external hard drives are a 1x cost, but you lose the cloud’s flexibility for access.

Or do you? Meet Pogoplug. Plug the box into your router and plug in an external hard drive. You now have your own personal cloud server with no monthly fees. Need more capacity? Simply plug in another hard drive. There are a few other similar devices on the market, but none that I have come across that are as easy to setup and use. Oh, and you can also plug your printer into the Pogoplug and share your printer with any device in the world. The final nail in the coffin for the fax machine.

Your next and last computer

Moving your data and software to the cloud reduces the need for high capacity, portable storage. Weight, cost and size all go down. You are then left with a device size limited by screen and input method. Touchscreens have now merged the input and output together. Apple’s Siri is paving the way with audio based input. Device sizes are now really only dependent on screen size. So what’s next? Samsung is paving the way with flexible screens and has promised a phone based on the technology in the next 12 months. Research and development teams are working on using contact lenses to replace the screens we use today. Pretty cool, eh?

via University of Washington

We’re not quite there yet, but as I mentioned, you no longer need as much computing power or data storage. When you are ready to get a new computer, focus on portability, screen size and battery life. It’s ok to get the slower processor, use your buying power and get a SSD hard drive instead. Most computers today are way over powered for your needs. It’s not the processor, it’s the hard drive and the software. A solid state drive (SSD) contains no moving parts and is significantly faster than a traditional hard drive and less prone to failure. They also use less battery power and are lighter. Dropping your laptop, even a small drop, will probably damage your hard drive, especially if it’s turned on. That doesn’t happen to your phone because it uses flash RAM which is basically the same thing as an SSD. Why are we still using drives with spinning discs? One reason and one reason only, capacity. Or rather the cost of capacity. You can buy a traditional 500 GB hard drive for about $110. That $110 will only get about 64 GB in a SSD. When your data lives in the cloud, 64 GB is more than sufficient for all of your needs. Skip the dvd drive and opt for a better battery. This will lighten the load and slim the profile as well.

Lightweight, check. Portable, check. Long battery, check. Smaller storage capacity with no moving parts, check. Wait a second; why does this sounds familiar? If this setup sounds like that new iPad or Android tablet you got as a gift last week, you’re right. And now you see why they have been so wildly popular.

Tablets

Tablets started off as novel toys, but are now quickly becoming the go to device for working with documents and communicating with others. Are they ready to fully replace your home or office computer? No, not for everyone. Not yet at least. Many people will find that tablets are capable of doing everything they ever need to do on a computer. Surfing, videos, email, games, household budgets, social media, chatting, and photos can all be handled by a tablet. This is especially true if you’ve moved everything to the cloud.

Tablets are still limited in a couple other ways that may hold you back from using it as your only computing device. The Android and iOS operating systems are still in their infancies. The latest OSX and Windows systems are more flexible and capable. An ultrabook from Sony or Toshiba or the Macbook Air may be your best bet until tablets mature a little more.

FRUITION FRUITION -

Before continuing with the different ways in which emotional responses can be used in making sales, we should go into what really motivates people in greater depth.  For this, we need to revisit Psych 101 and a gentleman by the name of Abraham Maslow.

Dr. Maslow published a paper in 1943, entitled A Theory of Human Motivation, which was later expounded upon in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality. According to this theory, human beings are motivated by the need to fulfill certain needs in a certain order. Lower-order needs, focused on basic survival, must come first. At the top is transcendence (later added by Victor Frankl), which in simplest terms is a mystical need to connect with “God” and the “Divine” (whatever or whomever one considers that to be).

Basic survival needs are the obvious ones: air, food and water. Someone who lacks those basics is not going to live long enough to worry about anything else. Once those basic needs are secured, the individual focuses on safety and security: a home, a job, health and access to resources.

Sadly, in today’s world, too many individuals have difficulty in getting beyond that second level. Those who do however next seek relationships; to be part of a community, to have friends and family and to experience sexual intimacy with a partner. Interestingly, although Maslow placed relationship needs above safety and security in his hierarchy, because humans are essentially primates and primates are clan/tribal creatures, the need to belong to a group is so powerful that it sometimes overrides the need for safety and security. Case in point: people who remain in physically and emotionally abusive relationships. (It is worth noting that in many tribal-hunting/gathering societies, the penalty for law breaking or wrongdoing is usually exile or isolation from the communnity.)

Once a person has become part of a family and/or community, s/he seeks recognition and respect of the community as well as him or herself through achievement and contributions. Those who fail to get this recognition from others or feel as if they are not valued by the community frequently suffer from serious self-esteem issues.

When it comes to sales, most often it is these first four levels of need that marketers appeal to. Obviously, someone who has reached the level of self-transcendence is not going to be in the market for much of anything; these people are usually mystics and ascetics who are likely to live a monastic lifestyle and are no longer concerned about the material world. (It doesn’t mean that one cannot sell to such individuals; the market for New Age products is still a healthy one, and certain people have made a great deal of money appealing to the human need to connect with a “Higher Power” or the cosmos.)  It is worth looking at the fifth level however, which Maslow defines as self-actualization.

To quote a common ad used in recruitment for one branch of the Armed Services, self-actualization means to “become all that you can be;” in other words, to fulfill one’s greatest potential. Those who are self-actualized are the “movers and shakers;” successful artists, entertainers, lawyers, doctors, pro athletes, entrepreneurs and others who (ideally) are dedicated to making the world a better place for everyone. At this level, chances are people are more often on the “selling” side rather than the “buying.” However, these enviable folks also have needs as well: primarily, promotion and publicity.

In fact,when they hang out their shingle on the World Wide Web, those who are self-actualized often benefit from serach engine optimization services…

FRUITION FRUITION -

Last month, Google + rolled out business pages for the social network. With the release of Google + Pages, Google announced, “For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face. All you need to do is start sharing, and you’ll soon find the super fans and loyal customers that want to say hello.”

Yesterday, Mashable announced that Google + brand page information is starting to integrate into primary search results. A rep from Google confirmed, “Content from the +Page, such as recent posts, will appear as annotations attached to its associated web page under the sitelinks in search results if that site is eligible for Direct Connect. It uses the same bi-directional link and algorithmic criteria as Direct Connect.”

Since the beta release of Google +, there’s been plenty of speculation about the effect of a Google + profile or page on search engine optimization (SEO). At Fruition we’ve been encouraging our clients to create Google + brand pages noting that participating in Google’s own search platform can’t hurt. In a post last Summer we discussed embracing Google +, and the rest of the social media movement, as a means of brand protection. Social media activity has become a powerful part of the search engine puzzle, and you want your social media profiles to rank when your brand is entered into a Google, Bing or Yahoo search.  Why is this important?  Think about it as a way of protecting your brand. You spend so much time optimizing your website for a top spot in a Google search, but what’s to prevent your competitors from showing up just below you? If you optimize your social media profiles – Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn, etc -  for search engines, you are taking steps to maximize the number of search engine results that link back to your site at the top of a search engine results page.   That’s powerful.

With the integration of Google + brand page updates into primary brand search results, there’s now even more reason to ramp-up your Google + presence. The inclusion of brand posts in primary brand search results is another promotion vehicle for businesses – offering you another tool to get more eyes to your contests, blog posts and other social media worthy activities. As always, we encourage you to establish goals for your social media campaigns and decide what makes the most sense for your individual business. If you  have any questions about how to setup a Google + Brand or Business page or SEO and Social Media strategy, contact a Fruition team member. We’re always happy to help.

FRUITION FRUITION -

This is part two of a three part series focusing on cloud computing. Read part I, “The Long Circular Path” if you want to learn about how we got to the cloud computing era.

Setting up the Basics

Ready to take the plunge and jump into cloud computing with both feet and not look back? Let’s start with a little housekeeping first. Unfortunately, there is no one system that will do everything; not yet, at least. Google is pretty close. It is best to think of your your computer as files (data), programs (software), and configurations. We’ll start with configurations since it lays the foundation and ties the first two together. Throughout this guide I’ll tell you what I use. There are many other options and the review of them is beyond the scope of this blog post. A quick Google search will yield plenty of options.

Passwords and Accounts

You will probably need to create a number of new accounts to live completely in the cloud. I highly recommend a secure password keeper to keep track of all of them, cloud based of course. Personally, I use LastPass because it has browser plugins, a web based interface and mobile device options. Set something up and create one ultra secure, easy to remember password. Then all of your other passwords can be secure, hard to remember passwords. Here’s a funny insight into why password reuse is actually your biggest vulnerability.

© xkcd.com Click to enlarge

Email

You probably already have an email account. If you are still using Outlook or some computer based client, it’s time to switch. I use Gmail. I have a Gmail address, but I rarely use it. Instead I configured Gmail to access my POP3 email server on my custom domain. Setting this up is quick and easy, but beyond today’s scope. IMAP and Microsoft Exchange setups are more tricky, but cloud based and could be a good solution for you. Some members of the younger generation have essentially disregarded email and just use text messages and Facebook to handle all of those needs. Your choice.

Instant Messaging & Chat

Ok, instant messaging. I use Skype and Google talk pretty frequently for work and personal needs. Some still use AIM or prefer the Facebook chat system. If you are looking for one cloud based solution to handle your instant messaging, Meebo is a clear stand out. Nothing to install and it handles all of the popular platforms as well as handling video and voice, all in one easy to use app.

Calendar

For my calendar, again I turn to Google. It has tight integration with my Android phone, it’s free, and it synchronizes with Outlook and iCal. It also has a basic “to do” list feature that works pretty well.

Address Book

Your address book is the final configuration piece of the cloud puzzle. How many times have you seen on Facebook an APB from a friend saying they lost or destroyed their phone and requesting that everyone sends their contact info to them? There are some great options for merging all of the contact info for your friends, family and business contacts. I use Gmail contacts for this. My smartphone uses Android which has a very smart merge feature. I’ve heard the iOS version is pretty good too. It took a little while to merge some duplicates, but now my Facebook friends, email addresses, and phone numbers are all merged into one cloud based address book.

Data & File Storage

All of your files can be stored in the cloud. Photos, music, videos, and documents. Some people like a folder based hierarchy like you’d have on your hard drive. Others like using different services based on the type of file. Either way, there is a solution for you.

If you like everything in one place, I recommend Dropbox or Pogoplug. It’s basically an external hard drive. A little piece of software installed on your Mac, PC or mobile device lets you access and sync things if your not ready to completely clear off personal files from your internal hard drive. More on what makes Pogoplug really unique next in Part III.

There are advantages of using different services for each file type. These become apparent when we discuss cloud based software options. I use the Google Docs suite, including Picasa and Google Music. This helps consolidate where my data lives. Google already knows me better than my wife does, so privacy issues aren’t compounded either.

Software

I’ll admit, not every online software service is as good as its native counter part. Nor does every native program have a cloud based option. Most do though. Most people greatly under utilize the processing power of their computers. If you are a power user, you won’t be completely satisfied with going 100% cloud based. I read a study that showed 80% of the time an average person spent on the computer was surfing the internet, email, or social media. The other 20% was largely word processing, photo/video, and music. 100% of this can be done through the cloud now.

Text and Spreadsheets

I use Google Docs for much of my word processing and spreadsheet work. I still us a spreadsheet to outline a simple budget, although I know there are better solutions out there. Google Docs allows me to share and collaborate with others very easily. Version control is a problem of the past. G Docs is not perfect or as refined as Microsoft Office, but it does 99% of what I need it to do and is completely free. I can also access my documents anywhere in the world if I have an internet connection. Microsoft came out with a cloud based Office suite that is pretty good too.

Photo Editing

I use Picnik for basic photo manipulation. It’s free and you don’t even have to create an account to use it. You can easily crop, resize, adjust color, remove red eye, and just about anything else you want to do. It is tightly integrated with Picasa. Both are owned by Google. Picnik does not yet support a Google login, but I’m guessing it is in the pipeline. Picnik is not Photoshop. If Picnik isn’t powerful enough for you, Adobe Photoshop Express should handle just about everything else.

Video Editing

WeVideo is a full featured video editor with built in support for YouTube. It allows you to use your Google account to sign in. It has some nice collaborate features. It’s not going to allow you to edit Hollywood level films. It will, however, allow you to splice together the videos of your cat attacking your sleeping dog, from multiple angles, set in slow motion with the theme song to the 2001 movie in the background. Admit it, that’s all you’re looking to do anyways.

Music

Between Google Music, Spotify, and Pandora, I have all of my music organization and storage taken care of.

Specialty Apps

There are cloud based software solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had. As I mentioned before, I use a spreadsheet to put together a simple budget. Instead, you can try Mint.com.

I also use a basic text document to create to do lists. There are a ton of free list makers out there with really well executed phone apps and collaborative features. I haven’t figured out the one that will work best for me yet.

My work here at Fruition is based on Project Management. We use a collaborative cloud based system to manage all of our projects. It’s a proprietary system. If you are looking for something for your business or just personal use, there are a lot of great options. Rally Software (based here in Boulder) is a PM system based on the Agile method. Basecamp is basic, intuitive app for less complex projects.

Highrise and SalesForce are web based CRMs (Client Relationship Manager). SalesForce is the gold standard in this market, but overkill for most people. Highrise is from the same developer as Basecamp and is less expensive and simpler to use.

Small business bookkeeping software is plentiful. I don’t run my own business so I can’t comment. A quick search on Google will give you a plethora of options and opinions.

There are thousands if not millions of browser based video games if that is your thing.

I still recommend you use both anti-virus and (more importantly) anti-malware software. However, moving to the cloud, greatly reduces your risk. Backing up your personal data is also nearly a thing of the past when your data and software lives in the cloud. Be sure to double check, but most cloud based systems have backup systems in place for you. If anything, your backup system could be a local copy on your hard drive.

As you can see, just about any software that you would normally install on your computer is available on the cloud with no downloading or installation required. The cloud is ready, are you?

Stay Tuned: In Part III, I’m going to dive into hardware and explain why the computer you are using right now might be the last one you’ll ever need to buy.

FRUITION FRUITION -

In a recent post, I mentioned how emotion plays a strong role in a person’s decision to buy a product or service.

Let’s take a look at this in more detail.

In advertising, it’s about more than eliciting an emotional response in the sense of say, an author of the Victorian Age might have done. It needs to be personal and real to the prospect. There’s an old saw from Madison Avenue: “If you can’t touch their hearts, you’ll never touch their money.”And in order to touch a prospective customer’s heart, you need to really understand who s/he is. (If you have ever watched the popular TV series Madmen, you know that there are certain people working in the advertising industry who are paid quite well in order to help executives and creative directors to understand just who those prospective customers are.)

To start, you need to consider exactly who your customers are. How old are they? What do they look like? What demographic(s) are you attempting to appeal to? How do these people think and what books and periodicals are they likely read? What type of entertainment do they enjoy? Where do they get their news?

Next, we need to delve into the most important issues: namely, what excites, frighten, disgusts or pleases them?

Obviously, you cannot know all of this, although there are many Internet resources today that can make learning about this much easier and faster than ever before. (It’s why there are so many companies devoted to collecting, buying and selling personal information.) Depending on who you are writing for, obtaining and analyzing such information can be a very worthwhile investment.

Once you have identified your prospective customers and have gotten to know who they are, you’ll want to think about the emotions that drive them. Now, if you have been paying any attention to what has been going on in society for the past ten years or so, you understand that Fear and Greed are right at the top of that list. Think back to the Y2K scare: how much commerce was generated through fear of our entire cyber network coming to a crashing halt at midnight, 1 January 2000?

At one time in America, Greed was something to be ashamed and embarrassed about. No longer: in the words of Gordon Gekko in The Street, “Greed is good.” Everyone wants more, more – and more. They’re afraid that someone else is getting their share. They’re afraid of being left behind. And they want – more.

There are more emotions that can be used in appealing to prospective customers, which I’ll get into next week.

FRUITION FRUITION -