Here’s a really good analysis analysis of the potential consequences by a non-insider-but-sure-could-be. What Does The Yahoo/Microsoft Debate Mean For The Rest Of Us?

Will our screens begin having a run of ad spots every fourth time we turn them on? Will they feature the browser equivalent of turtles entertaining us with barely-amusing anecdotes about why some small difference between the two of them is critical to our happiness and success? I hope they hire better advertising agencies than Comcast…

“CALL TO WORSHIP Lyrics - MERCY ME
Prince of Peach, almighty God Counselor, ….”

So proofread your work–even if you’re a great speller and an excellent typist. I am both of those things, and yet I am appalled to look back sometimes at one of my posts and realize it contains one and even sometimes two typos that my fingers just seemed to type without my knowledge. Isn’t that how all mistakes seems to be made—without our knowledge?

I’ve noticed recently that I’ve not been posting here very often. Let’s face it. I’ve been ranting about the value of blogs since I discovered the medium back in 2003.  And I haven’t changed my mind about that. But, although I’d be happy to do a presentation for you on why it’s a good idea to blog for your business, I’d much rather write in my own blog on a broader basis.

One of my chief pieces of advice to business blog writers is to write about what you enjoy. Even though it’s trendy now to blog (thank goodness it’s finally been recognized as the powerful medium it is), if you aren’t passionately involved in your business, don’t try to publish a blog about it! So I’m going back to my former polyglot approach to topics.

And the first topic is wish you a wonderful Christmas or Hannukah or whatever you celebrate at this beautiful end-of-year holiday time.

Business blogs are all about using the power of the Internet to communicate with your customers and prospects in a non-commercial, personal way. Why would you want to do that? Because we are all inundated with information and commercial messages today. We have to find new ways to cut through the noise–a blog is a powerful one.

You can review the presentation slides by going to “5 Reasons Why Blogging Is Good for Your Business.” Check out the links to some interesting CEO blogs. Email me if you have questions or want to discuss how a blog might work for your business.

• Gannett Co. where USA Today ad pages fell 17 percent compared to last year, and real estate classifieds at its community papers plunged 20 percent.
• Tribune Co., where help-wanted classified tumbled 19 percent, and real estate shrank by 24 percent. (Fitch has Tribune on a “Ratings Watch Negative,” anticipating a further downgrading of its credit.)
• The McClatchy Co., where real estate collapsed by 26 percent, and automotive plunged 20 percent.
• Dow Jones & Co., where ad volume fell 20 percent on a 75 percent tumble in technology-related ads.

This is one business trend you don’t want to ignore. Another is the business blog–it’s not a passing fancy, folks. Give me a call at 773.292.3294 if you have questions about how to get started.

 But it can feel pretty overwhelming at times. Too much. Where do you turn? How do you sort through it all? Fortunately, just as the newspapers became the editors of our information a couple of centuries ago–and some would argue began to abuse the privilege–now the Internet is home to some very bright people whose whole business is sifting through the wheat and chaff and providing you with solid, up-to-the-minute information on everything about your business.

One such source, always reliable and timely, is Small Business Trends Radio. It’s run by a woman who’s a lawyer and a former CEO of a small Internet division of Bell & Howell. Her radio show and her website are loaded with the best available help for your small business. And now they’ve introduced a compilation area.

Anita Campbell knows how to interview so you get each person’s best knowledge on a topic.  Take a walk through this wonderland of expert advice - the Small Biz Podcast 100.  Oh, yeah, and check out our podcast with Anita on the site, too - Blogs - Cutting through the Hype with Barbara Payne.

Have you ever considered the possibilities of being able to operate your email, your documents and your computer from wherever you are, at any time of day or night, without being at your desk, or even at a public computer? This has been a goal of mine–mostly an elusive dream, though–for three years now.

• Imagine being on a bus or in your car on a trip without having to lug your laptop.
• Imagine being able to type memos (instead of scratching them on bits of paper) and email them to yourself (or at least have them already typed when you get back to your office).
• Imagine not having to poke with your fingernails at some tiny keys to input your email messages, your ideas, or your meeting agendas or notes.
• Imagine being able to get your social networking done wherever and whenever.

Happily, the dream may be getting closer to reality for me since I recently traded in my old 650 for the Treo 700p (with the Palm operating system). I am now renewing my efforts to use the Palm Universal Wireless Keyboard with my smart cell phone.

Taking a functioning portable keyboard with you can transform your work life. I tried for over 2 years to get the earlier version to function reliably and encountered continuing episodes of frustration as the keyboard would work for a while and then unaccountably stop. In addition, the companion program on the cell phone, Documents to Go, was completely unreliable. It, too, would work for a while and then just begin crashing the entire phone whenever I opened a document. After a lot of frustration and wasted time, I finally gave up.

The trend in business today–for both corporate executives and small business owners–is toward ever-more-portable workspaces. I’m banking that this new phone-and-keyboard combination will begin shining a light brightly–and most importantly, consistently–on my ability to work in any environment. Time will tell.

Then, after a day or so, suddenly the main door wouldn’t close. Literally stayed stuck open by about 2 inches. It was a good game trying to get hold of the right people, but finally a Sears repair department agreed to send someone out–5 days later.

So finally the repair guy shows up (during which time I had to haul the door up and push hard to get it closed) and found there were some washers missing when the door was installed.  The thing works now but I’m just holding my breath…

Well, manufacturers can blog, too. A couple of years ago I did a presentation on blogging for a group of highly skeptical computer-geek-entrepreneurial types recently. Questions came fast and furious. One was particularly interesting: what would a manufacturing company blog about?

I remember the stories I wrote for one of the annual Akron Business Conferences. One of my favorites was the one I wrote about how a small manufacturing division of a larger company did a complete revisioning of itself–and became a model for others who face the grinding realities of globalization on their ability to be competitive and thus, on their bottom lines.

Here’s the story of Neighborhood Manufacturing, a division of Superior Tool. Read that if you have a minute, then check out their website. There’s a place that’s learned to speak in its true voice.

If you had to guess, what do you think the people at Neighborhood Manufacturing could write in their corporate blog about–that their customers and prospects would love to hear–and that would make their employees even more proud to work there?

Recognizing employee contributions? Positive changes they’re making to the neighborhood they’re located in? How they overcome the challenges of meeting certain orders? Relationships with customers? And how much danger do you think they have of losing business to competitors from talking about those things?

Neighborhood Manufacturing is presenting itself as a company people will want to do business with, but not because they’re cheaper. Naturally, first is that they get the job done right, but my guess is their customers will stay with them because they obviously care–about their employees, about their neighborhood, about being good corporate citizens and–the implication is–they’ll care about their customers, too.

Couldn’t think of better topics for blogging. I wrote about this company originally in 2003 when blogging was just a trend for business… Notice how relevant it is today!

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Sears started blogging? I’m guessing they wouldn’t dare.

The refrigerator in my totally rehabbed condo was original and new about 4.5 years ago. We think (can’t check because it was spirited away from its spot in my Chicago alley almost as soon as it was put out there) it was a Frigidaire and looked like this. Okay, so last February I had spent $225 (more than 25% of the original cost of the refrigerator) getting something-to-do-with-but-not-the-compressor repaired. Early this week when I reach for a Dove Bite treat that there is soup inside where the ice cream is supposed to be. I realize the refrigerator has quit worki–ng again–clearly already for several days–early this week. So I called the same repair people.

The gentleman arrives. Of course, has to leave the door ajar while he investigates, so dreams of my food remaining cold are out the window.  Concludes, after a lengthy examination, that the computer board has shorted out. Shows me the dark spot. Yes, I say. Well, he says, I don’t have one on my truck. I’ll have to come back tomorrow–and you’ll have to throw all your food away.

I remain hopeful–after all, he didn’t leave the freezer open all that time. Even it it thaws, that stuff ought to still be cold.

Next day 11 a.m. arrives and the guy doesn’t. I call him at noon and he’s clearly forgotten about me. I ask, do you think I should just buy a new refrigerator? Well, hard to say, ma’am. Okay, he finally does arrive around 3. Fools around a while and then installs the new board. Calls me out of my office and says, ma’am, you need to buy a new refrigerator. Shows me where the new board shorted out instantly.

The man takes some pity on me and agrees he will only charge me a service charge for a single call. I pay.

On a colleague’s advice I hike out to the Sears Outlet store to look over the scatch-and-dent collection on sale there. A huge showroom floor is jammed with refrigerators in various stages of defacement. I’m nervous. Worry that scratch-and-dent could mean worse. Even as I insist on the sales guy answering questions about service and warranties and so on, he assures me that I can buy an extended warranty (something I’ve never done on anything–I worked in the car business just long enough to know that dealers count on them for extra profit and they often don’t deliver what the purchaser expects).

I’m nervous not only because of the scratch-and-dent thing, but also because my own not-very-old refrigerator has cost me a lot of money and died anyway. So I pick one out–looks almost exactly like the old one but it’s a Kenmore–and agree to purchase the 3-year extended warranty for $150–half the $300 the price tag tells me I’m saving on the price of the refrigerator. Supposedly guarantees me free unlimited service, free preventive maintenance, with the trusty if-we-can’t-fix-it-we’ll-give-you-another clause.

The fridge arrives. Next episode tomorrow.  

I selected a few items and here’s my advice for applying them to make your business blog succeed:

• “Add value just for the joy of it.”  Give value in your blog because you enjoy it and people are naturally attracted to your content.
• “Thrive on the details.”  People love to hear about subtleties, details, and nuances. They’re more interesting–and attractive–than the obvious. So talk about specific things that happen with an employee, a vendor or a machine.
• “Sensitize Yourself.”  Pay attention to feelings–yours, your employees’, your customers’–and you’ll notice and respond to more opportunities.
• “Become an Unconditionally Constructive Person.”  High levels of respect–for vendors, employees, customers–are attractive. Express that respect often.
• “Orient Yourself Around Your Values.”  Making sure your ways of doing business coordinate with your values is attractive–and talking about them makes great blog content.
• “Recognize and Tell the Truth.”  The truth is the most attractive thing of all, but it requires skills and awareness.
• “Be Real, Be Human.”  When you are human, you are attractive. Write the way you really feel.

Thanks to Cristina Andersson for pointing this great advice out on her website about learning and manifesting your true potential.