10:06 AM
ari sari
http://www.makezine.com/ This is a neat site that includes "Weekend Projects" that are very interesting. Video lead students through the process. Looks like f...
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
What Follow-Up Can I Use for My Computer Services Business?
Follow-up is necessary to your marketing and contact management strategies, and it needs to be conscientious and persistent without being overly aggressive. Your follow-up techniques should exercise your creativity and be personalized to each lead or prospect. Follow-up is a way to appeal to people, not overwhelm them or drive them away from you.Follow-Up Tips for Your Computer Services Business1. Send a follow-up invitation letter about an event at which you’re speaking.2. Tell prospects you’re going to be presenting at a trade show and give them a free pass to the show.3. Ask for a referral through a follow-up call, e-mail, letter, etc.4. Send a follow-up letter offering support after a natural disaster.5. If you get word of a promotion the prospect had, an award he/she won, a new business...
[TIPS] How the History of the US has Changed
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6517854I heard this story on the way to work one morning and I thought, "This sounds like something that our History teachers would like." Play this for your students now so that when they're 50 yrs old and reading about this History of our current conflicts that they can see if History is kinder or harsher on us with the passing of time.See the related articles below this one, as we...
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Google Alerts
Google has so many services these days that it is hard to keep up with them all. However, one of their new services is called Google Alerts which allows you to create a customized search on a particular topic of your choice. Just go to www.google.com/alerts and register for the service. After you register you can create an alert and Google will then deliver to your email address a list of URL's that have your search keyword in it. You can determine how often you would like Google to deliver these alerts. This service is helpful if you are tracking companies, products or services on the web. Give it a try and let me know what you think about the...
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Do You Need to Have a Salesperson During Start-Up?
In computer consulting, you’d be better off not having a salesperson early in the life of your business. Your focus should be on figuring out the identity of your business and communicating it. If you have a salesperson, you can draw focus away from your main business in favor of human resource issues and business development.Instead of figuring out account ownership and controlling accounts, you will be monitoring someone else, motivating someone else and training someone else as a salesperson when you should be training your prospects, clients and yourself instead. The computer services industry is about you being your business, and an outside salesperson will not be able to fully capture your talents and abilities. Your clients are buying you rather than your products and services,...
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Visual Thesaurus 3
In my effort to find tools that are both fun and engaging to use, one that stands out is Visual Thesaurus. Visual Thesaurus is like no other thesaurus you have ever used. Just type a word into the text box and watch as an animated web is drawn with your word in the center with related words connected to it. Different colored links depict synonyms or antonyms and students can click on any word to see another whole set of related words. Just hover your mouse over the word and the definition appears. It is easy to drag the definition to Microsoft Word if you need to capture it for a written assignment. Students can try out Visual Thesaurus at ThinkMap....
[TIPS] eschool news videos
Once again Karl Fisch in his The Fischbowl blog pointed us to a great video, and by extension to some other excellent videos. The first is another in the line of "Flat World" videos in which the speaker makes a VERY interesting statement about SAT tests. I'm not going to quote it here; I'd rather you go out and listen for yourself. This site is: http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/. One video starts when the page loads. Some interesting news bits in there. There are a couple other good videos on that page, but notice the tabs just above the videos? Click the Tech Conferences tab and check out some of the other speakers there. Very interesting. The Best Practices tab has some others you'll enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving to all!...
[TIPS] - Daily math word problems and writing prompts
How would you like to have a set of math questions - about 180 sets in all - for your 3rd graders? You print them out, one for each day as their daily math review. Word problems! Every day. Hmmm... I wonder if that would raise their math scores. Sound like a good idea? How about another set for your 4th graders or 5th?? Even your first and second graders?http://elementarypgms.brevard.k12.fl.us/Math.htmI think I picked this little gem up from the math tag at del.icio.us. These are from the Broward County Public Schools. On this same page are writing prompts, too. Looks like one per day. Gee... I wonder where they could write? Their blogs, you say? Great idea! I like the way you think. :-)Cheers to the Broward County schools for posting these in the interest of better education for the children...
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Mindjet MindManager 6
I have been using Mindjet MindManager 6 for the last 6 months and find it to be an indespensible tool for teaching and preparing my classes. Having information in a visual mind map is a great way to get an overview of what is being presented. Mindjet MindManager 6 seamlessley integrates with Microsoft Office and is wonderful tool as a repository of links, documents, spreadsheets, RSS feeds, Outlook task, and Outlook appointments. With so much going on it is nice to know that I can open one document and get a snapshot of all the material in one location. Mindjet MindManager 6 is a very powerful tool that you will find easy to use and is great...
Monday, November 20, 2006
What Type of Computer Business Software Should You Be Purchasing?
Deciding on the right computer business software can overwhelm even the most savvy network consultants. There are a lot of good products, and deciding which ones you want to spend time and money on can be a real challenge. The main point with computer business software is that you want to expand capabilities without spending too much time or money on products, particularly before you know there is a market for them. Computer business software is a real investment, so you need to exercise care when selecting the right programs and packages for your clients.Attract the Sweet Spot ClientsYou want to think about whether the business computer software you purchase will be attractive to sweet spot clients. If you invest time learning this and a few hundred dollars on training, you want to know...
[TIPS] Pauls Online Math Notes and ThatQuiz
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/cheat_table.aspx Thanks to Sue S for sharing this one. Wow - a BUNCH of math cheet sheets in pdf format. And, math test activities for students and teachers of all grade levels here: http://www.thatquiz.com/ Free for educational use. (Does anyone know what you'd even DO with this math stuff in real life?) ;-) &nb...
Saturday, November 18, 2006
IT Services Outsourcing: It's What You Need Most When You Don't Know It All
IT services outsourcing is what you will have to be prepared to do when prospects ask for products and services you can't provide. New business owners often try to do and know everything; but one of the benefits of being part of the computer industry is having access to a large pool of people to use for IT outsourcing.When you first start your own company, you need to focus on getting business and spend significant time on networking and relationship marketing, which means you can't offer everything to everyone.Rely on IT Services OutsourcingIT services outsourcing will give you time to do marketing and networking activities essential to the future growth of your business. You don't have enough time to learn everything you may be asked to offer, but you don't want to lose relationships either....
Friday, November 17, 2006
[TIPS] Math cheat sheets and more
Looking for a nice, printable cheat sheet for your algebra or Calculus class? Here are a couple worth a look. The first is a table of derivatives for your Calc class. Interestingly enough, it's a wikipedia entry. Uh-ohhhhh... better check it for accuracy, right? While you're there, though, check out the related links on the right side of the page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_derivatives The second is an Algebra formula cheat sheet. This pdf file is displayed much nicer than the above, but it was written for this format to begin with, and not as an article. Looks good. http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/pdf/Algebra_Cheat_Sheet_Reduced.pdf And this one from edHelper.com. http://www.edhelper.com/middle_school_math.htm A nice collection of Middle School printables...
Thursday, November 16, 2006
[TIPS] Richard Baraniuk speaks about Connexions
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=r_baraniuk&flashEnabled=1 Another great (and short) video with Richard Baraniuk talking about Rice University's notion of providing "a free, global online education system" in an Open Source manner. Their site, Connexions (http://cnx.org/), is growing and gaining speed. Think about this... Nicholas Negroponte is building the $100 laptop (http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=n_negroponte), built with open source software and Internet access. It's being given to children in the poorest countries. (Remember those "hungry" kids?) Connexions is the Open Content counterpart to this. Free education with the content protected under the Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/) and by contributing...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
[TIPS] - An EXCELLENT Algebra site
http://www.algebasics.com/home.html This is an excellent Algebra resource site, but once again I can't recall where I read about it. It was likely by subscribing to a feed in del.icio.us, but I don't know which one. Choose a Section, say "Basics of Algebra." In the next section just click on the topic you want. The topics are down the left and it talks you through the examples. Send this one along to every math teacher you kn...
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
[TIPS] Cornell Notes - 43FoldersWiki
http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/Cornell_Notes I wish I could remember where I find this stuff. From now on I'll be including that information. I CAN tell you that I subscribe to a ton of different blogs and feeds of various kinds. My public feedroll is here: http://www.bloglines.com/public/jgates513, if you're interested. Anyway, the top link is for a 43folders entry about Cornell Notes, a template for students to use when taking notes in class. (Tell both of your note-taking students about this!) :-) There is even a link at the bottom of the article to a pdf generator in which you supply your name (if desired) and class name and it creates the pdf file for you. Just print it - and make copies for your students. See what you think of the template. Oh, and did...
Monday, November 13, 2006
Seminar Topics: Focus on Business Instead of IT
You may sometimes be hard-pressed to think of good seminar topics. But hosting seminars can help you network and fully utilize relationship marketing. You just need to figure out how to use a seminar topic that will get to clients within the sweet spot.Often IT professionals choose IT-based topics for their seminar topics. However, the people interested in tech seminars will be in the technology business, and you probably will just attract your competitors rather than potential clients. Offer seminar topics that focus on business problems, and most especially those you can solve and you will get the right response.The best way to arrive at seminar topics is to be industry-specific. Figure out how you can help businesses within a certain industry and then let them come to you! Your seminar...
[TIPS] Flash Earth ...satellite and aerial imagery of the Earth in Flash
http://www.flashearth.com/ School got your Google Earth blocked? (Y' know, if you never heard that commercial that sounds horrible, doesn't it? ) No problem. Here's a flash version that lets you zoom in have a look-see just like Google Earth. You can choose to use Microsoft VE, or Yahoo Maps, or even NASA's Terra server. Since it's flash based you don't need to worry about hogging up bandwidth, either. Thanks to Kurt for sending that one my way. He shared it using the for:jgates513 tag in del.icio.us. Remember th...
Sunday, November 12, 2006
[TIPS] CX Now
http://www.businessobjects.com/jump/cxnow/Do you know a business teacher who teaches a lot of excel? This programoffers a free version with limited features, as well as a purchasedfull-featured program. Of course that one runs about $1500. YIKES!!But, check out the freebie version. I'm told it's still pretty cool. Itturns your data into VERY cool charts, with sliders, dials, and mo...
Friday, November 10, 2006
Business Start-Up: Get Your Name Out There
You have to be creative during new business start-up and think of ways to tempt people to give you a chance.A lot of times, the earliest clients are friends of the family and other family members; but in reality, you should avoid this type of business during the business start-up phase. Without distance from people, you will have a hard time doing business; when things go sour or expectations are wrong, dealing with those close to you is very challenging.Ideas For Getting Clients During Business Start-Up1. Put together a “who knows that you are starting a new business” list. This list can help track all business contacts you make before, during and after business start-up.2. Include people that SHOULD know you are starting a new business on the initial “who knows that you are starting a...
[TIPS] web 2.0 for the classroom teacher
Tip for Wednesday...An interesting collection of links to web 2.0 applications, categorizedby type of application. See if you can find something cool in this list.From blogs to podcasts and beyond.http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listweb20s.html-----Oh, and if you've got young ones at home, or if you're an elementaryteaher, check out this site to help kids learn to spell. Thanks toCheryl C for showing me this one: http://www.spinandspell.c...
[TIPS] Ed Burtynsky on TED Talks
If only blogs... Imagine a class of seniors and/or juniors in a sociology or social studies class. Imagine showing them this video. http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=e_burtynsky Then maybe the trailer found here: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/ (Check out the Works sections, too) Then imagine having them blog about their thoughts. Or even just using a discussion thread. I HAVE to believe that this kind of discussion would not only be an eye opening experience, but it would get them writing about real world issues that THEY will be inheriting. I HAVE to believe that this assignment would/could be a life-changing experience for some students. (I used this man's works in a previous tip a few years ago. Now, however, with some of us allowing blogs...
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
[TIPS] online file conversion
Here's a handly little site. Suppose you've got, say a pdf file and you need it to be a .doc (Word) file. What do you do? Or you've got a .wav file and need it to be an mp3 format instead. Tricky, eh? With this site you simply upload the file (up to 100 mb), tell it what format you want it converted to, then wait for it to arrive in your email in the new format. Now, I wouldn't suggest that you use your work email for this - for several reasons. Suffice it to say that it's not a good idea. But, if you've got a gmail account or yahoo, etc, then I'd use that address and you should have no problem - other than being able to hit those accounts from work, of course. This is a utility to use at home. http://www.zamzar.c...
Monday, November 6, 2006
Business Contact Information and Tracking Strategies
You need business contact information in order to qualify clients. During this pre-qualification process you need to be looking for very specific business contact information and track it.Get Business Contact InformationEach prospect file needs to have a list of business contact information. No matter you get it, you need to get it. Phone calls and web site information request forms are two great ways to get the business contact information you need; forms such as these can be printed out and e-mailed or faxed to you. This information is necessary before you go on a sales call.What Business Contact Information Do You Need?1) Contact information; 2) URL of the web site; 3) the industry of the business; 4) the number of employees; 5) the number of locations; 6) number of computer users;...
[TIPS] Office Pro for $80?
How would you like to get Microsoft Office Pro (Windows or Mac) for just $79.98 plus shipping. It comes to about $95. Sound like a deal? Suggested retail price is $499. Visit http://journeyed.com/select/ and choose k12 in the Select a Type dropdown. Next, choose your state. Not all states are participating, but PA is. Next click the PA K-12 link to find the products. Deep, deep discounts for education. --- Of course, you could always get Star Office (from sun.com) or Open Office (from openoffice.org) for free, but for those who must have MS Office, this is a great de...
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Remind Me
With so much going on all the time it is nice to know that Rminder is there in a pinch to remind me of upcoming appointments and meetings. Rminder is a free Internet service that allows you to schedule Rminder to call your phone at a designated time to tell you about an upcoming appointment or an event. It is easy to use and set up and works as stated on the web site. Give it a try! Think of all your students who could use a little reminder every now and th...
Friday, November 3, 2006
IT Consulting Services and the Importance of Fulfilling Client Needs
Because there are many different IT consulting services, when you are first starting out you may have difficulty figuring out which to offer. You might wonder if you are supposed to sell what you know, what is trendy or what you think people might want.The key to discovering which IT consulting services you should sell and which products you need in order to offer appropriate support is presenting prospects with the IT consulting services they absolutely need.While this concept might seem obvious, usually start-ups make the mistake of offering what clients want rather than what they need. The IT consulting services a business owner would like to have are not always the ones they really need in order to function. You need to sell prospects the IT consulting services that are needed right...
Mark.... mark.... what "mark" thing? OH!!! You mean Marketing!
Well, friday night, and a lot of rain out there... I was looking for the last webcast replay (got the presentation but couldn't get the sound yet). It's still not available but something on the page side caught my attention: A link to some customer and partner success stories... Got curious and cliked. You can to the same, either directly or by checking the IBM Informix webcasts page.I looked at the video, which is presented by Bernie Spang, the Director of Data Server Marketing, and contains some interviews with clients and partners about their experiences with IBM Informix. Not surprinsingly, they all talk about the features we all know and love about Informix (efficiency, simplicity, reliability, scalability etc.). So what is the real interest of this? What made me write this lines? Er......
[TIPS] idea for podcasts
I just heard of one elementary school that is creating "podcasts" in conjunction with their local historical society, making "walking tours" of their community. So, when people stop in the tourist center to get the ipod shuffle with the walking tours, they'll be listening to the KID'S podcasts!! Does that give YOU an idea? - - http://k12onlineconference.org update - - Today's topics include: "Selling Web 2.0 to Senior Management", "It's Elementary Kids; Working Web 2.0 with Grades 3-4", "Toward a System for Online Curriculum Sharing", and "Planning the 21st Century School" (from Philadelphia) Have you been tuning ...
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Consumers Torn Between Good Health, Great Taste
Despite greater awareness of the benefits of eating healthy, consumers are increasingly weighing healthy, low-fat food choices against more indulgent fare. Restaurants have found that customers are rejecting healthy menu items in favor of those offering larger, higher-fat portions.Burger King has seen success with its triple-decker "BK Stacker" burger, whereas Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday and Olive Garden have pulled "lite" items from their menus. One theory behind this demand is that people may eat healthy at home, then "treat themselves" to something they don't normally eat when they go out to restaurants.This, however, doesn't mean that consumers aren't paying attention to their food. Restaurants are reporting an increase in vegetarian and organic selections -- though these aren't necessarily...
[TIPS] Online Etymology Dictionary
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php - - snip - - This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago. - - Share that with your English teachers and librarians. - - - http://k12onlineconference.org update - - - Today's topics include: "Trash to Treasures: Creating Your Own Computer Lab", "Mobile Learning Redefined", "The 21st Century Educator's toolbox: Developing a Professional Learning Environment", "Homegrown: Within/Without the District". Check 'em out. - - bonus - - This article about hackers hitting close to home: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/hackers_penetra.html &nb...
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Transumerism
Trendwatching.com has identified a new consumer type: the transumer. This type of consumer is affluent and mobile, yet also highly style-conscious. They value convenience, demanding that services be fast and be located where they are, whether at work, at play or in between. They prefer to own things temporarily, either by renting or trading up via eBay or similar services. Telecommuting allows transumers to work where they please, freeing them from the need to live near an office. They even like their homes to be mobile, as witnessed by the surge in interest in RVs among retiring baby boome...
[TIPS] Web 2.0 in action
Thanks to CS for pointing me to this site. We've been seeing a lot ofsites and hearing a lot of discussion about web 2.0 tools. THis sitegives you practical applications those tools in the classroom.http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/edge.cfm Check it out.- - http://k120nlineconference.org - - - Today's topics include: "Around the world in 80 Minutes", "CultivatingDigital Educators", "Interrnet Access with Minimal Filtering", and"Social Boookmarking/; Using Del.icio.us", I enjoyed two sessions from yesterday's group and I see at least thatmany on today's list, too. I do hope you'll at least bookmark the siteso you can see them later. Or, check in and download the podcasts of thepresentatio...
