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Phantom Partners

Everyone is a phantom partner in a local economy; you may not always see each other, but every business, professional and entrepreneur is partnered through the shared resources of the community. Small changes lead to larger ones and if SMB’s would open themselves to the possibilities offered by new technologies we’d see a transformation that would make the rising sun of the Renaissance look dim in comparison.

Putting Together the Pieces

Matching up business and technology has historically been a difficult process. This may still be true at the corporate level, but is it necessarily true for SMB’s?

While it’s difficult for large corporations to change course, SMB’s have the ability to quickly adapt to new challenges. As always, innovation happens at the local level first.

How can SMB’s utilize the current economic situation to finally fit all the pieces together?

Local Business Can Save the World

With technology available that can drastically cut costs it seems immediate adoption is the only solution.  Fortunately the very same technology that cuts costs can bring community partners together in ways that weren’t possible 10-20 years ago.

A recent article from the Financial Times by Glenn Hubbard (which we discovered courtesy of @bernardmoon via Twitter) highlights the special place that SMB’s hold in resolving the current financial crisis. One of the only ways for SMB’s to remain strong and vibrant is by quickly adapting to the partnership opportunities offered through New Media and shared service technologies.

What’s Your Perspective?

We see things from the perspective of a colocation provider and ISP so connecting businesses and communities is second nature to us, what’s your perspective?

Here are some links to TED (Ideas worth spreading) that take a deeper look at connecting communities as well as some organizations in the U.S. that are taking action:

TED, Ideas Worth Sharing
TEDGlobal 2009
Connecting Communities in New York
Connecting Museums & Communities
Even the Smithsonian is jumping into New Media
UK Official Twitter strategy

Have you heard of any other initiatives? Let us know.

Possible Effects

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister for the UK, recently addressed the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford. His comments on Global ethics in a connected world are even more powerful on a local level.

He asks what the possible effects would be if “the power of our moral sense (was) allied with the communications facilities we have”?

Global Voices, Local Connections

We marvel at communicating with people in China on our iPhones, but in looking so far afield we’ve lost sight of our own back yard. The same technologies that let us communicate our ideas on a global scale are far more valuable in connecting us to the shared experience of our neighborhoods and communities.

What can we do to better equip our communities to begin this kind of dialogue? What can we do on a personal level to insure our worldwide communications networks are mirrored in our local networks?

Building a Base

The power to connect with each other in a shared economic and technological network is a wonderful tool. SMB’s need to leverage and build these networks to insure that the communities they serve remain solvent in these trying times. Entrepreneurs need to build a base, a solid platform, for these initiatives to take off in their communities and then the world.

This great article from the New York Times (posted by @valdiskrebs on Twitter) goes into some of the challenges and rewards that businesses are seeing from collaborative efforts:

Netflix Competitors Learn the Power of Teamwork

What can we do as entrepreneurs and business owners to help foster collaboration not only in our industries, but also in our communities?

Check back later in the week when we’ll talk more about these relationships in a post titled, Phantom Partners.

A Teenager in Eastern Iowa

A teenager in Eastern Iowa working at a gas station can run an internationally relevant SMB on the side with today’s technology. Sounds farfetched, but a 25 year old is running a burgeoning media empire, while working for EMC2 on the side as a marketing advisor, thanks to his internet savvy and use of shared services.

Why don’t more established SMB’s take advantage of the options in front of them?

The growth of ‘cloud’ computing and software as a service (SAAS), not to mention outsourcing solutions like O-Desk and crowdsourcing solutions like social media, are leveraging the need for immediate business solutions even when the upfront capital isn’t there for long term investments.

Community at Work

Using any remotely hosted service, whether it’s a data center or a social media platform like WordPress, allows you to reap the benefits without the expense of running it in house. It also helps other SMBs in your community leverage the same computing power.

By sharing the cost across multiple organizations the service provider is better able to keep up with constantly changing needs of a high technology environment. On the client side, businesses are able to get top notch service at lower cost.

What about us?

So what are we as business owners and entrepreneurs doing to help build and support this network? Maybe we’re not teenagers anymore, but what can we do to turn our businesses into powerful tools for the social good on par with all those teen tech giants out there?

Here are some resources for businesses looking to understand the Shared Services model:

Shared Services & Outsourcing Network
Dana Gardner at ZDNet on Shared Services and Cost Cutting
Deloitte’s Shared Services Resources
Wikipedia Shared Services

Armstrong’s Missing ‘A’

It’s hard to imagine with all those tweets, FaceBook posts, LinkedIn status updates, emails and blog posts that the little mistakes really make a difference. What’s a few grammar errors, factual flubs or poorly worded paragraphs amidst the noise, right?

If you find yourself thinking this, it might be time to step back and reconsider your marketing plan. What exactly are you going for if the small details don’t matter?

Neil Armstrong’s famous words weren’t just an off the cuff remark, they were a well planned strategy to set the media stage for U.S. dominance of space during the cold war. When the public (and the international media) heard him announce “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” some were puzzled by what seems to be a redundant statement.

There was something missing, a little ‘A’ which would have helped the message make sense.

Radio Glitches

All it took was a radio glitch to turn a well placed media mark into a 40 year grammatical gaff. Everyone still remembers the line, but four decades of snarky grammar comments could have been averted with just a little more care.

This is a great lesson for businesses that use social media, if you’re spending time pushing content into the social media sphere why not keep an eye on the quality of what you’re putting out there.

A Few Helpful Reminders to Keep in Mind

•    Matsuo Basho, 17th century poet and Haiku master, said that every letter should be written as if it were meant to last through the ages. This may be a high mark to set for your Tweets, but it’s better to keep it in mind than to forget it and end up regretting one of your 140 character outbursts.

•    Editing is easy before you send something out, dealing with mistakes after the fact isn’t. This is something that’s been repeated so often it’s surprising there’s still a problem (I admit I’m not perfect in this regard either).

•    Make sure your links work. I received an email invitation from a PR firm for a webinar on pitching that contained broken links and obvious editorial mistakes (half sentences that were probably meant to be cut). How likely am I to pay to attend this seminar?

•    Remember relevance. It’s one thing to lighten your content from time to time; it’s another to float off into space. Keep things moored on solid ground and you’ll give people a place to go rather than an opportunity to miss you while they look at the stars.

•    Context is more important than ever. When there is so much information streaming across the internet it’s easy to lose site of the past, don’t add to this problem by missing an opportunity to add valuable historical context to your social media efforts.

Toothpicks and Chewing Gum

We’re always vocal about the cost of downtime. Having been in this business since 1992 we’ve seen a good deal and we know that when it comes to risk mitigation and disaster recovery toothpicks and chewing gum solutions don’t cut it.

Stormy Weather

There have been some significant storms passing through the Midwest this summer and the Chicagoland area has already suffered a few power outages.

It’s times like this that you see the real merit of all those meetings and planning sessions. Discussions in the board room are one thing, but quite often reality has a way of surprising even the most forward thinking among us.

24 Hour Mark

After the last storm a number of businesses in the area were left without power for close to 24 hours. We had a chance to talk with the business owners who were affected and it became clear that having a well developed risk management plan really does make a difference.

It’s probably a no brainer at this point, but it suffices to say those who had solid plans kept going at pace, those who didn’t…well, there’s probably some pretty heavy operations and planning meetings going on this week.

How did your risk management and disaster recovery plans hold up when push came to shove? Did they pass the 24 hour mark?

XNet Announces Silicon Prairie Social

XNet is proud to announce the next Silicon Prairie Social, to be held on Tuesday, April 28th at Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton. We’re looking forward to gathering again with a couple hundred friends and associates from the technology community.

If you’re an XNet customer or are looking at XNet to provide your colocation or dedicated server hosting service, by all means, come to the event and connect face-to-face with us. We’d love to have you there.

For details and to RSVP, visit Silicon Prairie Social.

How Not to Call Email Marketing Prospects

Earlier today I received a phone call from a local company with whom I’m quite familiar. The salesperson opened by saying, “I saw you opened our email today, what interested you in the email?” The message I had read was advertising a seminar series the company has been aggressively pushing.

Admittedly, I was taken aback. I felt like I was being watched. I also felt that if I had been interested in the email, I would have signed up for the seminar or responded with questions myself. All in all, my feelings were equal parts 1) creeped out, 2) mildly annoyed and 3) strangely intrigued that this is how they were still marketing after all of these years.

It didn’t stop there, however. My limp response to his dead-on-arrival opener behind us, he kept firing:

“Can I interest you in a free ebook?”

“What’s the e-book about?”

“Secrets of Success”

“Sure.”

“Can I also interest you in a free coaching session?”

Waaaait-a-minute!

Here’s where I should have asked, kindly, “What’s the catch?” instead of “no, thank you.” Given how the call had already gone, in retrospect I’d have loved to hear him describe the coaching session.

Their entire dialogue and approach to initiating and nurturing a relationship was broken from the very beginning. He was all about features, saying nothing about how I would benefit from reading his email, his e-book, or attending his coaching session.

Email marketing is an excellent, cost-effective way to nurture relationships that turn into leads. The analytics that come with most all email marketing platforms give you very useful information about who is reading what you write and sharing it with their friends. You can use this information to grow your business, however, it’s best not to creep out your prospect in the process.

So, what can you learn from today’s awkward call?

Here are three better ways you can handle calls to your targeted email lists:

1. Give a legitimate and non-creepy reason for your call. After first asking your prospect if you’ve caught them at a good time, mention something your company is doing that’s of immediate value, and communicate that value immediately. “Next week we’re hosting a seminar on helping sell more widgets. People who went to last year’s seminar tell us they’ve more than doubled their widget sales after putting into practice our techniques.” Now you have my attention, and you’re leading with value, not a hook.
2. If you’re calling a web lead, only offer one premium. This salesperson’s two eager offers; the vaguely-titled e-book and the equally mysterious “free coaching session,” screamed desperation. Though they were determined to hook me with something, they didn’t believe in it (or me) enough to tell me how I would benefit from any of it.
3. Instead of tiptoeing around your point, tell the prospect what’s in it for you while communicating value to them. This can be easily accomplished by filling them in some context. Something like this:

“Of the 200 professionals we coached last year, those who stuck with the program the entire year doubled their businesses in 12 months while building systems that allowed them to work on average 25% fewer hours. Could I interest you in a complimentary session with one of our executive coaches to discuss your objectives and how coaching can help you reach them?”

Do you have an example of an exceptional sales call you’ve received? An exceptionally poor one? If so, please leave a comment below, we’d love to hear it!

Naperville Sun Article: The big generator that could

Last week, XNet was profiled in the Naperville Sun in the article “The big generator that could: XNet keeps businesses on the grid.” The article focuses on our boutique data center services and how our infrastructure keeps small and medium-sized businesses online in the event of a storm or power outage. In the article, XNet customer Mark Mayle of Equitas Group LLC talks well of his experiences with us over the last seven years. Thanks, Mark!

Read the article on the Naperville Sun web site.

Business Ledger Article: Surviving power outages without going broke

XNet’s Arthur Zards wrote this article that originally appeared in the January 21 TechLink section of The Business Ledger.

Surviving power outages without going broke
By: Arthur Zards

The most common IT disruption for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) is by far a general power outage. From rolling brownouts in the West coast, to springtime Chicago storms; power outages are fairly common and are on the rise due to an ever increasing commercial demand for power, and limited resources to meet the growing demand.

When looking at your business continuity plan for a loss of power (you did do this, right?) You probably found out that there are not too many cost effective options. A typical UPS (usually your only option) will add only minutes of emergency back-up power. Plus, the more computers you stack on the UPS, the less time you have. With how heavily companies rely on technology, a power outage can grind business to an immediate halt. No power means no email, no servers, no website, and equally as important—no Internet access.

Are there any cost effective options for your critical computers? Luckily there’s one, you just may not know about it. The boutique datacenter.

For many non tech-oriented executives, “the datacenter” conjures up thoughts of gigantic warehouses filled with technicians in labs coats busily managing gigantic supercomputers—at a price tag far beyond your budget. This may have been true years ago, but due to the growing need for business continuity for the SMB market, there are now numerous smaller, boutique-style datacenters that cater specifically to the SMB.

What is a boutique datacenter exactly? It is a facility that has all the features of an enterprise datacenter; redundant power with a UPS, back-up generators, industrial-grade cooling (with back-up units), that’s networked across multiple locations with two or more backbone-level Internet connections. Translation: if any one piece fails, you stay connected. These facilities allow you access to your equipment 24×7 while keeping it secure, and best of all, the services are all tailored especially for the SMB.

Boutique datacenters serve small businesses who need to host as little as a single critical email server, where larger facilities require minimum space allotments that dwarf these customers’ needs. Plus they add special services to help the small IT department manage and grow their company network and systems, so their network can keep pace with their growing business. Best of all, they offer friendly, helpful services to non-technical executives who know they need their equipment secure, but might not know exactly how to accomplish it.

If this is you, and you are not too sure how to protect your systems from a power loss, contact a boutique datacenter that caters to your market. You’ll be surprised at the level of IT help they can offer you, at a price that is very attractive.

Bio:
Arthur Zards is President and co-founder of XNet, a Lisle-based boutique data center, the XNet Critical Computing Facility. Since 1992, XNet has been instrumental in growing Internet technologies in the Chicago area, and is now the largest independently owned Internet service provider in the Chicago area.

Event: Silicon Prairie Social 2

Following on the heels of our first event, we’re hosting the second Silicon Prairie Social on Thursday, January 24. Below are the details. Hope to see you there!

Silicon Prairie Social 2
Suburban tech and Internet industry mixer

When:
Thursday, January 24, 2008, 6:30-10:00pm
Where:
Mullen’s Bar & Grill
3080 Warrenville Rd., Lisle, IL 60532 (map)

Silicon Prairie Social is an opportunity to connect in an informal setting with like-minded people in technology; the event is specifically for upwardly mobile tech professionals, tech executives, tech entrepreneurs, technology service providers, Internet professionals, Web 2.0 and startup companies, and the mobile industry. (No professional recruiters, staffing agencies, or active job seekers permitted).

The event is free to attend, free drinks and food will be provided. RSVP is required at http://siliconprairiesocial2.eventbrite.com.

For more information see www.siliconprairiesocial.com or contact info [at] siliconprairiesocial {dot} com.