Webmail is ubiquitous. Easy to setup, check from any browser, or download to email clients like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird, most individuals have several webmail accounts.  Many businesses use webmail for their business email as well, whether provided by a website host as an add-on service, or through more evolved products like Yahoo Mail Plus or Gmail.  These email options all share many characteristics, most based on the POP or IMAP protocols that are used for the email server and service. 

Traditionally only larger organizations and companies have utilized Microsoft’s Exchange technology for hosting email servers, which linked to Outlook clients provide some significant feature sets and productivity benefits not found on POP and IMAP email servers. A few years ago, companies started offering shared Exchange server hosting environments for monthly fees so that small-medium businesses that didn’t want the extra cost and hassles of their own in-house Exchange server could still benefit from the technology and utilize Outlook the way it was designed to be used.  Even more recently, Microsoft took that over themselves, providing the servers and improving the features and costs with Microsoft Online Services.  I have written about this previously in its’ several forms, from Exchange Online only up to and including the full Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).  I have yet to publish a simple list of the advantages and features small and medium businesses can expect when transitioning to Exchange Online for email hosting….Here is that list!

1.  More than email: Exchange adds a robust Contacts database, Tasks/To-Do Lists, Calendaring, and Public File Sharing

2.  Access methods:  from any web browser with Outlook Web Access, from smartphones with data and ActiveSync, from Microsoft Outlook

3.  Advanced scheduling tools, the ability to see multiple calendars within your organization, the ability to edit other’s calendars, the capability to share documents with others online easily, complex task database and task management, categories

4.  Reduced costs and complexity with all the productivity enhancements of a traditional in-house server

5.  Built-in backup of data, enhanced spam filtering and security tools compared to many other email hosts

If you add Microsoft Outlook 2010 to the mix as part of the email solution, there are additional benefits: Task Delegation (create and assign tasks to others); Enhanced Scheduling and Calendaring Features (Overlay mode for multiple calendars, scheduling assistants to suggest meeting and appointment times, plugins for services like GoToMeeting); and now the Social Connector (see updates from social networks like Facebook and Linked In for your contacts right inside Outlook).

At prices per user per month that are only a few dollars more than POP and IMAP email options, and new features coming with Office365 in 2011, there is little reason for any small to medium business NOT to give Exchange Online a try.  You may find it changes the way you do business and enables some exciting changes for your organization.

Contact tech@nsipartners.com if you’d like to work with NSI Partners for a free trial of any Microsoft Online product, or for support in transition from your existing solutions.

So…it was time for a laptop upgrade.  I had a lot of requirements this time around.  I wanted a desktop replacement on a budget.  I also wanted a good processor, hard drive, and networking performance.  Quality screen, multitouch keypad, good sound were all pluses.  Decided I wanted to use Best Buy, since I have a Silver membership to their Reward Zone.  This meant a few things.  One, I had up to 45 days to return or exchange the product.  With my experience with Windows laptop builds, I figured this would be a great bonus.  Second, I still wanted to be able to physically test the laptop before buying it.  If I was going to get a desktop replacement that I would be using regularly, I wanted something I would be more-than-OK with interacting with physically on an ongoing basis.

By now the question is…where does social media come into all this?  Well, like many online shopping sites, even those that are online versions of brick-and-mortar establishments, bestbuy.com has a customer review section for their products.  The data is overwhelmingly in favor of us “consumers” trusting each other’s experiences far more than most advertising or marketing around a product.  This trend has grown so much that company’s are now wisely diverting large portions of their traditional advertising and marketing budget into Social Media Marketing, using “listening platforms” to understand how and where us “consumers” are talking about their products and brands.  But online customer reviews around products are really where this roller coaster began.

The time I spent reading the experiences of other users with their laptop purchases became rather addictive.  I changed my mind at least 5 times based on the experience of other customers, and ended up choosing a laptop brand I never would have believed I would selected otherwise: Samsung!  Even though I had follow-up experiences involving the return of my initial purchase and 4 subsequent exchanges and second-guesses (hence, the value of the Silver Reward Zone Membership), I ended up a very happy camper with a laptop chosen in large part because of the high marks given by other consumers, and less because of any advertising, marketing, or brand loyalty.  And it may be my most favorite portable computing device yet!

Moral of the story:  all else being equal, it really pays for technology manufacturers, distributors, and even retail point-of-sale facilities to include social media as a centralized portion of the buying process.  Now, I’ll find it hard to consider buying technology elsewhere for all these reasons.

(Photo credit: Xobni)

Thanks to Jeff Price at BOC International, who sent me a LinkedIn connection invitation via a new Outlook plugin called Xobni, I have hope of “taking back my inbox.” This is according to both Xobni’s literature and reviews like CNet‘s.

I had never heard of Xobni. I can tell from the spelling that our high-technology age is quickly running out of pithy utterances available from the Roman alphabet, and Norton warns me that apparently “fewer than 10 people” have downloaded this plugin. Norton can’t mean that for all of Xobni, though. What about Jeff Price and all his LinkedIn friends? We’ve only spoken a few times, but I’m guessing he has more than nine. (Come to think of it, Norton is the one that sometimes can’t count many friends, although their latest version has indeed really solved most of the problems that plagued previous ones.) I’m guessing then that that’s what its warning is about: this particular build of Xobni or something — otherwise, if I were really among the first ten users, I would have won a prize by now, right?

Nevertheless, Xobni captured my attention immediately with its seductive promise of being able to cross-reference email and social media contacts and, even better, leverage the social networking of email itself. As social-media grows there’s an increasing dichotomy between people that effective leverage twitter and all and those of us who “still use email.” If Xobni can help bridge that gap, as both social networks and email platforms are incredibly useful, then I immediately wanted to watch the video. And I hardly ever make time for that. I still need to explore it, but between an easy presentation and a clear website, to say nothing of the inherent recommendation via LinkedIn, I downloaded and installed immediately.

Then, while I was waiting for Xobni to index my PST files, I went to send an email. Outlook once again could neither auto-fill nor suggest an address that’s somewhere in my database. At that moment Xobni Plus closed the sale. A clever bit of script was able to hint the precise email address I needed: a grayed-out drop-down that I couldn’t quite select without upgrading for $30. Worth it, I thought, and now it’s telling me in a shiny new, colorful panel that has appeared in Outlook that “we’re ready to rock.” We’ll see, but so far, so great.

The article mentions that the company is rebuilding its platform specifically to create “verticals” focused on different types of content with different appeal to different target markets. This week, Digg apparently will  announce “another layer of vetting” that will help highlight certain types of stories more quickly,” accordng to Mr. Adelson.

Couldn’t come too soon. Not only is this timely in terms of increasing segmentation in social media, but I realize this is exactly why I don’t really use Digg yet. It seems like a nice tool, but ultimately there’s a crowd mentality about crowdsourcing, and I subconsciously have just thought I can get better targeted content from the folks I follow on Twitter. Once again, Twitter raises the bar.

As part of my training, I’ve being asked to chair our SM committee, and eventually become the staff person who makes sure we’re up-to-date on best practices. The funny thing is that I find it difficult to keep my own SM up-to-date, and often wonder how many people really do have time to do so themselves.

As I become more aware of these systems,  I am noticing that the world is all a-Twitter; I can’t believe how many times I hear people talking about Twitter or read articles about Twitter or Facebook. How was I so oblivious to this before? Now, hardly a day goes by without my noticing something on the radio, internet, in an article, or a conversation; even President Obama is Twittering (tweeting?).

Obama was quick to realize the importance of SM; its ability to build relationships while reaching millions, almost at the speed of light. SM has most definitely changed the way we’re able to communicate–influencing others, ourselves, our ability to better our businesses, even changing the way political candidates campaign.

With all this education I’m getting about how to use SM, who knows–maybe I’ll be our next President!

It used to be possible to track online discussions with a simple tool like Google Alerts. The online universe has becom quite complex in a very short time, however, generating the need for more sophisticated monitoring and analysis. Online reputation-management services let you track what others are saying online about your company, including positive and negative sentiment. This allows you to monitor and understand what you are doing well, while also letting you quickly discover and take action on discussions having a negative brand impact.

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty starts with a seemingly easy premise: Reach out to the widest possible audience with a proposition that speaks to their concerns. Self-esteem building for all women was the key message, with Dove selecting 6 women from all walks of life to embrace the variety of ways beauty can be represented. Beauty industry stereotypes are criticized as harmful to a woman’s well-being. Dove’s multi-channel campaign spans the media spectrum including videos, public transportation signage, town hall meetings, panel discussions and online forums. At each point the “Real Beauty” message resonates to all women. Dove expanded the campaign to reach out to pre-teen and teen girls; making the message of esteem building a universal campaign theme.

The key to the Dove campaign’s success was that Dove reached out to the widest possible audience. They created an atmosphere of inclusiveness, which by its very definition, encourages participants to share and identify with the “real beauty” concept. Through this initiative, using Dove products becomes part of an overall experience that simultaneously brings attention to the Dove brand and to the idea of real beauty, that’s inclusive for all women. The Dove initiative continues to build momentum with its own website, campaignforrealbeauty.com, and focuses on multiple engagement opportunities on and offline to encourage self-esteem in women of all ages, body types and walks of life.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA.org) recently reported that Del Monte used customer input from its online pet owner community, I Love My Dog, to help create a new dog treat product. The Wall Street Journal reported the full story that discusses how Del Monte purposely created their 400 member community consisting of hand picked dog owners who could help them with product feedback.

If you’re looking for new ways to dialogue with your customers, consider creating a branded social network site using applications such as KickApps, Ning, or CrowdVine. Some groups use these apps for short-term events such as conferences. Or you can start a brand new social network and ask your customers to help you create your next hit product! Need more information? Download this PDF 9 Steps To A Successful Online Community or view these YouTube videos on CrowdVine’s conference networking and social networking applications.

• Add keyword rich headlines, descriptions and tags to your photos. You can even write paragraphs of optimized content to associate with your photos.
• Use quotation marks around keyword phrases such as “toy trains” when tagging to be found for an exact phrase.
• Start a Flickr Group or join one. There are many interesting groups including Moon Photos, 100 Year Old Photos and the popular Flickr Meetup Groups (this link is from the Scottish Meet Ups).
• Use the “Organize” drop down at the top of your photo stream page to batch organize your photos. You can drag and drop photos onto a Yahoo Map to geotag them according to where they were taken.
• Place your Flickr pictures on your website and link to your Flickr photo streams.
• Check Flickr’s FAQ section for tips and the Flickr Services page to take advantage of Flickr tools and resources.
• Learn more about Flickr’s “interestingness” method for ranking photos, and work to make your photos stand out from the pack.
• Submit your Flickr images to social networking websites. Stumble Upon drives a lot of image traffic and you can also upload your Flickr photos to the Slideroll slideshow creator.

I recommend Barry Schwartz’s post on Search Engine Land, “New School” Search Engine Optimization, if you want more information on image optimization and optimizing content for social media sites.