The pickled egg

This typepad iPhone app could have been so cool....sigh

Testing clp.ly super bookmarklet

Clipped from: vimeo.com by clp.ly

 

Thoughts? Clp.ly seems to combine URL shortening services of Bit.ly with bookmarklet services of any blogging service - esp Tumblr. Is any one else using this and what do you think? Working out whether this service can fly.

When the community super hero swoops in to save the day

It only takes one person to start a negative vibe on a comment thread. Once one person has crossed the  threshold suddenly others feel emboldened to pipe up too and before you know if they have the fence sitters reconsidering their position

It's important to remember that the vocal minority are not representative - lovers or haters - they are not the ones you should listen to. But it's hard. When you work hard to put a good news message across and then someone steps into the breach to call BULL SHIT. Suddenly the mood sours and the comments that follow tend to be a little more cautious in their praise.

So every once in a while someone else  - who is not being paid, who owes you nothing steps in and says the things you may have had on your mind but of course you were not allowed to say. I maintain an open policy on what can stay on the blog where negative comments are concerned. In the same light when someone comes in strong to stick up for us, I am also open.

Today Werner Patels made himself heard and it was great to feel like there was someone on our side! Werner is not the only supporter of course - there are others too, who I will go out of my way to help when they need it.

So thanks Werner - may your day be beautiful and bright! and p.s. loved your post on the UK elections!

I am what I do: why Foursquare is my kind of status update

I recently posted about my iphone catch up - and move away from last year's model.

One the reasons i finally overcame my 2 year contract commitment anxiety and bit the bullet was to understand more about smart phone technology and new trends (OK just new to me:) ) like FourSquare.

In my humble opinion Foursquare has the potential to be the most widely adopted form of blogging or micro blogging. It combines some of the most compelling aspects of any network I have come across.

1) It allows me to update my status in the most authentic way possible - "I am here".

Without too much thought I can define who I am and what my state of mind is by the places I visit and the things I do. I don't have to spend too long thinking about something witty to say, (occasionally a challenge I will admit) My update is not over thought - it's just a fact. Think what you like. It also hopefully means that my Facebook newsfeed can be free of the all the "SFO to JFK" and "sitting in Golden Gate park" type clutter. There's now a place for locating my buddies - and that's Foursquare.

2) It's grrrreat for business.

Enabling businesses small and large to incentivize customers to behave in a certain way is really big news and it doesn't feel like selling your soul - it's just for fun.

3) It's good for finding people

How many times have you discovered you were in the same place as a friend and you didn't spot them.  At an ad:tech event last night they weren't handing out name tags  - but foursquare gave me a picture and a name of the people there - pretty cool.

4) It's so fun

Who doesn't love a contest? I know from the TypePad blog that the challenge of a contest and the promise of prizes drives far greater engagement than ones without. It's basic psychology that we love rewards and acknowledgment, and guess what - it's doesn't have to be tangible - just public rewards. Foursquare taps into this beautifully, with creative and interesting awards that have people going out of their way to win. Last night my beau checked into every location around our house until he finally became the mayor of international Cash-u-check in the Mission. I'm so very proud! ha!

The Foursquare concept is so easy to grasp and the benefits, both customer and commercial, are so great, that I can see this becoming widely adopted far beyond the tech alleys and valleys. It's a great example of tech as the enabler rather than tech for tech's sake, a wonderful meeting place of on and offline activity.

...and that's why I love Foursquare.

Twitter COO: “Promoted Tweets Are Not Ads”

Twitter CEO Evan Williams and Twitter COO Dick Costolo have once again taken the stage at the Chirp Conference in San Francisco, California to speak about one of the biggest questions plaguing users: how will Twitter make money?

via mashable.com

Oh really? Not ads? Why not?  Twitter is intent on dressing this up as something else. The truth is that ads have a crappy rep for irrelevance, disruption and spam. But Twitter have the opportunity here to join a new advertising category - conversational ads. Ads that engage, inspire, drive conversation and interaction and all without grating on the targeted person. If delivered intelligently and respectfully ads can enrich an experience rather than distract. I hope Twitter manage to deliver this in a way that will build and enhance the community.

Whether it's blog posts, tweets, sponsored events - these are all ads, but advertisers are more open to creating genuine value from their contribution rather than just spray and pray communications of before. This combined with careful curation from an editor should result in a win for everyone. So why be ashamed of this label? Honesty is the best policy. There is some serious re-education required and Twitter have an opportunity to lead the way,

The community high

I am now beginning to understand why community manager's stick with it. Just as the direct blows to your responses or blog posts can take you out and towards the bottle, it's also true that the comments and enthusiasm of strangers can make your day.

On Tuesday we set up a giveaway on the blog, something we don't do very often. The prizes were not huge - a copy of TypePad for Dummies  - a book written by two TypePad Bloggers.

I tried to be as creative and engaging as possible - the contest was - Tell us what your for Dummies book would be about and you could win a free copy. The contest idea clicked with our bloggers - it allowed them to state their area of expertise - something most bloggers leap at the chance to do.

So, the post went out, we cross posted to Twitter, the Facebook community were updated, I contacted the publishers to help us fuel the fire and authors also stepped in with tweets that were retweeted by their followers. And then we capped it off with a mention in the monthly newsletter. We were reblogged and favorited around the community.

 

We received nearly 400 comments. My inbox was a war zone for days. And then this appeared from the publisher - Wiley, this morning.

I owe the TypePad community a huge thank you. Last week was rough. This week I am back on side!

Purple Wren comes to Six Apart and shows us the Pink Glove Dance

via www.purplewren.com

Sandy Renshaw is a great blogger and blog design expert who uses TypePad for herself and her clients. She came to visit Six Apart HQ today in San Francisco from Des Moines. It was a pleasure to meet her.

She shared this wonderful video with us and thought it was a perfect example of a medium sized business - in this case a hospital,creating compelling content that can be taken viral across social channels. Cheap to produce, fun to make, it portrays a very human, open and warm  side to what can be an intimidating environment. And it aligns itself with a great cause - I would give this a 10 and I am already dreaming up  a similar thing for Six Apart. Watch this space - and Six Aparters - watch out - there may be latex involved!

 

Oh boy! Indulging in awesome iPhone catch up

For too long now I have proudly followed the last year's model philosophy when it came to mobile phones. Yesterday I bought an iPhone, now I realize just how in the dark ages I have been. This has been the most anti social weekends of my life but boy has it been fun

Lessons from the community

I have recently taken on responsibility from the mighty Ginevra of community management for TypePad. These are some pretty big shoes to fill especially as I am adding this ball to the ones already in the air.

I am working through it and picking up some pretty good "Thou shalt nots" of managing a community. Community management is still a growing art - our recent hiring spree for a experienced community manager didn't lead us very far - so here I am learning the hard way  - I am hoping I can offer some insight into where the traps lie to save others falling.

So today's lesson is Favorites. A community manager (hence forth CM - my fingers are tiring) has a nurturing aspect that is not dissimilar to that of a parent or teacher. No matter how little you feel your customers feel for you there will be some among them who actually do care and look for your approval with each engagement.

My Error: Opening a post with "There is a great discussion going on today over on one of our favorite blogs xxx about the ethics of advertising on blogs etc etc". This was good informative, relevant content I thought. errr. think again.

Community response: "That's so unfair, you shouldn't have favorites, why am I not your favorite?"

My reaction: Holy Moly!

Lesson: don't be too flippant with words. Print can lose a lot of nuance. Sensitivity around exclusivity and rejection run deep. I won't be playing favorites again too soon!

Your company is already social you just never had to pay attention before

I was at Omma Global in San Francisco this morning, where I attended a panel "Media agencies: making social really work for clients".

Although well chaired, I often struggle with panels - the conversation rarely builds into anything earth shattering and I often get the impression that these people are talking into an echo chamber, especially when hosted in San Francisco. (On a separate note, more than 3 panelists is a bad idea. Panelists should not have to fight to answer your question and you never need more than 3 perspectives on the issue.)

As I drifted off to the buzz of jargon "synergistic leverage of interaction models in the social graph blahblah) a question came from the crowd

    "How do you get companies or clients to adjust to this new social activity from their customers?"

The answer came clear and articulate from the panel

    This is not new activity. For as long as business has existed it has been social. Customers have always     talked about products and services, not only to their friends but also to the company. The issues is now     they are doing this publicly over the web. So whereas before what was said in the call center stayed in     the call center, now companies have to not only listen but share and respond.  Any customer service         representative will tell you that social is not a new concept. - the shift is that now the marketing teams     actually HAVE to listen to customers rather than ad agencies alone.

Hallelujah for straight talking! Forget the hype. Let's talk in terms corporations can understand they will soon get the picture.