Back to the Gallery: One Cool Theme Using WordPress

CreativelyRising was up one day, and down the next (two days).  Who am I kidding?  It was down for 2 months!).  Yea, I got hacked.

It wasn’t a pretty story.  I used a theme that used a TomThumb script, which, unfortunately, turned out to be an irresistible welcome mat for malware intruders.  Well that, and a failure to update WordPress when I should have.

That’s all history.  But since then, I got excited by another theme developer, which had a number of really nice-looking themes.  The company is Theme Trust, and the one I chose for its minimalism, good deal pricing, and immediate,”waste no time”, gallery, was Reveal. Although it had a few challenges in terms of understanding under which settings all the features lived, I felt very comfortable finding my way.  Customer support was excellent.

If you’d like to take a look at the results, click Luminous Encounters, an art portfolio site, displaying unique mixed media and crafts.

Most Used Mobile Apps for Keeping on Top of Things

There’s a blizzard out there of apps.  You probably just want to run inside so you won’t get pelted.  But should you decide to weather this storm, there are a few that I’d say have been well worth knowing about.

First and foremost is “Instapaper”.  It’s what it sounds like.  Any web crawling on your desktop often gets you to articles you’d like to read but can’t do so at that moment.  So, you simply click an Instapaper icon you’ll have put on your browser bar, and le voila, once you’ve downloaded the Instapaper app, all those articles now become accessible on your mobile.  I love it because it’s there for all the times when I could really appreciate reading something I can truly care about.

Then, there’s “Expensify”.  I haven’t gotten to this one yet, but I appreciate the idea — particularly for business travel.  You can scan all your receipts and create a PDF report of all that you expended, and not wait until you get home.  It’s one less thing hanging over your head, right?  Not thrilling, but downright practical.

And finally, “Around Me”.  You’re driving around, in a new part of town and you’re out of gas. You could even be close to empty (we won’t tell).  But where is one already!  This exercise in frustration, of looking to no avail, is sending you overboard, perhaps? Well, stop that. Your agony can turn to ecstasy when some stations nearby show up on the mobile map of “Around Me”, at which point you can get on with your day, rising in good spirit instead of sinking into a no-good state you can’t shake off.

Of course, there are many more, but how about watching for our upcoming e-newsletter specifically for creative professionals where we’ll be covering the universe of mobile apps and from every vantage point I might add — creator, life manager, producer, promoter.  This will be hot stuff!

Want to Produce a Product? Experience Quirky!

As creative types, we are constantly imagining new worlds, and then, fully immersing ourselves in some optimum state to develop them. The initial creative state is like a cocoon, and it usually feels pretty good to be inside one. Who wouldn’t enjoy giving our own creations life!  With each experiment, we’re usually stretching ourselves beyond our initial perceptions of boundaries to see even more surprising possibilities or results. Ah, we tell ourselves, we are really going somewhere!

Unfortunately, most of us get swatted in the head not too many moments later, when face to face with limits in time, in expense or in our capacity to receive contradictory commentary. In effect, we soon experience the temporary quality of the “cocooned” state. We may have made great strides, sure but, subject to reaction, opinion and critique, we, may no longer trust ourselves or our product’s viability. We wonder about the best ways to move forward. Many of us are told to get serious by well-meaning advocates but their help is abstract and there are now many voices competing for dominance, inside and out.  So who do we listen to? To what degree and when?

Understanding this crossroads as well as I do, I’ve come to appreciate greatly any and every online process invention that lends a hand here, especially one where constructive idea review and the tools that can help us narrow down best features or approach are actually present.

The online service Quirky seems to be one of these. Indeed, it’s more like a service which works a process which helps all of us learn to bring products to market. For individuals who have an idea in mind, it’s a new and welcomed resource, and one open to anyone who is game about communicating what they’d like to see made. (Of course, your chances of selection improve greatly if it’s an idea that improves daily lives and if the Quirky community agrees about the quality of your idea too. No matter however.  If yours isn’t selected, you still get reviewed).

You’ll need to do some initial work however, namely making your design clear to the Quirky team. The site itself helps you focus on that process — and then lays out how ordinary folks can also engage to help get this done. They’ve broken “producing something” into a series of steps that many of us may not be fully hip to, and one which pulls in an active community for assessment. And if your idea is chosen, iterative development, review, and physical creation are added to the support mix. Oh and did we mention that the community also invests in the product through weekly ratings, feedback and pledges to buy as inspired? Well, then!

So, here’s the beauty of it all.  By directing our imaginations and energies,Quirky skillfully opens up product development to so many more who can and do participate, while shortening the time to market and making the process pleasingly transparent.  The company, currently based in New York, has already brought innumerable products to market including such retail outlets  as Bed, Bath and Beyond and Brad Electronics. So, check ‘em out!  I know I’m going to give my idea a shot, and I’ll be letting you know how I do.

A Great Investment, Your Business? So, Prove It!

Most individuals and small businesses know that just throwing money at marketing or social media to address a company service issue without a tangible idea about what you really need to get from it is flat-out foolish.  And, as we all know, investors feel the same.

But surprisingly, many individuals continue to remain in the dark about how to go about identifying meaningful online marketing objectives as well as how to move past the basics in assessment. There seems to be a continued love affair with data-collection on the most superficial levels (like counting the number of visits or fans) instead of finding measures that really speak to what individuals and companies most want to achieve, and that can result in effective tracking.  Facebook has taken steps in this direction (they are beginning to measure how much people are actually engaged vs. ‘liking’ a site) but most of us are still feeling green about all this.

You can blame our collective naivete on the mass proliferation of tools that make discerning judgment difficult.  Or the fact it is still very hard to figure out appropriate metrics that link best to desired outcomes. Or that articles written about measurement aren’t themselves conclusive. Often times, what’s written is promising, but not proven.

I’ve started to develop a wiki that summarizes some of what there is to know about measuring effectively.  It’s in progress so bear that in mind!  At any rate, here is the link to the wiki on ways you might assess customer service called, coincidentally enough “All Things Service”!

Igniting First Steps Toward Collaboration with Interactive Email

Hey, I’ve been around, okay?  I’ve put things up on Ning, developed wiki’s and websites, introduced in-person strategies to facilitate exchanges in meetings, pushed forward the value of mind maps and whiteboards, all for, drum roll please, to break through the silo experience and encourage people to come together.

Still, it’s one thing to know about the tools, quite another to build an actively participating community.  Time passes, interests and commitments change, and then, what seemed hopeful, just doesn’t stick.

You don’t want to keep pushing an idea, but you do want to pull out people’s natural inclination to participate. What stands in the way?  I’d venture to say it’s the time we spend setting up for participation, while having only a few luxurious moments to actually do it.

So, I’m excited to try a new interactive email tool introduced to me at Craigslist Bootcamp.  It’s called GroupVine, and what I like about it is that the sender can engage through email with compelling questions, invitation inquiries, polls, etc. and any responses can be immediately viewed in that and subsequent emails.  In other words, there is a realtime question and response type of activity taking place that encourages the beginnings of real conversation and collaboration minus the anguish of having to figure out one more system as well.

I’ve not received my personal demo yet but stay posted.  I think an interactive email opportunity like this may break through some of that anguish and therefore, ambivalence about connecting or sharing online.  It may also move folks from feeling online participation is going to be too cumbersome to one where participation actually feels reasonable and right.

Final Note: By the way, there are even more exciting options along these lines available now.  For example, take a look at Movable Ink, which makes it possible to put dynamic (read real time) website content, including maps, twitter comments, latest news based on location of the user into emails. LinkedIn is getting into the act too, concentrating on sharing the most current profile information with recipients, accepting invites from your inbox, without having to make it a two-step (going to the LinkedIn platform too, to make the process complete).  It’s not at this point open source (being Microsoft software), but recognizing the move away from static mail is the innovation to review.

Creative Individuals and Nonprofits: Learn to Promote Your Brand!

I’ll not be the first to say it or the last.  Branding yourself as an organization is not easy. It’s not an exercise for people who like to kick back and establish themselves right before the next campaign event. Waiting will only lead to a hurried and reactive brand definition. And since we’re all so changeable, even from day to day, why should the idea of reducing an organization’s brand definition to one dominant feature, one personality descriptor, one unified anything, be easy either. It’s not.

On top of that, I’ve witnessed many situations where organizations have sought to paint themselves in the colors most revered in the moment. So, an identity might be crafted about leading with the most recently admired accomplishments today; but tomorrow it’s another thing, e.g. something noble and heart-tugging like “Save the Kids.” Unfortunately, if you are that flexible and opportunistic, your organization will risk losing claim to any identity since you will be cementing nothing in the minds of your viewers.

But there is one distinction to make with branding that’s helpful. You can decide what is most enduring and unique about what you do. For Apple, it was “fun and easy-to-use technology made possible through a missionary-like zeal for design excellence” —  design that infused everything from packaging to product design to distribution (e.g. no surprise that the ‘Genius Bar’ concept was about design too).

Although a company’s mission may very well shift in language or approach to match the times (Steve Job’s own definition of Apple as a case in point), the key is to not to deviate from the most enduring idea or value. Steve Jobs, in this video resurrecting Apple’s brand, states his perception of Apple’s core idea as “passionate people can change the world”, which instigated the long run of “Think Different” campaigns. A little different from “fun and easy-to-use technology through zeal for design excellence” and yet, the two statements hardly cancel each other out because they still share what’s essential about the brand — unmitigated passion directed toward exceptional design. When the company got out of touch with this core value of design excellence in the early 90′s, it was like putting a hole in the bottom of their ship, creating a leakage which almost caused the entire company to forget its distinctiveness and go under. Steve Jobs plugged up the hole and gave wind to their sails by returning to the essence of Apple, a move which gave the company and its staff back to itself.

Another deterrent to successful branding is lack of consistency, especially in regard to staff understanding of the brand. Execs in a particular community arts school might be defining this for themselves as “fostering individual understanding, self-discipline and artistic excellence through the collaborative practice of the performing arts.” Very good. The aim, in the above example, is clearly articulated, and can easily become the beacon for others to follow. But this same organization will get no traction whatsoever if the communicators within not only fail to remember the brand definition, but also fail to operationalize the brand through stories shared during company-community exchanges. And if the staff remains unaware of the value of a branding opportunity, believe me it’s only one small step from there to everyone belittling all brand effort as work other people are supposed to do. A true waste since honoring the definition is the one commitment that can really pay off for organizations and result in group identity and cohesion!

One last point. Sure, you might have a number of messages to support a brand identity, and that’s great but make sure they are closely tied to your organization’s uniqueness. Otherwise, those messages will confuse and distract. Since it’s such a challenge to stay the course amidst message bombardment from every source, the very best thing you can do is gather the clan and in effect, agree, together, what it is you stand for. Oh, and by agreeing during those critical points of contact, you will be doing the exact right thing — communicating your powerful essence again and again. To me, that shouts effective brand promotion! How about to you?

The Easiest Online Aids for Managing Tasks and Teams

Microsoft Project used to be the program that many turned to to get real project work done.  I always found it overkill for the smallish projects I was a part of.  Loaded up with everything you might someday want to do, the program sent me screaming down the halls, convinced I could never manage a project. The times (and so few alternatives) practically forced accommodation.

Thank god that’s no longer the case. We can now choose what fits us.  Hallelujah!  The things that matter today are 1) ease of use — since we can feel overloaded within minutes of waking up, 2) a decent calendar and project list — to see what must be tackled each day and see schedules at a glance, 3) a way to send task emails, files and status updates to folks working on tasks we assign, and 4) a chance to have it all accessible through mobile.

So, here’s what I am finding as viable tools to manage my projects.  5pmweb has a very cool, very simple interface with all of the above ($12.00 a month when you enlist new clients to post their logo instead of your own or if you fall into nonprofit status). BaseCamp — especially if your projects are milestone and article-driven ($25/month) and Dooster, which is a free version with similar functionality, soon to sport mobile as well.

These selections, by no means, cover the universe of programs out there for project management, but the three named are the ones I believe a small business or creative professional can benefit from the most.  Oh, and one more thing.  If you have a business where sending scheduled reminders about upcoming tasks can really impress clients, a dedicated task tool (more simple than the project-based tools mentions above) such as Remember the Milk can work out very nicely. If reminders are sent to clients for a purpose that matches their own, they will feel personally-considered and remember this as a business service for a long time coming. This often translates into customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. Priceless.

Social Media Impact: Part 2

As mentioned in the previous post, what matters most in achieving social media impact often comes down to the degree to which you can be customer-centric, and what you can do behind the scenes to achieve it.  This post will concentrate on the second.

Here goes:

• A smart strategy for achieving connection is to curate every kind of expertise so, for example, always ask which bloggers can help your customers be smarter?  How can you encourage this group to help your customers?  Ultimately, to become increasingly relevant to a community means that you have to further that sense customers want to have re being cared for.
• Find out where Twitter really fits in.  Edison has done a study (and will be offering a webinar on April 29th) on Twitter users of America.  The main idea here:  more growth than you think in terms of overall social media participation, with the caveat if you’re not good offline, you’re not going to be great online. Check it out.
• Are you asking those who like what you do (fans and otherwise) to do anything for you? You have to ask, and then, you have to get customer DNA in your own content to really have it shared.  You can also go to where your customers are or build something where customers would be likely to talk about you.
• Instead of trying to be everything to everyone and therefore, thinking only about appropriating more to yourself and your company, think about partnering with those who can further your cause.
• Train people who can represent you to delight a customer.  This has impact.
• If you have video, put a static image of that video with a PLAY button in an email to encourage clicking through to that video.  Testimonials and direct communication by company founders and key staff can really make an impression and you don’t want to lose out on that possibility for connection.
• To become a social media maverick, take a look, from time to time, what your competitors are sharing. Look them up on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn.  It can’t hurt to know their strategy since in accepting or rejecting their approaches, it will give clarity to your own.

San Francisco Small Business Week: A Phenomenal Conference Experience

It was one of those events where I thought, maybe this is one small business conference too many, and heck, since I’ve been consulting to small businesses already in my day-to-day, probably I’d be going over old ground. Boy, was I wrong!

First, it was my attitude. It was great to get to meet so many interesting people conceiving of themselves as small business owners, something that you wouldn’t have seen in either hardier times or when social media wasn’t as prevalent a few years back. Secondly, all the presenters were incredibly forthcoming, sharing what and whom they knew. And third, there was a wealth of focused resources.

But sometimes, it is just the ideas, information and leads that come in little bits that form “aha” moments, and give you the extra energy to move forward.  Little things.  Like at a PR & Marketing presentation, I learned from the speaker, PR Specialist David Perry owner of David Perry & Associates, that one of my all time favorite books, “Writing Down to the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg was actually a great read for branding ideas.  At a branding session led by Robert Friedman, Owner of the company, FEARLESS BRANDING and found at this fearless site, I extended my learning through a set of key questions that can guide how truly differentiated branding is achieved.

Like at a mobile presentation, I learned about Mobile Spinach, that provides local coupon deals, but linked with Loopt now enables location-based discovery, and through their TasteMakers commentaries, a brief but interesting review of key places/activity you might want to check out as well. Unlike deals of the day sites, they offer a range of categories for unique businesses to advertise within (arts, gyms, events, etc), and then the opportunity for visitors to pre-select their preferred categories, not to mention leaving open a small door for non-profits who might like to shout out about their fundraising events too.  Need a mobile web design? Through Mobile Web Up, your site can be mobilized, which will come in handy if you are the type of business people are likely to look up on the go.

Like at an online tools for small businesses session presented by Suresh Khanna, a Google executive and owner of Kasa Indian Eatery in the Castro and Marina, I also learned about trend-intelligent Google’s Places, which is essentially the Local Business Center with the addition of a whole lot of new features, including QR codes, best explained through the link here.  And about the latest in what is actually working for small businesses in terms of increasing visibility (Facebook ads are not bad at all!).  Okay, you get the picture!

Social Media Impact — Some Ideas Worth Trying

Sometimes, I just want to figure out what matters most in terms of social media impact.  As messages, dire and otherwise, blast my ears, and content consumption line my days, I decided to attend an Inbound Marketing Conference moderated by Chris Brogan in San Francisco.

I walked away with two major insights.  How to be as consumer-centric as possible, and what that entails, and how to get yourself/your company ready to deliver impact.  This topic is split up into two posts.

Developing Consumer Centricity

• Always be helping has replaced always be closing — The context at the conference assumed you were selling something, and of course, with selling, this is how it is more than ever. Can’t be overgeneralized though.  If I were always helping, I’d become depleted and lose my usefulness, not to mention go broke. But within certain boundaries, building social capital and meaningful relationships (being responsive to fellow community members on social media sites) is a valuable endeavor, requiring that you focus on ways to recognize and empower others through what and how you share.
• When you want to crowd-source something, by all means, make it easy.  Crowd what? Crowd-sourcing.  Simply means enlisting your community to contribute content. Ever try Pegshot.com or hear about the Extraordinaires? The former makes it easy to share videos and photos of what’s happening where you already are.  And the latter provides the software to help you mobilize your community to contribute photo albums and maps.  Either way, you are getting people to know who you are and what you aspire to.  That willingness to crowd-source will fuel a sense of affiliation within your community.
• When you ask people to register for your e-alerts or info, manage their expectations about they are signing on to receive — how much and when.  This will let customers know you value their time from the get-go. Don’t forget to also include options for sharing (e.g., send to a friend options) within your emails.
• Always ask: what does your community really need most from you?  Don’t wander too far from that need. What is the point of your content from their perspective?   How can you most help? Come to think of it, why not come up with something actionable from every conversation you have.
• Trust comes most frequently from recommendations and you must learn to make customers a more central part of your story in order to earn those recommendations.  Check out sources of customer case studies; in all of the ones that were effective, you can be sure customers had a meaningful opportunity to contribute and loved the recognition!