Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Joey Infortuno shows of his mad JibJab movez...
Joey Infortuno recently joined JibJab to help us with high impact online marketing, social networking, SEO, email management, and the like. He's gotten into it with his own personal blog (what better way to learn the usefulness of tools like FeedBurner, etc?) and has set up the JibJab MySpace page, which is already passign 400 friends and has his own Joey Infortuno MySpace page as well!
But, more important that all that, are his mad skating skills -- check 'em out!
Trip to West LA
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Labels: joey infortuno jibjab
Saturday, February 24, 2007
WebSites I Like and Love
I actually evangelize quite a bit for products I love. A little less for those I like. I just took some time to pull some favorites together for a friend, and thought I'd share with you as well.
I'm a huge huge huge fan of www.techsmith.com and their product SnagIt, Camtasia Studio and Screencast. They're one of the rare companies that I rave about. I use their products every day. They have awesome marketing and ongoing evangelist ownership/customer inclusion. They really are amazing.
I'm a big fan of FeedBurner.
I love www.mybloglog.com – you can see how it works on my website – add your photo, and you’ll see how it becomes a bit addictive to see yourself and experience some vanity as you browse the web.
LOVE www.etsy.com
I've become a HUGE fan of www.37signals.com – after reading their PDF, Getting Real (I highly recommend you read that).
Big fan of the beta-product EyeJot (check it out on top right of my blog) and also, google their Demo 2007 presentation.
Someone recently told me about www.fon.com. I haven't used it/installed it, but I love the concept.
I love the idea behind Redfin. But I don't think they're being bold enough about picking a specific market niche (i.e. first-time homebuyers) and engaging their many users as paying subscribers/members with value-add services. By trying to be all things to all people (buying home, selling home, web2.0 app, etc.) they're turning into just another discount realtor/web service. Too many people say "aren't they just like Zillow?". That's a problem for them. But, great idea to shake up an industry that hasn't changed much since the purchase of Manhattan.
I Love LinkedIn and Plaxo -- they work perfectly together, and both do one thing extremely well (LinkedIn for networking and Plaxo for keeping contact information current) -- in fact, there's an example of a merger made in heaven.
I've really liked www.yottamusic.com but I can't say that I love it – it was recommended by Fred Wilson (see below). It's definitely a better front end for Real’s Rhapsody music subscription service (I pay $10/month for that… it plays thru Sonos in our house… is awesome… wireless access to all music on my computer and also on Rhapsody… so basically all music every made).
For sending large files (will be very important in new world of Video/Audio files which are enormous and don’t work well with traditional email), we’ve found www.sharefile.com to work much better than www.yousendit.com and www.pando.com.
I've been really happy with www.carbonite.com -- at $5/month, this online backup solution has been great. Of course, I haven't had a system meltdown where I've had to access the data, so for all I know they could be deleting it upon receipt! (but I doubt it :-) )
In the personalized product space, I've liked my experiences at www.zazzle.com and www.threadless.com (I like them better than the leader, www.cafepress.com)
From the Business 2.0 article about 25 new companies to watch, I really liked the idea behind www.SuccessFactors.com. Simple performance management tools are sorely needed by business, IMO. Seems like everywhere I've gone, everyone is recreating the same wheel/process.
I'm actually not much of a fan of www.squidoo.com (This is Seth Godin’s company). It's always feel like a spam generator to me. For a guy who is such a genius, this one just falls flat. Definitley no Purple Cow.
I feel pretty sure that Alexa is gonna be rendered irrelevant very soon by Google, Yahoo and/or MSN, when they launch a better service (since they own the toolbar market).
Finally, if you only have time to read one blog, this is the one I'd recommend:
Fred Wilson at http://avc.blogs.com.
What did I miss?
I'm a huge huge huge fan of www.techsmith.com and their product SnagIt, Camtasia Studio and Screencast. They're one of the rare companies that I rave about. I use their products every day. They have awesome marketing and ongoing evangelist ownership/customer inclusion. They really are amazing.
I'm a big fan of FeedBurner.
I love www.mybloglog.com – you can see how it works on my website – add your photo, and you’ll see how it becomes a bit addictive to see yourself and experience some vanity as you browse the web.
LOVE www.etsy.com
I've become a HUGE fan of www.37signals.com – after reading their PDF, Getting Real (I highly recommend you read that).
Big fan of the beta-product EyeJot (check it out on top right of my blog) and also, google their Demo 2007 presentation.
Someone recently told me about www.fon.com. I haven't used it/installed it, but I love the concept.
I love the idea behind Redfin. But I don't think they're being bold enough about picking a specific market niche (i.e. first-time homebuyers) and engaging their many users as paying subscribers/members with value-add services. By trying to be all things to all people (buying home, selling home, web2.0 app, etc.) they're turning into just another discount realtor/web service. Too many people say "aren't they just like Zillow?". That's a problem for them. But, great idea to shake up an industry that hasn't changed much since the purchase of Manhattan.
I Love LinkedIn and Plaxo -- they work perfectly together, and both do one thing extremely well (LinkedIn for networking and Plaxo for keeping contact information current) -- in fact, there's an example of a merger made in heaven.
I've really liked www.yottamusic.com but I can't say that I love it – it was recommended by Fred Wilson (see below). It's definitely a better front end for Real’s Rhapsody music subscription service (I pay $10/month for that… it plays thru Sonos in our house… is awesome… wireless access to all music on my computer and also on Rhapsody… so basically all music every made).
For sending large files (will be very important in new world of Video/Audio files which are enormous and don’t work well with traditional email), we’ve found www.sharefile.com to work much better than www.yousendit.com and www.pando.com.
I've been really happy with www.carbonite.com -- at $5/month, this online backup solution has been great. Of course, I haven't had a system meltdown where I've had to access the data, so for all I know they could be deleting it upon receipt! (but I doubt it :-) )
In the personalized product space, I've liked my experiences at www.zazzle.com and www.threadless.com (I like them better than the leader, www.cafepress.com)
From the Business 2.0 article about 25 new companies to watch, I really liked the idea behind www.SuccessFactors.com. Simple performance management tools are sorely needed by business, IMO. Seems like everywhere I've gone, everyone is recreating the same wheel/process.
I'm actually not much of a fan of www.squidoo.com (This is Seth Godin’s company). It's always feel like a spam generator to me. For a guy who is such a genius, this one just falls flat. Definitley no Purple Cow.
I feel pretty sure that Alexa is gonna be rendered irrelevant very soon by Google, Yahoo and/or MSN, when they launch a better service (since they own the toolbar market).
Finally, if you only have time to read one blog, this is the one I'd recommend:
Fred Wilson at http://avc.blogs.com.
What did I miss?
Labels: favorites websites
Monday, February 19, 2007
How to find an authorized Rolex dealer
No, I'm not adding a Rolex to my bling collection. Rather, I was just trying to get an example of a 'store locator' for a premium brand. What could be more premium than Rolex? I went to their website and looked for the normal choices (Store Locator, Dealer, Contact Us) to no avail. Not only did they not have a phone number to call for this information, but I had to sit through Flash downloads before getting information on each screen -- I wanted to scream!
I eventually relented and called the closest number I could find, their New York affiliate. There, I got voice mail and after listening to their entire message, I found what I was looking for.
Find your local Rolex dealer by dialing 1-800-36-ROLEX (1-800-367-6539).
And, for those looking for a local Seattle Rolex dealer, the correct answer is Ben Bridge Jewelers at 409 Pike Street - 206-628-6800.
I then called that number and expressed my frustration. The representative told me that they hear that a lot, but that they intentionally make it difficult "for security purposes". Who are they kidding?!? If my goal were truly to steal a Rolex, this amount of effort is nothing. So, rather than optimize for their customers, they focus on thieves. They may think that they're reinforcing their brand with this hard-to-find experience, but I really don't think they're accomplishing their goal -- instead, they're driving people away.
I eventually relented and called the closest number I could find, their New York affiliate. There, I got voice mail and after listening to their entire message, I found what I was looking for.
Find your local Rolex dealer by dialing 1-800-36-ROLEX (1-800-367-6539).
And, for those looking for a local Seattle Rolex dealer, the correct answer is Ben Bridge Jewelers at 409 Pike Street - 206-628-6800.
I then called that number and expressed my frustration. The representative told me that they hear that a lot, but that they intentionally make it difficult "for security purposes". Who are they kidding?!? If my goal were truly to steal a Rolex, this amount of effort is nothing. So, rather than optimize for their customers, they focus on thieves. They may think that they're reinforcing their brand with this hard-to-find experience, but I really don't think they're accomplishing their goal -- instead, they're driving people away.
Labels: dealer, find, rolex, seattle
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Dave and Jenson... trying hard to look tough (or demented)
Is this the cutest nephew you've ever seen? (he's the one on the right, and he's a badass)
Labels: dave schappell, daveschappell, jenson
Barack-mania has officially kicked off
Labels: barack obama, video
MySpace might be on to something here
As a net senior citizen (nearing age 40) I admit that the MySpace phenomenon has nicely passed me by. I’ve done my best to set up a page but I avoided spending much time on it. Like this website, it was more a place to experiment with how it worked and who was using it. However, as JibJab has begun to experiment with fostering our own MySpace comedy page, I’ve been struck by its genius. I’ve made the comment before that “isn’t this just Geocities all over again?”, and by that I meant to say that it was all a bit of a sham of a website building environement. I couldn’t be more wrong. What’s genius about MySpace is how it absolutely removes the need to have any technical skills to create a place all your own and connect (and stay connected to) with others– that differs significantly from Geocities because Geocities was all ultimately about trying to encourage people to create their own website (and therefore, required learning HTML and other technical tools). Geocities forgot that that wasn’t their customer’s primary motivation. Rather, it was a bit of innocent vanity. MySpace takes innocent vanity and interconnectedness to levels never seen before. Now, if I could just learn how to set my VCR (oh… a VCR is a machine you hook up to your television to watch video tapes… oh… never mind… I’ll go check out
Saturday, February 03, 2007
You can hear the Obama chant rising...
Labels: barack obama
Detroit Sucks t-shirt -- my custom t-shirt builder!
For the last week or so I've had a Zazzle Widget posted here on my blog (see below), and from the outset, it's been broken. Now, I'm a bit of an early adopter, so I'll deal with some pain. But, I was really underwhelmend by the response from Zazzle when I reported this bug to them (the minor fact that the widget doesn't work). Check out their response below the widget. No fix, and no expectation. Then, why don't they serve something else into that embed container to indicate that 'this feature is under construction and to check back some other time, or provide a link to my page on their site? And, why not at least recommend to me that I change the widget to something else (and provide the easy to copy&paste HTML) in the meantime?
Overall, I loved their initial product (the t-shirt builder, and the product I received in the mail), but was really underwhelmed with their follow-thru. And, the follow-thru is what will ultimately build a customer base, or not.
Dave
p.s. If you want to see my 'store' on their site, click here!
--
email from them:
Hello Dave
Thank you for contacting our Support Team and alerting us about the complication you are experiencing. Our technical team has observed the error, and they are currently working on a solution. The situation will be remedied as soon as possible. Again, thank you for your e-mail, and your patience is appreciated.
Best Regards,
Jaime
Support Team
Zazzle.com, Inc.
--
Widget container (still broken?):
Overall, I loved their initial product (the t-shirt builder, and the product I received in the mail), but was really underwhelmed with their follow-thru. And, the follow-thru is what will ultimately build a customer base, or not.
Dave
p.s. If you want to see my 'store' on their site, click here!
--
email from them:
Hello Dave
Thank you for contacting our Support Team and alerting us about the complication you are experiencing. Our technical team has observed the error, and they are currently working on a solution. The situation will be remedied as soon as possible. Again, thank you for your e-mail, and your patience is appreciated.
Best Regards,
Jaime
Support Team
Zazzle.com, Inc.
--
Widget container (still broken?):
Labels: detroit sucks
I defy you to show me two cuter babies
Friday, February 02, 2007
Google Transit Planner in Google Labs!
Incredibly cool city tool... you enter your start address and destination address and it gives you the walking directions to the transit stop, when the next bus arrives (you can say when you want to arrive somewhere and it works backwards for you)... computes walking time... ahhh....
http://www.google.com/transit
http://www.google.com/transit
Labels: google transit
www.bonnem.com - Personalized Invitations/Announcements/more launched by wonderful Mara Friedman!
I invite everyone to check out Bonnem, launched by the wonderful Mara Friedman.
Her elevator pitch:
Bonnem offers printed invitations, announcements, greetings and more—that you customize with your photos and personal info. All cards are printed on heavyweight, 100% cotton rag, archival paper and come with beautiful lined envelopes. Coming soon are thank you notes, photo-free monogrammed stationery, gift certificates and cute prints.
I love this idea... quick and easy customization and personalization of high quality invitations, envelopes and more. Enjoy!
And, in that vein, another great friend, Jim Kim, continues to expand his personalized mint tin business/empire, PlumDrama!
Now... go personalize something!
Her elevator pitch:
Bonnem offers printed invitations, announcements, greetings and more—that you customize with your photos and personal info. All cards are printed on heavyweight, 100% cotton rag, archival paper and come with beautiful lined envelopes. Coming soon are thank you notes, photo-free monogrammed stationery, gift certificates and cute prints.
I love this idea... quick and easy customization and personalization of high quality invitations, envelopes and more. Enjoy!
And, in that vein, another great friend, Jim Kim, continues to expand his personalized mint tin business/empire, PlumDrama!
Now... go personalize something!
Labels: bonnem, personalized cards, personalized mint tin, plumdrama
