About Denali Tietjen

A member of the Breakpoint Community Network, she runs (an insane amount) to maintain sanity, is a yogi with no flexibility, and is trying to make it in the blogging world. Connect with her via Twitter or Google+.

Let Your Customers Drive Your Online Presence

August 6, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

Marketing in an inter-networked world (hint: we live in an inter-networked world) is like shoe shopping. Ladies, you just loved that analogy. Fellas, not so much. But bear with my fashionista business analysis because I promise you it really does make sense:

You wouldn’t buy those red suede Jimmy Choo pumps (Nike frees?) on sale in a size 9 even though you’re a size 7 just because they’d go perfectly with your new work dress (basketball outfit?) would you? No, because you’d risk spraining your ankle and that’d be just plain silly.

If you wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes too big, then don’t settle for marketing in the wrong network just because it almost fits your business. You might sprain your ankle.

When marketing your business you need to find the network that’s the perfect fit. Unfortunately, unlike shoes, there’s no sizing chart to business marketing (wouldn’t that make life easier?). Instead, it’s unique to each business situation. If you’re targeting younger customers and find that they’re primarily learning about you on Facebook, focus on marketing yourself on Facebook and not on yelp. But maybe your customers are older and aren’t on Facebook, then maybe you should market yourself more in print magazines and newspapers.

Maybe there is a sizing chart to business marketing. The sizes might not run 7-8-9 but the right fit is the right business to network balance.

CC Photo Credit: Answer Wen

Surviving Your Company’s Breakpoint

July 29, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

We all like to reminisce on our young, glory days so let me take you back to junior year in high school:

You probably have some “totally rad” hair style like a mullet or a rat-tail or the let-me-just-spray-this-full-can-of-hair-spray-in-my-hair-look. You’re probably known by the ladies for having the best extreme-sprinkler at parties. You were probably about to take the SAT. Remember the SAT? They had all of those tricky questions that gave a completely inaccurate depiction of your knowledge? Here’s one to make you feel young again:

If all businesses depend on networks and all networks inevitably hit a breakpoint, do all businesses hit a breakpoint?

A) Yes

B) No

Correct answer: A. All businesses hit a breakpoint. No network is invincible. No, not even yours. But fear not! Your breakpoint is not an ultimatum, there are ways to survive your company’s breakpoint.

Once a company hits it’s breakpoint (the point in which it fully saturates it’s network and exceeds it’s carrying capacity) it can either collapse or recover. Your breakpoint can be hugely enlightening for your business and you can gain crucial intelligence and stabilize. To learn how you can survive your company’s breakpoint, get your copy of Breakpoint today!

CC photo credit: Amorette Dve

What Biological Networks Tell Us About Business Networks

July 25, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

Now that Breakpoint has been released I’d like to tease to you with some of the insights unleashed in the book.

Hunky Ant

You’re probably wondering why there’s a hunky ant in our promo video. I can’t give it all away (I’ve got to lead you on a little bit) but I’ll give you a little something:

In Breakpoint, author Jeff Stibel explains that “science and history give us a guide for just around everything.” Ant colonies, as such a stable network formed of such simple organisms, model this concept well. In fact, a collective ant colony has the same number of neurons as the human brain and consequently functions similarly. All networks follow the same pattern–let it be the neuronal network of your brain, the social network of facebook, or a network of ants

For more insight on how ant colonies, and biological networks in general for that matter, relate to business networks, get your copy of Breakpoint!

Hold Your IQ Close as Computers Transcend Human Knowledge

June 18, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

Last year, Google completed what was then the world’s largest neural network, advancing technology so far as to give computers human capabilities: The robots they created were able to recognize cats in YouTube videos (a slight slap in the face to our intelligence? I do love my cat videos though…).

But today, Stanford announced the completion of a neural network 6.5 times the size of Google’s impressive network. I’m no neuroscientist, but even I know 11 billion neural connections is a huge advancement. Though robots are still quite a ways from approaching the amount of neural connections in a our brains, their intelligence is increasing rapidly.

For those of us who can’t quite grasp the implications of neural networks, this powerful video of 17-year old Google Science fair winner Brittany Wenger, who created a neural network in her bedroom by watching YouTube videos, is a perfect example. Her completed network, Cloud4Cancer, detects the severity of breast cancer with a success rate of 99.11 percent:

[CC photo by epsos.de]

Welcome to The Even-More-Modern Era

June 17, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

Remote controls? Traffic? So yesterday.The Modern Era is becoming even more modern.

We published a post last week about new, unimaginable technology that allows you to control a robot with your brain–a technology with widespread implications in neuroscience, medical, and technology fields alike. The need for a remote control, let alone the ability to control one, is becoming more and more old fashioned.

And today the world announces its first flying bicycle. Researchers from three Czech firms teamed together to invent the first flying bike, taking flight yesterday for nearly five minutes. With current technology, the batteries of these bikes only last a few minutes but imagine the implications these bikes could have as battery life extends.

Will traffic, a commuter’s worst enemy, finally be defeated? Is traffic soon to be a battle of the past?

[CC Mike Rubbo]

Inventing the Unimaginable: Mind Over Mechanics

June 12, 2013 By Denali Tietjen

The guys at the University of Minnesota have invented the unimaginable: a noninvasive head-ware system that allows you to control a flying robot with only your mind.

Talk about genius.

These researchers and engineers have made an unbelievable move forward for the world of neuroscience, and in fact, for the world itself–this technology will continue to evolve to eventually help disabled patients interact with the world and gain simple capabilities, help patients suffering from injury recover, and may even help advance patients who suffer from autism and other neurodevelopment disorders.

The brain’s capabilities now extend beyond the brain. It’s truly remarkable.