Do you live your brand?

Proper branding is so much more than a cool logo and a clever tag line. It is the essence of your enterprise. It is your image that has been carefully created and built over the years to communicate instant recognition of who you are and what you stand for.

In order for that external image to resonate fully with your customers and clients, your vendors, partners, stakeholders and others, the brand must be implemented with precision and enthusiasm internally. The more conscientious you and everyone in your enterprise are of even the minutest detail of your brand, the more successful it will be. From the “micro-brand” perspective, it means that your color scheme, typeface for headlines and body copy, placement of the logo – with or without the tagline – are intricately communicated to every person within your organization as well as your advertising, PR and communications agencies. Just as important (and maybe more so) is the “macro-brand” – living the brand by employees and the independent contractors who represent you. If your brand is meant to inspire confidence, they need to inspire confidence; if your brand is about helping people, they need to be helpful; if your brand is trustworthiness, they need to be dependable; if your brand is quick service, they need to be fast. Employees or contractors who fail to live the brand make a mockery of it and destroy the brand for the people they come in contact with.

Security – it’s about more than cyber theft and hackers

When you think security, you often think about firewalls, spyware, and black hat hackers and crackers, who seem devoted to breaking through your computer security systems. But there’s another kind of security that you ought to be just as concerned about – system failure.

Think about all of the data that’s on your computer or in your server. It’s safe and secure with all of your updated security systems in place, right? But when your system goes down – which almost every system (no matter how large or small) does from time to time – is it storing information you need right now, before IT can restore you to full functionality? The inability to access that information may mean that you miss a deadline, that you are unable to make a presentation, that you lose an account. Of course you know to back up everything – you tell everyone in your organization to back up their files. And of course (we say with tongue firmly implanted in cheek), that happens all of the time. But even if you’ve backed up 99% of your files, Murphy’s Law demands that the files you really need are in that 1% that you can’t reach.

That’s not an issue for people who compute on their clouds. Their files are always there, available from any connected computer. Even if their one and only computer is down, they can make a trip to a public library, access their cloud, and bingo – there are the files they need.

Saving your “obsolete” computer

Replacing your computers every now and then is one of those necessary evils you know you have to live with. New software comes along to make your business more efficient and effective, but your computers – the ones that were state-of-the-art just a few years ago – are now clunkers that seem like relics from another era. You’re told they’re not fast enough and they don’t have enough RAM. Sure, you can upgrade them, but that will cost you more than replacing them. So it’s off to the landfill with those ancient relics to join the tons of other electronic waste that are dumped every day.

Cloud computing makes the rapid obsolescence of computer systems obsolete and gives your computers more permanency. When you’re riding your cloud, you extend the life of your computer because your updated software is on the cloud. You don’t need the latest and greatest computer to run it and work with it. So not only are you saving on the cost of updating your software, you’re also saving money on equipment that can be invested in other areas of your enterprise. And by the way, you’re also helping to save the environment by making less of an imprint with your carbon footprint.

Sending those big files: Big problem, or no big deal?

What do you do when you need to send a really big file to a coworker or client?

You could attach the file to an email—although that can be problematic, as you may have learned from experience. Many email services (especially corporate ones) can be restrictive. And they should be—everyone relies on email for instant communication, and if someone were to attach and try to send a 20MB file via email it could bog down the entire system. And if you are able to send it, there is no telling whether your recipient’s email system is able to receive it.
Or, you could transfer the file to a CD or flash drive and send it via FedEx. That takes time and money.

You could try FTP (known as the “black hole” in some companies). FTP transfer is old technology, and may not meet the current expectations of your clients. It’s clunky. Finicky. Sometimes slow.

So what are you options?

More and more companies today are adopting new technology for electronic file management that offers accessibility (i.e., files are easy to find on the system) and easy transfers (i.e., the ability to quickly and easily move any size and any type file.) Several services on the web provide these services – some of the basic ones are even free. So how do you determine which service is best for you?

To evaluate your needs, consider these key questions:

> Am I sending the same file over and over again?
> Do I want to control what the recipient can do with the file once I send it?
> How do I ensure the recipient can actually open the file?
> Do I need to collaborate with the recipient once they receive the file?
> Am I sending a file that requires approval?
> Will the recipient be making changes to the file?
> How will the recipient communicate changes back to me?
> How important is version control?
> What about security?

If any – or all -- of these considerations are important to you, then you need a digital asset management (DAM) system. A DAM system would allow you to easily send large digital files, visually manage your files, and simultaneously allow you to keep control of the usage of the file.

Many companies are using HubCentrix’s virtual desktop as their DAM system. This web-based software allows you to see the content of your digital files at a glance. You can send clients and coworkers large files, and they can upload large documents to you. Because the system is web-based, no special software is needed to view files. And you retain complete control. As the owner of the files, you set all the access parameters.

The users of HubCentrix credit the system with huge savings in time and money by keeping their digital assets at the fingertips. You can see how HubCentrix works by visiting http://www.hubcentrix.com/

How can I Improve my business brand?

Are you trying to promote a product or a service? If you really think about it, everyone is either selling or promoting something, whether it’s a slice of paradise in the Mediterranean Sea or a Miami Dolphin's baseball cap. If you are marketing and promoting your business or service, then chances are you are developing a brand identity.

The first thing you think of when you think of your brand identity might be your logo. But your logo is just one part of your brand identity. Your brand encompasses a range of items, including anything and everything that differentiates you from your competition. Copy tone. Graphic style. Colors. Images. It's what people perceive you, your product, service, person or company to be. So how do you protect your brand?

Think of the money spent to develop and maintain a brand – to develop the original logo, the ads, the point of purchase materials, the television campaigns, the product photography…and on and on. All of this “stuff” is actually your company’s brand identify, which equates to your company’s digital assets, which in a nutshell is your intellectual property. And what are you doing to protect it?

Many companies, will say, “I keep it on my server and whenever I want it I can just go and search and get it.” But in reality, it's never quite that easy. Most of the time, you are searching through several listings of folders and files. Often, digital assets are kept in multiple locations – on site, at your ad agency, at the printer, etc. And often, there are multiple versions. How can you be sure you’re accessing the most current file? When you do find the right file, maybe you have the right software to actually open the file or maybe not. For example, the ad agency that you use sent the file in a format that requires special software and now you have to call them to resend the file in a format that you can view and then you have to send both formats to the printer. And darn, it's not quite right, you've sent a logo file that is for the web and not for print-- and not only that, the other graphic files that went with it could not be sent via email. Now, you have to use their FTP site. My, this is starting to get a bit complicated.

The ugly truth? Shared drives, individual drives and FTP servers are all black holes, where your marketing assets, digital assets, brand identity and--don't forget--your intellectual property, go to die.

If you aren't using a true central repository where employees in offices across the hall and around the world, as well as your ad agencies, your graphic designers, your copywriter, your printer and maybe even your boss can easily access those digital assets …then you don't have an effective digital asset management solution.

Many companies use HubCentrix’s virtual desktop to safeguard their brand . This web-based software allows them to have their digital assets at their fingertips. Not only for the internal marketing department but to all of the members of the team. The company keeps complete control of all of their digital files therefore complete control of the brand. The users credit HubCentrix with huge savings in time and it helps them make money by keeping their brand fresh. You can see how HubCentrix works by visiting their site at http://www.hubcentrix.com.


But in the meantime, here are three things you must do to improve your brand:

- Keep your digital images accessible
- Have all of your logo formats in one place
- Have the ability to distribute your digital assets easily


We would love to hear from you. Tell us your story. How are you managing your brand?

What is a digital asset?
A digital asset is a digital file that you have the right to use---and that most likely has value to you. It can be textual content or image content or multimedia. Your digital assets include your logos, your product images, illustrations, photography, word documents, spreadsheets, audio files, video files, CAD files page files and more.

How do you value a digital asset?
The word "asset" implies value. So...how much are your digital assets worth? There is certainly expense involved in creating the asset in the first place--taking the photograph, purchasing an illustration, creating a design, writing a document, filming a 30-second commercial. That's the cost of the asset--the value of the asset is a little harder to calculate. A company's logo is highly valuable, of course. Any asset that represents your company or promotes your products, or communicates to interested parties, has intrinsic value. The value of these assets increases with use. If wisely re-purposed and carefully put to work, assets can increase in value the more they are utilized. And re-purposing existing digital assets can save time and money as opposed to creating new assets.

How do you organize digital assets?
In a word: metadata.
Metadata describes other data. In the case of digital assets, metadata is the embedded descriptive information that is connected to the file. This is how you are able to organize and then search for and retrieve your digital assets. There are some file formats that automatically write metadata to the asset, or you can also add metadata to your files manually.

The metadata might describe how large a photo is , the image resolution, or when the image was created. Some types of metadata allow you to personalize the descriptive information exactly the way you want--in the case of an illustration, for example, you may want to catalog by artist or the subject or the product. For other files you may want to catalog by keywords or creation date or client name.

A Digital Asset Management system is a centralized location for storing, managing and accessing your digital assets--along with their accompanying metadata, which allows you to organize and retrieve your files.

Are you a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant?

Some of us are natives of the digital age...and some of us are immigrants here in the digital world, maintaining our "accents" that mark us as being from somewhere else. Not sure which one you are? Take this simple test:

• Do you sometimes print out a document to read it or edit it?
• Would you rather walk across the hall to talk to a colleague than send an email?
• Do you regularly read the newspaper?
• Do you bring people physically into your office to show them an interesting web site?
• Are you able to walk out of the house without your cell phone?

If you answered "yes" to all or most of the questions, you're a digital immigrant - someone who is probably pretty competent with text messaging or iPhone apps or internet searching, but also needs to disconnect from the digital universe every now and then and reconnect to the physical world. The immigrant's digital "accent" just means you may turn to other forms of information at times rather than always using the internet.

Author Marc Prensky, who coined the terms, claims that digital natives are different from digital immigrants, because the natives have been digitally hardwired since birth. He has calculated that the typical college grad today has, on average, exchanged 250,000 emails, IMs and mobile text messages and spent more than 10,000 hours on their cell phones. They've spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading - but over 10,000 hours playing video games and another 20,000 hours watching TV.

Good news is, Digital Immigrants and Natives can coexist peacefully and even work pretty well together. Technology like HubCentrix can help bridge the gap, allowing each group to work in ways that are comfortable for them. One might draft copy in a word program first, then cut and paste into an HTML file for web, while the other will probably just write directly into HTML. The Hub allows both. One might use the Hub primarily to move business and projects along, while the other will use it to also connect socially. One might keep a hard copy of a warranty after scanning it into the Hub, while the other will toss it.

The Hub is an equal opportunity tool, no matter how fluent - or not - you might be. For immigrants, the more you use the Hub, the more you might feel at home here in digital land. Welcome!

Free at Last! If everyone were working and thinking while connect to some large portal spread out on a global range....

From infotoxication to cybernetization, Naseem Javed of E-Commerce Times makes some observations and predictions about the coming new world order. Fun and fascinating reading! Read it here: http://www/ecommercetimes.com/story/69252.html