Sunday 5 February 2012

Captain Kirk’s got nothing!

I’m a nerd at heart; I remember as a kid watching all of those cool science fiction shows on TV and wishing that I lived in the future. Things were so much better in the future! Everybody had such neat stuff and cool gadgets.

Then one day I realized something: Captain Kirk’s got nothing on us! I mean really, imagine waking up every morning to a bunch of goofy flashing lights and a computer that talks like, well…a computer! The poor guy can’t even send a text from his communicator! What a bunch of junk!

Seriously? My Android phone does more!
We live in an amazing time with amazing technology, and it has provided some amazing opportunities for business. So many doors have opened that didn’t even exist as little as 10 years ago.

Imagine 20 years ago being told that a teenage sensation would be discovered on a website called “youtube” and would rack up millions of album sales in just a couple of years.

Imagine being told that you could one day keep in touch with all of your clients from anywhere and do all of your banking from your telephone!

Imagine being told that a website called “Facebook” where people create “social networks” would announce an initial public offering estimated to raise over 5 billion dollars!

The opportunities are there folks. You don’t need to be the next Bieber or Google. You don’t need to be anybody special. Whatever your business is, technology can and WILL improve your bottom line. It can open up markets that you couldn’t reach even just a couple of years ago. It can help streamline your business and save you a LOT of money.

Learn to use it. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself with the Captain Kirks of the past: obsolete!


This week, I want to hear how you have used technology to improve your business. If you haven’t, I want you to do it and report back with what you did. Buy a faster printer, set up a website, whatever you like. Let’s hear about it!

9 comments:

  1. I'll start! I finally gave in and traded in my not-so-smart blackberry pearl for a smart android phone! Besides the usual things like keeping up with emails from clients, I have also used it to look up a manual for a piece of equipment I was hooking up. Very handy!

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  2. Hi matt :)

    First, I just have to say I laughed when I saw this post. Having the name, Kurt, I can't count the times someone's said to me, "Beam me up, Scotty!" LOL

    I'm an author who has spent many years trying to get published. My youngest daughter started calling me, The Rejectionator. You gotta love kids! lol Technology has allowed me to create my own publishing company and publish my book, Truth Teller, myself. I'm not aiming at becoming the next J.K. Rowling, but at least I can finally get my children's fantasy stories read by the children I wrote them for. Yay for technology! :)

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  3. I couldn't agree more. I've only been using a mobile phone for 3 years and moved onto an android four months ago. I swear, if this thing could take out the garbage and mow the lawn, my husband wouldn't serve a purpose LOL!

    I enjoyed your blog ;) it has an engaging, comical spirit to it :)

    -Lyla

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  4. I appreciate these days of technology. If only I new how to use it. I have written 3 short ebooks was smart enough to publish one horror/fantasy/fiction/with Amazon, one childrens book with Smashwords and a free fiction based on nonfiction ebook. Total distribution 3000 given away I sold and nine childrens looked at. Obviously I am not tech savvy when it comes to promotion. Or maybe the books just suck. I will continue to try. I even keep a blog that nobody reads. Through it all I feel better for writing and getting it all out of my system. Beam me back to the real world, Scotty.

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  5. Hi Matt. I've been checking out your blog and want to say it looks good. I can see myself coming back here regularly to check out your words and ideas. As for me, I self-published Appetite for Revenge a few years ago (print version) and a couple of months ago, I decided to re-issue it as an eBook. I figured that I'd use social media to try and gain a new audience, potentially tapping in to a much larger group.

    I wasn't already on Facebook or Twitter, so had to sign up for something I had no knowledge of. I had to spend time doing research on them so as not to get too tangled up in all the hoopla. I'm not using them for family or friend pictures, etc., other than to keep everybody up to date on other writing projects. There are just as many negative aspects of social media as positive, and only time will tell whether they have any impact on book sales.

    I've had to re-develop my website and learn about blogging, which is something I actually like. Maybe you'll visit mine in the future and let me know what you think.

    Technology has played a big part in this version of the book, and I have learned a great deal. I know there is lots more to learn, but I have a positive outlook on the whole thing. Keep up your writing because I think you have a knack for it. Good luck in the future.

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  6. Nice post, Matt. I have my iPhone; need I say more? I had a convo with my 26 year old daughter when I asked for her help in figuring out a computer program. She was impatient with me which is when I reminded her that she has had computers since she was 5. I've had them since I was 35. Big diff. Catching up, keeping up and cleaning up are the mantras of this middle aged woman. Lovely read.

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  7. Well, Matt, my use of technology, at this time, is avocational. My blog may some day stimulate some income, but for now it is a labor of love. I consider it an ameliorating activity. It makes my life better by providing a format for me to interact and expand connections around the globe.

    My first computer was a piece of paper and a pencil. I was grateful when I discovered the abacus.

    Now I have a web host, a blog with a couple of URLs, I use two browsers and about a dozen email addresses. My digital camera can record sound and video. I’m using Twitter to expand my socialization experience. Tweets offer short links to Youtube, a Facebook Page and a user profile, as well as bring me to sites like yours where words like these come together and are presented to complete strangers that I occasionally click with.

    Oh yeah! Probably worth mentioning; I met my wife online from about 8000 miles away and moved to Thailand where, among other things, I became the first person in the village to have a WiFi antenna attached to the house.

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  8. Was I ever the talk of the block when I got my Commodore 64 PC in 1984! Some however said there would never be a day where a computer would be needed in the home environment. In 1989 I was pulled over by the police often because I had a cell phone antenna on my car. “Only a drug dealer would needs such a device,” they would say.

    With each advancement there has been a learning curve. As one program is outdated another one which works differently takes its place. Learn and relearn as things were changing from the days we had to program our own computers through DOS to lotus and eventually getting to programs that are point and click. However the terms keep changing as the vocabulary increases. Electronics don’t even come with instructions as they figure you will need to by books on their products or ask friends who have it worked out already.

    So here I am, once the tip of technology, only knowing how to answer my “smart phone” and having an 18 year old managing my tweeter and Facebook accounts. There is simply not enough time to learn what all the buttons do when the product will change or be outdated soon and we will start again on a better product.


    Dr. Paul

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  9. Thanks for all the comments guys! It's good to see how you are all improving your business with technology. There is certainly a learning curve, and things change very quickly, but I guess that is one of the tradeoffs!

    Look for my next blog post tomorrow morning!

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