Rantings and Ravings

Posted on September 26, 2011 by admin

Pausing to Sip

”The problem,’ she said, pausing to take a sip of her vodka tonic (she’s cutting back just a bit on the scotch.. especially at these social functions.. that combination has a tendency to make her a tad too social), is that most people go through life with their their blinders on and their game plan in hand. They live their lives with a predetermined destination and rarely deviate from their prescribed path.’

Sometimes though, something exciting happens that pushes us off our training-wheels enabled bicycle. Excitement could simply be a chance decision to move to another city.. or take someone up on their offer to go to a new restaurant.. or deciding it’s time to take a class/write a blog/fall in love/skydive. Or it could be something as easy as opening your eyes to the possibility of more.

Starting Basati was a huge leap for us. We stubbed a few toes (our own…. and some others… sorry guys!) and are moving the business along in a manner similar to most relationships: some give, some take, some riding along to see where an idea (a kiss? haha couldn’t resist!) leads. But mostly we have the paddle out and we attempt to steer as we can (did you know that water is the most powerful force on earth? here I thought it was me…). Of course there are times that we use the paddle to ward off angry bears. But we constantly and consistently adapt and adjust and we are excited about the direction.

I’m excited to announce that team Basati has steered towards a new path. Bear (grr) with me and allow me to embellish tell the story. Continue reading →

You’d better move toward the ‘cloud,’ entrepreneurs

Posted on September 6, 2011 by admin

Let’s say it’s the late 1990s. Advisers are telling you you’ve got to get on this thing called the Internet. You need a website, to be able to send files, and for gosh sake, you have to get email. (I wrote a column in 1997 saying exactly that!) Looking back, you’d say those advisers were right — the Internet was a fundamental shift in how business operates.

Right now, there’s another major transformation taking place. It’s going to change the way you do business. It’s called “cloud computing,” and you need to know about if you want to stay competitive. It’s going to give you far more power, with fewer headaches and less cost. And it’s here to stay.

Cloud computing is such a fundamentally important shift for growing companies that I’ve written a new book —Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth: How to choose, launch and get the most from cloud solutions for your business. It will be in bookstores in Spring, but you can get a free copy now of the e-book version thanks to Dell. They’re giving complimentary copies in conjunction with the launch of their new cloud offering — Dell Cloud Business Applications. Continue reading →

An Amazing Amalgamation

Posted on July 27, 2011 by admin

Basati has grown again. Bang the drums! Beat the walls! Break out the celebratory bubblies (although I prefer mine un-bubbly, de-iced even..)! We are ready to build for you.

The latest additions to team Basati include Kapil, salesforce admin extraordinaire; Sharon, our resident whiz-kid at processes and procedures; and Eric, our scrum-master/project manager who brings some much needed direction to our group.

I know, I know. You’re asking yourself ‘Why all the buzz in salesforce (aka SFDC)? I don’t even HAVE a sales force!!’ and ‘Why don’t you talk to me instead about why I need a social marketing guru that will explain how I’m losing all these opportunities to connect with all these people I didn’t know I needed to connect with.’ Geesh. I don’t even know what salesforce IS!

Sooo.. What the sam-hell is Salesforce, anyway? From ask.com, Salesforce.com is defined as an enterprise cloud computing company famous for three things:

1. The Sales Cloud and the Service Cloud: Their applications for sales and customer service (customer relationship management or CRM)

2. Force.com: Their cloud platform for building and running business applications

3. Chatter: Their enterprise collaboration app.
Continue reading →

The Value of Social Marketing

Posted on July 13, 2011 by admin

Questions about Social Marketing? Google it. I dare you. I know, I know. You’re asking yourself: WHY BOTHER?

Isn’t this just a fad? Or something that the kids do? Facebook… Who has the time? Twitter… Seriously, I don’t need a notification every time my neighbor walks his dog (and whether said pooch was successful at #2, or will a subsequent walk be necessary?). LinkedIn… I’m happy with my job and really don’t need to be updated every time a former co-worker finds happiness somewhere else (err… wait… maybe he can put a good word in for me?).

And what the heck are all these other sites in that graphic??? OMG! I’m overwhelmed and choose NOT TO PARTICIPATE!

Don’t be scared. There’s help.

Let’s face it. It can be overwhelming. And a lot of companies.. big companies even! have their blinders on when it comes to marketing (socially or otherwise). They can’t measure results – there’s no pretty report that some underling has compiled for them. Continue reading →

QR Codes – Fad or Future

Posted on July 8, 2011 by admin

You may have seen these funny-looking square boxes around town and wondered what they are. Some of you have likely used your smart phone to read the code and see what happens. Most of you have no idea what these are and what they are for – YET!

If you read my wife’s previous post you know we just returned from NYC and saw these all around town. From the oldest pub in NYC (maybe America) to the front page of the NY Times to the menus of tiny restaurants and stores to a giant billboard in Times Square, QR codes were popping up everywhere. And it was way fun to read them all and see the ‘hidden’ message.

But, of course, these are not about hidden messages. A QR code (Quick Response Code) is simply a fast and mobile way to get to you to a designated spot. They can take you to cool websites, cool videos (like the one above), voice files, or email address. They also can be used to take you to a phone number, text message, SMS code and more.
For example, you’re walking along a street and see a cool billboard for something that interests you. How do you remember it later? Do you take a picture, write down the website (with paper and pen none of us seem to carry anymore), call to leave yourself a voice mail, text yourself or really just hope that you remember later. With your smart phone (we all have one of those now right?) you read the QR code and go back to it later when you need it. Simple as that. Continue reading →

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