Kyle W. Smith

Simple Marketing - Back to Basics

2010-05-27T13:51:00.000-05:00

Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide by John Jantsch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pretty good "back to basics" book. Got some simple ideas that are effective. Some of the information is highly simple, such as the section on websites. Overall a good, easy read worth the time.

View all my reviews >>

Use Google Voice to Streamline Your Communications

2010-02-09T12:12:00.003-06:00

Google voice is more than a free phone number. It provides a robust way to streamline how you use voice communications everyday. There are a multitude of examples on how Google's service can not only make communication easier, but life as well!

What is Google Voice?
If you're a nut for all products Google like me, then you probably waited the better part of a year to finally get your hands on the latest Google service called Google Voice. Why all the hype? Google Voice finally allows people to have more control over voice and phone services, separate from the phone companies' limited offerings. Users can use the service regardless of their home, work, or wireless service and the best part of all is that it can integrate all three.

So what exactly does Google Voice do? Upon sign-up, users get to choose a phone number from any area code in the United States. regardless of where you actually live. The advantage of this is that you may have people you call more often than not in a certain area code. It essentially gives you a local number. You may be saying, "So what, I can do that with my current phone service?" True, but the power of Google Voice comes into play with the web-enabled features coupled with smart phone applications.

Once you have a Google Voice account, you can easily set rules via the website on how you want your new number routed. You can simply leave this number as a voice mail (which by the way, has its own set of features I'll describe in detail below), you can select another number to forward to based on rules (such as contact type), or you can have it ring multiple numbers in a sequence (such as office number first, then cell, then home based on whether someone picked up). And of course since this is a Google service, all of your existing Google Contacts are automatically synced with Google Voice!

You can use Google Voice with your current number, but this option limits the features available. Below is a list of features that Google Voice offers:

Using Google Voice with your existing number:

* Google voicemail: voicemail like email

* Voicemail transcription: read what your voicemail says

* Custom greetings: vary voicemail greetings by caller

* International calling: low cost calls to the world

* Notifications: read voicemail messages via email or SMS

* Share voicemails: forward, embed, or download voicemails

Additional features with a Google number:

* One number: a single phone number that rings all your phones

* Free SMS: send, receive & store text messages online

* Block calls: send unwanted callers straight to voicemail

* Record calls: record phone calls and store them online

* Conference calls: join several people into a single call

* Screen callers: hear who is calling before you pick up

Taking Advantage of the Service
I have found several great ways to use Google Voice, both for personal and business use:

Moving
First, this year I moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina. I started the job search and wanted a local number for perspective employers so that it seemed like I was readily available for employment (as apposed to half-way around the U.S.). Additionally, I started handing out my new number prior to the move. Once I moved, this was one less number I had to redistribute because I could simply forward it to any phone. When I acquired a new cell phone and new office phone after the move, I simply set Google Voice to forward to those phones.

Starting a Business
I also started a small business this past year. With the power of Google Voice, I have grouped my contacts using the built-in Google Contact functionality and set rules based on those groups. If a business contact calls and I don't answer, they get a different greeting than my wife does if she calls. This also allows me to easily and inexpensively (free!) manage a call desk for my business based on my availability.

Screening Calls
The easy to use settings have allowed me to management my incoming calls more efficiently, specifically using the Call Screening feature. With this feature, I have options to only have calls forwarded to me that are in my contacts or particular group. I can also add in the Call Presentation feature let the caller announce their name prior to me deciding to take the call.

Streamline inbox
I have always hated how efficient I have become with managing emails, instant messages, and social media messages all on my computer and BlackBerry, yet I had to step away from this central method simply to check voice mails. Not anymore! My voicemail arrives in my inbox already transcribed (decently, I may add) as well as an option to play the message from there. Coupled with the BlackBerry app I have installed, I can also listen to the voice mail from there as well with the click of a button.

Forwarding Messages
Finally, I can forward any voice message to any email address. Try that one with standard voicemail! Instead of only being able to forward messages to a phone number or a certain contact within an organization, I can break the barriers of communication and send the message anywhere in the world.

Watch Out!
All of this technology is great, but there are a few things to watch out for. First, Google Voice does not give you free phone service - just free voicemail and forwarding capabilities. If you plan on using the service to make calls, you still need some sort of phone to do so. Secondly, unless you use the mobile app, calls made directly from your cell phone will show up on caller ID as that phone's number, not the Google Voice number. This is something to remember when giving out that new number. Finally, be aware that of your wireless phone carrier offers free mobile-to-mobile calling, any incoming call using Google Voice will be treated as a non-mobile land line, regardless of the type of phone or carrier the call originated from.

Go Get It
All-in-all, I am thrilled with being able to manage my voice communications in a way I have become accustomed to with all other electronic communications. This article really scratches the surface of what can be done with Google Voice. If you are looking to streamline your life, consolidate phone numbers, and have a better, richer voice service, then Google Voice is a must see!

Hero

2009-09-15T12:39:00.002-05:00

Who are your heroes? Are they worth following or do they lead to a path of destruction? I really like this new Skillet video because it not only shows great role models, but it is really about how we all need a savior no matter who we are. Who is your savior?

What is your personal brand?

2009-06-29T09:50:00.002-05:00

I have been working hard at my job of creating and maintaining a brand at Orchid Ceramics. I have seen many articles about a personal brand recently but really have not paid that much attention to them. Why? Maybe because like many others my "brand" started as simply a profile on Twitter, Facebook, or some other site. Secondly, what is a personal brand anyways and why do I need one.

Well, finally I started realizing that with these many sites I have, I may be portraying a different message on each of them, strictly by the branding that I create. This may be what I want in some cases, but usually I like to think of myself as the same person, no matter what the content, situation, or audience.

In order to streamline my brand a bit, I started with streamlining my profile pictures, colors, and graphics that I use across all sites so that there is some consistency. My next step is to decide on content. This blog for instance, does not really seem to point at one particular audience. I write mostly about technical, geeky things, but tend to confuse the readers with some personal, off-topic posts. I really should have two blogs in this case.

So as I embark on personal branding, what have you done to keep your image consistent, real, and true, while separating relevant content where it belongs? Would love to hear!

Bible Wednesday on Twitter

2009-05-06T07:51:00.004-05:00

Do you feel like you are struggling to have time to read the Bible? I have work, school, sports, groups, facebook to keep up with. Isn't this how we all feel? I had this idea a while back about spending just a short amount of time each day on a book (see Time to Read). While waiting for my laptop to boot each morning I spend a short amount of time in a book. I figure I will eventually get through it and otherwise would not have read it.

This idea got me thinking a bit deeper. I need to spend more time in God's Word and really have no excuse. We all make time for other things. In fact, what did we all do with the time we now spend twittering?

So here it is: I challenge everyone to set aside next Wednesday, May 13th as Bible Wednesday. The challenge is that every time you get the urge to twitter or even read tweets, read something in the Bible instead. There is especially no excuse with the availability of the Bible online via YouVersion.com. If you do tweet, then do it after you read a verse and share that as your tweet. Then use the tag #biblewed.

Who's with me?!

Video is back

2009-04-17T14:02:00.002-05:00

Another sweet video from Mutemath. Just when I though the art of video was dead, Mutemath brings another creative video to the scene. Not sure it's as cool as the Typical video, but awesome nonetheless.

MUTEMATH - Spotlight

He Is Risen!

2009-04-12T07:22:00.002-05:00

Let's all take some time today to remember what Easter is all about. Sure the egg hunts and chocolate bunnies are nice, but we would be nothing without Jesus Christ! He gave His life for us, died on the cross, was burried, and rose from the grave!

Go to church online this morning and celebrate the life! http://live.lifechurch.tv/

What time is it?

2009-03-15T21:07:00.003-05:00

Ever make the comment that every single appliance in your home has a clock on it? Why do we need so many clocks? The coffee maker, the stove, the microwave. Well, the strangest thing has happened. We just switched from cable to satellite and we now have NO clocks in the living room! The dvd player has no clock and the new satellite box has no clock. Now I realize how much I relied on that cable box clock!

Of course, I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I can always use my BlackBerry to see the time. But that would be too inconvenient to pull the phone out of my pocket while sitting in the living room. When I go to the kitchen I have four clocks to look at. Now I feel silly - I am trying to think of what clock I can buy for the living room.

In John Mayer's Musical Brain

2009-03-11T20:16:00.001-05:00

http://johnmayer.com/battlestudies/

Time to Read

2009-03-09T23:22:00.002-05:00

It seems that there are those that really love to read books and can blow through them in a matter of hours. Then there are those that don't like to read at all and their list of books they have read in the past five years is fewer than three. Then there are those like me. I actually like to read and learn, but do not seem to have the time I need to devote toward reading so much. I have purchased three books in the past two months, but have barely cracked open the first one.

Now, during this same time frame I have read countless articles on the Internet, blogs, reviews, how-to's, etc - right online and in short amounts of time. This makes me wonder if I have it all wrong on how to tackle a book. It seems that I compare myself to the first group of people a mentioned above - to knock out those three books this weekend. But maybe it is just about reading a bit of each every day, with no particular pressure on time frames. Perhaps I will give that a try - or maybe those books will just collect some more dust for awhile.

Thoughtful Thursdays

2009-02-26T06:35:00.004-06:00

My Friend Adam Freeman has started this post on his blog called Thoughful Thursdays. I think this is a great idea. We all need to take more time to share kindness throughout the world. I am also participating in something called Revolutionary Love - similar concept. Here is what Adam said about Thoughtful Thursdays:

Okay, here is how our "Thoughtful Thursdays" works.
You all are going to go out in to this crazy world and do something EXTRA nice for someone else. You can do something nice for someone you love, someone you don't love, or someone you you have never had the chance to love and come back here to share about it each and every Thursday.

What I am going to do today is to go into work late this morning so that I can help Jamie out and take Ryan to school. This way she will not have to juggle two kids this morning. She'll love that!

Social Madness

2009-02-25T22:08:00.005-06:00

Once you get sucked into the online social world, it is hard to go back. Can you image not using facebook or twitter? How many people have you connected with or reconnected with just this past year? For me, it is amazing. I now have more relationships than ever (some strictly online and others we have actually met face-to-face). Seems ridiculous that we use to think meeting your spouse online was strange.

But how do you decide which social networks to stick with and which ones to ditch? Every week it seems that I run across a new site. And because I love new sites I always sign up. Some I drop by once a week and others I have never really used. I recently had to add a folder to my Firefox bookmarks called "social." (by the way, started using tags in Firefox to test that out - maybe I can get rid of folders all together in my bookmarks).

I have to admit that I have not been into posting to video sites, but they do intrigue me. Take www.12seconds.tv/ for example. Kinda a twitter but in video format. Love the idea. Cannot image following and posting like I do with twitter if I had to rely on waiting for video to load.

Yahoo also just started a new social network called 360. Seems to me they are trying too hard in this area already dominated by facebook. What makes a great social network is not only the platform of the site but the number of relevant users. I guess I'll keep signing up and if enough people join me some of the social madness will stick!

Living in Web 2.0

2009-02-24T06:45:00.004-06:00

There has been buzz around the phrase Web 2.0 for some time now. First coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2004, O'Reilly describes Web 2.0 as this:

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform (1).

So, what does that mean for most of us. For me, I love finding applications that I can use online, instead of having to download them. For one, web apps seem to run better and not slow down my computer. Also, I can access them from anywhere - I am not limited to one computer.

Another great thing about web apps is that I don't have to install updates or backup my data. The downside is that most do not work without an internet connection (some do have offline options). Also, depending on the browser there are limitations (people should not program sites to only work in IE!). Despite any drawbacks, I still love new web apps. Here are a few I have used lately:

www.mailchimp.com
www.surveymonkey.com
www.box.net
www.turbotax.com - so easy!
www.youversion.com
www.google.com/apps/
www.acrobat.com/

Finally, here is a cool site that keeps up with some of the Web 2.0 sites: www.go2web20.net/

What web applications make your life easier?

My 365 Project

2009-02-23T05:59:00.003-06:00

What would it look like if you could look back over the past year of a snapshot from each day? That's exactly what 365project.org lets you do. I figured I would give this free service a try. The only catch is that I have to remember to take and upload a new picture each day.

The site is friendly on the eye and easy to use - very much "twitter-like." Still, there are many features missing such as a way to email photos to the site. But this site is in it's early stages so I image these features are right around the corner.

I'm not sure what the revenue model is for this site (much like twitter) but founder Ross Scrivener is an IT guy from England who love to take photos, so I imagine he just enjoys the site for his personal fulfilment in some way.

If you want to check out my progress, hop on over to http://365project.org/kylewsmith/365 and check it out!

The Piano

2009-02-17T06:35:00.000-06:00

Does music speak in your life? What is your soundtrack? I have always been moved by music and how it relates to our lives and emotions. When God gave us music, He really must have taken so much joy in knowing what it would bring us. I truly believe it also brings us closer to Him, especially when we use it to glorify His name.

Being a piano player, I found the following short movie very enjoyable.

Watch The Piano - Amazing Short in Aniboom | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

2009-02-09T22:17:00.001-06:00

just wondering what social networks will stick long-term. Just found yahoo!360 - Will all of these networks be around in five years?

2009-02-09T22:06:00.001-06:00

testing pink.fm. This will make things easier or make all my sites look really redundant...

I Love My Life Group - Invasion Style

2009-01-14T13:45:00.000-06:00

I Love My Life Group - Invasion Style - Kyle and Michelle from Bill Aycock on Vimeo.

Jamie and I have been a part of the Panter LifeGroup for a couple of years now and it has been a blessing! Check out the video to see how God is moving in the lives of Kyle and Michele Panter and the rest of the church.

Are we better yet?

2009-01-14T13:42:00.000-06:00

The germs have been floating around our house for the past week. Ryan had a cold but is almost better. Owen had an ear infection and then got RSV - poor little guy is on the nebulizer treatments. Jamie had the cold, turned to a sinus infection, then got a massive ear infection today. Somehow I have avoided all of this - lots of zinc! Pray everyone is better soon!

New Music - Meiko

2008-12-30T22:37:00.001-06:00

I received some nice iTunes gift cards this year for Christmas, so I hit the store looking for some new, cool music. After some searching I stumbled upon an artist named Meiko (http://www.meikomusic.com/). This singer offers a really cool mature pop sound, but incorporates some very interesting musical elements using a variety of music. Meiko blends folk and pop, giving a really fun sound to listen to. Check her out.

First Video Post

2008-12-30T22:18:00.000-06:00

Thought I would give this new web cam a try since I am out of town on business.