Take Back Control of Your Inbox

Having returned back to the office after having my little one, I vowed to create a more efficient system for managing my email.  This handy how-to video from Gina Trapani is a useful first step!  The video is under 3 minutes - enjoy.

You Know Its Spring Time When...

I bust out my silver Pumas!

Attention Chicago Developers and Techies, Show Me Your Stuff

I know many of you personally, but it's time to take up our relationship a notch. 

I'd like to see the types of web sites, apps, tools, etc. you've created.

Why?

Projects in the works for both personal and professional -and I'd like to hook you up. I also get asked about 'who do you know that can do XYZ'. I spend half my day racking my brain with the 'who'. Help me with the 'what' by placing your information in the comments.

If you are interested, please include the URL(s) in the portfolio below. We could start a pretty hearty list here!

Tip for New Tech/Social Media Startups: Regional Representation Helps You Win

When I was an intern at McCann-Erickson, I was the designated 'body' to attend meetings from advertising sales reps from magazines and other media properties. Every Wednesday, I was sent to the board room to take notes, understand the media kit and report my findings back to senior staff.  It is from this experience that I was able to 'meet' the late John F. Kennedy Jr. Mr. Kennedy was in town promoting his magazine, George.  I wasn't invited to this particular meeting, so I rode the elevators for an hour until the doors of the 15th floor opened and I 'ran' into him. What a beautiful man he was...

Fast forward to my days at Orbitz. As a member of the eMarketing team, I had numerous meetings with sales reps from sites like Yahoo!, ESPN, Google, iVillage, AOL, Doubleclick (before Google purchased them), Travelzoo, etc. The list goes on and on. Having a phone call to sort through issues and/or a potential ad buy was one thing, but nothing beat the face-to-face discussion over coffee, lunch or at a marketing event.

Today, we are in an historic moment of how quickly things are evoloving on the web. Gone are the days of the Geek Elite latching on to a new gizmo or social media darling - the gates are opened. Marketers and agencies are in constant training, keeping up with the latest developments in technology. It's one thing to test a new interface or be in the Alpha stage of a launch, but understanding what is next on the horizon is key. As a member of the group that helps large brands understand your bells and whistles, I need access.

I need access to your biz dev teams. I need access to an internal expert who has the ability to be in or around the Midwest (Chicago) and chat with me over the phone or at one of our fine coffee houses.I have ideas I need to bounch off with someone. I have questions about platforms, APIs and the feasibility of upcoming projects.  This, perhaps, negates the idea of social media: a small startup of 4-10 folks creates a sensational tool that catches on quicker than one can say 'www'. I KNOW this seems like you are following an online 'sales' model that you may not like. I also understand that you understand that revenue needs to be made - and growth is key. I would hope that as VC funding is secured, you begin to open the doors to hiring more people to handle the numerous requests I'm sure are coming your way.

If face-to-face isn't possible, how about office hours?

I want to help you grow. Whatdya say? Let's chat.

The Benefits of Failure

A handy lesson from JK Rowling. A must watch/listen.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Facebook Stats: I'd Like to See More

I visited Facebook's Statistics section today and came across these figures:
  • Average user has 130 friends on the site
  • Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
  • Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
  • Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month
  • Average user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month
  • Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month
  • Average user is invited to 3 events per month
  • Average user is a member of 13 groups
This is fine and dandy, but I'd like to see another deeper subset of metrics:
  • Average time spent on Fan pages
  • Average time spent lingering on individual photo albums
  • Average time spent looking at the main section of the news reader
  • Average time spent creating and editing friend lists
  • Average time spent removing one's self from Groups and Fan Pages
  • Average time spent attempting to upload a video or phot
  • Average time spent checking new comments/likes to status messages (including a lumped up summary from mobile AND web)
  • Average time spent updating status message with the 'tagging' feature of another Facebook user
Anything else you'd like to see added to Facebook's public set of metrics?

Note to the Media: It's 'Visits', Not 'Hits'

This is one of my digital 'sticking' points. I was watching Oprah this morning and she cited a YouTube video that accrued 'Five Million Hits'. I couldn't help but to groan.

Why?

In most cases, tv personalities, news anchors and producers actually mean 'visits', not hits. The term 'hit' actually devalues the metrics someone is trying to convey.  A hit can simply mean that a web page appeared after someone clicked over to said page. These hits could also have a large bounce rate, meaning a user clicked to the page, didn't see something they liked and turned away quickly, in some cases, under a minute.  In addition, there are various ways to count the visit. Did the page load? How much of the page loaded? How much of the video actually played? 

Not so black and white now, is it?

How the Chicago Police Department Could Use Social Media

Chicago startup, Everyblock, took a healthy stab at making police reports public, enabling interested parties to know what's going on in their backyards. This is a logical move in getting information out to the public, but I think the Chicago Police Department can do more.

Now and then, our household gets phone calls from members of the Fraternal Order of Police. Just yesterday, we received a phone call from a nice gentleman who was asking about donations to buy bullet proof vests. Yes, bullet proof vests. I'm not sure if this phone call came from the FOP or from an affiliate organization, Michael picked up the phone. With a baby in his hand and me running errands, he couldn't chat too long. After hearing about his experience with the phone call I thought, 'Couldn't they raise some cash using social media'?

So I started digging around. After some unscientific research, here are some immediate ideas that come to mind for how CPD can take advantage of social media:

Facebook
The Chicago Police Department has a Facebook page. With over 7,000 fans, the admins behind the page post updates regarding gun control and other important CPD topics they think we should no about. What I don't see is a two-way dialogue between the fans and the cops.  I can see how this is an overwhelming task, given how large Chicago is - so why not divide the Facebook page up by precincts?  This would make things alot more manageable and important neighborhood CAPS meetings could easily be viewed by neighbors.

Twitter
There is indeed a CPD Twitter account, but it hasn't been updated since May. By reactivating their Twitter activity, along with including lists of precincts, CPD could instantly become a daily source for Chicagoans across the city.  The CPD should take a look at how  @JoetheCop uses Twitter. Joe is a police officer and does a bang-up job of keeping Chicagoland digerati up to speed on stories. Joe spoke at my recent Gals' Guide Summit and was a wealth of knowledge.

Online Fundraising
Instead of the phone calls that are being made to raise money for those vests, why not institute an online campaign using a service like ChipIn? I receive numerous invites to donate to friends' Breast Cancer walks. These donations live on an individual walker's profile. This same technology can be instituted for the Fraternal Order of Police, for example.

Brand Building
That's right, I said 'brand'. The Chicago Police Department, like other organizations, is a brand. I'm the kind of citizen that actually likes to know my cops. A few men in blue live in my building, so I have the good fortune of saying hello, asking how their day was and getting the scoop on neighborhood news.  Getting to know the people behind the uniform is a big piece of community building. Creating some sort of basic profile of local, beat police officers could do wonders for community ties. Maybe it's a Ning page.  Privacy is a concern, of course, but including basic information such as precinct, beat, hometown, favorite pizza joint, etc. can't hurt.

iPhone App
I'd love the ability to use my phone to report a crime, namely crazy drivers.

Should any member of the CPD want to chat further, I live up the street from the 1st District police station. 

Signed,
Your Neighbor

The Ricky Gervais Show: A Smart Way to Repurpose Content

As I peruse the new HBO shows this season, I came across 'The Ricky Gervais Show'. Having already a received a heads-up of this new series at the Gervais-hosted Golden Globe Awards, I was interested. Gervais is hysterical.

When I learned what the show actually was, I thought, 'Brilliant'. Originally a series of podcasts, The Ricky Gervais show is now an animated series - taking the audio from the podcasts that already aired years ago. Interesting fact: the original podcasts earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloaded podcasts.

What makes this interesting is that Gervais and crew recognized that a) they are funny b) people like their content and c) many folks still don't know what podcasts are

So...

Why not take the content that put them in a record book, add some fun animation and repurpose as a series on HBO? New audience and a new stream of  revenue. Voila.

Another example of repurposing content? 37 Signals. They've turned their start-up tips into a popular eBook and are coming out with a new how-to guide for entrepreneurs.
The next time you think your 'old' content can't be redone for a new audience, think again.

An App for the Little Black Dress

As I flipped through 'shape' magazine, I came across this full page ad: an app for getting your girlie figure in shape for that little black dress..complete with videos.

Sent from my iPhone