May 30, 2008 | blog, leadership
Sometimes it’s good to just sit back and listen to the conversation around you. There are many voices out there, and many stories to be told by those voices. One of the best skills to have is the ability to listen.
It’s a hard skill to learn too. How often do we jump into a conversation, with the intent to add our experiences and perspectives? Its human nature to share, to participate, to interact. So it’s important to make sure that you take the time to listen to what people are saying.
The benefits of becoming a better listener are not simply limited to hearing what people have to say, it’s letting them to tell their stories in their own words. It’s the people and their stories that are important. Learning about them and what they need is how you can better offer services and products to them – if at all. After all, not everything we do, or service & products we offer are needed by everyone.
Taking the time to learn about people, their stories, their needs, concerns, and wishes help us build not only a better community, but a better understanding of what we can do to be a productive part of that community. All that can comes from listening.
Photo credit: JosephGilbert.org
Nov 6, 2007 | blog
I’d posted previously about the idea to license my information to people who want to make money off it. In his post, Why are we giving ourselves away for free, Steven Hodson talked about a similar concern, suggesting that people may start trademarking themselves.
Today, I read a great post by Chip Griffin called Privacy Nuts Hurt Us All. In this post, Chip really makes a good point about how nothing on the Internet is private, nor should be.
The reality is that with more information, our “free” services we love so much can actually make money to continue to operate. With more information, advertisers can show us ads that we might actually click on. With more information, obtrusive banner ads and pop-ups may not even be necessary for many online businesses because their ad campaigns are more effective.
Yes, this means that you’d probably be spending money on their sponsors, but it would likely be because it’s an ad for something your purchasing already.
Where privacy comes into the picture is that all our clicks, views, traffic, etc… is what helps power this focused advertising engine. Claiming that this traffic is “private data” and that it’s use should be regulated is absurd. What about you being observed purchasing a soda from a vending machine on a public street? It’s the same type of data if a company wished to gather it – is that private too?
What I’d love to see though is the ability for me to charge commercial entities a fee for using my personal information to make money. My personal information is my name, address, phone number, email address, religion, race, etc.
Currently I choose to give those away for free because I have no other recourse. There is no way for me to make people pay me for that information. That it is used at all, I really don’t have a problem with. Just remember that nothing on the Internet is private, no matter how much you wish otherwise.
What about you? There is a growing interest in how information is used, do you wish to hinder the use of information, or promote it?
Privacy Nuts Hurt Us All (Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption)
Why are we giving ourselves away for free (Steven Hodson: WinExtra)
Technorati Tags: Information Privacy, Rick Mahn, Steven Hodson, Chip Griffin
Jul 9, 2007 | blog
So Google has agreed to acquire Postini, the email security company. Pretty cool. Here is the Official Press Release.
Via: Official Google Blog – Welcome, Postini team
Technorati tags: Google, Postini
Feb 14, 2007 | blog
Looks like there is some new services coming from T-Mobile this year. More community services for mobile users, and a consumer version of their push-mail service that is currently offered for business users.
Via: Yahoo! News – T-Mobile to Offer Consumer Push E-Mail
Jan 25, 2007 | blog
Some question why I stick with T-Mobile when there are so many other choices. Many mobile service providers have better phone selections or provide faster mobile data services.
One of the reasons is that the service I get from their support teams is unmatched. The other big reason is the very competitive pricing compared to the other national carriers. 3G will come along in due time – I have no desire (or the pocketbook) to pay bleeding-edge prices for mobile data. I’ve also got the phone that I had been waiting nearly 5 years for.
Though, 2007 seems like it will be a great year for T-Mobile again as they have the wireless spectrum to roll out 3G services. They are also focusing on bringing the best phones in price/performance to their lineup. Their work on getting the BlackBerry Pearl, and the Windows Mobile based Dash are examples of this. Affordable phones that fit the needs of their customers, not just the 1% that want’s the latest phone to hit the FCC website.
My T-Mobile MDA will be a year old in March, though I have been using one since Oct. 2005. It has been everything that I’d ever wanted in a phone since PDAs started morphing into the phone category. And with T-Mobile’s continued effort in customer satisfaction, I’ll remain a Tmo customer with their upcoming network upgrades and phone selection.
Via: Wireless Week – T-Mobile Ranks Highest in Customer Service. Again.
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