Author: Kelli Richards

IFTTT – “Put the internet to work for you”

Kelli Richards August 12, 2013

Apple has taken Charmin-Ultra’s motto and mastered the notion that “Less is More;” championing a simple message with a plain white background, leaving their audience fiending for their latest product. Who can remember the iPhone 3g commercial discussing the vastness of the App Store? “Whats great about the iPhone, is that if you want to check snow conditions on the mountain, there’s an app for that. If you want to check how many calories are in your lunch, there’s an app for that. And if you want to know exactly where you parked the car, there’s even an app for that.” Before declaring, “Yup, there’s an app for just about everything, only on the iPhone.” Brilliant.

Four years have passed, and Apple has not backed down on its word, there literally is an app for everything: from voice translators, to Instagram, to Despicable Me video games, and Nike fitness trackers. And now there is even an application that can pick up on triggers from other apps and set in motion a series of actions through other applications.

This Rube Goldberg-esque application is called IFTTT, pronounced “Gift” with a silent “G” (Billy Madison would have a tough time with that one) and is, according to their website, a “service that lets you create powerful connections with one simple statement,” called a recipe. These “recipes” work on an “If This Then That” platform, the “this” being a trigger, and the “that” an action- in attempt to mimic, and even follow through on our impulses automatically.

An example of a IFTTT process would be identifying when you were tagged in a picture on Facebook and automatically saving the image to DropBox. (If I am tagged in a picture, then save it to DropBox.) IFTTT (Gift) currently has 67 channels, all with their own unique triggers and actions. Channels vary from Blogger to Craigslist, ESPN to Last.fm, and Google Calendar to YouTube. The possibilities seem endless. Shared “recipes” include, “Send me a joke when it rains so I won’t be depressed,” “Good morning Twitter at 8am,” “New movies on DVD, add to Google calendar,” and “When I post to Facebook, post it to Twitter as well.”

The apps that help manage our lives seem endless. Now if only there was an app for when I’ve misplaced my iPhone…oh wait, there is!

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

Fireside Chat with Ralph Simon, President & CEO of Mobilium Global

Kelli Richards August 8, 2013

I recently welcomed Ralph Simon on my Blog Talk Radio Show. Ralph Simon is acknowledged as one of the founders of the modern mobile entertainment industry. Over the last 15 years, he has been a prominent global mobile trailblazer and innovator. Ralph serves as President and CEO of the London-based Mobilium Global, which provides high-level strategic advice and guidance to mobile handset makers and others – and he co-founded the successful Zomba Group.

Ralph correctly predicted in 1997 that mobile phones would become indispensable, and he was dubbed ‘Father of the Ring Tone.’ In a world that is increasingly dominated by the needs, tastes and devices of what are called “Screen-agers” Ralph is well placed to continue spreading his and Mobilium Global’s expertise around the globe. In May 2013, Ralph was officially appointed to be the Global Ambassador for CTIA – The Wireless Association based in Washington DC.  2013 has been a hectic time for Mobilium Global and Ralph. Continuing to travel the world on a relentless search for the latest mobile innovation, there has been a lot of emphasis on Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Visit my website to hear the entire interview https://allaccessgroup.comunder the Resources Tab/ Blog Talk Radio.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

 

Why You Should Learn From Steve Jobs, Not Idolize Him

Kelli Richards August 5, 2013

why-learn-from-steve-jobsImitation may be the highest form of flattery, but it’s not a winning-business strategy.

Steve Jobs not only revolutionized the way we listen to music and use a telephone, he also changed our understanding of a computer and even recaptured our ability to fall in love with films through his work with Pixar.

Without a doubt, young entrepreneurs can learn endlessly from Jobs’ example, but they shouldn’t adhere too closely to his image. After all, he may have been a design genius but he did ruffle a few feathers.

He disregarded every “rule” and regarded his mentors and role models loosely. Even he would hardly advise someone to emulate him. I think it’s far more likely he would say: “The best way to be like me is to be more fully yourself.”

Still, you can learn an awful lot from the man. Here are a few very specific things that up-and-comers can learn from Jobs’ example:

1. Keep the customer experience in focus. Jobs was a master at getting into customers’ minds. He knew what we wanted — and how we wanted it — often long before we did.

2. Have an eye for beauty. It couldn’t just work well. Steve knew that it also had to feel good to touch, be delightful to use, and be exceptionally beautiful to look at.

3. Foster innovation. Do you remember a time without an iPhone? How about an iPod? Steve created products and product categories no one even had a frame of reference for and made them central to our lives.

4. Insist upon excellence. Jobs had little patience for people who didn’t think things through, and he pushed the people around him to be their best. He accepted no substitutes and inspired great loyalty.

Finally, if there is one powerful absolute to learn from Steve Jobs, it is to focus on your customers and put them before everything else. Think about rabid Apple users — the ones who stand in line outside of a store for hours awaiting the release of the next iPhone. They’ve done more to grow the brand than Apple itself ever has.

You will never replicate that by trying to be Steve Jobs. But, if you ask these questions to apply his laser-focused attention to your own customers, you can definitely inspire that kind of brand advocacy.

Are we surprising and delighting our customers while also delivering a consistent experience?

Are our products and services frictionless for our customers to use and enjoy?

Are we meeting their needs each and every time they interact with our company?

Are we iterating and innovating with a product pipeline that’s in line with (or ahead of) the market?

Are we blazing new trails?

How do you inspire brand advocacy? Let us know with a comment.

 

Original blog posted on YoungEntrepreneur.com. View it here: https://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/entrepreneurship/why-you-should-lean-from-steve-jobs-not-idolize-him/

I would appreciate your feedback in the comments section.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

Q&A with Brent Wilkins

Kelli Richards August 1, 2013

largest_fitI recently had the opportunity to talk with Brent Wilkins, Vice President of Global Business Development at Skullcandy Inc., a company that markets and distributes performance audio and gaming headphones and other accessory related products.

Brent previously worked as the Managing Director in HTC’s Corporate Strategy Organization where his responsibilities included identifying and driving new strategic initiatives within the company for adoption into the HTC product portfolio. Prior to that, as the Managing Director of Cantor Fitzgerald, Brent was a key contributor in assisting Cantor Fitzgerald LP to rebuild its telecommunications infrastructure following the tragic events of 9/11. Brent’s work then, and now, is definitely something worth learning more about! 

Visit my website to hear the entire interview https://allaccessgroup.com under the Resources Tab/ Blog Talk Radio.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

Excel –Canvas or Spreadsheet?

Kelli Richards July 29, 2013

When you first hear the word “Excel” do you immediately cringe? Does it remind you of spreadsheets, graphs, and formulas? For most people in the business world, using Excel can be compared to an alarm clock repeatedly beeping in the middle of the night with no shut off button; that’s a horrifying thought. But for one man, using Excel doesn’t coincide with rows and columns of numbers. For 73-year old Tatsuo Horiuchi, Excel is just another canvas to paint on.

horiuchi-tatsuo1

Horiuchi uses Excel to create traditional Japanese artwork using Autoshapes. In an article in Yahoo! News Horiuchi explained that he often saw his coworkers using excel in the office. He said, “I could probably draw with that. Graphics software is expensive, but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers.”

Horiuchi was first noticed for his Excel artwork in 2006 when he won an Excel Autoshape Art Contest.

horiuchi-tatsuo2

Upon hearing about Horiuchi’s creative use of the program, I of course had to try it out for myself. The program does provide a surprising number of drawing tools for a program whose uses don’t really align with drawing, until now I guess.

Horiuchi isn’t the only artist using Excel. Danielle Aubert uses Excel to make her own kind of art. On her website she explains, “Microsoft Excel is a program designed to track and compute information, but here I am using Excel as a drawing tool. These drawings are a part of a series that I executed on an irregular daily basis for 16 months. Each drawing is in a new ‘worksheet,’ which is automatically set up as a grid. The drawings were made by changing cell preferences for background color, fill pattern, and border styles and from time to time inserting ‘comment’ boxes and letters or words.”

From Horiuchi and his beautifully mounted Japanses artworks and Aubert who created an eclectic coffee table style book of excel artwork a whole new world has been opened up to those of us who thought excel was just a program to create spreadsheets. Who knew!

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

*Images from www.spoon-tamago.com

Working Behind the Scenes with Dave Stewart

Kelli Richards July 25, 2013

Watch the video below as I share with you some insight on just how fun it is working with artists like Dave Stewart as a producer.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

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