Understanding the Difference Between Branding, Marketing and Advertising

Courtesy of pixgood.com

By Hector Cisneros

I often hear marketing professionals bantering the terms “branding,” “marketing” and “advertising.” The same is true of the terms “campaign,” “strategic,” and “tactical.” In many cases, seasoned professional use the first three terms interchangeably as if they all mean the exact same thing. In fact, these six terms are often misused, confused ― or worse, they’re associated with unscrupulous means of conning people out of their money. In this article, we’ll explore the meaning and use of these six often misused terms. We’ll see if and when they overlap, and I’ll provide concrete examples to create a clear distinction between the six terms wherever possible. So get ready to eliminate the myths and misunderstanding these terms often carry.

The Ever-Shrinking Personal Computer - How Small Can They Go?

Courtesy of www.siliconrepublic.com

By Hector Cisneros 

Being a sci-fi buff, I think about technology a lot. I  imagine how it will effect our lives, what will it mean for business, commerce, education, travel -- and yes watching your favorite sci-fi video episode.

Well, recently my eye caught a headline that read, “HP Launches Stream Mini and Pavilion Mini Affordable Compact PCs." These computers fit in the palm of your hand. I immediately sent a picture of the computer to my business partner, Carl Weiss, telling him that soon we will be able to make anything a smart device. Carl wrote me back saying he has a piece of Tupperware bigger than this new PC.

How to Avoid Being Caught in an SEO Phishing Net

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of marchmediachicago.com

Have you ever received a solicitation claiming to be able to help you fix your SEO issues?  They will use acronyms like SEO, SERP, ALT Tags, or catch phrases like “Content Marketing”, “White Hat”, analyze, keywords; or they talk about fixing your Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon or other Google algorithm issues. How do you know if this solicitation is legit?

What’s a company to do in the face of all this cyber-babble?  How can anyone distinguish legitimate solicitations from honest companies versus unscrupulous ones that are just phishing to get their hooks in you?  This article is devoted to helping anyone learn some of the telltale signs that an email or cold call is legit, or if it’s looking to take you by hook, line and sinker.  We’ll actually dissect a phishing email to provide a real world example.  First, let's start by understanding the true nature of the World Wide Web.

To the Moon, Alice!

A NASA astronaut jokingly advertises a recovered
defective satellite for sale during a space walk
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Carl Weiss

If you’re my age, you can remember the excitement of the space race. The race to have your countries have its team be the first step foot on the moon. TV coverage was huge and constant. We also had all that drama when we first circled the moon and the spacecraft was in trouble. Today we have a new race!

Nearly everyone on the planet has heard of the XPrize, which has spawned hi-tech

Courtesy of Wikipedia

competitions with multi-million dollar prizes for everything from fuel efficient vehicles to sub-orbital spacecraft. However, in what must be the XPrize that is by far the most "Out There," the race is on as three-dozen teams are vying to become the first private enterprises to land a rover on the moon. The winner takes home $30 million. In fact, the Google Lunar XPrize competition has recently heated up with one competitor, Team Astrobotic collecting a three quarters of a million dollar "Milestone Prize" for overcoming key technical risks in the areas of imaging and mobility. XPrize may announce more Milestone winners in the coming weeks, if other teams can prove their rovers are on track to land on the moon by December 31, 2016.

Top Five Greatest Garage Gurus

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

A number of tech startups from Apple to HP and others got their start in the humble garage. Our own city of Jacksonville Florida has been the birthplace and host, to one of the world's first creativity, startup and crowdfunding festivals called OneSpark. With all the growth in the tech industries, I can't help but be excited about startups. So in this article, I will countdown the top 5 Garage Gurus of all time. We will also look at where the next titans of tech are likely to come from as well as what the garage startup has evolved into now that tech business incubators and cowork space abound.