I’m going through an SEO overhaul of our company’s website. There is definitely a combination of art and science that I never appreciated until having to do it. So, to save others some time, here are some very basic things that any business should do to optimize the ranking of its website in search engine results. Nothing explained here is…
Survey: Small Businesses Are Clueless About Cloud Computing
RackSpace recently published a survey on cloud hosting. The company asked 1500 small and mid-sized businesses in the US and UK what they knew about cloud hosting and if they intend to use it. The results of the survey may surprise you. One key finding was that there is a large gap between small and mid-sized businesses in their adoption of cloud…
Layoffs Send People and Knowledge Packing
The scale of layoffs over the past few weeks is unprecedented. The impact on these people who have been shown the door and on the companies that have let them go will linger for years to come. Besides the emotional damage that occurs when people are forced out, there is a tangible cost to companies when knowledge and experience walk out the door…
Conference Sponsorship: Worth It?
This is my favorite time of the year: budget time. At my company we look at all the wonderful ways to spend money on communicating with prospects and customers. Working for a small company, we take every dime we spend very seriously. Last year, we attended five conferences. As we plan this year’s budget, we are asking the hard questions about…
Linking SaaS Software Pricing to Value
Linking the value that a product or service provides to a price is an art, rarely a science. Software pricing, in particular, has suffered from this being done poorly. The old licensed-software model does not cut it anymore. Businesses won’t stand to pay for a large number of software licenses they may or may not use, and then pay for maintenance…
Perils of the Rock Star CEO
The news of Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence has rocked the blogosphere and the stock market. First, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about cancer, especially the kind he has. Second, it highlights the risk of hiring or developing a rock star CEO. While any executive of Steve Jobs’ stature…
Is SaaS Cheaper Than Licensed Software?
Most people quickly answer this question in the affirmative. I certainly do. However, there are people out there who aren’t sure. They look at the monthly cost of a SaaS application and compare it to the equivalent licensed product over an extended period of time. Given enough time, you will eventually hit a point when the SaaS product appears to…
IT Must Learn to Bend or Business Will Break
The current economic climate is having a devastating effect on almost every business around. In order to adapt to changing conditions and opportunities, businesses will need to use flexible, adaptable systems to survive. The days of expensive year-long implementations of behind-the-firewall software look to be behind us.
Enterprise Software: Focus on User Adoption, Not Features
Effective user adoption is the absolute best predictor of enterprise software success. That was one of the key takeaways for me from the OpenAir User Conference this week.
According to a study done by the Sand Hill Group and Neochange, the most critical factor (70% listed it as number 1) for software success and return-on-investment is effective…
Jott’s Move From Free to Premium – Bait and Switch or Good Business?
Many Web 2.0 companies have tried to make money by charging for their product, but it can be hard work – especially if the product started out as free. Jott, a voice to text transcription service, is an example of one that took the plunge and succeeded.
Jott moved to a paid model following a successful free beta. I spoke with Jott CEO John…
“Getting Things Done” in The Enterprise
I recently attended the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. The highlight for me was the first session where Ismael Ghalimi interviewed David Allen, the author of “Getting Things Done.” The book and associated methodology highlight the need to capture and organize ideas and tasks in a structured way. The interesting question for me is how to…
SaaS Trial – Lessons Learned
A growing part of the software sales process involves offering trials or try-before-you-buy programs. Buyers love it, but it puts pressure on the vendors to deliver during this important process. I recently trialed software from Vertical Response, which offers self-service email marketing. I needed a way to create, send, and analyze our email…