Tutorial 3: Virtual Life

Today’s economy is a true world economy and companies are forced to compete with businesses all across the world. More competition equals lower prices, which ultimately leads to lower profit margins. So companies are either going out of business or becoming a leaner operation to stay competitive. A leaner operation means less work force and the employees that are left have to find a way to be more productive. Front line workers must produce more, managers are managing a larger staff, and sales people are being forced to cover larger territories. (Competing for Advantage; A new Global Reality, by The Boston Consulting Group, Arindam Bhattacharya, January 2010, http://www.bcg.com/documents/file37656.pdf)

Here is where some very valuable solutions created by Web 2.0 come in handy. Not only socially but now business people are learning to use Web 2.0 for marketing, virtual meetings, keeping in touch with family while on the road, and many other useful applications. Today's Business person is asked to constantly multitask. Randy McDonald, a 30 year career outside salesperson in the utility electrical industry, describes a time in sales without cell phones or computers. A time when a salesperson was either working in the office, driving, or meeting with a customer; always one at a time. Time is no longer a barrier in business. Currently salespeople are expected to return calls, solve issues, and even answer emails between stops. This reality has trained customers expect answers now. (Interview with Randy McDonald, March 25, 2011)

Like it or not this is the expected pace, and it’s not going to slow down. If salespeople expect to be effective they must use web 2.0 tools. Companies like Citrix are capitalizing with great products like "Go to my PC". Much like salespeople are demanded to multitask, they are also supposed to be in more than one place at a time. Trainings, office time, and accommodating customer and vendor schedules can prove impossible by using a traditional approach. Even finding time for family can be impossible. However, salespeople 2.0 can virtually be many places at once.

I am an outside sales representative for a utility distributor in Florida. Next Tuesday I have to attend a mandatory sales training in Tennessee, the same day I have a customer in Central Florida that is expecting a presentation demonstrating my company’s ecommerce capabilities, and to compound matters my son is playing Tball in the afternoon. The best possible solution would be to attend all events in person. However, as you can see that is impossible. I plan to attend one in person and with the aid of Web 2.0 will virtually attend the other two. Here is the plan.

I have to physically be at the training in North Carolina so I will be giving the the full presentation to the customer while I am in another state.

How is this possible? I’m glad you asked…

• I recorded narration to each of my powerpoint slides by clicking Insert>Movies and Sounds>Record.  

• Then I made sure the narration will come in at the appropriate time for each slide. This is accomplished by using the Custom animation menu and choosing how you want the sound to begin. With mouse click, with previous animation, or after previous animation.

• At this point the file is much too big to email. The solution is a Web 2.0 style production. There are many websites that offer a free platform for powerpoint productions and other media formats. The trick is to choose one that allows both sound and other animation formats to function. For this presentation I am using Screencast.com. So head to Screencast.com and set up a free account and follow their instruction to upload your presentation.

• Here is the finished presentation at Screencast. http://www.screencast.com/t/MJenLm7O3pdG

Now for the most important activity, T-ball. I must admit the there is no substitute for being there in the action, but on Tuesday that is not an option. So my wife will be videoing the game and uploading on our families blogpost immediately after the game for me to watch.

How is this possible? I’m glad you asked….

• First she has to make the video using a camera that is capable of connecting to a computer.

• Then she will connect the camera to her Mac and follow the prompts to transfer the file over to her hard drive.

• Now she will head to our family Blogspot, creat a Blogpost, and upload the video using the Video Icon on the Blogger controls.

• I can then log in to the website on my iphone or computer at the hotel and watch the game.

• The game has not happened yet so I am uploading an example for your enjoyment.

I’m sure you have caught one of the major themes of this tutorial. The Virtual life of Web 2.0 does not replace actually being there for the customer meeting or being there at the game. However, effective business people must learn how to utilize Web 2.0. The alternative could be falling down in production, loss of a job, or even divorce. Hopefully these couple of simple real world applications for Web 2.0 will help someone along the way.

All screenshots, pictures, and video were taken by me, Joseph McDonald, March 25, 2011.