Tag - business

A couple of quickies: biz, marketing, peanut butter

December 18, 2006

Here are a few things that have caught my eye lately. Usually these types of articles hang around in Safari tabs for days until I stick ’em up on del.icio.us. Maybe I’ll start just blogging them, link-blog-style, from now on …

How to have an overnight internet success story

While any compelling Internet service can benefit from word of mouth exposure, not every compelling consumer Internet service possesses the proper characteristics to rely on viral distribution. I’d like to propose a new definition for what qualifies as a viral Internet service. A viral Internet service is one where each new user must involve friends to derive personal value from the service.
Your company’s social media score

Many companies want to get involved in social media. Some see the promise of building closer relationships with stakeholders (customers, employees, partners, etc…). While others are excited about new marketing methods they must try. The novelty of social media is wearing off. That’s a good thing. Now we can get down to what it is really good for …
Making sure my peanut butter is thick and crunchy

I was reading Brad Garlinghouse’s Peanut Butter Manifesto about Yahoo’s strategy having been spread too thin across too many opportunities. Quoting the memo:

I’ve heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular. I hate peanut butter. We all should.
The 20 smartest companies to start right now

Social-networking sites may be sprouting like weeds, but none yet operates as a bona fide marketplace, with members buying and selling their own creations as much as they blog, link, and post. Breyer, who sits on Wal-Mart’s board, is interested in backing an international network for indie artists, musicians, filmmakers, authors, designers, and other creative types from dozens of countries.

[tags] links, quickies, john koetsier, business, web2.0 [/tags]

Products as nouns, products as verbs

December 14, 2006

I don’t really know how to process this yet or what to do with it, so I’m just plunking it on my blog and ruminating about it. From Pulse Laser via Signal vs Noise:

Products are not nouns but verbs. A product designed as a noun will sit passively in a home, an office, or pocket. It will likely have a focus on aesthetics, and a list of functions clearly bulleted in the manual… but that’s it.

Products can be verbs instead, things which are happening, that we live alongside. We cross paths with our products when we first spy them across a crowded shop floor, or unbox them, or show a friend how to do something with them. We inhabit our world of activities and social groups together… a product designed with this in mind can look very different.

Example …

Take Amazon: They don’t just sell products, they sell the whole life-cycle. You discover a book, select it using the reviews, consider it, hang onto it in your basket, finally choose to buy it. Wishlists and permanent book addresses (suitable for emails) understand that, even before you buy it, a book is a social object, present in our social world. Then afterwards you can recommend or review the book, and the site helps (even prompts!) you to sell the book on second-hand.

Lots to chew on as I develop products every day … how to design the product for its whole lifecycle:

Hearing about it
Seeing it
Wanting it
Learning about it
Getting it
Opening it
Examining it
Using it
Displaying it
Talking about it
Dare I say loving it?
Carrying/transporting it
Discarding it

How to make each of those experiences remarkable … even the one at the end, when you’re finished with the product or moving on to another product.

[tags] products, noun, verb, social, john koetsier [/tags]

MediaTemple GridServer: #2

December 12, 2006

Just noticed that I’m hit number two at Google for MediaTemple Gridserver. And the post title is not complimentary. Remind me, if I ever forget, to keep bloggers happy about anything having to do with a product/company of mine.

The funny thing? GridServer is actually performing really well lately!

[tags] mediatemple, gridserver, mt, john koetsier [/tags]

MediaTemple: starting to rock again

December 7, 2006

MediaTemple (my hosting company) is really starting to do all the right things and is regaining my confidence rapidly.

While having had quite a few problems over the past month, they’ve compensated affected people and are aggresively communicating about system upgrades, enhancements, and status.

The bare facts are that GridServer is starting to deliver on the promise that made me pull up stakes and move my sites. The warm fuzzy emotional appeal is that MT is being completely open and aboveboard during what will probably still be some “interesting” weeks ahead.

Kudos and congrats!

[tags] mediatemple, mt, hosting, communication, crisis, john koetsier [/tags]

Beautifully perfectly empty desktop

December 7, 2006

For the first time in perhaps 3 years, my desktop is beautifully, perfectly, empty – a wonderful tabula rasa on which I can create Anything I Want™.

I’m a bit of a freak about computer desktop neatness (which is not the same as saying I’m good at keeping my desktop clean).

It gives me a mini heart attack when I see colleagues with 15, 25, even 75 icons scattered over their desktop like dominoes that have already been knocked down. Some people have no desktop at all … just documents and applications and servers and connected disks and CDs wallpapering their computerized window on the world.

It’s almost a GTD thing for me: items on my desktop are things that need to be done, work that is calling my name, tasks that have not been completed. An empty desktop, then, is a symbol of a successful day, a caught-up workload, a mastered schedule.

The peace. The serenity.

Soon to be shattered, of course, by the relentless stampede of barbarian TO-DOs through the narrow funnel of my traitorous email in-box.

Ah well. Even a moment’s peace is valuable. Refreshed, I am ready to return to battle.

[tags] desktop, screenpic, GTD, getting things done, peace, tasks, to-dos, john koetsier [/tags]

MediaTemple does the right thing

November 30, 2006

I’ve posted a few critical stories regarding MediaTemple’s new grid server product lately.

But I’m happy to be able to post good news: now MT is doing the right thing. I just got this email:

Dear John,

Our records indicate that you recently opened up a support request related to an open incident, wide-spread problem, or known issue relating to (mt) Media Temple’s new (gs) Grid-Server system. We want to apologize for the inconveniences this may have caused you.

We are compensating you 3 months of service as a concession for the troubles we may have caused you and your site. No action is required on your part. In the next 24 hours this will appear in your account in the form of a credit.

We will be announcing GRID MASTER RELEASE (v.1.1), and version upgrade which fixed hundreds of bugs and will dramatically improve your overall experience with this system.

(mt) Media Temple wishes to thank you sincerely for your patience during the course of these incidents. We believe the (gs) Grid-Server is an amazing system with new technology that has only begun to reach its real potential. Please look forward to announcements in the next few days relating to our new master release.

Thank you again.

Best Regards,

(mt) Media Temple
Hosting Operations

Good move, Mediatemple. Stuff happens, errors occur: that’s reality. I’m looking forward to good continued service from MT.

[tags] MT, mediatemple, customer, service, john koetsier [/tags]

I want people this passionate about the tools I’m building

November 30, 2006

Thomas Hawk just bought a Mac after 18 years of wandering about in the valley of the shadow of Windows.

Here’s what he has to say:

I never in a million years would have thought that the design of a laptop would ever matter to me at all. It’s not about the aesthetics of a machine. It’s what it does for you right? Well, maybe. But this machine is damn sexy. I love the way that the keyboard is lit at night so that I can work in the dark. I love that glassy screen. There is something about the feel of the polished aluminum as I hold, no caress, the thing in my hands. It types perfectly. I love how I can use two fingers on the touch pad to move my screen down. I love how it has a hidden built in microphone and a small little video camera in the screen so that I can do video phone stuff through Skype super easily. I love how the little power supply has a magnet built into it and just kind of plugs itself in. And yes, I even love that glowing little Apple logo on the back of the case that I’ve scoffed at in the past at the various conferences and tech meetups that I’ve gone to.

(Every time I see some crappy Dell laptop or an IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad I look at all the sharp angles, notches, odd bulges, and unsimple lids and just shake my head.)

That aside, however, here’s the point: how extravagantly wonderful is it when people rave like this about a product, service, or tool that you’ve create? I passionately want people who use the stuff I build or contribute to to passionately love them.

(And yes, I am building something. Still pre-alpha, though.)

As I saw recently on a design site: design like you give a damn.

[tags] design, mac, thomas hawk, john koetsier [/tags]

Automation and customer service

November 27, 2006

We’ve all been on the phone to the cable/satellite/electric company, furiously navigating endless voice menus, endlessly pressing 0 for a real live human being.

When is automation a good customer service strategy? That’s the question Leo Bottary, a Hill & Knowlton VP, asked today.

Since I hate to write (or do) something and only use it once, here was my comment:

Knowing what to automate and how to automate is the key.

That’s a simple statement, but what does it mean? Here’s a simple rubric: are you automating to meet your needs or to meet your client’s needs?

If the former, you’re almost certain to negatively impact customer service and customer perception of your company. If the latter – and truly the latter – you run the risk of being a truly great, customer-friendly company.

Example: I’m always getting a new computer or having a hard drive crap out, which means I’m always transfering apps to my new computer.

It’s always a pain to deal with software licensing, which I never keep good track of because it’s boring and tedious and detail-oriented, all of which I hate.

But one company, Ambrosia Software (from whom I purchase Snapz Pro – a video screen capture utility) offers an email license code service. Simply send an email from the address with which you purchased your software and they’ll send you a new license code, having looked you up in their database.

Simple and extremely fast – almost instant – meaning great customer service.

Note that this is right for them – a technology company. It may not be right for a cappacino machine manufacturer.

Just speaking personally, I hate phoning for customer service. I wish all companies had great online customer service – which should include live chat.

[tags] customer, service, technology, automation, leo bottary, john koetsier [/tags]

Small biz blogging: why, how, when, where

November 23, 2006

Yesterday I met Joe Laudenbach, a Bellingham, WA realtor who is wondering how blogging might be something he could use in his business. As I prepped for the meeting, I jotted down some thoughts on how blogging will fit into his business.

Note: my goal was not to get him blogging, but to give him information that will help him make an informed decision whether or not he wants to start.

Why to blog

Better SEO
Because blogs are more frequently updated, they’re a major benefit to your site’s search engine optimization … the factors that help you rank higher in search engine results pages.
More interesting site
A blog is usually much more interesting than a website … it’s not corporate, it delivers content in quick hits, it’s more accessible …
More human face to potential clients
Building on the “not corporate” theme, a blog is where your personality comes through – which is attractive (unless you’re Attila the Hun)
Learn and develop more as a person and as a realtor
I learn more from blogging than just about anything else. Simply the process of thinking and writing and writing and listening and linking makes me much more consciously aware of trends and opportunities. The same is true for realtors or virtually any occupation, I believe.
Creative outlet
People who blog regularly come to love blogging as a creative outlet. And I don’t believe there’s a single person alive who isn’t creative to some degree, in some way. Feeding this impulse has personal and professional benefits.
Contacts, conversations, communication
Through blogging I’ve had email contact with Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, and many other major, well-known technology, business, and marketing leaders. They’ve made me smarter. Plus, I’ve had many more contacts with many more people who aren’t so well known … and that’s had even greater benefits. The same can be true for real estate agents or any professional/business people. Jobs, work contacts, and just plain interesting people: blogging can bring all that. It has for me.

Why not to blog

If you can’t write
Don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to be Hemmingway. But if you absolutely cannot string 2 words together intelligibly, forget it. Find some other way to engage your clients.
If you won’t keep it up
Don’t start if you won’t keep it up. Few things are more pathetic than an orphaned blog. However, don’t get too worried, either. One post a week is not ideal, but it’s perfectly fine for many, many professionals.
If you’re just marketing yourself
If your blog is only going to be about how your company and you are incredibly, stunningly great (not to mention handsome and wealthy) forget it. No-one’s going to read it – one Paris Hilton is enough, thank you very much.
If you’re looking for a quick fix marketing hit
Blogging isn’t a quick fix solution. It’s about telling stories and developing relationships, and those don’t form overnight. Even the blogosphere success stories such as Thomas Mahon blogged for months and months without seeing major results. The good news: all your work is always paying dividends. Old blog posts never die, they just keep attracting hits.
If you’re not comfortable being authentic, real, and non-corporate
Don’t be a stuffed shirt – let your hair down and be real. If you can’t tolerate the slightest mistake, if you can’t speak with anything other than the traditional marcom voice: forget it. It’s boring. It’s just advertising … and people are more adblind now than they’ve ever been.

What to blog about
Note: these are tailored for Joe, who’s a real estate agent. But they’re adaptable to different situations.

Why people move to Bellingham/Whatcom county
There’s probably 10 or 15 blog posts right here … as many as there are reasons.
What areas are great for kids|seniors|adults
Another 5-7 posts …
Things to do in Bellingham
Seasonal events
If you do to a harvest festival, blog it. Christmas candlelight parade? Blog it.
House-hunting tips
Keep it to one tip per blog posts … there’s probably an indefinite number of tips here. Organize them in a category so that visitors can see them all.
Top ten house-hunting gotchas
I know I’d love to know what to watch out for when moving … and I’m probably searching for this type of information when I’m about to move, too.
Things you realize AFTER you move in
Wouldn’t we all like to have known this – about a month before moving in.
Stressless moving

How to blog

Intentional keywords
Be intentional about the keywords you use. Know what people will be searching for when they’re looking to find a home in Whatcom County, WA. Niche it out to the max if you want to rank in search engines, and make sure you use those keywords in titles and posts.
Regularly (at least once a week)
As mentioned above, don’t make an orphan out of your blog.
Naturally
When you’re blogging, you’re a person. Not a company. Talk to people who are also persons as you would talk to someone on the street. Anything else is disrespectful, stuffy, and annoying.
Interview people
Interview key people in your community. This is a great way to expand your circle of contacts, blog about interesting valuable topics, and grow your readership.
Talk to clients
Clients will give you all the blog fodder you need, if you just ask.

Other things to consider

Other social media
Over time, as you become established in your blog and comfortable with the technology, why not explore other forms of social media? Upload a house video or a neighborhood drive-through to YouTube. Then post it to your blog. Or …
Podcasts
Create a couple of podcasts so that people can hear your voice. This can really give people a sense of who you are and that they know you.

These are a few of the suggestions I had for Joe. I hope that they’re applicable to whatever situations you’re in, whether you’re a small business blogger, a corporate blogger, or a social media consultant. I’d love any feedback you might have, positive or negative.

Questions/opportunties? Looking for help in your social media adventure? Let me know.

Stop spamming me, PhotoStamps

November 22, 2006

PhotoStamps is a cool company that makes wonderful custom stamps with pix of your kid, your dog, or your college on them, but if they keep spamming me I am tempted to go postal on them:

They’ve now sent me 7 identical emails today. Not extremely clueful.

[tags] spam, photostamps, john koetsier, bizhack [/tags]

Dangerous lawyers: YouTube & TechCrunch

November 15, 2006

Lawyers working for web companies are like Dick Cheney out hunting: liable to shoot their best friends in the face.

For a perfect example, see this TechCrunch cease & desist, sent by that paragon of intellectual property rights protection, YouTube:

Buried in my email this evening I found a cease and desist letter from an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, representing their client YouTube. We’ve been accused of a number of things: violating YouTube’s Terms of Use, of “tortious interference of a business relationship, and in fact, many business relationships,” of committing an “unfair business practice,” and “false advertising.” The attorney goes on to demand that we cease and desist in from engaging in these various actions or face legal remedies.

The offense we committed was creating a small tool that lets people download YouTube videos to their hard drives. We referenced the tool in a recent post that walked people through the process of moving YouTube Videos to their iPod.

The dangerous part is not in sending the cease & desist notice per se. It’s not even in sending it wrongfully, as Micheal Arrington goes on to point out in the rest of the post.

The idiocy of almost Biblical proportions is sending out a C&D to TechCrunch as if it’s just some blog written by just some guy. The idiocy is not knowing that TechCrunch is one of the biggest and most influential blogs on the planet – particularly in terms of web start-ups and technology.

And the danger is in not putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with the knowledge that your ridiculous C&D, and your name, and your firm’s name … are all going to be splashed across the computers of the most knowedgeable and influential people in the industry.

At the very least you need to have a smarter, more subtle, and more targeted approach. Leave the bullhorn at home. Then, you ensure that you don’t target people who are among your biggest fans. If you’re absolutely forced to, you do it in as nice a way as possible.

And, finally, being sure that what you’re issuing the C&D for is actually a violation of the terms and conditions of your site would be a very good idea.

[tags] techcrunch, youtube, C&D, lawyer, law, legal, web, john koetsier [/tags]

Marketing 2.0 Minifesto

November 13, 2006

Since my blog is my public brain (bigger hard drive, more RAM, better search and retrieve) I’m posting this:

All Markets Are Up For Grabs.
Difference Not Differentiation.
Don’t Disappoint.
Make Your Marketing Sociable.
Interaction Requires Iteration.
See The Wood For The Trees.
Relate, Renew and Reinvent.
Don’t Forget To Sell.
Le ROI Est Mort.
Marketing Is Not A Department.

Get the full story at the (wonderfully-named) Make Marketing History blog.

[tags] marketing, marketing2.0, john koetsier [/tags]

Start-up goals: traffic, traffic, and more traffic?

November 13, 2006

Following the leaders is a great way to be a follower. But the fifty-first YouTube is nobody, and the sixty-third MySpace is nothing.

What does that mean in terms of a start-up’s goals?

Question: traffic & monetization
You start a wonderful new web start-up. Is traffic what it’s all about? Will everything magically work if you get traffic? And if you get traffic, will it automatically be monetizable?

Question: usefulness & critical mass
You start a wonderful new web start-up. But is it wonderful when you’re the only one there, or is it only wonderful if thousands of people are using it? Of course, you eventually want millions. And you know it’ll be great if only you can get over that hump – the first few thousand users. But what about at the beginning?

Thinking out loud: a start-up cheat sheet
What are you going to focus on when building the start-up so that you solve the traffic issue, the monetization issue, and the critical mass of users issue?

This is a personal question for me as I’m doing my own start-up right now, and here are some of my personal thoughts. I’m almost certainly missing some, and would appreciate any tips/hints/additions/suggestions that any readers might have.

Remarkable
Start with a remarkable idea. If it’s not whoa-that’s-cool (to at least someone, or some group of someones) forget it. Find another idea. Why? Your success depends on attracting attention (a necessary but insufficient condition). If it won’t, you’re sunk.
Simple
Start with an explainable-in-15-seconds idea. You need to grab attention, as just mentioned, but if you can’t maintain attention, you’re also sunk. Complexity is the enemy of attention.
Real, tangible value
Promise and deliver real value right away for user #1. User #1 is not going to join your social-network-web-2.0-music-sharing-video-trading-revolutionary-unique blahblahblah if it’s only cool when millions of people are doing it. Some people/stars/companies can start something like that and because of their cachet/history/brilliance make it an instant success. You’re not like that.
Network effects
Build in network effects so that your site/tool/service delivers more and more value as more and more people use it. Social bookmarking sites are a prime example … anything where you can aggregate, analyze, and report on user behavior that is interesting and significant to each individual user.
Viral
The word “viral” is over-used and under-delivered on, but the key point is: make your product easy to spread. More importantly, make people want to spread it. This is related to but not the same as Network effects.
Focus on the user
Assuming all the stars aligned and the angels sang and you did the right thing … don’t stop doing the right things when you do start to grow or get big.

I think the biggest problem with web start-ups is wanting the fruit without understanding how to plant, water, and weed.

In other words, people build things that would be great if a million others were using them, but forget that before a million comes a thousand. If it doesn’t work for the first thousand, you’re either never going to grow to a million, or you’re going to have to spend money like water to incentivize people to do what they naturally would not.

In the first case you’ll die, and in the second you’ll burn through much more money than you want to, probably still die, and only possibly, potentially, hopefully make it to the promised land of critical mass and catalyzed reactions and … success.

Endgame
My best guesstimation right now is that by following these cheat sheet guidelines I’ll maximize my chance for success … and so will you!

[tags] start-up, entrepreneur, web, business, goals, traffic, monetization, john koetsier [/tags]

TextLinkAds unveils ReviewMe paid reviews … shades of PayPerPost

November 10, 2006

Text Link Ads has just come out with ReviewMe. Apparently I’m pre-approved to review ReviewMe and potentially win $25,000.

From Patrick Gavin of Text Link today:

We have just launched a brand new blog advertising system called Reviewme.com. Your blog has been pre approved into the publisher system! Please note that unlike TLA, Reviewme works on any blog including: Typepad, Blogger, etc because no ad code is needed (if your site is not a blog my apologies for this message as this network is for blogs only).

Please visit Reviewme.com and also check out our promotion where we are giving out $25,000.00 for bloggers who review Reviewme!

I’ve briefly checked out the site, and it sounds a little dangerous. I see nothing about revealing in your review that this is a paid review.

People ignore ads. In much the same way that banner blindness set in, many publishers have noticed their contextual ad click through rates and earnings drop over time.
Because our reviews are not formatted to look like ads, publishers are able to deliver more attention and value than through advertising via any other marketing channel.

More later …

[tags] pay per post, text link ads, paid reviews, john koetsier [/tags]

Citizen Agency’s new digs

November 7, 2006

Citizen Agency has finally moved in … and it looks great.

Fun, creative, beautiful, energizing: wow. And that’s just the aesthetics. Here’s what they’re planning on using the space for:

So, here is what we are going to do: have as many amazing gatherings in it as possible…AND open it up to the suggestion that anyone out there who is doing something that is worth a damn in this world can have amazing gatherings in our space. Really. It’s yours. Let’s make some beautiful energy.

Reminds me of when I redid my office space a couple of years ago. (That was when I was managing my company’s tech solutions department – I’ve moved on since then.)

[tags] office, reno, citizen agency, tara hunt, john koetsier [/tags]

TextLinkAds acquired by MediaWhiz; moving to NY

November 7, 2006

TextLinkAds – a pay-for-placement blog ad service, has been acquired by MediaWhiz, a web marketing firm. (I guess MediaWhiz is spending some of the investment capital they received late last year.)

Apparently they’re moving to New York city, but nothing will change:

Publishers: by leveraging MediaWhiz’s agency relationships and sales staff we will be able to sell more ad space on your website. We also will be adding the ability to monetize your website in new ways including: CPA offers and CPM display advertising.

Advertisers: TLA will be working with MediaWhiz to offer new ways to drive traffic and sales to your website including: email marketing, CPA offers, CPM display ads and more!

It is important to note that the people you will be dealing with tomorrow at TLA will be the same people you have always dealt with since our doors opened in 2003. Over the next few months we will be moving our office to New York City to join the MediaWhiz headquarters and look forward to meeting more of our clients and publishers in person!

I’m still a little conflicted by TextLinkAds … I’m not sure if they’re great for bloggers or a great way for companies to buy SEO results.

More on TechCrunch.

[tags] textlinkads, ppc, mediawhiz, john koetsier [/tags]