Utah Tech Spotlight – this is the second month’s announcement:
http://www.utahtechspotlight.com/2007/04/04/april-event-bohemian-rhapsody/
If you come, I’ll be the balding guy – come say hi.
We need more of this in Utah.
I like to critique other people’s blogs (probably should charge for it), and regularly recommend things to add or change. I was pretty excited to come across this list of “Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences.”
If I were your blog coach I would say this is REQUIRED reading. And no, I haven’t incorporated *everything* from this list into my JibberJobber blog. But it would still be required reading :p
Me: Can the company pay for my MBA?
My Boss: um, you know what the owner thinks MBA stands for?
Me: (thinking, “I’ll take this as a no”) No, what?
My Boss: More Bad Answers.
That was a no. I paid for it on my own anyway. I wasn’t going to let bosses decide that an MBA was useless. They had the right last name and will be set for life in the company. My last name, however, wasn’t on that list.
Was it worth it? Sure – and I’m glad I did it (if for nothing else, at least now I’m not wondering if I should go back to get it!).
So a couple of days ago I am on a chat with Phil801 and Matthew Reinbold (I’m the only one who can call him Matt without him getting upset – consider yourself warned) and we are talking about the possibility of getting Godin to come to Utah. It’s a huge challenge – we essentially have 3 days (more or less) to cut a check for $25,000 – then he’ll schedule us in (the hopeful date is May 24th).
I’d like to take credit for this but I can’t. I was “invited” into the discussion, had a couple of thoughts/ideas, and then said that I was pretty swamped this weekend (um, where’s my W-2??).
It will be successful – there is a ton of online and offline buzz right now. The soldiers involved in contacting their networks have great networks, have been on the phone a good part of the day, and have even been looking for (and getting) corporate sponsors.
It’s uber-cool how a couple of guys have been able to tap into their network, and have them mobilize to get 25k put together. Seth knows about it, and even commented of a 4-series post on why we should raise the money but donate it to a worthy cause (microloans). Man, I’ve been waiting for him to comment on my blog, actually, blog about JibberJobber (!), so to see that he even comments on other people’s blogs is pretty cool.
Here is the page to pledge, which will help get to the $25k mark. Basically, if he comes then you pay $50. If he doesn’t come then maybe pay $50 and you can shave Phil801’s head. Maybe if we pool our money we can pay $2,500 and shave Kelly King Anderson’s head? Ash says he’ll shave his head for Seth but that’s because he is one of the biggest Seth-lovers out there. And he would look good with a shaved head (I can totally see Ash and Seth – bald buddies). I bet he would shave his kids heads, too.
Kidding aside, here are the other blog posts about this. Networking is making this happen – word of mouth/e-mail/blog. It’s a cool testament to having relationships built BEFORE you need them. Don’t you think now is a good time to get your free JibberJobber account?
Official Utah site to get the latest info: WordMob.com
Paul Wilson: first, second, third
Sponsors? I am seeing a nice list of potential sponsors… right now I know of only one – Twelve Horses – Good on ya Twelve Horses!
Twelve Horses, an interactive messaging and marketing company, has committed $2,000 to help bring Seth Godin to Utah. Steve Spencer, President of Twelve Horses stated, “I know that Wordmob, and the grass roots technology community here in Utah are making huge efforts to ensure that Utah has all of the exposure and opportunities of any other city. Twelve Horses not only fully supports and applauds this, but puts a call out to the rest of the business community. We cannot be passive in the exciting efforts that are happening right now in the valley. We are standing behind those who selflessly commit so many hours, and so much work to ensure that Utah can be a technology and information growth space. So please, join me in welcoming Seth Godin to Utah, and in helping us all learn from the knowledge and exposure he brings.â€
If you’re looking to build a home in the west, you should look into purchasing a manufactured home in Utah.  Buying a new manufactured house is much cheaper than building a conventional house, and it can be done in a fraction of the time.  Brand new manufactured homes are well designed homes that are perfect for someone looking to get into their first house.
I have a Mexican heritage – in fact, my father was born in Mexico. I was even born in Mexico (well, New Mexico). At Alba family reunions there is a lot of Spanish spoken, and we have quite a family that is in Mexico still (although all of my aunts and uncles are in the U.S.). You’d think that it would be easy to get a recipe for tortillas – but alas, it is all done by how the masa feels, no measuring. So I had to get this recipe from a white lady in Idaho – go figure. But they are the bomb.
Mix it all up, make little balls, roll them out, and cook on medium+ heat (no oil, no-stick, etc.) until they are the right color.
Delicious.
Signatures in e-mails are underutilized by most people. Here is one of my favorites that I just saw this morning:
Nadine Turner
——————————-
Latest Achievement: Named Time Magazine’s 2006 Person of The YearRead my blog: http://nadineblogs.wordpress.com/
See how we’re connected: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nadineturner
Why is this a fav? The latest achievement. Priceless. I should steal that.
Today I walked by the TV (no kids were in sight) and I saw something I never ever ever thought I would see.
Dr. Ruth. On Sesame Street.
Her letter was F. F is for Fun.
No kidding.
Now I’ve seen it all.
I’m not looking for VC money but I understand it’s not an overnight process, and it is important to cultivate relationships early. Combine that with my passion for networking and my curiousity about the funding space and I get a kick out of articles on how to get money, or pitch, or whatever.
And Guy Kawasaki has a cool style (not too brainy, very relatable (yes, I’m not brainy – I just admitted it – shoot, I even had to look up how to spell relatable!).
Anyway, I have had a problem answering various questions about JibberJobber – so I’ll practice #6 from his post entitled How to Get the Attention of a Venture Capitalist and come back in a year to see just how good it turns out to be!
What Does Your Company Do?
We provide web-based tools and information to the working professional. JibberJobber.com empowers professionals to own their career by providing relationship management, job search and career planning tools. JibberJobber.com is to a professional what CRM is to a salesperson. As one of our users stated, “JibberJobber isn’t just for a job search, it’s part of my life!”
What Problem Are You Solving?
We are supposed to change jobs at least 9 times during our career – and sometimes these transitions are not by our choice. Navigating through unemployment can be very difficult and emotional as many of us are not taught what we should be doing.
JibberJobber provides excellent tools to help people navigate a job search in a disciplined, systematic way that is aligned with best practices in networking and job search. Once you land the job, JibberJobber provides excellent tools to continue to manage your network relationships, track target companies and do other things that you should be doing for career management.
What’s special about your technology/marketing/expertise/connections?
The technology is similar to the hundreds of CRM applications for salespeople. There was nothing available to a regular person that was easy to use (without sales jargon, unnecessary reports, etc.). JibberJobber is designed specifically for the individual to manage career issues throughout your career.
JibberJobber’s marketing campaign has been typical bootstrap marketing (which is probably atypical traditional marketing). With a strong blogger network JibberJobber has been able to grow through blogger word-of-mouth. In addition, users usually share JibberJobber with friends, family and their network connections.
The management and technologists have expertise in projects very similar to JibberJobber. The team has worked together previously which has enabled a lot of progress in short period of time. While experienced in similar ventures, this is the first B2C marketing venture which has perhaps been a benefit since there are no preconcieved ideas on how to market B2C (considering traditional B2C marketing campaigns may not have valued the blogosphere as much).
Connections have been developed and nurtured since inception of JibberJobber and range from online to offline. Various relationships have added significant value with regard to marketing, strategic planning, technical execution/operations, financial strategy, etc. (note: I’ve often wondered how cool it would be to have a “fully staffed team” but recognize that I need to make up for this with network relationships)
Who Are You?
My name is Jason Alba. I am passionate about career management because I was laid off and had no idea how stressful a job search really is – but I learned pretty quick! Regardless of how “great” the economy is, or how low unemployment is, it’s not easy, nor fun. My passion lies in helping people navigate their career and do things that I neglected in my own career.
I received a BA in Computer Information Systems and an MBA from Idaho State University. I have worked with Internet appications since before 1998 and have experience with various types of projects, company sizes, customers, etc. I was the general manager at my last company where we had similar products (in totally different industries) which prepared me to move forward with the development and marketing of JibberJobber.
Yo Guy, thanks for the prompt to put this together!
Reminder: Only 2 more days to take advantage of the incredible lifetime for $99 offer! Scoot on over and upgrade now – it’s not going to be this cheap ever again (did I almost say never??)!
Where can/should I improve? (recognizing that this blog is a PUBLIC forum so maybe I’m not quite ready to share all of my secret sauce here…)
There is only one real reason: because he’s Seth, and Seth writes about whatever the heck he wants.
And so maybe the title should really be “Why Seth Godin should write about JibberJobber” …
Seth blogs to people that like marketing, want to learn more about it, or just like reading about common sense. What he talks about is not rocket science, and its not gimmick – its so simple and obvious that most everyone overlooks his points until he brings them out. Anyway…
Seth should write about JibberJobber because it fits right into what his messages are. He talks about obvious things that marketings and managers should do and consider. I present JibberJobber as a tool that professionals should use to manage their relationships – it’s so obvious that most people don’t consider it. “I can manage my relationships without software,” “I don’t need to write names and numbers down to have strong relationships,” or any of the other obvious things.
Seth talks about career things. He talks about the power of referrals (isn’t this a networking thing?). He talks about the place of education in career management. Seth spoke to 8th graders about their futures and careers. I’m all about career management and JibberJobber is a super-powerful tool to help manage the rest of your career!
Seth talks about owning your own business and taking risks. His own story is super-inspiring. I know I’ll get lots of “no’s.” I already have. So if he says “no”to writing about this, that’s okay – I’m moving forward!
Seth likes cool technology. He talks about mashups – JibberJobber is full of mash ups (Google Maps, Skype, LinkedIn, Anagram… when does the fun end?) and other cool things like Jott. Jott is cool – JibberJobber is cool.
Seth even talks about a personal CRM tool… one that he “wishes he had.” This tool is really cool and forward thinking – JibberJobber is to a personal career what this CRM tool is to a small business.
But unlike a company CRM tool, JibberJobber stays with you as long as you want it – no matter what transitions you go through – no matter where you work – no matter how many relationships you are nurturing. Its your tool. It’s obvious. It’s clever.
Seth Godin could write about JibberJobber because it totally fits into what he writes about. And his readers would benefit from knowing about what might be the only career management tool that they need to start using right now.
And if you want to know why I think it’s so cool, check out some of the premium features that I’m highlighting. Of course, 90% of JibberJobber is free for life – so there’s no reason to not get started right now. But the $99 lifetime upgrade ends on April 9th… you have just a few days left to get this amazing 80% off deal!
here are some more excellent endorsements or examples of support for JibberJobber. “Thanks” seems like its a word too small to express my gratitude….
Mike Murray and I bumped into each other through our blogs and hit it off pretty quick. What I didn’t know was that Mike is as passionate about sharing his thoughts/experiences on career management as I am. He came out with a book (which I wrote about) and has a cool following of black-hat/white-hats. There is no in-between. Mike, you rock.
Liz Strauss is a legend online with writers and bloggers – she’s had an amazing offline career and is a leader in the blogging world, hooking up bloggers, recognizing them, etc. She puts on a conference that I’m going to (crossing fingers) because I want to get some face-time with some of these amazing people she surrounds herself with. Liz did a 3 question interview just in time for the special – Liz – awesome! Thank you!
Andrew Flusche is one of my favorite “students”… he is finishing up law school and is, imho one of the best bloggers I’ve seen with regard to his efforts to make it better for him and his readers. Super-duper active with blog carnivals, that’s how I met him. He went on to do a 3-part review of JibberJobber and recently told his readers about the deal.