Category Archives: Tech School

This is where I’ll teach people what exactly each of my services are and how they can help them grow their businesses.

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28% of all internet usage comes from mobile devices!

mobile = $$$

As an entrepreneur, I’ve been listening to different coaches talk about various aspects of business, but one person’s advice has resonated the most; his name is Larry Broughton. Larry is a the owner of several very successful business that have made him an entrepreneur with a net worth in the 9 FIGURES! That’s someone I want to learn from!

Larry is a former US Army Staff Sergeant, serving 8 years on Special Forces A-Teams (commonly known as the Green Berets). He has successfully parlayed the lessons learned from his time in service to his country and applied them to the business world. If you want to learn more about Larry, you can visit his website: www.broughtonadvisory.com, but I really want to share with you the two bits of wisdom he passed on to me I feel should be repeated more often.

The first wise thing he told me was actually a quote from the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius famously said that “The art of life is more like wrestling than dancing.” Basically, we have to accept the fact that life is not easy and we are going to face stressful events that will push us to the brink of insanity; the key is to know that these setbacks are TEMPORARY and that our RESPONSES to these challenges will be what shapes our lives.

The second morsel is a quote from General George Patton which states that “A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan next week.” In essence General Patton was saying that life is far too short to be trying to craft a perfect plan that crosses all of the Ts and dots all of the Is. You have to know what the facts are and run with the best plan that keeps the facts in mind because any plan is bound to encounter speed bumps and the longer you wait to act, the more regrets you’ll have at the end of the day.

I know you’re probably wondering how this all relates to mobile internet. My goal with this blog is to get as many people comfortable with our new reality and that reality is the fact that mobile internet IS OUR WAY OF LIFE!!

Here are some stats to back it up (for individuals):

  • Smartphone usage has INCREASED by 57% from 2012 to 2013.

  • Smartphone owners can’t function without their phone – 80% WILL NOT leave home without their device.

Here are some business-related stats:

  • When people search for information on mobile they are…

    • 57% More likely to visit a store

    • 39% More likely to call a business

    • 51% More likely to make a purchase

As a society, it’s normal to be afraid of change, but to resist change is a futile effort. We need to shift our mentality from resisting change to EMBRACING change. Change is scary, but it will always bring more positives into our lives, if we are open to making the right changes at the right time. A flower is the perfect illustration. Changes are analogous to the seed because they are small changes that need to be planted in our minds and hearts BEFORE they can be nurtured. The end result is the beautiful flower that comes from the seed.  It takes a good amount of work to get the flower to blossom after we’ve planted the seed, but planting the seed and taking small steps to nurture the seed will always result in a beautiful flower.

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Does the FTC want to stamp out small business?

Announcement

Mobile internet is an explosive trend that shows NO SIGNS of slowing down for the foreseeable future. The question many people may be asking is, “What is ‘mobile internet’?” Simply put, “mobile internet” refers to how hundreds of millions, and possibly BILLIONS of people worldwide, access the internet through their mobile devices (smartphones and tablet computers).

In this post, I want to cover three crucial topics confronting business owners today:

  1. The FTC’s recent “recommendation” that ALL business have a mobile-friendly website,

  2. Two major reasons why having a mobile-friendly website is a CRUCIAL part of a business’ future success

  3. How to remain compliant with the FTC’s “recommendation.”

First and foremost, I want to summarize the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) most recent “recommendation that ALL businesses obtain a mobile-friendly website. In March 2013, the FTC made a decision that it is crucial for all businesses to have some sort of mobile website. The FTC knows that it is virtually impossible for small businesses to have a fully functional mobile website, like the ones used by Sprint and Amazon, up and running right away, so they are giving small business owners a grace period to at least BEGIN the transition to a fully functional mobile website.

Many conspiracy theorists have said that this ruling is just the government’s way of exerting more control over every possible aspect of our lives. That is NOT the case. The FTC came to this conclusion based on the mind-blowing statistics that reflect how EXPLOSIVE mobile internet is. Here’s a quick stat: there are 300,000 babies born each day in the United States, but there are approximately 1.2 MILLION android phones activated each day.

Given just this statistic, it’s very logical that the FTC should make this ruling.

Let’s discuss WHY the FTC would make this ruling. First, there is absolutely NO DOUBT that smartphones (like the iPhone or Galaxy S4) and tablet computers (like the iPad) are taking the world by storm! As of 2013, there are approximately 4.5 BILLION mobile devices used worldwide and by 2015, that number is expected to EXCEEED 7 BILLION! These mobile devices have considerably smaller screens than a desktop or laptop computer, so it makes sense to encourage all business owners, but especially small business owners, to get in front of this trend.

Knowing that smartphones and tablet computers have smaller screens than a desktop or laptop computer, having a high-quality mobile website is an invaluable investment in your business. There is one major reason why the FTC made this decision and that is to try to AVOID as much confusion and potential litigation over misinformation as humanly possible. When you’re browsing the internet on a desktop or laptop computer, warning signs and disclaimers are easily visible, but a website designed for a desktop computer WILL NOT load correctly on a mobile device.

Here’s a great example. Whenever someone visits WebMD’s website (on a desktop or laptop computer), they can EASILY see the disclaimer that the information provided on the website IS NOT meant to replace the advice given by a medical professional during an in-person visit. Rather, the information is meant to help patients get a better idea of what they think might be ailing them so that they can have a much more thorough conversation with their doctor.

When this desktop website is queued up on a mobile device, it will appear as a big blob, filled with too many links that are too close to each other. Every time this happens, the user must pinch their screen to zoom in to make the link they want easier to click, and more often than not, the user will still hit the wrong link because of the cramped nature of the desktop website. Not having a mobile website will spell big trouble for ANY business that needs to have the ability to display a prominent disclaimer about what their website can offer the consumer.

A second reason why the FTC recommends that ALL businesses obtain a mobile website based in statistics. As I mentioned earlier, mobile internet is EXPLOSIVE and shows absolutely NO SIGNS of slowing down for the foreseeable future. Consider this, every business owner wants to get the message out to the world that they are open for business and can provide great solutions for their customers, but they don’t have a mobile website. By not having a mobile website, that business owner is shunning 66% of young adults, ages 18 to 29 and 54% of adults, ages 30 to 49. Those two percentages represent the number of people in those age brackets that have AT LEAST one mobile device. Turning away that many potential clients is UNDOUBTEDLY DISASTEROUS for a small business.

Now that you have a better understanding of WHY the FTC made the ruling they did concerning mobile websites, we can now look at how to stay out of the FTC’s crossfire.

In their report in March, the FTC said that it is imperative for all business owners to make the transition to having a fully functional mobile website as part of their business plan. What they did not fully explain is how they plan to enforce this ruling.

After the grace period is over, the FTC will randomly check the website of a given business to see if they’ve started the transition to a fully functional mobile website. Knowing that obtaining a mobile website similar to the one that Amazon has, is a HUGE undertaking, the FTC will only go after a business is making it blatantly clear that it has NO INTENTION of being mobile-friendly. You can avoid this by breaking down the transition into small pieces. There are many options available to small business owners e.g. responsive websites, cloud-based solutions, and custom mobile websites. I will not go into detail about each of these options now, but it is important to know that as a small business owner, you DO have options that will help you ease into the mobile website era that fit your budget and schedule.

If you are interested in learning how you can start developing your mobile website, fill out the form below and we will contact you to schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation.

 

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Play before you pay!

The best phablet available!!

The best phablet available!!

Samsung continues to prove that Steve Jobs’ attitude toward innovation is the best way to approach life in the technology industry. How, you ask?

Samsung as released an app that allows people to try out the Galaxy Note 3’s platform BEFORE they buy the phablet.

This would make Steve Jobs extremely proud because his main focus was creating incredible products that people would be very proud to own and Samsung is demonstrating that they are more concerned with customer satisfaction than sales by releasing this preview app.

Samsung consistently releases excellent products and they’ve demonstrated that they are committed to perfecting the great flagship devices they’ve made.

Can’t wait to get my Note 3!!

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Build-a-Phone

Build-vs-buy-Iconic-Solutions

I’ve been reading up on the newest phones from different manufacturers and I started thinking, “When will we be able to custom-build our ideal phones?”

At first I dismissed this thought, but the more I think about it, the more it makes complete sense to me.

For decades, we’ve been able to go to our favorite car dealer and custom build our ideal car, based off a model they already had. This would be an AMAZING thing for the mobile industry.

In an earlier post, I mentioned how I can’t wait to get my hands on Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 3 phablet and that’s still true, but after seeing some of the new specs on other phones really gets me excited about the build-a-phone idea.

The other day I read an article about HTC’s new One Max phablet and I’m totally obsessed with the idea of getting a fingerprint scanner on my next phone. I know Apple included the fingerprint scanner earlier than HTC, but given Apple’s recent troubles with their OS design upgrade, I don’t know how much I trust Apple to build a reliable phone.

What do you think about the “build-a-phone” idea?

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What is a Local Business Listing?

So, you’ve started a business and you’re really excited to let people know you’re open and ready to serve them. How do you reach the most amount of potential customers in the shortest amount of time? The answer is simple… you NEED a local business listing.

Smartphones and tablet computers are taking the world by storm!! There are 7 BILLION people living on planet Earth right now. There are approximately 4.5 BILLION mobile devices active at this moment and by 2015, there will be 7 BILLION mobile devices used worldwide!! That’s one devices for every person living today!

What exactly is a local business listing? A local business listing is a service we offer in which we will set up accounts for you on Google+ Places, Yahoo Local & Bing Local. Once your accounts are established on these major search engines, you can be found by millions of people at any given moment and that exposure is PRICELESS!!

Our local business listing will can have any combination of the following services:

• Account establishment,
• Images,
• Phone Number,
• Address verification,
• Video placement,
• Detailed description,
• Content placement.

exposeyourbusiness

Get the exposure you deserve! Fill out the form below and we will get back to you in 3 business days or less.

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Do I need an eCommerce (or mCommerce) site?

In my last post, I described the three basic types of mobile websites available to entrepreneurs. I wanted to create a unique post that explains the difference between a basic mobile website and an mCommerce website.

Most entrepreneurs will need a basic mobile website that allows your customers to view your website from their mobile devices. A classic example of a mobile website is m.septa.org (the mobile website for Philadelphia’s mass transit system, SEPTA). This mobile website allows riders to access the different routes and their respective schedules.

This is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than an eCommerce (or mCommerce) website!!

An mCommerce website is the mobile version of a desktop eCommerce website (like Amazon.com). The ONLY time an entrepreneur needs an mCommerce website is if they have a business where they need to easily keep track of all the products they are selling to their customers. An mCommerce site helps the entrepreneur keep their clients of what they can buy on their website; an mCommerce website will automatically alert customers to which products are in stock on a given website. I’m sure you’ve seen the text on Amazon that says something like, “Only 3 left in stock.” This is a warning to the consumer that there is a limited quantity of that given product.

mCommerce

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What is a mobile website?

A mobile website is simply a complimentary component to a desktop website. Mobile websites are a CRITICAL part of the road to success for entrepreneurs today because of how EXPLOSIVE the mobile internet (accessing the internet through smartphones, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone, and tablet computers like the iPad) is.

It’s very easy to be overwhelmed with all of the different types of mobile websites companies like Yellowbook are selling. There are only 3 types of mobile websites that you really need to know:

  1. Responsive: this type of mobile website is a website that is specifically built with the ability to scale up & down, or “respond” to the size of the screen used to view the website
  2. Standard Mobile Website: at Haute Couture Mobile, our standard mobile websites are cloud-based mobile solutions (websites with a unique web address such as m.fedex.com), that are built to be compatible with the vast majority of mobile devices
  3. Custom Mobile Website: this solution is a stand-alone product. All of the code used to write and develop this website are 100% unique because they are built FROM SCRATCH!

Mobile websites are extremely easy to design and can be customized to suit your personal style as an entrepreneur. This is important, especially if you’re trying to build a recognizable brand. Here are some examples of the many different designs available.

Image

 

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Are you a mobile fan?

Are you an entrepreneur? Want to know if we can help you go mobile? Fill out the form below, and we will get back to you in 72 hours or less.

Apple’s newest iPhone will be released soon to try to halt the popularity of Samsung’s Galaxy S4. Are you addicted to a mobile device?