Maybe it’s just me and my service provider (probably not), but in the last few weeks many of the Web services I’ve come to rely on are having downtime issues. It’s one thing to see a new service like Twitter go down (regularly. often.), but it’s another thing to see a solid, existing business like PayPal go down mid-day on a Friday. Or Flickr (run by Yahoo) running slower than cold molasses. Or….
As fantastic as this can be, I also wonder if we’re simply setting ourselves up for disappointment. I’m beginning to really like Twitter, yet the service infuriates me with it’s near constant scaling problems (which is more a product of intense interest than bad coding). For as many of my financial transactions that go through PayPal, I’ve come to expect that it’ll be up and running when I need it. Flickr is my go-to community these days, but I only have a few minutes a day to check in, so speed issues make me skip it all together.
Certainly we’re in a new era, and like any new era there are going to be issues. But perhaps the bigger question is whether these scaling issues we (or at least me) are seeing are a sign of a tipping point passed or simply of a new acceptance of poor implementation. I’m inclined to believe the former. You?
After watching the "Viral Garden Top 25 Marketing Blogs" list for some time now, I feel lucky to see that this very blog has made the list… and at #18! To see the company I’m in makes me a bit misty. Seriously, Creating Passionate Users, Logic+Emotion, Brand Autopsy… these folks are the real deal and I’m right there tagging along. Wow.
Big thanks to Mack for keeping this fun project going. Now I’m just going to sit back and let the fat endorsement checks roll in…
…wait, what? That’s now how it works? Ah crap.
In the category of, why didn’t I think of that, I wanted to give a shout out to Niall Kennedy’s newest site ‘StartupSearch’. The site, sponsored by True Ventures (Big in Japan client), tracks ‘the web technology ecosystem commonly references as Web 2.0.’ What is it? Niall explains the data-driven website tracks:
The site’s goal is to become ‘a research tool, a discovery engine, a fact-filled directory of our little Web startup world.’ They site is written using Python, Django and YUI. Very cool Niall!
But what if your cool new Web 2.0 startup has too much cash? Instead of buying those aeron chairs, you can hire a killer CEO. You may have never heard of Joost (evidently the new way to watch TV - yawn), but they recently closed a huge $45MM round from Index Ventures and Sequoia. In a coup for the little company, according to Staci Kramer, they lured former Cisco exec Mike Volpi to join the team as CEO. Mike SVP-GM, at Cisco from 1994 to this year, was seen as the likely heir to CEO John Chambers. Om Malik suggest that Mike might have immediate impact in the organization. If the little company is going to show us ‘how TV will be watched from now on’ they need someone who can swim in the shark filled waters of Hollywood. Is Mike slick enough? I suspect so!
You may recall my rant about character blogs done poorly. If you don’t the quick recap is that it’s hard to have an effective "character blog" (a blog created around a fictional character) when the blog has constant reminders that this character is completely fictional. TV show characters live in a world that’s not hosted on CBS.com, for instance.
Since that post I’ve been on the lookout for a great character blog and Web sites that I could share as an example of how to do it right. I found two great support efforts for this season’s hit show "Heroes", and both focus on lesser discussed aspects of show.
Of the two, my significant favorite is the VotePetrelli.com site. This site literally could have been created for any candidate running for office this year. (Which is a sad reflection on Web sites for political candidates, but I digress)
Let’s see how this site stacks up against my Rules for Character Blogs & Sites:
The second site focuses on the fictional Yamagato Fellowship but isn’t as tight. Sadly there’s far too many "coming soon" references in the content for this to be considered great, but it’s certainly a solid effort.
Great work, NBC!
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Find out more, including comments at the Clue Unit site.
When we created Big in Japan we didn’t want to build an agency. The hourly or resource focused model didn’t appeal to me or my team. Instead we preferred a traditional software or software as a service model. For example, Microsoft’s clients never ask, "how many hours did you spend to deliver Exchange, instead they simply pay for the value received.
Sure, we got started pitching social media consulting services that seemed a lot like marketing strategy, but we facilitated that work by creating managed consumer products (i.e. blogs, wikis, podcasts and advergames). We sold our products/services based on valueEach time we retained the intellectual property rights reworking each to create something new. Today we have our own brand portfolio with titles like: egorcast, elfurl, frankenfeed, feedvault, instantfeed, qwikping, socialmail, podserve, fanpodcast, hresume, hiddentalent and most recently serviceguy. As our brand portfolio has grown so has our client list working with folks like FX Network, Lego, TechData, Claria, LogoWorks, TradeKing, Federal Reserve Bank, Mystic Tan, D Magazine and so on.
I have been spending time talking to a few agencies (traditional and interactive) and it is becoming clear they are headed in our direction. Agencies are more and more interested in marketing their ‘own’ products to their clients. They are also interested in incorporating ’social media’ into their offerings. Of course this is what we have been doing for the last two years. Time and time again we have tried to get agencies to sell our products/services to their clients without much success. As a result, as we have solidified our intellectual property through the use of the United States Patents and Trademark Office, we have come to the conclusion that we need to insert ourselves into the marketing process earlier than we have in the past. The question is: How?
Marc Brownstein, from the Brownstein Group, suggests:
Looking ahead, agencies should broaden their appeal to become as much content providers as idea generators. With the explosion of cable channels, websites, satellite radio and niche publications, content is running thin. Why couldn’t agencies specialize in generating it? We could create more shows (like the Geico Caveman spinoff), inspire more channels, capture eyeballs on sites with compelling content and publish magazines. Why not leverage our strategic planners, copywriters and art directors? The days of agencies relying solely on creating ads for TV, radio, print and outdoor are so over. Just ask any client.
Ironically, as agencies and clients are moving in our direction, we are looking for a business model that will allow us to become more like an agency. We need the delivery model agencies use so successfully without the traditional concept of compensation for hours worked or percentage of markup. My current thinking is that we could either build a quasi-agency to support and sell Big in Japan products/services or we could buy or merge with an existing agency. There is an opporuntity to leverage our social media experience as well as our intellectual property. My only fear is that we get gobbled up in something that is so complex we lose sight of what makes our business interesting…
Continuing our May theme of Transparency, Clue Unit episode 14 has been released!
(click here to subscribe to this feed)
Episode 14, about 30 minutes.
Today’s Topic: Non-traditional Discussion of Transparency
With Jake McKee, Lee LeFever and Christopher Carfi. As always full show notes are available at www.clueunit.com.
We’ve also created a Twitter account to make it easier to keep up with the podcast. Check us out at: twitter.com/clueunit
I bought a Trackstick a while back. The idea is simple, it tracks where you have been via a GPS. It supposedly connects to Google Earth. It wasn’t cheap, costing almost $200. In any event, it doesn’t work as advertized (see description at bottom of post in italics).
Problems:
My advice? Don’t bother!
The Super TrackstickTM is an obvious choice for government agencies and intelligence personnel. The weatherproof case and removable magnetic mount allow for covert installation. Features like this make Super TrackstickTM best suited for police or homeland security personnel.
The Super TrackstickTM is conveniently powered by two (2) AAA batteries. With the built in vibration detector and proprietary low power GPS technology, the Super TrackstickTM will run for over a month with average use. The 4Mb of flash memory ensures that the Super TrackstickTM will log weeks or even months of travel histories. User selectable features allow the record time to be changed from an interval of every 5 seconds, or from 1 minute to every 15 minutes.
Like all TrackstickTM devices, Super TrackstickTM will work anywhere on the planet. Using the latest in GPS mapping technologies from Google EarthTM, its exact location can be shown on satellite-based maps and 3D geographical terrain.
The Super TrackstickTM comes equipped with the highest technological features available on the market today. With the detachable magnetic mount and belt clip, Super TrackstickTM can be carried on a belt, in a bag or covertly installed and placed on anything that moves. Trackstick’sTM technology enables a continuously updated record of the exact route, stop times, speed and direction and other valuable information. The Super TrackstickTM even has its own built in temperature recorder to monitor and record its environment.
All of Super Trackstick’sTM information can easily be downloaded to your computer via the USB port and quickly viewed on Google Earth’sTM 3D model of the planet. No monthly fees are required and all software needed to run Super Trackstick’sTM technology is included.
Amber MacArther and Leo Laporte talked about our cool Jott/Twitter/Jaiku mashup called Egorcast on their net@nite show. Amber and Leo have been friends of Big in Japan since the PodServe days ~ thanks for the plug guys! More about Egorcast: the what, the how, and the why.
(Originally posted on the Big in Japan blog)
For a while, I’ve struggled to find an explanation for the reason I was using Twitter, even in the very minor way I was. It seems like everyone that I talked to about it said: "I don’t know what the point is", yet they were using it somewhat regularly.
I never got excited about the "what are you doing right now" model of posting (or reading for that matter). I don’t care where people are eating breakfast or what they’re having. But I do care about what they’re thinking right now. Or perhaps more specifically, I care what people I know are thinking right now. Some random guy from India? Unknown girl from Buffalo? No context, no interest.
But in the last couple of weeks, my wife and a group of our friends all signed up at once. Nearly overnight there was a group of people who I was very interested in having tell me what’s going on in their lives and what they think about it. I’m now following Twitter daily, if not hourly.
It’s more and more clear to me that social projects tend to fall into two areas:
This may seem a bit obvious or simplistic, but imagine how much better most social tools would be if they chose between these two to begin with. Too many tools try to serve both purposes as a first priority and simply get confusing.
(In related discussion, check out Jeremiah Owyang’s Jennifer Jones’ interview with the Twitter CEO)
I am sad to report NBC has officially cancelled The Black Donnellys. I had written a few scripts on spec for the show and was hopeful that they might appear in season two. Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, the creators, are talking to Mark Cuban about season two (keep your fingers crossed). The first seven episodes were aired on NBC and the remaining six episodes will air on HDNET. Of course, you can see the full season on iTunes.
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