That brings me to the point of this post… IT”S TIME TO TAKE ACTION.  I’ve been following Gary Vaynerchuk for a while now and he’s always advocating just going out and going after what you want.  There is a lot of business out there.  

Lets say you own a small business.  Lets say you want to grow your business (we all do right?).  You’ve been hearing about social media.  You’ve heard that it can help you grow your business.  What do you do?

Here’s the simple truth.  Social media CAN DEFINITELY help you grow your business and strengthen your brand.  This is a FACT.  That was the first thing that all the social media bloggers needed to prove and they’ve done it definitively.  The other FACT is that social media is a TOOL and it takes WORK just like any other business tool.

The resources are already out there.  You can basically find out anything in the entire lexicon of human knowledge via Google, and if you need more specialized guidance, there are literally thousands of new media consultants out there who would be happy to take your money and show you a few tricks.  (I’d be happy to take your money)  I invite anyone who has anything to weigh in on this issue to leave a comment.

Google Chrome

I’m one of those people who like to use several browsers at once.  For example, when I’m working on my PC laptop I use Google Chrome for a general workspace, surfing random pages, and anything else that requires mobility.  Chrome is so easy to navigate.  I can’t wait til they make it available for my Mac.  Chrome is simple, effortless, clean, and very stable (which is important to me).

Firefox

While I’m using Chrome, I also like to have all my social media accounts open, as well as my webmail.  This is where I use Firefox.  Firefox’s strengths definitely lie in its plugins.  I use Twitterfox, the Firefox SEO tool, and almost every other webservice that requires you to install a plugin on your browser has a version available for Firefox (though netflix does not work with Firefox.  Why is that?  Honestly can anyone answer that for me!).   Firefox has really come a long way since its inception, though  I wish it were easier to add additional tabs (really my only complaint).

Seamonkey

Another browser I use pretty frequently is Seamonkey.  I initially downloaded it because I thought the name was funny, but I actually really like using it for certain web-based programs.  Seamonkey is based on the Firefox architecture, but it is even more stable.  I honestly cannot ever remember crashing Seamonkey.  This is the reason I use it as my ‘applications’ browser.  For example, while I’m working on client blog accounts or working on their social media profiles I’ll be logged into their accounts in Chrome, because it’s such an easy environment in which to work, but at the same time I often need to have several documents open in a different GoogleDocs folder.  I will use Seamonkey to keep my documents open which allows me to log in and out of any google account I might need in the Chrome window.

Internet Explorer

As a user of both Macs and PCs, I am also familiar with Safari and Internet Explorer.  I have to admit that I find both browsers pretty weak.  Internet Explorer is SLOW.  The reason for this, I’m told, is that it’s system architecture is built so that it’s easy to write ASP.net software on top of it.  For this reason, some online software only works in Internet Explorer (like Netflix).  This pisses me off to no end.  In my experience it is also fairly unstable.  At least it crashes more than any of the previously listed browsers.  What really gets me though is that it just doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence security-wise.  I’m not an expert in browser security, but Internet Explorer definitely seems to have more leaks than any other browser.  I had to reformat the hard drive on my girlfriend’s laptop because of a piece of malware that was installed on her computer while she was using IE.

Safari

I don’t have anything good or bad to say about Safari.  I use it occasionally on my Mac, but never on my PC (the PC version is slow, there’s no question about that).  Safari is just plain average.  In my view its only problem is that it lacks any distinguishing features that would make me want to use it over any of the other browsers I’ve listed.

Opera

This brings me to the point that I really wanted to write about.  I thought to myself ‘Self. If you’re going to write a review about browsers, you need to at least download Opera to see if it’s anything worth writing about.’  I had never before even known anyone who used Opera with any consistency and I had never laid eyes on it myself.  So, I downloaded Opera only to find that Opera is a REALLY GOOD BROWSER!  Seriously, I’ve only used it for a few hours now and it might honestly be the best all-purpose browser I’ve ever seen.

Opera is an open-sourced software app just like Firefox, but Opera is more of an ‘underground’ program.  It currently only has a 3% market share among web users.  Not a lot of people are talking about Opera as a desktop app.  Its only press comes from the fact that Opera is the default browser for Google’s Android mobile phone operating system.

I like Opera because it combines the best features of the other browsers.  For example, like Firefox, there are lots of great plugins available.  Their Twitter plugin is excellent.  It is also almost as easy to navigate as Chrome and the streamlined header is extremely attractive for my tastes.  It really has a great look that’s distinctive from other browsers.  I was initially shocked that it was so nice so I called a buddy who I knew had significant experience using Opera in the past.  He said Opera is extremely stable, and also has excellent email and rss reading capabilities.  I hope that Opera will gain market share in the next few years.  It is a truly great piece of software.

Here’s the catch 22. This content changes the game. There was a time when organizations’ knowledge was the most valuable thing they had. Now we have to give it away. We have to TRADE our secrets and specialized knowledge for exposure. Doesn’t seem fair does it?

I received the inspiration for this post while considering all the great free services that I use every day. I’m talking about google apps, social networks, and countless blogs that provide me with all the information I would ever need to do almost anything I wanted. There’s no out-of-pocket cost to me. That’s good for me. It’s bad for everyone who is contributing free information that I would have probably paid for.

It’s chaos! This seems to be the natural consequence of the mixture of technology and a free-market economy. Eventually every barrier gets broken down. All our knowledge becomes worthless (by worthless I mean it’s not worth any money). What this means is that the only thing worth anything will be actual physical products and tangible services. Kinda scary, huh?

Poison whiskey is a song I wrote last night for Jeff Stigelman to sing. This version has me on guitar and vocals, and I’m super-stoked about getting a full-band arrangement finished as soon as possible. Enjoy…

Here’s the epiphomy I had today.  Twitter is a giant room that’s constantly got people comming and going, meeting each other, doing business, sharing ideas, and solving problems.  So here’s what you do… you listen and you create as much incentive for your existing customers to engage in twitter conversation as possible.  You put a sidebar on your website that says ‘got a question? ask us on twitter.’  You put the same thing on your blog.  You have a few of your key employees managing your brand’s account.

This strategy will inevitably generate followers, so here’s what you do.  Someone asks your company a twitter question.  Then you re-tweet it so that everyone on your follow list can see the question, and then you answer the question (if you can in 140 words).  The advantage is that this creates a soft conversion point for new business, while providing a valuable resource for existing customers.

Oh!  I’ve got a huge twitter related announcement.  It is very likely that a tweet that I received from @nickilaycoax will result in a gig for the Pissed-of Catfish.  If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.