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Digital Tools to Enhance your Business

Hardware, Digital Databases, Marketing and Apps!

University of Maryland Extension Shannon Dill Extension Educator, AGNR Talbot County [email protected], 410-822-1244 Ginger S. Myers Extension Ag Marketing Specialist, Director, MREDC [email protected] 301-432-2767 www.extension.umd.edu/MREDC www.extension.umd.edu/agmarketing www.extension.umd.edu/newfarmer

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.extension.umd.edu/MREDC

http://www.extension.umd.edu/agmarketing

http://www.extension.umd.edu/newfarmer

disclaimer… • I have no formal

technology training • But I have been an

early adopter all my life…

• But you don’t have to believe me…

Terminology • Smartphone – “A small computer that happens to make phone calls…” • The mobile Internet - browser-based access to the internet from a mobile device

(mobile broadband). Needs a mobile provider. • Wireless Internet – provides access to the internet from radio waves rather than wires

from a computer, laptop or mobile device. • Tablet – mobile computer with screen, circuitry and battery in a single unit. Generally

equipped with sensors including camera, mic and touchscreen. • GPS – global positioning system • Location-based services - an information service application, accessible with mobile

devices. LBS utilizes the ability to make use of the geographical position of the device (GPS). These are the applications that pull all of these technologies together…

• Cloud computing – is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet)

Buying a new Device • Many Choices

• Desktop • Laptop • Netbooks/Ultra Laptops • Tablets • Smartphone

• Memory

• Hard Drive – Permanent Storage • 250gb, 320gb, 500gb, 1 tb

• Screen Size • Desktop – Widescreen (width vs.

height) • Laptop – 13in, 14in, 15in, 17in vs.

Weight • Tablets – 7” – 10” • Smartphone – 3” – 5”

• Warranty/Repair

• Platforms

Netbook vs. Laptop vs. Tablets VS. Smartphone

• Issues to consider • Keyboard size (lack of) • Weight / Screen size • May need online/external

storage • What will you use it for?

• Word Processing ? • Internet? Email? • Electronic Books/Mags? • Specific Applications?

• Where will you use it? • Tablets/Smartphones

• Wireless or Cellular connection required

Presenter

Presentation Notes

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/android-vs-ios-vs-windows-phone-a-mobile-showdown-20111228/

Hardware Final Thoughts

• Smart phones and tablets are computers but can’t be used the exact same way as your desktop computer. • Keyboard, mouse, USB drive, memory

• For much of their information, they go to the “Cloud” • Consider your business activities – examples financials,

recordkeeping, payroll TIP: Your Website is still your homebase. Be sure it is mobile optimized for viewing on smartphones and smaller screens.

Cloud • Many services

available – Cost depending on

sizes – Examples include

dropbox, icloud, evernote and many more. Your service provider.

The Statistics • Highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s research related to

mobile technology. • As of January 2014:

– 90% of American adults have a cell phone – 58% of American adults have a smartphone – 32% of American adults own an e-reader – 42% of American adults own a tablet computer

• 44% of cell owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night.

• 29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as “something they can’t imagine living without.”

Presenter

Presentation Notes

I often hear I don’t need a cell phone or I don’t use it. OK – but what about your consumer! Check the demographics are these your target customers

There has been an increase of nearly 1.3 billion smartphone users over the last four years. Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-and-tablet-penetration-2013-10

91% keep their phones within 3 feet of themselves 84% say they couldn’t go a single day without their mobile device Morgan Stanley & TIME mobility poll

http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-and-tablet-penetration-2013-10

According to the figure to the left: • 70% of people use their smartphone as a store

locator (56% of which locate stores while commuting)

• 56% of people use their smartphone to check store prices (50% of which check prices while shopping)

• 54% of people use their smartphone to research something prior to buying it (63% of which research it while at home)

• 37% of people use their smartphone as a shopping list while shopping (71% of which use a shopping list while at a store)

Source: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/a-mobile-shoppers-journey--from-the-couch-to-the-store--and-back.html

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/a-mobile-shoppers-journey--from-the-couch-to-the-store--and-back.html



Are these Tools or Toys?

Why should we care about

apps?

Applications (apps) Decisions, Decisions • Read the reviews • Watch the space you have available • Watch the amount of battery they use • Download from your marketplace not the web • “LITE” versions often have advertisements but are a good way to

test the app • Lots of Free ones • Many are from your favorite web service – YouTube, Ebay,

Craigslist, Skype, Social Media • Grouped – productivity, business, entertainment, social, games,

education, lifestyle, sports, news and travel ???What are your favorites????

Apps- Productivity • Evernote - is a multi-platform note taking program. You can use it on your desktop,

on the web, or on the phone. Take notes, voice record. Voice memo • Target Date (lite) – Free – (Search Android Market) – Target Date is a simple

program that calculates time between two dates. • Calendar Pad – Free – (Search Android Market) – This is app extends the

functionality of the default calendar. • Real Calc – Free – (Search Android Market) – Real Calc also expands the

functionality of the default calculator and will do some conversions. • EMAIL – See if your email has an app. It is much more user friendly • Flashlight Apps • Dropbox/Docs to Go – another type of file sharing feature. Download it to your

desktop, laptop and tablet. • Mileage and Hours - Apps that track and record mileage and work times. • Word processing and Documents - Apps that create documents • Photo and Movie Apps – Many apps that create and enhance photos

Many are free!

Information & News

• Navigation and Travel – google maps, mapquest, trip advisor.

• Gas Buddy – Uses LBS to find the cheapest gas

• Weather – Great apps for this with forecasts and mapping.

• Recipes – Apps for finding recipes.

• Google Earth

• News – The majority of news and newspapers have applications including agriculture news sites like ag web, farm futures, USDA and DTN

• National Banks – Most national banks and credit cards have apps.

• Recordkeeping – apps for recordkeeping.

• Bump – trades an “E” business card

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

Social

• Facebook – connect with friends, family, customers, businesses. Many businesses have pages and run promotions.

• Twitter – Uses LBS to find the cheapest gas

• Tweetdeck – Integrates twitter and Facebook

• LinkedIn – Professionals apps.

• Foursquare – Where customers “check in”. www.foursquare/business

• Pinterest – Pin board of graphics

• Blogging – Apps for writing and posting to blogs

• Pandora – Great program for music

Ag Apps • Growing Degree Days • ID Weeds • Soil Web • Tank Mix Calculator • Tractor House – equipment sales • Convert Trial – convert area, length and mass • Pesticide Recordkeeping (PeRK) • USDA Image Library • Crop Calculators • Farmers Market Finder

http://www.agwebappfinder.com/mobile/apps/growing-degree-days/

http://www.agwebappfinder.com/mobile/apps/convert-trial/

QR Codes • QR codes are everywhere

• The square “Quick Response" codes turn URLs, vCards, or any kind of text into a jumble of pixels that you can scan onto your smartphone instantaneously, no typing required.

• Must download the app QR/Barcode Scanner - FREE • Generate your own online for your marketing promotions, signage or

discounts – FREE • Add it to your materials and send customers to your website or social media

pages

Apps - accept credit card payments through a smartphone.

• Do a comparison • Talk with your bank • Check the percentage, monthly and other fees, read

reviews, hardware, what credit cards are accepted • GoPayment – check terms and service • Pay Anywhere • SQUARE

• 2.75% per swipe for all cards One simple rate, all major credit cards. 3.5%%+$0.15 for manually entered transactions

• Next-day payout Automatic direct deposits to your bank account.

• Fast setup Take your first credit card payment in minutes. Accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover using Square.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

PART E: Mobile apps, app stores, pricing and failure rates�1) Over 300,000 mobile apps have been developed in three years. Apps have been downloaded 10.9 billion times. But demand for download mobile apps is expected to peak in 2013.�2) The most used mobile apps in the US are games; news; maps; social networking and music. Facebook, Google Maps and The Weather Channel (TWC) rule.�• But does reality match the hype around apps? The average download price of a mobile app is falling rapidly on all vendor app stores, except Android. And 1 in 4 mobile apps once downloaded are never used again.�• All these stats in detail below…

SECURITY – Defend Against Hidden App Threats

Now over +400 infected apps for just Androids

• Do a background check on the app developer. Search online to see if they are legit

• Do install a mobile security product for your device. (lookout is popular) • Don’t download apps that are not on an official app store - you may have

higher exposure to cracked or pirated apps. • Don’t reveal purchase information to any apps that are not officially

released by your financial institution. • Understand return policies! Many apps cannot be return or are extremely

difficult to be refunded

Changes in Accessing Media

Digital Databases

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This basically illustrates how devices have gotten smaller. From these big hulking desktop PC, to PCs on our lap to PC in our pocket. Given – internet accessibiliity. Without the internet or connectivity we would not see widespread of these technologoies. So its not the devices per se but it is our ability to connect with these devices with each other All three meeans of accessing digital media are still widely used but we see a fast frowing

Internet Databases

Smart Phone

Global Positioning System

Location Awareness

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The infrastructure that “Location Based Services” rely upon. Thanks to the iPhone 3G and, to a lesser extent, Google’s Android phone, millions of people are now walking around with a gizmo in their pocket that not only knows where they are but also plugs into the internet to share that info, merge it with online databases, and find out what – and who – is in the immediate vicinity…Simply put, location changes everything. This one input – our coordinates – has the potential to change all the outputs. Where we shop, who we talk to, what we read, what we search for, where we go – they all change once we merge the location and the Web - Mathew Honan, WIRED magazine, 1/19/09

Local Business Center – provided by owner

Public Directories (Yellow Pages, SuperPages)

Feeds from other major websites (Trip Advisor - reviews)

User Generated Content (Submitted to Google Directly or crawled)

Put

On

Local

Database

Local Listing

How did all that Information Get There?

Presenter

Presentation Notes

[This slide really represents the second section of this workshop. You should be to this section after about 15 minutes if you include the Role Play activity. This section outlines focus of most of your time; which is answering the question about how all the information on these maps got there and how you can influence what users see.] *Understanding how all of this information made it to your computer screen or a GPs unit is a complex thing to do. For most of the remaining time here we’re going to discuss how that happens and what you can do to influence it. For this workshop, we have tried to simplify this system and its processes into the following categories. Remember, this is far more complex than this, but a basic understanding should help you adapt to this as it changes; which it will. The information you saw came from a series of databases being accessed, by another database which created a mashup, which assembled all the information into a map that looks pleasing to you. You asked for the information which started a series of systems working. You made a query which needed a whole web of information to answer in a way that you could digest. (a graphically pleasing map). You started that process going by submitting a question. You might have used google, another website, a GPS unit, or a GPS enabled phone. No matter what you used, remember that you started it. We’ll talk a little bit about each step, so you can understand how all of this works.* As many of you know, a local listing is often created by including data from multiple sources. We do our best to give attribution to the data appearing on a local listing. Here's a rundown of our main sources of data and how it appears in a listing: LBC: Local Business Center. Information submitted and verified as individual listings appears with the label Provided by business owner. Also, some feeds are submitted through the LBC. YP: Yellow Pages. This describes information we get from public directories created and licensed from 3rd parties. In some areas, we provide attribution at the bottom of a list of results (e.g., business listings distributed by YellowPages.ca™). EC: Enhanced Content, which can include reviews, photos, business hours, payment methods, and other details. This is provided to us via feeds from other websites. If this information is coming from a published web page, a link will be provided. UGC + WEB: User Generated Content & other websites. Both these sources are either submitted to Google directly or crawled, just like other websearch results. If the content is hosted on a website, we'll provide a link. Otherwise, you'll see a Provided by Google users label that shows it was submitted using our community features.

Location Based Services

Presenter

Presentation Notes

[You should go through this slide quickly. Don’t spend too much time explaining each device. You’ll come back to this exact slide later in the workshop.] *LBS (Location Based Services) based advertising is different because specific to where you are within feet. It’s also destination based, meaning its helping people discover where they want to go. It also has the potential to adapt to you.* [Advertising using this technology will likely soon have the ability to change depending on your preferences.] *With a handheld GPS enabled device people can find anything they are looking for. And the information is all neatly categorized, on a map with step by step instructions on how to get from point A to B. With more consumers purchasing global positioning systems, marketers have begun exploring GPS devices as an advertising tool.*

Put Yourself on Maps Using different databases….

Presenter

Presentation Notes

All of these map applications have place to update your info. Click on the Google Maps (or any of the other pictures for their respective websites) picture to go to the Google maps website if you have live internet connection. At the Google Maps website demo what can and can’t be found in the location you are presenting in. So if you are Biwabik, MN search for hotels or coffee. See what the map shows and ask the audience if there are other businesses in that that locality that are not showing up on the map. You want to show here what is an enhance listing and what isn’t. Also who how to claim you your business or create a new entry on the local business center Just briefly demo this by going to www.google.com/local/add RADA 2.0 covers this much more fully.

http://maps.google.com/

http://www.us.map24.com/

http://www.teleatlas.com/

http://maps.live.com/

http://www.mapquest.com/

http://www.infousa.com/

http://maps.yahoo.com/

http://www.yellowpages.com/

• GoogleMaps provides tools to business owners to support their marketing efforts. • SmartPhone Apps: Several smart phones (iPhone) use Google Map data to support navigation by ‘default’... • Maximize exposure to mobile Internet customers. They are already searching for businesses in your area anyway!

How Can You Take Advantage of this Technology?

• Put yourself on the Map!

• Utilize various Location Based Service Providers to enhance your presence

• Enhance your business’s presence using customized digital maps

Presenter

Presentation Notes

So now we know how many people and basic demogrphics of who is using Location Based Services So how do we take advantage of this?

Your Role?

• Business owner / manager / community member – Find & document errors and missing info – Make corrections – Maximize content

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This is time to get the participants thinking about their role. Hopefully people will feel that there role is to be in charge of those changes. [This is Meirzow’s step 5… Explore options for new ways of acting.]

Check your listing on Google Maps

• Read the comments • Owner verify • Add information

Important!

• Searches on Google, Yahoo and Bing provided different business.

• Being listed on one database is not enough. • Must register your business on all databases

to maximize your exposure. • Need to check listings to make sure reviews,

photos, etc. are acceptable.

Final Thoughts

• Smartphones and tablets are great accessories for doing business

• Your customers are using their smartphone to shop

Ginger S. Myers University of Maryland Extension Extension Ag Marketing Specialist, Director, MREDC [email protected] www.extension.umd.edu/MREDC www.extension.umd.edu/agmarketing 301-432-2767

Shannon Dill University of Maryland Extension Extension Educator, Talbot County [email protected] www.extension.umd.edu/talbot 410-822-1244

Questions


http://www.extension.umd.edu/MREDC

http://www.extension.umd.edu/agmarketing


http://www.extension.umd.edu/talbot