Time to Refocus Before the Move

Right now, I have about 30 subscribers and I'm grateful for every one of you. In the grand scheme of things, Chasing Change is not a widely read blog just yet - and that's OK.

Truth be told, it's taken me some time to figure out what my niche really is.

So here's my niche. Going forward, I'll be focusing the laser on tow things that are very important to me and are hopefully interesting and helpful to you:

1. Entrepreneurs. I live in Columbus, OH where entrepreneurs are driving change. In 2008, Forbes published a list of the Top 10 Up and Coming Tech Cities. While this was mostly in medical technology and driven by Battelle Memorial Institute's contributions to the market place, Columbus topped the list at number one. With available resources like TechColumbus and the Ohio TechAngels working to create an environment and culture that helps entrepreneurs bring their ideas to reality. I'll be the one tapping into that scene, bringing video interviews with the best and brightest members of Columbus's innovators. You'll also see case studies on how business owners are leveraging new web technology to drive results to their door.
   
   
2. The New Web. Just my opinion - but terms like social media and web 2.0 are going out of style. They no longer work because they are too limiting in terms of their description of how the Internet has changed in recent years. I like New Web as a term because it's all encompassing - it's a reflection of how the web is viewed as a result of people being able to connect with people AND information. That said, 'll talk about things like how Search is changing because of platforms like Twitter and blogs. I'll talk about social networking strategies and ideas for how we can use these new communications tools.
   
   My goal is 4 E's:

• Expose - Keep you up to speed on how and what New Web tools are available
  
• Educate - Teach you how you can use these new communication tools and how they can work together for the best results.
  
• Engage - Share ideas and strategies with you so you can find creative ways to adapt them to match your objectives and talk with you about the application.
  
• Examples - Provide you with a platform to post your case studies on what worked, what didn't with your new approach and why. (Guest bloggers are always welcome. Just contact me.)

So there you have it. That's what Chasing Change will be about from now on.

Are you still interested in reading? Is there anything you would suggest as an interesting topic I could write on?

PS. I'm already in process of moving Chasing Change to a Wordpress platform. This is a good move that will provide me with more of the tools I need to make this the best it can be.

I'll let you know when that's official. If you're still on board, you'll need to re-subscribe to that feed to get your updates.

I can't stress enough - I really appreciate you reading...

(photo credit: Jane Rahman)

Behind Mojo: An Interview with Deutsy Design’s Luke Steffen

As a follow up to last week's post on the iTunes file sharing application, Mojo, Deutsy Designs developer and founder, Luke Steffen, was kind enough to answer a few of my questions via email.

Here's the interview with Luke:

Thanks for taking some time to give my readers some background on the development of this great application. How did the idea for Mojo come about? When did you start development and why?

The idea for Mojo came about because of discussions between my roommate Robbie and myself. We both were constantly telling each other about new music we liked, but never had an easy way to transfer the music to each other. Before Mojo, in order to transfer music to another person you had very limited options available:

1. Use some kind of instant messaging file transfer. This usually worked, but required the person with the music to initiate the transfer.
   
   
2. Set up local file sharing via Samba or some other file transfer protocol. Most people I know wouldn't know where to start when it comes to file sharing. Plus there are a lot of other drawbacks for this method.
   
   
3. Put the music on a flash drive and physically give the other person the music. This generally was the method we would use, however it requires you both to be together to make it work
   

Eventually we decided there had to be a better way to transfer music back and forth over the local network. We began designing Mojo on a trip to visit my cousins in Iowa in late 2005 and haven't stopped since.

What's Mojo's current usage and how quickly is it spreading? What are your plans to bring the application to the greater masses of iTunes users?

Mojo's current usage is a little hard to pinpoint because a large number of people only use Mojo over the local network. The number of people using Mojo over the Internet is much easier to quantify. We have over 100,000 registered users on our Jabber server. Mojo has been growing slowly but steadily over the past couple years. All our current growth has been exclusively based on word of mouth, and we plan on continuing that way for now.

Do you currently partner with Apple? If not, is a potential partnership in the future for Mojo?

No, we do not currently partner with Apple. In fact, Apple will not even post Mojo on their downloads page. This is most likely due to the file sharing nature of Mojo. We are open to possibilities for partnerships in the future, it's just not likely with Apple.

I'm a little confused on how the licensing works. Are you generating revenue today?

There is a free version of Mojo and a Pro version of Mojo. We are generating revenue from the sale of licenses for the Pro version. The free version of Mojo has a few limitations that are removed when you buy a Pro license. The major selling point for Mojo Pro is users are limited to 3 Internet buddies in the free version.

Have you had push back from the IRAA? Led by complaints from Dr. Dre and Metallica, these guys pretty much trashed Napster in the late 90's. Do you see the potential for the same thing to happen with Mojo?

We have not heard anything from the IRAA. There is a big difference between how Mojo works and how other music sharing applications such as Napster, Kazaa and Lime Wire, work. All of those music sharing applications make user's libraries available to every single person on the network. Mojo is a much more private and personal way of sharing music. You only share music with the users you have specifically added to your roster. This creates a much more responsible environment for users to safely find new music through friends and family.

What's the biggest challenge you've faced to date in launching this app?

Our biggest challenge to date has been finding enough time to work on Mojo. Starting out, both Robbie and I were in college and did not have the time or financial resources to work heavily on the project. On the technical side, I would say overcoming NATs to create direct peer-to-peer connections was and still is our biggest challenge. We have made major strides in this area using some cutting edge technologies such as STUNT (a NAT traversal technique).

[end]

I'm grateful that Luke was willing to share some background on his creation!

Have you tried Mojo yet? If so, what do you think? If not, why not?

Some Start-up's Die

It's a shame that it had to end this way, but all start-ups are not created equal. Wil Schroter, in his book, discusses the concept of building backwards and looking at how your business and technology will generate profit in the very early planning stages. I agree with that 100 percent - it costs money to keep the lights on and stay fed.

But so may start up's with great ideas miss this boat. Some developers approach ideas under the guise of "We just want to see if we can develop something really cool. It's not about money." Unfortunately, all too often, that attitude results in those same words being inscribed on those same start up's tombstone months later.

Blog Rush's Obituary
My friend and fellow blogger Mike Figliuolo turned me on to Blogrush during a lunch meeting earlier this year. It was a neat concept that would crawl the classify and content of your blog and deliver your feed on other relevant blogs via a sidebar widget. The benefit to individual bloggers was automated exposure to other potentially interested readers, based on a point system rooted in viral spread of the widgets (thus Mike's introduction of Blogrush to me).



Sadly, I received this email message today:

After careful consideration, we have decided to shutdown the BlogRush service. If you have the widget code on your blog you will need to remove it. When BlogRush launched in late-2007 it spread like wildfire all over the Web. Thousands of bloggers were talking about it and the service exploded to become one of the fastest growing free services in the history of the Web.

During the first year of the service it successfully served 3.4 Billion blog post headlines and the BlogRush widget could be found on blogs all over the world; even up until the moment we closed down the service. BlogRush didn't grow without its fair share of problems -- from security issues to abusive users trying to 'game' the system to much lower click-rates than expected.

We also had some problems with trying to fairly control the quality of the network, and in the process made many mistakes in deciding what blogs should stay or go. All of these issues, ultimately, limited the service's full potential. Our team worked very hard to try and build a service that would truly help bloggers of all sizes get free traffic to their blogs. This was our primary focus. Not once did we ever try to monetize the service with ads or anything else.
BlogRush never made a single penny in revenue. We wanted to be able to help our users FIRST and then worry about monetizing the service later. Unfortunately, the service didn't work out like we had hoped. (It happens.)

I want to say "Thank You" to all of the great bloggers that at least gave BlogRush a test to see if it would work for them. We sincerely appreciate you giving the service a try. We have received several offers & inquiries about acquiring BlogRush, but we are choosing not to go that route. While many might think this is crazy, we truly feel it's the 'right' thing to do for our users. Believe it or not, it's not always about the money. In fact, BlogRush will have lost a small fortune when it's all said and done, and it was by choice. There were many things we could have done to monetize the service but we wanted to make sure it was going to benefit our users first.

Last but not least I want to say that I hope the failure of this service doesn't in any way discourage other entrepreneurs from coming up with crazy ideas at 4AM (like I did with this one) and from "going for it" to just try and see if something will work. Without trying there can be no success. And as we all know, ideas are worthless without action. The Web wouldn't be what it is today without entrepreneurs trying all sorts of crazy ideas.

On behalf of the entire BlogRush team, we wish the best of luck to everyone with their own blogs, ideas, and crazy ventures.

Sincerely, John Reese http://twitter.com/johnreese


Moral of the Story
Monetizing is not evil and people will pay for a service that provides them value. If the strategy is thought through and executed correctly, you just might get to keep your doors open for a while...

You can also follow Mike Figliuolo on Twitter

Greeting with a Personal Touch: SendOutCards.com

This one has me very excited! Right out of the gate, I will rate this web service as one of the most innovative SaaS applications I've seen in 2008. Following the Wil Schroder start up model, this service uses the Internet to provide a robust solution that alleviates the friction in a human transaction.

With the rise of email and social networks, the old tradition of sending paper cards has fallen by the wayside. Why? Here are some my thoughts:

1. The Time Investment - the process of sending traditional greeting cards is a long process of hand writing, addressing, and then making a trip to the post office or mail box to send the message.
   
   
2. Higher Costs - take into account the rate of postage, the price of the gas you will to get to and from the store and post office, and that most decent greeting cards can range from $4 to $5 at the store, and it's reasonable to average more than $10 per card in expenses.
   
   
3. Finding the Right Card - the options are limited at your typical retail locations, so you may not be able to find the right fit for the occasion. Yet design and printing custom cards just adds on to the already lengthy time commitment.

SendOutCards has developed a SaaS solution to address all of these negatives, and in my opinion, has done a hell of a job in designing a turn-key solution.

How It Works
For a reasonable fee, Send Out Cards allows users to upload a database of contacts, and then design, save and send personalized greeting cards for a variety of special occasions. Users also have the ability to purchase and include gifts along with their cards, which include retail and restarnat gift cards, food items and even books. Users also have the ability to create custom cards by uploading images, logos and photos to be included in the layout.

One of the most interesting features is the ability to include your very own handwriting style in the printed copy. Users have the option to submit characters, punctuation and personal signatures via a provided paper form, which is then be mailed back to Send Out Cards. Once received, Send Out Cards scans the document and creates a personal font for the user and implements it on their account.

The company handles all printing, postage and mailing of the cards, which saves end users considerable amounts of time and energy, encouraging them to once again send tangible greetings to contacts.

Who Can Use This?
Send Out Cards is absolutely for everyone - from business professionals conducting client follow up, to busy moms looking for a less time consuming way to send holiday greetings to friends and family. The user interface is friendly and intuitive, and transitions between various screens are quick.

I believe that this unique platform is one for the books, and will have a long life ahead of it. I've already become an avid user of this application, so please feel free to visit my SOC homepage and follow the link at the top if you would like to try sending a free card.

The New Generation of Presentations: SlideRocket

Presenting to potential clients is a huge part of my daily activities. The days of delivering the same agency design ed static presentation to everyone are long gone.

Each situation, each client and each opportunity requires elements of customization - especially when you are selling ideas and services.

So what are some of the challenges for business development and sales professionals when crafting that all important sales preso?

• How do I customize my presentations quickly and easily, while maintaining the integrity of my company's brand?
  
  
• With travel costs skyrocketing (along with the cost of just about everything these days), how do I leverage the web to conduct truly effective "virtual meetings"?

• When I send a prospect a presentation, or they are viewing from a remote location, how can I tell they are engaged? What metrics can I use?
  

To date, subscription services such as WebEx have provided desktop sharing solutions which allow parties in various locations to connect via conference call, while the administrator (i.e. the sales person) shares their desktop.

I'm willing to bet that if your a professional, you've sat through these types of meetings. With all due respect to the good people at WebEx and other desktop sharing applications, these solutions are simply...well...clunky.

A New Breed of Presentation Software

Enter SlideRocket! This innovative application has yet to be fully launched, but in my opinion, will change the way that sales presentations are delivered across the globe. From what I can tell, it deliverers on all of the questions listed above, and much more.

In the company's own words:

SlideRocket is a web application that provides everything you need to design professional quality presentations, manage and share libraries of slides and assets, and to deliver presentations in person or remotely over the web.

You can view the product demo here. (Which, might I add, been created by using the SlideRocket software)

Here, SlideRocket CEO Mitch Grasso dives deeper into how this SaaS application can be used.

I can't wait to use this one!

Who would you like to Jott?

That's a phrase which I've been hearing frequently, thanks to the vision of four innovative Seattle-based internet entrepreneurs.

Jott.com is a very cool free web-service that provides it's users all the benefits of having a personal assistant, without the financial burden of paying an annual salary. Since it's inception in late 2006, the company has been building a solid foundation in the trade and national press.

Users sign up in a few easy steps, submit a mobile phone number and email address, the system syncs with your phone, and then sends you a call-in number for your speed dial.

When you call, the automated attendant answers with "Who would you like to Jott?" You then speak your message clearly into the phone, select from options on reminders, delivery time and method, Wha-La! Your message is automatically transcribed and sent back to you through the vehicle you've selected.

I was so intrigued, I created an account and have been using it avidly for a about a week. It's particularly handy when a big idea hits while you're driving. My wife is very thankful to the company for improving the safety of our family's road trips.

As of today, I received an email with details on how I can get more use out of the service in terms of list building and mass-Jotting other users. It seems that Jott is doing a remarkable job of marketing this service, as well as providing value to those who sign up.

One question remains. What type of web application is this? Web 2.o? Web 3.0? Something new? Hmmm...

Whatever the case may be, hats off to the creators of this nifty tool!

Changing Hands

The news has hit the stands - officially.

I'm excited to say that the firm I work for, Young Isaac, has recently merged with an SEO company called People To My Site.

You can read more of the details in the Columbus Business First article, posted yesterday. Artie has already posted commentary on his blog as well.

My Perspective

I'm extremely grateful to have been part of this change. Two really innovative companies have come together under the direction of some uber-smart leaders.

The clients will benefit immensely. Traditional marketing and search engine marketing are now under one roof, working hand in hand, sharing principles, people and ideas. Communication channels are open allowing true collaboration.

I'm excited for what's in store. This is going to be big...

Go BIG

Wil Schroter is a savvy entrepreneur with a laundry list of companies to his name. I've been asking myself how someone, who is roughly six years older than me, can already be so successful.

In search of the answer, I'm about halfway through his book, Go BIG or Go Home.

The title says it all. By examining his own companies, and other internet giants like Google and MySpace, Wil outlines the common elements in a proven business model that allow GoBIG companies to "dominate new markets virtually overnight".

• Vision - Think BIG, the way companies like Google, PayPal and Skype do
  
  
• Growth - Learn how to compress time to grow faster than your competition
  
  
• Marketing - Position your company as Number One right from Day One
  
  
• Capital - Forget raising capital, learn how to create capital and leverage what you have today
  
  
• Management - Leverage your smaller size to run circles around your larger competitors

This book is a fun and easy read, and I recommend it to anyone looking to leverage the speed and scalability of internet businesses.

The interview below will highlight two of Wil's latest projects: