The Blog of Janis Krums » jkrums http://janiskrums.com Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:56:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 You Live in Public http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/14/you-live-in-public/ http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/14/you-live-in-public/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:19:39 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.com/?p=107 Whether you like it or not you are now living in a world where your information is public. Even if you don’t have any social media pages and you don’t tweet every hour. People can find you. Don’t run home and change your locks, embrace it.

Living in the public for the most part is a good thing. You can make business connections (LinkedIn or FastPitch), find info about a new hobby (Twitter), get reviews and tips for a new restaurant in your city (Yelp or Foursquare).

Embrace the openness. You will enjoy it. And you will find that most people will not bother you.

I share all my contact information on my website. I find this to work very well, if someone has a real question for me, they can find my email and phone number (Google Voice, just in case I have to block them)  and contact me.

Robert Scoble – Shares all his contact info. Says that he doesn’t get bothered too much. This is someone who has hundreds of thousands of contacts. Someone who makes it his life’s mission to be seen at every event and interact with the most people there.

Guy Kawasaki – Lists his email and other contact info. I’ve contacted him couple of time when I had a question. He replied, answered my questions. Was very easy and eliminated a lot of headaches in trying to find someone who knows someone who knows his grandmother.

I’m not telling you to list your bank pin code or your home address. Just to make it easy to get in contact with you. Be smart and don’t overshare, you know what is safe and what is too much information.  i.e. Don’t create your home as a venue in Foursquare…

Be smart and connect with the world!

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/14/you-live-in-public/feed/ 1 Get Back Up http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/13/get-back-up/ http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/13/get-back-up/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:35:00 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/get-over-yourself/ Watch this video when you feel down and life seems too much. This will get you back into appreciate what you have. Share this with anyone that needs a pick me up.

Get Back Up: Nick Vujicic


]]> http://janiskrums.com/2010/04/13/get-back-up/feed/ 18 Fear http://janiskrums.com/2009/12/10/fear/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/12/10/fear/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:32:45 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/fear/ Fear makes us weak. Fear makes us docile. Fear makes us insignificant.

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2009/12/10/fear/feed/ 1 iPhone vs DROID: Making The Switch http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/28/iphone-vs-droid-making-the-switch/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/28/iphone-vs-droid-making-the-switch/#comments Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:15:24 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/iphone-vs-droid-making-the-switch/ Hi, I’m Janis, and I used to write here… I’m back and energized to write and learn from you guys! In the mean time I have launched a new site www.InboxAlarm.com and we are finally getting ready for Elementz Nutrition (Facebook Page) to have products…

A quick post on my new phone.

Droid vs. iPhone

http://tveskov.com/blog/droid-vs-iphone.png

In this post I wanted to go over my recent switch from the iPhone to the new Motorola DROID. I will go over things that I find important in a phone. I won’t me too specific, but cover the basics that matter to me. It’s important to get a sense of what the phone is geared towards. This becomes easier if you closely match the specifications of the phone to the aims of the manufacturer – for example the Blackberry Bold is a business phone, the I phone 4 could be just as much for play as organizing meetings and sending company emails. The basics paint a picture of the kind of experience you’ll have with that particular handset.

Call Quality: The Droid wins this battle with relative ease…. I have not a had a dropped call since getting the phone. Something that I had not experienced with the iPhone and AT&T. I also use Google Voice and LOVE it! This feature alone is worth the switch. I get transcribed voice-mails, custom settings for different callers, and native use on the Droid with the Google Voice app.

Oh and did I mention not dropping calls??  Verdict: Droid

Applications: The Apple app store is way ahead of the android market. However, with the influx of new android phones, the android market will start to catch up. 90% of the apps I used on the iPhone are available in the android market. They are not as polished, but I think this will keep improving as more developers embrace the android marketplace.

Take a look at the latest data by AdMob:

The two dominant operating systems, iPhone OS and Android, account for 75% of all requests by  Smartphones. With the introduction of the Droid and other phones like it, the Android market will keep growing. With that the apps will improve and will be a real competitor to the Apple app store.

The ability to run apps in the background on the Droid is useful. I play Pandora, and check my email at the same time. I get notifications about my favorite teams from SportTap and get news article from the Feedr app. Verdict: Split

Ease of Use: The Droid is not as polished as the iPhone. Things take a bit longer to figure out, but compared to anything besides the iPhone, the Droid is very easy to use. But, you just can’t compete against Apple and their UI. Verdict: iPhone

Keyboard: Mixed feelings here… I’ve started to use the physical keyboard on the Droid more than I thought I would. This is mainly because the touchscreen keyboard on the Droid is not as good as the one on the iPhone. The physical keyboard makes up for it now… But the whole android OS needs improvement to really compete with the iPhone. Verdict: iPhone

Battery: Battery Life is comparable to the iPhone, when a lot of apps are running you have to be careful that the battery doesn’t run out. I will most likely buy another battery once there is a nice charging station. The nice thing is that I can replace a battery easily, something that I couldn’t do with the iPhone.

Verdict: Droid

Favorite Droid Apps:

  • Google Voice
  • Foursquare
  • Twidroid
  • Seesmic
  • Last.FM
  • Pandora
  • Tripit
  • Cardio Trainer
  • Movies
  • OpenTable
  • Evernote

Screen: I had no problem with the screen on my iPhone, but the screen on the Droid is in another league. Very clear, just gorgeous.

Camera Test:

Droid–

iPhone–

Conclusion:

The Droid is a good phone on a great network. The iPhone is a great phone on a bad network.

I signed up for a 1 year contract for a couple of reasons:

  • To see if the iPhone will be available on other networks.
  • How will the android market mature
  • The unknown…
    • Other phones
    • How long will Apple have an exclusive deal with AT&T
    • What platform will the public embrace

Buy if call quality is very important and you like the adventure of having the new exciting toy. Don’t buy if you want the phone to be perfect… it’s still a work in progress.

The Droid is the 18 year old rookie with a lot of potential going up against the 4 year pro who knows all the tricks. The rookie has more raw talent but needs time to mature.

Let me know if you have made the switch or just general thoughts on the Droid vs. iPhone discussion.

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/28/iphone-vs-droid-making-the-switch/feed/ 6 Tweet of the Year and TwitPic of the Year http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/25/tweet-of-the-year-and-twitpic-of-the-year/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/25/tweet-of-the-year-and-twitpic-of-the-year/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:32:02 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/tweet-of-the-year-and-twitpic-of-the-year/

I Need Your Vote!

My tweet of the Miracle on the Hudson is up for Tweet of the Year and TwitPic of the Year. I need everyone who reads this post to click on the links and vote for me. This will take you 1 minute to do. I have timed myself at 53 seconds.

Thank you, I’ve listed the tweet and twitpic below. Post in comments if you are confused on how to vote and I will explain it again.

My Tweet:

Vote for Tweet of the Year: http://twitpic.com/135xa

Picture 32

My TwitPic:

Vote for TwitPic of the Year: @jkrums

IMG_0099

Top Competition for the Awards (I looked at the voting page to see who has multiple votes):

Tweet of the Year:

TwitPic of the Year:

Don’t know anything about these guys, they seem to be good people. But, I want the win. So go out and vote for me!

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/25/tweet-of-the-year-and-twitpic-of-the-year/feed/ 2 Dilbert on News Aggregators http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/18/dilbert-on-news-aggregators/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/18/dilbert-on-news-aggregators/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:26:46 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/dilbert-on-news-aggregators/

via www.dilbert.com

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2009/11/18/dilbert-on-news-aggregators/feed/ 0 Facebook Tips for Business http://janiskrums.com/2009/08/05/facebook-tips-for-business/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/08/05/facebook-tips-for-business/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:22:00 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/facebook-tips-for-business/

This is a guest post by Erin Glass. She is the Co-Founder of Viziun Media, a Software, Marketing, and Consulting Firm in Boca Raton, FL. Erin has been introducing people to social media since 2005 and is now partnering with the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce to teach businesses how to leverage social media for their online marketing needs. You can follow Erin on Twitter @eringlass or reach her by emailing to this address. 

Erin Glass Photo


It's no surprise that people are using social media platforms for business.  If you are someone who is utilizing Facebook for business purposes there are a few things you should implement early on that will make your efforts more effective.

Tip # 1

Categorize your "friends" in lists. You can create different lists to separate your family and friends from your prospects and clients. Once you've done that you can go back and message a "targeted group" of people without driving your family and friends crazy!

You can find this feature by viewing all friends. You'll notice the option to "create new list". Here is where you will create and title your separate lists. After you've created those, then you can simply add each friend to their respective lists.

Tip # 2

If you're looking to find more friends who are "targeted" search in the groups that your audiences would be joining. Example: I want to find entrepreneurs so I would look up entrepreneur groups. Here I would find others who consider themselves an entrepreneur. I now have a targeted pool of people whom I can add to my friends.  Your messages will be much more effective when they're reaching people who actually have a need or interest in your products and services.

Tip # 3

Do not spam your audience with an email every day telling them how you can save them money and change their lives with your products.  Start off sharing information and links to articles to build credibility and when you do discuss your services and products, your audience is more likely to receive your message.

Remain consistent with your social media marketing efforts and you will see results. These 3 tips will help you stay focused and get the most out of your Facebook for business experience.

]]> http://janiskrums.com/2009/08/05/facebook-tips-for-business/feed/ 5 Ignorance Is Not An Excuse http://janiskrums.com/2009/07/30/ignorance-is-not-an-excuse/ http://janiskrums.com/2009/07/30/ignorance-is-not-an-excuse/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:54:19 +0000 jkrums http://janiskrums.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/ignorance-is-not-an-excuse/

Picture 5

Do you control your brand? What do people find when they search for you? Have you had legal/negative press and now it's front and center on search results? If so, you have to take control of your brand. 

This applies to businesses and individuals, there is absolutely no excuse for ignorance on this subject. You need to know all the top search results and how they got there. In these times the first thing a person does when they meet someone new is Google them. 

Be prepared. 

Do you know how to control it? If you don't then you need to learn the proper steps to take. 

I have outlined the most essential ones. These are a must. 

Step 1: Social Media Sites

Social media sites will let you connect with many friends and business contacts. You are controlling the information and this information will be analyzed by search engines to push the most relevant content to the front of search results. 

Step 2: Blog, MicroBlog, and the Inbetween

These services allow you to have various levels of engagement with the online world. You can be as brief as 140 characters or write till your fingers bleed on a blog post. Blogs get high search results because the search spiders look for fresh content, so anything that is new will have a higher chance of appearing before the older content that was there before. 

Step 3: Be Social and Explore

  • Interact with other bloggers
  • Have guest authors
  • Spread your name on the web 
  • Go to tweetups or meetups in your area

By being active and positive you will soon have links going to your site. This makes your site look more important to the search spiders and will give you better search results. Besides the search result attributes, you get to know more people who now are interested by what you have to say and are able to promote or spread your brand further organically. 

The steps above are very general and can be applied by both individuals and businesses. To go more in-depth I will post something directly for each side for further optimization. 

Please leave a comment and let me know what I missed or questions you might have. 

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