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)