-set a time and start on time
-layout the full agenda first
-use a timer for open discussion topics
-set action items for each attendee
-leave

How many people tell you to back up your mobile device? Not many. We recently ran into this with a consultant here in our office. Her 2 month old iPhone 4 hatched the dreaded NO SIM issue. Like a good customer she logged on to Apple.com and made an appointment with the Genius Bar. Much to her surprise they had an open slot in 30 minutes. She packed up her purse and headed out…forgetting to back-up her phone. She had not synced for a few weeks. Therefore she spent a good part of her Genius Bar visit uploading her photos via the SmugMug app.

iPhone

If you have an iPhone you automatically create a back up every time you sync, however some other phones do not. Some sync products like MicroSoft Exchange and Apple’s MobileMe will help keep your calendar and contacts items in check. What about your other data?

Here are a few tips to help you out. None of this will apply to iPhone users since your phone is backed up every time you sync (which you should be doing once a week anyway). It’s for you that are new to the smartphone and rocking the latest Blackberry or Android device.

Android

One of the nice things about the Android platform is the fact that all of your important data like contacts and emails are stored on the internet and it is all sync’d automatically. And when the latest version called Froyo is released, even your application data will be backed up to your Google account.

Still, it’s not complete. Like most smartphone owners, you will end up with photos or video on your camera. There are SMS messages too that you might want to keep as well.

The best way to back up your photos on your Android is by using iPhoto on the Mac or Picasa on Windows. Connect your phone, import your photos (and video) just like your camera. Done and done.

You can also download Lookout. It will provide anti-virus, backup and device finding functionality. All for free! Available in the market, from the site or at Appbrain.com.

Blackberry

If you are a Blackberry user, then you should already be using the Blackberry Desktop Manager. If you aren’t, now would be a good time to start. Besides providing a complete backup of the data on your phone, it also provides a conduit to sync your phone contacts to Microsoft Outlook (or your favorite email program).

You can also install the Google app called Google Sync on your phone from m.google.com. It will sync your contacts and calendar to your Google account for safe keeping.

For photos, you can import those easily into iPhoto or Picasa, just like you do for your camera.

Finally, for both Android and Blackberry phones, it’s a good idea to completely copy everything from the phone that you can. When you connect your device to your PC or Mac, it should mount as a drive. Open that drive and copy everything there to a local folder under your user directory on your PC. Bonus, if you have regular backups on your PC, that’s 2 more copies of your phone data that you have.

Remember, you can’t get it back if you don’t back it up!

Don Burnside is an IT consultant, specializing in Point-of-Sale systems and introducing or upgrading technology to small and mid-sized companies. He is also a professional trainer, and believes that proper, thorough training with adequate documentation is always better than not, and cheaper too.

What can I say about db? An icon of innovation. He can do things with open source that DreamWeaver addicts only ‘dream’ about. His technical background is extensive. I am so glad to have him posting an article here.

Now if I could just get him to live at altitude…we would own this town.

Welcome ImageWraps.com to the CEOself family of clients.  Shane and his staff are based right here in Castle Rock, Colorado.  They have been providing wraps for everything from motorcycles to airplanes.  They also do interior and exterior signage.

They are currently using the following services:

Web Development  –  Web Update Training – Social Network Marketing

We were very happy to help them set up their new site.  In the coming months we’ll be rolling out some other services.

Over the past few months CEOself has been working on a few internal projects.  We’d like to take a minute to introduce both of them.

MotoringShirts

This site was built for the “motoring” enthusiast.  Loosely based in the Mini Cooper community MotoringShirts.com will offer apparel for car enthusiasts around the world.  Starting with our t-shirts — all design work, shirts and production will all take place right here in the United States. The company uses ecco-friendly printing processes that limit the use of chemicals and waste.  Traditional screen printing can be very harmful to the environment.  It’s great to see a company take on industrial environmental challenges and thrive.

Whether you drive a Mini, Subaru, Mitsubishi, BMW or something else, you’ll be sure to find something that will help show your car identity when you’re not behind the wheel.

TrailDriven

Is 4×4 off-roading your thing?  TrailDriven is for you.  They like to say “TrailDriven, because you’re not just TrailRated”.  That slogan goes a long way to tell you about the folks that run this site.  They wheel.  It’s not some big corporate site that sells parts and a few t-shirts on the side.  It’s a small, family run business.  If you have a shirt design, and they like it, they’ll even print you that shirt, and stamp the sleeve with “Owner’s Club”.  Telling everyone, every time you wear it, that you made it.  What a great idea!

They’ll also be rolling out a “Shirt of The Month Club”.  The STMC will offer an exclusive design each month.  That design will only be sent out to STMC members.

Like MotoringShirts.com they also use an ecco-friendly printing process that limits the use of chemicals and waste.

While discussing UBADGE’s community involvement we recognized a need.  The community needed an avenue to sell t-shirts for organized events.  Most organizations set-up a time line, take orders and payment up to a certain date.  Once the funds and orders are in, they find a supplier, order and wait.  This process is outdated.  UBADGE and CEOself came up with a better solution.

UBADGE offers a organization the ability to put a shirt design on the web and allows supporters to buy them.  UBADGE makes the shirts to order, accepts the funds, and ships the shirt. The funds are then given to the organization on a weekly basis.  This concept gives the organization’s support the product in a few days in stead of weeks later.  The organization tels UBADGE how much to mark the product up.  They post on the product page how much of each design will be given back to the organization.

The first such shirt is currently being hosted for troyfightscancer.org.  Troy is John Paulsen’s brother in-law. In late January 2010 Troy was diagnosed with case of masticular melanoma.  Read more about troy and his battle here.

Order a shirt & show your support

[via Lifehacker via Skelliewag via @scottros]

Help us test out the OpenID PlugIn.  Post a comment, tell us if you have any trouble.

Thanks,

In the next week or so we plan on sprucing it up a little.  I know I need to educate myself on some of the application development that is going on over at Facebook.  This is a good opportunity.

If you’re not a ‘fan’ of us over on FaceBook, head over here and ‘fan’ us up.  That way you won’t miss any of the new updates.

UBADGE is a project we started in the fourth quarter of 2009.  The newly formed company will be selling badges, decals and shirts.  We were hired to develop the business plan, most of the products , and of course the site.  The site was designed to use standard server tools. UBADGE.com should roll out Feb 1st.  So look for an huge announcement here, and everywhere else I guess; they hired us to do the Social Marketing too.

If your looking a full sized shopping cart, or just a site for your small business.  Give us a ring.  Our initial visit is free.

What a great product.  The iPhone or iPod Touch never actually sees the credit card number.  You see the hardware sees the number then encrypts it before send the data to the phone.

I am working on a project that will go live next month.  This product could benefit greatly from a mobile credit card processing machine.

YouTube Direct Link

“You and your team did an outstanding job on the site-everyone on staff is very impressed and Council is very happy.” – City Finance Director

Tell me what you think.

You see a few years ago when I started this consulting firm one of my first clients called me a psychologist for her business.  I found that amusing and thought it would make a great ad campaign someday.  That day has come.

I decided to talk about mobile phones. There is no gadget more scary, and more needed by Older Americans than mobile phones. The speech touched on the basics of how a cell phone works and we had a healthy question and answer session.

The event was held at a local Temple in East Denver. I arrived early. The young lady who was to speak before was from Medicare. After her speech was over she started taking questions. The final question was from and a man who had to be in his late 70s. He slowly worked himself out of his chair and said,

“Does Medicare cover medicinal marijuana?”.

I nearly fell out of chair. The lady from AARP next to me smiled while trying to hold back her burst of laughter. I leaned over to her and said “Rock on, good for him”

The ceremony will be held at the 390 Perry Street location on Wednesday November 18th.  Food and drinks are served at 5:30pm and the lighting will be at 6:03pm sharp.  I asked Jason why such and odd time, 6:03pm.  He said it was because Rockies games always start at off times, never right at the top or bottom of the hour.  Sounded good to me.

If you’re in the Castle Rock area, stop by and make some new friends.  There is a rumor that Nicole Paulsen’s birthday is also happening that day.  Maybe there will be cake.

Would the auto manufacturer that received a bailout from the government please stop with the capitalist advertising slogan?

During the beginning of 2009 General Motors was one of the largest recipients of the government auto bailout. This bailout saved GM from certain bankruptcy. They explained to us how an out of control, ever expanding dealer base was draining the car company. GM told us how many UAW workers would laid off if the company was left to fail. They worried us with the thought of an “American Icon” closing it doors.

The past few weeks have seen General Motors vehicles advertised on TV under the slogan “May the Best Car Win”™. How ironic? A slogan that asks for competition. It asks for a fair fight. The TV ads pit GM cars against imports from Toyota, Honda, even Mini. More ironic is the fact that these manufactures did not take or even need any of the bailout money. Why did they not need bail out money? They were already winning.

The key to capitalism is competition. The product that most people judge as the best will “win”. If we had let “the Best Car Win” eight months ago General Motors would have lost.

In this case lets talk about “being in the right place at the right time”.  A few years ago I might have not taken so much offense to the comment.  Today, with the push of social and direct networking, less and less of this type of success is really luck. Granted the meeting might have something to do with chance, but converting a “chance” meeting into a new customer has nothing to do with luck.

I don’t know about you, but I plan out meeting new customers every single day.  I actual prepare for these “chance encounters”.  Don’t get me wrong I don’t have bullet points tattooed on my arm, but I prepare.

The other day I met a gentleman in line at a local hardware store.  It was during the week and during “business hours”.  My first impression was not stellar.  I was in a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt.  He was there buying a plunger.  He was dressed in casual business clothes, but had on “suit and tie” shoes.  I looked down past the two cell phones on his belt at the plunger and said “good luck with that”.  He laughed and began to tell me a story about how he had to run over because his restaurant’s toilet was clogged, and he was the only one that could leave and get it.  I said “So the staff sends the owner over to grab a plunger?”  He smirked and said “I do everything.”  I told him that I sympathized with him.  We then began a conversation about his restaurant, where it was, how many locations, etc.

Next week I am meeting with him to discuss some organizational consulting, and hourly IT support.  Was this meeting chance, yes, but was I lucky, no.

Stop excepting your success as luck.  More important stop letting others define you as lucky.  What makes this chance meeting success?  Preparation.  Preparing for chance is not luck.  What told me this guy was a small business owner?  What told me he could use my services?  Experience and education told me.  It was wasn’t luck.  I created my own success.  This conversation could have turned to the nasty plunging story I have stored in my head.  I made the decision to discuss this business.

How much of your success do you or others chalk up to luck?

We are also posting these stories on Twiiter.  Just follow CEOself_News

In recent weeks, a phony e-mail claiming to come from the IRS has been circulating in large numbers. The subject line of the e-mail often states that the e-mail is a notice of underreported income. The e-mail may contain an attachment or a link to a bogus Web page directing taxpayers to their “tax statement.” In either case, when the recipient opens the attachment or clicks on the link, they download a Trojan horse-type of virus to their computers.

If you have already been a victim, update your virus software and run a full system scan.  Call us if you need some help with this.

[more info on the IRS website]

Central City is looking for a full revamp of their site, adding Twitter and FaceBook feeds too.  The City has also chosen to us to help them with updating.  See we are not like other web designers.  We build a site, then train the client to update it.  Our team is always in the background if a question arises.  We feel it’s very important for a client to have the tools to update their own page.

New content is key.  After all, these days once the data is uploaded it’s already stale.

Thank you Central City, you won’t be disappointed.

ps: not a bad “New Client Friday” around here.  How did you today?

If you’re one of our clients you will soon be receiving an email with your new user name and password.  Some of you may have already received it.

Feel free to use the system to review support tickets and even see status of updates to your projects.  We are working hard on a small user manual and will post it here as soon as it’s completed.

[ceoself.net/projects]

The team is working many different aspects of this products design and roll-out

• products design (mock-ups, CAD drawings, test fitting
• sourcing a manufacturer
• creative design
• product marketing and placement
• web development
• web shopping cart development
• daily production
• sourcing distribution
• writing policy and procedures
• developing training for new staff

Do you have a product you would like to bring to market.  Do you need a staff to help you.  CEOself is here.  We can consult with you on any aspect of a new product idea.  We sign confidentiality agreements all the time, so your idea and market is safe with us.  Call us today for a free consultation.

[720.279.4709]

We have been asked to do market research and some competitive analysis. The product is heavily used in another auto grouping, but this is a new market.

We are helping this client throughout the process. Taking them from business plan, to manufacturing, to organization, to web design, to fulfillment. Marketing and advertising is being discussed with us also, but we have not come to and agreement yet. This is going to be huge for the automobile customizing business.

When we can tell you more we will. Roll out by the end of the month is the goal.

How was your New Client Friday?

Case and Point: Free Refrigerator

How many of you have see a refrigerator sitting on one of your neighbors driveways?  Let’s say it had a huge Free sign on it.  Would you take it?  Could you use some more cold storage?  We’re all buying meat at Costco and Sam’s Club these days right?

Skype is a lot like this refrigerator.  A wonderful well working tool that if used in the proper way can help you communicate better with friends, family, co-workers anywhere in the world.  So why is it only deep tech savvy people using it?

Last week I had a client ask me about Magic Jack.  A informational based product that offer FREE local and long distance calls to anyone, all for $19.95.  The client said it was to communicate with family members.  After a few probing questions later he said the family members are currently using a Vongage USB line and he wants something like they have,but without all the Vonage billing mess.  I asked him if he had ever heard of Skype.  He said yes, “but it’s free and I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in free stuff these days”. I then told him I know of someone with a perfectly good working refrigerator for free.  He looked at me puzzled?

Folks why are we so scared of free stuff these days.  Skype is a perfect way to chat and video conference with friends, family and co-workers.  It’s free if both parties have a free account and a computer.  Don’t be silly, use it.

My Skype ID is of course “CEOself”

No I didn’t ask him if he need