Sunday, March 7, 2021

I'm no Art Fern

If you are old like me, you remember the Johnny Carson character Art Fern. 

Art Fern, the fast-talking host of a "Tea Time Movie" program, who advertised inane products, assisted by the attractive Matinee Lady was a parody of what NOT to do in sales. 

Art would always tell us "how to get to" the place of the thing he was selling. And always, we should drive until we come to the fork in the road. Like. Every. Time. 

And it was funny. Every. Time. 

At the time of this blog, I am told (checks notes) that there are more than One Billion people on the planet using Zoom Basic (free) service. And over the course of a month, there are hundreds of millions of people meeting daily on Zoom. During the COVID-19 pandemic, few companies seemed more poised to receive a usage bump than Zoom and its enterprise-grade video chat platform. Turns out that Zoom outpaced expectations. 

In the past 12 months, Zoom became a verb, and the world is indeed Powered By Zoom

There are many Zoom competitors, and then there are some companies to make the Zoom experience, better. I am no Art Fern, but one such company making the Zoom experience better is Zapkad

Zapkad is a FREE digital business card with unlimited storage and CRM built-in. It makes the Zoom experience better. When we met in person (like we did pre-COVID) we exchanged paper business cards. When we had live events (pre-COVID) at big venues, you might have had someone "scan" your badge. No one wants to lug around all that paper at a trade show, right? And why kill trees?

Today, when we host events and meetings on Zoom, we never shake hands - we never exchange cards. It's virtual. Zapkad saw the opportunity in the marketplace - and became a first-mover.

Yes, sadly, I am old enough to remember Johnny Carson's Art Fern. 

I am also old enough to remember the launch of iTunes and the launch of the Apple stores, and how getting "an app" approved in the online marketplace was the long play for Apple. The iPhone and iPad got its power from the genius of the apps. Zoom is taking a page out of the Apple playbook. Zoom is great, the apps that make Zoom better - that is the ride home for everyone. 

Zoom (and now Zoom Phone and Zoom Chat) has changed the world, full stop. And the OnZoom.com marketplace and companies like Zapkad will continue to create force multipliers of value. 


If you are reading this blog, there is a 99% chance that you already have a Zoom account (free, or paid). You should also get Zapkad. It's free, just like Zoom Basic. I did, I use it in all of my Zoom meetings, and it is a game-changer for me. When we go back to LIVE meetings, or hybrid meetings, I'll keep using Zapkad. 

Paper business cards are so pre-COVID.

Again, I am no Art Fern, but I do channel him from time to time. And don't forget, when you come to the Slauson Cutoff.....

Art Fern says www.GetZoom.us 



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