Just today I saw Microsoft’s new browser plugin silverlight. Silverlight is something like a flash/swf format by microsoft. So, what is Silverlight all about and why is the industry praising Microsoft for it? Eweek says it is more than a flash and If you goole a little bit for more articles, you will see things like this sentence on zdnet: “but lets not make it a religious war”, as this is what also comes into my mind when I hear microsoft.

A conclusion for me at the moment is that silverlight is an interesting alternative to flash and its dominant position on the market (98% officially). I especially enjoy the video features of silverlight. The streaming capabilities (can you say HD DRM video) and resulting costs on server side should be better. Will silverlight be the alternative for the combination of flash, flex and Adobe’s new apollo… I don’t know. In my opinion it is an alternative for flash and is the best thing for customers to happen at the moment, as there might be two big wide spread players/plugins and not only one, so prices will go down. The main benefit flash has going for it is the install base figures. Also flash works in almost all browsers, even linux. Microsoft is Mac and Windows ready so this should be a really good competition. I have not jumped into development with silverlight yet but I defiantly will be in the next few days.

Times are changing quickly. As a business we have moved into a new data center facility. This new facility should work out well for us. We were forced to leave our existing facility “RCN Business Solutions” because they are tyrants. There was a three day long period when no one slept or stopped for a break, it was a very exhausting move. We did lose some clients during the transition which is sad but we just have to show our current clients the best service possible and referrals will come in.

So what are some of these new ventures?

I have a friend who runs a website myspacesupport.com and a few other great businesses. Recently his programming staff fled the country on him. Yes sounds funny but that put him in a bad spot. Many things were not finished and left uncompleted. He has many great idea’s and concepts. I proposed to continue the work which needs to be done for him. He has been a great help to me learning about the marketing aspects of internet based businesses. I thought I knew all there was to know about the internet, but that was silly of me. I will never know all there is to know. My first services based site which is not hosting is notmyvideo.com which has been a fun experience thus far. If you are into music videos then be sure to check that out.

Diet Day 1

Another new venture for me is a diet program. I started a popular food service program. I get three meals a day / 7 days a week for about $135 USD, not a bad price for food in downtown Chicago. I have taken some pictures today of my first day, however my wife would like me to take new pictures with some clothes on. I took the famous underwear “before and after” pictures. I will post some pictures in shorts or something later.

Last but not least……Do you ever find your self at work or at school and some of your favorite sites are blocked by “big brother”. I have launched a site which will let you get past those filter system. Go to sneakage.com or worksecret.com and enter the website address you would like to visit. After you hit the surf button you will find out that you have just bypassed your work or school filter. Yay!

I have noticed as you get older you truly do start to slow down. This is only true if you stop the major activity you spent you younger life doing. What does that mean?

When I was younger, just a few years back. I played many sports, I was always out and about. I had a very active life style. I also had no real job or commitments or responsibilities. I did not fall into any really daily habits or was capable being responsible to any major responsibilities. I drop out of college because I found it was more enjoying to be around the campus with friends but not actually go into class. However I often did look into the window at some friends that were in class.

OK back to the point. I know a few friends who still do there favorite activities like play basketball once a week or play football once a week or run everyday. These people always amaze me, most of the time they have no shortness of energy and do not need any motivation to do things. I assume it has a large part to do with the activities. I also know some people who have feel deep into the 9 to 5 part of life because they have to work vigorously to pay their house payments or make there rent payment or credit cards or some other commitments. Those are the people that are often very low in energy and need motivation to continue.

Now where do I fall in this category? I like to think I am right in the middle. I do work a lot but that is also because I seriously love what I do, it is what I would be doing if I had a hobby. I also lack energy, I do not have any energy. I sleep too much. My daughter associates the bed with dad. I am serious, when she comes home she runs into the bedroom and pulls her head up to the top to say hi to me. She does this no matter what time of the day it is. This is because when I am home I am sitting on the bed often working on my laptop or sleeping. I am usually at the office at night and come home in the morning to do a few more things on the computer and then fall asleep.

This is a serious problem. I would really like to maintain a normal life when it comes to sleep and energy. I have a gym on the same floor as our condo and I still do not go to it.

Anyway, no real point to this post. I just know I am lazy and falling into the old man lifestyle and that needs to change soon.

ps.

Alot is not a word. It is “a lot”

Well first off, you have to know what blogging is. What you are reading now is a blog. In the words of wikipedia

“A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.”

Ok so you know what a blog is so how can it help your business or self promotion? I have found a few good reasons from some of our blogging gurus.

Reason 1:

Blog to put a human face on the company

The more you spend on marketing, the more your messages often seem monolithic, corporate, impersonal, and one-way — streaming out from the ad agency to the consumer with Niagara-like force. A blog is a wonderful counterpoint to this, because it’s naturally small, personal, even quirky. Research shows that consumers get tired of the smoothly polished corporate message, and may even tune it out. Conversely, they tend to perk up their ears when they detect an individual’s honest expression. It’s the same phenomenon that causes hand-addressed direct mail pieces to earn a better response than identical but machine-addressed pieces. Somewhere in your company are one or more people who are passionate advocates of your products and services, who are good communicators, and who know exactly how to get the most from your products and services. These are born bloggers, and if you don’t let them put their gifts to use, you’re under-utilizing a major marketing asset.

Reason 2:

Blog to obtain free market research

Because blogs are naturally a two-way street, they’re a perfect forum for you to find out what your prospects and customers think, know and want. Where else can you put out information to literally thousands of your best customers, and have them give you their reactions, opinions and expertise — basically for free? The benefits for better marketing strategies and product development alone are remarkable. Of course, blog readers also see these reactions, but that in itself can become a positive asset if your company is ready to take any criticisms to heart and sincerely try to remedy any problems the blog uncovers.

Reason 3:

Blog to offer a “Buy In” that increases customer satisfaction

There’s something subtle at work in the world of blogging. It’s hidden in the fact that blog readers can comment on what they’ve read. As soon as they push that “comment” button, they’ve unconsciously bought into your world, your process, and — let’s face it — your product line. In other words, people who read your blog and comment on it are far more likely to be satisfied with your company, your products and your services than they ever were before. This is one reason Microsoft has recently begun to make such headway in gaining support and admiration from the developer community. The company has assigned key people to actively blog on topics of interest to developers. The dialogue that results has driven Microsoft’s approval rating among developers much, much higher than ever before. The company may or may not be giving developers more of what they want. But by blogging about it, they’ve increased the perception of how hard they’re trying, and they’ve reaped the benefits that inevitably flow from there.

Reason 4:

Blog to leverage opinion leaders’ influence

The original concept of blogging was an outreach tool to the masses. But blogging has evolved toward a more subtle usage: blogging for opinion leaders. Companies can make sure their bloggers angle their remarks toward key customers, influential thought leaders, and well-respected industry experts. Marketers can then make an effort to introduce these people to the blogs, and encourage them to keep subscribing and participating. The net effect is to provide these key constituencies with an early warning system for changes, new developments, coming upgrades, and more sophisticated usage of your company’s products and services. Over time, these people will not only help you fine tune these kinds of advancements, but will almost eagerly share what they are learning with their own circles of colleagues, co-workers and clients. The result is your targeted blogging effectively mobilizes these opinion leaders to make others aware of and excited about your offerings.

Reason 5:

Blog to gain on the Big Dogs

One of the most exciting reasons to add blogging to your marketing program, though, is that it helps the little guy even more than it helps the bigger guy. Blogging tends to increase name recognition and boost traffic to your main website. Large corporations that start blogging will see relatively small improvements in these areas, while smaller companies are likely to notice far more significant upward trends. This makes blogging one of those rare phenomenons that lifts all boats, but lifts smaller boats faster than the big ones.

So as you can see blogging can be very effective. In some college curriculum blogging is being taught as a form of marketing. I think that in this day of the “Digitalite” things like blogging are some of the internet’s best features. How else can you get immediate feedback from your users or consumers.