After building websites for the past 6 years using Dreamweaver as my primary editor, I’ve had it with the bloated and resource-hogging Adobe software. I still use Notepad and Text Edit for basic fixes, and I don’t use design mode, so what would you recommend as a lean, fast-coding HTML editing machine? What do you use, fellow web geeks?

After a heavy and continuing first round of recruiting for a world history blogging project that I’m working on (beta blog here), I came across an interesting situation. In all due respect to the Jewish, German, and other communities affected by World War II fascists, WorldHistory.com is starting a new Adolf Hitler blog. Being done on such a controversial historical figure, the blog will serve more as a remembrance of extremest ideas rather than the added attention which is largely unnecessary.

After recruiting our first editor for the Hitler site, it came time to purchase a domain. Using a 1&1 (which is a German hosting company) account, I first tried “AdolfHitlerBlog.com” to no avail. “Fair enough,” I thought proceeding to try several other iterations, none of which worked. In frustration, I decided to try ” AdolfHitlerBlog92938473.com” knowingly expecting such a random domain name to be available, but it wasn’t. Strangely, I got an uncharacteristic “domain not available” message rather than the usual ability to transfer an already existing domain to 1&1 account which it currently wasn’t allowing either.

I jumped onto another domain registrar, only to find several of my previous iterations available. I then tried the public domain registration site at 1&1 (not being logged into my account) only to receive the following message: “ATTENTION! An error has occurred. This domain name cannot be ordered.”

Though the answer may be obvious, I wonder why the German hosting company won’t allow a domain purchase or transfer with the name Adolf Hitler in it. Regardless, I can appreciate the fact that maybe the name is something the company would rather not deal with at any level.

You might be married if you considered yourself a connoisseur of fine “original” rock ‘n roll music back in the day, only to later find yourself enjoying the dated sounds of Backstreet Boys and N’Sync that your lovely younger wife listens to on a consistent basis…

Yeah. That was me getting ready this morning while Lindsey was running on her tread-mill. Though I’ve only been married for a few short years, this marriage train is in full effect.

Though project management software is a commodity (if not customized), 37Signals’ Basecamp does a good job with the value add, though the web-based software is not sans problems (i.e . management notification of completed tasks and navigational quarks for starters). Enter ActiveCollab (in alpha), a free-open source PHP/MySQL alternative that is modeled closely after Basecamp and inspired from a blog post. You can install the platform on your own server and tweak it as you like, though it’s being reported that the alpha version is still buggy.

I may be preaching to the choir, but meetings are generally a waste of time. You’d be surprised what you can get done via an email, IM conversation, and/or phone call. Jason Fried writes: “If you’re going to schedule a meeting that lasts one hour and invite 10 people to attend then it’s a ten-hour meeting, not a one-hour meeting. You are trading 10 hours of productivity for one hour of meeting time. And it’s probably more like 15 hours since there are mental switching costs associated with stopping what you’re doing, going somewhere else to do something else, and then resuming what you were doing before.”

[via Lifehacker]

After falling behind on my feeds over the last three days, I thought I’d point out some interesting links with my thoughts attached. Fancy any of the below?

• QUIZ: Do you have what it takes to be a US citizen? . A quiz in commemoration of July 4th. I scored a 75% (C’s get degrees, no?).
• Tutorials: iLife ’06 . Nice video tutorials for any Mac users out there.
• Wimbledon Comes To iTunes. The 1980 final is one of the best tennis matches ever. Now you can buy it for your iPod.
• The top 25 money tips of all time. Solid list of ideas. My favorite? Focus more on how you spend than how you invest.
• FIFA World Cup bit-sized coverage. This is the type of content I like to consume; short, to-the-point, and under 150 words per article. I’m going to see if I can monetize this type of sports content (which is lacking in the blogosphere) in a blog setting. Just outsource the content creation like ESPN does for their mobile World Cup news and split the earnings with the content provider (found via my Blackberry).
• Web 2.0 financial success: Easy as ‘two weeks and $700 bucks’?. Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, on how he started the company: “I wrote a scoping document to a friend, who is a developer. The friend said it would take two or three weeks to create and cost 700 bucks, so I said, ‘Let’s go for it.'” Amazing.

I’m big on clarifying expectations. That’s what project management is all about and is where the nuts and bolts of communication take place. I’ve been fielding several hundred blogger applicant emails over the last few days regarding a new network we’re launching, and some of the respondents seem very trepid to asks questions. Why is that? I always try to be as candid as possible to encourage clarification, but it seems like some people confuse taking initiative with managing expectations. They both involve third-party collaboration but are two very different things. Here’s how I define them:

• Taking initiative. When you go above and beyond what’s expected but you know it will benefit the overall project and please all involved.
• Managing expectations. When you’re not sure what you need to do to meet a third-party’s expectation (either boss, employer, client, partner, etc), so you ask additional questions to clarify before preceding with any work or decision making process.

How do you define the difference between taking initiative and managing expectations?

I woke up to quite an experience this morning; over 50+ enthusiastic applicant emails for a new historical blog network in my inbox. I owe it all to Craigslist. I spent the last week and half looking in more specific “historical places” thinking it would return better results, but I was wrong. Once my ad hit the popular local search directory, it was lights out, and we’re well on our way to starting up several beta sites with the help of passionate historian-blogger hybrids. Should be fun to see where this goes.

Historical Bloggers Wanted [Craigslist]

Just look at these crazy growth and digital video numbers according to Fast Company:

• 18 billion videos were streamed online in 2005 (there were 9 billion in 2004 and 285 million in 1998)
• Visits to YouTube rose 170% from November 2005 to February 2006.
• $585,000 | Cost of a high-definition video camera in 1984 (in 2006 dollars)
• Cost today for the equivalent: under $6,000
• 4 million | Number of U.S. households that now use digital video cameras and editing software monthly
• In 2005, box-office revenue fell 5.2% (from $9.5 billion to $9 billion)

Also, be sure to check out the magazine’s article on the Four Eyed Monsters indie film that is a case study on social marketing and independent publishing. From the article: “Asked if they would accept a $2 million offer from a distributor for the rights to Four Eyed Monsters, Crumley [creator] says, ‘No.’ Buice [co-creator] isn’t so sure. ‘Only if we maintain control,’ Crumley insists. What if that wasn’t part of the deal? ‘No.'”

According to Calacanis, founder of Weblogs Inc., here is the new blog or publishing model for making money online:

1. Start a blog with adsense and make spare change.
2. Scale a blog to 250k to 1M pages a month and become big enough for Federated Media, AdBrite, and Blogads to care about you–now you’re making a living.
3. Scale over 1M pages a month and become big enough that you can afford your own sales group and fire Federated Media for taking 40% of your money because your cost of sales will be 15-20% as a stand alone business.

I’m currently making some decent “spare change” off blogging, and have one site that gets over 130,000 page views per month. If what Jason says is true, I’m more than half way there at “making a living” which I’d gladly accept given blogging’s ability to free up time for other projects, etc.

So let’s hear it readers; how many would trade-in their day job, business venture(s), or other projects to make a living off blogging full-time?

Man, big media networks don’t listen to their audience. A new article explores how ABC/ESPN treat their audience like they’re watching soccer for the first time, whereas Univision delivers the games straight during the World Cup coverage. NY Times writes: “ABC/ESPN is losing 15 percent of its quite large World Cup audience to Univision. And that loss is due solely to those viewers being driven away by the big American network’s approach to televising the World Cup.” This is despite the audience not even understanding the televised language!

There is always a smaller, faster, and better fish (Univision) that comes in an swoops up business from the big boys. Independent networks are a powerful thing. Now if we can only get a sports channel that just broadcasts the video feed with corresponding game sounds and crowds without the commentary. The crowd emits more than enough enthusiasm as it is, if only we could hear it better.

I’m heading up a new network of blogs that focuses on historical figures. The idea is to have one blog, edited by proxy, that comments on current events. It will be “in their own words, as if they blogged,” so to speak. From the press release: “WorldHistory.com is inviting bloggers to bring back the thoughts, words and knowledge of historical figures and blog about what these individuals would say today about current events or topics in the news if they were still living… if you love to write and you are a passionate and knowledgeable about a historical figure, you are a prime candidate [to blog].”

Just what might Ben Franklin have to say on the current issue of immigration? We’re going to try and find out in a sort of living-historical kind of way. If you know of any editors/bloggers that might be interested, please send them my way. Also, what historical figures would you like to see blog if they were still living?

How many site feeds do you subscribe to? If you have’t joined the feed revolution yet (though you really should), how many blogs do you visit daily?

[Sent from a wireless Blackberry]

Just how much of a traffic difference is there between the number one and number two natural rankings on Google? According to one searched term, an SEOer writes: “I can tell you that our site receives approximately 30k of visits on average per day from Google, just from keyword searches for Term X. There’s typically one or two Sponsored Links just above us on the SERP, and a few Sponsored Links on the right side column, too… When we dropped to second slot on the SERP for Term X, we lost approx 18k of visits per day. So, there it is: the difference between the number one slot and the number two slot for a major keyword term comes to about a 60% change in visits!”

Amazing.

[via ProBlogger]

Having watched several matches since the start of the 2006 World Cup, here are my thoughts on how to make the tournament (and soccer as a whole) much better:

• Stop the theatrics. Diving “fouls” have got to go. I’m tired of seeing mostly European or Latin American players (where the majority, though not all actors come from) throw himself down in a conveniently-landing way, hold his ankle in feigned agony, get carried off the field on one of those stupid stretchers, only to have the guy run right back on the pitch. Man up! Refs share a lot of the blame too. Hint to the refs: when a player really gets injured, they just drop to the ground. There is nothing grandiose about falling after an injury. Start paying attention!
• Standardized flags and foul calling. One of the great things about American football, is that when a foul/penalty is committed, a single yellow flag is thrown, after which refs commune for a few moments and make the call together. Nothing is decided in the heat of the moment like in soccer. Example, when a normal foul is committed, whistle, and then continue play like the current system does. In the instance of debating whether the act was “Yellow” or “Red” card worthy though, blow a whistle, throw a flag or some visual indication that added judgment is needed to make the correct call, and converse with the line judges to get it right. This would improve foul judgments by 95%.
• Hand out cards for too many off-sides and overall team fouls. Do something about this. When a player is called for the 10th off-side, card him. When a team has accumulated 25 fouls, do something to penalize.
• Make coaching native. Coaching plays a key role in the successfulness of a team. Why are non-native coaches allowed to coach different countries at the World Cup? Coaching talent, as player talent, should be from the native country.

I love soccer and the World Cup, but it could be so much better. I don’t expect to see any of the above changes made, but something has got to give.

Here is a new way to use your iPod video (assuming you’re a pro baseball player). The AP writes: “Three hours before a start against Florida, Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings sits in front of his locker, puts on his headphones and stares at his video iPod. He isn’t watching the latest Coldplay video… [He] is doing some last-minute cramming: The Rockies’ video staff has downloaded every Marlins hitter into his iPod, and Jennings is figuring out how to pitch to them.”

I mainly use mine for podcasts, music, movies, vlogs like Rocketboom, game trailers, funny internet clips, audio talks, and keynotes. How do you use your iPod video?

With the launch of Netscape Beta‘s “Digg killer” that adds human editors (maybe I was onto something with ContentDJ after all), social or meta-journalism is really  heating up. Reactions to the launch have been mixed and a little controversial, but AOL, who owns both Weblogs Inc (who I write for) and Netscape only has the product in beta, so improvements are likely to come. If there is anything Jason Calacanis (CEO of Weblogs and heading up the Netscape project) is good at, it’s soliciting and implementing user feedback.

One of the pros to the new site is that it combines moderators with the social aspect of Digg. Netscape also covers a wider variety of topics while Digg only focuses on tech related news. That will all change though when Digg 3.0 is released next week with more categories and some new features. Digg, while superior for now, has a lot less traffic than the entire Netscape community. It has been said that if Netscape takes off, and small sites make it to the homepage, the amount of traffic could easily crash servers left and right. Getting “Nescaped” would add a whole new meaning to getting “Slashdotted.”

Here’s hoping Smooth Harold is one of the first victims.

(end geek talk)

How important is a company name? Though a name is only as important as the company is represents, can a higher ROI be the result of having a better brand name? In some ways, generic names work better on the internet (think SEO), while not so well in areas of differentiation. So can a better name produce better results?

What Naming Companies Name Their Companies [Igor]

The background behind the Puma and Adidas shoe brands is pretty amazing. I had no idea that both companies spawned from one company started by two brothers from the same town. Apparently there was an argument between the two, they split, formed their own companies, and a family feud still exists some 60 years later.

From the article: “Each company is still located on either side of the small river that splits the [small German town of Herzogenaurach] in two, and because most citizens work for either one or the other companies, different schools, restaurants, bakers and shops have evolved over time to accommodate the feuding factions. Puma workers simply do not associate with Adidas people.”

Don’t wear Nike’s if you’re in Herzogenaurach anytime soon.

Full article here [Strategic Name Development]

About a year ago, my former business partner and still good friend, Robert Bradford, taught me a very funny trick; sign you credit card receipts in really weird ways for cheap laughs. Here’s an example: After getting back from New York, Lindsey and I picked up our car at the airport parking lot. I used my credit card to pay for the stay. The parking tenant gave me a receipt to sign, and I promptly drew a Nike Swoosh (see below) as my signature. I then handed it back to her. She looked at the signature, then looked at me like I was the craziest person she’d ever seen and gave a hearty chuckle. Lindsey and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Signing your signature with a smile is a great way to liven up the mundane checkout process. If done right, it can add just the right amount of spunk to your daily step and force you to get creative with your John Hancock.

There are no rules in how you sign your name. So next time, try a smiley face, airplane, poke-a-dots, whatever. Just make sure you get a good laugh.

NOTE: This post comes from the most non-New Yorker you’ll find. After Lindsey and I picked up our bags at JFK airport in New York late Wednesday, we headed for the street to catch a taxi to our hotel. A nice looking man in a suit approached us and asked if we were looking for a cab. “Yeah,” I replied, to which we were directed to a very nice Lexus. “How much is the fair?” I asked. He said it would be “$55 plus toll and tip.” I was tired. I knew that was way too much money and that I should be getting into one of those yellow “cabs,” but we went. Sure it was a nice ride. Fast, clean, with leather seats. But I could have saved about $35 bones going with the stinky yellow ones.

So, the next time you’re in New York, and someone asks if you need a “cab,” make sure it’s the yellow kind.

I recently stumbled upon an interesting book; Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America by Tom Lutz. It’s a book that counters the idea that to be productive and/or hard working in life, you must act like a work-a-holic and never relax. Lutz cites both historically accredited productive individuals such as Ben Franklin and Samuel Johnson to those that opposed long work days like Kerouac and Ginsberg.

Don’t take Lutz’s book out of context, though. The point is not to praise idleness, rather, to embrace “doing nothing” from time to time as being human nature. Productivity is not solely a function of time, though the clock makes up a large portion of that equation. At least that’s what I’d like to think to justify my play time.

A painter from Switzerland, Sala, is selling 1000 paintings online of the first 1000 numbers on a first come first serve basis. The selling price of each painting is calculated like this:

So far, the man has sold 271 paintings. This guy just gets it. Expect his website, 1000 Paintings to be a case study on virality, internet marketing, scarcity, urgency, and the tipping point. It’s brilliant, and I’m contemplating which number to buy (500 was already sold). Take a look at this site, and soak up the internet genius that it is…

Congratulations to my sister Lexia who just finished up her Master’s of Fine Art thesis at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Here is a preview of her thesis that examines the similarities of daily life to that of spiritual progression, including concepts such as progression, repentance, Christianity, transition, cleansing, Mormonism, and a reconnecting to God. Great work, Lexi!

More art here [Lexia Snow]

I’ll come out and say it; when the word vlogging (video+blogging) entered the lexicon, I scoffed at the idea. Who wants to watch daily updated videos? I do for one, as thousands others, especially during this the age of iPod Video. I also scoffed at iPod videos, so strike 2 on me. Though it’s still to early to determine the scalability of vlogging, it is catching on very fast.

Topping the list of popular vlogs is New York-based Rocket Boom. This 5-minute weekday updated vlog covers weird internet news and gets 250,000 visitors per day. Compare that with the current 50/day that Smooth Harold gets. That translates to huge advertising leverage. The site just produced their first sponsored video ad for $40,000. The really kicker though is that the show maintains full creative control over the ad. The sponsor is merely guaranteed a mention of their product and company in the commercial. Awesome!

Also of note are Mobuzz, a tech vlog, and Ask A Ninja, a daily humor blog. What vlogs, if any, do you enjoy?

[via Business 2.0]

World Cup fans rejoice (’cause you only get to do it once every four years)! Follow the link for the full list of televised FIFA World Cup games this year, with every game finding it’s way to one station or another:

World Cup 2006 US TV Schedule [Soccer TV]

The first game kicks off on June 9 between the host country, Germany, and Costa Rica. I remember getting up at like 3AM to catch games during the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea. Good times! Gooooooaaaaaaallllllll!!!!

[via Kottke]

I’ve got this thing where I don’t like to post comments on my own blog post. I don’t know why, I guess I just like the democracy of getting one chance to get my point across, and if I didn’t do that in my main post, it reflects poorly on me as a writer. I just don’t think it’s kosher to do so. I’ve found myself wanting to do it, but I usually let the commenters have the last word.

I’ve done it on rare occasions, mostly when I make a blatant mistake, but I bet I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve commented on my own post over the last year. Anyone else like this? Thoughts on commenting on your on blog post?

I had the chance this past Friday to attend Search Engine Watch‘s SEO conference in Seattle. Here’s what I enjoyed the most about the event:

• Many SEO professionals, including both Google and Yahoo representatives reiterated my belief that good SEO entails optimizing your content for humans first and search engines will follow. (content optimization)
• For publishers: Try using both Adsense and Yahoo Publisher Network for your contextual site ads. Many have seen significant revenue increases from one server to the other. Retry these services every six months.
• For publishers: Use phpAdsNew for ad cycling and reporting.
• Remember to use Wordtracker for keyword ideas if you don’t already.
• Yahoo Answers is growing off the hook. Very cool website with a large and very active reader/contributor community.

I owed Tim (who went to the conference with me along with Phil) a baseball ticket, so he and I went to a Mariners game on Friday night and watched them beat the Padres in an excellent game with six home runs and one heck of a play at the play thanks to Ichiro. Good times.

Presentations here [Search Enging Watch]

Just how much is/are your domain(s) worth? Granted that’s subjective, but LeapFish.com is trying to add a little objectivity to domain valuation. From the site: “Domain names rely entirely on demand and therefore the only indication as to value is what somebody will pay for it… We have created a rating system which is based on various factors and ratings you may find individually for a domain name.”

Smooth Harold got a measly 86 composite score, selling for an estimated $12k. I swear it’s worth more than that. 🙂 What’s your domain worth?

[via Life Hacker]

I’m doing a little research on the side trying to unearth what really makes a blog tick. The general answer would be a site that caters to a community of people, sharing similar interests, and seeking relevant content to fuel those interests. But what specifically makes a good blog/website work?

In talking with a friend yesterday, he reiterated the importance of establishing a personal relationship with your audience. Connect with them in a personal way, and they will be “readers for life.” That can be difficult to do at times, so generally speaking, here are some reasons on why I read blogs:

• They get me my information faster than most, in bit-size chunks I can consume. I despise long blog posts.
• Blogs are a more democratic form of news and information. I like the reader comments just as much as the post content.
• I get to see the personalities of writers and readers that comment, and look forward to what they have to say on a given topic because I feel like I know them, even if slightly.
• I believe them to be one of the best, if not the best way to get to really know and trust someone over the web. I’ve even hired an excellent programmer solely by getting to know him through blogging. I now consider him a close friend even though a majority of our communication happens asynchronously via blog posts, comments, and emails.

So what say ye, Smooth Harold readers? Why do you read the blogs that you do?

As some of you know, when I’m not building websites, I also freelance blog for Weblogs Inc. I’ve been in LA this past week covering the Electronics Entertainment Expo, which is the world’s largest video game conference. Last night a group Weblog employees went to dinner with CEO and founder, Jason Calacanis. I had the opportunity to sit down with him and here are my thoughts.

Jason is a very savvy and energetic guy. He understands content. I sat across from him and picked his brain on all things blogs, SEO, YouTube success, AOL, and his thoughts on where online content is headed in general. AOL bought his company in October, and originally I thought it was because Weblogs does such a good job at driving traffic through selling convenience (in the form of attention) to millions of readers. They still do that, but after meeting with Jason, I feel that AOL really wants the man to trim fat, make AOL faster, more efficient, and add more valuable content. 85% of AOL’s revenues still come from their dial-up business. I’m guessing the other 15% comes off partner referrals or link love on the company’s homepage out to some of their other sites like MovieFone. Weblogs, on the other hand, is all word of mouth. It’s viral content. It’s so good, that people just go to it.

I look forward to getting to know him more and learn some of the traits that have made Weblogs one of the hottest, up-and-coming, content companies on the web. The great thing is that Jason is a lovecat too. He is an advocate for sharing information and knowledge and recognizes the importance of helping others progress. The rest of the Weblogs team are very passionate as well, and I’ve had a great time working aside them.

As a parting bonus, I also got to meet Chris Pirillo over dinner. He is a very friendly guy and technology evangelists that’s involved in some really cool mobile RSS search. I’m going to try to meet up with him at an SEO conference in Seattle next week, and in case you didn’t know, Chris was the host on TechTV during the infamous cylinder drop blooper. You can see him on the right.

Here’s me playing Nintendo’s new Wii console (from the hip of course during a shooter). The controller works in 3D space and is one of the most impressive interface devices I’ve played with in a long time. Should be interesting to see how console gaming pans out over the next few years between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.

Also of note, were the many VC’s I saw at the event. One in particular even interviewed me asking several questions about the games industry. Video games are big business, and this conference is proof of that.

I’m currently in LA attending the Electronics Entertainment Expo. Lots of news has been breaking, and it’s been a busy past two days. One interesting thing about this year’s show (outside of the stellar games of course), is there will be a heavy focus on “advergaming” (in game advertisements) and marketing to the 18-35 male demographic. Fact: If you want to get the attention of the above mentioned buyer group, video games rank a close second to only internet in terms of media consumption (more than tv, radio, movies, etc). Boys are growing up but still remain boys. It’s been said that the average adult video gamer makes a median income of $70,000. Incredible purchasing power.

Regarding advergaming, companies are starting to serve up relevant in-game ads via online game profiles. For example, game developers will be able to sell digital wall space in a game to advertisers. If the game is online, those ads can change and be relevant, just like Google. Very interesting.

More to come.

The shown picture comes from Flickr’s Cream of the Crop (most popular, highest rated photo pool). My younger sister, Lexia, is graduating with a master’s degree from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan later this month, and the family and I are flying out to see her.

Haven’t been to the Big Apple since pre-911, so I’m anxious to get back to the financial capital and the hustle and bustle of this great town. Any fans of the place? Where does it rank on your list of favorite American cities?

Yet another usability lesson learned from sweating the small stuff rather than focusing on the important (i.e content). Signal vs. Noise writes: “Think about how people are going to actually use things. Don’t get caught up in the wow. Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority.”

I just got done reading Game of Shadows. The book explores the prominent use of steroids in professional sports, especially baseball, a game that I love. Here’s an excerpt: “So with few exceptions, the more than three dozen athletes who appeared before the grand jury admitted taking steroids–through injections in their belies, by droplets squirted beneath their tongues, with creams rubbed into their bodies. They weren’t asked why. perhaps the answers were too obvious: It was all to run faster, jump higher, hit the ball farther, and, ultimately, make more money… Competitive sports, it turned out, was part mirage, a game of shadows.”

They’re called professionals, but cheating sure seems amateur to me.

Lindsey and I are finishing up a short vacation at a very nice resort in Orlando Florida. We are just about to catch our plane. Other than the relaxing moments spent with my wife, one of the most memorable experiences of the trip was Friday night’s Karoke by the pool.

For those who don’t know me, I don’t care too much for amateur live singing. I do, however, like Neil Diamond. Combine the two and magic happens. 🙂

After several mediocre singing attempts, a humble gentlemen stepped up to the mic and requested the classic “Sweet Caroline.” Once he started singing, the entire resort errupted in anticipation and clapping. By the first chorus, nearly everyone was singing aloud to “so good, so good” as well as the rest of the song’s refrain. I’d never heard so many people in public sing aloud and enjoy that much atmosphere.

Though the individual singing didn’t have the best voice, the song and large crowd filled the gaps and made for a truley memorable experience for both a music lover and Neil Diamond junkie.
[Sent from a wireless Blackberry]

I have a confession to make; in the past three years as a learning entrepreneur, I’ve never once sought out to design, develop, or sell the next big thing. Maybe that hurts my chances, but I doubt it. I met with a gentleman last year who was starting a company that was going to be the “next big thing.” In his own words it was even “bigger than Google.” He of course wanted me to develop this NDA’d project for next to nothing. I told him no thanks, and walked away.

I haven’t heard anything from this guy in the past year, so either his “next big thing” is deep in development, or he’s already found a better next big thing. Hate to break it to you, but several companies, including Google, weren’t out to build the next big thing. In the case of Google, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page solely set out to make a better search engine that would help humans find things on the internet. They started out in their garage and didn’t even have a business model till several years later.

Focus on doing something better than the next guy and make sure it provides real value to several end users; not just something you think will. Being a successful entrepreneur takes a lot of honesty; realizing failure and trusting in the varied expertise of others that no one person can have. In my case, I prefer letting the big boys with hefty budgets be the first movers. Let them do all the R&D which can prove user demand, then swoop in as the little guy that does it better, faster, and cheaper.

[Inspired by Chris Knudsen’s Don’t Tell an Investor That!]

A new trend in IT management is emerging. It’s called BYOC, and it’s an excellent idea where everyone wins. Nicholas Roussos writes: “Looking at the thread, the common complaint is, ‘How are we IT guys supposed to fix XYZ?’ Umm, that’s the whole point. The IT department is no longer responsible for upkeeping these machines. They just run the servers, network, etc. At the very least, it might force companies to hire people who know how to use the tools they were hired to use.”

Advertising Age writes: “Apple — a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience — will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service, according to content partners who have been briefed on the plan. The introduction of visual ads could be the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods.”

I’ve just posted the first interview with a good friend and business associate of mine, Eliot Jacobsen, who is now the head of strategy at PayPal. From the Utah Monitor interview: “PayPal will succeed because we provide a compelling service to the ‘long-tail’ of eCommerce. With 1 million accounts, adding over 100,000 new accounts per year, PayPal will likely become one of the most important financial services companies of the new economy.”

I actually met Eliot via this very blog. He liked what I had to say about a certain topic and gave me a call. Griffio did some work with him shortly thereafter. He is a very sharp guy and has even put me in contact with other successful businessmen such as Jeff Jones. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, blogging has opened up more opportunities for me in the last year than anything else. So I guess a big thanks to all the Smooth Harold readers out there is in order.

Digg the interview

My good friend Nicholas is at it again laying down the law on SEO. From the article: “Link Building is not SEO. It’s not Content Optimization either. It’s good, old-fashioned marketing. Ironically, it’s the reason why SEO is dead because Link Building has a far greater impact on search engines than SEO or keyword stuffing ever will.”

Link building to quality content on my sites is what has really driven traffic and repeat visitors in my experience. How has link building impacted your site, and how do you compare it to pure SEO?

Yesterday was a fine, sunny, Easter day. I don’t know about you but Easter always seems nice, relaxed, sunny, and reverent. Then I awake this morning to a very cold house due to my leaving the windows opened and a drop in Utah temperature. Later on in the morning it even started snowing here in Orem. Why such a change, you ask? We’ll, today is tax day. That’s right, today Uncle Sam gets paid, and with that payment comes bad weather, gloomy skies, and a reluctant entrepreneur.

Although I feel at ease to have reconciled my liability with the IRS as company owner, it was tough to part with so much cash. Granted, I’ll pay my part because this country has made starting a company a very easy process. Plus I just feel so blessed. But death and taxes? Yeah, they’re absolutes in life and they always seem to come before you know, expect, or even want it.

Thank goodness for H&R Block.

Watch Chris Bliss perform an amazing juggling routine synchronized with a Beatles’ classic, Golden Slumbers. Very impressive and definitely the juggler with the most style and rhythm.

My wife and I recently experienced suspect customer service at a furniture store, an occurrence that has made me rethink my definition of how to treat customers. Last year, I defined customer service as follows: “Customer service is equivalent to how you cordially serve your customers to make them happy.”

Sounds good. However, being nice and cordial isn’t customer service, that’s just something a good human being does. Being understanding, maintaining a willingness to help, and striving to keep a customer feeling at ease when problems arise is good customer service. It’s easy to be nice when all is going well, but when issues come up, that’s more difficult. It’s at that moment when good customer service can fail or be realized.

The individual helping us at the furniture store was very nice throughout the majority of the buying process. However, when a problem arose with our order, due to her fault, she quickly tried to bypass the situation. I stopped her, and returned to the discrepancy. She then become very curt and rude for our wanting to correct the situation, with the store manager even. Although Lindsey and I were happy with our purchase and the issue with our order was taken care of, we left with an awkward feeling. We weren’t treated very well near the end. I don’t think we’ll shop at that store again.

A friend, developer, writer, and fellow blogger of mine, Nicholas Roussos deems search engine optimization, or SEO, dead. I’d argue that it’s merely loosing relevancy but he raises some good points. From the article: “SEO is so Web 1.0. In it’s place is a new form of optimization I like to call Content Optimization. That’s Web 2.0. It’s about taking your content (in any media) and optimizing it so it reaches the largest audience of any type, whether it’s bloggers, the press, normal people, or even search engines.”

I’m all for retracting most of Google’s “search influence” through the use of content optimization for humans. I’d much rather get Digg’d or linked to from another social site on a consistent bases on a variety of topics that would lead to higher diversified traffic. I’ve personally benefited from manual link building, mass blog linking, and the “Digg effect” helping bring one of my sites from 0 to 2,500 daily visitors in under 5 months. The PageRank then took care of itself. Granted, that’s not huge, but I did it without a single spot on Google’s first 10 pages. Imagine if I did have a top place page, I know, but in “commodity content” I think it’s best spending your time optimizing your content. Content is the new… content!

Granted, my traffic success has been, for the most part, social based. But I know millionaires have been made either selling SEO, benefiting from it, or running it (cough, cough, Google). So what do you think? Is SEO dying?

See also: How Digg.com is Revolutionizing the News