ChangeForge is a very young blog, with a first post date of March 5 of this year. In this short time, I have made many new and friends, been exposed to many new things, and have loved just about every minute of it!

I am looking forward to continually building this site, while learning new ways in which to share these thoughts with the world… and most importantly - connect with others in a meaningful way.

As I review these posts, they represent different facets of what ChangeForge strives to be - a catalyst to affect your paradigm… and have you impact my own.

… here you are welcome to change!

10. Do your document solutions save trees?

9. Apathy: The Culture-Killer

8. Disconnected? … Check!

7. Meet Me at the Intersection of Passion and Process

6. Do you walk the critical path?

5. Culture is the King of Change!

4. SharePoint 2007 Series Conclusion: 6 Takeaways - 4 of 4 -

3. Is IT a gatekeeper or a bridge?

2. The Road To Change

1. Why Do You Write?

First, just what is social media? That’s a pretty broad term. In general, it has come to signify a collective offering of Web 2.0 companies like Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, and Facebook which allow groups of like-minded individuals to form loose-knit communities for the purpose of broadcasting information to large groups of people who comprise a well-targeted demographic.

Business translation? You get your intended message out to a well-tuned market who will listen your message.

Most traditional businesses aren’t even aware these services exist, well with the exception of sites like Facebook or MySpace. But aren’t those for my teenager?

The Chicken or the Egg?

Ah, now you’ve asked an interesting question. This actually shows you are not dumb at all - I’m proud of you for thinking like that. You at least know they exist.

Here’s a quick fact for all of you, Facebook recently reached 100,000,000 subscribers. A free service dedicated to helping people connect with one another now has more competitive information housed within its database than your CRM/SFA application.

Do you think you might be able to do just a little research on a prospect before heading over if they were subscribed to a service like Facebook, or LinkedIn (a popular professional network)?

You may ask, “My prospect couldn’t be using any of that stuff - could they?”

The Tipping Point is Now

Social media is at a tipping point, some might argue it is well past - but I would contend only now are avant garde companies utilizing social media outlets to capitalize on untapped markets and interact with their customers. The mainstream businesses are still grappling with search engine marketing, and the Web has been around for almost two decades, while social media is really only in its infancy.

Companies like Comcast and Dell are putting their proverbial ear to the ground in order to help foresee potential press before it hits the mainstream media outlets like MSNBC or CNN. While these examples are technology companies, it is important to note this is both an intelligence and social tool; these two companies are opting to lead the pack to both “listen to the chatter on the wire” as well as connect with their customers in a meaningful way.

Be Authentic

While you would love to have access to this wealth of raw marketing data, there is a cost. It does not necessarily come in subscription fees or maintenance agreements. There have been no proven “get rich quick schemes” here.

It takes authenticity and empathy; a genuine interest and interaction in the communities you traffic. In this manner are you given the keys to the kingdom.

Sound familiar? Isn’t it very much like how we say we sell - by building relationships? The payoff is measured in meaningful gains - at first not quantitative, but qualitative. Then, as your sphere of influence grows so to does your return: You find increased responsiveness to your brand, increased goodwill, and increased customer retention.

What you put in is what you get out, and that’s why you would use social media for your business. Not because it is a scheme, but because it is another way to build relationships with your community of customers.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

I am proud to announce we have launched our new corporate website for Team Kearns, a more web-friendly version than before resting on an open source content management system (CMS), Drupal. I have been working with Corey at Dealer Marketing Systems since early this year (the brains behind MasterTheBusiness.com & CopierCatalog.com - which I highly recommend as a great reads).

He has been both a great mentor on SEO and friend; so I decided to trust him enough to put together my new company website. The press release is posted a press release over at OfficeProductNews.net.

Here is an except.

Kearns Business Solutions is proud to announce the launch of their new website, www.TeamKearns.com.

Several months ago, the company launched the Team Kearns initiative, geared towards communicating the value a team approach brings to outlining and executing their clients’ strategies. This website is another step towards helping Kearns not only communicate their message to clients, but ultimately providing valuable resources to augment their clients’ document strategies.

Read the rest of the press release at OfficeProductNews.net (another one of Corey’s little projects).

I would recommend Corey’s team to anyone. I am exacting in my standards, and Corey’s team was able to thoroughly take this site from concept to reality.

If it weren’t for the fact that everyone loves seeing my happy and smiling face at work I think I could really get into telecommuting - well except for the fact that my daughter seems to think the world lives to give her attention…

That aside, where else can you work in PJ’s, wear bedroom slippers, and sip on a latte while relaxing from your arm chair? I don’t have bedroom slippers, so I suppose I would have to expense those. But other than that - I got this gig down:

I have remote software on all of the servers, remote software to access any desktop or notebook I need, a VoIP handset to talk, e-mail for managing the tasks, instant messenger (IM) to chat, and a BlackBerry for errands. I’m all set.

Seeing is Believing:

People don’t see me, and what most people don’t see they don’t believe. Sure, many of us ‘technologists’ get it. We are mobile professionals on the road - and we judge performance based upon the results - right!?

Do the Benefits Outweigh the Perception?

Many organizations, including government, has turned to telecommuting as a cost-friendly way to maintain increasing demand for results. The benefits of telecommuting are wonderful:

1. Higher productivity: More relaxed attitude and less office distractions.
2. Lower overhead: lower expenses related to facilities costs.
3. Other perks: lower fuel costs for the employees can equate to a raise for a creative manager.
4. The list goes on…

The perception, however, can be a much different thing.

Perception is Reality:

I would venture a guess that most of you reading this blog are technologically - well, shall we say - progressive. You thirst for knowledge, to connect, to create… Sadly, you make up a smaller percentage of the workforce.

Thus toots the train of thought many executives travel upon.

“It is not the spoon that bends …

… but you that bends around the spoon,” as the quote goes. In essence, you have to see your way around the wall that is common misperception regarding telecommuters: that is they are hard to manage, hard to communicate with, and can be lazy.

I like to think of myself as a progressive leader, and make no mistake, that is what it takes to buy into a modern day vision of the mobile worker. However, I was recently bitten by a telecommuter for a SharePoint project I am working on that had the makings of a nightmare.

At the outset of the project, I had spent over a week trying to connect, but due to schedules it took us quite some time. Then there was the business of setting access and signing contracts. After these items were settled in, it took us another few days to connect - and to my dismay we only connected via IM - well after business hours?

Well, we discussed this and that, and this developer had a seemingly wonderful grasp upon some of the nuances of SharePoint development. I was promised a statement/estimate of work, and thus we were off.

Then a week came and went - no statement of work - no visible results. Then another week began to pass, and I initiated contact only to find no response, no work, nothing.

So it is that I, the progressively-minded leader, was bitten. I should’ve heard the alarm-bells, no the sirens, of project mismanagement missteps across the board - but I allowed myself to deviate from my standard management practices - all in the name of telecommuting.

So, there is a lesson somewhere inside, or else I will just feel miserable having wasted 4 weeks of my project portfolio’s time.

Telecommuting; the Brutal Truth:

What was my mistake? Not remembering that telecommuting is no different than comparing wired to wireless networks. Both have their places, but telecommuting is simply a medium of transport. Have some faith in the fact that belief does not have to be determined by sight alone.

Love is not an emotion; love is primarily an action and choice. Love…

1. eliminates harm… and always protects.
2. expresses belief… and always trusts.
3. expects something good… and always hopes.
4. endures difficulties… and always perseveres.
5. effects its purpose… and never fails.

- Perry Duggar, Brookwood Church

Maybe you are in sales, and you are reading this blog. Most people would generically classify me in IT. I might argue we are all in sales, but I’m not going to insult your intelligence.

Instead, I’m going to tell you what you are missing. I’m going to tell you what I see almost every single sales person walk by in every single ‘assessment‘, and what they always fail to counsel their clients in every single interview. It is low hanging fruit. It amazes me.

We let our clients browbeat us with price, or features, or some misperceived value they have stuck in their head which is often only slightly true.

Can I get an ‘amen‘ here?

So are you in sales, or are you in education? Let me ask this another way: Are you a baby-sitter, or are you the most educated person on how documents move in and through your client’s organization?

How can you know your client’s business better than they do?

This is a fair question. After all, you aren’t looking at their P&L, and most likely they aren’t going to show it to you - even if you are a “consultant” to their business.

What’s your next best alternative?

Ask questions - lots of questions. You job is to uncover truth… and you have to be passionate about:

1. Helping your client’s business like it is your own.
2. Seeking truth.
3. Showing your client what truth is in their business.
4. Being willing to walk if they can’t or won’t commit.

Armed with truth (answers) clients have to be prepared about what they are going to hear. Some, many, will be in flat denial. So you have to ask why they called you in.

And here’s where the turn comes that you are missing.

Very few clients are really solving security problems relating to documents. Oh, everyone talks about security - and sure you can sell them the latest whiz-bang data-overwrite kit for their do-everything-but-make-coffee paperweight in the “copy room”.

But did you SOLVE their security issue?

You have to understand that security is not a 1-stop shop. It is like that thing you try to  present to your clients called a “document strategy” right? Well, this is part of that.

The client has to take ownership of this overall strategy for it to be effective (see point on flat denial) and commit to doing something about it. That is the hard part.

Here’s a softball… sure your clients have firewalls at the gate, anti-virus loaded across their swath of computers, data-security kits, and they might even have “remote monitoring services” (this is where you say, “ooohhh - aaahhhh!”).

But what are they doing to secure that piece of paper coming out of that printer, copier or fax?

Folks, paper is a preferred method of information conveyance for a reason - it’s PORTABLE…

That nice, little 3-page document can be neatly folded and put right inside your pocket and there is not a thing they can do about it - or is there? This could be sales leads, or lease documents, HR records, or that oh-so valuable P&L they didn’t want you to see (but your Accounting Manager just sold it to your competitor).

“No, that would never happen in my company,” the client exclaims! (see point on flat denial - again).

So is it that easy? Maybe I am over-simplifying, but are you walking past security risks in your clients’ companies every day? With print auditing software, document management systems, and processes these risks can be greatly reduced (and help your client sleep a little easier at night).

Think about giving control back to your clients, about protecting their informational property. There’s what you missed - take it from the IT guy.

The one consistent thing in life is change. If that is the case, and we know it, why do we resist change so?

The “forge” portion of my blogs name came from the realization several years ago that you have to commit to change and “break on through to the other side” (to quote Jim Morrison). Often through what feels like fire nipping at your heels, whipping at your face, and eating at your gut, you must fight your way through our primal instinct to resist change!

Change is not easy, but it is expected and can be managed.

So it is change, my friends, that helps us interact with one another. Without change, there would be no need for community, no need to interact with one another. Change, indeed, is the catalyst by which we are forced to react, to interact and decide a direction. This ripples out into an eventual realization that all things are finite, and must be replenished.

In this way, change becomes a compelling force bringing us together.

Build Community

Our lives can be akin to a piece of thread - by itself it really has very little value. Sure it has some use, but ultimately there is no strength or greater purpose to it. No two pieces of thread are exactly the same in length, density, or composition… yet in finding a way to mold them through careful exercise into a functional whole - a blanket of community is born.

This collection of threads creates a useful and beautiful whole; not organs alone does a body make, but the sum of its parts with such wonderful form and function do we celebrate.

With these threads as a metaphor to our individual existences, each place we overlap another thread represents a point of impact in another’s life. Some will be large and some will be small, but it is these cross-patterns, these overlays in the knitting, if you will, that are so wonderful - that you must relish.

The Lesson

So it is that we learn from each other, by depending upon one another; it is at these “touch-points” where interaction and stimulation occur. A synergy of thoughts or actions coming together as a collective whole.

We are touched each and every day by those around us, and must decide how to act, react, and interact. We take away from each experience a lesson: that lesson, however is ours to decide. It is up to you how you perceive change when it is all around you. It is up to you whether you will step through the fire of change or allow your spirit to wither in its intensity.

image credit: Lee Towndrow

With the prevalence of the mobile phone market domestically and abroad, I think it is safe to say we are a media hungry world. With MP3’s for ring tones, e-mail and text messaging blitzing in and out of your phone, and real-time video streaming to and from that little gadget in your hand - mobile media (media accessible through handheld devices) is now the rule, not the exception.

At what point do we see the commercial space cross over into the realm of enterprise? In decades past, it has been the enterprise that has paved the way for mass consumption of many things electronic - even the lucrative commercial offerings mobile phone providers now tout had their origins in Corporate America. Maybe it is time the commercial / retail space gave a little back.

Mobile media’s place in the enterprise is under discussion in many offices across the U.S. Arguably, there are key areas in the company which may be dramatically impacted through mobile media, but many executives still contend this medium of delivery as largely youth driven.

While mobile-media isn’t a favorite topic of those in the corner office, mobile media has really caught the eye of corporate IT, whose key responsibilities are generally keeping the network operational and ensuring overall security. Quite frankly, mobile media potentially threatens both.

With corporations overly-crowded ‘tubes’, companies are pushing more bandwidth down their pipes than ever. Sure server space and network speeds are to be had at a cheaper rate, but toss in the CFO’s command to control costs, and now you have a genuine recipe for a witch-hunt on your hands -with IT hold the pitch-forks and torches.

From personal experience in managing a mid-sized, privately held company’s infrastructure, it is a tough road to walk. Well, if you are in IT - you may think it very cut and dry, but how to you reconcile the bleeding-effect occurring between knowledge workers’ work and personal life?

Many times, today’s workers’ are working towards and being measured on results, not hours worked. These workers seek a streamlined life as well as consistent and constant access to data. In other words, they want always on connections that synchronize amongst themselves - digital on-ramps and off-ramps, and a key one of these being a handheld device.

Richer user experiences will continue to be a demand touted by skilled workers, and employers will have to find a way to deal with the expectations of fringe benefits such as a corporate handheld device that also doubles as a personal MP3 player - as in the case of the illustrious iPhone. If you think this is a fad, I would suggest not; it is a trend that appears to be increasing in frequency.

1. What challenges have you and your company run into with regards to mobile media?
2. Do you allow your mobile workforce to blur the lines between work and personal content?

Photo credit: Sanja Gjenero

As the calendar moves over the half way mark and we start drafting the broad strokes of next year’s sales plan, rest assured that just as a copier clicks twice for ledger size paper, sales quotas will be higher. One way to increase sales is to generate scheduling more first appointments.

"But my sales people are already busy enough as it is, [This is complete head trash and a blog for another day, but let’s appease this disillusioned sales manager for now] how could they possibly squeeze more activities into their day?" the sales manager ponders.

Next the mining of the deleted items folder searching for the email from Appts-R-Us!! claiming:

• We set highly qualified business-to-business appointments !!

• Shorten the sales cycle in acquiring and retaining new customers !!

• Quick and easy set-up gets your sales people in front of legitimate decision makers fast !!

• See more sales-ready leads, higher close ratios, a stronger sales pipeline !!

“But didn’t we try this a couple of years ago and very few of the appointments turned into actual closed deals?” asks the VP of Sales hearing the pitch from the sales manager, “Yeah, but these guys offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, if they don’t produce we’ll just fire’em.”

Well the quick and easy set up is a matter of opinion and the fast part is true if you are racing a guy in a wheelchair on the beach. After all the script writing drafts and other pre-set up preparations the last thing left on the list is convincing the sales staff that they are not losing 5% of their commission for every deal closed set by the telemarketing company but actually gaining 95%,

You give the first few appointments to the top rep to get things rolling and win over mind share. You ask her to present a status report and after you request it a second time you finally receive the following:

Appointment # 1

The prospect didn’t even know why I was there.

Appointment # 2

The guy I met with said that Facilities is in charge of the copier decisions.

Appointment # 3

The address was wrong; by the time I got to right place, the prospect had to go into another meeting.

Appointment # 4

They are happy with their current vendor.

She volunteers the following commentary - These appointments were a complete joke. What we are paying these guys its too much.

Read between the lines. Why is it when the telemarketing company schedules an appointment that does not move into the sales funnel the rep blames it on the incompetent telemarketing company? Now try this one on for size, what if the sale rep herself scheduled these exact same appointments and the outcome was the exact same?  Who does she blame now? Well, of course, its the incompetent prospect right?

Because who else could it possibly be?

As the rules of business change, thinking must change as well. For us sales professionals, I believe antiquated thinking will only lead to frustration, unhappy clients and a dwarfed income. The purpose of my blogs is to provoke a deeper level of thought about achievement in business and to challenge the comfort zone in order to provide a new level of selling and lifestyle.

Max Rosenthal is a manager with Diversified Business Solutions, headquarter in San Diego, California. He encourages your opinions and ideas and can be reached via e-mail or phone at 866-298-2737.

With all of this talk about location services with the iPhone, and the pending “me too” launch of RIM’s Thunder/Storm product - I thought it prudent that RIM invest in some similar services, and even partner with leaders in other industries to co-brand a wonderful set of tools.

Think about combining location services, like GPS, with the raw e-mail potential BlackBerry is so good at.

And so, the top 5 BlackBerry signature services were born:

• 5. DriveBerry: A factory-installed, directional system optional with 2010 GM Hummers where you can control the movements of the vehicle directly from your BlackBerry handheld. *only available on the AT&T network and in major markets. Subject to terms and conditions.
• 4. QWERTY-FISH: Click Here to receive a text message translating what I just typed in this e-mail: A service provided in conjunction with Yahoo! BABEL FISH.
• 3. SpeedBump: I’ve hit ‘X’ number of pedestrians while trying to find the exclamation point: A new service in partnership with Rockstar Games: Makers of Grand Theft Auto IV
• 2. CrackTrap: Current speed while typing this e-mail is ‘X’ mph: A service provided by your friendly California Highway Patrol (CHP) Traffic and Safety Division.

… and the number 1 BlackBerry Signature Service is:

• Crack-cident: Now going on X days without an accident: A free signature service provide by your friendly insurance company.

Do you have more? Send me your best RIM Signatures.