Yet another of my prerequisite courses, Algebra, has gotten me in quite a bind. I will be honest; I am one of those people chained to his computers calculator for most of my math. I have been avoiding any math that involved equations for at least a decade now! I am in week 2 of both my math class and “how Computers work” at Fullsail Online. As part of my Internet Marketing bachelor’s degree program I have had to take a number of “catch-up” classes, which is great, but HARD! So I figured I would go ahead and leave most of this out of the blog. However, I did want to give a thank you to my friend Lindsey Hudson. She helped me a great deal with week one, and has stuck with me thru the more complex stuff this week. Without her I would still be stuck on balancing equations to find solutions, Thanks Lindsey!

My Computing class is a completely different story however. Being very computer literate, it is not only entertaining to learn the deeper workings of some of my favorite gadgets, but also it has helped me to become a better PC parts shopper, offering me the opportunity to compare Processors from INTEL and AMD , Video Cards, hard drives and so on by some of their deeper details. Currently we are working on about 7 chapters of the book, and are discussing how software works. I especially like the chapter introductions in the book, they talk about the history of the word, its root generic meanings, some important historical computing events before getting into the nitty gritty.

This week we focused on creating comparative Hardware Spreadsheets for a Computer purchase project next week. Also we have 2 posts due ( one in each course) and of course the weekly brain drain of testing!

Everybody Wish me luck!

GmChernoff

Well, to say the very least I have been incredibly busy. I completely skipped out on talking about weeks 2 and 3… until now!

 

So we have learned much in the past two weeks in the Intro to Internet Marketing class and I wanted to bring some of it up!

We have Wimba’d and met each other “face to face”, learned the power of the blog, and harnessed the untapped energy of our English composition skills! We have taken 3 tests in one course and 2 in another, and I am proud to say I am doing rather well!

Now for a quick honorable mention, I suggest anyone who needs or desires to learn about blogging and what it means to a marketing campaign to find the book “the new rules of marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott. Although I am definitely not a “pro” blogger yet, this book could easily help any company stuck in its old ways to turn over a new digital leaf! I love how David takes all of the traditional marketing mediums and drops a huge wakeup call to say to the old rule followers to wake up and smell the 10110101101!

Thanks to Full Sail, this book has gotten me all kinds of amped up about my little project here ,and the multitude of Health insurance related blogs, Upper Management blogs and the iCan wiki ( scheduled for later this year).

In an industry dominated by harsh uber targeting and extremely high priced advertising, health insurance requires a drastic change in thought to beat its competitors, and here at iCan I have been given the opportunity to try and do just that! I work with some of the best marketing people in the direct response industry, and even they are beginning to come around and see the power that blogs, forums and wikis provide to a company. A prime example is the new Dee Halloran – Direct Response Marketing blog. Here Dee is just beginning to explain to the world how she has become the direct response powerhouse she is, and we can’t wait to see what happens next.

All in all, school is going swimmingly J with my English comp class almost finished, and new books and materials arriving daily , I am both exited and anxious to learn what’s on the horizon in a field I have loved for so long!

 

Come back soon, I know the secrets to this whole internet marketing “thing” are right around the corner, and I LOVE to share!

Your friendly neighborhood web geek - GmC

 

Ok folks, so week one of my IMBS course is done! I have been thrown into the mix with the next generation of internet pros, and learned a lot already. So far our courses are intro to internet marketing (IM 101!) and English composition. Although my writing may not have improved yet, I can see a number of spaces where I need to improve, and spaces in English that I have already mastered.

My teacher in English seemed to really like my exploding the moment piece, and I really enjoyed reading everyone else’s contributions. Also, my first reading assignments for internet marketing were insightful and helped me formulate a new social marketing initiative here at work. Let’s see how that goes J

I am blasphemously tired, between here at iCan and in “class” I may not see the light of day for the next couple of years! Not that I’m complaining, this is one of the best points in my life, and I am finally seeing myself as a success!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to stop by and catch up on my life, as the year progresses I will take a blog post a week to explain some of the awesome new tools and theories that I uncover inside the hallowed digital halls of my college experience!

 

GmC

 

Well folks, its getting pretty close now… I just received my first piece of “school materials” provided by FullSail.com – a new Apple Laptop. It looks like im going to have to dive into the world of Mac, something I have not done since my first computer ( an Apple IIGS). Now I have an iPhone, and a MacBook , with iWork … wow im becoming apple tech addicted!!!

Anyhow, I will keep everyone posted on the course , the Teachers, how school is treating me (and vice versa) over the next 2 years, and then start a thread regarding the Masters Degree Program. For now , you should definitely check out FullSail.com and join me in this 2 year trek to be the best in my field that I can possibly be, with the help of one of the greatest school models in the nation!

This year at iCan, we are following the message laid out by the new US president. It is time that more of us (the middle and upper middle classes) to start pushing our nation forward. We have modest means, but if each of us put just a few hours of our time, just a few coins of loose change, just one good bead of sweat in the name of helping more people attain the status we all have worked hard to attain.

On that note, we are proud to be volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Palm Beach County. After living most of my life here in Boca Raton, I know that often people see this town as a big bubble for the upper middle class… I guess this post is about calling out to the city I grew up in, and asking them to lend us a hand at the next home we help to build for a family in need. Last weekend we assisted in placing a roof and laying out the floor plan at a house in Boynton Beach FL. The woman who will one day reside there was actually the first person I met on the job site. She was working hard to help the contractors to finish the ceiling layout, and I immediately joined in and lent her a hand. Then, after we ran out of materials for that project, I was moved on to help with relocating all of the lumber to an area of the house that was not being used, and began to help one of the contractors (chris) to lay out the entire floor plan! With a large portion of our team assisting in the completion of the roof portions, and many of us helping around the interior, we got quite a bit completed! (Pictures will follow!) Next week, I believe we are going back to that house to help them with the next steps, and continue to give back to a community that helped to raise me J

All in all everyone, if you have been thinking about helping out around your neighborhood, town, or on a much larger scale … there is no time like the present and together we can kick up some dust, get a few splinters, and help to make our country great again J

 

Proud to be an American

GmC

This morning we had another “town hall” meeting here at iCan, one of our fearless leaders ( Steve Tucker ) gave a speech about fear and the economy, and also about the status of our fine organization.

After living almost a year here at my new home, I have come to truly respect and admire the families that make up our Affordable Health Insurance Company. Diane, Steve, Harold, Sam, Ghen, Ed, Mike and everyone else that makes up the upper echelon have been more than just “bosses” but friends and even some extended family to myself and the crew that make up the technology / marketing wing here at the iCan fortress !

With the presidential inauguration practically underway, and a whole new era approaching the US, it was great to hear that our proud organization is still top of the charts in the eyes of both the legal compliance nationally, and the big Health insurance organizations. Its normally a time for worry and wonder, when the economy is all but bottomed out… but because of the people above, we will remain. Ever vigilant and always pressing forward (smoothly) The iCan Benefit Group Family of companies!

As always, Web Wired and ready to go

Greg M. Chernoff

Newsletter Power!

    Ok, so it was not a newsletter, but it was an informative piece of communication between our current members and site users, and us here in the mighty fishbowl!

We ran our first of a 6 part email marketing series on Tuesday night, and I am proud to say that we have been resoundingly successful.

Our users have not all entered email addresses ( yet ) however of the people we contacted, 30% have come to visit , and 11% have completed one of the actions we set forth for them. I for one am incredibly proud of these excellent results, of the team that collaborated to create this campaign, and also of our members… who have followed the carrot and led us to prove unequivocally that Email Marketing and Lifecycle Campaigns are an integral part of any great Internet Marketing and Management cycle. We are now working on the remainder of the 6 part series, as well as two new campaigns, the iCanBenefit.com Billy Mays email Blast, and the Critical Illness Protection Email blast. I will keep everyone posted as we run these thru the system! On a Personal note… I have actually been able to get approved for a home! That’s right, my first time home buying experience (ugh!) Either way , it’s a great property , and I will be adding a new section to the blog in regards to the home purchase process, the companies I worked with to make it happen, and the Before and after of my Demolition and rebuilding of parts of the house!!!!

 

Thanks again for reading everyone! ( This includes you JESSIE!- [analytics at work… I SEE YOU!])

Greg Matthew Chernoff – Florida SEO and All around Madman!

 

 

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation, a terrific holiday season, and a crazy new years eve!

    BECAUSE NOW IT’S BACK TO WORK!!! (Hehe) I went and visited our nation’s capital, Philadelphia and NYC over my break, and have some great pictures and stories about the long road trip!

Being in Florida for a few years now, I have been seriously lacking in the cold weather and snow department… but I think I got my fill this time around. It snowed in Philly and in New York but gratefully not during the New Years Eve celebration J

Overall it was great, stayed in the family apartment in New York, got to see the ball drop, the Great Tree (Rockefeller center) and the Beehive that is New York. It made me realize that I am truly a city kind of guy… suburbia (where we are located) is just not half as busy and chaotic as the organized madness that is NY, and I liked feeling like everyone there was in tune to some kind of hidden signal (pheromones?). I would be able to walk down a street with hundreds of people blocking my way, and somehow get right thru… people would just adjust their group over an inch or two and let me in, without me ever even looking their direction. It got me to thinking about how we all work in this crowded and ever growing environment, and how as a whole our community could definitely improve and benefit from some sort of “community wide signal” … I mean I understand there are forums for information, and that we all clamor every time something changes to see if we came out on top.. but where is the organized core to all of our web development chaos? We have 5trillion browser versions, each with their own interpretation of the code that coders produce, the CSS and imagery that developers and artists create, and the marketing which is all but slammed on top of one another… all gripping and clawing for the exact same result as the guy next to us. Now standards organizations are created, they test everything to get it up to “scratch” …. Yet you can test every browser out there and not a single one is capable of passing EVERY test… beating every score. I know that browsers all have to have their niche in the market, but seriously … browser compatibility takes up more of our time then the development itself, and if you have a creative and dynamic group (like my team) it’s even worse… it almost seems like someone out there in the browser world should actually aspire to handle everything we throw at it … without the cacophony or the frustration! I doubt that this will get a huge response, but isn’t a single solitary open source group, or even corporate giant going to really put forward the right juice…. I for one would follow the “scent” of that particular venture… and I think that many ( if not all) of us would do the same!

 

Regardless, I missed spending time with my family(s) both here in FL and around the country… but you can’t blame me for being drawn to that big shiny orb in the sky on New Year’s… after all , I’m just another bug looking towards the brightest light J

(Your Faithful worker bee!!!, GMC)