James Guske's Blog

Use Seth Godin's Tribes to Become a Market Leader

2008-11-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

A lot of people interpret the newest internet marketing meme to hit the net: "Market Leadership" as having the largest mailing list, the highest price product, or the biggest profit margin. This would be a logical step but this is really the result of market leadership. If you serve a need in your market then your list will grow because of higher demand. So really if you become the "go to guy" or "go to community" in your niche, you establish trust and rapport with your target niche.

Let me break down Tribes into practical concepts. First off, a Tribe is really a internet swarm or affinity group. You can see examples of this on twitter during a conference or the recent political debates. A swarm, a lot of times, brings in the best people to come up with support, ideas, news in a particular niche or interest group that is extremely valuable for serving that group. What a great time to establish rapport and trust. This obvious vested interest difference will be noticeable to potential clients and customers that your success are based on the long-term strategy of providing value and quality.

If will dive a little deeper into the nature of Tribes, you will find that the future of marketing is observing people's behaviors. The big boys like Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo know this. The are creating ways like the Thumbs Up tool bar in StumbleUpon to harvest this attention data. When you lead a market, you are doing just that in finding out what people's attentions are. A vivid example is twitter. Each tweet is a "gesture" that conveys (when collected together) the interests or attention of a group. For more info on the theory of gestures listen to a few of Steve Gillmor's NewsGangLive podcasts. Gestures seem to be light weight or nearly effortless online actions that represent attention. This is the beauty of the 140 character messages in twitter.

So appearing to be going the extra mile to find solutions and finding innovative ways to deliver those solutions in your is much easier if you are leading a tribe. An example of this is people who have a large and loyal following on twitter can just tweet a question and get back relevant answers in just minutes. Amazing. This is the absolutely best possible exposure you can possibly get. You can not buy better marketing right out.

So really the world has changed. There is a difference between trying to “dominate your niche” purely for gain, and making an effort to truly serve your market. Instead of looking at a niche and asking yourself how much money you could possibly earn there, look at a niche and determine ways you could create a tribe over time using podcasts, blogs, YouTube videos, Ustream, FriendFeed or twitter. These are the new internet version of the xeroxed newsletters that Seth Godin passed around in his Tribes book.

Why I like Facebook Beacon.

2007-12-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

Facebook Beacon is an advertising service that allows a user of Facebook to opt-in to a posting of a message on the user's newsfeed when performing some activity on a Facebook page or exterior website. The significance of this is it allows relevant advertisement of a product or service that is highly related to one's interests or needs due to a trusted relationship in one's social graph. This is effortless word of mouth advertisement.

I really feel that the newsfeed of Facebook is the most interesting part of the social network. I have discovered some interesting things just by looking at the activities of who I know. I actually want to know if a friend purchased, downloaded software, or visited a particular vendor. This has meaning to me.

When I first heard of Beacon, I was concerned that all of my activities would appear on the newsfeed. But if it is opt-in, I don't see a problem. One thing for sure, if this idea works out, social networks will grow like wildfire because this is effective marketing like that world has never seen before. There will be a real incentive to promote social media to the public.

Use of Flip Video at Blog World Expo

2007-11-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

Jim Kukral with Flip Video at BWE

I went to Blog World and New Media Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center last Dec 7th, 8th, and 9th, and I have to say that I had a great time. I am fascinated by some of the newer media being used as social objects such as podcasts and video. The term podcast I have since found out is being de-emphasised because of its connotation with a single commercial product the ipod and replaced with the term new media. The only thing about audio and video is that it is not directly text searchable. It seems to me that it is important to go through the effort if you can to create text transcipts so the search engines can find the content.

I carried my Flip video around with me at the conference and I noticed a lot of other people with the Flip. I had the intention of doing video interviews on the show floor but I just ended up taking pictures. The hour capacity of my flip was used to get small samples of the sessions just to try things out. I found myself taking notes, pictures, and flip video at the sessions to develop some ideas to blog about. I do regret taking 15 minute segments on a few sessions forcing me to delete one session that I really liked: Building Your Online Reputation.

Getting back home I had placed back some of the videos and used mencoder to create 320 by 240 size mpeg4 videos for YouTube. The Flip uses the MS ADPCM audio format so I convert to mp3 using the lame part of mencoder. I uploaded six videos onto YouTube tagged BlogWorldExpo. The great thing about the Flip Video is its convenience and size and I love experimenting with it. I am just going to take shorter video segments.

Anil Dash on Open Social, one my BWE videos

Book: Ubuntu Hacks.

2007-11-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

First of all, I know that everything in this book can be found on the web. But, if you are casually using ubuntu like me, this is a great guide. There is a wealth of ubuntu information on the net, finding the right things takes some effort and using this paperback cuts through the confusion. This book is about 1 inch thick and is 450 pages with the symbolic picture of a tuning fork that suggests tweaks for your ubuntu distribution. It is oriented for the Dapper Drake version of ubuntu 6.06LTS which was just coming out when the book was released. This is fine if your are just interested in stability and not the latest and greatest. Also many of the tips probably can be applied to other Linux distros.

At first glance, this is a rather large Hacks book compared to others in the series. There are 100 hacks listed and from the length of the book you can tell that some of the entries go into great detail. Most of the entries describe getting the necessary program, the commands used and syntax, and the results shown on the screen so you know what to expect. This care of detail helps you understand the processes involved and gives you a certain degree of confidence. There is a certain level to the hacks described. If you want the most exciting, in-depth, technical details, you are going to have to search elsewhere. Having said that, the material is quite good and thought out and tips are not that overly simple or obvious. I think it is a great second ubuntu book to read for beginners. The book also has a sense of humor to it. Instead of using the typical warning triangle symbol in the margin to show caution, a picture of a screw is used.

Looking through the book here are a few of its outstanding tips. Acidrip is a Gtk::Perl script that uses mencoder and is a good alternative to dvdrip. Tovid is a useful set of DVD authoring tools. You can use those extra keys on your keyboard with the xev X events utility. You can customize your right click menu by editing ~/Templates. Udev can be used to label removable devices and have them mounted in the same place each time. There is a package called sshfs that allows mounting of remote directories using ssh. There is a lot to the QSynaptics program in controlling your laptop mousepad. You can hide or show Nautilus desktop icons by editing using the nautilus configuration editor. The Drivel application allows you do offline blogging. Great chapter about Virtualization and Emulation, Vmware and Xen. Nice tip about making Live CD data persistant with a USB thumb drive with the casper-cow label.

Title -- Ubuntu Hacks
Authors -- Bill Childers, Jonathan Oxer, Kyle Rankin
Publisher -- O'Reilly
Publication date -- June 2006
ISBN -- 0-596-52720-9

Getting Google Video Uploader to work in Ubuntu.

2007-10-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

I initially had problems in using the Java application that Google has to upload videos greater than 100MB. It seems that Java 6 under Ubuntu does not have AWT installed. To get it to work I just downloaded Java 5 and unpacked it to my local directory. I then ran the command (substitute yourUserName for your own):

~yourUserName/jdk1.5.0_13/bin/java -jar GoogleVideoUploader.jar

And it worked just fine.

Video: Changing USB soundcard Ubuntu.

2007-10-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

Nice Lockergnome linux fanatic video of changing your default sound card using scripts.

YouTube Video Link

Flip Video Ultra works in Ubuntu.

2007-10-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Flip Video Ultra works great in linux. The device is mounted as a USB mass storage device. The videos are avi files encoded in mpeg4. Just drag and drop. Use Totem or mplayer to play. Very nice.

SourceCon 2007 and Social Networking.

2007-09-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

There was a first of its kind conference in Atlanta recently called SourceCon. Let me walk through what sourcing is. Recruiting qualified candidates for employment you first have to find them. Many Recruiters do both the finding and the actual "call you up with a possible opportunity" aspect of recruiting. More and more the searching part is broken off to that of a specialist called a Sourcer. Years ago this was exclusively done by telephone, library research, employee referrals, other pre-internet techniques. These days it is easier and easier to find people online, but you want the right people. Here is were internet sourcing is starting to take off.

So you ask, what is the tie in with social networking? Why would someone like me being an Electrical Engineer find sourcing such an intriguing topic to pay for the cost of such a conference? Well for one thing if you have read Keith Ferrazzi's book, Recruiters and Sourcers are super-connectors. They actually are very hard working people who are master networkers. They may not have a lot of time to connect with you, but the time is very well spent. I really wanted to study their networking techniques as a peer.

But, here is what really sent me over the top to go to SourceCon: these people are on Linkedin in a big way. What are they doing? What are their searches? In what manner are they connecting up to people? I had to find out. In my searches about using Linkedin, I came across a podcast by Shally Steckerl (whom I was thrilled to meet) that impressed me a great deal. I also listened to "The Recruiters Lounge" podcasts by Jim Stroud (also great to meet). I also admire recruitingblogs.com. It is a hive of activity. Many of the online members were going to SourceCon. Factoring in all of this, my gut feeling was that SourceCon was going to be good.

Good? Fantastic. Recruiters and Sourcers whether they realize it or not are forging into new territory in how we understand and use the social web. The whole conference was a rich combination of technology, psychology, commerence, problem solving, human development, investigation, societal truths, search engines, and the semantic web. Many different aspects were discussed about sourcing. I was really fascinated.

Everybody there seemed be solidly for Linkedin. I learned a lot of new techniques for using Linkedin, and the "big 5" search engines. Not a lot was said about Facebook or MySpace other than that Sourcers seem not to be able to effectively use them as of yet. I completely forgot to ask about Jobster.

I left the conference just amazed. I was truly glad to have gone. My understanding of sourcing, recruiting, and networking increased dramatically.

And let me say to the people out there in the world doing great work: other people want to find you.

Book: "Scripting in JAVA"

2007-09-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I saw this at the bookstore and had to buy it. A scripting book on JAVA! Knowing how rare the other JAVA Jython books I have, I didn't expect to see another at a large chain bookstore like Books a Million. This book seems to concentrate on Groovy which is interesting to me.

I have only read the first chapter and I find the discussion of types very clearly explained. There was an explanation of closures using ruby, python, and java that cleared up some things that I didn't quite understand. There is good talk about why it is desirable to use scripting. Overall, it is nicely written.

ISBN 0-321-32193-6
Author: Dejan Bosanac

Amazon Link

Sansa mp3 player works in ubuntu.

2007-09-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

Mounts as USB Mass storage device. Drag and drop your mp3 files and enjoy. This is another one of my "works with linux" posts.

Facebook is as Cool as Beer

2007-08-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

According to this Youtube video by Swift Kick.

Secrets Behind Myspace & Facebook

Video: Steven Rothberg at Onrec

2007-08-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

CollegeRecruiter's Steven Rothberg at the Onrec Conference in Chicago (9-06), discussing the role of social networks like MySpace and Facebook on recruiting.

Google Video Link

Freescale Technology Forum 2007

2007-06-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Orlando Florida were I attended the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF). It is the largest, most polished, most organized, and technically sophisticated conference I have ever attended. While there I very much enjoyed learning about using uclinux on the Freescale Coldfire and i.MX31.

One of the interesting features new to this FTF is the use of nTag electronic conference name tags. These are essentially small wireless PDA's that have meeting schedules, contact information, conference survey feedback, and other uses. You can also have an electronic business card exchange by pressing a button atop the nTag unit while holding it close to someone else's nTag. Special wireless nTag beacon stations scattered around the conference tracked your attendance.

The Clue Unit Podcast.

2007-06-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a great podcast involving discussion of the relationship of social networking and businesses. The podcasts are organized around a theme each month. Last month it was business transparency: giving a human face to companies and building customer relationships in that way. This month it is businesses that rely on communities such as Threadless and JPG magazine. Another topic theme was Co-creation: products developed primary by people in communities, not employees. This apparently was very successfully done by Lego. Fascinating concepts along the line of the "Cluetrain Manifesto."

http://www.clueunit.com

EyeJot works in Ubuntu Linux.

2007-06-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Hats off to EyeJot for having a video flash application that works great under linux. I went out and bought the Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX. I am using 6.06 (Dapper) LTS so I needed to compile the gspca kernel driver. Unpacked the tar file gspcav1-20070508.tar.gz. Then, I had to install make and the command to get the kernel headers:

sudo apt-get install make
sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
make
make install
sudo modprobe gspca

Since I already have a sound card and wanted to use the on board webcam mic, I used “asoundconf set-default-card” command to have the Flash application in EyeJot use the USB sound device. I also used camorama to test the webcam:

sudo apt-get install camorama

Works great! Also, hats off to the Ubuntu community for making whole webcam kernel driver install process just super easy to find on google and do.

I like Linkedin more than Jobster, for now.

2007-06-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

It seems that with Linkedin the emphasis is more on networking. While with Jobster it seems have been more with the resume with keyword tags. I expect this to change with Jobster's alliance with Facebook which is very exciting. This is just my experience for now. Things will most likely change.

RSS the new USENET for me.

2007-05-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

This may be a obvious comment, but after using the excellent Google reader for a few days, I find the listing of blog posts and comments as appealing as USENET newsgroups that I sort of grew up with. This and all of the new dynamic interactions that was not possible with newsgroups. Great stuff!

The Need for Participation Ladder Features.

2007-05-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Jobster and Linkedin need more of a range of features that allow members to pick their level of participation. Not everyone is going to be a heavy content producer. Right now, there seems to be a mixture of Super Connectors/Catalysts(Creators), Profile only(Spectators), and Non-networked(Inactives). How could the participation of Critics, Collectors, Joiners, and/or other intermediate levels described by Forrester Research stimulate new ideas in the employment social networking domain?

Podcast: There is LUGradio and then there is HashLUGradio.

2007-04-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

The popular and smart linux podcast LUG radio inspired a related discussion podcast by a different group called Hash LUG radio. This is a discussion of a discussion of linux events. Actually HASH LUG radio is interesting continuation of topics started by LUG radio. Will this be a trend, one podcast building on another?

TipShack: A digg clone for Linux users using Pligg.

2007-04-08T05:19:00.000-07:00

TipShack was created by Harlem Quijnao of the FreshUbuntu Podcast. Nice idea for people like myself who love Ubuntu and its developed community. Apparently one can create a digg-like website using the Pligg CMS. This is very interesting.

I learned Jython before I learned Java.

2007-04-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

While answering a post on Linkedin for good beginner books on Java, it occurred to me that I started out using Jython to play around with the Java libraries like swing. I actually didn't set down and get serious about learning Java itself until months later. Jython is an undervalued gem of a language.