digg_url = "http://getenoch.com/getenoch/blog/post/2010/12/31/Quick-Tip-One-more-before-the-year-is-out.aspx";digg_title = "Quick Tip: One more before the year is out";digg_bgcolor = "#FFFFFF";digg_skin = "normal";digg_url = undefined;digg_title = undefined;digg_bgcolor = undefined;digg_skin = undefined;So we find ourselves at the end of 2010 looking forward to 2011 and I realize it is a great time to answer some of those last minute questions people ask me. I could go into a tirade about "Preparing for Success in 2011" or "Launch 2011 with a Bang" but there are a myriad of other people out there who do those emails better than I. So I decided to do the one thing I can during this end of year: be self-indulgent and answer your questions with my own flair! Here we go: What Social Media Outlets should I use to promote my business? - Sue Robinson - Signature Promotions: This is one of the most asked questions I get when working with Small Business Owners. There are many outlets we know about (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, etc.) and many others that we don't know about but what is going to be most effective? The problem with 2010 and Social Media is everyone jumped on the bandwagon and instead of clearly defining niche areas for our business we have created more outlets for consumer noise. I have helped increase revenues for many clients by doing three simple things before jumping into the Social Sphere. First, analyze what you want to accomplish: Do you want to be an industry expert or an expert in your industry? (two Completely different things) Are you trying to increase sales or increase exposure? Do you want to bring people into your web store or brick and mortar store? Second, Define your ideal client. Not everyone is your client. Layout the characteristics of your ideal client or clients (you can have more than one and if you have more than one product you have more than one ideal client). Discover where they exist in the marketplaces you want to infuse your message. Learn their language so you are speaking to them. It is important to understand your target audience! Third, once you have your outcomes and your audience create the plan to hit your target. This is where people who understand the online world is really helpful to creating a strategy. Find those people to work with who jive with your company. They're out there ... I know! You can jump into the online world anytime you want, but remember just because you throw your business into the waters of the online it doesn't mean it will swim on it's first attempt. You're always sending me articles you found out about me online, how do you know about them so fast? - Caleb Chapman - Caleb Chapman Music: One of the most important things you can do as a business is know what the web is saying about you. People love Google, so we talk about how Google knows about you. I wrote a blog post Knowing how Google knows you that explains about Google Alerts. Anytime something happens that Google knows about (i.e. blog posts, articles, pages, message boards, etc.) you can get alerted about the information. This is a great little tool. You spend a lot of time with gadgets and gizmos ... what are your favorite new toys from 2010? - Larry Stevenson - LDS Employment Resource Services: I do love gadgets and this year was chalk full of new things that came out. Some are video game related, but when it comes to business the coolest things to come out this year were the new smartphones. Google's Android phones took this year by storm and Microsoft launched their "Windows Phone 7" platform as well. Both phones are great equalizers to the mammoth iPhone and if used properly can really take your business to the next level. Now is a great time to get into a Smartphone to not only keep track of your contacts, but keep better track of your business. Every time I go to one of your Microsoft Office Trainings I learn something new, but I haven't seen them in a while have you stopped? - Bryan Waldon Pope - Marketing Success Institute: In 2010, I did scale down the number of training events I was doing to focus on some client services, but I missed doing the trainings and have thought about bringing them back into the schedule. I'm looking at doing webinars, public trainings and other fun events, but am always interested in what my fans would like to see. Send me some feedback on how you think we should proceed with training events and we'll see about putting them in the schedule. Thanks! Our business is doing great and we want to take it to the next level ... How do we work with you in more depth to get there? - Various Fans: That's easy. You can always email me enoch@getenoch.com or call the office number: 801.754.4429. I love helping out people and usually have an initial conversation over lunch because I also love food! Before I close the last "Get Enoch" Email let me just say thanks to all of you who read these emails and give great feedback. There are many more people who ask questions and I respond to each email as I get them ... just not as fast as I would like at times. :) I wish you all a great "New Year" and here's to the next decade being better than the last!

Tis the season for a chilly outdoors, sales poking at celebrating a big, jolly red man and people asking me about what holiday music I enjoy playing . And this, my blueberries, is where you're going to get a little disappointed in "The Enoch" ... I don't listen to much holiday music. Music is such a big part of my life, but holiday music always puzzles me. Mostly because of the timing. I love listening to music all the year round, but you get strange looks from people when you are belting out "In Dulce Jubilo" on the highway. [More]

Being that Thanksgiving is a couple days away I thought I would lay down some tips to help out with that cornucopia of food that becomes the annual thanksgiving gathering. I'm taking some highlights from the food network's article Top 10 Turkey Tips because ... well the food network is awesome! I mean come on ... it's a whole network about FOOD! [More]

So I've been looking at LOTS of website lately (problem of sitting in front of a computer all day) and I've noticed a number of things which in my mind are mistakes. Let me lay some Website design thoughts on you all even though ... I'm a technical guy and not a designer. [More]

A couple weeks ago I was having lunch with a friend, Bruce Rowe from Sebo Marketing. Bruce is an SEO specialist. I have to be careful here because there are a lot of people who work in the world of SEO, but Bruce specializes in SEO Productivity not just SEO Ranking. Here is the difference: [More]

So here is the part of the email where I say to my loyal clients, fans and friends Get Enoch is closing it's doors. No ... not really. I was just seeing if I caused a sense of "will you miss me?" in your minds. But as I type those words I think about what you can do as a business to cause a sense of ownership, loyalty or trust with your customers ... or possibly towards your customers. [More]

So last week I ranted about the silliness of Facebook Groups allowing people to be added without their notice. Well ... it appears yet another Facebook "privacy issue" has surfaced (although us tech guys have known about it for a while). The Wall Street Journal on Monday the 18th ran an article Facebook in Privacy Breach talking about how the Top 10 Facebook applications share Facebook's User ID's to marketing firms. Not only was the User ID of the people using the applications distributed, but so were the User ID's of their friends as well. This may not seem important until you realize you can get most of a person's profile through the User ID. Ok ... before we start pulling out hair and scream "This is an invasion of our privacy" let's break down some of the fundamentals: Facebook is a Sharing Network: Every piece of code written for Facebook is built upon this simple premise. Even the games people play is about a sharing experience rather than a solo experience. Anytime you "share" information that information can be consumed by the listening audience. You've probably been in a restaurant where you overhear a funny conversation. That is sharing being consumed by unintended ears. Please remember when you "share" information there are people who can overhear what you say. There is nothing "secure" about sharing information over a sharing network Hence the catch-22 of sharing: Once it's out there ... there is no bringing it back! Sharing NEEDS A Community: In order to "share" there needs to be another party. Sharing cannot exist in a solo environment. So ... Facebook creates a community by this generic "friend" idea. However, we all have different degrees of friends. Unless you take the time to modify your individual friend's settings (which you can do) so they can not see anything from you (which poses the question are they friends?) every friend has the same amount of information visible. It also means each friend's information can be viewed exactly the same way. Because of the sharing concept the term "friend" is more of a data retrieval point instead of a true "relationship". Sharing Applications Attempt to Unite the Communities: So each "application" (Facebook applications included) attempts to unite communities through the "shared" experience. This is a double edged sword. Knowing how your friends use the applications creates a unified experience between the parties. However, this does mean the application needs to know how your friends and you use the application. Conclusion: there is exposure open to the application of not just you, but your friends as well. Generally we don't think of these items as being a problem. It does come as a shock, for some, when we hear "Facebook is Sharing Your Information!" Truthfully it should be rewritten as "Facebook is Sharing Your Information You've Already Shared to People!" Or better yet, "Facebook is Sharing Your Information You Have Stored in a Virtual Account You Shared with Other Virtual Accounts that You Associate to People, Groups or Things that Don't Really Exist Except as 1's and 0's Stored in a Database!" However that last one is a little too long and doesn't roll as easily off the lounge. Remember you've stored your information in a "Social Network" built around the principles of sharing. Even if Facebook is at fault, or you're at fault for placing that ill advised photo of you at your last company Christmas party, You (or your "friends") shared it with people and it's that "online sharing" were the problem lies. If I read that you love music by Rush and Kool Aid! you can't really fault me for giving you concert tickets and a year supply of "Oh Yeah!" because I read it on your profile. Some consider that "cyber-stalking", while others consider it "great customer service". It comes down to intent more than actions. The Marketing Companies are constantly trying to understand the consumer mindset. It is that understanding of consumer thought that drives them to gather information by any means necessary. With the explosion of "Social Networks" (which I think is a horrible phrase, but I'll write about that later), businesses are trying to harness the power of these large platforms. Heck ... that is what "Facebook Ads" are all about. Taking your shared information and targeting advertising around what you say you like. It works great! Is it really any different then your grocery store giving you coupons based upon your purchases because you bought into "key-fob discount program?" I guess when it comes down to it the Wall Street Journal article isn't a shock. Of course these applications were sharing your IDs. Facebook doesn't allow it, but these are 3rd party apps developed by other developers with their own set of standards. And even though Facebook is developing a strategy to combat these guys ... there will always be someone who will work around the problem. My solution: Don't "share" things with your "friends" you don't want the general public to know about. You can't protect your friends, but you can protect yourself with that simple common sense rule. And I guess I've always known that there are other places on-line I can get information about you without Facebook. And really ... isn't that more frightening that I knew all about your obsession with karaoke before we became Facebook friends scarier? I would think so ...

Last Tuesday Facebook rolled out their new "Groups" feature and some people instantly discovered they were included into a number of groups without registering with those groups. Is this a security feature? Nope. These groups are operating by design, and that's the power of the new functionality. [More]

Over the past 10 years the explosion of "The Internet" has been drastically changed from Star Trek fanpages to actual full on business. Having a website in today's business climate is akin to having a phone number in the business world of the past century (yeah ... that was over a decade ago). However, even though it is as important today for businesses to survive the understanding of what is needed to create a website is not there. So let me take a few moments to enlighten you about Why website creation costs SOOOOOOO much! First thing to understand is there are two important parts of web development. I'll explain these briefly, or as briefly as any Enoch post. :) Layout and Graphics: having a graphic artist understand how to make a great experience on your website is key to having visitors. Sure you can manage with Get Enoch Quality graphics, but hiring someone who understands colors, design and flow is key. Layout and Graphics usually means understanding of some important elements: HTML: This is the foundation of web development. However, the importance of HTML has been drastically reduced with the creation of newer technologies. Still HTML is important because this language defines the layout of web-pages. It doesn't matter how much CSS you apply to anything ... if there is no HTML layout the CSS will not do anything. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): This is relatively new technology created over the past decade. Yeah we had it in the 90's but the new millennium really added the power of CSS. CSS is the look and feel of the layout. It incorporates positions, heights, margins, widths, overlays, and other types of transforms. Understanding CSS means you understand how to make the webpage load quickly and optimized for any browser. It is the CSS that effectively positions the layout tags. Graphics: Probably the most important and least understood about webpage design. Graphics are more than just images and pictures, but Graphics can truly enhance flow and design. The world of HTML and CSS (and for all of computers in that case) is square. There is no such thing as a round edge. However, Graphics allow the squares to become round. They can make text come alive and can drive an emotional attachment to a web page ... without showing a traditional picture. with a good Layout and Graphics person you can dramatically change a unrefined page into a positive flow website to accomplish engaged audiences. And this is the reason why a good Graphics Designer people are so important to any website. However, a GREAT Graphics Designer is only as good as your relationship you have with them to your style. NOT ALL GRAPHICS DESIGNERS WORK WELL WITH EVERY COMPANY!! it is important to shop around and invest time in discovering which one works with your style so you accomplish a fliud look and feel. Graphics Designers can cost anywhere from $15 an hr - $3500 a project. Website Programming: layout is a strong component of Web Development, but modern day techniques of eCommerce, content management and system transactions requires Web Programming. There are various skills and techniques to programming aspect as well. These include: Client Side Programming: this is how the content changes in the web-browser. For instance, when you mouse over a menu image and that image changes is due to Client Side Programming. And there are a couple of languages you can choose from for Client Side Programming, but the one everyone uses and knows is Javascript. Server Side Programming: this is how the content is retrieved before it hits your web browser. Server Side Programming is the core behind web 2.0 sites. The content of the website is stored in a database, retrieved when needed, and rendered into HTML, CSS and Client Side code. This is the bulk of what "programming" is thought to entail, when really it's one aspect. Server Side Programming is the saying of vague acronyms like "PHP, ASP, ASP.Net, ColdFusion, JSP, javabeans, etc." However, it is truly only one aspect of what makes a GREAT Website. o Third Party Applications: with the creation of HTML tags also came the advent of the <OBJECT> tag, allowing us to stick whatever we wanted into the web browser. Some companies took off on this idea (Macromedia and now Adobe) and created tools to overcome the limitations of static websites. Enter "Flash Developers", "Shockwave Animators", and more recently "Silverlight Developers" all creating applications (mostly games) that enhanced the web experience. These developers work outside of the limitations of "Web Technologies" but create enhancements which can be added to any webpage. with a good Website Programmer you can dramatically change the time to market and flexibility of website productivity. Most web developers tend to think functionally for a website and not structurally about a website. There are a lot of databases created for websites that are not optimized for transactions because of poor web programmers. However, if you discover a Web Programmer who has too much of an architect mindset they are generally seen as slow to market people because they are solving for best scenario development instead of quick functional scope. It is important to discover a middle ground to get the best results. Web programmers, based on skill and level, can range anywhere from $15/hr - $150/hr. For the most part the skill sets do blur across lines of roles. There are those who are Graphics guys who dabble in Programming and visa-versa. However, usually one skill will surpass the other skill. It's tough to be truly adept at both worlds since they really do focus on divergent parts of the brain: analytical and creative. It is also important to note that you do get what you pay for when you're talking Graphics Designers and Web Programmers. Just because you are spending less money per hour does not mean you will get a product you like ... or in some cases functional. I have had to work in many companies where a "Graphics" guy or "Developer" has been paid for services and have delivered nothing. Cheaper does not always equal Less Expense. The trick to lowering costs is to Research the parties you are getting involved. They are creating a brand for you, and image, a first-touch to your clients. You don't need to spend a million dollars to look like a million dollars, but you will need to spend more than the "price of a cup of coffee a day." I should mention there are great tools to help you with all of these things without spending money on a "Graphics" or "Programmer" guy. Tools like WordPress, TypePad, Dot Net Nuke and many others are available, usually FREE, to get you running without the need of expensive "Programmers" and "Designers". The trick with using these systems is understanding the customization, but I'm going to leave that for another email. When you do use these site it is important to realize you are held to the constraints of the tool. Graphic Designers code to the tools theme templates. Programmers code to the tools API. It doesn't mean they won't do the job you want, but it does mean you do have to work in the rules. But I guess at the end of the day we all have to work within the rules. If that wasn't the case I would do nothing but eat brownies all day ... and really what type of living is that? Heaven is what that is! :)

Here is what I did to get a phone number and unlimited long distance in the US for $60.00 a year! [More]