Tyler Olson's Blog

After touring Lake Tahoe / San Francisco / Silicon Valley with about a dozen young entrepreneurs from around the world in late February, I changed many of my short term and long term goals… I’ll probably continue to post those on this blog over time, so go ahead and subscribe to keep updated on what’s going on in my life. 

One of my short term goals was to buy a domain name related to my name and create a web presence around me and not just my business. Thus, I bought http://TylerOlson.net (still working on http://TylerOlson.com – just don’t tell him it’s me). Since that point, I’ve raced to implement some SEO practices I have learned from one of my businesses, HelpMeTy, because I wanted (when I say wanted, I truly mean needed to satisfy my inner competitive drive) to get ahead of TylerOlson.org who is a state house rep for Iowa. For those who want to know a little bit about SEO (search engine optimization), when .gov and .us websites links to you, Google highly respects that. And since this state house representative has some of those, I knew it would be a hard battle. On a side note, I have a personal vendetta against this particular state house rep because his campaign refused to give me a lawn sign for me to put in my room. 

Anyways, today – April 29th, 2009 – http://TylerOlson.net officially is in the #1 spot of Google when you search for Tyler Olson (it might not be in Iowa due to Google’s custom geographical results) and I fully intend on keeping that way. Because I will be playing with some other SEO activities in the near future, I might accidentally hurt my ranking for short periods of time, but do not worry: Tyler Olson (this one) will win.

Update: I lied. Google’s search results are so personalized that it recognized that I probably would feel better if my blog came up #1 for me. Which honestly doesn’t make me feel any better. I guess I have a little more work to do. Still in the #3 position. Updates to come…

Starting a business in the down economy is tough. Many people are looking to start a business because there is nowhere else to turn. Unfortunately, many startup business owners are forgetting to take into account the true cost of starting up a new company. 

Yesterday, I spoke at an event focused on training people what they need to know to startup a business. In today’s world, business runs on technology and marketing is frequently conducted through the web. Technology can provide great efficiencies, but as one panelist pointed out, can become a huge distraction if misguided. 

Some key points from the conversation:

1. If you can’t instantly find what you are looking for on your computer, you are missing out and should upgrade. 

2. Please backup your computer. Do it right now if you know it isn’t backed up. It’s cheap and it’s effective. 

3. You need a web presence. Be prepared to invest in a good website. A good website can help make your life easier, generate leads for you, and impress the people you are trying to impress. 

4. Be active online. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. You will get business from them. 

Technology is meant to help your business get off the ground and help it run effectively. Accidentally underbudgeting for technology needs could spell disaster for your startup. Think through the complete set of needs your new business will have and don’t be afraid to ask for advice. There are people out there looking to help you.

Check me out on PCWorld.com!

Facebook continues to evolve as it strives to master its own business model. With the latest evolution, Facebook makes its service more valuable to businesses. With the updated Fan Page, businesses now have the ability to send updates straight to the news feed of any person who has chosen to be a fan of that business.This will help companies make their online marketing strategies more viral.

Additionally, Facebook is adding an analytics tool called Insight so you can better understand the demographic of your fans. If your business currently does not have a Facebook fan page, now is the time to jump on the opportunity for maximum early exposure.

Be aware, however, that millions of Facebook users are complaining about the latest changes and Facebook has been known to make quick decisions based upon user feedback. Additionally, it currently appears that people who became fans of business pages prior to March 20 will not receive newsfeed updates from fan pages unless they “opt-in” to it, which is uncommon for many Facebook users. We will have to wait and see if Facebook makes further alterations based upon recent feedback.

Tyler Olson has a vision, a passion for technology, and a love for entrepreneurship. Tyler’s current business, HelpMeTy.com, started out of his dorm room two and a half years ago to fix computers and make Web sites. The company now provides remote IT support as well as web services for many people and businesses.