Evoke Creative Group

Best Smartphone For Your Business

2011-09-30T14:45:00.002-04:00

A common topic of debate for my circle is which phone is superior. I, myself, am an Android fanatic. I have the t-shirts, the PC wallpaper, and four devices (2 phones and 2 tablets). Sometimes, I will crack open a beer and play with custom ROMs to give my phone that extra tweak and make it a phone tailored to me. However, not everybody is a geek and not everybody has such strange hobbies. Some people just want a phone to do what it's supposed to and that's it. So, there's your debate. Androids verses iPhone. The epic battle.

However, there are other phones to consider and obviously carriers as well. So I want to cover all the bases. The phones: Research In Motion's (RIM) Blackberry, Apple's iPhone, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, and Google's Android phones from various manufacturers. There are a lot of carriers but the big four I will cover will be Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. First, Verizon.

Verizon

Verizon is the country's largest carrier, for now. That may change if AT&T's attempted acquisition of T-Mobile goes through. Being with the largest carrier comes with some perks. Probably the most important of those being coverage.

I, personally, am on Verizon and can attest to the fact that coverage is pretty darned good. I don't drop calls, can read my emails in Podunk Hollow, and on top of that, there is a very good selection of phones. Unfortunately, that means you may have to pay a bit more.

At the time of writing this, a business plan with unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data costs $119.99. That ain't cheap. But if you're running a business, connectivity is very important so you may decide it's worth it.

AT&T

AT&T is the nation's second largest and covers most markets pretty well. However, if you have any friends with AT&T, you've probably seen them step out to take phone calls. My business partner has it and I hear a fair amount of complaints. That said, you should still have pretty good reception in most places an average man goes. Not to mention, they're on a GSM network (unlike Sprint and Verizon) which means that most of those phones are internationally compatible. If you travel out of the States a lot, that may be crucial (of course the other carriers offer up "global" phones to counter this).

You can get nationwide unlimited with 2GB of data for $94.99. Cheaper than Verizon but you have to determine whether or not the coverage is worth the extra 25 bucks.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile and Sprint both fill a niche market. Both offer up tremendous value for the markets they serve well. T-Mobile's unlimited plan runs at $49.99. To further entice you, that includes not only text and talk but also data. Sounds too good to be true, right? It sort of is. Though the text and talk are truly unlimited, the data is a bit in the gray area. If you use too much, they start throttling down on your speeds.

So for example, you get a sweet new 4G phone that downloads at the speed of light. If you're downloading too much or watching too much Youtube, they slow it down. If you're a video professional who depends on sites like Youtube or Vimeo to show your clients, you may be a little frustrated when that load screen hits at a bad time. However, if you're smart, you'll start tapping into WiFi for these uses.

Sprint

In that value market, you have the fourth largest carrier and the smallest of our group, Sprint. What you lose in going with a company like Sprint is the large selection of devices and great coverage. I know two people on Sprint and one loves it and the other hates it. The hate comes from the inability to call her mother from inside her house. The real kicker? She lives near downtown Charlotte.

Sprint's unlimited data, talk, and text will run you $109.99. Why not pay the extra $10 and get Verizon you ask? Well, Sprint advertises that they don't limit or throttle data. So 4G is really 4G and stays that way. Honestly, I wouldn't bank on this remaining true. The iPhone is notoriously horrible with hogging data use and pushed AT&T and Verizon both to start limiting or charging for the extra data use. Sprint is anticipated to get the iPhone in a few weeks.

Phones: The Epic Battle

There is a myriad of different phones available so even after you've picked a carrier and plan, you're really just getting started. The next questions will be about the platform you like and what will really work best for your business. In an effort to not be biased, I will go over the four main contenders: Blackberry, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7.

iPhone with iOS

The iPhone is available on AT&T and Verizon at the moment with rumors to hit up Sprint in October, 2011. It's a good phone, honestly. You can pick up an iPhone 3GS for about 50 bucks, too, without a contract. So if you don't mind a little older phone, it's a great value. A new iPhone 4 will run you $199.99 to $299.99. Those prices should come down with the release of the iPhone 5.

This phone is geared towards simplicity and it does it very well. They have the most diverse app market of all the smartphones and probably the most loyal consumer base. One of the larger drawbacks, though, is its lack of Adobe Flash support. This may be crucial if you find yourself looking at a lot of Flash based websites.

I would recommend this phone to the average phone user who is not interested in the technical aspects of a phone. If you need a lot of unique apps, don't really care if it's state-of-the-art, and want the support of the local Apple Store, get the iPhone. One word of advice: buy a good case. Those phones seem to break often.

Android

If you like the concept of hours of research, breaking in new technologies, and a huge developers community, go Android. Of course, if you also want a huge selection of phones, this platform is definitely for you. Please don't assume if you're not a techno-guru, you won't like Android. You'll just love it that much more if you are.

I personally rock the Motorola Droid X2. It's a dual-core phone offered up by Verizon. It's a fast phone with some impressive hardware. On the flip side, Android wasn't quite ready for hardware that good so I struggled with the phone for a while until an update came out and the development community kicked in.

All the major carriers have a good selection of Droid phones. And if you like custom ROMs, buy one and visit xda-developers.com. Some phones allow you to overclock, change boot animations, and customize every single element to make you feel like the phone is really designed for you. Just be smart when buying one and know that not all Androids are created equal. As I mentioned, research and research up to the last minute. New phones seem to be coming out weekly.

Blackberry & Windows Phone 7

I lumped these together because there isn't much to say about Blackberry that you don't already know. But there's one important thing about Blackberry's parent company Research In Motion. RIM is on its deathbed and if it doesn't release something to revive its product line, it will go away and go away quickly. The Blackberry introduced us to the smartphone but it seems to not be getting smarter. If I were you, I wouldn't buy one now. Developers are leaving the platform, the phones aren't nearly as good as its competitors, and you may lose support all together in the near future.

Now WP7. It's probably the most unique of all the smartphones I have seen. It's clean, simple, and really stands out from the crowd. Unfortunately, it hasn't grown at the rate seen by the iPhone and more so, Android. The iPhone has about 20% market share, Android 45%, and WP7 only 2%. This means there will be less apps and less support.

A huge plus, however, is that many business owners will reap the rewards of having another Microsoft product. MS Office support is a huge piece of the puzzle that will help elevate this phone into the empty shoes where Blackberry used to stand. Also, native MS Exchange support will help increase its share (though Exchange works on virtually all smartphones).

WP7 is simple. I mean, very simple. Your start screen shows you how many emails you have, social media updates, texts, etc. It may be a good phone for those who are not tech savvy at all and don't want to be. You can get in and get out quickly.

A Few Things To Consider

Obviously, if your business uses Google Apps for its infrastructure, a phone OS designed by Google will give you the best experience. However, most any smartphone can sync with Google Apps as well as MS Exchange. So don't be dependent on that for your decision.

Go into the store and play with them, too. Once you decide which platform you want, have fun. Visit the Apple Store, pick up a Droid Charge, or check out the HTC Surround. There are a lot of great choices and it may just come down to how well it fits into your hand. Or maybe just the color. White iPhone anybody?

Probably the best advice out there is that you shouldn't listen to the long-haired guy with coke-bottle glasses from the mobile store. Keep in mind, they're getting paid to sell you something. Ask around, look online, visit cnet.com. As with anything else, it pays to be an informed consumer... Especially if you run a business.

- Pedigo (CTO/Partner)

Hiring a Web Developer

2011-09-15T10:07:00.001-04:00

Every business decision maker eventually needs to employ the services of a web developer. Typically, it's for a one time project such as a creating a company website or editing one already in place. Since my company offers up these services, I felt it would be useful to provide a few tips (and maybe a few DOs and DON'Ts) in the search for the perfect web guru.

Interview Them

Probably the most important and yet most overlooked aspect of the process is personality. In running a business, one doesn't typically hire the first person to walk into the office. In that same vein, one doesn't hire somebody based on references alone. When a manager hires an employee, they look at all of the elements. Is this person a good fit for the company? Is he/she reliable? Has this person been difficult to manage in the past? If one approaches minimum wage entry positions thoroughly, why would one not approach a highly paid contractor as such?

It is important to remember that this is the individual with whom you will be working closely to build your company's presence on the web, collaborating on social medias, and creating the first visual most people see when looking into hiring your business. Having a developer who you like, can work with, and who truly strives to help your business succeed through a melting pot of HTML and graphics is key to being successful on the world wide web. Don't get stuck with somebody you'll dread calling when you need to discuss revisions and edits.

Money Talks

I would be lying if I said I never was shocked by just how little some business owners think websites cost. I would also be lying if I said I never was surprised by ridiculous estimates some web development companies give for very quick and simple builds. The fact is that if you do your research, you will notice some trends.

If a designer gives you a super cheap estimate for an e-commerce site with hundreds of products, dozens of pages, and elaborate graphic design, then it's probably going to look like it costs. Cheap. On the opposite side of the spectrum, most websites with a few pages and a simple contact form should not cost $20,000.00. Do your research and you should start to see some balance. If you have any questions, ask around. Other business leaders will be able to give you an idea of a fair price for what you're needing.

Defining Needs

We're assuming at this point, you've got an idea of a few web developers with whom you feel comfortable. You have a range of pricing that's comfortable and you see this being an affable business relationship. Before you sign that check, it would be a good time to define all the website needs and make sure this person or firm is capable. It's wise to spend some time learning the lingo so you can weed out pseudo-experts from real ones.

Things like SEO, XHTML Compliance, SSL, Shared Hosting, Monthly Bandwidth are incredibly important at the beginning. If you expect 100,000 customers a month to visit that site, you want to know there is enough bandwidth to support it. It would be disastrous if thousands of potential clients saw a "This account has exceeded its bandwidth" instead of your logo. Read a little before you hire and address these issues in the first meetings. If a designer doesn't think SEO matters, then you need to ask yourself, "Do I want my site to get found or not?"

You Hired Them

I believe one of the most essential practices of good business is nurturing relationships. However, most owners struggle with this on a daily basis and in my experience, more so with contractors like web developers. Golden Rule aside, it is important to note that you hired them. They did not beg for the work. If you picked them, it was because you trusted them. You didn't go through the interview process, design stages, and hours of your time just to stand over their shoulder. Let them do their job and be supportive in the process.

I am not suggesting that have no revisions or suggestions but a few things will quickly torch the relationship you have carefully fostered over the past weeks. Gathering suggestions from several sources is always a good idea. However, if those sources have no design experience, it will effectively do two things. First, it will ostracize your designer and discourage them from making the website the best they know how. Secondly, it will make your website ugly. I have seen this happen many times and it kills me to know that a client had gold and traded it in for tin because they didn't seek the right counsel. When you hire somebody based on their expertise, trust them. Otherwise, you're throwing money away.

Continuing Together

One important thing to note is that unless you want to have an HTML/PHP/CSS/ASP/Python expert in house for subtle changes, you will likely need a web expert to update and maintain your website on occasion. We use a Content Management System (CMS) to build our sites so many small changes can be made by our clientele without accruing hourly charges. However, some updates are too complicated for the average person and they reach out to us to make some updates.

As I stated earlier, be careful not to alienate your web designer. You will likely want this person to keep your website fresh and updated so treat them accordingly. I have personally heard horror stories where an owner frustrated the designer to such an extent that the websites weren't updated for a decade. They would refuse to answer phone calls, not give up passwords, and in a few extreme cases, would allow the domain to expire killing the website entirely.

In those most extreme cases, we have had to charge hourly to repair the damage done by a poor relationship between boss and designer. And sometimes, it can get very expensive just to get a website back up after the web developer torches it and leaves town.

In summary, hire smart and be fair. Understand that just because your 11 year old nephew can make a site for his Xbox Live team, doesn't mean that it's easy. It doesn't mean it's worth $1,000 an hour either. Shop around, find somebody you like, and treat them like you'd want to be treated. You're an expert at running a business. Let the other experts have their chance, too.

- Pedigo (CTO/Partner)

Google Apps

2011-09-09T13:49:00.001-04:00

When I came on board with Evoke Creative Group, I found that we suffered from the same basic infrastructure problems that many small businesses face in this evolving world: emerging technology. We had issues with lost emails, finding documents for clients, and managing our people and time well.

A friend of mine, who also happens to do a lot of work with IT and web design, recommended that we look into a cloud solution. Upon a bit of research, I stumbled onto a few solutions but was really intrigued by one in particular.

Google Apps really caught my eye because of its low cost (free at that time for under 50 users, now free for up to 10) and functionality. After going through the myriad of applications, I found that it could easily cover most of our needs.

The primary Apps that have helped us reorganize and grow our business have been Gmail, Docs, and Calendar. Gmail allows you to use your company's branding (yourname@yourcompany.com) with their cloud based service. It has amazing redundancy with near 100% uptime. Considering the days of old clunky office MX servers, this is a godsend for us. Not only that, you take advantage of Google's security professionals to manage the risks. Personally, I will gladly trust Google's team any day of the week over a few IT professionals locally.

Docs has reduced our need for hard copies of every single item of business. For most of our internal documents, we can create, share, collaborate, edit, and save in a redundant cloud. The beauty of this is two-fold. You now have your company's documents available any where in the world that has internet and you're significantly reducing your carbon footprint by using a considerable amount less paper.

Finally, and probably my favorite, is Google Calendar. Within this App, one can easily schedule and invite users to meetings and events. The best part of it to me is its ability to easily sync up on modern smart phones especially if they're Android based. I can see schedules for all of my employees from my desktop, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.

Google Apps even offers a few tools to help businesses with the transition such as email syncing and calendar syncing. These help you migrate from your old system to Apps. So there is really no excuse to not do it. As I stated earlier, Google Apps is free for organizations under 10 people and is $50 a person per year beyond that (non-profits are $30).

We can help you migrate and the entire process can usually be concluded in a few days.

- Pedigo (CTO/Partner)