Twitter Lists – inauthentic
If you’re on twitter you have probably noticed the new addition of lists to your feed. Which is the ability to create and follow lists of specific people. Cool idea, which many twitter clients like Tweetdeck had implemented a long time ago. What is not so cool, is the inference that it is purported to only be available to a limited group. If you look at the screen grab below (highlight in orange boxes) you’ll see such claims.
I understand why they’ve used such language; to make users feel exclusive, and to essentially make people tweet about it – the antithesis of what they claim to want. But I’m a bit disappointed that the crew at twitter would use such low ball, inauthentic tactics. I say this because everyone I know with 10 to 10,000 followers has been invited to lists.
Startup blog says – stay true.
Startup Blog live tonight.
I’ll be doing another Startup Blog Live session at 8pm tonight – last minute… I like to be spontaneous.
It will be via www.twitcam.com under my twitter sign up which is www.twitter.com/sammartino or @sammartino for current members.
Tuesday 27th October at 8pm – Live. Q & A about your business… I wanna help!
- To see what time that is in your part of the world click here
- I’ll be doing it using my twitter log in which is @sammartino
Unexpectedly Awesome – BBC
Sometimes it’s worth being even just a little bit awesome. We don’t need to change the world, maybe just having a little bit of public fun is enough. The usually conservative BBC did that for me today when I realised the following: The BBC video player has a volume which goes to 11.
It’s what I call unexpectedly awesome. I was delighted. So much that I’ve linked here to little video of Warren Buffett being interviewed. Upon which you can learn something and also pump the volume up to 11.
Startups – do something a little bit awesome.
Quirky Fact & Business models
It costs the soft drink Industry over $100 million a year for thefts committed involving vending machines.
*actual Coke vending robots!
Yet vending machines still exist for one simple reason. This is still a profitable business regardless of the theft.
So often in startup land we here people pointing out the gaps and potential issues in any business model we propose. The fact is no business model is perfect. Every business has gaps and potential issues which will impact profitability. There is always leakage, there is always some evaporation. What we need to focus on is the net result and understand if we can still make a profit regardless of the model imperfections.
Solid advice – David Clarke, Webjet founder
I was lucky enough to be on a judging panel at Melbourne University with David Clarke the CEO of Webjet. A $500m company which he founded, floated and built. After the students gave their business pitches (the subject was Internet Marketing) he gave a simple closing speech with some poignant insights. Here’s a snippet.
“The internet is very seductive and has the capacity to hijack rational thought. There is a real disconnect between the on-line and real world. The trick is to connect the two. And the way that is usually done is through speed and cost advantage.”
Amen.
Seek.com.au – Trolley Radvertising
Seek has pulled off another piece of radvertising with Trolly.
This is spot on for seek. Classic single minded proposition showing breadth of jobs.
Well done Seek marketing crew.
Viral marketing & probability
I’ve spoke before about the truth about viral marketing, and our probability of viral marketing success. So here’s some number to help us all quantify it with the viral marketing haven that is Youtube.
- The average youtube video gets watched for 6 seconds.
- 2 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
- Almost half the videos on youtube get viewed less than 10 times. (1 in 2.4)
- Only 0.25% of videos get more than 10,000 views
- A random sample of 10,000 videos uploaded received the following: 2,226 videos with no views in their first month, 237 with 1 view, 158 with 10 views, and just 23 with 100.
- Only 1 in 3.1 million videos will get more than 1 million views
Sure we can increase our chances by creating great content, and frequency of posts. But getting a viral hit is like winning the lotto. Which for startups means it’s fine to play, but not to back our future on it.
Guest Post at Pollenizer
I was invited to do a guest blog post for the guys from Pollenizer. For the uninitiated Pollenizer is firm which helps startups grow bigger and better. Both through consulting services and also taking long term positions with the companies. It’s really worth a browse around the Pollenizer site.
My post is a very cool one on Startup Lessons from Rock Bands.
It also includes a video interview I did with Mick Liubinskas who is one of the smartest start up guys I know (ex Skype & Kazaa) where we cover off Startup School for which there are still some Sydney tickets left for the event.
Don’t be this person.
I had this discussion yesterday. I walked past a hole in the wall cafe. (Tiny cafe which serves take away and stand up coffee in inner city area)
Friend: Wasn’t Joey going to open a business like that?
Me: Yeh, I remember him talking about it before I had even seen one of these in the city.
Friend: What happened to it?
Me: I don’t know, I guess he just didn’t get around to it in the end. Got distracted.
Friend: That’s a shame, looks like a good little business model. What’s he doing now?
Me: He’s in the same job.
Friend: Oh. Ok.
We keep walking …
Don’t be Joey. It at least try and fail. The old job will be waiting for you if you have to return.
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