This is what getting Dugg looks like. I've seen other graphs-- getting Dugg appears to be more pain than value, unless you are monetized out the wazoo on CPM advertising. You are a a content site, everyone comes to look at that one bit of content, then leaves never to return. Two weeks later, the large scary hosting bill comes.
Meanwhile, you pick up a handful of new readers, but the needle doesn't really move. There have been a number of articles about how StumbleUpon delivers the goods over time far better than Digg, but not often they point out that StumbleUpon, unlike Digg doesn't usually cost you money because the increased traffic is spread out over time, so server boost required. I suppose your could make a viable business out of it if you could get Dugg regualrly, thus the "digg this" widgets. I wonder how often that works for folks who aren't the New York Times.
That said, we've come up with a policy at PublicSquare where we don't charge you for getting Dugg -- a one day spike doesn't change your costs. No one should have to suffer just because they get popular for a day.
From Recovering Journalist: Backfence: Lessons Learned
Trust the audience. We were asked all the time, mostly by nervous journalists, how we avoided having Backfence become a nasty free-for-all. There were many answers: We installed profanity filters, required registered membership to post or comment, asked members to use their real names and put "report misconduct" buttons on every post and comment. But most of all, we trusted the audience to do the right thing—and invariably it did.
I recently learned an old programming mantra -- trust but verify-- originated with Ronald Regan. I'm not sure how well it worked for him, but in social media design, it's the way to go. We baked it in to PublicSquare; you can see when people logged in and who touched what files last, but our permissions look laughably lightweight compared to any CMS (admittedly draconian next to a wiki, but we are aiming to strike a middle road.)
I also wanted to note the required registration on commenting. This is, in my opinion, a good thing. But not widely agreed upon. I'd love to hear if anyone out there has gathered data on this.
blog.pmarca.com: The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 2: When the VCs say "no"
If you're an investor, you look at the risk around an investment as if it's an onion. Just like you peel an onion and remove each layer in turn, risk in a startup investment comes in layers that get peeled away -- reduced -- one by one.Your challenge as an entrepreneur trying to raise venture capital is to keep peeling layers of risk off of your particular onion until the VCs say "yes" -- until the risk in your startup is reduced to the point where investing in your startup doesn't look terrifying and merely looks risky.
As a entrepreneur, one of the hardest things you'll do is raise money. Over and over again, you are telling your dream and people poke holes in it. You can't help but start to feel resentful-- 'why don't they see the big picture! This will change everything.' Marc does a good job of allowing you the one thing you need to negotiate: perspective.
Printers Inc Cafe
(650) 323-3347
320 S California Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94306
On California, there are only a few spots to work, and Starbucks is one. But no worries, Printer's Cafe is large, airy, comfortable and recently came to their senses and started offering wifi for free. The food is uneven, but soup and sandwiches are usually satisfying. There are as many students and moms as tech workers, and it lends to a more relaxed atmosphere than the university avenue pitching haunts.
Power: a couple, one hidden under the wooden bench
Wifi: yes
VC spotting: rare
"Our assembly should not be deluded by the integrity of their own purposes, and conclude that these unlimited powers will never be abused, because themselves are not disposed to abuse them. They should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government, and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same on every side of the Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the same causes. The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold on us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered."
- Thomas Jefferson
from The Evolving Design of OPEN Social Sharing Networks: Bookmooch, Magnatune, and the Future of Shared Passions, a terrific talk at Baychi by John Buckman. He posits that behavior can be managed via full transparency. "I know where you live."
From the brilliant blog.pmarca.com
I have removed all comments. I just don't have time to provide the level of moderation needed to ensure a respectful and relevant conversation.
And why should he have to? Why not use reputation and flagging to allow the community to moderate itself? I hate to see yet another example of "conversational media" go broadcast only just because we have immature tools. Time to switch to PublicSquare
I saw Sicko last night. I have many many thoughts on it, but I think I'll restrain myself to a anecdote.
My younger cousin and I were traveling across France together, and as we prepared to go into Lascoux (the reproduction caves), she said, "I think I might have an ear infection. I get them a lot."
When she emerged, she was glassy-eyed with agony. We drove down to the tiny village at the foot of the mountain, and headed to the first giant green cross we saw. "The pharmacy will help you. They always do." I said.
"I don't think so, I think I'll need a prescription." She went up to the pharmacist and in her formal college French requested assistance. He replied, and she burst into tears. She pleaded and he shrugged. She explained to me (my street French having never had to incorporate words like "ear infection") that she had to go to the doctor for a prescription. Imagining she'd be in pain for days until they fit her in, she cried to him to please just help her. He called the doctor instead, and told her she just needed to walk across the square to see him.
"When?"
"Now."
We walked across the square and entered the doctor's office where, to our great surprise, only one other person was waiting. A moment later, she was swept in by the doctor himself (no nurse was on duty), and we idled in the small and sunny room speculating on what it would cost us, foreigners not covered by the state. About 15 minutes later, we were ushered into a room that was more living room than examination room. It was also sunny, with the disturbing machinery tucked away in the far end, and the doctor's desk and comfy chairs at the other.
The doctor examined her, wrote a prescription for an ear infection, and then turned to tell us sadly that we would have to pay because we weren't in the system. He was deeply apologetic, and as Katy started to tense up, I told her don't worry, I've got my credit card. Then he gave us the bill. It was 20 euros. About 25 bucks. I put away my credit card and pulled out a 20 euro bill.
We walked back to the pharmacy, and they were closed for lunch. Rather than drive to another nearby (French laws require a pharmacy be open at all times, but they tend to take turns), Katy napped in the car while I walked around the charming village. I eyed the closing times of restaurants nervously, stomach growling. They all closed promptly at 2:30, like every other restaurant in France. It's hard to eat formally between 2 and 7 -- miss the window and its casse-croute* for you!.
The pharmacy opened 45 minutes later, and we got the medicine and were able to get to a lunch spot overlooking the river before the restaurant closed! Katy nibbled her crepe and drank her wine, feeling better every moment. It's funny how just possession of a cure often makes you feel better.
When I think of the famous annoyances of France such as everything shutting down between 12-2, and compare it to America where we are too scared to visit a doctor even when we are in pain, I can't help but feel we've made some poor choices in our life. Watching Michael Moore walking down the rues of Paris in his baseball cap, asking himself the same thing while my (French) husband dissolved into giggles next to me I felt anger than amusement. How did we let the corporations buy our government from us and brainwash us into thinking it was okay.
On the drive home, Philippe reminded me that it has a price. In France, small businesses can barely survive, new businesses can rarely get started because the obligation to employees is so crushing. But I look at Canada, full of many of my favorite start-ups and people and think, we didn't have to give it all away. If you cut off a finger, you shouldn't have to wonder if you can afford to get it sewed back on; if your baby has a fever you should be able to have a doctor see her even if you don't have insurance. Somewhere there is a middle ground.
* snacks, literally "break bread"
On a morning bike ride, I was pondering pricing. I often ponder pricing. It strikes me as a bit of a black art. But it's easy to understand on a grad scale. The larger the market the lower the price. I noticed this with books. A book Philippe might buy on X-Ray diffraction is $150; meanwhile I just bought a detective novel for $5.99. Everyone who does something in business is aiming to make enough money to make the effort profitable; preferably very profitable. Therefore you have a formula that is something like $x=effort/#sold.
For example, a designer writes a whitepaper and it takes him him 3 weeks. He charges 100 dollars an hour. That means he needs to make $12000K to break even (considering most tech books give you a 10K advance, take 9 months + to write and never make over the advance, one should never write books to make money. you make money by double your rates as soon as your published; but that's another story.)
Now he has to figure out how much to sell the whitepaper. So now it gets tricky-- how big is the market for this whitepaper? How much of that market can he capture? Let's say it's a paper on some advanced taxonomy thingie. He does the homework and discovers there are 20,000 IA's out there. But his paper is advanced-- maybe only 10% are interested. 2000 might buy it, so he needs to charge 6 bucks a pop to break even. But what if that market is even smaller-- some IA's don't speak English, some he can't reach effectively since he has no marketing chops. What if it's realistically more like 1%? Now the report is $60 to break event. and he wants to make a profit of course. Now the white paper is $120 bucks. And that (as I turn around and begin to bicycle down hill) explains one mystery in my life (why whitepapers are so darn expensive).
Next I start thinking about products, in particular CMS's. Now, leaving out other factors you can see why Vignette is (if you have to ask you can't afford it) and why typepad is 5 bucks a month. But I started to wonder why Vignette and friends are so darn hard to use, and why typepad is dead easy. And then the obvious sprang up and bit me on the nose; typepad has to be dead easy or else they are dead. Their entire pricing model is based on hundreds of thousands of users using it. Meanwhile the giants of ECM continue to lumber along the sales cycle, and sell to a company something for thousands of dollars afterward everyone trots off to training. There is no reason the big ECM has to be unusable, but then again there is no reason for them to be usable either. It's a small market, they do what has to be done, and with an investment that large training doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Anyhow, if you think about it, there does seem to be a inverse relationship of price to usability I find intriguing, and I'm pretty sure is tied to adoption. Now I'm off to work on my pricing worksheet (from the marvelous Four Steps to the Epiphany) and looking forward to any insights you-all might have.
Cheers!
Admittedly a difficult name to decipher, it is pronounced Wood-Key. Nonce, I'm impressed he came up with three alternatives to that choice.
I'm incredibly flattered I'm quoted, I realize I shouldn't be so arch. It's a bit weird to be interpreted. The "pants" entry was my last foray into people taking my words and viewing it as the impending death of IA; here I'm a sign that IA is bigger than design. I can't say I would make the analogy of IA is to design as architect is to construction worker; I'm in the camp of IA is to design as architect is to design. But then, I'm not sure I'd make that statement wearing a pig mask on Halloween either, so viva la difference!
two guys trying to find two girls. they've got to be perfect. most aren't.
I find myself saving my last cookie for her. A really nice one with three different kinds of Belgian chocolate. One that is making my mouth flood just by thinking about it. One that the baker must have cradled like a new born baby, kissed and loved.
Redcanary is the latest site to move to PublicSquare. It's gorgeous, and truly a showcase of what you can do if you roll up your sleeves and get in the templates... plus it's chock-full of wonderful information for tech professionals! Check it out!
Blogging is less satisfying *and* less effective than being with a group. I had coffee with Shel the other day, and he admitted that many bloggers he know were seeing their numbers go flat or drop. But groups have always out performed individuals, no matter how august the individual. Take my baby, Boxes and Arrows. The (arguably) four most prestigious IA's can't touch B&A's numbers.
(Note: mapped it a second time with peterme, and he's in the pack with the rest of us little fellows.)
And the same holds true for A List Apart and its very famous founder, Jeffrey Zeldman
It would be silly of me to even bother mapping a mommyblogger to parent soup or babycenter. Groups do better. Every member is also a writer, a fan, a marketeer a copyeditor a bugtracker-- there is power in the people, and more people more power.
There is a rising backlash against the lack of trustworthiness found in current citizen journalism; i.e. bloggers. Previous posts capture some of the frustration against un-fact-checked, biased, half-truthed, corporate shills and the rest of the rubble that makes ordinary people's lives actually worse. I've also blogged about the mess anonymous comments and posts can create from spam to trolls to actual cyberstalking. It's time for responsibility and reputation.
What if there is a middle group? What if we can combine editorial insight with the collective wisdom fo the crowds? Do these two really have to be opposed? I think the future will take the best of old media and new, and create a far more participatory and engaging BUT trustworthy generation of publication, and in the best scenario that will also include Karl's Printshop down the street allowing his customers to give each other advice on how to make chapbooks and posters.
From Google blogger slams Michael Moore’s Sicko
Turner, writing in Google's new Health Advertising Blog, which was officially launched in June, opens chides Moore's new investigative documentary by saying that it "attacks health insurers, health providers and pharmaceutical companies by connecting them to isolated and emotional stories of the [health] system at its worst." She also goes on to accuse Moore of portraying the medical and pharmaceutical industries as being "money and marketing driven" while failing to focus in on "interest in patient well-being and care," throughout the film.A related Forbes report relays that Turner's suggestion that health care companies battle the criticisms levelled at the industry by Moore's latest movie by investing in Google ads that would be shown over "Sicko" search results has not been well received by the blog community.
