2010 Resolutions

Last year's New Year's Resolutions and my efforts at keeping them were pretty weak:

  • Re-establish weighlifting routine.  (First 8 months - Fail.  Last 4 months - High Pass.)
  • Read more books.  (Low Pass)
  • Stop eating like a 14 year-old.  (Fail)

I'll blame the mixed results on the ambiguous goals, the transition from student to reality, the three weeks spent in Spain, and my Nintendo Wii.  Plus - I never really "published" my goals, so there wasn't really any public accountability. 

So - this year's resolutions are broadcast to the world and a little more measurable:

Bench press 280 lbs.  Most type-A, white, overly-educated, American males in my situation - approaching 30, cognizant of their waning athleticism...and expanding waistline - would opt for a triathalon or marathon as validation of their physical stamina, mental toughness, manhood, etc. 

Thanks to a lifetime of basketball, I don't have the knees or ankles for such a pursuit.  So, since I can't be a distance runner, I'm instead gunning for the ability to pulverize a distance runner in hand-to-hand combat.

Plus - I'm tired of being the wimp in my family.  My brother is enormous and strong as an ox.  My future-brother-in-law is also enormous and also strong as an ox.  My dad is pushing 53 and can still out-lift me.

I weigh 200 lbs, I have really long arms, and I can barely push ~210 lbs right now - which is (ahem!) more than I've ever lifted.  So 280 would be a pretty big win.  300 lbs is the stretch goal.

Read 1 novel per month.  This is the "watch less TV, play less Wii" resolution.

Note that Dan Brown, Twilight, Malcolm Gladwell brain candy shite doesn't count.  I'm talking about books that I can discuss with Ben Rogerson.  Books with depth and sub-text - not just plot.

I finished "The Human Stain" last night - a fantastic read on race and identity.  I have two more Philip Roths on my nightstand.

Be Resolute.  This one is admittedly fuzzy, but certainly more personal and more meaningful.  Details forthcoming in another post at some point.  I'm going to play some Wii before going to bed.  :)

Family Christmas Card

Kelly and I upgraded to a "family photo" style Christmas card this year:

Michael Brooks took the photo, I did the design in Gimp. 

(Sorry if you didn't get one.)

This wasn't the first Christmas card I've designed.  In 2001, my college roomates John, Lee, and I staged a photo shoot in our dorm - 210 Old West.  Afterwards, we conceived a design theme, found the requisite clipart online, and published the deeply symbolic masterpiece you'll see below.

We emailed the image to every address we could find - including Chancellor James Moeser, Coach Matt Doherty, numerous listservs, etc.  As you might imagine, many people loved/hated it.

Our's was a fairly eclectic living space.  If you can't tell, the items in the picture are (from left):

  • a banjo
  • a styrofoam cooler
  • (behind the cooler) fish tank with dead fish
  • potted plant
  • bag of Utz
  • SunMaid raisins
  • Tofu
  • 8 of Ben Rogerson's Dr Pepper cans
  • empty bowl with spoon
  • Cha Cha Chili instant soup (under the bowl)
  • empty burlap sack
  • Let's Go Europe
  • Jiffy cornbread
  • a ficus

Photo credit - Ben Rogerson

Changing Times For Marketers

You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone.

Bob Dylan said that to beautifully articulate the rising tide of the Civil Rights Movement.  I'm just appropriating completely out of context to explain the sink-or-swim situation soon facing marketers.

(Instead of taking the time to craft an original thought - I'll gladly/lazily refer you to this great entry from Forrester forecasting the tectonic shifts facing marketers over the coming months and this "trends for 2010" post from eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey.)

The long and short of my perspective is this - I hate being marketed to...or marketed at...or however you want to describe the dim-witted shortcuts that pass for "marketing" these days.  (See Dell, iContact, and Sarah Palin.) 

Unfortunately, interrupt-driven - and lowest-common-denominator - marketing will always exist because - to some degree - it works and because it often provides to only mechanism for super-broad reach. 

Fortunately, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.  And it comes from relationships generated from the opt-in, personalized promise of email marketing and the influence and insight from the social web. 

The technologies and tools are there - marketers just need to step up their game, get smarter, get personal, and stop spraying/praying. 

2009's Greatest Hits

This is always my favorite post of the year - the list of songs that soundtracked the past 12 months.  It always helps me remember fun times, people, and places.  As always, tip of the hat to Chaz Felix for introducing me to the format.

2007 Edition
2008 Edition

Without further ado, the tunes I jammed in 2009:

I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Your Soul Forever - Valient Thorr

I listened to Thorr non-stop this past year.  Love love love the tight riffage and the sociopolitical (motivational speaker?) lyrics.  Ironic.  Brutal.  Fast.  Funny.  Awesome in every way.  Excellent workout music.

The 506 performance in Feb was the most fun I had at a rock concert in 2009.  These guys poured their guts on to the stage.  And Chris and I sported our sweet Thorrior denim.

They're based in Chapel Hil, by the way.  I said "hi" to the lead singer - Valient Himself - at the Harvey Milk performance at 506 this year.  (Another mind-blowing concert.)

Ogeechee Hymnal / A Horse Called Golgotha - Baroness

As far as I'm concerned, this piece from Baroness' Blue Record is the absolute best cut from 2009.  (Yes - this qualifies as a "piece" - not a song.) 

LOVE how they take a simple melodic idea in Ogeechee, layer it with chunky, harmonized chords, and then let it feedback as it segues into Golgotha.  The intro reminds me of "...And Justice For All" and the days when it was cool to like Metallica.  After the spacious interlude - which follows the same melody - Baroness blows it away.  Stick around until the end - they let it drone out again and bring it back home.  Brilliance.

If you're not a fan of droning sludge, feel free to skip ahead to ~4:00 - the devastation starts shortly thereafter. 

If you're not a fan of harmonized shouting and face-melting guitar, feel free to skip this one altogether.

(Note - I linked to a live version because I couldn't find the album version spliced together on YouTube.  The layered guitar subtleties on the record are amazing.  HIGHLY recommended.)

The Cup of Lonliness - George Jones

This tune played out the credits of "The Mountain King" episode in Mad Men Season 2.  Don Draper is truly a broken, lonely man.

The Possum's original recording is grittier, more broken-hearted, but you get the general idea from this overly-produced re-take. 

(Yes - the playlist just went from stoner metal to classic honky tonk.  That's the way I roll.)

Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise - The Avett Brothers

I didn't really like the new Avett Bros record when I first listened - I missed the chirpy harmony, the banjos, the redneck vibe, etc.  Then I listened to it again and realized that it is the best front-to-back record from 2009.

"Decide what to be and go be it."  The perfect lyric for a song about a head full of doubt...and a road full of promise.

Boots of Spanish Leather - Bob Dylan

Kelly and I spent 3 weeks in Spain this past Spring.  Which reminded me that I love this song.

Useful Chamber - Dirty Projectors

No Greatest Hits list is complete without a band referred to me by Ben Rogerson.  He gave me a copy of Dirty Projector's "Bitte Orca" one summer afternoon and I promptly listened to it non-stop for weeks.

Any description I write won't do the music justice - so just listen to the entire song and soak in all of its glorious, angular wierdness.

Love Game / Poker Face - Lady GaGa

I love Lady GaGa.  Don't hate.  Really looking forward to her inevitable, spectacular fall from grace in 2010!

Glory Of Love - Peter Cetera

I also love Peter Cetera and the super-sugary love songs that played on easy listening stations in the mid/late 1980s.  (Richard Marx, anyone?)  Peter's performance in this video is almost as awesome as his feathery blonde hair.

Kelly downloaded this song to her phone in the backseat of her parents' Honda CRV on the way back to Stowe Hill from dinner in Pineville one evening this Fall.  She and I laughed like crazy and sang every word.  Her parents weren't sure how to react.

Oh! You Pretty Things - David Bowie

I distinctly remember listening to this song coming home from the Harris Teeter at Meadowmont.  I'm not sure why.  Regardless - I certainly went through a Bowie phase this past Spring.

The Final Countdown - Sorry Charlie

Keep On Loving You - Sorry Charlie

I was in a band in 2009.  And we were kinda awesome.

Here I Go Again - Sorry Charlie

I will never forget this moment.  Charlie had a big intro planned...and I botched it with awful keys...and he further botched it because he got the mic cable wrapped around an amp. 

You still gotta admit that this is pretty epic, especially considering that we rehearsed 2 times before this performance. 

If it looks like we were having fun, it is because we were.

Here's to an even better 2010.

Sarah Palin Book Signing Video

My friend Tom retweeted this video from Digg.  (That was a nerdy sentence, by the way.) 

Basically, a guy with a camera and a guy with a microphone interviewed people waiting in line outside of a Columbus, OH bookstore for a Sarah Palin book signing.  Enjoy.

A few thoughts:

1.)  My first reaction was laughter.  Regardless of your politics - some of this stuff is hilarious.

2.)  This video is unfair.  I'm sure that a Barack Obama book signing would have attracted a similar set of polictical savants.  There are just as many stupid, uninformed Democrats as there are stupid, uninformed Republicans.  I would LOVE to have a nickle for every person that voted for Barack Obama without so much as an inkling of his policy positions.

3.)  When you think about it - this video is really just sad.  I guess people have a right to be ignorant.  Just a shame that they'd rather exercise their right to ignorance over their right to be informed, participate, etc.

4.)  Daily Show fodder notwithstanding, I'm ready for Sarah Palin to go away.

Help Hajo Meet The Hoff

My friend Hajo is in the cereal business.  (I've written about him before.)  He specializes in delicious, gluten-free, custom cereals.  The concept comes from a similar business that has been very successful in Deutschland.

My friend Hajo is also German...which means he LOVES David Hasslehoff - because all Germans love David Hasslehoff.  This is a fact. Seriously - what is not to love about his legendary Berlin Wall performance? 

(Why did the Berlin Wall come down?  Because The Hoff rocked it so hard with the piano key neckerchief and blinky Christmas light leather jacket, that's why.)

So:

  • Germany's greatest export to the US = delicious, custom-mixed cereal.
  • America's greatest export to Germany = The Hoff

Thus, over lunch last week, Hajo - with help from Allen and your's truly - came to the only logical conclusion:

David Hasslehoff MUST have Hajo's delicious Custom Choice Cereal. 

So Hajo set the goal of personally delivering a bag of cereal to The Hoff by the end of March 2010.  More on the CCC blog.

Here's how you can help in 3 easy steps:

  1. Get inspired.
  2. Repost this on your blog/social network of choice.
  3. Buy some yummy cereal from Hajo so that he can afford a plane ticket to LA.

Three Nights At Memorial Hall

Was talking with one of Kelly's co-workers Sunday night re: the recent performances at UNC's Memorial Hall.  I'm pretty sure it was the best - or at least most personally entertaining - run of shows at the venue since the 2005 re-opening:

  • Sonny Rollins - the Saxophone Colossus is 90 years old, can barely walk, can't straighten his back beyond 45 degrees...but he can still blow.  He only showed brief flashes of his brilliance, though it was amazing nonetheless to see/hear such a titan of the genre.
  • Ravi Shankar - another aging master I feel fortunate to have seen.  He can still shred a sitar - no joke.  And his daughters - Anoushka and Norah Jones - are hot.  (Which reminds me to ask Kelly if she'll still love me when I'm in my hanging-out-with-Ravi-Shankar phase.)
  • Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer/Zakir Hussain - probably the best in the world in the respective instruments - banjo, double bass, tabla.  Really inventive set and jaw-dropping virtuosity.  Plus - they're nice guys. 

(I think there was actually a 4th show somewhere in there...but I didn't see, so it doesn't count.)

The 2nd best string of performances I can think of are the back-to-back Wilco performances in 2006.

Oh yeah - or maybe the 4 nights of Bolshoi Ballet.  :)

Twitter Forcing A Strategy Switch

Came across an article on the Chicago Tribune regarding the strategic impact of social media.  This blurb jumped out for me:

While about five officials at Southwest Airlines typically vet every press release for accuracy and nuance, communications staffer Christi Day flies solo on Twitter. She acts as the discount carrier's voice without editing from her bosses.

This is fascinating, though I suppose it isn't really surprising given that social is largely still an experiment for most marketers in the space...and a curiousity to the majority marketers that remain on the sidelines.

Still, I can't help but imagine that there will eventually be a need for oversight, approval, etc. for social posts.  Every corporate post to a social stream instantly reaches hundreds of thousands of people that matter.  It facilitates the holy grail of marketing communications - one-to-one conversations with your customers - yet it isn't getting any attention from management?  (Actually - it is probably better this way...)

On the other hand, a press release gets slowly cycled through the creaky traditional media machine and often leads to follow up conversations before the "story" actually happens, if it happens at all.  This paradigm is shrinking fast.

Plus - this is an awful lot of trust to place in one person/role.  Do the people at Southwest realize that - to the thousands on Twitter - Christi Day is the voice of Southwest?  Not that she's doing a poor job - just seems like they'd want to put a bit more thought/effort into the channel.

Launching A Business In The Cloud

I started writing this in early July...and just now finished it.  So some of the temporal references are a bit off.

eb
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I've built most of the operational plumbing for a small business over the past few weeks...and I've done it all without installing a single piece of software or building a single MS Office document.  (OK - except for an overly-MBA'ed financial model in Excel.) 

Here's the playbook for launching a lightweight company in the cloud:

Web:  Squarespace.com

I showed my friend Tristan an early (and hideous) mock-up of Argyle's website one afternoon in the Kenan-Flagler cafe.  After a quick look, he replied with three very wise questions:

  1. What are you doing?
  2. Don't you know the best time to change directions in an IT implementation is at the beginning of the project?
  3. Will you please let me show you Squarespace?

I was on the cusp of a custom-built disaster...and Tristan intervened just in time to introduce me to the best web app I've used in a long time.

Except for the images I bought from iStockPhoto and a few blurbs of custom CSS and HTML, Squarespace elegantly powers every pixel of ArgyleMail.com.  Point and click, drag and drop, save and close - it could not have been easier to put together a polished, professional website.  All for ~$30/month.

I can't say enough good things about the service.

(Note - Tristan works there now.)

CRM - Salesforce.com

Admittedly, Salesforce.com is waaaay more than I need at this point.  However, it is very helpful for getting out of spreadsheets, formalizing processes, and taking baby steps towards becoming a data-driven company.

I paid $99 for a year's worth of Group Edition - which includes a handful of users, several helpful Google integrations, and more than enough functionality to keep me going for a long time.

I haven't done it yet - but it is (kinda) easy to integrate a web form to dump contact data directly from my site to my CRM.

Accounting/Billing - Quickbooks Online

While it isn't the prettiest application, Quickbooks gets the job done.  As far as I know, the online edition offers the same functionality as the installed edition. There are some other apps that offer similar services - Freshbooks is probably the most popular - but QB is the most comprehensive.

They also offer a merchant account service that is a little pricey, but integrates nicely with the service.  It is a little clunky billing customers, but I don't really have the volume to warrant an upgrade.

Operations - Google Apps

I run my email, my calendar, and (most of) my documents through Google.  Extremely easy and beautifully functional. 

I can't imagine why any small business would deal with the hassle of hosting their own productivity services when - after some easy DNS changes and a quick set-up - they can run it all through Google for free (in most cases) or cheap. 

The Salesforce.com integration makes it an even bigger no-brainer.

Social Streams Are The New Inbox

A surprising amount of activity that I've "traditionally" managed via email and other tools have moved to my social streams - which is a fancy of way of saying my Twitter and Facebook feeds.  For example:

Personal Emails

I can't remember the last time I wrote a lengthy email to any of my close friends/family. (A look at my sent mail from 2001 proves that I used to do a lot of this.) With most of my friends, there usually isn't much "catching up" to do because we all post our activities online.

More and more, interpersonal relationships are becoming a function of tweets, photo comments, and status updates. From a convenience/technology perspective, I admit that I like where this is going. From a cultural and anthropological perspective, this trend may or may not signal the beginning of the end of complex human thought and interaction.

Email Newsletters

I started working in email marketing long before it became an "industry".  Not to give myself too much credit, but I was a very early evangelist of the email newsletter as a sophisticated, technology-driven marketing program.  I suspect that the monthly sales commmission checks may have had something to do with my fervor...

Fast forward to now.  I don't read a single email newsletter.  (Well - maybe a couple that I'm just not remembering because I haven't gotten them in a while.)  My email address is strictly used for personal communications and transactional messaging from my bank, online retailers, etc.  I very very rarely consume information, read newsletters, make purchases, etc. via email.

All of the content I previously consumed through my inbox, I now consume through one-line blurbs on Twitter and - to a much lessor extent - Facebook:

  • The content is more digestible.  I go from "subject line" directly to the content as opposed to subject line to an email message often filled with noise.
  • The content is timlier.  I recall recently unsubscribing from an email newsletter because I had read the entirity of its contents 12 hours previously via links on Twitter.
  • The content is socially-driven.  The social stream makes it very easy to find new sources of interesting content.

RSS Feeds 

My feed reader is slowly dying the same death as my email newsletters.  RSS-to-social apps enable content providers to easily zip their stuff into my stream, so why shouldn't I centralize my content?

The Bigger Question

Or at least the bigger question(s) that I'm trying to answer.  If social streams are the new inbox:

  • What does this mean for marketers? 
  • How will retailers, salespeople, fundraisers, non-profits, etc. manage this channel?
  • What are the "new" analytics that indicate social stream success?
  • How long before these become big problems?
  • What are the new products/technologies that will solve these problems?

Thinking About Short URLs

Over the past six months, there has been much ado about Twitter and social media in general...which in turn has created a similarly sizable ado about a host of related issues - including short URLs, social media ROI, and Twitter apps.

I have an above-average understanding of the key issues regarding short URLs and why so many nerds think they're bad.  I'll skip the details - read this well-circulated and well-written piece if you're interested.  Despite the salient arguments against the construct, there are a couple issues worth pointing out that I haven't seen elsewhere...

If you use the "potentially weak intermediary" argument, then you have to consider that email marketing apps are just a big a threat to the DNS framework as URL shorteners.  Every email marketing service provider (ESP) on the planet redirects URLs and counts clicks in a fashion very similar to URL shorteners...and thus serves as an intermediary between me and the content I seek with each click.  I don't see anyone worried about the health of the scores of ESPs and their potential impact on the old links sitting in my inbox.  And I don't expect to - partially because these links are in my inbox and not the wild, but primarily because these things just become less of an issue over time.

Using the same argument, I posit that the longevity of short URLs posted to social streams like Twitter and Facebook are even less important than that of the links in my inbox.  I'm willing to bet that 99% of the click graphs in bit.ly and every other shortener on the planet look just like this one:

The vast majority of the clicks happen in the first couple hours and - save for retweets and such - the click volume declines rapidly.  So who cares if the link still works a year from now?  Just saying is all...

Regardless - this problem eventually solves itself.  The social media skeptic will say that Twitter will relax its character limit and render all short URL providers useless.  I say this is unlikely - short URLs extremely valuable to marketers because they're the gateway to social media ROI. 

The more likely path is that bit.ly and other providers prove to be legit and eventually build real businesses around social media management, with short URLs playing a key role.  HootSuite and CoTweet are already making great headway down this path...

Lastly, the tr.im kerfuffle-almost-failure indirectly supports my thesis.  Their business failed expressly because they tried to monetize short URLs as a service, not as a part of a broader offering. 

Plus - those guys are morons.

Facebook/LinkedIn

Is Facebook is using the LinkedIn API to make friend suggestions?  I've had several "recommended" friends on Facebook that:

- share no mutual Facebook friends with me.
- I haven't talked to since 2004/2005.
- I'm connected to "professionally" on LinkedIn.

I can't come up with any logic for the recommendations outside of FB using my network and/or email address to triangulate my LI identity and then comparing the connections between the two services to make suggestions.

If this is happening - is it smart or creepy?

Prohibition Homebrew

Check out my friend Alex Foley's latest venture -  http://prohibitionhomebrew.com.

Prohibition Homebrew is an e-commerce site specializing in homebrewing supplies, ingredients, etc.  They're doing some smart stuff through Facebook Connect to cultivate a community of homebrewers.

From their site:

Prohibition Homebrew is the world's first fully integrated online community where homebrewers can share their recipes as well as track and document each batch of beer throughout the brewing process. Users can share photos, videos, equipment recommendations, and shop for necessary items in the online store. Each Speakeasy Community member can record and store data on every batch of beer they brew in order to improve and perfect their recipes.



Spread the word to your brewmaster friends!

Custom Choice Cereal

My friend Hajo is launching an online business in Chapel Hill called Custom Choice Cereal.  You can check out an early version of his site here.

Brief description from the site:

Custom Choice Cereal is a venture dedicated to remove the traditional  trade-off between healthy gluten-free cereal and tasty ingredients.  The idea is simple - through an online platform, celiacs and all of you who voluntarily choose a healthier lifestyle and want to go gluten-free will be able to individually assemble your favorite cereal from a variety of exclusively gluten-free ingredients.  Custom Choice Cereal will then deliver your personal mix conveniently to your doorstep.



Think of it like an online version of the bulk bin aisle at the grocery store...with lots of gluten-free options.  You build your mix, check out online, and Hajo & Co. mail delicious cereals directly to your doorstep.

Pretty good idea, if you ask me.

Sorry Charlie - Friday Night - Local 506

sorry-charlie-506--
Join Sorry Charlie and friends for a benefit concert to raise funds for Amani Children's Home, a non-profit home for orphans and street-children in Tanzania - http://amanikids.org.

- Doors at 8PM.
- DJ Lexus kicks off the jams at 9PM.
- L Phrenic follows with his dopest rhymes to date.
- Sorry Charlie closes with ridiculous rock covers.

- $5 tickets. Buy 'em at the door or purchase online.
- RSVP on Facebook.

Rock and roll!

The Craigslist Recession

I bought a new guitar from a guy on Craigslist a few weeks ago.  Great guitar, good price.  I haven't stopped playing it since I bought it.

Thing is...I haven't stopped looking at the Musical Instruments listings on Craigslist, either.  Sooo many favorably priced guitars, amps and whatnot.  (Kelly tells me everyday to stop looking because she knows that browsing leads to buying.)  My hunch is that many of these listings are a lagging indicator of a weak economy - people selling their wanted stuff to pay for needed stuff.

My friend Chris - a professional audio engineer and semi-professional guitar god - claims that the instrument deals listed in Detroit are mind boggling.  I haven't vetted his claim, but I believe him.  Gotta think that the more economically crushed the area, the cheaper the guitars on Craigslist...

Oddly - Compete.com show's Craig's traffic flattening in February:



I would think that the free/used/bartered/borrowed economy would be booming as the broader economy wanes...which means that this should be a boom time for Craig.

Anyone know of an online resource that tracks Craigslist activity?

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Speaking of Craig, check out the first comment in this post.  Nice guy, that Craig.