http://carltonzone.com/blog For the Hottest Discussions on Business, Technology, and Marketing Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:55:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 en hourly 1 ©Carlton Flowers 2003-2006 carlton.flowers@gmail.com (Carlton Flowers) carlton.flowers@gmail.com Business Marketing 1440 technology, gadgets, business, social media, marketing, sales strategy, advertising Technology, Business, Marketing discussion with Carlton! A fun podcast centered around the discussion of technology, gadgets, business topics, and marketing strategies from a business owner's standpoint. Join me to keep up on the latest trends, and for great ideas on helping you to market your business and expand your customer base on a shoestring budget. Carlton Flowers Carlton Flowers carlton.flowers@gmail.com No no http://carltonzone.com/blog/uploaded/images2/c-zone-itunes-podcast-box.jpg http://carltonzone.com/blog 144 144 http://carltonzone.com/blog/spruce-up-your-blog-be-heard-with-soundcloud-for-free/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/spruce-up-your-blog-be-heard-with-soundcloud-for-free/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:18:25 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=1538 http://carltonzone.com/blog/spruce-up-your-blog-be-heard-with-soundcloud-for-free/feed/ 0 http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-for-tuesday-december-20th-carltons-rant/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-for-tuesday-december-20th-carltons-rant/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:05:57 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=1489 http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-for-tuesday-december-20th-carltons-rant/feed/ 0 12:23 APPLE VS HTC, ANDROID, AND MORE HOT TOPICS TO GET YOU GOING! Three months ago I promised to get the yapper going and start the weekly ... APPLE VS HTC, ANDROID, AND MORE HOT TOPICS TO GET YOU GOING! Three months ago I promised to get the yapper going and start the weekly CZ Podcast again. So I've been busy! But today, I am so proud to bring you a fresh and exciting (more like raging) CZ Podcast to discuss some of our recent topics that we have been pecking on our keyboards about. You'll have to stay with me, because I quickly got off the main topic. I suffer from an extreme case of ADD/HD (actually tested and verified to be "significantly deviant from the norm") and this is not conducive to staying on point. But all of the rambling you will here is very relevant. I recorded the podcast an hour ago, and then I got busy. Now I can't quite remember everything that I was talking about. But one topic that sort of got a little out of control was my rant about Apple products and the corporation itself. I'm not really an "Apple hater" by any means, because I am sitting here using an iPhone 3GS right alongside of my Samsung Galaxy S2 (cue heavenly choir sound). At any rate, this one is unplugged and unedited. I made a special request for podcast topics, so feel free to post your ideas right here in the comments section after you listen to this edition. It is only 11 minutes in length. I like to stay around the 10-minute mark, that way I possibly have more stuff to yap about on the next podcast and don't have to scrounge for topics. Have fun listening to the blog, and I'll have another fresh one for you soon! Carlton Flowers CZ Podcast ManDownload Standard Podcast ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-samsung-galaxy-s2-iphone-5-launch-discussion/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-samsung-galaxy-s2-iphone-5-launch-discussion/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:28:56 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=925 http://carltonzone.com/blog/cz-podcast-samsung-galaxy-s2-iphone-5-launch-discussion/feed/ 2 14:32 GALAXY S2 IPHONE 5 PREPARE FOR BATTLE - WHICH ONE WILL PREVAIL? Galaxy S2 fans and iPhone 5 fans, we are in for one heckuva ... GALAXY S2 IPHONE 5 PREPARE FOR BATTLE - WHICH ONE WILL PREVAIL? Galaxy S2 fans and iPhone 5 fans, we are in for one heckuva launch! In today's podcast, we're going to get into all the juicy gossip surrounding these two heavy heavy hitters in the smartphone market and discuss one of the most anticipated battles that we have ever anticipated. Both the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S2 (in all four flavors - Attain, Function, Within, and Hercules) are due to be released within the next several weeks. I've never been more excited, and we are in for a real treat. Here's what I cover in the August 1st CZ Podcast: iPhone 5 - the amazing features that it will entail that nobody else has revealed Simple key features missing in Apple smartphones... why? Samsung pumping out a plethora of new devices - will they flood the market? Can Samsung succeed in becoming the first true Apple competitor? Why innovation and cutting edge features won't guarantee Samsung a win over Apple's iPhone Why Apple really rules the smartphone roost Anticipating the US launch of the Galaxy S2 - will it be a smashing success? Will Carlton give up his beloved iPhone 4 and make the switch to Android? Shout out to my new blog fans! Preview on future discussion topics about how smartphones can enhance your business personal life Click the icon below and check out the show, or catch it on iTunes and subscribe as I endeavor to get off my lazy rump and make the commitment to keep pumping out new podcasts to keep you entertained and in-the-know! I hope you enjoy the show, and as always, jump on in and share your thoughts and join the discussion! Yours truly, Carlton Flowers Your Trusty Tech Geek Podcast Entertainer www.carltonzone.com www.microbusinessplans.com www.twitter.com/carltonf Download Galaxy S2 amp; iPhone 5 Launch Is Coming! ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/missouri-maya-moore-fans-facebook-page-is-here/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/missouri-maya-moore-fans-facebook-page-is-here/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:29:09 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=694 http://carltonzone.com/blog/missouri-maya-moore-fans-facebook-page-is-here/feed/ 0 4:31 INTRODUCING THE MISSOURI MAYA MOORE FAN PAGE! Hey folks! I wanted to put together a brief Maya update and a quick podcast to let you know ... INTRODUCING THE MISSOURI MAYA MOORE FAN PAGE! Hey folks! I wanted to put together a brief Maya update and a quick podcast to let you know that my big sis Cheri (@Artsymamma on Twitter) has put together a new fan page on Facebook for all of the original Missouri friends family that have followed Maya over the years. It is appropriately called the "Missouri Maya Moore Fan Page", and you can click that link to check it out and hit the "like" button! For those of you who don't know, you can check out ALL of Maya's games with the Minnesota Lynx online. Just head over to WNBA.com and sign up for the free live access. You'll be able to watch all of the games by streaming them right to your computer. Something else Id' like you to do is head on over to Twitter and follow Alan Horton, the commentator for the Lynx, who you will hear on all of the home games. His twitter address is http://www.twitter.com/lynxradio. If you are the Twitter type, give him a follow and keep up on the latest with the Lynx, and the NBA Timberwolves. Alan does an awesome and calls a great game! Click the "play" button below and check out the podcast, and let's get some good Maya Moore WNBA discussions going. Oh, and last but not least, make sure you vote for Maya for 2011 MVP on the WNBA website! Maya is rockin' it, and she deserves it! See ya at the next Lynx game! Carlton Flowers Maya Moore Family/Fan ExtremeDownload CZ Podcast 6-20-2011 Podcasts,,Sports Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/my-next-generation-iphone-wish-list/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/my-next-generation-iphone-wish-list/#comments Tue, 02 Nov 2010 18:18:22 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=396 http://carltonzone.com/blog/my-next-generation-iphone-wish-list/feed/ 2 8:56 THINGS I THINK WOULD MAKE THE IPHONE INVINCIBLE Continuing on with my love-hate relationship with my Apple iPhone 4, I'd like to share with you the ... THINGS I THINK WOULD MAKE THE IPHONE INVINCIBLE Continuing on with my love-hate relationship with my Apple iPhone 4, I'd like to share with you the changes and additions to the iPhone that I believe would make it a world-dominating device (not that it already isn't!). As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. There are many things I wish Apple would do improvement-wise on their top device that would add to my satisfaction. But at the same time, there really isn't another smart phone on the market that fills in these gaps without taking away other fundamental features at the same time. So for now, I'm stuck with this thing. But back to the story, here are the things I wish my iPhone had, some pet peeves, and suggested changes that would certainly help Apple continue to rule the roost when it comes to smart phones... and here they are: 1. Text Reflow - this is the biggest annoyance that I have with the iPhone. Zoom in on an article and the sentences fly off the sides of the screen. You have to pan back and forth, many times being forced to wait for the screen to redraw all of the graphics, just to read an article in a large font size. They claim the "Retina Display" is so super fine that you can't see pixels, so there is no need increase text size. This doesn't make one hill of beans difference to a person who has poor eyesight. I don't care if the screen had 1920 by 1280 resolution... what good is it on a 3.5" display? I can't read printed ink in the maximum font size that my iPhone allows when you double tap to zoom in on an article without forcing the words off the left or right side of the screen. Android devices have Text Reflow, which basically re-wraps the words down beneath so you never have to pan side-to-side to read an article. For nearly blind people like me, I can zoom in on an article and make the font size so big that it only fits one or two words per line, and all I have to do is scroll straight down to quickly read that article. This is an easy fix. The developers could have this solved over a cup of coffee. But what is sad is the fact that the techs at Apple don't even know what Text Reflow IS, much less thinking about adding it to the Safari browser. 99% of iPhone owners that I have spoken to have no clue of what Text Reflow is either. This is probably due to the newness of the feature, and that most Android users are not prior iOS fans. Text Reflow is the deal-breaker for me and my iPhone. If Apple gave me this one gift, I would overlook each and every other shortcoming with the device. I have waited since the 2nd generation iPhone for reflow, and thus far we haven't even gotten to the awareness point. If Text Reflow is not incorporated into iOS4 by the time my contract with ATT is up, I'm switching to Verizon. 2. Flash Support - We aren't going to beat this dead horse. It is a known fact that Steve Jobs has openly declared war on Adobe, and he's not going to budge on disallowing Flash for iOS devices. They toyed around with the idea of allowing flash-based apps 2 years ago, but we know how that ended. They have good reason to ban flash. It could allow a work-around for the iTunes store, which is a revenue stream they have to protect. Their reasoning? They believe the world should stick with the open standard of HTML5. While I agree that we should push for the standardization of the web, it's going to take a long time (if ever) for Flash to disappear from the web. Until then, I can't view some of my favorite Flash-based sites from my Apple device like NFL.com, and Quansite.com. This very blog post that I am writing comes from an amazing service (Quansite) that is Flash-based. I want the ability to use this site on my mobile devices. But this is not going to ever become a reality if I stick with Apple. But we'll just leave this one alone. 3. iPhone 4's Antenna - I have taped up m iPhone 4 to prevent signal loss from touching the wide band of metal that surrounds ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/the-walgreens-pad-is-coming/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/the-walgreens-pad-is-coming/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 02:21:24 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=389 http://carltonzone.com/blog/the-walgreens-pad-is-coming/feed/ 0 7:15 WALGREENS TO OFFER A $99 ANDROID TABLET Walgreens has a waiting list for their new Maylong M-150 tablet PC that comes complete with 7-inch 800×480 touch-screen ... WALGREENS TO OFFER A $99 ANDROID TABLET Walgreens has a waiting list for their new Maylong M-150 tablet PC that comes complete with 7-inch 800×480 touch-screen and Android operating system! Sure, it's a stripped-down device with the older Android 1.6 environment, but for people wanting to get their hands on a cheap device to enjoy surfing the web, watching videos, or accessing email, this device is going to foot the bill quite well. Reports say that it is slow to boot and may not have much power, but it does include a digital camera and the ability to add an SD memory card. I see great possibilities for cheap Android-based tablet devices for industrial uses. These could end up being very handy for tracking, inventory, and compliance purposes if a proprietary interface could be developed for the device. At this low of a price, it would be worth toying around with one. With a popular carrier like Walgreens offering such a device, I'll betcha the demand explodes. The result will probably be a flood of cheap tablet devices with features that get better and better over time. My prediction? This market will closely resemble the computer hardware market as far as technological gains and prices going in reverse. What would YOU use a device like this for? Post your comments below!Download Standard Podcast ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/cztv-video-podcast-experiment/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/cztv-video-podcast-experiment/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:00:39 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=171 http://carltonzone.com/blog/cztv-video-podcast-experiment/feed/ 2 http://carltonzone.com/blog/mind-control-marketing-tips-and-tricks/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/mind-control-marketing-tips-and-tricks/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:01:30 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=169 http://carltonzone.com/blog/mind-control-marketing-tips-and-tricks/feed/ 0 9:51 CRAFTY WAYS TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE AND MAKE THEM BUY! In today's podcast episode, we will discuss a handful of marketing ideas, more accurately, "mind control" ... CRAFTY WAYS TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE AND MAKE THEM BUY! In today's podcast episode, we will discuss a handful of marketing ideas, more accurately, "mind control" marketing ideas. They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink... unless you salt his oats! These short ideas will help "salt the oats" of your potential customers who are interested in your product or service and lead them quench their thirst for purchasing. Here is a summary of the tips. You will learn how to: create a problem bring the solution be controversial, and spark conversation be the advocate for a group and lead the charge against the “villain” get super-creative on your ads and ditch conventionalism For my bonus list of fantastic sales marketing Twitter Tips that is constantly updated with fresh, cutting-edge content, visit http://su.pr/58wiGk. We'll see you there! Download Mind Control Marketing Tips amp; Tricks Business,Consulting,Services,,Business,Ideas,,Podcasts Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/dirty-twitter-follower-list-building-tactics/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/dirty-twitter-follower-list-building-tactics/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:42:46 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/?p=167 http://carltonzone.com/blog/dirty-twitter-follower-list-building-tactics/feed/ 2 9:07 TWITTER LIST BUILDING - TAKE THE DIRTY SHORTCUTS, OR BUILD NATURALLY? In today's podcast presentation we'll talk about building your following on Twitter. Do you prefer ... TWITTER LIST BUILDING - TAKE THE DIRTY SHORTCUTS, OR BUILD NATURALLY? In today's podcast presentation we'll talk about building your following on Twitter. Do you prefer to ramp-up the speed of your follower list growth artificially, or do you prefer "organic" follower building methods? With artificial Twitter follower list building, people hire consultants to handle the grunt work of collecting masses of new followers. Others pay an outright fee for a bulk amount of followers. But with organic building, these Twitter citizens prefer to meet and connect with others based on common interest and 1-on-1 interaction. We will discuss the difference between the two methods, along with the following topics: When Twitter becomes nothing more than the Chicago phone book What happens when cheaters, scammers, and con artists all get together in one community The advantages to organic Twitter follower list building Why trust is vital to Twitter marketing for businesses The "Instant Rock Star Bait-and-Switch" dirty Twitter tactic As always, feel free to post your comments and questions below, or call our Google Voice line at (636) 377-0006 and leave a short message to voice your opinion!Download Dirty Twitter Follower List Building Tactics ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No http://carltonzone.com/blog/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-traditional-media-advertising/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-traditional-media-advertising/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:09:42 +0000 Carlton Flowers http://carltonzone.com/blog/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-traditional-media-advertising/ http://carltonzone.com/blog/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-traditional-media-advertising/feed/ 0 11:18 IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE METRICS OF "STONEHENGE MEDIA" ADVERTISING WITH WEB 2.0 LEVERAGE How do you currently measure the success of your "Stonehenge" media advertisements? What type ... IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE METRICS OF "STONEHENGE MEDIA" ADVERTISING WITH WEB 2.0 LEVERAGE How do you currently measure the success of your "Stonehenge" media advertisements? What type of feedback or response do you use to gauge the effectiveness or success of a newspaper ad, radio spot, tv commercial or billboard? In today's podcast, we'll talk about traditional performance metrics for Stonehenge media and how you can leverage your response rate with the addition of social media marketing. Additionally, we'll discuss "click tracking" as a method of evaluating effectiveness, and whether or not this is a dependable indicator. Listen to the podcast and post your questions and responses below!Download Measuring the Effectiveness of Traditional Media Advertising ##QuanSiteCats## Carlton Flowers no No