Author: Mario Armstrong

Every time you get a small success, you need to celebrate that!

by Mario Armstrong

I’m doing a special segment on the TODAY show this Saturday, covering the NY Auto Show. That got me thinking about how we approach our goals and dreams and how we deal with our success. It’s one thing to have big goals and to pursue them. That’s something everyone needs to be doing. But you need to enjoy the journey as well!

My goal is to be the host of a nationally-syndicated television show. But that’s a huge goal! So I’m breaking it down into small steps that I can actually do, like appearing regularly on national TV and hosting one-off programs like this year’s Best of CES special. That way, when I accomplish these small goals I can step away and look at what I’ve done and really feel like I’ve accomplished something!

Use Cloud Services for the Perfect Follow-Up

by Mario Armstrong

Last week I broke down my step-by-step tips for how to network and pitch while at conferences, events, and talks. No matter what line of business you’re in, there’s always people to pitch who can help your business or with whom you can create mutually beneficial partnerships. But let’s say you’re just back from a conference, or even better, about to go to one. After you’ve gotten the pitches right, and met all the right people, how can you best make sure you nail the follow-ups to your benefit?

Enter the cloud. There are a variety of cloud-based technologies that can help you manage the data you’re taking in during these events and help you sort it back out when you’re done. While you may have little more than a smartphone with you when you’re interacting with people at these events, using the cloud you can automatically sync everything that comes in with your desktop computer back home. Today I’m going to take a look at some of my favorite ways to use the cloud to make sure you capture all of the data from an event and turn that into an actionable plan for you to work from.

1. Put Business Cards in the Cloud

Every day you’ll be grabbing (and, hopefully, handing out) dozens of business cards from potential partners, potential clients, or even just people you’d like to see again. But by the time you’re back in your hotel at the end of the day, never mind by the time the conference is over, you will surely have forgotten why you took some of those business cards and all will be for naught.

If you’ve already standardized your personal note-taking on Evernote like I have then the best option would be to use Evernote Hello. Far more than just a place to capture business cards, Hello captures people, interactions, notes, meetings, and helps you build a rich history of when you’ve seen someone before and what you discussed. This way, when you run into someone at a conference, you’ll know exactly what you discussed the last time you saw them.

Read the rest of this blog post at AT&T’s Networking Exchange blog.

Mario Armstrong’s CUBED — AT&T Connect

by Mario Armstrong

In this episode of CUBED, I visit Barb at Clapp Communications, a boutique public relations agency. Barb is having trouble communicating with a team split between two offices, one in Baltimore and the other in Charlotte, with employees constantly traveling all over the map to meet each other and to meet with clients. Does this situation sound familiar? These days, offices are much more decentralized and connecting everyone on your team regularly and reliably can be difficult.

Enter AT&T Connect. Connect is an integrated audio, web, and video conferencing solution that can help to bring your team together and help you work more efficiently when everyone can’t be in the same place at the same time. With low per-minute costs and deep integration with Outlook, AT&T connect provides conference tools no matter what platforms and devices your business uses, whether its PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad or Android. But it’s more than just a Skype alternative—AT&T Connect brings in tons of features like whiteboarding, shared presentations, and file sharing to make an AT&T Connect meeting just as productive and useful as a real world one. Plus, if some colleagues or clients can’t make it to the meeting, the whole thing can be recorded and shared via email! How great is that?

Mario’s Top 3: March Madness, Groupon, Street View [TODAY show video]

by Mario Armstrong

(On a mobile device and can’t see the video above? Try clicking this link to watch instead.)

1. March Madness Live App

Watch all of the games LIVE on your smartphone or tablet. Plus, check scores, watch highlights from past games, and find out which channels are showing which games right now.

Apple iOS Devices: Download App Now

Android iOS Devices: Download App Now

2. Java Jolts Groupon

Groupon recently sold over 100,000 coupons for an online Starbucks deal where you could get a $10 Starbucks gift card for $5. Interest was so big though, it brought the whole Groupon site down!

3. Google Street View Goes Off The Road

For a long time, Google’s Street View has allowed you to look at any street in the US where there vans have gone and photographed not only what the street itself looks like, but the business and homes surrounding it. If you’re planning a trip somewhere unfamiliar, this was a great tool to try and locate a business, see which side of the street it would be on, and even double check to see if it was actually there! Or even just take a trip down memory lane and check out a city you used to live in and see what it looks like now. But now Google is taking it off the street and into some wild locations. You can virtually hike the Grand Canyon, check out a Monastery in Tibet, and even tour around historic Italy. Hit up this link to see all of Google’s off-road Street View Collections.

Anyone can learn to code – why I’m backing code.org

by Mario Armstrong

The fact is, anybody can learn how to write computer code. It isn’t like basketball or football. where you either have the talent or don’t—learning to write code is something that can, and SHOULD, be taught to everyone in school. The problem is, not all students have access to computers and the training materials or teachers necessary to actually learn how to do it. That’s why I’m getting behind code.org, an organization dedicated to getting programming curriculum and technology into every single classroom.

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Making Your Business Connections Count – Master the Art of Human Networking

by Mario Armstrong

Networking online, through social media channels, email, and LinkedIn, is something everyone I know does pretty well. After all, you can take all the time you like to compose your pitches and online networking comes without the stress and anxiety that often accompanies face-to-face interaction. But by no means should online networking be the only kind you do! There are certain things that can only get done when meeting and pitching someone in person.

I’m at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference this week in Austin, Texas, and it occurred to me that while I’ve gotten tons of amazing opportunities through my own networking, including television and radio appearances, this isn’t a subject that’s necessarily taught at business school. Many of you, I’m sure, are constantly attending conferences, events, and speaking engagements but if you struggle with getting up the nerve and pitching your idea then I’m going to try and help you by giving up my best tips. Here are the steps I would take before, during, and after an event to ensure I make the absolute most out of my face-to-face networking.

1. Know your subject

Before heading to an event or conference, get a copy of the program or print one out. Make sure you really study the entire program—you should know ahead of time what all of the panels are about and who all of the speakers are.

2. Make a hit list

With your knowledge of every nook and cranny of the program, you should be able to make a “hit list.” A hit list is your personalized list of everyone who will be speaking or attending the conference that you want to get in front of. Do you have an idea you’d like to run by them? An opportunity to present to them? Whatever it is, come up with more names than you’ll ever be able to meet (after all, some opportunities may pass for reasons outside of your control) and then prioritize them. This means making hard decisions and deciding on a #1, a #2, all the way down.

Read the rest of this post on AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog

Mario Armstrong’s #BestofCES2013

by Mario Armstrong

The Best of CES is a 30 minute TV special hosted by Emmy Award winning tv host, Mario Armstrong. The show special airs in Los Angeles March 6th; March 9th on DirecTV-channel 224 at 10:00pm; WWOR in New York at 6:00am and WCIU in Chicago at 6:00am.

Digital Lifestyle Expert® Mario Armstrong guides you through some of the hottest technologies revealed at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show – the world’s largest technology conference! Plus, CES is a conference jam packed with celebrities who are getting involved in the tech game, you’ll see special appearances and exclusive interviews where Mario talks to people like 50 Cent, Snooki, Marc Ecko, Drew Brees, and Tyson Beckford. In this special edition podcast, Mario goes into some of the biggest booths at the show, including Intel and Lowes, and shows off the technologies that are becoming available now or later this year.