Hewlett-Packard continues its record of strategic blunders, stops selling Apple iPods

The big news this week has been that Hewlett-Packard has announced that it will no longer rebrand and sell the market leader Apple Computer's iPod. After all these years, and after a long history of strategic blunders, it's shocking and depressing to see HP's at it again, even after chief blunderer Carly Fiorina was booted and Mark Hurd came aboard the venerable corporation as its new CEO less than a year ago.

Over the last twenty-five years, at least, one of the greatest challenges Hewlett-Packard has faced is the not invented here syndrome. It's logical, if you really think about it: two brilliant Stanford engineers, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, created HP because they wanted to engineer the very best products in the world. The corporate mantra was "build things so that the engineer one bench over would use them" and that was memorialized as the next bench philosophy. But if you start there, it's not hard for employees to conclude that nothing non-HP is good enough.

University of Phoenix expands into religious teaching

Apollo Group has contracted with Lutheran High School of Orange County (LHSOC) to manage its online delivery of high school curriculum. Established in 1973, LHSOC is a comprehensive, college preparatory high school with a growing national reputation for its outstanding academic programs. Through its new innovative program, Orange Lutheran Online is able to bring a highly successful blend of education and character development to high school students across the country and around the world.

Why is The Computer Shop UK closed?

This morning, while going through my usual virtual stack of newspapers (aka NewsGator, my RSS aggregator) I bumped into an interesting story being reported by The Register UK announcing that British computer retailer Time Computers Shutters Stores. The Register story indicates that The Computer Shop (which is the retail storefront name of the company that produces Time Computers) has had to temporarily shut down its "about 150" retail stores because the company can no longer process credit card payments.

That piqued my interest because if it's a technical glitch, it's an interesting story of the dangers of relying on a single-point-of-failure technology as a business. But the real story is far more interesting...

Google launches "Inside AdWords" Blog

Just a quick note for those of you who are using the popular Google AdWords program to promote your business -- or subscribe to AdSense -- that Google today announced the launch of Inside AdWords, what looks to be a highly informative weblog.

Google sent out the following announcement to press and analysts...

My podcast on Why Podcasting isn't Interesting

I was pleased last week to speak on why I didn't think much of podcasting at the recent daVinci Institute Podcasting Bootcamp event. Surrounded by people who were doing smart and interesting things with this new medium, however, I started to have some doubts, but when it was time to take the stage, I managed to come up with an idea or two worthy of discussion.

And, to show that I can eat even the proverbial dogfood I might not like, I used my own audio recording equipment to record my 12 minute talk and am making it available here for your own listening pleasure as my first ostensible podcast.

The gist of my argument is that...

The next generation of online job search: Indeed.com

As someone quite interested in how modern technologies are reinventing common business processes, including the job search, I was pleased to bump into David Parmet from Indeed.com, who arranged for the following exclusive interview with Indeed.com CEO and co-founder Paul Forster. My intent was to try and understand how Indeed.com saw themselves competing against other 'third generation' job search sites like Simply Hired, but we got rather further afield. The result is very interesting reading, I hope!

First off, some background: Indeed.com was founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan. Paul and Rony previously founded and managed Jobsinthemoney, the leading jobsite dedicated to finance professionals. Jobsinthemoney was acquired in September 2003 by Financial News, a leading publisher for the investment banking, fund management and securities industries.

Q: There seem to be a lot of different job search sites on the net. Why is this such a popular category?

Job search naturally lends itself to the Internet. Searching for jobs using a search engine like Indeed is far more efficient than any other way of looking for jobs. Because they are searching across the entire Internet, job seekers are finding jobs they otherwise would never have found. Also, with search engines like Indeed, job seekers have more options to save their searches by email alert or RSS.

Why authors shouldn't be so quick to blog their books

Blog Business Summit speaker and A-list business blogger Debbie Weil has an interesting article on her site today wherein she states that Blogging your Book is a Must. After thinking about her thesis, here's my response....

Debbie, I don't agree. First off, an important distinction: there's overt book blogging and there are blogs that are, shall we say, harmonious in topic with upcoming books. While I am certainly quite interested in the evolution of book writing and production, I'm also of the belief that having everything available online and digital can have an adverse impact on the eventual sales of the book.

In particular, if I've already read just about all of your book in the last six months on your weblog, why would I be incentivized to spend $20-$40 to get the same thing perfect-bound just so I can place it on my shelf?

The next evolutionary step in DVD rentals: Redbox

I've been renting videos and DVDs since videotapes first came on the scene, starting with the $5-7/overnight rentals with draconian late fees of the early generation of video rental all the way to now being a long-time NetFlix member, so it should be no surprise I was intrigued when I saw a DVD rental kiosk at the local gas station yesterday.

Upon closer examination,the attractive kiosk proved to be run by Redbox Corporation and it had a simple system where you could swipe your credit card and rent any one of a number of current release DVDs for only $1 a night.

But it wasn't until I visited their Web site that I knew why this company is one to watch, and why agile little Redbox is going to redefine the entire world of DVD rental...

Reinventing LinkedIn with InMail

Marketing VP and LinkedIn Co-Founder Konstantin Guericke just gave me the go-ahead to share this exciting information about a major new functionality that'll be added to LinkedIn a few weeks from now! Here's what he shared about InMail and how it'll work. As for me, I can't wait to be able to really tap the power of the entire LinkedIn member database, not just the subset my contacts are in touch with...

As you know from my prior posts and requests for input, we’ve been working on the design for key improvements to LinkedIn in the areas of search and making contact as well as providing for a sustainable revenue model and allowing everyone to understand what premium services are being charged for.

Next month, we’ll be launching the ability to search beyond your personal network and to contact people through InMail. In addition to results from your personal network, you will be able to see the best results from the entire LinkedIn Network. For example...

Getting Into Blogs Helps Search Engines Find You

I was recently interviewed by Peter Kent -- long-time online maven and most recently author of the book Search Engine Optimization for Dummies -- about business blogging for our local business publication, the Boulder County Business Report. I'm reprinting the article here, linking to the eCommerce Times pickup of the story.

Getting Into Blogs Helps Search Engines Find You
By Peter Kent -- Boulder County Business Report

"I believe the 21st century will be characterized by the cult of expertise, and that the successful companies will be those that are widely recognized as experts," Dave Taylor, a Boulder, Colo., business strategy consultant and writer, said, explaining one of his reasons that businesses should invest in blogs.

Are blogs the next big thing? For many, they're a big thing already. Dave Taylor, for instance, Boulder, Colo., business strategy consultant and writer, sees blogs as an essential -- and profitable -- part of his business.

But before we get to that, what exactly is a blog?

Review: Moral Intelligence, by Doug Lennick & Fred Kiel

Here's the good news: this is a really good book! The authors have done an admirable job of discussing contemporary executive moral lapses (the book starts with George Kline, a VC convicted of insider trading and fined $5.25 million by the courts, for example) without getting righteous or preachy.

Why are all the blog search engines so terrible?

When I first started tracking discussions in the blogosphere, I used Google, which, while it had the benefit of not forcing me to actually type in a URL since it was already integrated into my browser, wasn't a great solution because - as of yet - Google doesn't track blog articles, per se. They show up eventually, but mixed in with the rest of the Web.

Then I was turned on to Technorati and used their service for a while, particularly liking how I could subscribe to an RSS feed of my search. A cool idea and great use of RSS. But, somehow, it never quite found all the blog discussions that referenced the key phrases or specific domains I was tracking.

Talk, talk, talk: upcoming speaking engagements

While it may seem that I spend all my time writing for my weblogs, in fact I do other stuff too, like wrap up my third and fourth book to be published in 2005, consult with some smart business clients and speak at various professional events.

In fact, here's a partial list of my upcoming speaking engagements...

Blog Business Summit, San Francisco, 17-19 August, 2005.

I'm going to be offering a great Blogging 101 Workshop on the first day - the perfect place to find out what all the buzz is about with business weblogs and how they change everything you think you know about business and corporate structures.

In addition, I'll be sharing the podium - and probably arguing - with my colleague Robert Scoble of Microsoft in our session "Building Traffic: Posting Isn't Enough!"

This is going to be a splendid conference, with a phenomenal lineup of top bloggers and communications specialists, a must-attend for everyone, entrepreneurial or within a corporation!

Podcasting Boot Camp, Denver, 21 July

Yes, even after I posted my (mild) screed about why podcasting won't help promote your business I've been asked to join a panel at this Boot Camp to talk about podcasting. It'll be fun and the da Vinci Institute always put on good workshops too.

Northglenn/Thornton Rotary Club, 19 July

I'll be giving a short talk on blogs, blogging and the world of RSS feeds. I've never been involved with a Rotary Club event before, so this'll be an interesting experience.

Blog Smart Workshop, Boulder, Colorado

I'll be offering my popular Business Case for Blogging and How To Blog: Hands On Workshop events at an as-yet undisclosed time early in the Autumn. Interested? Please go to the Blog Smart site and sign up for the Workshop News.

Rocky Mountain Society for Technical Communications, 15 September

A bit further down the road, I'm booked to talk about "writing for the blogosphere" to the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Society for Technical Communications.

I'm a top rated speaker for venues as small as intimate five person seminars and as large as 300+ person all-day workshops. Would you like to have me speak at one of your conferences or events on any aspect of communications and marketing? If so, let's talk!

Posted by Dave Taylor on July 13, 2005 | Comments (0)

Glimmers of the virtual economy: Nexon's $250 million Kart Rider

I'm just fascinated by an article in BusinessWeek entitled Dude, where's my digital car? It's about Korean gaming company Nexon Corporation and its wildly popular Kart Rider [Korean language site]. Why's it interesting? Because much more so than Sony's Everquest and other online virtual games, Kart Rider is free, phenomenally popular and makes Nexon millions of dollars every month!

I know what you're asking: If it's free, where's the revenue stream coming from?

Blogging as Blackmail: citizen journalism gone terribly wrong

My colleague Neville Hobson has an interesting article today entitled Blogger waging war on Land Rover, about an English chap named Adrian Melrose who apparently bought a defective Land Rover Discovery and has been attacking the company ever since.

Indeed, on his own weblog, Adrian, who had been posting anonymously, has articles like Why am I terrorising Land Rover? and Land Rover isn't Listening. By his own admission, his so-called campaign against Land Rover (in which he states that he wants the company to "admit publically that my car was a first build F*** Up - I want them to replace it with a new one") is an attempt to terrorize the company.

For his own part, Neville says "The only thing I'm a bit hesitant about is that nowhere on the blog that I can see does the blogger identify who he (or she) is. That somewhat lessens the credibility of this campaign."

Neville, you're missing the forest for the tree here, I think...

Why podcasts won't help promote your business

I know a lot of people involved with the blogosphere are avid podcast enthusiasts, in fact, some of my best friends are, yes, podcasters, but I have to say that I just can't find any enthusiasm for podcasting, though I'm hugely bullish on blogging as a business communications tool.

Frankly, I think podcasting is just a fad and will shortly vanish from the proverbial radar screen, particularly for savvy businesses and entrepreneurs seeking smart and effective methods of promoting their business or service.

Allow me to explain...

How to use LinkedIn to find a job

One of my favorite networking gurus, Liz Ryan, founder of WorldWIT, wrote the following terrific letter in response to a query on a private mailing list from a woman asking about how to use LinkedIn to help find a job in the graphic design field. I immediately asked Liz for permission to republish it here and I'm pleased that she said yes. Please, read it and learn about professional networking from a true expert...

Dear Emily,

Congratulations on your new degree! Here are a few ideas on using LinkedIn in your job search.

I don't think that an overt outreach campaign that reaches out to people (whether hiring managers, HR folks, or other influencers) at various companies and tells them about your job search, is going to be especially satisfying for you. For one thing, this is the sort of contact that people fear when they're trying to decide whether or not to join a network like LinkedIn. Unless there is some clear, compelling intersection between your background or talents and the company's specific need, I would view this as typically unwelcome contact.

The Secret of LinkedIn Groups

As I've learned more and more about LinkedIn, one question has remained: how do groups work on the site? If you've browsed profiles you've seen some that have nifty little graphical icons in their 'groups' section, icons for specific schools, professional groups, etc. But I haven't been clear about how you join one of these mystery groups and how those icons show up.

I asked this very question about groups in My Linkedin Power Forum (see my earlier article on MLPF, Expanding the Limits of Social Networking with My LinkedIn Power Forum) and received a very informative note from Robert Leathern, the Director of Marketing at LinkedIn (and also author of the cool analystblog too).

Here's what he explained to me...