A Short Follow Up on SlideRocket

Recently I posted an article on a new presentation software that I've fallen in love with. I'd like to send a cheers to my friend and entrepreneur, JP Adams, for turning me on to this great FastCompany interview with Mitch Grasso, Founder and CEO of SlideRocket.

This flash application is one of the coolest web services that I've seen developed in the last year. The official launch is slated for this July.

The New Generation of Presentations: SlideRocket

Presenting to potential clients is a huge part of my daily activities. The days of delivering the same agency design ed static presentation to everyone are long gone.

Each situation, each client and each opportunity requires elements of customization - especially when you are selling ideas and services.

So what are some of the challenges for business development and sales professionals when crafting that all important sales preso?

• How do I customize my presentations quickly and easily, while maintaining the integrity of my company's brand?
  
  
• With travel costs skyrocketing (along with the cost of just about everything these days), how do I leverage the web to conduct truly effective "virtual meetings"?

• When I send a prospect a presentation, or they are viewing from a remote location, how can I tell they are engaged? What metrics can I use?
  

To date, subscription services such as WebEx have provided desktop sharing solutions which allow parties in various locations to connect via conference call, while the administrator (i.e. the sales person) shares their desktop.

I'm willing to bet that if your a professional, you've sat through these types of meetings. With all due respect to the good people at WebEx and other desktop sharing applications, these solutions are simply...well...clunky.

A New Breed of Presentation Software

Enter SlideRocket! This innovative application has yet to be fully launched, but in my opinion, will change the way that sales presentations are delivered across the globe. From what I can tell, it deliverers on all of the questions listed above, and much more.

In the company's own words:

SlideRocket is a web application that provides everything you need to design professional quality presentations, manage and share libraries of slides and assets, and to deliver presentations in person or remotely over the web.

You can view the product demo here. (Which, might I add, been created by using the SlideRocket software)

Here, SlideRocket CEO Mitch Grasso dives deeper into how this SaaS application can be used.

I can't wait to use this one!

Why I Heart My iPhone

I bought an iPhone today. And I'm happy.

The experience at the Apple Store at Easton Town Center was awful. As always, a charged and super trendy crowed was lingering, busy gawking at the latest accessories and seeing who could look the coolest.

Enter me with my 19-month old son on my shoulders. We stuck out like a sore thumb. Apparently father-son duos are not trendy. Who knew?

The young dude at the counter was very helpful. His boss, the store manager, was a complete pompass-ass who made me and other customers feel like we were not worthy of such hip pieces of technology. Had it been a Verizon Wireless store and the Envy, I would have stormed out, foregoing the purchase all together.

But it wasn't Verizon Wireless. It was the Apple Store and the iPhone.
A Sucker for Good Branding
On my drive home, I was examining the hip, sophisticated packaging that carried what would in so many ways, make my life easier.

I began to think to myself how straight-forward setup would be. I thought about how nice it would be to have my email, contacts, calender and music at the touch of my finger tips. I even thought how wonderful it was going to be to have immediate access to the internet -- "not a boiled down version of the internet". I thought all the things that Apple had so deliberately persuaded me think about the iPhone.

All of these thoughts made me happy.

And Apple wins...

Why does Apple win?
The strongest brands have the power to evoke real and powerful emotions in the mind of the customer. Through brilliant marketing, advertising and design, it's safe to say that Mr. Jobs and his army have mastered the mode of persuasion known as Pathos.

Aristotle would be proud.

Case Study: Consumer Generated Media & Good Beer

My friend and co-worker, Ashley Routson, has been working on what I believe is a great idea.

She has branded herself and her blog as The Columbus Beer Wench, finding a nice niche in our great city as the local beer expert.

Her mission? Seek out, taste, rate, and enjoy the fine offerings of local brew pubs and high quality distributors.

Here's why I think she's a winner. In less than 2 months, Ms. Routson has taken an idea, developed relevant and interesting content on her subject, and has secured a dedicated following by hosting frequent local beer tasting events, branded as Drink with the Wench.

By converging online social networking with real world events, her readership is beginning to attract the attention of local restaurants and brew pubs. She has successfully changed consumers' behavior by bridging the gap between the internet and the real world, and positioning herself as a true "influencer" of her target audience.

Case in point: Consumer Generated Media is gaining traction faster than anyone can imagine. More and more audiences are turning away from traditional media, to seek out their information from the people on the street. The ripple effect of this trend will be exciting to watch.

Do you read blogs? Are you a blogger? Here's why I blog.

How's Your Website?

Everyone has a website these days. For businesses, having a clear web presence is becoming more critical than ever. The good (and potentially bad) news? This trend it not going away anytime soon. That means, in order to survive, businesses will need to earmark marketing dollars in order to stay competitive on the web.

I spend the majority of my day online and so naturally, I visit hundreds of sites each week. When I visit any site, I always look to the bottom of the page to find the most recent publish date.

There tends to be a pretty wide gap in terms of the quality of websites that have been revisited in 2006 and 2007, and those that were last touched in 2005 and before.

You don't have to be a developer to know that both the landscape of the web as well as best practices associated with web design and SEO are two areas that constantly change.

With that in mind, here's a list of questions that I suggest you ask yourself when looking at your own business's website:

1. What is my website really doing for my business today? What should it be doing?
   
2. How is my website helping my bottom line?
   
3. How does my website work to enforce my brand?
   
4. Does my website help generate leads/sales/contacts/subscribers? How? Could it be doing more?
   
5. Do my visitors have a reason to come back and visit my site again? What is it?
   
6. What is my website doing to support my business's operations?
7. Does my website tell a story about my business? Does that story match the rest of my business's communications?
8. Do I have the control to change or update my website as my business grows and changes? If not, how much will it cost me to have someone else do it when I need to?
   
9. Can my visitors easily navigate my website? How do I know for sure?
   
10. Do I have access to my website analytics? What are analytics and why are they important?

If you've racked your brain and still can't answer these questions, or are not confident in your answers, then you're probably BeFUDdled (stricken with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt).

When was the last time you sat down, revisited your business goals, and looked closely at your web presence?

(warning: shameless self-promotion below)

If you are BeFUDdled about your website, contact me. My firm, Young Isaac, can help.