Online/Offline Marketing

I am always amazed when store chains operate their website as a separate store, completely unrelated to the brick and mortar. Not utilizing your website as a means of marketing for your brick and mortar seems like a waste. This happened to me one time while attempting to purchase something at CompUSA. I spoke with the sales person about something I had read on their website about a product that they carried and he stopped me to make sure that I understood that the website was a completely separate entity and had nothing to do with the store. Different products, possibly even different prices. That changed things. It just doesn't make much sense to operate like that.

I recently walked into a Target and was interested in their marketing campaign for Back to School. The posters hanging from the ceiling read "Back to looking smart" or "Back to friends" or "Back to favorite subjects." It was an interesting campaign, seemingly trying to highlight everything positive about school, while not actually mentioning it. Interesting tactic. I wonder how it worked out for them. So, I thought I'd check out their site and see how they were marketing their Back to School campaign there. Much to my surprise, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was a link in the upper left that mentioned getting the necessities for your dorm room. At first I thought that there was nothing else. Then I found that they do have the campaign on the website, the fifth link down on the left, after all of the "New This Week" stuff and that link is in red, somewhat highlighting it. You click on that and you find a page that I would have expected on the home page. (Note: LinkChecker found over 500 links on Target's home page. I didn't see that many, but there are some AJAX menus that contain lots of links which I didn't personally count. Aside from those menus, there are easily over 100 links on the front page.) After some googling, I found a little game that Target had designed for kids to play with their Back to School products. I don't know how you'd get to it from the home page, but it's there. So, why would Target not highlight their in store marketing on their homepage?

Possible reasons:
1. They have found that a completely different demographic uses the website than those that enter the store. This is possible. Maybe the only people shopping at target.com are buying office supplies and don't have kids and so would not be interested in the Back to School sale. Maybe they've found that those shopping for Back to School items do not visit websites, but go straight to stores or that online marketing does not influence back to school purchases. Who knows. But that's one possible reason.

2. They have a separate online marketing department and the online marketing department has different goals and different benchmarks they are reaching for. This would mean that the marketing department for in-store comes up with the "Back to friends" campaign but it isn't a joint effort with the online department and so they try and get the online department to highlight it after the fact. The online department probably says, "We'll give you a link on the home page." The in store marketing department complains that this isn't enough and the online department says, "Fine, we'll highlight the link on the home page. We'll make it red. Are you happy?" This is because the online department has been working out with precise measurement where to place things and how to increase pageviews and get users to follow-through to other pages and eventually convert to sales. It isn't that the in-store department has bad ideas, they just weren't a part of the planning and so now they're expected to change things for someone else's campaign.

3. Kids are the real shoppers of back to school merchandise and big signs in the store make them excited. Parents really don't care about the advertising, they just want to get this over with and get their kids back in school. The kids don't care whether the advertising shows up on the website. (This could be the demographics issue).

These are all possible. I would lean towards number two. That's sad because it's avoidable and there could actually be some great work done if the two departments worked together.

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Your partner makes the difference

It is no surprise that MTV recently announced it would be closing it's online music store, URGE. Why was MTV's store not able to capture a significant portion of the online music market? Of all entities, surely you would think that MTV would. Is iTunes just too big and powerful? I don't think so. I think that MTV's URGE had it wrong from the beginning, as soon as they decided to partner with Microsoft in the endeavor.

MTV's logic- The majority of people run Windows and have Windows Media Player. If we partner with Microsoft and put a little link in Windows Media Player so that people can go directly from that program and buy music, we will be huge. Everyone will see it, everyone will click on it and go there.

Why this logic does not work- MTV forgot something incredibly important: Microsoft's reputation in music downloads. While it's true that just about everyone has Windows Media Player, if you have ever used Windows Media Player to rip a CD, then you know the reputation that I'm talking about. It took me one CD to decide that I would never use Windows Media Player for my music organization again. The restrictions that were put on my music were ridiculous. It was my music, from a CD that I had purchased, and yet I basically could not use it. Couldn't even play it in many cases. Now, after all of that, if I see a link to a store in Windows Media Player, there is no way that I am going to trust it and buy anything from it. My first thoughts are, "Yeah right, buy from this store so that I can pay all of this money and then not even be able to play it on my other computer, move it to my MP3 player, or move it to my laptop." I really hope that Microsoft has actually fixed some of those problems since the last time I ripped a CD. I hope this still isn't the problem. But anytime a company drastically goes against a customer's expectations, they have years ahead of them of fixing that reputation they have created.

MTV lost the online music store battle because they partnered with a bad reputation company. They looked at it from the perspective of marketers and not users. Fatal flaw. No surprise, someone is getting it right. And of all those someones that could get it right, I am actually surprised that it was Walmart.

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Sinking Industries

I had a conversation with a young guy the other day who is interested in getting into Music Production. He says that the one drawback is that it's a shrinking industry. Musicians are not caring as much anymore about the production of the music and are doing it on their own in garages with laptops. He then went on to talk about the problems facing the music industry as a whole. Not only does he not download music illegally, but he won't buy music as digital downloads at all because the album isn't just the music, but the cover art, the credits, and everything that goes with it is all part of the album. He laments the shrinking industry and realizes that it is getting more and more difficult to find stores that sell albums specifically, let alone vinyls. Right now he has to drive more than half an hour to get to the nearest place. So, naturally, my first question was "Why do you want to get into an industry that is shrinking with a very real end in sight?" I didn't ask that. I knew the reason. He loves it. He talks about the good old days when people were trying to break into their first album and all of that good stuff. He is actually a musician, planning on making an album out of someone's garage one day. So, the question that I really asked was, "Why do you think that people aren't demanding the high quality recording and other benefits of professional music production?" His response was that they were not as well educated on the subject as they should be. Some people might be bothered by the implied arrogance. I wasn't. That is a perfectly valid problem that an industry might face. Many industries have to educate their market. So, next question, "What are you going to do or what should these record labels do to fix this?" He didn't have an answer. That is the part that I do not understand. Everything was perfectly valid, even if I disagreed, until I realized that he was planning to get into an industry that he knew was sinking, without any idea of how he was going to secure things, how he was going to fix them. Why would anyone get into that situation without a plan? How can you possibly tie yourself to a sinking ship and just hope that the market winds start to blow the other direction? Everyone knows that technology is changing the way many industries work. If you are planning to enter one of those industries, be a part of the solution.

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Noonhat - Meet new people

A true community approach to broadening your social circle, meeting new people, networking, and not wasting time, Noonhat connects you with people in your geographic area so that you can meet for lunch and conversation. Meetings involve two or more people, so it isn't creepy one on one (I'd be okay with that, but I understand others not being). I thinkm that this is one of the greatest ideas to have come out recently. Ferrazzi would be proud.

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New Blog - Same Stuff

I have decided to move all content related to marketing and community to this blog rather than writing about those topics at the Peer Help Groups Blog. Mainly because at Peer Help Groups, we sometimes cover topics that people looking for marketing content would not be interested in and those Peer Help Group members looking for content on addiction recovery and LDS topics are probably not as interested in marketing. So, from now on, the content will be separated. I hope that this helps people find what they're looking for.

TV Proof Ad (7/20/07)

A toy maker in Canada produced an ad that was not able to be skipped by Tivo (source), "to the elation of anxious network-estranged advertisers...it may only be a matter of time before advertisers can ease comfortably back into ad-supported viewing models." Just to have our definitions correct, when Tivo speaks of Tivo-proof ads, what they mean is that advertisers should make their ads so good that the viewer does not want to skip the ad. Unless I'm misunderstanding, it appears that this Tivo-proof ad is actually embedded with a signal that does not allow it to be skipped. That is what advertisers are so excited over. The viewers that do not want to watch their ads, that want to fast forward through them, now are going to be forced to sit there and watch them. I don't know about you, but if I was an advertiser, I would not be elated. You have just completely separated yourself from your audience and ensured a negative experience while viewing your ad. Imagine thousands of viewers watching Tivo, skipping to where they want, seeing your ad come on and not being able to fast forward. While your ad is singing some jingle in the background, the viewers are sitting there thinking every negative thought they can conjure. And you're elated. It seems like someone is missing the point.

Positivity Effect – Age (7/18/07)

Apparently, as you get older, you are increasing able to recognize more positive emotions in other people. In fact, you start to only recognize the positive emotions and ignore the negative. The studies don't effectively show whether this is due to experience or an actual change in our brain, but either way, that's a change that I would not mind happening a little bit sooner. Luckily, it doesn't seem like someone that I have to wait until I'm older to start working on. I can probably make it happen now.

Greatest Enemies (7/17/07)

Liberals may not want to read, though I think they should. The greatest enemies within any organization come from within its own members. It is typically the disgruntled members that provide ammunition to those outside who are looking for things that are wrong. The same is true of our great nation. We have many disgruntled members more than willing to provide ammunition to those outside. Most countries call it treason. We call it free speech. And we will gladly send our young men and women to risk their lives to protect that right of the disgruntled members.

It would, however, be very unfortunate if the rest of the world based their view of America on the movies that make headlines.

Movies I don't understand why anyone would want to see:
No End in Sight
Sicko
Fahrenheit 911

When Fahrenheit 911 came out, I was in a very conservative place but surrounded by friends who thought that it was conservative because people weren't thinking for themselves and following their parents political views because, obviously, if anyone did think for themselves they wouldn't be conservative. They were usually surprised when I would tell them that I watched the majority of Fahrenheith 9/11 and laughed at the allegations. I would confront the logic, or lack thereof, used in most of the arguments and my friends would have nothing to say. Mainly because they had not thought about it either. That's how it typically goes. The ones that are claiming to be free-thinkers are the least likely to actually be thinking for themselves. I do try and see it from others' perspectives. I understand some of the problems people have with the Iraq war. I understand some of the problems people have with the Bush Administration. I don't agree with them, but I try and understand them. What I absolutely do not understand is someone's desire to become a bigger part of the problem rather than proactively think of solutions. I don't care what organization you're a part of, I don't understand complaining for the sake of complaining.

Marketing Twist – Give while drinking(7/17/07)

A small group of recent, private academy graduates is going to take a very simple product and hope to be successful on the unique marketing edge alone. They are going to sell bottled water in which a percentage of the proceeds is donated to a certain charity. The charities that receive the donations are different depending on the label that you purchase. The three labels that will be released soon are Give Life (malnourished children), Give Hope (breast cancer), and Give Love (environmental protection). The marketing tactic would seem to appeal to the targeted demographic. News Story

Other examples of products that were in essence no different than their competitors at the core except for specific marketing like this would include: ArcLight Cinemas in Los Angeles, El Capitan Theatre, possibly Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (even though many purchase the ice cream for the unique taste and flavors, not for the social marketing), Home Depot (as compared to Lowe's or other home improvement warehouses, Home Depot sets itself apart as a socially engaged corporation), and any other business that takes a general experience and makes it different by targeting a specific group through marketing and experience. The core products in each of those businesses does not have to change, for example ArcLight and El Capitan show the same movies you can see at a regular theatre. Home Depot sells basically the same tools that you can buy elsewhere. Ben and Jerry's probably doesn't belong in that list, because you really can't get their ice cream flavors anywhere else, but you get the point. I no longer go to theatres that don't provide stadium seating. I thought those theatre were so nice when they first started popping up. Now, it's expected. People pay premium for an experience. Learn to give them an experience while using your product or receiving your service and they'll pay double. Teach them that they need that experience and nothing else will do.

*Update: Another product that came to my attention was Tom's Shoes.

Shameless 7/13/07

You may, or most likely not, notice a new little button on the side (or bottom if you're only reading one particular post). It's an Amazon Wish List button. There are a number of books that I want to buy, but I've already spent too much this year on books. So, I am shamelessly accepting donations. Feel compelled to get me a gift? Try out my wish list. Feel like you need to have a reason to get me a gift? My half birthday is on August 10, that's right, just 6 months till my real birthday. What better reason could you ask for.

Can't find the button? Here's the link.

Best foot forward? 7/13/07

Ever seen those packaged, pre-sliced apples at Costco? I think they're expensive, but I like them. I just thought it was interesting how this particular package described the apples' ability to remain cut without turning brown.

"Why Our Apples Maintain Their Great Taste and Natural Appearance"
[Brand name] apples are picked at the perfect time to capture all of their delicious taste and freshness. Finally our apples are bathed in a wholesome blend of vitamins and minerals to keep their delicious taste and natural color."

That's amazing! So, my apples turn brown when I cut them because I either picked them at the wrong time or didn't bathe them in vitamins and minerals. Now, there are rules in marketing about always putting your best foot forward. If you can find away to tell mostly the truth and still look good, then do it. The fact is, this bath of vitamins and minerals is really calcium ascorbate. Calcium ascorbate does contain Vitamin C (vitamins) and calcium (minerals), so technically, it is a bath of vitamins and minerals. Calcium ascorbate is produced by causing a reaction between the vitamin C and the calcium and removing the carbon dioxide (Wikipedia). Apparently there are no negative side effects, except for loss of firmness. The problem with always wanting to put your best foot forward is where to draw the line between embellished truth and lies. Technically, the apples are bathed in a blend of vitamins and minerals. Technically, the apples are soaked in a solution of Calcium Ascorbate. Both statements are true, one sounds a lot better. I'm not saying I agree with this particular use of this marketing law, but I do believe that this is a great example of this marketing law in use.

Sunk Costs and Storytelling 6/23/07

Went to the cheap movies last night. I left in awe and in question. I had heard that Spiderman 3 wasn't that great. But the people that take a not that great movie and make trailers for it do an amazing job. Plus it was the cheap theater. So, here are some questions:

1. In a day when amazing storytellers abound, how does a company or individual allow such a story to be told? I'm no expert, but I find it unusual that the producers took the director of Spiderman and Spiderman 2 and had he and his brother write the story for Spiderman 3. Just a little IMDB background, Sam may have done a descent directing job in the past, but his screenplay abilities are centered on Hercules and Xena princess warrior. I'm not trying to critique him, I'm just asking how does a story like that actually sound appealing to a group of seasoned producers? Do they not listen to stories anymore? Were they so emotionally involved or thinking that Spiderman 3 had to come to market no matter the story that they were willing to accept anything? I'd really be interested to know how that all took place

2. Here's an economics lesson. It doesn't matter how much you've invested in a certain decision or path. What you've spent on that decision is already spent. You can't get it back. It's called a 'sunk cost.' When you're deciding whether or not to move forward with the remainder of the decision you began, don't take those sunk costs into consideration. They're gone. Only take the further investment and return into consideration. For example, if you have been in a relationship for a long time and are not happy and now looking at the possibility of marriage, don't say, "I've been with him/her for so long. I feel like I need to keep moving forward with this and see how it goes." It doesn't matter how long you've been with that person. Will it be worth the continued investment? Same with business decisions. Yeah, you've already spent $300,000 developing this new facility. Then you find out that it's not going to have the return you thought it would. Do you continue with construction? It doesn't matter how much you've already spent. So now, no matter how much you've spent producing a movie, when you see the final product on your desk and it is Spiderman 3, don't say, "We've spent so much on this, we have to continue and release it." You've already spent the money. It's gone. Is it worth the embarrassment to release such a picture from here on out? That's the question.

3. How did my friend, who had already seen this movie and said that he didn't really like it, actually go with me a second time and allow me to spend 2.5 hours and $3 dollars on the film? How did he not physically restrain me from continuing? What kind of a friend does that to someone? How did all of my other friends that had seen it and said, "I didn't really like it," not describe just how horrible it was? How could they be content with allowing me to think that it was cheap theater acceptable, just not big theater acceptable? I know that misery loves company, but please, we're friends. Have some class.

Google Goes Green? 6/20/07

I am really surprised by Google's announcement that they will be a carbon neutral site by end of 07. They will do this by reducing energy consumption, investing in renewable energy sources, and purchasing carbon offsets. What surprises me is the third on the list. Carbon offsets have come under such heavy criticism in the blogosphere that I'm surprised someone like Google would still consider it a viable option for helping the environment. It isn't truly an offset because it does nothing to reduce the amount of carbon produced and many worry that it actually does more damage by creating more carbon and reducing the price of carbon emitting fuels through increased competition. On top of all that, it's been seen as a yuppie pay out of responsibility by those that really do care. I'm really, really surprised by this move.

Happy Smile Day 6/15/07

Apparently we have an day set aside, every year to remind ourselves that we should be smiling at others we come in contact with. That's right. Today is Smile Day. So, go out on a limb. Do what you can to make yourself more approachable and brighten the day of another. It makes everyone happier.

CNN/Youtube Debates 6/14/07

This summer and fall, CNN will host both democratic and republic debates based off of questions submitted by YouTube viewers. I think this is exciting. Without a doubt, some of the questions will be incredibly dumb. Also, without a doubt, we'll look back on this and think, "I can't believe we got excited about such interaction. If only we could have seen what was lying in the future." Check out YouTube Debates.

Storytellers 6/14/07

I have never considered myself a storyteller. I don't tell them well. I have trouble pulling people into the emotion of it all. Growing up, I wasn't even much of a story reader. Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as having said, "Do something everyday that scares you." I've often thought about that and tried to figure out what I could do that scares me. I'm not afraid of a lot of things. I can walk up to anyone and say anything. What else is there? I decided to write a story. That scares me. What if I can't get the concepts down right? What if I can't follow a storyline? What if it just gets boring? That really scares me. I have plenty of experience writing papers, talks, and articles on websites, mainly non-fiction, but to write a fictional story that will follow a plot and have a protagonist and everything else that I didn't pay attention to in English is something that I have no experience with. So, I started to write. I don't think I ever plan on publishing. I just want to write.  Maybe publishing will be the scary thing I do another day. But, something interested happened when I sat down to begin writing the story. I felt the storyline coming together and I could see the timeline in my mind and see where different events were going to be placed. I would figuratively pick up events and drop them into other areas and move things around. I saw it coming together. And that's when I realized, I've done this before. I am a storyteller. I like to tell stories with music. When I hear a piece of exceptionally moving music, I will listen to it over and over again until I can imagine the whole story that it's telling being played out in a video, on stage, or in any other format. I keep listening to it, memorizing when certain events take place. Sometimes I actually turn it into something, if I have the resources. For example, the videos I post on youtube are mostly stories that I feel certain music was attempting to tell. Most of the stories are still in my mind and will likely never result in anything because I don't have the resources to create the story it should be telling. That's the case with "That Next Place" from Meet Joe Black's soundtrack. I can tell you at any given moment what is occurring, but I don't think that I will ever be able to make it happen the way I see it. You might say that those are artistic things and writing a story is not that far from what I'm already doing. Well, I also enjoy telling stories with powerpoint. I hate reading through powerpoints that are loads of information with no emotional pull. I think powerpoints should tell a story and that's how I try and make them at work. Most of my powerpoints never get seen, but that's alright. I still enjoy making them. What I'm saying is, I think we are all storytellers. We have different ways that we tell stories, but it's almost anything we do that involves creativity. Cooks may see a story coming together while preparing a dish. Engineers may see it coming together while working on the design. I think that it's something we all experience or at least have a desire to experience, in many different formats. So, learn how you tell your stories and go out there and make the world a better place by doing so. It's when we're storytelling that I think we release our best work and do the most to enhance the environment around us.

True Community 6/06/07

Last week I caught the stomach flu. I don't normally get sick and this was bad. I haven't been sick like that in a long time. After the 9th visit to kneel by the toilet bowl within a short amount of time, I thought to myself, "I've got to tell whoissick.org about this. I didn't even know the stomach flu was going around."

Now, compare that with websites that are desperately trying to get interaction out of their users. How does one build a site, or rather a community of users that is involved to the point that when kneeling by a toilet bowl in pain, their thoughts turn to this website? Well, what good is my participation going to do? On whoissick, I might be able to alert some elderly man that there is a stomach flu going around and he might want to be drinking more orange juice until it passes. On some retail store, my comments might be aggregated to provide customer service feedback to investors or managers. The good feeling that I have from participating isn't the same.

Community and TV Ads 5/28/07

I don't think it's a secret that TV ads have lost their ability to reach into the lives of mainstream America and influence purchases. They just aren't that effective. Seth Godin says that marketing in which the person seeks the advertiser is the way that purchasing is now influenced. Disruptive marketing is now just an annoyance. Current TV is known for its user generated content. Most of the pods are submitted by users and even some of the ads. Having users create the ads is a way that firms are trying to tap into the new generation of consumers. I think it's a ploy that most viewers of Current TV aren't excited about. It's cool to make your own ads and it would be cool to get paid for it. But without a doubt, everyone knows that it's just companies trying to get us to notice their products without making it obvious that it's still disruptive marketing. Maybe if we participate in the creation we won't be annoyed by it. That still isn't permission marketing.



What Current TV could do is tap into the collective intelligence of the users to decide what gets shown on the channel and what doesn't. Every advertiser pays the same amount to be able to submit their ads. It goes through a voting and editing process much like occurs on Threadless.com. There are a few rounds in which the ad creator can edit the material according to the suggestions provided by the community. After all voting rounds are complete, the winning ads air on Current TV at no extra cost. Advertisers are simply paying for access to the creative community. The advertiser then has the right to use the ads that they create on any station that they wish, but to air on Current TV, they have to win. This, hopefully, means that good ads will air and the Current TV community (of Threadless community if Current TV does not have one of its own, which it doesn't seem to have) will have participated in the creation of the ads. It isn't a way to trick people into thinking that they are part of the creation process, it's a way to actually tap into their collective intelligence.

Narrowing Down – Simplicity Revisited 6/24/07

In the May 28th edition of The New Yorker, James Surowiecki (Wisdom of Crowds), discusses feature creep and individuals inability to judge what will make them happy in the future (Stumbling Upon Happiness? bought it but haven't read it yet, maybe Paradox of Choice?). In short, people buy whatever has the most features, but are then displeased when they realize that they don't know how to use it, get confused, or discover that they don't need all those features. A large percentage of returned merchandise is due to the user's inability to figure the thing out.

So, we want simplicity but we think we want as many features as possible. Just like a teenager thinks they want as many options open as possible and any restriction is something to be fought against. Just like me wanting to leave every decision undecided as long as possible because it gives me more options down the road. In essence, this desire to grab hold of everything leads to paralysis, an inability to act. If I have friends coming over to watch a movie, I have to pick out three choices ahead of time. I know that about my friends. Otherwise we will never decide on a movie and if we do, a large number will be unhappy with it. Narrowing down to the reasonable choices is sort of a preliminary decision making art that I think we've lost. We reserve decision making, any portion of it, for the last moment possible. Is it that we really are so bad at knowing what we want or is it that we just don't want to be responsible for any bad decision? We keep hoping that more information will come along that will make the decision easier. How does narrowing down our choices or lack of responsibility relate to our believing that we'll use more features than we really will? Well isn't the reason that we choose the one with the most features because we think it would be a bad decision to not choose more for the same or close to the same amount? Could part of it be that making a decision to buy less shows responsibility while making a decision to purchase the most options available shows none because no one can blame us for choosing the most options available. There is no personal responsibility in the decision to do so. We are not making a decision when we go with the gift card. We're not giving more options to the purchaser, what we're really doing is not taking responsibility (don't be offended, I buy gift cards). Every decision that we make based on the default "more is better" is simply of shift of responsibility from ourselves to society. It's not a decision that we own. It's a decision that the supposed collective intelligence of everyone else has determined to be the right one. We're not liable. Narrowing down creates decision ownership. Throwing out creates ownership. Limiting creates ownership. Problem is that it's ownership of something nobody seems to want to own.

Viral Marketing in Real Life 5/21/07

Okay, maybe I should amend part of what I just posted. I drew a hard and distinct line between proliferation tactics and real viral marketing. I was trying to emphasize a point. However, there are obviously some really good viral marketing ideas that ad agencies can come up with. Like this one from MSNBC called NewsBreaker Headlines. You can bet that the people in that audience are going to go home and create a word of mouth effect. And what a perfect time to introduce this because everyone complains about paying outrageous prices to go to a movie and then sit through commercials while you wait. SS+K, the ad agency, recognized a pain and filled it with something of value. People were paying to go to a movie and be entertained, so SS+K replaced the pain with entertainment. Genius. The line between proliferation tactics and real viral marketing is fuzzier than I thought. Perhaps the graph from our previous post should look something more like this:

If Google Ran My Life 4/25/07

Tim O'Reilly onced blogged on a conversation he had with a Google employee and called the post If Google Were a Restaurant. Basically, Google measures everything and so they would capture information about every plate that came back, that was picked up at the end of the meal, and learn what people ate, what they left. They'd probably learn what people ate in what order. This wouldn't increase the quality of the food, but it the efficiency with which it was dispensed. I've also read of a man named Seth Roberts who performs self-experimentation by trying new things in his life and recording a lot of data to measure the change that occurs. What he's learned is what he can eat and when, at what times watching TV makes him feel better and happier and when it makes him feel worse, and many other things about himself that most people would live with for 90 years and never discover. The point is, we all behave in patterns and never learn what those are. Google knows more about our viewing and searching habits than we do. They gather so much data on everything that I do online that there would be enough to analyze my personality. It would be interesting to connect that data with my journal entries and find out what kind of mood I was in that day. So, if "when performance is measured, performance improves [and] when performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates," (source) then maybe a part of our problem is that we aren't measuring our behavior enough. We don't know the effects that different stimuli have on us. We live with the same patterns day in and day out and should become acutely aware of them. Perhaps this is why journal writing is such a productive activity. If Google ran our lives, we would know and have data to tell us basically why we act a certain way in certain situations. Gathering data on yourself can help you learn more about yourself and your behavior patterns.



Here are some basic and easy ways to gather data on yourself that you might find useful.

1. Keep receipts so that you can track where your spending your money and why

2. Log when you go to sleep and when you wake up and the the activities that you perform the hour before going to sleep and the hour after waking up. Try mixing things up and see if it affects your mood/productivity throughout the day.

3. Keep a basic journal every day. If you don't have time to write a full journal entry of what you've learned and experienced that day, have a pocket calendar so you can at least write down the major activities of the day and then write a full journal entry once a week.

4. If you're trying to break a habit or addiction, write when tempted. Write what you're feeling and what you were doing when and before the temptation got strong. If you already slipped up, write what you were doing before. Try and see any patterns emerging in your actions that lead to increased temptation to fall back into the habit or addiction.

5. Try doing new things in your life and keep a log of what the apparent effects are. For example you could try going for a jog in the morning for a week and then document how you felt during that week. The next week, you could try exercising in the evening and see if the effects are different.



In order to be effective at this, you might consider going to an office supply store and picking up a pad of graph paper so that you can keep stats on your attempts at the same time. Try not to alter too much at one time because you won't be able to isolate the effects of one stimulus from another. For example, if you try and switch your exercising habits while changing your sleeping habits, you won't know which change produced what effect. So keep it simple with one change at a time. If you keep track for a few weeks, write back and let us know what patterns you've seen emerge. We'd love to gather some of these to help others that are looking to find similar patterns in their lives.

Disappointed with NBC 4/19/07

I, with many others, am disappointed in the lack of responsibility we've seen from NBC with the video that they released yesterday of Cho Seung-Hui. I completely understand focusing on the tragedy and the effects on those that are hurt by this, but I don't believe that any good can come from creating a star out of a psycho or giving any credit to his message. He took time out of his shooting to send the video to NBC because he wanted his message to get out. And it did. If we broadcast that message all over the news we are simply training others to get their message out the same way. If that is the only way to be heard, then what is stopping them? The tragedy and news are not what he wanted viewed, it's what's going on in the lives of people in Virginia and across the country. I plan to no longer watch NBC News and plan to send them a letter telling them why. I will also send a letter to the news station that I will continue to frequent and explain to them my position in hopes that they will not rebroadcast or emphasize the same content. It's one thing to talk about it on a blog, it's another to write letters.

Anyone else interested, corporate info for NBC is:
NBCUNI.COM FEEDBACK
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

Roller Coaster Real Estate 4/19/07

An incredibly interesting visualization of the real estate market from 1890 to present. Watch the bottom right to see the decade/year pass by. It's a roller coaster as if you were riding the graph of the data.

Twitter, Dodgeball, and Social Networks

There are some core differences between twitter and dodgeball and they revolve around one's social network. When someone says social network, we think of myspace, facebook, and other sites that bring people together and help reconnect or establish new connections. Twitter can be worked into one of these social networks. It's a network that you can build up and then bring twitter in on later. Dodgeball, however, is based on a different kind of social network. It's based on the original social network. You know, the people you actually want to see in real life. The ones you hang out with on the weekends. Dodgeball is great for prebuilt close-knit networks. For example, if you could get a church group to sign up, they typically already have a network established. I wouldn't be surprised if dodgeball was popular in the gay community because that would be like signing up a giant, very socially active family. It's a prebuilt network that interacts in real life and can just be transferred to dodgeball. You see, the innate problem is that twitter can allow you to build your social network online first and them implement twitter into that existing network later. dodgeball doesn't let you do that. You can't build a network of just the friends that you hang out with in real life and exclude the others from your other online networks and then implement dodgeball after your network is built. You have to start with dodgeball. That means the first person in your network is going to sign up with absolutely zero friends. And then that friend is going to convince his/her other friends to join and then the social network gets transferred to dodgeball. It basically relies on word of mouth and the spreading can't go faster than the word can travel between people. Dodgeball requires network transfer, not network building.

If you're going to start with a highly active group and have it spread through word of mouth, then it's going to have to spread through an existing network. I just did a basic search on dodgeball for people with "d" in their first name that lived in Los Angeles. As you can see, it's most guys. If you're thinking that "d" is a guy's letter, then try any other letter. It's almost all guys. I would bet it's predominately homosexual. Simply because of the need for the network to already be established. The reason all of this matters is that the founders of dodgeball recently announced that they're leaving Google because their project wasn't getting the attention and funding that they'd hoped for. I'm sure Google purchased dodgeball and then realized that it wasn't growing like all of the other networks. It might still have been a good purchase simply because it connects the real life to new communication, which is what Google is trying to do with Local Search, GOOG-411, and SMS. I just don't see dodgeball going mainstream until it breaches other social networks or Google comes up with a way for the network to be built first without the need to add dodgeball until later.

Mindset/Setting Changing Expectations – Subway Stradivarius 4/11/07

img width='217' height='152' align='left' src='http://imgred.com/http://jorgensen.uconn.edu/media/images/JOSHUA-BELL_RGB.jpg'>There is a much reviewed article from the Washington Post on the world-class violinist Josh Bell who played his multi-million dollar violin in the subway station for change with a hidden cam capturing people's reactions. He made $32. Seven people stopped to listen. 27 gave money (obviously averaging pocket change), and 1,070 people walked by hardly noticing. 37Signals points out that the article mentions that every single child that passed by tried to stop and listen, but was always pulled away by a parent.

Possibly the most interesting thing pointed out is that this violinist typically receives $1000/minute while playing. People pay a lot of money for the opportunity to hear him play. Some of those people walking by might even have been willing to purchase a ticket to his performance at some point in their life. In the music hall, the might have been listening anxiously, soaking it in. But in the subway, their mind is on something else and the violin ranges from a possible annoyance to nice background music. But the focus doesn't change, except for 7 out of about 1,100. It's amazing how the setting and mindset can so drastically alter our reactions to a stimulus.

Let's say that you're trying to stop eating chocolate. You can walk into See's Candies with one mindset and have no problem walking past the free samples they are handing out to pick up a gift box for someone else. With another mindset, walking into the store at all is death to your goal. Your mindset completely changes the outcome even though the stimulus is the same. Sitting down at the computer or TV can either be highly productive or a complete waste of time, and the difference isn't what's on TV. You can always find something good and something that acts as a leech on creativity and motivation. It would have been interesting to find out why those seven stopped to listen. Did they do something different earlier that day that set them apart from everyone else? Do they have different personalities? Did they simply have an open schedule are were looking for something to do? I think it comes down to mindset. What a perfect opportunity to learn more about the why and how our focus can shift.

“About Us” 4/06/07

This year, Farmers and Merchants Bank is celebrating 100 years in California and existence. I have no personal experience with the bank except for sitting behind a busboard advertising this fact. The way it was advertised is "Banking California for 100 years." I was sitting behind the bus long enough to thing about the grammar of that sentence. When I think of banking as a verb, I think of myself as a customer doing the banking. Sure, we all know what a banker does, but I don't know if I were to speak to a banker, he or she would tell me that, for a living, they bank. Instead, the verb would most commonly be used in the sentence "I bank with..." and an institutional name insertion occurs. Princeton University at WordNet offers one definition as "do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank; "Where do you bank in this town?"' I don't think of myself has having been banked by Bank of America or Wells Fargo. I bank with them. They don't bank me or my state.



Maybe that took a long time to say, but what it comes down to is that the marketing focus is not on the customer. The busboard is saying, "Look at us." Apparently, it might be company wide culture, because the "About Us" section definitely tells "about them." Is there anything wrong with that? Not necessarily. 37Signals has an about us section that definitely focuses on themselves. But it's done in a different way. The entire "About Us" section reads:



"We’re a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based software products possible with the least number of features necessary. Our products do less than the competition — intentionally. We’ve been in business since 1999 and love what we do."



So, you can have an "About Us" section focusing on yourself and what you do, but have it still be done in a way that makes you want to join the group. As a contrast, take the time to read Pacific Premiere Bank's "About Us" section. It's only a paragraph also.



"Originally founded in 1983, Pacific Premier Bank is committed to the growth and vitality of the Southern California communities in which we do business. The Bank offers a wide range of business and consumer products and services through its retail branch network as well as it's highly interactive web site. At Pacific Premier Bank, you get exceptional service, with the personalized attention that can only come from a locally based dedicated community banker."



Even though the banner at F&M claims that the customer is the mainstay, which company do you think is actually more focused on the customer? Maybe it's only the "About Us" section and I'm extrapolating a little too much, or maybe it's company culture that has found it's way into the "About Us" section on each website. Based on personal experience with 37signals and Pacific Premiere, I would go with the latter. According to Kathy Sierra, this is "The New Way."



So, what's your company culture? Is it seeping through in unexpected places?

Secret Mind Power 4/06/07

I'm reading a page designed to sell a book that supposedly helps you to telepathically convey thoughts/emotions and attract others to you. Interestingly, if I buy the book before (wow) tomorrow, I get it for a better price. What are the chances that I would happen across a site that I typically would not visit on the last day of a sale? Well, with this site, apparently the chances are 100%. I just expected more than javascript from a site that claims to be able to control other's minds. A snippet from the code reads :var day = date.getDate(); var day=day+1.

So, I wonder if mind control or influence is really just confidence and marketing? Albeit lower quality marketing, but marketing tactics none the less.

Great Links 4/05/07

I thought that I would post some of the great links that I've come across just today. I'm pulling these from all of my saved links at del.icio.us/dansage/



1. Bubble Guru - This free service allows you to video yourself and post the video in a floating bubble on your website. This way you can give instructions to those visiting the site. The user can turn the bubble off or start it again at any time.



2. Who's Among Us - See real-time how many people are on your site. Even better, add the firefox extension and see real-time how many people are on your site without even visiting your site.



3. Popuri.us - Check all major page rankings for any individual site.



Also, in my blog reading today, I learned that you can use Jott to call a number, leave a message for yourself, and have that message automatically transcribed and forwarded to your email account and (if using gmail) stored under a certain label. I already had an account with Jott, but hadn't consider this possibility. I tried it out and it worked. Took about 20 minutes to be transcribed.

Mashup Definition 3/21/07

Seth Godin defines a mashup as a distinct way of spreading ideas, by meld and mixing existing content into something new. I like to specify that a mashup is value-adding. Taking a song and putting it to pictures and posting it on youtube is not necessarily a mashup unless is enhances the message spins-off a new message.

Online tools to promote books 3/20/07

Guy Kawasaki recently blogged about a book which has been increasing in rankings in part because of an online, interactive test that people can take to find out if they are the ones that the book is talking about (it deals with jerks in the workplace). Apparently anyone can take the test. Without a doubt, I believe that this would help increase sales of the book. So, why aren't the authors of "Now, Discover Your Strengths" doing that same thing? They have one of the best online tools that I've seen in a while that helps individuals identify the innate strengths that they have. You can only take the test if you buy a copy of their book first and get a keycode from inside. Even worse, if you buy the book used and the first person has already taken the test, you're out of luck. Their response: You should have bought it new. You can't buy a keycode. Not only is that some of the worst marketing that I've ever seen, but it seems incredibly arrogant. I understand that their is positioning and they may be trying to use the strengthsfinder tool as a tool to complement the book, but it would help spread the word and spread the ideas to offer it to everyone. I loved the book and wanted to do a summary of it for some classes and have the students take the profile. Apparently that can't happen without everyone in the class buying their own copy of the book. So you might think that this will help sell more copies, but instead, we're just not even going to mention the book or the strengthsfinder profile. Why mention something that the people can't access if you know they aren't going to go out and buy the book? So, lost sales versus position. It's a hard debate.

Call Me 3/19/07

You'll notice a button towards the bottom or bottom right of this page. It says "Call Me." If you click it, enter your name and phone number and click submit, then you're phone will ring and then mine will ring. We'll talk. Feel free to call me anytime. Don't be offended if I can't pick up for some reason, but leave a voicemail and I'll get back to you soon after that.

Redeemed – DSW 3/16/07

Companies make mistakes. Sometimes you receive service that is below your expectations, even at good/great companies. It happens sometimes. How you can really tell the quality of a company is how they respond to those situations. In a national news example, Jet Blue's recent bout with customer service was seen as some to be a disaster. But the aftermath showed the strength of the company and their commitment to customer service (CEO Apologizing - youtube). My own experiences with Jet Blue show the same. Of course things go wrong. But they try and fix them.

Apparently DSW is one of those kind of companies. I mentioned them a few days ago (no link provided on purpose, let's leave it in the past) for not having transferred a discount on the same ticket upon a return. Their response was a classy way of handling things. They let me know first what they're doing to retain me as a customer, mention that supervisors are being alerted (so I feel like this is going somewhere), point out that there is no standard in the industry but they will at least explore the option of inputting my suggestion.

The result: I look forward to returning to DSW.

That's how you should handle customers. Like Ryan (BJ Novak) says in The Office (US), it's ten times more expense to get a new customer than to retain an old one. We should expect little expenses in customer retention, but ultimately, those customers should make it worth it.

Sad Day 3/15/07

It's a sad day, with the announcement of the end of "The Show with Ze Frank." Sportsracers the world over spent the day thanking each other for the good times.

Sad, sad day.

Ralph’s Gets it Right 3/14/07

Contrast my experience that I posted yesterday with DSW Shoes with the one that I had last evening at Ralphs Supermarket. The customer in front of me in line brought in a gift card she had bought for her month for a certain chain of theatres. Turns out there aren't any theatres of that particular chain near her mom's house. The customer wanted to know if she could exchange the gift card for one from another theatre that Ralphs also carried. Doesn't seem that difficult. But the manager and clerk both expected trouble from the cash register on this one. They said that gift cards are difficult and there are certain rules that surround it. Sure enough, the register rejected the transaction. The customer was very polite and said not to worry about it. She would find a use for the gift card previously purchased. So, the Ralphs clerk pulled out her purse and handed the customer $25, the cost of the gift card, and bought it off of her. You should have seen the face of the customer. Do you think that she will be going to anywhere but Ralphs next time she needs groceries? I was completely impressed with the way the clerk handled that. I'm disappointed that I didn't get the clerk's name, but you can trust me that I'll be going back to Ralph's and when I do, I'll look for that clerk's name and when I do get it, I'll be letting management know, probably even a letter to corporate and how pleased I am with their employees. Actions like that need to be recognized.

Tip for UPSers 3/14/07

If you ship with UPS, here's a tip that might save you some money. It would have saved us over a hundred dollars on our last package. If you print your labels from the UPS website, you know that you are asked for the dimensions which are used to calculate the total costs. I didn't actually measure our box, which was fairly large and just made some guesses. I did this a few times while shopping for prices and the dimensions I finally input for the final charges were a few inches off from when I was shopping for prices (bad math skills). The result: a hundred dollar difference. I didn't realize this until our customer asked for more information on the shipment and I had to go back to the receipt. I called UPS to find out if they actually measure or weigh the package at any time because I thought that I had been a little too liberal in my measurements. The answer, sometimes they do, but they don't adjust down. If you estimate that the package weights 30lbs. but it really weights 15lbs, then you are paying the 30lbs charge. So, with UPS, guess low or actually measure it.

Sneaky Discount Stealers 3/13/07

DSW Shoewarehouses has a rewards program. After you spend a certain amount, you receive a coupon in the mail for a discount on your next purchase. We received a $10 off coupon in the mail, so I headed down to DSW. I am bad at buying shoes and there were three pairs between which I couldn't decide. I bought all three to take home where some females could offer an opinion. I showed them the shoes and they instantly knew which ones to take back. So I did, only to find out that by returning the shoes, I lose the discount. Even though I was keeping some of the total purchase, the discount could not be applied to just the part I was keeping. The employees blamed this on "it," meaning the cash register. "It" took the discount evenly spread between all three pairs. "It" won't apply a discount to other portions of the purchase. Maybe they were telling the truth and there was nothing in their power to fix it, in which case that is a poor corporate decision to not empower their employees. Those rewards dollars were dollars that I felt I had earned by my continued patronage. I followed all the guidelines for returns, I didn't wear the shoes and returned them promptly. The worst part about this is that DSW will actually miss out on future business as a result. I'm not saying that I'm boycotting, but there were many times that I would go to DSW simply to rack up points. Now that I know they are quite stingy and sneaky in the distribution of those rewards, I'll be less inclined to choose them a different store. It's amazing because I feel like that I was my money they took. Not their discount to apply however they'd like. Those were my points and my rewards. I will be sending a link of this to their corporate offices.

Dental Floss 2/27/07

I know that dental floss might seem like something that you wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about, especially which brand to buy. But using it everyday, you kind of want to get it right. I've tried lots of flosses. The last brand I tried broke on me every time. Maybe I have sharper teeth than normal. The brand before that, Crest's Glide, was great, but too expensive, even at price per yard. But last night I tried, OralB Essentials and loved it. I don't know what's different about it (besides the price, it was only $0.97 for 55 yards) but it's somehow kind of rubbery and springy. No breakage whatsoever. Just thought you might want to try it out.

I'll include the customary 'they are not paying me to do this' but I doubt anyone reading this blog thinks anyone would ever pay me to review something of theirs with the maybe three devout readers I have.

Labor Unions vs the Nation 2/19/07

I was surprised to find the Cal State University system was in school today, President's Day. But then I thought, I'm working, so I guess it's not that big of a deal. But then I saw this on the Cal State Long Beach website:




Cesar Chavez day will be a holiday at the campus where there are no classes. I also want to point out that Cesar Chavez day is actually on a Saturday, but there are celebrating that Friday. Remind you that this is not a private university, this is a State of California funded university. Without getting into the politics of Cesar Chavez or discussing the merits of what he did, even if the entire country agreed with the outcomes of his efforts, does that mean that we replace the holiday celebrating our founding fathers? We're not even talking about one founding father. Remember how we combined all of them into one holiday? And now it's not even a holiday in exchange for a labor union leader? A leader celebrating rights that would not have existed except for the sacrifice of the founders? Is the State of California joking? Has anyone living in California written their congressman? Mine is Ed Royce and trust me, he's getting a letter, not an email. A handwritten letter.

Youmail and Spinvox 2/09/07

I think that youmail.com has to be one of the greatest free services available right now. I was given an opportunity to try out the new SpinVox accounts that should be available to the public soon, but if the two services are not compatible (and I believe they won't be), I think that I'll stick with youmail. Youmail allows a personal voicemail greeting for different contacts in your phonebook. I've already started customizing depending on the type of messages left. With one person, my voicemail greeting now says, Hi..., you don't need to leave a message. I'll see that you called and call you back." With another I said, "If you're calling because I'm late, then I'm sorry." Youmail also allows you to listen to your messages on line or have wav files emailed to you. SpinVox will convert voicemails to text and send them as text messages. I think that's cool, but not necessary for me right now. Both services will be free.

P.S. Don't be intimidated by the wierd welcome screen at youmail.

History Repeating Itself 2/01/07

Is it just me or does it seem like we're going back to the height of the bubble with people trying to get funding for websites that are sure to become huge on-line communities? At the height of the bubble, there were so many companies buying domain names and trying to secure funding based simply on the expectation, "If we build it, they will come." In my readings, I've seen quite a few of those pop up over the last month or so, but worse, these are from trusted sources, sources that should know better. What has brought new life to these expectations? Social networks. We're seeing the exact same ideas from seven or eight years ago but with new hope because of the success of some social networking sites. It is probably a different group of people that are having those ideas. I wonder if we'll experience this every ten years or so when a new group comes along. I speak as if I were a veteran in the industry when anyone who knows me knows that I'm not, but I still think the observation has to be made. A successful website needs to have a whole lot more than just an idea for people to build around. You can't just say, "We're going to give people that have the same likes, hobbies, or passions, the ability to network with each other on the website. They'll love it." You can't even say, "There's no one place for people to go for information on this certain subject. We'll build a network around it and they'll keep coming back." Reasons you can't say that? There are no barriers to entry and don't think you're getting first mover advantage. All it takes is someone else to come along and say, "I can make a site like that and make it better" and you're done. And yes, it will happen. Another reason, gone are the days when we go to lots of different sites for all of our different interests. If there really isn't good info out there on the subject, create a blog and let them add it to their reader. Don't expect them to come to the site. Another reason, this requires absolutely no funding. Create the website for a couple hundred bucks by hiring a buddy or finding someone on-line from another country. There are plenty of websites that will connect you with talent for a cheap price. If the community gets huge, then great, secure some funding and proceed from there. Turn it into something big. But don't go out spending tons on some fancy website when you don't have the followers or the revenue stream to make it worthwhile. I know that history is bound to repeat itself, but you hope not in the exact same way and in such a short time. I hope the VCs and angels will be a little hesitant before going into something like this and I hope that otherwise credible sources will not lose credibility by backing such ideas until they've thought around all that they're going to have to deal with to enter the market. I'm not always this conservative, only with bad ideas.

NBA Last Night – Point Spread 1/25/07

Last night was an extremely close night for most games in the NBA. Four games went into overtime. For the data lovers, the average spread between the scores of the winning and losing teams was 4.36 points and the largest differences were between the Pistons and the Bobcats (11 points) and the Kings and the Bucks (8 points). If you were to remove those two games, the average spread barely changes to 3.22 points. For games going into OT, the average spread was 2.5 points.

Of the total 21 periods played in OT games last night, the winning team outscored the losing team in each separate period less than 50% of the time (48.33%). And if we remove the obvious period, being overtime (except for the 76ers and Cavaliers with double OT) in which the winning team outscored that period, then the winning team only outscored the other team in 36.25% of the periods.

Even more interesting, at the end of each of the 21 periods, the winning team was ahead only 29.17% of the time. Again, if we take out the overtime period in which they won, the winning team was ahead only only 12.5% of the time at the end of each period. The only OT game in which the winning team was ahead at the end of the first quarter was the Trailblazers vs. Timberwolves.

It's amazing what a few minutes, Excel, and a Google Desktop Gagdet can do. Completely useless, yes. But still amazing.

Simplicity 1/13/07

I've read articles and listened to speakers talk about the reasons for Apple's success narrowing down to the fact that while every manufacturer and developer tries to add new features, Apple is able to actually throw out features and just make sure it (whatever it is) performs the basics and does it well. Basically, Apple is simple. The iPod doesn't have the features of a Creative, Microsoft, or whoever else. But it works

I realized that this was more than an Apple thing after I spent more than a day putting up icicle Christmas lights on the house, only to have the whole family come out and say, "It's too cluttered." It was the exact same layout that we had done the past three or four years, yet I agreed. This year it looked too cluttered. I actually took down all of the lights and put up simple, elegant bulbs (satin finish globes). It looks very simple and everyone liked it. So I've been trying to figure out why it is that we're moving towards simplicity and away from features. Here are two possibilities:

1. The more features, the more confused. We simply can't figure out how to work it or get it to do what we know it's supposed to be able to do. So we get tangled up in the icicle lights or end up yelling, "Just play the dumb song" at our knock off brand MP3 player.

2. The Wal-mart effect. Wal-mart has made things more affordable. As a result, we are buying more things and lower income families can afford more things. A couple starting out can actually furnish their kitchen with appliances to make their life easier. Parents can afford to get their children cool and fun toys, including electronics. And Christmas decorations, especially including those giant inflatable air pumped things that everyone has on their lawns, became affordable. Not long ago, it seemed like putting more and more things out on your lawn and roof for Christmas showed that you could afford it. Now, it might seem like you're buying all of your Christmas decorations at Walmart (I have no trouble buying them there). So, now cluttered and more features doesn't mean that you can afford it, it might mean that you're shopping where things are made cheaply. iPod is more expensive with less features.

It could be a combination. What really drove this post was my recent purchase of the Creative Zen Vision W (which I love), the announcement of the iPhone, and my decision that I never wanted to put up an inflatable air pumped Christmas lawn decoration and I didn't know why. Other theories are welcome.

Gift Cards and Sales Associate 12/18/06

With so many articles going around about gift cards' effect on holiday gift giving and on corporate revenues, I return to the questions I've asked myself and store employees many times about how gift cards are accounted for in corporate measurements. Corporations keep track of sales at each retail location and the locations are often rewarded depending on their performance. More sales means a certain location is going a great job. I would imagine that on all of the reports there is a redeemed gift card line item singling out the dollar value and percentage of sales are attributed to gift cards being redeemed. Do corporations take those out of the equation? If I buy a gift card at one Barnes and Noble and my friend redeems it at another, who keeps the sale? None of the sales associates seem to know.

There's another question that I often ask sales associates in response to a question they ask me. "Credit or Debit?" I usually respond, "Which is cheaper for you?" They never know. I know that Visa charges most places differently depending on credit or debit. I'd like to know the break down.

Following Orders vs Whistleblowing 12/15/06

There have been lots of stories written and movies produced that deal with the ethical dilemma of following orders when a superior is wrong. In the case of "A Few Good Men," the entire movie deals with the aftermath of following inappropriate orders and who is really to blame, the ones following or the ones ordering. In "Courage Under Fire," we see the frustrating problems that occur one does not follow the orders of their superior and just how far some will go to cover up their mistakes in doing so. Without a doubt, following orders in the military is a big deal. Lives often depend on it.

What about following orders at work? Of course with whistleblowing on the rise, there is an increase in individual accountability. However, the work place typically isn't like "A Few Good Men" were your being ordered to commit a crime or "Courage Under Fire" where not following orders results in innocent lives lost and physical injuries. Most often the problem we have with superiors orders are that we simply think it isn't the best way of doing things. That's an area that whistleblowing doesn't touch. If your superior is committing a crime, obviously report it. If your superior is just stupid Michael Scott, what do you do besides suffer and make jokes? Should whistleblowing extend that far? what if you will end up being responsible for actions that you were ordered to follow in the work place? I think we may have seen an actual episode of "The Office" played out this year at AOL.

Apparently AOL wanted to make it extremely difficult for members to cancel their memberships. Whether this was through direct orders or through incentives to the call center employees, it doesn't matter. The employees made it very hard to cancel memberships. And it wasn't one employee, as AOL claims. After the tape of an attempted but unsuccessful membership cancellation was aired, AOL fired the "responsible" employee and issued a public apology. So, the news stations decided to see if it really was just a horrible employee. It took CNBC 45 minutes to cancel the account after that. This appears to be company wide. In reading that, I just feel bad for that employee who for some reason or another felt like he had to hold on to this member. Whenever someone says, "It would be better for this person I'm talking to to hate me and my company rather than do what they're asking," I would expect to see a customer about destroy their lives or endanger others. I would do this with a child, "No, you can't have that" because I might know what is good for them when they don't. AOL can't decide if they know better than their customers or if their customers are always right. We're not talking about "customer service guidelines and practices," we're talking about company culture, the entire way of being for a company. This isn't a policy fix.

The transparency associated with the internet is apparently turning out to be really bad for AOL.

Still Six Degrees? 12/11/06

Most people are familiar with the six degrees of separation theory and if you've read "The Tipping Point," your familiar with Lois Weisberg. Six Degrees basically says that most people in the world can be connected by six or less social connections. Milgram started by delivering a letter to residents in Omaha and asked them to get the letter to a stockbroker in Massachusetts, supplying his name. The individuals could only pass the letter on to someone that they already knew. Of those responding, the average number of connections separating the first individual and the target was six. With the advancement of the internet and social networking sites, I wonder if six degrees of separation has really become much less. So I am going over to The Small World Project and signing up...there done. Columbia University is basically attempting the experiment again. I have received my target's info and have started scrolling through my head to try and figure who would best be able to get into contact with her. I thought that my internet connections would make this easier, but now I realize that I don't really know most of them well enough to trust that they would get any closer to this person. I have lots of internet acquaintances, so maybe social networking is spreading us out instead of bunching us closer together. Part of Milgram's and others' findings indicate that instead of a unified and connected world, there are smaller highly connected groups with a few nodes like Lois Weisberg linking them all together. Instead of accessing my online contacts, I immediately turn to my small highly connected groups of which I am a part hoping that someone in that group will be able to connect with her. I hope to think of the next person within a day or two. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Will We Remember? 12/07/06

Sixty five years ago, the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. We know about this. There is, no doubt, a special on the History Channel or something else commemorating the event. Through my news scroll on Google Desktop, I've seen various article come up throughout the day discussing the event. After Sept. 11th, I remember hearing many declare that we would never forget, that generations from now we'd still be able to tell others where we were when we first heard the news.

In 1941 there were approximately 132,165,129 people living in what is now the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) (source). According to Wikipedia, 2,403 individuals were killed in the Attack on Pearl Harbor. On Sept. 11, there were 2,973 deaths (source) and the United States had a population of 281,421,906 (source).

I hate to use numbers to quantify how great of a tragedy an event like this could have been. Lives were lost and thousands more shattered. However, in comparison, Dec 7th was a far greater tragedy. Does it matter that those on Dec. 7th were mostly soldiers and those on Sept. 11th mostly civilians? I don't think so unless the argument is that Dec. 7th was an even greater tragedy because the average age of those killed was 23 while the average age of those in New York was 40. Our young men were taken before having a chance to realize their lives.

So I suppose my question is, 65 years from now, will the History Channel be doing some virtual reality reliving of the Sept 11 attacks with an occasional news story (however news is communicated then) reminding people what had happened 65 years ago, or will the nation really remember? I don't hide my religious affiliations and as I read the scriptures, I am amazed to see groups of people turn so quickly from prosperous, righteous lives to wickedness and then annihilation. How could they had forgotten so quickly the blessings and promises that had been extended to them and accepted by them? Will the same things be said of us? How do we keep ourselves from forgetting?

Taking Portable Music Everywhere 12/07/06

I carry my portable music in my Creative Zen, which can also be used as a calendar organizer, alarm clock, flash drive, contact manager, and task manager. I know simple is the new way of doing things, but I like the extras on this product and I use them often. This will change on Dec. 25th when I will begin using my new Creative Zen Vision W which is also a video player (60GB). I'm very excited for it. I've seen the new satellite portable players that can dock to a stereo station in your house and we've all seen the iHome and other stereo equipment where you can dock your iPod. Maybe what I'm looking for is out there, but I haven't seen it yet so I'll ask the question here. Why can't I dock my MP3 player in my car? Why do we spend a couple hundred dollars to have music with us everywhere we go on a portable device, but then spend a couple hundred more to have music in our car where most of us plug in our portable device to play through our stereo? What I'm imagining is a stereo with an MP3 player face plate. Think about it, you don't need your MP3 player and car stereo at the same time, there's no reason to pay for two separate devices. I plug my Zen into the stereo's audio in plug, but I hate that wire and I don't want an FM transmitter. Plus, I paid money for a CD player that would not be needing if I could just dock my player there. Most people remove the face plate anyways when they leave the car, why not remove the face plate and have it be your MP3 player? It just seems to make sense. I sent my suggestion to Creative because I like their customer support. I imagine it will end up like my other ideas that companies seem to shoot down. Like Kraft's Lunchables. I still can't figure out why they give you the same number of crackers as they do cheese and meat. The point of the whole thing is to make a cracker sandwich, meaning you need twice as many crackers. Crackers are the cheapest part and no body wants to touch the meat while they're eating it. Kraft shot me down as did Dole and countless others. Nobody listens to the customer.

Sociograms and Facebook 12/05/06

I have not limited myself to one post per day because it's never really been a problem for me, as it is for others. The developer community at facebook recently brought back the interactive friend thing (or sociogram) of your own social network on facebook. This is huge. There is a big problem because it is so slow to use, but the interactivity is great and the analysis that you can do with it is great. The way our sociogram website is set up does not involve interactivity, but only provides a snapshot and some analysis of your social network in the classroom. But you can download the file and open it on your own computer with no problem. I am going to have to re-evaluate everything we are doing and find out if there is a way to include http://www.touchgraph.com into our site now. Schools need this and students will understand it better than teachers. Right now our site is designed to help teachers and parents, but ultimately I think that this information will be much more powerful in the hands of the students.

Just a side note. Not only does http://www.touchgraph.com provide the background software for this, but they have something amazing that I have never thought of. It's a network map of websites. Who links to who? Who do those that you link to or that link to you link to? (If that makes sense). This could be great for our network map of books starting with love is the killer app.

VCs and Entrepreneurs 12/05/06

Okay, so I can relate to Guy Kawasaki's post on young people trying to get into the venture capital business. He basically says that VC work is for the end of your career, not the beginning and while young you should be focusing on working hard and developing products and gaining experience. This was all started because a young college grad wrote to him telling him that he would like to get some experience in the VC business. I greatly value my education at the Marriott School of Business, but I have to admit that one of the hard parts was listening to all of the guys talk about what they were going to do after they graduated. A lot of them had plans to get in on some startup that was going to make it huge and they were going to be doing all of the things that Guy was talking about (checking their blackberrys while listening to someone pitch, etc). The guys at BYU fell in love with the romantic idea of entrepreneurship. As completely inexperienced as I am, I imagine that there is a lot more work that does along with it that wasn't in the plans. Someone responded to Guy's post by bringing up Mike Moritz, who is undoubtedly an accomplished VC, but didn't meet any of the criteria that Guy had put out. It sounded like a very defensive remark when I don't think that Guy attempted to make a blanket statement. Instead, Kawasaki specifically referred to to "...all the Biffs, Sebastians, Brooks, and Tiffanys who want to be kingmakers." Those that want to be more than they are right now and are hoping that the VC path will be the one that gets them there. He wasn't speaking to those that are willing to put in the hours or that have natural circumstances leading them that way. He in no way implied that there weren't exceptions. And to his credit, Guy's response was simply: "This proves that you can always find an example to prove or disprove anything." (source) I still try and follow all of those guys from business school and no doubt now as I thought back then that many of them are going to make a huge impact and be very successful, but those are the ones that are working (a lot harder than I am working). Like Chad Blodgett's post on those that "while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." These are good people out to make a big difference but just like Shel Silverstein's adaption of the little steam engine that thought he could, "thinking you can just ain't enough."

Googling at its best 11/29/06

I don't know if the ZDNet blog post was attempting to compliment Google or just creating a new way to use the verb, but Garett Rogers proposed that with the expanding Google services, we can no longer use the verb "to Google" to mean search for something on-line, but rather what Google does best is making available services better and free. I think that may be downplay some of the many original ideas and services that Google has created, but it is a great compliment to focus on their ability to monetize what information is already out there and there is not question that they hope to make money on other people's information. At the same time, that is what a lot of recent companies have been trying to do. Every social networking site is hoping to make their living off of user-generated content. MySpace and Facebook only make money as their users create more pages on which to place ads (MySpace actually makes some more money on things like music, video, and concert deals). To be able to harness user-generated content and make it profitable is what many are trying, and like Rogers said, Google just does it better.

Network Mapping Problems 11/18/06

Well, it hasn't been 24 hours and it hit me that yesterday that I had decided to create a network map of books thinking that as I casually read I could take a few notes and have the information for the map. My reading is going to have to be a lot more intense. I'm going to have to create a new line for every time that a book is mentioned and label each line with a page reference and topic. I realized this as I continued reading Sanders' book and hit more Tipping Point references. There should be some indication that The Tipping Point was referenced more than others and I think multiple lines will do that. Yed will take into consideration the number of lines when it places the nodes. I'm going to create a Google spreadsheet to keep track of all of the information so that we can use it later to organize the references however we want. Anyone that wishes to become a collaborator on this one, just let me know. Also, if I'm going to keep reading at the gym, I'm going to have to get one of those bookmark pens. They're extremely small and just barely thicker than a large needle.

Network Map of Books 11/17/06

I am in the middle of reading "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders and as constantly recommended by Paul Allen. It didn't take long before I realized that I was going to have to make a list of the books that Tim talked about because it was more than a few. I then listed to a discussion by Malcom Gladwell and another by Steven Levitt in which they both referenced other authors. It seems like they are all familiar with each other and are constantly quoting one another and referencing ideas brought up in each other's books. I'm going to make a network map of books. I'll start with the one that I'm reading and as I go through it, I will make a list of those connected to it. As I go through those and other books, I'll do the same. I don't know if there will ever be an end to it, but maybe there is. Maybe there is a ring of books that reference each other. Of course there will always be other books that reference that ring, but unless it's connected by someone else referencing it, it most likely will not make it into our network map. I can already tell you that my own book list will make it just because I'm going to read them anyways and most of those on Paul Allen's list will make it because I respect his opinion on books. One that might be a node completely unattached, for example, is "Mindless Eating." I'm excited to read it, but I haven't seen it linked to by any other books. Well, the image involved will most likely be constantly changing, but I will try and make sure that I always update it. I'll also provide the ygf file for anyone that uses Yworks or Yed (which I recommend for any lightweight network mapping). I imagine that with this info we'll also be able to make a network map of the authors and then maybe the topics and which topics are linked to other authors, etc. Anyone can feel free to include their own networking and I'll add it to this. Also let me know if I make a mistake. You'll notice the different colors. These will probably change but right now the darker yellow is the book that I'm mapping or have mapped. The pastel green are those listed as a must read by the author and the pastel yellow are all others mentioned in the book. I'm only on page 76 of Sanders', so there is more to come.

YGF File Download

Facebook handles it well and teaches us a lesson 9/08/06

For any that haven't been following, facebook hit a bit of a defining moment this week and I think that they could not have handled it better. They recently launched what is called a mini-feed that basically allows any of your friends to see everything that you do on the website. If you write something to someone on their wall, your friends know about it. If you add a picture, your friends know about it, etc. Facebook thought that this was a great idea and way to enhance the community atmosphere of the social networking site. However, what they didn't take into consideration was one thing that sets them apart from other social networking sites, that is privacy. I've written on the differences between facebook and myspace before and in researching for that post, I found that privacy was one thing that many users regarded highly with facebook. I never occurred to me that this would ever be an issue with such a site.

Well, what happened was that facebook users basically revolted. Some reports say up to 600,000 complained (all in the course of a week). Facebook quickly created privacy settings for the mini-feed, allowing people to turn it off for some or all items. The open letter from Mark Zuckerberg to facebook users starts: "We really messed this one up." There are two lessons to take from this facebook story. First, they handled it extremely well and as a result are in little danger of users searching for a new site or competition being able to steal anyone away. Because the very first line is that they have messed up and they have spent two days trying to correct it, users will be very forgiving. A reiteration of core principles helped to remind users of why they chose facebook in the first place, whether they were conscious of it or not. The second lesson might be hidden. The fact is, facebook quickly changed, working around the clock, something that the users did not agree with because the users were able to voice their opinion and be heard. We are living in a day where people are tired of talking to computerized customer service lines, tired of phone trees, tired of talking to someone on the other side of the world, and companies are tired of paying ridiculous rates to offer live customer service based in the US. Perhaps facebook has a model here that many other corporations can adopt or at least adapt to their needs. Imagine a social network built around a company brand name and that network being the most powerful influence on company policy and practices. Imagine knowing almost instantly how a new product will be viewed in the marketplace and having access to your customer base with a few strokes on the keyboard. If television commercials are based on the idea that TV producers will produce a captive audience and advertisers will pay for access to that audience, then social networkers will soon be the ones that control the marketplace and be in place to make a lot of money. Just a thought.

ConSource 6/06/06

On Constitution Day this year (Sept 17), http://www.consource.org is scheduled to launch their database of scanned images of original documents related to the Constitution. This is going to include letters and things related to the creation and signing of the document. It seems like it will be a valuable resource and a template for other services in the future. This is one of the great benefits of the internet, making valuable resources available to everyone.

Six Sigma-Define 6/05/06

One responsibility in my new job is implementing a Six Sigma project. For those not familiar, Six Sigma is a metric for measuring and reducing defects. (Wikipedia) It was first implemented at Motorola and then General Electric. It involves looking at the processes within the company, finding some areas that need improvement, measuring the defect rate and then taking steps to reduce that rate. There is an acronym for the order of specific stages, but I'll go into that later. The first stage is Define and for anyone that will be implementing a Six Sigma project, here are a few things you may want to know about the Define stage.

1. The Process Map - To create the process maps, I use one of my favorite programs, the free download of Yed(Click to Download) from YWorks.com. This program is nice because you can move the nodes and bend the flows and everything stays connected. I especially like this program for projects that organize relationships, but most Six Sigma projects will not require that feature.

2. The Charter - I've created a charter which anyone can use as a template. Just email me to get a copy.

3. The sit down meeting to define - The defining stage pretty much requires a sit down meeting led by upper management in which the potential projects are discussed and selected. Even though this is a meeting where no fingers are supposed to be pointing, I found that this was not the case. Almost the entire meeting was finger pointing. Expect individuals to be defensive if their responsibilities are brought up as potential weak points and expect them to find a root cause in someone else's area of influence. Make sure that upper management is present and someone not emotionally involved who can help facilitate the discussion.

We are fast tracking this project, so updates will come often. I don't recommend fast tracking. This should take time and be done right. However, we have other situations which warrant this. The next stage is to measure, where we will create and implement measurements of our defect rate in the area we selected as our project.

*Update – I quickly got bored with this project and definitely removed it from our current projects. This mainly has to do with the unique circumstances surrounding our company. Yours still might benefit.

Google Page Creator 3/28/06

Google recently launched it's page creator to help individuals design websites and even hosts them. It's primarily for static pages but I was able to redesign the look of our main site, ldsteenhelp.com using it. Being a site for teenagers, more colors were appropriate and I spontaneously received emails from users telling me how much they loved the changes. It took about an hour and it was free. I've moved our site analytics over to Google also which has provided great information, much better than any of the other free stat sites that I've used. I know that this isn't new information for some, but I'm often slow to get on because I go through the wait list.

The Downside of the Decision 3/20/06

All we have been hearing about since last Friday is the decision regarding the Department of Justice and Google. Brief Background: URLs and search queries were subpoenad by the Department of Justice in order to collect evidence against those providing inappropriate images of children. Google resisted, mainly for the purpose of making a statement, that individual's search privacy will be protected and Google will never give out information compromising that privacy. That's good. However, being a Google fan, I hate to point out amidst all of the celebration that there is a downside to this decision. The United States Government is attempting to find those that are breaking the law and taking advantage of minors. I have long believed that those in a position to fight against things so contrary to morality, should. For example, profile providers such as MySpace, MSN, and Yahoo have always had a responsibility and privilege to work against these things by watching over the content on their profiles and placing safeguards to protect the innocent. I have told Google that I wish, with all of their information and resources, they could do some more good with it and create a filter. Inappropriate sites make something of a webring with each other and no other organization has the information on every link from one site to another as does Google. With a simple program, Google could create a filter that didn't have to scan a page before loading it, but decide to show a page based, not only on content that had been scanned long before, but also on links in and out. The majority of inappropriate sites could be removed this way. Google has the opportunity to do a lot of good and their decision to not work with the government means that it will be more difficult to find those that are destroying lives and adding to the immoral climate plaguing our society.

Broken Windows: Myspace vs. Facebook 2/24/06

I was thinking about the difference between the two popular sites with high schoolers and college undergrads, myspace and facebook. This led me to think about a reading recently of the Broken Window theory. This is the theory that helped change the crime in New York City in the early 90's. The theory basically states taht there are a few small things that when not controlled actually give those with criminal inclinations that final little push over the edge to actually commit the criminal acts. In New York City, there were four small things that the police force decided to focus on in order to eliminate that extra push; broken windows, graffiti, windshield washers, and farebeaters.

• Broken Windows: Broken windows in the a neighborhood are an indication of just how much the actual residents care about what is going on around them. In a place with proactive citizens, broken windows would never be tolerated and would be fixed immediately. If a criminal comes into a neighborhood and sees broken windows, the immediate impression, maybe even subconscious impression, is that this is an area where someone can commit a criminal act and not have to worry about the residents calling the police or the police acting quickly. The residents almost expect crime to occur in this neighborhood.
  
• Graffiti: Graffiti on the subway system was another form of broken windows, but on the part of officials. If officials did not care about small things like graffiti, then that means there are bigger things for them to be worrying about than small petty crime on the subways. This gives permission to increase the small petty crime from simple tagging all the way to muggings, which were occurring often.
  
• Windowshield washers: New York was long depicted in movies with homeless men approaching cars stopped at traffic signals, cleaning the windshields and then asking for some money in return. The city felt that this was a constant reminder to those just passing by that there was a whole world of crime and corruption just underneath their noses which could get them at any moment.
  
• Farebeaters: Those using the New York subway had to pay fare before entering the suway by placing a coin in the slot and then walking through the turnstiles. People could jump over the turnstiles or find ways around. Sometimes, youth would even jam the turnstiles and then open a gate and collect the subway users fare as they would allow them through the gate. This, of course, gave the immediate impression that there was no order on the subways. But this had often been overlooked because it just didn't seem worth it to spend time on someone that had skipped out of paying a dollar while there were far more serious crimes to follow.

What does any of this have to do with myspace.com and facebook.com? Myspace is known amongst youth as being a site where you can get away with posting anything. Pornographic images are often found publicly displayed along with crude comments. We have even had individuals in the goal setting program set the goal of not visiting myspace.com as if it were a porn site. Facebook on the other hand has the reputation of being clean and respectable. Many use it as a safe alternative to myspace, especially if all they want to do is stay in touch with friends. Why is there such a difference in the culture of myspace versus that of facebook? Why do youth approach one site with the general feeling that anything goes while knowing that their profiles on the other site need to be respectable and well-maintained? It isn't that facebook has the world's largest enforcement team or that myspace can't afford an enforcement team. It's the culture of the site, the general feeling that one has when visiting. I believe that three of the four areas on which the New York City Transit Authority and Police Department decided to focus are the exact same things that Facebook is implementing while Myspace is not.

• Graffiti: Both myspace and facebook allow you to create a profile for yourself. Every profile has the option of an area in which your friends can write comments about you that anyone visiting your profile will be able to view. Facebook even calls the comments section your "wall" and has in the past referred to someone writing on your wall as "tagging." While facebook allows you to type text in the comments section, myspace allows you to also post pictures and videos. This is the graffiti. You will notice that facebook is free of inappropriate "graffiti" while myspace is covered with it. This sends an immediate message to any individual even just browsing that you can get away with posting whatever you want.
  
• Windshield washers: Windshield washers are solicitors, those constantly reminding the everyday person that there is a world of scum just underneath their noses. These solicitors post things on others' profiles, send inappropriate messages, create inappropriate groups, etc.
  
• Farebeaters: Farebeaters are those trying to beat the system and enter into areas that they are not permitted. One example of farebeaters would be underage users. The average age of myspace users is always reported differently, even by top management, ranging from 15 to 24. There is without doubt a large underage group of users. If you Google "lie about age," you will find over 600,000 hits just on myspace alone.

What about broken windows? Broken windows represent how WE react to the fact that millions of youth are being bombarded with inappropriate content and the feeling of no rules in that setting. While most youth using myspace are probably not posting pornographic images, they are nonetheless being exposed to them or at least incredibly crude writings. Lack of parental response in this area would be the same as leaving a broken window hanging in the house. It sends a message, bold and clear, just enough to maybe give that little push from inclination and curiosity to action.

Wiki vs. Discussion Board 9/26/05

Well, I've been in discussion with the operators of some other discussion boards, or threaded discussions as we're calling them. The reason for this is that I don't anticipate our discussion board to really become something where thousands of youth and young adults go to talk. There are already plenty of places like that for the LDS community and there are also a few that even specialize in addiction recovery. I thought that this would mainly be for the posting and reviewing of past problems and general advice. However, after listening to a lecture today by Phil Windley, a leading blogger, I've been thinking about using a wiki instead. The purpose of the discussion board would be for someone who has a problem to find out what others have said about that issue. That would take a long time and the advice is limited to what people said a long time ago. A wiki can be constantly updated and updated by anyone. We can create a page for each issue and people can constantly be updating the advice given. Right now, you might be questioning this logic. But consider this, in the book The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki gives numerous examples of how the best solutions are almost always made by the masses of average people rather than expert opinions. By hosting a page of advice on how to best overcome any certain addiction or how to handle any given situation, through constant revision, we will slowly weed out the bad ideas and eventually end up with the best possible solution. In theory at least, that's how it will work. As Phil Windley said, it's actually better than a peer review journal. Your comments on this would be appreciated it.

*There were revisits to the post which are not included in the transfer to this blog because they dealt primarily with Peer Help Groups.