Michael Schneider, CEO of Fluidesign, Fluidata and Nesting

I rely on a combination of computers and devices at work, at home, and on the road. My collection consists of a Mac Pro at work and an iMac at home, both of which run Parallels, combining the Mac OS and Windows XP. I also have a Sony Vaio laptop that runs Windows XP, an iPhone, Apple TV, and multiple iPods.

With all of these various computers and devices, the chance that I would want to play a song on my iPhone that was only on my Apple TV, or the chance that I would need a file at home that’s only on my work Mac is very high. I hated the idea that I would need access to a document, PDF, track, or movie, and not be able to have it locally, regardless of where I was at the time.

After much trial and error, I have found what I believe to be the ideal solutions for syncing my documents, photos, music, email calendars and contacts.

This post was done as a guest blogger on PC World. Click here to read the full post.

Dear American Express,

I have been a card member since 1999. During this time, I have accumulated the following cards:

American Express Platinum Charge Card (no “pre set” limit)
American Express Starwood Credit Card ($35,000 limit)
American Express Business Platinum Credit Card ($60,000 limit)

I opened a second business between 2007 and 2009 and had a second American Express Platinum Charge Card during that time as well for that business.

Prior to the end of 2008, I sang American Express’ praises to everyone I could. I enjoyed feeling like a privileged card member at Airports, Hotels, and anytime I interacted with American Express.

In March of 2008, my spending on the charge cards was so high (some months were over $75,000) that you offered me the Centurion (“Black”) card. I nearly accepted, but somehow couldn’t justify spending $7,500 to get a credit card.

For the record, in ten years of being your customer, I have never had a single late payment or missed payment. I have paid all bills on time.

Everything changed in early 2009. You started shutting off my credit limits.

In March of 2009, my business started to pick back up (thankfully) and we started charging more on our Platinum card, which has been our main credit card for the last ten years for the business.

You shut off our credit line because it was “over our six -month average spending limit.” You asked me to produce burdensome documentation “proving” that I had the financial resources to pay the balance when it came due. I asked if a ten year perfect payment history was enough; you said no.

At the end of March 2009, after making several “deals” with you (that took hours of my time) to open up $5k here and $10k here in credit (on a card that has no “pre set” spending limit) we paid our balance in full, like we always do.

In April of 2009 we started with a zero balance and began charging again. You shut off our credit line after $35,000 in spending. Then, you did something that sent me over the top. You called me on my cell phone asking if I could pay the balance in full that day. The statement hadn’t even closed yet, and we you hadn’t even billed us yet!

Upon stating that to the representative, she said she understood but that American Express was “uncomfortable” with the balance and wanted an immediate payment. My response was that there was absolutely no way I was paying American Express a dime before my statement closes. I explained that if I have to pay for the charges as I go, I might as well put the card away and simply pay cash.

You’ve called weekly and harassed my accounting manager, asking for payments on charges that you haven’t even billed me for yet.

At this point, you’re denying $10 charges, causing my accounting manager to switch to our VISA to pay small monthly recurring charges, like our phone bill. You have wreaked havoc on my business’ day-to-day cash flow.

You have destroyed your reputation with me and many of my CEO and Entrepreneur friends. I have several friends that spend $100,000/mo on Black cards that are going to cancel.

You have harassed your best customers and turned what used to be a stellar reputation into one of the most hated companies in the business world. Personally, I cannot wait for the day when I pay off 100% of my balances with American Express and cancel my cards. I will never do business with you again after that point.

I understand times are tough and financial institutions have gotten burned. This tough time will pass, but the damage you’ve done to your reputation will stay with you. Customers like me – who spend a lot and pay their bills on time every month – are who you need to get you through this time. Instead, you’ve lost me for life.

Michael Schneider
CEO, Fluidesign

Santa Monica, CA

Ps. I am not the only one that has written publically about problems with Amex. Here are a few others:

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/05/im-feeling-the-costs-of-credit-card-fraud-and-defaults.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus29-2009apr29,0,5853535,full.column

Which is Better For Your Business—a Mac or a PC?

To start, I need to tell you that up until 2006 I was an avid PC user. Starting with my first computer when I was five, an IBM PS2 Model 30 (without a hard drive), I’ve been loyal. I started with DOS, then Windows 3, 3.1, 95, and then XP. Then came Vista. Before Vista, I spent a lot of time rebooting but it was more or less bearable. After Vista, which is by far the worst operating system ever made, I had to find another solution.

This was done as a guest blog post on PC World, finish reading here… http://tinyurl.com/cvz3pa

I can’t take it anymore. Every day I receive another email from an offshore firm that “has read my requirements” (despite the fact that I haven’t posted any) and is ready to serve me on the job (despite the fact that there isn’t any). Every time I create a job post, I specifically ask that applicants are either local or US-based. This isn’t out of racism. I love hard working foreigners trying to make it in the US market. And the day that offshore firms prove to me that their attention to detail and quality is up to par with their US counterparts, I’ll convert 100% of our development. But I’m not going to make my clients suffer trying out an unknown firm.

Forget the fact that a firm is offshore. From one US-based company to another, building the relationship and trust enough to do business together is hard and takes time. If you’re offshore, you have a much steeper hill to climb.

The email I’m about to post came from India. For the record, I love India as a country (spent time there in 2008), love the food, love the people, and love the entrepreneurial spirit. I’m not trying to pick on India. I also get emails from Russia, the Ukraine, and Argentina, among others.

Lastly, I want to say that the purpose of this post is actually to help offshore companies improve. If you’re serious about the US market, stop sending emails like this (and 99% of the emails I receive resemble this). Do the opposite. Be focused. Speak the local tongue. Be detail oriented. Show your quality through a few powerful links. Show why you’re the exception to the rule. US firms will pay you back in spades.

(in case you’re having trouble with the embedded PDF viewer download the PDF here)

It’s hard to avoid the bad news these days-the stock market falling towards zero, home prices declining, homelessness rising, our spending power being chipped away.

In your business, it’s more important than ever to paint an optimistic yet realistic future for your employees. Now is the time that you need good people by your side the most; now is the time you need them to be accept less and work more; now is the time for real leadership.

I wrote this post as a blogger for PC World - click here to finish the post on their site.

During this recession it’s more important than ever to get whatever you can for free. At Fluidesign, we have recently started offering a service called Online Reputation Management. We become your company’s eyes and ears online, monitoring all social media channels for chatter – good or bad – about your brand. We then proactively address issues and give you a bird’s eye view of customer sentiment. We also create an online presence for you to use when blasting our product announcements and press releases.

But, if you can’t afford an agency like Fluidesign, here’s a do-it-yourself guide to manage your brand and get free marketing through social media.

1.    Get online identities. This may sound obvious, but I’m constantly amazed at how many companies aren’t yet embracing social media. Sign up for Twitter. Get a Facebook Group going. Create a company page on LinkedIn. Depending on your industry, get a MySpace page. There are also countless industry-specific online identities.

2.    Create a blog. Wordpress is quick, easy, and free (we can help you with customization if necessary). Publish content often (quality over quantity, however) to gain an audience.

3.    Link the identities together. Install the Twitter App on Facebook so updating your Twitter status automatically updates your Facebook one.

4.    Encourage key employees to set up their own Twitter accounts and link them to their own Facebook statuses.

5.    Sign up for Twitterfeed and link your blog(s) to it. Encourage key employees to do the same. Then, when anyone posts a new blog entry, this service automatically updates the associated Twitter accounts, and if the Twitter accounts are linked to Facebook, those Facebook statuses get updated automatically. Done right, your message gets blasted to thousands (or tens of thousands) instantly.

6.    Use Twitter’s search to routinely monitor what people are saying about your company and your products/services.

7.    Be responsive – if your customers/fans take the time to write something about your brand, take the time to respond. The more responsive you are – even with negative issues – the higher your company’s reputation will be. Studies show that when customers have a problem if they get a response from the company quickly they actually become more satisfied with the brand than if they had never had an issue to begin with.

The above tips represent a crash course in online reputation management and using social media to blast out blog posts, press releases, product announcements, and really anything your company has to say. Remember, in order to stay relevant, you need to push content out often, and respond quickly to what others are talking about. Do it right, and your social media presence will quickly become more relevant with greater ROI than anything offline.

EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) just released an episode of EOtv featuring tips to survive and thrive in the recession. Fast forward to about the five minute mark to see mine - they involve a Nintendo Wii, Love Sac, Bar, and Ocean View.

Apple recently surpassed an incredible milestone - 500 Million (yes - million) apps have now been downloaded since the launch of the App store July 10, 2008. That’s over 2 MILLION apps per DAY since launch. And there are now 15,000 Apps available. The image above is from Apple.com.

This is starting to look like a crowded market. But, as late comers such as Tweetie and iFart show, it’s not about when you launch, it’s about the quality of the App. We’ve spent the last few months preparing, and we can build literally anything - from a simple, local App to a full fledged game.

Have a burning iPhone idea? We can tell you if it’s technically possible, and can generally predict whether it will sail through Apple’s approval process. We’ll also use our 10 years of business and interactive experience in helping you perfect your business model.

Check out http://iphone.fluidesign.com. Contact us today.

My good friend Cameron Herold, former COO of 1800-GOT-JUNK, called me in December, upset. I had called Cameron the day before letting him know I was frustrated with the current economic climate - basically complaining. Cameron was upset that, after agreeing on an action plan together, I had tweet’d three times that morning, the latest being about a bartender for our upcoming holiday party. He told me to write down the top 5 things I had to accomplish that day, and then get out of email and do them.

It sounded too simple to be effective - WRITE DOWN THE TOP 5 THINGS I HAVE TO DO. Surely, in 2009, with technology at my fingertips, there was a better way. A program that could do this for me, comb my email and figure out what is important.

But I decided to give it a try. I wrote my top 5 and got 3 of them done. Cameron insisted I email him my progress, and told me not to worry about not getting them all done. I did it the next day and scored 4. The next day, 3. I did this for two weeks straight, and I honestly have never been more focused and productive in my life.

The Top 5 idea isn’t Cameron’s. It’s an idea from the 1920’s. But he was the one that kicked my ass enough to get me to focus.

Go write your top 5 for tomorrow. Get focused, and be awesome during this recession.

With no limit to the bad economic news lately, many companies are cutting back on their marketing budgets to conserve precious cash. The LinkedIn poll above says it all - 60% of companies are cutting back, and only 20% are increasing.

I understand the thinking: Consumers with less disposable income = less opportunity for my product/service = less return on investment of marketing dollars = cutting marketing budget. This thinking, while logical, is thinking on how not to lose - not thinking on how to win.

Now is the BEST time to increase your marketing budget.

1. All of your competitors are competitors are cutting back - so you can be even more potent with less money, sucking up remnant inventory online, radio, print, and TV.

2. Advertising and marketing firms are more flexible right now (including Fluidesign), so you can get a great deal on services that you couldn’t get in “normal” times.

3. You’ll stand out in consumer’s minds as a stable, strong company. If you can afford to market to them right now, you must be.

4. With the ROI of each dollar you spend much higher, you’ll position your company and its products/services to weather the storm and emerge in a much stronger position that your scared competitors.

Right now, most companies are playing to not lose. The best companies (and the ones that will survive) will increase their marketing budget, and play to win.