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Clarity

2008-11-20T17:30:00Z

See if you can use the least amount of words in communicating who you are and what makes you unique.

Clarity yields success.

Turnaround Key :: Connect with Real People

2008-11-19T09:28:00Z

There is a lot of fear and confusion right now. This is often made worse by the media. What is the cure for this sickness? CONNECT WITH REAL PEOPLE

A dear friend of mine, Kurt Daradics, is one of the social catalysts who has been critical to my success in business. He, along with some other heavy hitters in LA and the OC, have collaborated and brought together many groups and organizations into one major networking event and holiday party. The goal is to make real connections with real people.

On Thursday, December 11th from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, the Digital Family Reunion (DFR) is bringing the Southern California technology and business communities together for the holidays at the Skirball Cultural Center. In association with some of the region's top trade associations (like the DMAsc which we're a member) and social networking groups, the DFR is throwing a major holiday party. The DFR's goal is to reignite old relationships, spark new ones, and set the stage to kick off 2009 with a bright new start.

Scheduled attendees include leaders from all the major industry sectors such as media, entertainment, finance, publishing, venture funding, software, commerce, education, and many more.

Visit Digital Family Reunion and join the collective conversation.

UPDATE 11.20.2008 :: WE GOT A PROMO CODE TO GET $20 OFF EACH TICKET :: USE DFR16 WHEN YOU BUY :: Your Welcome. =)

losing your soul to twitter

2008-11-13T01:23:00Z

Recently I read an article on How to pick up followers on twitter and disagree with the approach and “tips” offered by the author. Here’s why:

Tip 1: Follow the “smores (social media whores).”

Translation: Follow people who you don’t care about, as long as it exposes you to more people.

Tip 2: Send @ messages to the smores.

Translation: make it look like you’re friends with popular people so you will get follows by association.

Tip 4: Follow everyone who follows you.

If a follow is a type of endorsement, then what does who you follow say about you? Are you actually interested in what the people you follow are saying?

Tip 5: Always be linking.

Translation: It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you’re saying something.

Here’s the underlying assumption to all of these tips: More followers equals more influence. It’s simply not true. You’ll have far more influence if your followers actually value what you have to say.

To that end, follow people who you find value in following, not simply who follow you. If the people listening to you share your values, interests, and actually care about what you have to say, you’ll have a far bigger impact with your audience.

If you try to appeal to everyone, you won’t appeal to anyone, and you’ll lose your individuality in the process. When you’re no different than anyone else, why should anyone listen to you?
Be yourself.

See the difference?

Social Networking Today

2008-10-27T04:00:00Z

Do you remember when friendster was all the rage? These days my interaction is limited to the occasional email that I receive from them. They're irrelevant. Everyone's gone to a new party. Is the MySpace party the next to end? Did they peak when they were sold for hundreds of millions of dollars? Based on the data from Alexa the new trend is favoring Facebook. I wonder how long will they be king of the hill.

Automated Intelligence (1 of 2)

2008-10-20T23:43:00Z

Banks often take their customers for granted. Hopefully with the recent consolidation in the banking industry things will get better (not worse). Recently I went to one of my bank’s ATMs. They obviously have a database that tells them if the PIN number is correct. Then why can’t they remember a simple thing like what language I speak? They should ask things like: language, default account, etc and then remember it in the future to make my experience better. The customers might not notice these subtle things at first but would start to notice when other banks don’t treat them like a known friend.

Another way that banks could improve their overall experience is to notice which state (or country) the visitor originates from when using their website. Technology (like that used by Google) exists to identify where the requests are coming from. That combined with a commitment to improving the customer experience would cause the bank (or any company for that matter) to make a custom experience for everyone. They could offer the services that are exclusively for an individual market, modify the images to be more reflective of the community, and bypass marketing information when someone is already a customer. Users could always switch to a different area if they happen to be out-of-state at the time.

The status quo appears to be what works best for the bank not the customer. Yet, if they just took some time and thought about the experience from the customers perspective they could actually become very personal even if they’re really big. A little investment in the user experience would likely pay huge dividends. Today it might be something that get’s a company noticed. In the next few years this will become basic business practices.

moving words move you

2008-10-08T19:00:00Z

I’m a long time fan of the computer trivia game series, You Don’t Know Jack. Recently Jellyvision has decided to end the free online versions of their games after their 100th episode of the online YDKJ game. I’ve always wondered how the games can be so engaging when they use almost no graphics at all, relying heavily on moving text.

In the void of time I used to spend each day enjoying their games I’ve started reading the Jellyvision blog and found this post about why moving text (turns out its called “kinetic typography”), can be so effective.

“We sometimes catch flack for the text-heavy appearance of our conversations. “Why don’t you use video?” we have been asked. And I guess it’s a reasonable question. Video is inherently more active than text. I mean, look at these words here. They’re just sitting on the screen. Oh, sure, you could scroll up and down, but that’s not really the same thing. . .But you can make text dynamic: make it move and fill the space in a way that gives the words themselves personality” (more).

Here’s a good example: check out this audio excerpt from Fight Club. You wouldn’t think just seeing words move could bring the whole scene back in your head, but it does.

new art for the geekery

2008-10-04T01:06:00Z

Installed the new art piece for Jeff’s and my office today – affectionately known as “the geekery.” It’s an 8 foot wide print on a dense foam core material called gator board. Sweet!

Here’s Jeff in front of it:

Google Rankings Are Cheap.

2008-10-02T14:27:00Z

In October 2007 we published an article titled, Don't be fooled by the SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The point that we were making was that the way to be loved by Google and the other search engines was to be "relevant".

One project that has been completed recently was the launch of Dane Sanders' book Fast Track Photographer. Here is snapshot of a search for "Fast Track Photographer" (click for larger view):

Results 1-28 all about Fast Track Photographer. You have to get to the bottom of page 3 to see anything else. How much did the SEO cost? ZERO!! This shows how being relevant is the best way to be noticed by the search engines (like we said).

Our web gurus have acknowledged that the one benefit to SEO is when you want to be found for generic terms that relate to prospecting. Sometimes SEO works to generate non-paid search referrals but if it's really generic or valuable then paid placements are the way to go (if relevance doesn't work as well as you want).

So what does this mean for you? It's better to focus on your content than Google. If you do that then Google and the others will find you. If you just focus on SEO you might just get a lot of fluff and no traffic.

The Best of Photography Websites

2008-09-20T01:23:00Z

Rangefinder Magazine recognized Dane Sanders' array of websites as being the BEST in Steve Tout's recent column Profitable Website Management. Make sure to catch the article here. It includes complements on his brand experience, blog, Fast Track Book, and pDNA, all of which have Elevation fingerprints all over them.

While it's always nice to have our work recognized in a national publication, the kudos definitely go to Dane for having a brand which connects within the photography community. It's clear that his signature style is refreshing in the industry and the resources he's providing fill a wonderful service to empower developing photographers.

OpenSource Court Ruling

2008-08-15T22:01:00Z

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that licenses used for OpenSource projects can be enforceable under copyright law.

Here are some excerpts from the summary document published by the Court:

... Open Source software projects invite computer programmers from around the world to view software code and make changes and improvements to it. Through such collaboration, software programs can often be written and debugged faster and at lower cost than if the copyright holder were required to do all of the work independently. In exchange and in consideration for this collaborative work, the copyright holder permits users to copy, modify and distribute the software code subject to conditions that serve to protect downstream users and to keep the code accessible ...

... Traditionally, copyright owners sold their copyrighted material in exchange for money. The lack of money changing hands in open source licensing should not be presumed to mean that there is no economic consideration, however. There are substantial benefits, including economic benefits, to the creation and distribution of copyrighted works under public licenses that range far beyond traditional license royalties. For example, program creators may generate market share for their programs by providing certain components free of charge. Similarly, a programmer or company may increase its national or international reputation by incubating open source projects. Improvement to a product can come rapidly and free of charge from an expert not even known to the copyright holder ...

... Generally, a copyright owner who grants a nonexclusive license to use his copyrighted material waives his right to sue the licensee for copyright infringement and can sue only for breach of contract. If, however, a license is limited in scope and the licensee acts outside the scope, the licensor can bring an action for copyright infringement ...

<font>Source: Jacobsen v. Katzer Appeals Summary</font>

Copyright holders who engage in open source licensing have the right to control the modification and distribution of copyrighted material. A copyright holder can grant the right to make certain modifications, yet retain his right to prevent other modifications.

This decision is important because it reduces the legal uncertainty regarding OpenSource rights and will make it a more attractive option for software development and OpenSource distribution models.

Elevation continues to support the OpenSource ideology. Litigation about OpenSource is rare so it's good to have this legal precedent on the books. August 2008 will likely be looked back on as the start of the next wave of OpenSource collaboration.

Apple Sells $1,000,000 in Apps Each Day

2008-08-12T07:29:00Z

The App Store has only been open for 30 days and has already averaged $1,000,000 per day in sales. Not bad for Apple since they've leveraged their existing iTunes distribution system, increased the positioning of the iPhone and iPod Touch, and made 30% on other peoples work! It's not all fun and games as there are many applications that can be used for business (i.e. OmniFocus, WordPress, Sales Force, etc). Not only did Apple create the most innovative phone of the decade but they also created an open field for innovation and mobile software development. The iPhone will drive app sales and innovative apps will cause additional people to buy an iPhone. At Elevation, the iPhone is becoming standard equipment. We may even develop custom iPhone apps for our clients in the future. No matter what we do the market has spoken ... it is possible to launch a successful new products and services in a period of economic distress. Obviously, there was a need for both the iPhone and the niche applications that have been developed for the platform.

Our observation was right.

2008-08-08T23:56:00Z

In the post .me we mentioned how this was one of the worst web auctions of all time. It's nice to be able to say, "I told you so". Today they published a notice of a change in the auction policy that is effective August 11:

The update is being made to comply with .ME Registry auction rules regarding Lead Changes, which state that "Any lead changes in the last 24 hours result in an automatic 24-hour extension of the auction."

With the update, the auction platform will no longer consider as a lead change bids placed that are higher than the current price but lower than the current leader's maximum bid.

For example, if the current auction price is $100, and the leader's maximum bid is $1,000 and another bidder places a bid for $105, the system will automatically update the auction price to $110 by applying the leader's proxy bid, thereby maintaining the same leader. This will no longer be considered a "Lead Change." If a bidder places a bid higher than $1,000 then a "Lead Change" will occur and the auction will be extended (if such a bid takes place in the last 24 hours of the auction).

The minimum bid increment of $5.00 will not change and this update is no guarantee that an auction will end sooner. This update is being done to better align the auction platform behavior with the auction rules and we thank the participants who brought this to our attention. There has been no evidence of fraud by any participant and this update will not affect the status of any closed auctions or those that began prior to the update.

While this change is wonderful it does not reverse the damage that was caused. Elevation would most likely have won an auction if it hadn't been for this rule. It's a day late and a dollar short. Which is not a good thing for an online auction!

Top Auctions

2008-08-05T09:39:00Z

The top ten active domains right now at the .me auctions are:

• insure.me ($34,535)
• hug.me ($15,005) 
• style.me ($9,580)
• dna.me ($9,054)
• brand.me ($8,605)
• surprise.me ($8,505)
• entertain.me ($7,610)
• ride.me ($7,085)
• coach.me ($7,060) 
• match.me ($7,005)

At these prices, I doubt if it is just a land rush. The people who are bidding on these domains must have some sort of business plan or strategy behind it. Some of the business opportunities are obvious. But how is hug.me going to be exploited?

.me

2008-08-01T05:14:00Z

The new .me domain is out. It is one of the only top level domains that is a pronoun. Is this a marketing dream or a waste of time and money? The jury is still out on that but over 20,000 domains have been registered so far. One thing has been verified: The auction is one of the worst web auctions of all time!

Only the people who submitted applications during the land rush period are able to bid which is fine. The bad part is that anytime there is an increase in the price during the last 24 hours of the 3 day auction it is automatically reset at 24 hours. So the only way to close an auction is to have submitted a request during the land rush, be the highest bidder, and not have any changes in the price for 24 hours. This means that 3 day auctions are lasting weeks. The only benefit is to the seller of the .me domains. They're taking the phrase literary, "It's all about me".

Take a look at the current auctions and recent sales. Some interesting ones that are selling are secure.me that sold for $10,005 and insure.me that is currently at $26,195 Also check out elevation.me (one of the best .me sites so far!)

To see the action visit auctions.domain.me or you can check out the .me addresses that are still unclaimed at GoDaddy

Today's the Day

2008-04-29T15:55:00Z

“Carpe Diem” is the famous line and cliche to many of us. No matter how cheesy it may sound, it’s often the encouragement we need to make things happen sooner than later. If you are anything like me, then you probably have several good ideas on the shelf and a handful of things that you’ve been meaning to do. My guess is that we’re all just too busy (which is another problem altogether, but that’s a cultural issue to tackle another day). Personally, I want to stop living with meaningful intentions and instead see some of these things come to reality. Maybe this resonates well with you also and hopefully can serve as encouragement to take something off the shelf in order to get it rolling today. What are some things you’re committed to making happen today?