Category Archives: Business

Behind the scenes on the LinkedIn iPad Application

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I just finished an awesome article about how the iPad app was developed for LinkedIn.  This was particular intriguing to me because we’re continually asked about a smartphone app for JibberJobber (go to m.JibberJobber.com to get to the mobile interface).

What I’ve said is that we’re collecting feedback, and as we get that we’ll get closer to deciding whether we need to do native smartphone apps.  Personally, I don’t want to do it.

Even if we were a huge company, creating and maintaining (and maintaining some more) native apps for the iPhone, Android, etc., and all of their whimsical changes (these are operating systems, so any core changes they make can be cause for a complete redesign/recoding of a native app).

In the article, it says that most of the iPad app is actually web-driven.  In other words, as far as I understand, it’s not an offline app… it has a few things that are native to the device, but pulls most of the data from the web.

Technology is a beautiful thing, and as a former developer, if this is the direction we’re headed (away from native apps and towards web-apps that look/feel/function like they are native), we’re headed in an awesome direction.

One can only hope!

Note: I have an iPad… but haven’t even cared to get the iPad app for LinkedIn.  I don’t do LinkedIn anywhere but from my PC.  How old-fashioned is that!

 

Winners, Losers, Acquisitions

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I’m really interested in user interface design.  I have no training in it, however, as the owner of JibberJobber I try to get people to become more engaged in the tool.  UI has everything to do with it.

Here’s a fun article on TechCrunch titled User Experience And The Poison On The Tip Of The Arrow.

Here’s a quote from the CEO of Wesabe, on a difference between Wesabe and Mint:

“I was focused on trying to make the usability of editing data as easy and functional as it could be; Mint was focused on making it so you never had to do that at all.”

The entire post (it’s short) is worth reading, but since I’ve read this line I can’t get it out of my mind.

How do YOU make your product/service (or yourself, if you are in job search mode) so simple and easy?  Wesabe was going towards simple and easy at the same time that Mint was redefining it.  And they redefined it to the tune of an acquisition of about $170M.

Serial Micro Entrepreneur

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I am working on 101 Alternatives to a Real Job and including another suggestion from my cousin Jordan.  Jordan is more entrepreneurial than I am.  He’s made money in a bunch of different ways, and while writing about him today the phrase came to mind:

Serial micro-entrepreneur

I googled it, sure that I’d find thousands of blog posts about it, but I really didn’t find anything.  Wierd, huh?

Here’s a breakdown of the phrase:

  • Serial: Does a number of them, one after another, or at the same time.
  • Micro: does stuff at a very small level.  Not anything that will become the next Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest, but many small things can provide healthy streams, if combined with others.
  • Entrepreneur: you know what this is already 🙂

That’s the phrase that came to mind immediately… and it is the perfect way to describe Jordan 🙂

Seth Godin (The Dip) vs. Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann (stay with it)

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I reviewed Seth Godin’s The Dip book a while back. One of the major messages is that if you are going down the wrong path, stop, turn around, and do something else.

I agree with what Seth says… don’t keep doing bad stuff.

The art of doing that right might be recognizing when you really are on a bad path.

Bad != hard

I think too many people are on a very hard, long and seemingly torterous path, and they don’t get the results they think they should get, and they say “I’m must be on a dead-end, bad path,” and they quit.

Right before they could have been successful.

Pinterest is the lucky (luck = when opportunity meets preparation?) overnight sensation (overnight = they started years ago, and drudged along for a long time before they were an overnight sensation).

Check out this awesome, inspiring writeup AND short video interview with founder Ben Silbermann at TechCrunch: Pinterest’s Unlikely Journey To Top Of The Startup Mountain

I am a little hesitant writing this post because some of you should quit, and move on… but maybe you shouldn’t.

101 Alternatives to a Real Job, The Guinea Pig (me)

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Did you know I’m writing a book titled 101 Alternatives to a Real Job?  One of the alternatives seems really easy and fun, and has potential to make good money.  And, I can involve my kids!

Yesterday I went on a 1.5 mile walk and all but one house needed this service.  It was a nice day (even though today I’m looking at snow outside!!), and I was convinced I was ready to try this out.  Who knows, maybe I’ll try it out as long as it’s nice – through October.

This morning I bought a kit to start a business spraying numbers on curbs.

I didn’t check with the city yet… but I’m pretty sure it will be okay.  I might have to get a license to solicit door-to-door.  I also have no idea how the competition is… maybe this is a saturated market. I’ll never find out, though, until I get out and knock on doors.  I’m sure I’ll recoup my $200 investment (I haven’t bought the paint yet, which should be about $50).

The kit I bought (the biggest: Master Kit) from Express Your Address. It includes a ton of stuff (except the paint):

I got a 10% discount because of a current special they have, plus free shipping (since it was over $50):

From what I read, I should be able to make that up in a day, easily.

Now, the fun part. I’ve recruited my two oldest kids (11 and 14), and I’m sure the 8 year old will beg to go with us… My goal is to see if, together, we can have a $500/day.  They say we should be able to clear $300.  I’m not sure how many hours that is.

This weekend I’ll try and pick up the paint (I’ve gotten instructions on which paint to get, which colors, and the estimated price).  And then we’ll start knocking on doors.

Cool, huh?

 

From Lendio to Inc to License123: Small Business Tools

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I’m on Lendio’s newsletter, and they sent me to this article on Inc.com: Need an Idea for a Killer New Business? Try This.  Great article that talks about how License123.com came about… if you are interested in owning your own business, check out License123 (in beta)…

I haven’t dig deep on it, but it seems like an awesome resource!

Social Media instead of Living Life

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Social media is… funny.

I wrote two books on social media. I train people how to use (mostly) LinkedIn. I talk about how job seekers can use these tools, and I talk a lot about personal branding, whether it is online or offline.

I’ve been on these tools for years. I’ve had heavy-use periods, and light-use periods (right now I’m going through a light-use phase).

I’ve seen people become consumed with social media, whether they think it is going to be the silver bullet to end their job search, or get them gobs of new customers, or just find a friend or share stuff… social media has become too-consuming.

Here’s a clip I found on TechCrunch where a comedian who has made over $.5M in one test/campaign using social media shares his thoughts on how we use it.

Some of my favorite parts:

Um, I don’t have any favorite parts.  The entire thing is a favorite.

So where does social media fit in? It’s a TOOL.

How can you use it as a tool, instead of YOU being the tool (see #4 here)??

 

Functional Design (from Sexy, Functional, Easy)

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Today on my JibberJobber blog I wrote about three critical elements of good design: sexy, functional, easy.

I’m sure many books have been written on each of these three things.

I want to share a quick thought about FUNCTIONAL.

Functional doesn’t mean LOTS OF FUNCTION.

It simply means that the software (or widget) has to do the job.  It has to work.

Some functional software will be overly complex.  Common example: Microsoft Excel.  I’ve heard many people say they use less than 10% of the features of Excel.  Most people have no clue what a Pivot Table is in Excel, or how to create or use one.  It is part of the 90% that people don’t use.

Other software/applications are super-easy (from the user’s perspective).  Think Flickr: simply posting pictures.  Or Slideshare: embed powerpoint presentations online (on their website and/or from my website).  PRWeb: post press releases and have them distributed.  The decision to use a less-functional application is quick, since there aren’t a lot of factors to think about.  Do I want to blast my press release out? Yes or No.

JibberJobber has a lot of complex functionality because managing relationships, and the job search, and networking, and follow-up, is a very complex process.  We try to make things simple for the user, and hide the complexity on the back end.  Sometimes we do a great job at that, other times we are lacking.

The more functionality a system has, the harder it is to get customers, educate them on the why and what of the system, and turn them into users.

We want the “easy button” in software, which works sometimes, but not all the time.

Finally, separate function from functionality.

Function = it has to work well.

Functionality = how many things it is doing (the complexity of the system)

Why Write a Book?

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I got an email from a friend this morning and she was talking about the books she has inside her that she has thought about writing.  She’s wording about the process: writing, editing, revising, etc.  She didn’t mention PUBLISHING, which should be at the top of her list (although easy to resolve).

In my response to her I said:

“The bigger question is, why do you want to write a book?  Is it to sell the book, or get speaking engagements, or to be known as an expert?”

Let’s break that down:

To make money selling books: Everyone says you don’t make money selling books.  I’m here to tell you, that is not accurate. People make money selling books.  I’m one of them.  Over the last 4ish years my royalty checks have surpassed one year of what I used to make as the general manager of a software company. It’s not enough to live on, but it is a great supplement to my other revenue streams.  I’m expecting the book I’m working on now, 101 Alternatives to a Real Job, to sell a lot.  Each sale will be profitable. I will make money selling books.  And then I’ll get the benefits of the other things listed below.

To get speaking engagements: I told my publisher I had no interest in speaking (or consulting).  Then, a few weeks later, I was offered $5k plus expenses to sit on a panel interview at a conference.  In less than one second I decided that HECK YES I was a professional speaker! Since then I’ve been paid a number of times to speak at conferences, do training for companies, on webinars, etc.  I don’t know the exact figure right now, but since I started speaking I’ve made more than six figures as a professional speaker.

To be known as an expert: I had no idea that writing a book on LinkedIn would make me a “LinkedIn Expert.”  Sounds silly, I know, but that’s not why I did it.  I did it to get exposure for my company (JibberJobber.com).  That worked, but a major side-effect was that I was known, world-wide, as an expert and authority on LinkedIn.  Will being known as an expert help you, somehow, in your career, even if you don’t care about book sales or speaking or consulting?

To just get it out of her mind, and off her bucket list: This is more of a vanity play than anything else… not that that’s bad, but there’s no real reason to do it, other than to say you are an author?

If you have a book in you, and it is just nagging at you to get out, why do you want to do it?  Is it one of these four, or something else?