Erich Stauffer

Author: Erich Stauffer

  • How to Differentiate from Competition on the Web

    As recent as the late 90’s just having an IT department set you apart from your competition and gave your company an edge, but by the early 2000’s it wasn’t enough anymore. Every business worth its salt had bought computers, built networks, and setup servers. IT had gone from a luxury to an appliance.

    In the late 2000’s the same sort of shift occurred in web design. First, just having a website gave you an edge, then it was SEO that put you on top, now it’s social media, community involvement, being human and transparent, or content marketing. Web design and SEO are now standards – it’s what else you do that sets you apart.

    How to Set Yourself Apart from Your Competition

    If having a great website and search engine optimization are now the new baseline, then how will your company stand out against the competition? The smartest people in the room are saying three things:

    • Humanize your business.
    • Consider your community.
    • Create great content.

    Humanize Your Business

    Mimi Henderlong of Threadless says, “Staying human creates loyalty,” and part of being human is making mistakes, “Mistakes are OK! Even can bee good.” International advertising firm, gyro, says that people don’t buy from businesses, they buy from people. Consider telling a story about someone who works at your company and make your customer the hero. Be as transparent as possible. Share what your company believes in and why the employees do the things they do. You may have heard that people don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care, but as Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Start with why.

    Consider Your Community

    Threadless is a community-powered ecommerce website that is highly engaged with it’s community, partly because of Mimi’s work, who believes there are four core values of a healthy community:

    • Benefit – What is the benefit to the community? Why does someone join a community?
    • Influence – Do users have influence? Do they know what to do?
    • Belonging – Do they feel like they belong? Do they know what to do?
    • Empowerment – Ambassador programs, elevate members, badges, camps, events

    Create Great Content

    “I don’t care about what you care about, but you should,” said Merlin Mann of 43 Folders when talking about priority. Merlin is passionate about helping people do more with their lives by doing less things that don’t matter and focusing on doing things that are great. If you focused less on the email that comes in every 4 minutes to the project you’ve been trying to complete for the last 4 months, do you think you could complete it faster? Is the project really a priority if you keep checking your email? Does the project even matter? Merlin Mann says, “If you say ‘yes’ to everything there’s no time to make something great.” And great content is one of the primary things that will set your company and yourself apart from your competition.

  • Custom Maps

    How I went from being a map blogger to a map maker by just realizing that I love to make custom maps for myself and others.

    I always thought of myself as an urban planner anytime I encountered something while driving that didn’t make sense. I used to wish I could change city streets the way you can in Sim City or Sid Meier’s Civilization.

    When I worked for other companies I’d make maps of where people sat, where restaurants were located, or branch locations. I was rarely, if ever asked to do these things. I just did them.

    As a business analyst, I created many intricate spreadsheets to turn data into usable information that could be shared. Our output was often compared to a map, maps being Edward Tufte’s standard of visual simplicity and design. When I visualized spreadsheet data, I was really making customized maps.

    As an IT worker, I created intricate network diagrams of all of our client’s computer setups, which were really just customized maps.

    When I finally came to realize that making maps was what I was most interested in, I learned that it was also the lens through which I viewed the world. I created maps in my mind to help me understand the world.

    This past weekend I attended The Combine in Bloomington, Indiana. Merlin Mann of 43 Folders was the headliner. Before I left I created the map you see below:

    It’s nothing special, just some information from a schedule laid over a Google Map screenshot. The reason I’m showing it is because no one told me to make it, I made it for myself to use at the Conference. I made a map so that I could better understand the material. It’s the same thing I did when I was a business analyst in the banking industry. I made maps of information so executives could make better decisions. In IT I made maps of information so that problems could be solved faster and so everyone could be on the same page as to how a system was setup. No one argues that the United States is located in between Mexico and Canada because maps tell us this is true. Maps make data obvious. They tell a story. They matter. And I care about them. That’s why I like making custom maps.

    Map Design Resources

    For those interested in map making design, you might enjoy reading Gretchen Peterson’s blog. Gretchen also wrote GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design. I’m currently in the process of learning TileMill from MapBox, but may also try MapTiler.

  • Apps and Services to Find Your Phone or Mobile Device

    Have you ever lost your phone or laptop? It’s a horrifying feeling. Thankfully there are some things you can do about it before it happens to you.

    The following apps or services will help you find your smartphone or notebook if they are lost or stolen. They can also be used to find the person using them if you’ve lost them – whether or not they want to be found.

    Some of these are free and some are not. Whichever one you choose, it must be enabled before your phone or laptop is lost – and you must understand the security risks you’re taking to make your mobile devices more secure.

    Platform Device App or Service Description Price
    iOS iPhone Find My iPhone Displays your phones location on a map. Must use from another Apple device Free
    Android Smartphones Where’s My Droid Text the phone to get its GPS or Google Maps location via text. Free
    Android Smartphones LookOut Security and Antivirus Antivirus, Phone Locator, and Data Backup app. Free
    Android, Blackberry, iOS, OSX, and Windows Smartphones, Laptops, and Tablets GadgetTrack Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. $19.95 per year
    OSX and Windows Laptops LoJack for Laptops Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Service is guaranteed. $39.99 per year
    Windows Laptops Laptop Cop Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Requires police report to enable. $49.95 per year
    OSX Laptops Hidden Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. $15.00 per year

    The Hidden app, whose name itself makes it hard to find, got notoriety when a blogger posted pictures online of the man who allegedly stole his Macbook laptop (below), but for Android, Blackberry, and Windows users, GadgetTrack does something similar. Hidden is only for Mac operating systems, OSX.

  • Online Local Directory Bookmarks

    We believe that businesses are a vital part of their community and should be listed on as many directories as possible to help the members of those communities have the most information to make the best decisions and find the right company for their needs. We believe that adding your local business to this local directories list is not only to earn your business more exposure, but will help you better understand what your customers are looking for so that if there is something not already listed on your website, that you might add it when editing your web design. Examples of information collected included: hours of operation, pictures and/or video of your business, payment methods accepted, parking information, coupons, services, and products. Some local directory web sites may ask how long you’ve been in business or whether or not you’re licensed. Some are free and others cost a fee.

    Here is the complete list of local business directories we use to market your business online: (more…)

  • Backlink Bookmarks

    This is a list of sites I use to backlink from for myself and my web design, SEO, and social media marketing clients:

    Social Bookmarking Sites

    Social Networking Sites
    • Facebook – necessary socially, but doesn’t help much with SEO
    • Google+ – more effective than Facebook
    • Twitter – can be used to display Facebook posts for SEO reasons
    • YouTube – most effective, but requires the most effort
    Online Classified Ads

  • Nook Color Rooted

    I had a call last week where the customer asked me to help them root their Nook Color. We used the instructions found here. It requires purchasing a MicroSD card and having a way to read it on a PC, Mac, or Linux computer. She had both so we got started.

    I did a little research first to determine that what she wanted was a simple root, not to boot from a new operating system like Honeycomb. To make it simple to understand, the process uses a temporary operating system boot to change the files on the Nook and ‘unlock’ it, which is what rooting is.

    Because the customer’s Nook Color was on version 1.3 we had to do both ManualNooter-4-5-18 and ManualNooter-4-6-16. It’s okay, you just do 4-5-18 and then 4-6-16 right after. As long as you follow the generous poster’s instructions, everything should go fine, but there is always a risk you could ‘brick’ your device rendering it useless. The customer understood this risk and chose to do it anyway – and she was then able to download any app she wanted from the Android Market.

    The customer’s Nook Color had a nice pink, leather cover that I had to take it out of to access the MicroSD slot. If you’re looking for Nook Color covers, check out Nook Share, which highlights a wide range of Nook covers, cases, and accessories.

  • Sprint Gingerbread 2.3 Update for the HTC EVO

    Even though Sprint announced the Gingerbread 2.3 update in June 2011, I just got it installed on my HTC EVO phone two days ago. If you don’t have it yet, you can still get it by going to the home screen/Menu/Settings/System updates/HTC software Update. This will initiate the upgrade process. According to the website, “Gingerbread restores HTC EVO 4G’s ability to sync multiple Gmail™ accounts, display email attachments in the email client and fixes battery discharge issues.”

  • Indianapolis Computer Repair

    Indianapolis, the Crossroads of America, is home to the Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pacers. It’s also an area where Erich Stauffer technician, Erich Stauffer, has spent a lot of time in helping clients with their computer needs, which is why Erich Stauffer serves the greater Indianapolis area with Mobile Phone Support & PC Repair Services for Android™ & Windows®. From high rises on the circle to businesses in Park 100, Erich has helped small businesses with their computer needs all over the city.

    Erich Stauffer offers both on-site and off-site computer services for home and small business users in and around Indianapolis. We are available by appointment for on-site labor, which is charged at $100/hr. We may pick up your computer or mobile device if it is decided to continue with off-site service, which are billed at a flat-rate.

    A lot of the time we can fix your problem on-site, but if it requires more time or specialized tools, sometimes it’s more cost effective for us to take your computer to work on off-site and then return it. Usually this process takes no more than 48 hours, but situations vary.

  • Tipton Computer Repair and Web Design Services

    Erich Stauffer provides IT and web design services for Tipton county.

    Are you looking for someone who knows how to troubleshoot computer systems, networking issues, and security concerns? Erich Stauffer has been helping business owners like you for over 6 years and is ready and willing to hear about your concerns.

    Tipton, Indiana, home of the Tipton County Pork Festival and the southern boundary of the Miami Indian Reservation, is also home to technology consultant, Erich Stauffer. From Tipton, Indiana, Erich is able to quickly help business owners in Tipton, Carmel, Kokomo, Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield, but he also serves Plainfield, Brownsburg, Pendleton, Indianapolis, and Greenwood areas.

    Erich Stauffer offers both on-site and off-site computer services for small business owner operators in Tipton County. Erich will pick up the equipment if it is decided to continue with off-site service. All off-site options are billed using a flat-rate system.