Founder Dating: what’s not to like!

I can’t believe it.  For so long, I have attended events, hoping to serendipitously cross the path of someone with similar interests with whom I could chat up my ideas for a business, but nothing as yet has come to pass.  Either the people only partially shared my interests or the timing was off or a personal knowing was missing to enter into the kind of committed work relationship that sharing a business needs.  I began to curse my departure from those natural peer circles at graduate school where access to partnering seemed more the order of the day.

So, here’s a connection that I just ran across that got me excited and maybe will do the same for you.  It’s called Founder Dating, and  basically you put forward an idea you have, and see if others might also be interested in going to business with you around that idea or something similar.  It’s not like one of those schemes where you vote up or down a business, thereby conveying your belief in its viability (although hey, I’ve got nothing against them).  Or sites like KickStarter Online, where you can make a pitch for a particular project, and get people to back you, essentially a variation on voting for the good idea but better, because here, there is actually a pathway for some real funding.  Or events like Women 2.0, where you gather with others to shape your idea in-person in the hopes of improving the quality of the idea in this first place.

No.  Founder Dating is actually a service that aims to bring together super talented entrepreneurs with different backgrounds and skill sets to start innovative new companies. All too often,  we know people with similar backgrounds and skills sets to our own.  So to find co-founders who come with complimentary skill sets, with an interest in launching similar ideas; well, that kind of service actually fills the gap I’ve just described.  Check it out by submitting an application.  And see if you might find your way to a San Francisco or Seattle to take it further!

Mobile Publishing — getting the word out

I don’t know if this formally qualifies as publishing, but when I went to MacWorld recently, I saw three mobile apps with strong personal appeal.

One was called SelfServeApps which allows anyone to build a high quality phone app from their web browser in less than an hour at a fraction of the cost of custom development, giving small business owners a footing in the mobile market. Think of now being able to provide a creative mobile service with a lot of functionality to customers at a comparatively low cost of entry ($99.00 for setup, $29.00-$99.00 monthly).  It integrates with mobile web pages so customers can place orders via their iphones (and only iphones) as well.  Although it’s not yet integrated, that is, not all functionality provided operates within the app itself suggesting there could be performance issues (slower access which can turn consumers off), they plan on a fuller integration in a future version. It’s a Canadian company, reachable at 1-250-940-9080.

Another was called Yapper, which is essentially a web-based tool that allows you to build an iphone app based on a RSS feed.  App creation here too is $99.00+, with the ability to simply stream the latest and greatest utility/service that your company can provide via an app.  The company, SachManya, is from Santa Clara.  Their phone number is (408)782-4557.

And a third was QuickOffice, an app for $10.00 which simply makes it very easy to both review and MS Office software (Excel, Word, etc.).  Although more a general tool, than something special for publishing, I believe it will be possible to keep up a productive pace, doing publishing-oriented tasks while on the go.  Nothing earth-shattering here; just practical.

That’ll be mobile offers on herbal tea only, thanks!

I recently realized that something that has a great appeal to some folks, like location-based sharing, has less relevance and appeal to me — especially when it comes to keeping things in the short term much simpler.

Not sure why that is really, except that I just finished a job where I realized I simply prefer choosing my own influences.  The fact that some choices I need to make come recommended seems to matter less when there’s not that compulsive need to check in with others. At times, what you want, you simply already know.

So, when I saw that some mobile services actually encourage you to sign up with companies, brands, and services which you know would already compel your participation, I could see I liked that more.  For example, with mobilecoupons.com, you can just put in your area, choose your category of interest, and get deals that way. So, as this post title suggests, I can get offers just on herbal teas. Location-based services has that element of keeping tabs on everyone  and keeping you in step with your friends, when that may not be your mindset. May not always be true, but for now, yes.

More and more, I see that companies and brands can easily develop their own private apps, offering up discounts directly to those who have already expressed interest.  I could offer up those offers through a privately branded app. I find that simpler too.  As a small business, could you see this having appeal to you?

Location-Based Advertising: How’s it going?

This is the second in my series on mobile, and what’s getting me interested is this.

Whatever can save me time in seeing whether something is worth purchasing (and I’m one of those who think fewer and fewer products actually are) and save me money, I can become interested in, even if I start out lukewarm.  As a woman, what matters most to me is to have appeals that I can confidently say are within reasonable range of my own needs and interests, and avoid the feeling of fatigue associated with extraneous, poorly targeted stuff.  Location-based deals AND reviews/ratings, therefore, have the potential to make my decision-making easier.

So, up comes location-based advertising on my radar, things like FourSquare, YELP, Loopt, Google (local directory bar codes), Gowalla, and Merchant Circle. But so far, much of it feels extraneous (how much can I actually rely on these reviews, given it takes critical mass for group participation to yield intelligence for the group?  And for whom is location-based advertising useful when businesses can barrage you with what you don’t need or when your network includes more diversity than sameness.  Of course, location-based anything has its novelty and rewards as well as its privacy terrors; take a look at Please Rob Me for what I’m talking about here.

I guess a fourth concern is trust.  The report by the East Bay Express on YELP, a bit of time back, left many consumers feeling tricked. Some time ago, there was a suggestion of skewed ratings and comments that put businesses in the position of having to cozy up to YELP for display of positive reviews, thereby, muddying Yelp’s reputation as a trusted source. Merchant’s Circle seems to have had issues with consumer preferences being ignored as well. The lesson: If you have a small business, what you definitely don’t want is to sully your own reputation by association and/or not understand a company’s built-in bias, preferences and terms.

Still, I believe it is better to give people space to course-correct than vilify questionable behavior  interminably (I certainly don’t have first hand experience of YELP so I can only be wary).  At any rate, it does send me down the path to explore issues in more depth on my own (I’ll keep you posted) and to encourage you to read the reviews below.

So, check out the following articles from those who can speak with more confidence, and my nod in support of those sources which can point me toward informed decision-making.

On FourSquare:
http://www.colinalsheimer.com/foursquare-friend-requests
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/do-you-play-foursquare/
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/17/please-rob-me-makes-foursquare-super-useful-for-burglars/

On Yelp:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_11/b4170027355708.htmhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/yelp-san-francisco
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/technology/start-ups/03yelp.html
http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/15/yelps-new-and-improved-iphone-app-officially-hits-the-app-store/

On Loopt:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/08/loopt-partners-with-mobile-spinach-to-offer-location-based-deals/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/loopt_iphone3g.php
http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com/2009/11/lbs-loopt-adds-pulse-and-partners-with-navteq-zagat.html
http://download.cnet.com/Loopt-for-iPhone/3000-12941_4-10863030.html

On Google:
http://techcrunch.com/2009/12/16/check-in-google-foursquare-loopt/
http://www.quickmark.com.tw/En/info/Show.asp#sw5

On Gowalla:
http://gigaom.com/2009/10/14/gowalla-vs-foursquare-who-will-win/
http://mashable.com/2009/12/25/foursquare-gowalla/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gowalla_is_the_anti-farmville.php
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gowalla/id304510106?mt=8

On Merchant Circle:
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/merchantcircle-com-promote-your-business
http://www.sugarrae.com/merchant-circle-can-kiss-my-consumer-ass/

Attracting New Customers via Mobile Coupons: It’s a winner!

So, all of us are now realizing that we’re becoming, at least in this one way, more like the rest of the world;  our use of cell phones is going way up, and it’s become our lifeline to functioning competently in the day-to-day.  Here’s what I’ve been adopting myself,  either for my personal use or as someone on the lookout for ways to help small businesses establish some presence — sans the obnoxious, ‘in your face’ behavior, of course.  I will cover mobile in the next series of posts.

Mobile Tools that help me save money: Coupons via mobile  are taking off like never before.  From a small business angle, this means that getting involved in coupon opportunities, most of which are free, has the capacity to do more than just give my customers a break during these recessionary times.  It also has the potential to build customer loyalty, give you visibility as a featured, local, neighborhood destination, get both interested individuals AND their friends into the act (many coupon tools have social forwarding built in), and even give you a bit more of that “here’s a business that’s hip” persona (translated: you get to to tie into young (20’s-30’s), single, educated women in the way they find is uncomplicated and cool).What I like:  Groupon or Living Social, both of which feature a SINGLE coupon for purchase every day.

It works on the principle that there is power in a collective — that a certain mininum number of people expressing interest will make it financially viable to offer a good deal and ensure that a deal will come to pass.

You might think that collective purchasing would work best for businesses people already know a bit about, but actually, the most active audiences are people seeking new engagements, and a quality business could very well fit the bill.  I know I find many offers showcase the creative or unique, which certainly gets my attention and interest.

One statistic from Groupon shows merchant feedback with the average check size 60% greater than the Groupon’s value, and that most participants are first-time customers.  If this fact continues to be true, it behooves small business owners to be at least as far along as they can be in terms of being able to field excellent service once interest on a couponing site is sparked.

Here’s what I like.  Check them out!

Groupon Contact: 877-788-7858 Ext. 2
Living Social Contact: 202.408.1745 x1117, deals@livingsocial.com

Oh, and for some information on the general state of couponing, here is an excellent article by Mashable.

For a Fundraiser, Set Your Criteria From the Get Go!

Fund-raising is sometimes a hit or miss effort, but an effort it is.  And yet, more and more, creative professionals need to fold fundraising into their sustainability plans.  To address the challenge, it occurred to me that surfacing resistance at the very start of our project, even if indirectly, might not be a bad idea.

At the start of projects, what you want most is to get people on board.  The more you can do this, the more likely people will see their own values reflected in the chosen projects, and therefore, experience their own desires to remain connected to those projects.

An unwitting mistake is often to plunge into some activity straight off.  For example, you could involve your team quickly in a fund-raising challenge by asking them to locate and engage with some online communities (it is actually one of the preliminary tasks) or do some online research highlighting admirable stories about how like-minded organizations pulled off their fundraisers, but lately, I’m thinking no.  Better to harvest the most potential by generating passionate commitment within the fundraising team.  It’s a little like deciding to play closer to home.

To do this, identify a set of professional criteria for evaluating what your successful fund-raising campaign MUST deliver before you even begin reaching out to folks.  Setting criteria helps you narrow down the best groups to appeal to.  Choosing personal criteria as well as professional criteria will also add cohesion.  For example, you could ask those in your fund-raising circle what matters to them in terms of spurring their own engagement/ commitments and then, expand the professional list to make room for those personal items.

For criteria building around my own community, I knew that it would be best to to include criteria that reflected both the personal and professional. To see what I ended up with, check out my Social Media Guidelines here. Such a criteria list is bound to help people more precisely target their efforts, help eliminate good but still not compelling enough ideas, and get individuals on a team thinking more about the MOST FRUITFUL ways to make connections and build support into their fundraiser events.

When you think about how challenging fundraising really can be, why not take the time to aim a little better?

Ah, the Dramatic Form — Even Just the Barest Suggestion of It Encourages Engagement

Short post today.  A family member sent me this web site opener done in flash.  For all you creative designers out there, you’re going to appreciate this.

All it is is a look at a simple ‘over the desk’ view, where you see suggestions of life insinuating itself into the flash opening sequence — a dog casually passing through, a foot showing the presence of a guy who obviously is hanging out.

The point is that these simple gestures are enough to build anticipation.  It got me!  Take a look!

An HD Video Outpost: Vimeo

I’ve just completed a video on two labyrinths in the East Bay (the walks organized by the East Bay Labyrinth group, mostly coinciding on the winter and summer solstice) and had to find a place to park it to prepare for fundraising (If interested, feel free to check them out here: Night Walk during the winter solstice, Day Walk during the summer solstice!).

Given I was among the many who suffered those earlier times when all stages of video production was ridiculously time consuming, I was overjoyed to realize I could upload my Final Cut Pro to Quicktime converted video, and park it on Vimeo very quickly with a quickly generated URL to boot. Mostly no burden, very good quality and free!  Wonderful!

They have one stipulation you need to anticipate however.  Only one HD video upload per week.  It slowed things down a bit and sometimes the uploading caused me pain (I forgot that if I had to redo a video upload, I would also have to redo the description, titling, and key wording) but other than that, things went fine. Vimeo is great, especially if you are not ready for wide dissemination on the level of YouTube, and just want a place to review.

Next steps are to find features on video display sites that allow for making  links that take you to designated URLs (like your donation site).  Not to mention, setting in place some video tracking/usage/video dissemination when you are ready which a site like TubeMogul makes incredibly easy (even for user-generated content that is inspired from your own)!

Social Media Success Simplified — seriously!

I don’t know about you but to me, it seems much of the way social media is presented is far too fragmented so many, many people end up losing sight of what they’re doing.

While there are an enormous number of possibilities rife with life, it doesn’t have to feel like being dropped out in the middle of a sea.  Or gagging as relentless waves take you under.  Quite simply, do not accept any feelings of being washed up, wet and weary, consigned to  some unfriendly, foreign shore.  Don’t.

You have only to be clear what it is you are setting out to reach, and then, with feedback, hear what modifications need to be made to maintain momentum.

So, using my experience with a local community parks project, think of the social media effort like the four simple but distinct stages you see below, and then, see if you can take your own project and work the branches/elements within each of those stages.

The Stages:

1.  Visibility
2.  Engagement
3.  Call(s) To Action(s)
4.  Evaluation and Re-Engagement

The tools you pull in to help you do each of these branch elements may feel a bit confusing and cumbersome at first but you’ll gain direct experience and zero in on each tool’s real value each time you go forward/get the practice.  The idea is to understand the essential terrain as mapped above, letting an overview like this help in many directions —  things like making sure you don’t get ahead of yourself, keeping you and your team focused on the bigger picture, and not what others are doing, using the branches as delegation opportunities for those areas you don’t know,  laying out a schedule for execution by task, etc. I found this overview enormously helpful in practice.

So, what do you think?  Do you have something like this to guide your social media implementation strategy?

Developing Your Own Portfolio Online

I’ve just visited one of the member’s of the Digital Atelier site, Dorothy Krause, and I noticed she had done something very interesting in terms of displaying her work. She used a flip book where you can click on the edges and the pages, well, flip them, as if you were turning actual pages from a book.  It’s a great use of the application because the images she is sharing all have a similar textural quality and so, viewing her book of images is a fluid, engaging experience.

Flipbooks, then, are great if your work is grouped together as a series.  And they are very easy to create — especially when your website is a blog and you can access tons of plugins that have this feature.  Just check out this flipbook plugin on the Wordpress site, and you’re good to go.  Once installed, you’ll be able to upload your images into it  automatically.  Of course, there are other options you might want to check out too.  I use both NextGen Gallery, a plugin for blog sites when I want to embed an image gallery in a line format into a web page, and a Content template called PhotoNexus with a built-in gallery, when I want to have a dedicated website, that is, when I want just a site that shows images in quick succession and organized by category.  The latter did cost me a small amount but it fit my needs perfectly.

So, don’t be overwhelmed, as if this is a mountain of a technical problem.  It isn’t. There are plenty of ways to scale the mountain of “how best do I present my images exactly!” —  from a simple slideshow, using Smilebox or a show generated from a Flickr account, to the more advanced that keeps your images completely within your own domain, as in the dedicated gallery template I’ve just described above.  Any and all of these options will create satisfying displays of your work.

Somebody told me recently.  We all have our own way to climb a mountain.  Just stick to your own preferences and do it!  I think, in this case, that’s pretty sage advice!