I have these strange moments when I’m coming off an all nighter. Most likely as a result of working through the night with the music cranked in my ears. Not sure if anyone has ever made this observation, but Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne sounds a little familiar, does it not?
The Book Round-Up: What I’m Reading
Here’s a list of books that I’ve been reading over the past little while and my recommendations.
Just Finished
Wikinomics by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams
Interesting book about the new frontier for information sharing in the collaborative future. Covering not just web 2.0 topics, but how classic industries are harnessing the power and intelligence of the global community.
My Recommendation: Read It
iCon by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon
An unauthorized biography about Steve Jobs. Steve has a great story and some mega successes in life, but it was interesting to see some of the not so sparkling parts in his past. The book did a good job of showing the “human” behind the creative machine that is Apple.
My Recommendation: Read It
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
Simple easy to read advice for entrepreneurs. Guy does a good job of cutting thru the crap to give good advice. I’ve already used some of the good info in the book as inspiration in my Branding Made Easy, and Cheap post.
My Recommendation: Read It
The death of Feedburner?
It’s rumored that Google is going to acquire Feedburner. Well - I guess that’s it for them. I’m thinking most bloggers are with me when I say “Google placed ads in my feed? F**k that”.
I hope they don’t plan on spamming our feed with ads, but it’s only logical. You can’t spend a wad of cash to acquire a product that has no potential ROI. Oh well, it’s just a matter of time until a new, ad free Feedburner clone comes out and steals the show.
You have to thank them, too
A couple of months ago I posted a reminder for everyone to check up with current/past clients to touch bases and see if there’s anything you could do for them. I just ran across another post today that talks about another step many forget but one that’s equally (if not more) important - and that is thanking your customers. Here’s an excerpt from Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams
Recently I met with some fellow entrepreneurs to swap ideas-it’s an informal mastermind group. We discussed strategies for appreciating customers and building loyalty. Here are some good ideas:
One business owner personally visited his top 10 female clients just before Mother’s Day and delivered each a box of fudge.
One business owner personally visited his top 10 female clients just before Mother’s Day and delivered each a box of fudge.
Another person sends a $10 Starbucks gift card to anyone who sends him a referral.
Yet another business owner sends a holiday music CD out to his clients in December each year.
Another idea is to contact your existing clients and offer a significant discount or bonus for referrals.
We all agreed that sending hand-written thank you notes is a must! One person even has a personal goal to write six of these per day!
I recently received an enormous (about 9″ diameter) sugar cookie from a Bay area dealers auto auction that we purchased a vehicle from. It had a screen printed frosting that displayed their logo and a big “Thank you!” - all edible of course. The cookie lasted a good week in the office as we all nibbled away at it.
Have you ever been thanked? Do you thank your customers? How?
Digga please
[rant]
On Digg: Apple iPhone receives FCC approval! (yes, that’s an exclamation point)
Who gives a rat’s ass? I feel so many things when I see boring news like this hit the front page of digg and take off. Irritated. Angry. Sad. Dumbstruck.
We have some great posts on YGG that have gotten buried right before hitting the homepage. Quality stuff that people can learn from, but we can’t catch a break. And here is this mind numbing blip of news about FCC approval and it soars to the top.
Things like this make it abundantly clear that Digg users are (for the most part) under-sexed gadget geeks. It’s sickening.
Here’s to you, Digg
[/rant]
It’s 4 am and YGG kept me up all night
A few days ago some fella by the name of James had written a comment in my Setting up your first podcast studio post, asking that I help him with his podcast rig. I sent him an email and we went back and forth trying to arrange a support call.
Well about three hours ago James reached me through Skype and one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had in a while began. In what I believed was going to be a connect this wire to this wire call, became helping a 41 year old New Yorker living in Phoenix lose his blogging virginity via his first WordPress installation.
While doing so, I learned practically everything about him, his career, family, and life, most of which he admittedly wouldn’t share with a stranger, which I ironically happened to be.
When all was said and done at nearly half past four my time, half past one his, he had learned the gist of blogging, had his own blog ready to go, and seemed to have a newly gained rocket lodged in his derier ready to begin a journey that he’s wanted to undertake for quite some time.
These are the moments that I truly enjoy thanks to YGG. I’m sure that if and when I reach the stage where my accountant values my hourly rate at $10,000 I may be a little more hesitant in chatting and helping a complete stranger for such a lengthy period of time. But until then, these amusingly abrupt interruptions are what make blogging worth the pain, sweat, and tears.
I asked James to join the forum and hope he does so in the near future. It was a pleasure to talk to him and hear the joy in his voice upon seeing his first blog actually work. He is definitely a young go getter and I hope that I personally and we as a community run into more interesting people like him.
Trump has been fired
Looks like the handful of viewers that watched the last season of The Apprentice were in fact watching the last season of The Apprentice. Although it hasn’t officially been canceled, it was cut from the fall lineup with no return air date in sight.
But don’t cry, you’ll soon see Donald “The Meat” Trump pushing his steaks in an infomercialized delicatessen near you.
Yahoo! going Green
Yahoo! is pushing people to live Green. But unlike douche bags Al Gore and John Travolta, they’re not just going to talk the talk. Yahoo! has pledged to be carbon neutral by the end of 2007. Not a small task when you’re 11,000+ employees strong.
Check out Yahoo! Green
Plagiarism 101
No matter what industry you’re in, seeing your work plagiarized can be one of the most painful experiences of your career. This left me speechless:
Euro 2012 Ad
Original Apple Ad
Joost gets…juiced?
Just a quick follow up to our popular Joost invite post (now closed). Whether or not the hundreds of people we pitched invites to think Joost is cool, the big pockets believe it is. They’ve secured $45 million in funding from some serious players - here’s more info from ClickZ News Blog.
Five firms have joined a huge $45 million funding round for Web video platform Joost, which has experienced some hiccups during its first days of unlimited beta release.
Two of the investors, CBS and Viacom, are also Joost content partners. Their involvement may generate some alarm at NBC Universal and News Corp.’s still nameless premium video joint venture, whose hopes rest in the entertainment business uniting to present a unified front against YouTube.
The other three investors are Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Li Ka Shing Foundation. The money will be used for product development, global expansion and service offerings, including localization.
Meanwhile, video platform Roo also completed a financing round. The company will spend $25 million proceeds from the sale of common stock to expand its sales and marketing efforts, fund operations, and pursue already announced acquisitions.
How would you use $45 million to launch a new product? And no, a logo wrapped Lamborghini doesn’t count.
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