No Longer Haunted By The Question

Vague title right? Jason Alba at JibberJobber used an old post, "A Question That Haunts Me Wherever I Go", to make some points today about being able to communicate what you do, and who you are. At the time I wrote that post, I really was struggling with an identity, and an ego. "You should know me!" I exclaimed. Wow was I wrong. It was all my fault,...

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The Coach Who Never Punts

Apply this type of attitude to business, and life, and you'll be a winner for sure. This video should be shared with everyone from the mail room to the board room."There are those kinds of people that want to be different because they just want to be different, and there are those kinds of people that want to be different because they are looking for something to help them be more successful." ... beautiful.This coach takes a calculated risk every time he goes out on the field. He knows the percentages, who knows the odds;...

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Amazon Prices J.K. Rowling's New Book Sky High

Checked out J.K. Rowling's new book The Casual Vacancy on Amazon today. Just wanted to see what the reader ratings were, and what the price would be. And to my surprise, the Amazon Kindle version at the time of this writing was $17.99. What the? I guess you can no longer justify the cost of an e-reader as a way to buy cheaper books. Publishers have...

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Why Don't We Use Career Managers?

Just throwing this out there for discussion Generally a professional sports athlete hires a manager to negotiate contracts and details with teams the athlete plays for. Why? I know not all athletes do this, but why do the majority of professional athletes hire managers? Why don't people with specialized talents hire managers to negotiate...

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Why iTunes Ping Will Suffer Like Google Wave

There are a few reason I think iTunes Ping will, in the long run, fail. I realize the service has only been available for a few days, but I can already see it has the same problem Google Wave had when it was released. It's not part of everyones workflow.For one, you must have iTunes, not everyone uses iTunes. Until there is some type of web interface...

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Stanford Engineering School Sheds It's Library Books

A couple of days ago I wrote how I thought Libraries should adopt the Netflix model, down size the number of facilities and make as many resources digital as possible. Today, Laura Sydell writes a story for NPR on how Stanford Universities Engineering school library has 85% less materials on it's shelf than it did in 2005. While it's not a large library, they are still seeing the value in making their materials digital. It's not mass acceptance, but it is a start. And the fact it's coming from a school, where the reliance...

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Library Systems Need To Adopt The Netflix Model

Last week I read an article from a Twitter link (thanks Zach), about Libraries being a waste. I've been thinking about that statement for a few days now, and I must admit I agree. Most library systems are antiquated and cost more to run than they are worth. It's time for an overhaul.I've been a library user all my life. There are incredible resources...

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LaunchUp #9 Was A Success

Local entrepreneur and Doba.com executive Jeremy Hanks put on LaunchUp #9. If you don't know what LaunchUp is, it's basically an opportunity for bootstrap early stage companies to give a 7 minute overview of their product or service, then tell the audience what they need to move forward. I've attended past events and I can tell you that Jeremy is...

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Following Mashable’s Advice On Marketing Your Small Business With No Budget

  The steps in this post are pretty simple, no rocket science here. But, for giggles, I wanted to see how I stacked up against their HOW TO. There are five pieces of advice given in the article; Become an Expert, Cultivate Super Users, Ensure People Can Find You on the Web, and Offer Ad-Funded Payment Options. Become an Expert This may be a good time to answer the frequently asked question about “What do you do?” The short answer is I build software. The long answer is, I’ve been in the technology industry for over...

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Making Tech Predictions Is Like Riding A Bike With No Seat

I've been reading a lot of posts lately about tech predictions for this year. I even wrote about some technologies to watch. But trying to actually predict what is going to happen is like riding a bike with no seat, one bump and you're done. Predictions are pointless. And even more pointless, are the year end wrap ups to see how well you did. Who gives a crock.In previous posts, I thought I would be cool and make some predictions, call out some technologies, and get on the band wagon. But I was wrong. Instead of predicting...

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8 Great Tips On Marketing For The New Year

Today Laura Beulke (@VPG_Printing) on Twitter, zinged out 8 great marketing ideas for the new year. I wanted to share them with you. I'm not a marketing expert, but these are pretty good.1. Update your image with a new business cardFunny, I just did that a few weeks ago. I added some social links like my Twitter name and LinkedIn profile URL.2. Send out your new business card to potential clients or customersThis is a great idea. I'm adding it to my marketing plan.3. Hold a weekly drawing on your blog or websiteHmm, this one...

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My Business Wish List For 2010

I read Chris Brogans list the other day, and since I want to be like Chris, I just had to create my own list. I like that he has actual measurable goals. Things that you can so yes I did that, or no I missed the mark on that one. The one thing I regret not having completed this year, and one I promised Jason Alba I would complete, was writing one, if not two, books. I have some of one book written, but that doesn’t mean jack. So here it goes. My Business Plans For 2010: For PressDev, I want to create new site tells the...

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Please Pitch Me A Win Win Venture

In my post yesterday, I asked that you not pitch me one sided ventures. Today, I’m asking you to pitch me win win ventures. Let me start by saying, lot’s of programmers, designers, and other freelancers, are looking for great projects. They want to be part of something as big and bad as you do. Let’s work together to make that happen. I love bootstrapping. It’s the fastest way to get a company off the ground. Synergy, and a good plan, can overcome most obstacles. I love exploring new ideas. A few weeks ago I attended the...

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Please Don’t Pitch Me A One Sided Venture

What is a one sided venture? It goes like this: I understand you’re are a programmer? Well, I have this great idea for a product, it will be the next killer app, all I need you to do is sign this NDA, write a few thousand lines of code, and take a five percent equity stake in the company. I’ll do the rest. That is a one sided venture. Why? Because the programmer is doing all the work, for air, and hoping you can do your job; sell the product to investors or customers. I get this type of proposal at least once a week,...

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The Basics Of WordPress

Last night I lead a discussion on the Basics of WordPress at the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. I really want to thank Pete Codella and Joseph Scott for asking me to participate. It was a lot of fun. Due to some technical difficulties, we had more of a discussion, which is always better than a boring lecture. Please find the slide deck here for you viewing pleasure.Thank you to all who attended, you had some great questions, and several of you shared your experience. If you were in my class last night connect with...

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Elevator Pitch 1.0

In a post from yesterday, I talked about my lack of an elevator pitch. I also admitted that I have a really hard time conveying what I actually do. This post is a simple explanation. It’s a work in progress. But here is the short direct answer: I’m a programmer, and I run a company called PressDev. We are web designers and developers. We also build iPhone and social network applications, and create customized WordPress sites. This is what I do. And I do it really well. If you don’t read any further, I’ve shared with you what...

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A Question That Haunts Me Wherever I Go

I recently attended a local social networking event (one where you meet people face to face, not through #hashtags.) I like to get to these things early for the chance to network. You never know who you are going to meet. And this time was unlike many in the past. I’ll get to the title of the post, “The Question That Haunts Me Where Ever I Go”, in just a few minutes. This is something I must work up too. The first person I was introduced too was Alistair Cockburn (thanks @ghennipher). In the software development world, Alistair...

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Creating Multiple Streams Of Income

At the beginning of 2009, Jason Alba started talking about multiple streams of income. Seeing how it's the middle of the year, it was time for an evaluation of my streams.PressDev is my first income stream. The primary mission of PressDev is to build custom websites and software for businesses and individual. Our unique skill is converting static and stale websites into dynamic growing content management systems (usually with WordPress). We integrate social networks and digital media to make websites sticky. We also build social...

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Speaking At Wasatch Business Conference 2008

Quick note that I will be presenting at the Wasatch Business Conference on October 23rd. If you haven't heard of WABCON, please visit the website here. So what is WABCON:WABCON stands for the Wasatch Business Conference, a day-long event designed to educate business owners and leaders. Experts in the fields of technology, marketing, management, and...

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