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The Internet Bites Back

As many of you may have noticed yesterday some of your favorite sites were either completely shut down or graphically representing their protest to SOPA and PIPA. These include some serious internet heavyweights such as Google, Reddit, Mozilla, Wired, Mashable, Wordpress, Flickr and even I Can Has Cheezburger (who knew cats protested?).

More than just placing a graphic on their website, they urge users to contact their Representative directly regarding the bill. These companies state that not only will the bill require costly oversight and regulatory spending within their organizations, but on a broader scale it violates the First Amendment and the free sharing of information on the web.

English Wikipedia itself provided a full 24 hour blackout from the information on their site. However, reportedly 162 million people still tuned in for their message against SOPA and PIPA. Roughly 8 million of those users went on to contact their representative directly... in a single day.

From Wikipedia today, "More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge. You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers. Your voice was loud and strong. Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet."

Reportedly Google had similar luck with 4.5 million signatures to the petition they encouraged users to sign yesterday.

And though it is nice for Mark Zuckerberg to comment, "We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes Sopa and Pipa, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet." it is nothing compared to the power that social sharing via Facebook provided for this movement.

Like wildfire individuals who otherwise are not aware of policy changes, are now in the mix of the debate and passionately sharing the message with their friends. Facebook provides an exponential platform for movements with social merit and/or provocative content in an instant.

Overall, I think it is powerful and sometimes scary the engine the internet has become. What in the past took weeks and months of preparation for a street rally moves in seconds to get the attention of millions. The internet moves fast to rally the troops. And in an age where government is a slow moving giant, the internet provides citizens with a quick and agile marketplace for movement.

So while discussion on Capitol Hill aren't expected to resume until February, I believe yesterday's actions will have a huge impact on those discussions. Whether you agree or disagree with SOPA and PIPA, I believe the beauty of what happened yesterday is the citizens of America rallying together to have their voice heard. In the spirit of our Founding Fathers our government is supposed to be a representation of the desires of the American people. I believe the internet is a vehicle to have more people heard, informed and empowered to take part in America's future. Perhaps that is a bold statement, but I'm a nerd and I love the internet, so deal with it.

There were some great page graphics yesterday. Click here for a full gallery

Dominos - Putting your money where your mouth is

How does a longstanding brand like Dominos change what you think about them after 50 years of business and over 5,000 stores???? First, I can say that while I truly dislike the vast majority of advertising, Dominos has done an incredible job in the recent past. With a string of ads and campaigns focused around raw honesty, customer response, high interactivity, completely untraditional thinking and transparency they have accomplished the near impossible of changing people's minds.

If you don't follow the world of pizza quite as closely as I do, here are a few landmarks to get your bearings:

Early last year Dominos launches a new campaign focused on past product quality. Basically stating, "We know it was bad before so we revamped everything and try us now." They describe this strategy as 'blowing up the bridge' and truly thought there was no going back if it did not work (As an example they said it would be as if "New Coke" came out by saying that Coca Cola was terrible).
Ads were then focused on getting their toughest critics to try the new recipe (they even did a secondary underground campaign called "Taste Bud Bounty Hunter" that allowed customers to nominate people to try the pizza with incentives like a free year of pizza)
All ads were documentary style to bring home the transparency and raw honesty vibe. They received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Sales boost almost 15% in the first quarter.
Dominos incorporates interactive tools such as the pizza tracker (one of my personal favorites) which allows you to not only watch your pizza's progress but see WHO is making it and comment accordingly.
Continue to aggressively advertise the campaign showing real stories from real people (meet the chef, meet our team, words from the CEO and user submitted responses)
"Show us Your Pizza" campaign commercials are to follow, including submit photos of your pizza directly upon delivery to ensure quality. Over 13,000 people send in photos and Dominos responded in ads to bad photos that were received.
The second most impressive move (saying your 50 year recipe was crap is most impressive) was integrating a live streaming billboard in the middle of time square to display user submissions. REAL TIME TRANSPARENCY from user submissions, the good the bad and the ugly. You can see this here http://more.dominos.com/wp/2011/07/times-square/ as well as in some follow up advertising they did.

So why do I care? Well...

I think so often advertising is a waste of time because it doesn't really change your opinion about something (especially my non-believer generation) and re-branding is the only key to changing someone's opinion/making the product itself better. This campaign serves to define their rebranding AND tell people about it in an interesting way.
SO many times in branding/rebranding efforts people always try to push for the safest of all options. The bigger the company the harder they push back on drastic changes or 'lines in the sand' due to fear of alienation of current or potential customers. For an organization as big as Dominos, this is one of the gutsiest shifts in marketeering I have ever seen. Drastic times call for drastic measures and Dominos sales had become so abysmal that they knew an enormous shift was necessary to keep the company afloat, or better yet extremely profitable. I have to say hats off to CP+B (their advertising firm) who I am sure had many sleepless nights in the beginning of this campaign.
A brand doesn't exist in a single point in time. Instead a brand evolves over time to gain a much deeper meaning for the customer. So many times valiant efforts in rebranding fall short within the minds of the consumer because after an initial push, they don't grow, enhance or communicate the story in new ways. As you can see from the bullet point timeline above, the beautiful plan of action of the ads really extend the new Dominos brand to so much more. They have done an outstanding job of not being a 'one note song' of 'try the new formula' but rather drawn an entire picture for themselves as a transparent company that has direct communication with their users. If they can do this with 5,000 stores, what is your excuse?
Non-traditional interactivity is what new generations of users are looking for. If I have been asked once, I have been asked 1,000 times "Can we get on this Tweeter thing," but so rarely is there a great strategy put forth on HOW to utilize each of the unique benefits these tools provide as well as a solid process to actually grow those communities themselves. Typically big companies use these in the most traditional of senses and use these tools to talk TO their customers vs talking WITH these customers (a great example however of interesting usage is Jack in the Box....but this is a conversation for another day). Dominos has used connectivity of Facebook with the pizza tracker, Twitter feed feedback for users and SEVERAL online competitions and campaigns to receive the most real time and honest feedback they can. They are truly using each of these tools in tandem with each other vs looking at them as individual components then RESPONDING based on the information they receive (for instance, they were receiving several requests for "In Store Pickup" because of the recession and they tied in a new campaign to solidify the 'we are listening' message along with the transparency of 'come in and talk to Pam who just made your pizza')

At the end of the day, I think so many times we try to convince ourselves of the safest path possible for so many reasons. We try to believe that if we yell loud enough that our product is high quality without ACTUALLY changing anything that people will believe it. However, Dominos knew this wasn't the world we live in. If you NEED to make a change, do it and back it up. Doesn't mean hide the bad it means make things better and then really listen to users and try to respond. Everything won't be right every time, but for Dominos honesty was simply the best policy.

I think one of the most important things to walk away with is....during branding exercises I try to help people define the one word they want associated with their brand. The best defined brands simply have a feeling or singular word that users can articulate (Southwest - friendly, Countrytime Lemonade - summer, etc.) so just think about the one word shift that happened for Dominos because of their concentrated efforts from 'cardboard' to 'honest'.....not a bad move, eh?

When doing good turns bad....

Customers are not stupid. Making a rewards program, refund, return policies or any of these other rebate programs as difficult as possible to receive the benefit is pointless. Just think about it. Many times people make the customer jump through so many hoops just in the hope that many of them won't go through the whole process and they will have less overall payout costs. Frankly, if you don't want to pay/reward a customer for something than simply don't do it. You are better served at just spending the extra money in some form of customer service, brand development, product improvement or enhanced communication tool to make their overall experience better.

Think to yourself:

A) Am I purposely trying to get less people to go through this process?
Don't be a jerk man. You aren't fooling anyone if the person has to snail mail three different cut outs from the package, fill out two forms they downloaded online and a DNA sample just to get a $20 rebate card. Again, people aren't stupid. Making these programs so difficult are typically the most memorable interaction someone may have of your brand....and it won't be a good one. So here is a $20 bill, but you have to get a sucker punch in the face to receive it. Is it the same thing as giving me $20? Not exactly. Take the opportunity to truly make one of the most memorable interactions with your brand a positive one.

B) Would I go through these steps to receive this?
There has to be an assigned value to the effort vs reward, and they should equate. A good gauge for this is looking at the value of the end item I am receiving. For instance, if the end product is a trip to Europe for 3 weeks people are more likely to jump through a few hoops to get there because of the perceived value. However, if the end product is a free appetizer on your next visit or a $10 rebate card there is obviously a lot less the customer should or would do to receive this. Put yourself in their position and walk through the steps. At the end, how would you feel about your company? Now use one word to describe it. Is it a positive or negative?

C) Am I, as an organization, benefiting from the information I am receiving?
Don't just look at the payout cost for these programs and don't just do them to do them. Think about what you hope to accomplish with this campaign or rebate and how YOU will benefit from the offer. In the cost/benefit analysis for each of these programs, don't simply consider the cost to your team but also the value of the information from consumers you receive. Then make a plan to capitalize on that information. For instance if you are giving 15% off on a person's next in-store visit if they sign up for your email program, think about HOW you are going to maximize the value of receiving all those email addresses and take that into consideration when creating the program benefits.

Sometimes people think 'the thought is what counts' but make sure not only the thought but the intention for a program match up with how you want to be viewed as an organization. Every contact point you have with your customer is one more stitch in the fabric of how they view your company, but don't forget that all interactions are not created equal. An extremely positive OR an extremely negative experience could overshadow hundreds of other contact points. For instance...I have been in Nordstroms 100s of times, I am a member on their email list, have bought several things there and interacted with many of the customer service reps only to simply 'like' that store. One time I bought a pair of glasses and the next day I dropped them. When I took them up to Nordstroms to see if they had a repair service they simply said "go grab another pair." No questions, no hassles just 'go grab another pair.' This resonated with me so much that there have been SEVERAL occasions since then I have paid more money for the same product simply because of Nordstroms positive interaction, no hassle policy with their customers.

I simply think it is a valuable lesson in looking at how a single interaction can be extremely impactful when your customers are asking YOU for something. Whether that may be a refund, rebate or sale price, how will you respond?

Spotify Changes Lives....well at least my life

If you are not familiar with Spotify, you soon will be. I think I can say it best by Spotify::Pandora what Cell Phone::Pager. Spotify is an online music provider that connects your stationary and mobile devices to the giant online database of music available for online or offline listening on demand. This has been popular overseas but has quite recently completed its US debut. This is different from the Pandora model in that you can request specific songs/artists and create playlists vs the 'radio' model of providing a playlist based on keywords.

Marketing for the program has been somewhat underground in a series of invitation only memberships at first that have for the most part grown organically via Facebook and Twitter reposting then suggestion of friends via those outlets. The interface also pretty easily integrates with these social media tools using Facebook Connect (to show my other Facebook friends using Spotify, their playlists, share songs between us, etc) as well as retweeting or Facebook sharing and commenting on a song, album or artist via the desktop client or mobile app. This is even more apparent with the streaming updates involved in the new Facebook profile (to show the songs a user is listening to in real time and providing a scrolling list).

One of the reasons this is incredibly important is the ability to receive 'PAID' subscribers vs the non paid customers. For a limited time you can use the desktop client at no charge, but they bait you into buying the full service by restricting offline and mobile usage for only the paid customers...this is where they got me. Now I was a Pandora user for a LONG time, but somehow I was never even tempted to pay the 99 cents to be a paid customer. Does this make me a cheap person?? Well yes and no. While the advertising on Pandora was yes very annoying, the service itself was not worth it to me for the 99 cents even sans commercials. I became so frustrated as playlists became stale within days as the song rotation was nowhere near as deep as needed and time and time again I would want to listen to a particular song or listen to the same song again. I wanted CONTROL of the music vs being fed what they had.

Which brings me to my pager/cell phone comparison. Pandora's biggest sale was that you could control your radio service to play only the kind of music you liked (ie pagers biggest sale of being able to be contacted while still being mobile), but Spotify allows you to actual control all aspects of the music itself by being able to request specific songs, artists, playlists, genres and everything in between (ie in comes the cell phone that not only allows you to be contacted while being mobile but allowing you to actually communicate and respond to the contact).

It is probably for this reason that within the few months of the US release, they have already received over 400,000 PAID users at $10/month. I was happy to sign up for this even though it was 10 times the fee for Pandora. My reasoning, I buy more than 1 CD a month on iTunes for $10 so why not have ALL music for $10?

Which brings me to the drawbacks....first they need some serious help with the user interface, and I strongly suggest they make it easier for users to submit feedback! For the desktop client, it is certainly very dry looking and has some linear search issues that are a constant nag for me. The mobile app is worse because many of the playlists users have are several hundred songs long and are not searchable/sortable from within the playlist which is a huge oversight (this is certainly opening a space for competitors like Rdio with a sexier/American market application may gain headway).

But one of the biggest drawback... are they working from a bad business model to begin with? Similar to the Pandora model, as popularity for the music service grows so will the demands from the anemic music industry to capitalize on licensing fees. In the suit brought against Pandora for 'eleventy billion trillion gazillion dollars' (which did fail, but they have been successful in hiking the fees so drastically for Pandora that their profitability is pitiful at best considering their popularity), these industry moguls salivate over the potential earnings from licensing for music air time. Pandora must bump up the ad sales on their large number of non-paid users to bring in the money for licensing fees which in turn makes it a less pleasant experience for the listeners themselves (I personally got so tired of the same McDonalds ad over and over again that it made me search for an alternative service). I understand that I was a non paid user and the same reason that when I get water at a restaurant, they hand me the tiny cheap water cup...However, I am a believer that Pandora was in a perfect place to start adding in these features long ago with a HUGE client base already established, but they continued to stick to the same model vs trying to convert more non-paid to more paid using better offerings.

So will Spotify fall into the same trap? In my opinion, no. Spotify's model is based on paid users vs the other way around (they even imply in the fine print that the free service expires in roughly 6 months). I think this will encourage many people because of the services they are providing to make the switch to Spotify as their music resource. Where I believe this is brilliant...aside from my pre-spotify giant iTunes library (which all of your local files integrate with your Spotify libraries as well) all of the music that I have downloaded over the past few months has been via Spotify creating my library. In two months that consists of certainly a chunk of music, but imagine where that leaves me a year from now? Potential for hundreds of albums that require for me to keep up my Spotify account to retain them which will in turn encourage me to continue to pay the fee so I don't lose a years worth of music. Even if they don't remove the 'free' level service, it is unrealistic to have a music resource anymore that doesn't work in a mobile environment.

Curious if you agree...

What In N Out knows that Others Don't

So here is the magic trick... We take a seemingly identical product and put it in a completely over saturated marketplace at a low price. Let's add to this by providing only a handful of options for people to choose from and oh yeah....you can't advertise. So how would this concept not only work, but get people to wait over 3 hours for a fast food burger? Branding is the answer.

In N Out opened up not a stone's throw from my house, and I have been watching a line wrapped around the building from open to close for the past month (they have 3 on site cops at all times directing traffic and have roped off about a quarter of the entire strip center's parking lot). This included a few weeks ago while no lie tornado sirens were going off, but customers could not be deterred even during severe weather. So what's the big deal?

For starters, scarcity is definitely a big help to their mystique. In N Out has been slowly expanding where others would have grabbed at every opportunity to grow. To quote Rock N Rolla "Greed is blind, and it doesn't know when to stop." Most fast food concepts live by this model and made their mega-billions by this mass expansion once a concept has proven itself. In every town within a certain radius I can drive past 15 Jack in the Box/Burger King/McDonalds etc. and they become part of the white noise scenery of the city.

This is not to say that within the confines of California, In N Out has not received a sizable foothold, but a listing of all locations can still fit on a four page handout. The organization has explained lack of expansion due to the distance from its own meat processing facility. That's right, they make all of their own patties and deliver these daily to their stores. They even claim, "we don’t even own a microwave, heat lamp, or freezer."

Which brings us to the next point, quality. Whether this rational is true or not, it doesn't really matter. The seed is planted in people's brain they are receiving a much fresher higher quality cut of meat, fixins and fries. Don't underestimate the power of this. Perceived quality can be one of the biggest factors in what something actually tastes like to the consumers themselves. Don't believe me? Then make a restaurant with only white walls and dirty floors and ask people what they think of the food. It will actual change the taste for them even if it is only a mental reaction.

This brings us back to branding. I always tell my clients that taglines are one of the most useless things ever if you don't LIVE what you are actually claiming. Don't tell me you are funny, just make me laugh. In N Out's tag is "Quality you can taste".... nothing too flashy or amazing, but what is impressive is what they have managed to do with it. You hold out expansion because you REFUSE to hurt the quality of a $3 burger? Sounds weird when you say it like that, but it is all part of a mental image of the quality that I can expect when I go to In N Out (even if that quality is all in my head).

Another interesting piece of information about the In N Out cult following, they really take care of their people. There are some brands that we just simply like better because of a positive perception about how they treat their own.

The night before the big unveiling of In N Out I saw droves of cars all around the building. It looked like they were having a giant party, which I assumed would be composed of magazine writers, local foodies, news outlets and potentially some local big wigs. However, when I drove by I asked the cop what was going on.

He told me, "Oh In N Out is throwing a party for all of the staff and their families."

When I looked around, the massive crowd was filled with high school kids and their parents. I shook my head, smiled and drove away with a really good feeling. Whether we like to think so or not, how you treat and take care of your own team can have a huge effect on what people think about your brand externally (think Walmart...). In N Out knows the power of creating a dedicated and loyal group of individuals that actually think it is cool to work there within the new communities they join.

So what does all of this mean? I get asked all of the time if we do advertising, and In N Out is one of my favorite examples on why we don't. With a solid brand and well placed strategies for messaging (direct and perceived), expansion, look and feel and external communications, a well thought out brand is much more powerful and resonating than anything I can slap on a billboard. Why am I hungry all of the sudden?

Shopping for 1/2 Price Parachutes

If you're anything like me, you probably spend a good chunk of your daily life working. Whether it is staring at the computer screen, chatting with co-workers or burning the midnight oil, most of my day...my life is spent working. So, I better like the place, right?

I am one of the lucky people to LOVE what I do everyday (and I am not just saying that because my boss reads these). But I, like everyone else here has had a job that they absolutely cannot stand (please reference video 1). In today's job market, we take the 'beggars can't be choosers' mentality when it comes to salaries, but it seems we have had that mentality for a long time when it came to being choosy about WHERE we work.

Right out of the gate the most important things in people's minds is usually how much cash we make, the 401k plan, health insurance benefits and number of vacation days (this is an important one for those people who use every last sick day and vacation day in the bank to avoid their workplace at all costs). But most of the time we really need to be looking at things like the pet policy, if they have a beer Friday and how much you could learn while you are there.

Working at a job where you aren't growing, learning and evolving is wasting your precious time. If you work for a real idiot (please reference video 2) not only will you not learn anything, but you will dread that long drive to work even more. Even though it is a paycheck, being in a job where you aren't surrounded by people (boss and co-workers included) that both inspire and push who you are as an employee you are 1 step forward and 5 steps back from where you started. Use where you are (or where you're going) to become the most knowledgeable and desirable hire a company could hope for.

So don't trust the best and brightest years of your life to someone or some company who couldn't care less about you and your growth. Be as picky about where you work as you would be about a parachute. Life is too short to risk wasting 5, 10, 15 years hating every Monday morning. You spend way too much time there and you deserve better than a half price parachute.

cite: see also Seth Godin

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/be-careful-of-w.html

Get it while you can!

So the laws of supply and demand have been ingrained into our minds as the basic principles of the market. The point is to create that perfect equilibrium of providing just enough supply to meet the needs of your consumer (and the more consumers you can get, the more supply you need). Inevitably, businesses do the dance of determining this magic number and selling as many widgets as the market will support. That is....unless you are Tony de Maria's.

For anyone that has been to (or more likely, pass through) Waco, Texas you know there is not much there. Keep in mind, I do love that town, but I can easily see how people wouldn't look there for lessons in branding. However, if you have ever had a chance to stop by one of my favorite places, Tony de Maria's, you'll see what I mean.

It is Friday at 12:15 pm and a line wraps around the small building. You can see a crowd of approaching customers fill with disappointment as they see the 'SOLD OUT' sign being placed in the parking lot window and turn back to their cars with a hungry belly. For the regulars, they start arriving at 11:15 usually to solidify their meal.

If you are punctual enough to grab a meal, you can get inside the shabby bbq shack. You have a simple choice of a few different meats, a couple sides and a big ole helping of some home cooked southern deserts. You can then grab a big soda and shimmy in between some other customers on the big community benches. Some of the staff come by and bring you full loaves of thick bread and meat grease to dip your sandwiches in. As you sit there and work your way through the mound of bbq covering your wax paper, you can look at all the old faded family photos that cover the walls depicting the history of the joint, and wonder to yourself if you have stumbled across heaven.

So you might ask yourself, if they sell out everyday why don't they just make a lot more meat? Well, simple as this, they don't really want to because they don't really have to. They have a set amount of money they want to make to keep the place going and live a good life. Once they sell the amount they need everyday...you are out of luck. Seems crazy to our 'more more more, sell sell sell' mentality, but I can tell you that it has given them some die hard fanatical fans. People will wait outside in the rain to get a chance to eat here, and honestly I can't blame them. So in the land of plenty, creating a bit of scarcity has made this place a Waco phenomenon. But I will recommend you get there early, lest you be turned away by the famous "SOLD OUT" sign.

Musical Memory

During lunch today we were talking about the "state song" we learned in grade school. You remember this, you sing each of the states in alphabetical order to a tune and this helps children to commit all 50 to memory. Looking back, we did this for all sorts of things: capitals, countries, multiplication tables, even the alphabet is a song (you must admit that in your mind you hum this tune when going through the alphabet even to this day). Using music is a great way to apply things to memory. I used to know several bits of Shakespeare by heart, be able to rattle off all of the major historical dates within American history etc. but through the years I forget and they all become fuzzy. However, I can still sing every last word of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' even if I haven't heard it in years.

In advertising, it's no surprise the same thing happens. Think about your favorite commercials. What were they advertising? Most of the time, people can't quite remember. It was some light beer but was it Miller Lite or Bud Light....can't remember? Companies spend billions to make their ad popular, but being popular does not equate to being remembered.

One of the methods for remembering a company through commercials and radio is the age old jingle. Love them or hate them, you have to admit years after a campaign you can still hum the jingle for so many brands. From the very first jingle (supposedly Wheaties "Have you tried Wheaties") to some of the newest jingles like "I'm lovin it," it helps people to have a consistent point of reference throughout various campaigns. It isn't as important that a single commercial was funny if it is not reminding all of the users of the brand with a certain formula. These jingles become a greater and more powerful extension than a tagline alone and have staying power in the minds of your audience. So even though these things get stuck in my head to the point of madness, I can't help but think "Oscar Meyer" when I'm buying b-o-l-o-g-n-a.

Pepsi "You got the right one baby"

Mentos "The Freshmaker"

Klondike "What would you do for a Klondike bar?"

It's a small world after all

From CNN to ESPN, websites have taken on a new shape over the past few years. Mobile websites are becoming the way users connect to their favorite sites and search new information. This is nothing new to people, but it might come as a surprise how pervasive this medium has become. More and more people are accessing the web through their phones as their numbers have more than doubled in the past few years. I'm sure this is the first of many blogs regarding the mobile world and how it will change the face of client interaction and advertising, but I think it might be helpful to start on what to look for in a mobile website.

Typically people use mobile web applications for anything from checking their email to checking the news, mainly on sites they frequent daily. It is becoming less of a luxury and more of a regular part of doing business for those organizations that have high frequency traffic on their full website. SO what does it take for an easy to use mobile website? This list is certainly not 'all inclusive' but when accessing the web via your mobile device, here are some things to look for and expect.

First, extremely stripped down graphics. These guys aren't going to blow you away with bells and whistles. They want to keep everything with low graphic downloads as well as minimize the clutter overload for the user. Because as you can imagine, this is not only for display quality but also that the user is accessing the internet via 'best case' a 3G network connection. So the smaller the download the better.
There should also be cut down navigation elements within the site. For instance many people keep the mobile version of their sites to about 5 tabs in order for quick browsing by using a more tabular approach.
Also, all of the most important information for the user needs to be placed at the top of the page. Because of the small vertical space and difficulty for many mobiles to scroll, you want to make sure your users are seeing the valuable information first.
Another item to remember, it is difficult to type typically from a mobile device (especially while eating and putting on makeup while driving). Mobile sites should utilize lists to choose from or auto content completion technology for text areas to ease usability.

If you have a site that you visit all the time on your mobile phone that does not have a mobile specific version, there have been new applications that translate the website into a more friendly version for your mobile. Check out http://www.skweezer.com. This will automatically reformat websites to fit in the smaller display of your mobile phone and removes the clutter so you can easily view and browse through the site quickly. Not a 100% answer, but no fear I feel it won't be too long until most high traffic sites will have a mobile ready version for you.

Magic Paper?

Personally and in the business world, sustainability is a larger and larger issue in our daily lives. This is imperative both for the future of the planet and the future of our businesses (as now creating green friendly programs are becoming less of an option and more of a necessary part of doing business). Together, the world is trying to discover more efficient and effective ways to control our carbon footprint and decrease the amount of waste we produce in everyday work activity. With the entry to the digital age, the percentage of physical prints both in office activity and marketing have been greatly decreased. However, there is still the ongoing need of tangible documents for a multitude of applications within the daily workplace.

If we must print, let's print smart! Studies show that nearly 40% of all pages printed are discarded within the first 24 hours. To combat this issue, Xerox has created a new way to print in order to create truly re-usable paper, or what they term as "erasable paper". The secret: they have discovered a method of printing with light onto the page. Then the compound reacts to certain wavelengths of light that are natural within your environment. As the paper absorbs these wavelengths the color changes and the ink will seem to gradually fade. Within 24 hours the page will again be completely blank and ready for its next usage (to instantly erase the paper, all you need is heat). This can create several prints to be distributed throughout the office and re-cycled time and time again.

Unfortunately, you can't go buy this printer/paper now. Xerox is still within the development stage of creating the concept for full commercial use. But you can't help but think of the amazing impact a product like this would create. I try to encourage people to utilize digital resources as much as possible and avoid physical printing if possible, but this product can bring the best of both worlds. You get the convenience of printed pieces (for absorption of complex information and increased data retention) and the eco benefits of truly re-usable paper. Bravo Xerox!

** additional source treehugger.com

Google Battles Microsoft?

Chances are if you have ever used a computer 'Google' is a very familiar term for you. From the humble beginnings of what was originally a dissertation topic for Larry Page, the incredible search engine was created and quickly changed everything. It is now how we navigate through the infinite abyss of information that is the internet. While others have emerged over time to compete, Google still maintains over 60% of the total searching marketplace ahead of others like Yahoo and MSN. Their algorithm continues to evolve in the unceasing effort for the best and most relevant search results in the industry. I know because I found all of the information above using, you guessed it, Google.

So what does this have to do with Microsoft? Well I'll tell you. Google has recently announced they have created a new web browser utilizing their 'no nonsense' approach to graphics and perfectly balanced simplicity in functionality. This will go head to head in many consumer's minds with the release of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8. Both of these browsers have released the beta versions in order to test out the system and gain user feedback, so feel free to go check it out (both are free).

What can you expect? The biggest difference, the overall graphic role a browser has on its contents. Google takes the approach of providing a minimalist housing for your websites while IE 8 has more of a CNN ticker tape banner approach around the content. No right or wrong here, just comes down to preference. A big visual difference is having tabs ABOVE the address bar and removing all but a handful of essential commands (the user has an address bar, back/forward capability, refresh, and two very simple menus for copy, pasting, new tabs, etc.).

But the tabs aren't just for looks alone, I myself am a Firefox user. Typically I run at least 8-15 tabs at a time (I know, I know). The issue that I have had in the past with Firefox is if a single tab fails, it brings everything down (this also occurs in IE). Google Chrome prevents this by isolating each of the tabs so if one goes down, no fear. The remainder of your sites should stay up without a problem. The new release of IE 8 also utilizes this technology (however the tabs remain below the address bar).

One of the reasons I see our team and potentially many graphic/interactive firms converting to the Chrome browser is the pure representation it gives the artwork and applications within sites. Although, we have trained ourselves to ignore the surrounding window portal that is our browser, it seems to be taking up more and more space. With additional menu tabs, favorites, history, headlines etc etc our tool bar continues to grow and build a thicker frame around websites. After all, websites are pieces of art, and this just might be the 'purist' way to view them.

Unfortunately, I can't use the Google Chrome everyday to test it out as (sorry Mac lovers) the betas are only available for PC. Google has not yet completed the Mac or Linux based versions for the browser. While I understand the market share implications of systems for PC vs Mac (PC holds nearly 90% of the market), I think it is unfortunate that the initial release did not include a Mac version. Mac users are typically the early adopters of secondary/alternative systems and using sites like Digg.com and TWiT.tv, they are typically the most likely users to build the buzz and attention for these systems. Mac users are a lot of why browsers like Firefox became so popular in the first place.

Overall, I say touche Google. Like the approach, and maybe this will help us get back to our web browser roots a bit. I can't wait for the Mac version to come out and really get a good feel for the new browser. But now the biggest question remains, will the Google Chrome logo dress up on the holidays like Google's? I sure hope so.

Frogs are an acquired taste...

My personal thoughts on "Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy."

As someone constantly plagued with a to-do list 8 pages long that slowly but steadily continues to grow, any advice that makes my list less daunting is greatly appreciated. For the most part, time management principals have never really helped me very much. Even as I become more efficient with my time, the list continues to grow nevertheless and there never seems to be enough time. I can't help but think of David Gilmour singing my feelings exactly "And you run and run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking....racing around to come up behind you again." It is something that I have heard myself and others say countless times as an unending list of tasks surround our busy lives, "so much to do and so little time."

According to Brian Tracy, this does not have to be the case. The problem is not that we have too much to do, but that we are going about what items and the order of those items on our list all wrong. This is where my favorite point from the book comes in, the idea that, "there is NEVER enough time to do everything but there is ALWAYS enough time to do the most important things." He also points out that usually the most important things on our to-do list (the things that could make the largest positive effect on our lives) are the very items that we procrastinate on the most because of their size or difficulty. Thus enters the frog analogy...

Mark Twain once said, "if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long."

Sounds pretty gross, I know. But to tell you the truth it is a great piece of advice and it has changed the way I organize my day. By identifying and 'devouring' your frog first thing every day, you will see the greatest results from what you accomplish. This prevents you from procrastinating using easier, less important tasks to consume your day. Being busy does not mean you aren't being lazy! Be effective by identifying these most important tasks and motivate yourself to push through them to completion.

Tracy uses a list of several tips in his book that allow you to identify your frogs, organize them and execute these objectives in way that is more efficient and satisfying. A highly suggested read for everyone, but I will give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of my favorite highlights from the book.

Start each day by identifying the most important task for that day and work on it unceasingly until it is completely done. If you have multiple frogs for that day, eat the biggest, ugliest frog first. Just get it over with! Once you start, it is much easier to keep going, and once it is complete you feel a rush of gratification. Avoid being tempted by clearing up smaller, less important tasks first. Checking your email first thing when you get into the office can be an addiction, but focus on getting your frog done first and do not deviate!
Prepare before you begin. As a strategic firm, everything we do has a definitive plan of action, the foundation is key. We can bring that dedication to all tasks client or non-client related. Before you start any task, clear your desk (throw away the 20 empty Red Bull cans too) and only put the items you will need in front of you. Get all files, papers, research, etc. in front of you. Don't give yourself an excuse after you have started to get side tracked looking for things. Also plan out on paper all of the items within the project you will need to accomplish the goal, and steadily move through your plan.
Constantly ask yourself throughout your day "Am I being productive?" This isn't a question of "am I playing around on YouTube" this is a question of are you working on tasks that will have the biggest positive effect on your life rather than smaller unimportant tasks first.
Create scheduled time blocks dedicated to a particular important task. For large long-term projects or ongoing projects, schedule blocks of time to shut off everything and focus unceasingly on that objective. By having a dedicated time block for that activity you are more likely to stay on track and get more done.
Determine your prime time for activity. Years ago, I never would have believed that I would be a morning person, but slowly I have discovered early in the morning is my most productive time (I blame Starbucks). For some people the wee hours of the morning are the most effective times for your work (mainly my techy developers). Identify when you are most effective and take full advantage of this knowledge.
Use the Swiss Cheese Method. Especially for some of our larger projects, we can be working on an objective for years. It is best to break big tasks down into smaller pieces, and complete these individually. You won't get overwhelmed by the enormity of the project, but rather accomplish the individual chunk of the task at hand.
Put deadlines on yourself (arbitrary or not). Now anyone that has been to college can tell you a thing or two about procrastination, they're experts. The idea you have all semester to write a paper, but somehow wait until the day before and you find yourself up all night with empty beef jerky packages and a bottle of NoDoz. Even in our adult life, we find ourselves doing this. Because of inaction on these important tasks we find ourselves rushing to finish and sacrificing the quality of our end product in the process. Put deadlines on yourself (AND KEEP THEM) by planning out each step of a project and scheduling them accordingly. Put the pressure on.
Learn to say no to unimportant tasks. That's right Lumbergh, I won't file that TPS report. Identify unimportant and unnecessary tasks and simply say no. Eliminate them from your list because they are getting in the way of tasks that can really make a difference.
Sharpen the saw and be the brightest Crayon in the box. Be an expert! Whether it is reading at home, listening to audio books in traffic, attending conferences or speaking with a mentor, learn the skills that make you a leader in your field.

So I would highly recommend this book for everyone that suffers from the same overwhelming to-do list issues I have had. Of course, this won't answer all of your questions for evaluating your time. We can't always "ignore" lower level tasks as he discusses in the book. However, if you want to make a big difference in the IMPACT of what you do each day, listen to Brian Tracy and just Eat That Frog.... figuratively speaking of course.