Category: social media

Using free services

What traps are there when using free online services

The lure of free is attractive – free web hosting, free software or the free lunch always grabs our attention.

Deep down though we know there’s really no such thing as a free lunch and the same is true with all the other free deals, there’s always a cost of some sort.

Often the definition of free can be a problem; there’s the social media model of free that harvests your personal data, the Silicon Valley version that hopes a big company will buy the service, the earnest work of volunteers and the freemium marketing model.

Most computer users have used the freemium model, this is where the business gives away a basic free version in the hope of encouraging enough customers to the paid premium version that has support and additional features. Common examples are AVG Free Antivirus, Google Apps and Mailchimp’s Forever Free plan.

All of the freemium services come with a catch, AVG’s free software is only licensed for home use ­– so no using the free version on your office computer – while Google Apps only supports ten unpaid users and if you have more than 2,000 people on your mailing list then Mailchimp is no longer free.

Developing a free product to raise your profile is a common way for entrepreneurs to enter markets and establish a reputation. This is particularly common in the software and web design industries where coders and designers offer free applications or templates to build their portfolios.

These products developed by entrepreneurial designers and programmers are often great, but as there is the risk the developer will lose interest as their business evolves. The WordPress Guy, Tony Constantino, warns “when a free theme stops being supported in 6months you will get left behind”

By far the most lucrative free model to date has been the advertising supported business. This is nothing new as commercial radio and television stations have had this model for nearly a century, but Google have taken this online with their advertising platform that funds their search tools and many other free services.

A variation on the advertising supported model is the data mining carried out by social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. This isn’t as transparent and may be a problem for business users who don’t want to share their client details with an internet service.

Increasingly the free services are based around the Silicon Valley model of a deep pocketed venture capital company funding a business with the aim of building the customer base through offering freebies services with the aim of selling to a trade buyer.

The danger with the Silicon Valley VC model is its instability as most companies shut down without finding a buyer. Even when they do find someone to buy the venture the service often doesn’t last as we saw when the once popular free hosting service Geocities was shut down by Yahoo! in 2009.

Despite the traps free can be good for your business but you should understand the terms, conditions and hidden costs that come with the products. Often you’ll find paying for a product delivers a much more functional and better service that requires less of your time.

One service that might help businesses choose the right free or trial online services is Cheapstart, that compares the various services available for entrepreneurs starting out.

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Why small businesses aren’t using cloud computing

The IT industry needs to understand cloud services and small business

As part of their push into online applications, telecommunications company Optus yesterday released their Digital Ready report examining Australian small business’ use of cloud computing services.

One of the notable results is that only four percent of small business proprietors claim to use cloud computing services and 59% are unsure of what exactly cloud computing is.

Those results are surprisingly poor and indicate businesses don’t see the benefit or value in cloud computing services. There seems to be a number of factors driving this.

Misunderstanding cloud computing

That over 90% of small business owners claim not to be using cloud computing indicates many simply don’t know what these services are. If asked most would admit to using Facebook, web mail or some other online or social media platform that runs on cloud computing.

That’s an education issue and if anything is a criticism of those of us – including myself – who are trying to explain the concept. We can do better as an industry.

Security

Many businesses, big and small, misunderstand technology security risks and have an inflated view of how secure their own desktop, networks and servers are. In many ways the security of cloud services is better than most small business IT systems.

Where the security argument falls down is in the hyperbole of many IT security vendors – every month we hear breathless reports, repeated by gullible technology journalists, of how smartphones, social media or Apple Macs are going to be struck down by a new wave of viruses and each time the “threat” quietly fades away into obscurity.

As long as hysterical fear stories about the security of smartphones and cloud services circulate in the media, it’s understandable that small business owners will be wary of trusting technologies they don’t fully understand.

Sunk costs

Many established businesses have sunk costs in existing software and hardware. For proprietors or managers to justify moving a new service, whether it’s on the cloud or not, there has to be a clear financial benefit in doing so.

Terms of Service risk

Cloud services – whether free or paid – come with a set of terms and conditions. Online Payment, social media and other cloud computing services have shown themselves to be quick in shutting down business accounts without warning, any due process or an accesible way to resolve disputes.

Quite rightly, many business owners are wary of risking key processes or data to services that might cut them off without notice and who often lack a customer service culture.

The reluctant advisors

Business IT consultants struggle with cloud services. Cloud services are a threat to those used to making money from selling servers, software and desktop computers.

For the more far sighted consultants, the thin margins offered by cloud services mean they have to rely on fees for service. If something goes wrong, the client’s first call will be to the trusted advisor and not to the service providers’ helpdesks.

This is a headache too far for many consultants as they know they’ll probably not get paid for the time spent sifting the truth in a blizzard of vendor finger pointing. It’s far less risk and more profitable to recommend a server and desktop solution.

Is cloud computing important?

For businesses, the economics of cloud computing is changing industry dynamics. With lower capital costs, it makes enterprises more flexible and responsive to changing markets.

Cloud services are critical to businesses – for established companies they’ll find themselves losing out if they don’t at least consider the advantages and choose the right online tools.

The onus right now though is on cloud computing vendors to tell their stories better and demonstrate why they can be trusted with key business processes and valuable data.

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Technology with Carol Duncan on ABC Newcastle

On ABC 1233 Newcastle with Carol Duncan we discuss privacy and security on social media after Facebook’s privacy changes.

In the occasional tech spot with Carol Duncan, we looked at Facebook’s new changes and what they mean to users.

The immediate changes to Facebook are the News Feed at the top of the page where updates and posts will be ranked according to what Facebook thinks are your interests, to the left of the screen is “the ticker” which will give summaries of updates.

Coming in the next few weeks will be the Timeline feature which will give show the history of all your posts.

A great summary of the changes with a hands on review is Jason Kincaid’s article on the Facebook changes in Tech Crunch. The official Facebook blog goes into the detail of all the new features.

The purpose of these changes is to increase Facebook’s value as an advertising platform and it raises the question of the viability of these networks.

One of the interesting features of these changes is that users will start seeing increased advertising, if you’re not happy with this our Netsmarts site goes through the process of shutting down your Facebook account.

Join us on ABC Newcastle with Carol Duncan to discuss these issues and more.

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ABC Nightlife Computers: The Internet Name Wars

How the Internet’s name wars can affect you

The online empires want our names and identities, are the real costs of social media now being exposed? Our September ABC Nightlife spot on September 22 from 10pm looked at these issues and more.

Paul and Tony discussed how Google’s “Name Wars” or “nymwars” came about, why social media sites like Facebook and search engines want you to use to use your real names.

The podcast from the program is available from at Nightlife website, more details of Tony’s programs can be found there as well.

Is this a good thing or are there costs we should consider before handing over our intimate details to a social media or free cloud computing service?

Some of the topics we covered included;

  • What are the “name wars’?
  • Why do companies like Google and Facebook want us to use our ‘real’ identities?
  • How can they use the information they gather?
  • What problems does that cause for Internet users?
  • Can these problems spill into real life?
  • Are all web services doing this?
  • What are the risks to businesses using social media?
  • Is this the real cost of social media?

Some of the information we mentioned can be found here;

The cost of lunch: Google and Information Revenue
Google’s real names policy explained
Google’s Eric Schmidt on being an “identity service”, not a social network
Google’s company philosophy (note item two)
Why Twitter doesn’t care what your real name is

We’ll be adding more resources in the next few days, the next ABC Nightlife spot is on 20 October and our events page will have more details. If you have any suggestions for future programs or comments on the last show, please let us know as we love your feedback.

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Cloud computing and Small Business September Digital Day

How can online tools help grow your business?

As part of the NSW state government’s Small Business September Digital Day for Startups and Growth Businesses, we’ll be looking at exactly what cloud computing is and how it can help businesses.

Some of the services we discuss in the presentation are listed in the Netsmart’s web post on the 5 essential cloud computing tools for business. Although there’s many more we’ll mention that can help organisations of all sizes.

Given the time constraints and the event’s focus is on the specific social media and cloud computing tools available to small business, much of the background information to the Online Tools to Turbocharge Your Business session is available in the previous series of posts about cloud computing previously done for the 2011 City of Sydney Let’s Talk Business series.

Detailed information from that presentation can be found on the following pages;

The networked business Part 1: What is cloud computing?
The networked business Part 2: The benefits of cloud computing
The networked business Part 3: Managing risk in the cloud
The networked business Part 4: The business case for cloud computing

All of the tools discussed in the Small Business September presentations are available in our ebook, Online Business Essentials which is available for all subscribers to our newsletter.

If you’d like to see the presentations themselves, both The Networked Business and Online Tools to Turbocharge your Business are available through the Slideshare service.

Seats are still available for both of the Digital Day presentations at the Telstra Experience Centre, Level 4, 300 George Street, Sydney. The Start Up session begins at 8.00am and the presentations for growth businesses begins at 1.00pm.

Come along if you’d like to learn how social media and cloud computing can help your business improve productivity while building an online brand.

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Trusting online reviews

How do we spot fake reviews on sites like Tripadvisor, Yelp! and Eatability

Review sites where customers can post their experiences are changing consumer behaviour and bringing a new level of accountability to businesses, but how do we trust the comments on which appear online?

Travel review site Tripadvisor is a good example of how consumers are able to spread the word about their good and bad business experiences, much to the displeasure of the UK hotel industry and its media friends. To make things worse, many of those reviews are further spread by social media services like Twitter and Facebook.

While the travel industry complains about fake reviews from competitors and disaffected customers, the majority of fake reviews are from hoteliers themselves pumping up their own business. It’s always interesting how many gushing reviews are from anonymous posters with only one or two reviews to their name.

Should any of the threatened court cases actually make it before a judge, there may be a few hoteliers finding themselves in an uncomfortable position, a classic case of being careful about what you wish for.

That’s not to say Tripadvisor doesn’t have a problem, the comments in a recent Telegraph story about the service show they have the web 2.0 problem of lousy customer support which comes from a low cost, user generated business model.

A more serious point which is overlooked by most of the critics is that Tripadvisor, like most travel sites, is linked to certain booking services. If you attempt to use the site to book a property that isn’t aligned with the site, it may well falsely report there are “no rooms available”, which is deceptive and will almost certainly fall foul of competition laws in most countries.

For users of sites, it means we have to be careful with what the reviews and the sites themselves tell us. So what should we watch for?

Spotting dodgy reviews

The obvious thing is the planted review. The easiest way to spot this is by the number of reviews submitted by the commenter.

If a commenter only has one or two reviews then it’s almost certain they either have an axe to grind or they have been submitted by the establishment or it’s staff as most rational people don’t have the energy or time to build a comprehensive profile of reviews just to shaft one place.

Another useful tactic is to look at the reviews around it, do others disagree with that reviewer or are they consistent? Outlier bad reviews can indicate a plant, a grudge or simply a bad day in the kitchen.

Dealing with bad reviews

As we’ve pointed out before, consistent bad reviews on these sites usually indicate a structural problem in the business however if you suspect a fake or planted review, most services have a “flag as inappropriate” option or a dispute mechanism.

Be careful using these however as flagging a legitimate complaint as malicious or fake may antagonise the poster and give the poor review more publicity than you would like.

The social aspects of the web, such as review sites and social media services like Twitter and Facebook, are going to become more important over the next few years as internet users use them to help sift through the massive amount of information on the net.

All businesses, whether in hospitality or other industries, need to take these sites and the reviews on them seriously.

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Re-evaluating social media

How are you using social media services in your personal and business life?

We often forget the Internet as we know it is less than thirty years old and many of the social media tools we use have been around for less than five.

In such a new field, we’re all learning and experimenting which means some tools become essential while others are recognised as yesterday’s shiny toys.

As the depth of the name wars and the related privacy issues become apparent, it’s worthwhile re-evaluating how we use these services. Here’s how I’m now using some of the online social media platforms.

Foursquare

I quite like Foursquare, the idea of knowing which friends are nearby when you’re out on the town is great. But as someone who has a dismal social life, it was wasted on me.

The gamification angle is interesting, but the privacy implications of the service make me uneasy. I’ve stopped checking in and will probably close down my account pretty soon.

Empire Avenue

As a sociological experiment on the rampant egos and deep insecurities of the social media community, Empire Avenue is wonderful. Otherwise, it’s just another spammy online application trying to harvest personal information – I came, I saw, I decided life was too short.

Quora

On first glance, Quora looked good, but the changing of posts by moderators concerned me, the cliqueiness of users was the killer and I closed my account. I suspect Google Plus will kill this platform.

Google Plus

Apart from being a Quora killer and having some interesting collaboration feature, there doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason to use Google Plus instead of Facebook.

While it’s in its early days, I’m finding it less than compelling while Eric Schmidt’s claim it is an identity service rather than a social media platform deeply unsettles me and makes me less likely to engage in conversations on the service.

Facebook

When Facebook first became available I was intrigued as able to connect with relatives along with past and present friends always struck me as being one of the Internet’s killer apps. As various business features evolved, it was clear Facebook was a serious online tool.

The problem with Facebook has been the way strangers become friends, not to mention how acquaintances and relatives have a habit of posting private things you don’t particularly care to know about, along with the wave of invites to games and applications that come and go.

Overall, I’ve been using Facebook for business purposes rather than sharing private information for nearly two years now. That works, but it isn’t the intended use and I’m probably not getting the maximum benefit although I am preserving some modest degree of privacy.

Linkedin

As a means to establish your professional credibility, LinkedIn is unbeatable. For those with a lot of time, the various professional LinkedIn groups can be a valuable way to show your industry knowledge.

One thing that surprises me is how many people notice your status changes so it is certainly a good way of keeping your business network up to date with what you are doing.

The concern with LinkedIn is similar to Facebook and Google Plus in that there’s a lot of market intelligence being gathered on our professional networks and the recent attempt to ‘enhance’ social advertising around our online personas does not fill me with confidence that LinkedIn is the best platform to be displaying our professional abilities.

Twitter

I’ve had a turbulent relationship with Twitter and it took me three attempts to really see the point. I’m still careful about what I post and who I follow.

However Twitter has become my main news source and I find it keeps me ahead of the major media outlets. For this reason alone, Twitter has become the social media service I use the most.

What occurs to me in writing this is that these social media tools are really about listening, not talking or marketing. Perhaps that is the point we’re missing in the noise generated by these services, that listening is where the real power lies in these online platforms.

The six tools I’ve listed are just a small subset of a massive range of social media services, I’d be interested in hearing which ones you find useful and why.

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