Posts for Tech & Science Category

Top 5 Reasons Why You Must Join LinkedIn or Use it More Actively Now

Social Media - Patrick - September 1, 2020

Social media has changed the entire landscape of how things work, whether it is for users or for businesses. As users have found more channels to communicate and socialize, businesses now have far more & better ways to reach out to their customers. LinkedIn, since it started back in 2003, has come a long way as the most powerful and influential professional networking channel for users and businesses alike. Recently LinkedIn achieved a huge landmark with its user base crossing 200 million mark worldwide.

One big reason why LinkedIn is fast becoming so popular is the various improvements as well as modifications incorporated in it to make it more user-friendly and relevant to users. A completely new revamped interface, new features like ‘endorsements’ and various other new functionality are a great improvement for the largest professional social networking site in the world.

Are you wondering what I am talking about? May be you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, or you are using it only sparingly. If have a LinkedIn profile, and haven’t signed in for a long time, just do it and see how much it has changed now! Buy Real Facebook Likes from USA based on the top-notch reasons for the social media should be there. There is change in the profile of the page to meet with the requirements. The changes can be made as per the specification of the business people. The preparation of the budget will meet with the specifications whatever the social platform is available. 

Here in this post, I will tell you 5 Top Reasons why you must get a LinkedIn Profile, or use it more aggressively if case you already one:

Have you ever tried googling (just invented the word ) your own name? Try it and see what comes in the results. When I searched my name, the top search result came for my ‘LinkedIn’ Profile. Yes, participating actively in social networks makes you more visible in SERPs. Just imagine an old friend or a colleague trying to connect with you, and he googles your name. Having an active LinkedIn profile will get you there in the top results page very fast and easy. Not just LinkedIn, other social networks gets indexed too, and show up in the SERPs. But I believe, professionally, LinkedIn is what will give you better leverage. Having an updated LinkedIn profile and your regular activity on it, will surely give you SEO benefit.

There are hundreds of new things happening on LinkedIn every single day. LinkedIn is just getting better and better. I just logged in and saw, to my surprise, a new feature which enables connecting with others more easily. With all these enhancements, why not leverage this powerful tool to grow your professional network, and showcase your professional skills to a larger audience. LinkedIn now gives you a number of new tools to get connected to scores of professionals belonging to your industry, in a much better and easier manner. For example, the feature called ‘People you may know’ allows you to connect with people who belong you own area of interest or work. You may build and expand your network as much as you want

These days more and more employers are turning to LinkedIn to source employees. LinkedIn has become an effective source of recruitment due to its scale and cost-effectiveness. There are thousands of jobs posted on LinkedIn every day. ‘Jobs you may be Interested In’ feature shows you jobs you may wish to apply, according to your skills and expertise. All major brands or small, medium enterprises use LinkedIn as a part of their recruitment strategy. Employers check LinkedIn profiles of the applicants before short listing them. Why lose out on this opportunity to get your dream job? Joining LinkedIn makes more sense now than ever.

Have you checked ‘LinkedIn Today’, a feature in the ‘news’ menu? This section lists out hundreds of new interesting articles in various topics which are taken from various sources like Wall street journal, Inc.com or LinkedIn itself. I find this section particularly interesting and share anything I find interesting with my connections. You can ‘follow’ topics that interest you and save the articles that particularly interest you. LinkedIn also has a wall now on which you can share updates with your connections. Sharing useful articles or posts will send a positive message to your connections who will not only be benefited by your ‘shares’ but also consider you as a serious professional who is keeping himself up-to-date with the latest in the industry.

Have you joined any LinkedIn group? If you haven’t, you are missing out on one of the best and most important features of new LinkedIn. There are thousands of important discussions happening on these groups. You may join specific groups related to your interest or area of work that you do. These groups allow you to connect with thousands of industry professionals and participate in the high-level discussions. Your contribution to these discussions will surely help you connect with new prospects, industry professionals, or prospective partners or hirers (You never know!). These groups are one of the hotbeds for showcasing your skills and expertise and get noticed! So why Wait! Find out the important groups related to your industry, start contributing to the discussions. Most of these groups are open, meaning anyone can join freely while some of them are moderated and you are required to send a ‘request to join’.

Given the tough economic scenario in the major parts of the world, finding your dream job might become a little more difficult. But with the tools like LinkedIn, you can turn the situation around in your favor. Understanding how this tool works will help you explore the immense opportunities that LinkedIn offers!

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The secret to finding high quality educational iOS apps

Tech & Science - Patrick - January 19, 2019

If you’re looking to spread your digital wings a bit, you probably want to find some of the highest quality educational iOS apps available. You probably head over to the official Apple App Store on your chosen iDevice and check out the ‘featured’ area and perhaps the ‘Top Sellers’ list. That’s great and a solid way to see what is being used on devices around the world. 

For the most part, though, all those top apps are either just big names or have had some recent promotion. As someone who once made an iPad app, I know what it’s like to try and get your app onto one of those promoted areas in the App Store. You would do just about anything because, as I found out, your sales and download numbers skyrocket as soon as you crack the top 100 apps in your category.

So how should you avoid the crazy featured and top sellers lists? By becoming familiar with the category filters, of course! It’ll look something like this on your computer:

See that small little link that says ‘Education Collections’ on the right below ‘iPhone Education’? That’s where you want to focus. It’s out of the way and most people don’t use it.

That’s the secret.

You want to use that link to filter down your app choices into what you actually want. That’s how you find the highest quality educational iOS apps that you wouldn’t normally see surfaced on the main App Store. For example, it’s a great way to find apps for elementary school students who need some STEM activities. Or perhaps it’s a great way to find an app for students in need of special education. Maybe just a handy to-do list for teachers gearing up for the new school year? It’s simple to find all this stuff and you don’t even need to search!

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Cloud vs. On-Premise: Which Is Right for Me?

Tech & Science - Patrick - December 26, 2018

Cloud vs. On-Premise

Cloud vs. On-Premise“Should I move my business to the cloud?” is a question many business owners, executives and staff are asking themselves in today’s age. The truth is there are many advantages to doing so, but it may not be the right choice for every business. There isn’t a right or wrong answer, but I am here to provide you information needed to make an informed decision.

First, let’s talk about the benefits of moving your business to the cloud. With cloud services, you will have lower capital expenses than you would if you were investing in new on-premise infrastructure. You are not purchasing hardware, which often times can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars up-front. Typically, cloud services operate on a “pay-per-use” model, and are very scalable up or down, which is great for companies with fast growth, or even companies that decide to reduce their footprint. Your potential for downtime with cloud services is significantly reduced because equipment is typically hosted in a telco-grade co-location or data center with significant power backup and redundant network connections. With cloud services, you also have the benefit of your provider doing data backups for you.

In addition, businesses (especially SMBs), may also want to invest in cloud services if they have the lack of technical resources on-site to build or maintain the technical infrastructure. Moving businesses to the cloud puts the responsibility on the service provider to make sure systems are updated with proper security patches and software updates, allowing your internal staff to focus on one thing: your core business.

Cloud vs. On-Premise

Moving your business to the cloud may seem very attractive, but the decision should go far beyond costs. If you are an organization that has strict compliance regulations, keep in mind that third-parties will now be in control of your confidential data. If you are an organization that handles credit card information, it is important to ensure that the cloud provider is compliant with all PCI standards. If you have complex systems, like a home-grown billing system for example, integration with a cloud based provider could prove to be costly and time consuming. If you are a business that relies on a 99.99% uptime, it’s important to calculate your downtime cost per hour when evaluating your decision.

Moving your business to the cloud may not be the right decision for your business, and an on-premise infrastructure may be more beneficial. For example, if you have large capacity file shares, or operations that use significant Cloud vs. On-Premisebandwidth, on-premise infrastructure may be a better solution. Businesses that do not have sufficient bandwidth to the Internet to support cloud services will either need to upgrade bandwidth or keep services on-site.

Finally, when considering moving your business to the cloud or keeping it on-premise, keep in mind the “5 year rule”. Organizations are typically replacing on-premise equipment every 5 years. This is a hidden cost that is not often considered in these decisions because it is not an immediate concern. Looking at Total Cost of Ownership is a better way to evaluate this decision, as it will include upgrade costs, recurring monthly costs, CAPEX costs, and puts it all into perspective.

To wrap it up, there isn’t a right or wrong decision. Whatever you decide, it’s most important to make an informed decision on what is right for you business today and moving forward into the future.

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No Shortage Of Social Media Non Believers

Social Media, Tech & Science - Patrick - December 19, 2018

No Shortage Of Social Media Non Believers

So there I was, minding my own business… poring over my extensive collection of Yanni ablums when a good friend of mine sends me an email with a link to a story.

And not just any article, no this was a piece about a product, which seemingly had achieved enormous success – to the tune of $1 billion in sales, without lifting one social media finger.

The product is Febreeze, the delightfully smelling air-freshener from Proctor & Gamble and the article was penned by Jonathan Salem Baskin. In his piece, which Mr. Baskin whimsically titled The iPad of Air-Care, he compares Febreeze to Apple…  No Shortage Of Social Media Non Believers

“Febreze introduced 37 new products or variations in the first nine months of 2010, choosing to let them “do the talking” for the brand much as Apple lets its less-frequent introductions do the same.”

Wow, sounds great, doesn’t it? Mr. Baskin further states his case by telling readers that “Febreze isn’t creating entertaining “content” for its consumers to enjoy on YouTube, or allowing them to share on its Facebook site their personal stories about overcoming odor problems (I can’t find an official-looking FB page for the brand).” And that he “couldn’t find a single customer complaint it fixed on Twitter.”

Wow again… Who needs social media?

Upon Further Review…

Wait… hang on.

“Febreze isn’t creating entertaining “content” for its consumers to enjoy on YouTube?”

You mean like this?

No Shortage Of Social Media Non Believers

And Febreeze doesn’t allow them (consumers) to share on its Facebook site their personal stories about overcoming odor problems and you couldn’t even find an official Facebook page, right?

Hmmm… then I’m not quite sure what these are…

And you also stated that you “couldn’t find a single customer complaint it fixed on Twitter” right?

Well there you may have something because I too could not find any “customer complaint [Febreeze] fixed on Twitter.” Not that I spent a whole helluva lot time looking mind you but it surely didn’t take me to long to find:
The YouTube Channel
The Facebook Page

And it sure didn’t take me very long to find this…

What this is, in case you didn’t know Mr. Bskin, is a screen shot taken from search.twitter.com. And as you can plainly see, people are in fact discussing the virtues of Febreeze.

The Consumer Is In Control…

And that’s precisely what social media non-believers like Mr. Baskin and Bob Hoffman, AKA The Ad Contrarian, don’t get. Advertisers, companies & agencies don’t control what is being said via social media.

The consumer does!

Even if there were no Febreeze Facebook Page or You Tube channel, people would still be talking about it online…

No Shortage Of Social Media Non Believers

Why? Because they can!

I don’t know Mr. Baskin from Baskin Robbins and I’m sure he’s a very nice man, and I very much enjoy reading The Ad Contrarian but… what these two gentlemen, and many like them unfortunately, do not seem to grasp nor understand is…

Social media is here to stay; deal with it.
Consumers control the conversation.
Social media was NEVER meant to be a replacement nor substitute for quote/unquote traditional advertising and marketing! It was meant to support it; work in unison with it; be one part of an overall strategy.
And if you still doubt the power of social media and its influence, consider the case of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. A billion views on her You Tube channel later, 30 million likes on her Facebook Page later, and now “The Queen of Twitter” … you know her better as Lady Gaga.

Here’s the bottom line…
Mr. Baskin nailed it when he wrote: “Selling products that people want to buy.”
That’s it right there… Without a viable product that people want to buy, it doesn’t matter which medium/platform you use.

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