I haven’t updated this blog in more than a year, and I never really contributed much here in the first place. The reason is simple, this is a marketing blog and I’m not inspired by just marketing anymore. I’m more curious about the movement of mobility (work happening anywhere), travel, entrepreneurship, startups, film and the age of sharing. Marketing plays into all of those things, but it’s not the center of my universe anymore.

Here are the projects I’ve been working on recently:

- Startup Abroad
- NoTopRamen
- Free Mania
- Couchsurfin’ the Movie
- FlyByMiles

And, you can find my home base at Rustrum.com. Also, find me on Twitter. If you want to get in touch about partnering in one way or another, please contact me.

Thanks for visiting!

My fun lil’ project has been to Setup Internet TV for $300, complete with a remote control that acts like a pointer, clicker, keyboard and a mouse. In this project, I’ve learned about mini-DVI vs. DVI vs. HDMI vs. VGA. It turns out, you can’t get sound unless you use an HDMI –> HDMI cord, which means you need two HDMI inputs. Enter the Zotac MAG, which stands for Mini All-in-One Giant. It’s what’s known as an HTPC (home theater personal computer). You can use the Zotac as a regular stand-alone computer with a monitor for home or office use or as a HTPC, since it has an HDMI input and a super sleek ‘n slim design.

I spoke to a computer geek (I use that term lovingly) about how to get this thing going. He kind of looked at me like I was a nOOb and gave me advice on how to do it the easy way, giving me the impression that if I didn’t use the Windows installation CD ISO, it would be near impossible for me to figure out how to format, partition, and create a bootable USB key for Windows 7. He was right… it was difficult, but definitely not impossible.

After reading more than a dozen blogs, user forums, support questions and following a bunch of rabbit trails I found a tutorial on Microsoft outlining How to get Windows 7 to Load on a Nettop. And, it works!

My first issue in attempting to boot Windows 7 onto my Zotac MAG was getting a “_” blinking cursor when attempting to boot from the USB key. It turns out, I needed to format the drive as FAT32 rather than NTFS. I remember my geeky tv buddy glossing over that right before he got annoyed that I didn’t know what a 10-foot UI was. I don’t blame him. I’m totally new, taking on unchartered territory with little or no documentation. Everyone has to start out somehwhere.

So, the Microsoft tutorial actually saved the day. I got it to boot from my XP machine, so I figured I’d take the USB key home to my Zotac and hold my breath. BTW, you need to create your bootable USB drive from a newer computer with XP, Vista or 7 on it. Older computers won’t boot from a USB drive, so you can’t even test it.

Yay! I got the “Starting Windows” screen. *Moment of happiness* And then, the inevitable. When trying to load it onto a partition I got the error: ”You can’t load windows on this partition, it’s not NTFS…. blah, blah, blah.” So, I Googled it and learned to click on drive options, and select to format the drive. This will take a matter of seconds, and then Windows 7 will start installing.

During the Windows 7 installation, your computer will restart 3 times. The first time, I left my USB key inside the computer and it attempted a reinstall. I reinstalled, and learned to remove the USB key upon each restart, inserting it back once Windows began to boot up.

Wahooo! It’s asked for a user name / computer name. We’re almost there.

After the user name and password business (I didn’t setup a password since this is a media machine) it restarted again. I removed the USB key altogether this time.

It’s installed. Yippie! The only problem now is that the resolution is all wrong. If you have this problem, simply right-click the Desktop and click “Screen Resolution.” Also, for the Zotac MAG, install the NVidia driver.

I also installed the plug-in play Adesso remote without incident. I can now control my tv with the click of a remote. I also made the icons for Hulu Desktop, Boxee, and YouTube large on my screen. Plus, I setup a cool theme background and screensaver.

What you need:
* Nettop with HDMI input, 2GB of Ram, wireless card, 100GB or larger HDD a good graphics card and integrated sound (examples include Zotac MAG and Acer Revo)
* HDMI –> HDMI cord
* TV with an HDMI input
* Wireless keyboard & mouse (or USB)
* 4 GB or larger USB key
* Windows 7 Operating System
* A newer computer with Windows XP, Vista or 7 on it to create bootable USB drive

Optional:
Adesso Remote Control
USB Blue-ray player

Installation Tips:
* Follow the steps here
* Test USB drive to see if it’s bootable before trying to boot it up on your nettop
* You’ll need to not only set the BIOS to boot from the USB, but also manually tell it to boot from the USB device. These options are F2 and F10 for my netbook the Zotac MAG
* If it says it can’t install onto a certain partition once the Windows 7 installation process starts, click drive options and format the partition
* Windows 7 will restart several times in the installation process, so don’t freak out (but, do remove the USB drive upon the restart and reinsert after the boot so that it doesn’t try to boot from the USB key and restart the installation process all over again)

Resources:
Installing Windows 7 from a USB Drive in 3 Easy Steps
101 Best HTPC Tips for Beginners

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix Interview with Sarah Lacy

I will write more about this later, but for now… the video!

So, I’ve talked to AV folks… my network of over 100 people, techies, hippies, yuppies and no one (and I mean no one) could tell me how to hook my computer to the web. I have a fairly low-tech solution at the moment. After 4 trips to Best Buy (those guys are high) and a bunch of Internet research… I have my Macbook attached my TV with mini-DVI –> DVI –> HDMI hooked into my TV. The lesson I learned is that you lose sound if you aren’t connect HDMI to HDMI. So now we’ve got external speakers, a laptop on the floor and cords everywhere. Plus, I can’t use my laptop and if the sound is too loud or too soft, one of us has to climb off the bed to the floor. And, ABC does this lovely thing where commercials resize the window out of full screen mode. You can see my deliema.

Onward. Enter the Zotac MAG. It’s small, sexy, and does everything I want it to and more. Wow, I think I’m in love. The Zotac MAG (Mini All-in-One Giant) is essentially a computer, an HTPC (home theater personal computer) to be exact. It has a 160 GB hard drive, 2 GB of DDR ram, a sweet video card, integrated sound, a wireless card, 6 USB inputs and a magical HDMI input. It’s built to connect to your TV. And hey… you want blue ray? Get an external USB drive and attach it. There’s no CD drive, and there’s no operating system in the Zotac MAG. So, you can pick your operating system… FUN!

And, the best part? You can hook an infared wireless remote to your system, which is especially cheap if you’re using Windows Vista or 7. The remote control has a point and click mouse, the ability to drag and drop, plus programable buttons. Yah! Now, just picture yourself sitting in front of the TV moving from your favorite Southpark clip on YouTube one second to Hulu the next, to your latest video download in the evening. All this from the comfort of your couch. Did I mention it’s only $300?

Oh, and did I tell you that you can mount the Zotac MAG to the back of your TV. That’s right… no box below your TV cramping your style. You my friend are on the cutting edge. You don’t need a DVD or blue ray player or bulky cable box or even a DVR. This thing replaces everything and in full HD quality. Unbelivable.

Let’s look at what else in on the market:
Apple TV – It’s a closed system. If you just want watch movies  iTunes and look at photos, this is for you.
Roku – It’s $100 and let’s you tap into the Netflix system online. Apparently, there are 17,000 things for you to watch on there, albeit I couldn’t find much of anything that wasn’t ancient to watch.
Blue ray players with Netflix, Pandora, YouTube & Blockbuster built in – LAME! You can’t really surf YouTube and it seems like a lot of the videos are missing or impossible to find. The idea behind these systems is good and the ones with wifi built-in have firmware updates… so they’ll get better with time. It’s kind of like a glorified Roku box and you can’t go anywhere you want on the Internet like Hulu, ABC, Fox and illegal video sites.
Custom HTPC setups – This is actually probably the best way to go if you’re tech savvy, have time on your hands and want to spend a little more. If you build your own home theater computer, you can put whatever components you want in it. Personally, I’d rather opt for the Zotac MAG since I can’t even build a custom HTPC for cheaper than what I bought it for, piecing out the components separately. Plus there are 6 usb outputs for other external devices.
Google TV - Looks like it’s setup to integrate with your regular television programming, not to replace it with a cheaper, more technologically advanced alternative

Do you know what I was told when I asked an audio visual professional how much a system like this would cost? He said, “There really isn’t anything on the market for less than $5,000 if you want to be able to connect to the Internet without your laptop and use a remote.”

WRONG

Now that I’ve thoroughly talked this thing way up, I should probably admit that I haven’t received it, set it up, or configured my system. I’m getting it tomorrow, so I will give you a quick write up with pictures and all to show how I do/did it!

UPDATE: I did it and it works! Read How to Install Windows 7 on Nettop (Zotac MAG) with USB Key

 

Why would you turn clients away?
We’re often taught that bigger, faster, more = BETTER. Do you have clients that bog you down? Kill your time? Have unreasonable demands? Piss you off?

But, I need the business!
I’m here to tell you, you can have your cake and eat it too. Don’t let anyone tell you the economic times are a reason to act desperate. You are talented, competent and in demand and don’t you forget it! Your time and energy are precious. Think of choosing your clients like dating. Spend your resources only on those that are worth the investment.

Turning away potential clients doesn’t mean you scrape by: quite the contrary. Once you define your target customer and start qualifying them, you’ll find that you have happier clients, more productivity, and an energy center that’s unstoppable.

Lesson 1: Define your Business
Often we get so caught up in the inertia of running a business that we forget the purpose, intention and result of our actions. Do you know who you serve, what your value is, and why potential clients should choose you? These sound like such mundane, redundant questions. We’ve all heard them before. The question is, have you taken the time to think through and truly answer them?

Who do you serve?
Mom and pop, small businesses, medium-sized organizations, enterprise? ECommerce, information sites, service businesses, start-ups, non-profit? Why? What’s your purpose in serving them?

What’s your value?
What do you currently charge? Do you believe you’re worth that much? What do your colleagues think about your rate? What are your financial goals? Are you meeting them? Can you create valuable packages or work on retainers to increase your earnings?

What customers will you benefit from most?
Rather than asking who will benefit the most from your services, try asking a better question. Who do you want to work with? Why? We work with all different clients for a variety of reasons.

For example, I work with small business clients because one of my values is contribution. I feel extra pumped up when I’m able to help grow a burgeoning site into a sustainable, thriving business. I can make a lot more money for less effort working on contract for larger companies, but I don’t feel passionate about it.

Lesson 2: Qualify Your Clients Before You Commit to the Relationship
Hey, I know you’re not in sales. You’re a marketer! Marketers might have a 3 drink minimum, but we make things happen. We make floundering businesses pop, give organizations oxygen, and in general… we rock. Ok, enough is enough. The point is, we get it stuck in our heads that we’re the movers and the shakers, not the lead qualifiers.

You wouldn’t go on a date with someone simply because they showed interest in you, would you? No, you have an invisible checklist, courting a potential before you so much as commit to a first date. Why should it be any different with clients? You might not make out with clients, but you sure do spend a lot of time with them.

Here’s how.

Create your list of qualifying questions:

• Take all of your nightmare clients and think of the question you could have asked that would have prevented you from working with them.
• Look at a mental snapshot of the clients you’ve adored. What was so great about them? Did they value your work? Were they easy to communicate with? What was it?  Create an illustration in your mind and on paper that reflects your ideal client.  

Don’t forget to do your homework:

• Ask around. Who referred the client? They’ve often worked with the client in some capacity and can offer a wealth of information on
• Google them. You Google friends, family, exes, and potential love interests. Don’t forget to Google your potential clients.
• Facebook can also offer information since their pages are open and indexable these days.

If you think the potential client is going to be exceedingly satisfied with your offering, choose them. If not, move on. Simply tell clients you don’t want to work with that you “don’t think it’s a good fit.”

Lesson 3: Set Expectations from Beginning to End
Expectations play a monstrous role in all types of relationships. Be well dressed for all of your dates and always play one step ahead. Make sure you’re leading, not being led. To do this, you have a clear, organized system that guides your customer through your offering and tells them exactly what to expect, when, at what price. It sounds so simple, but there are many touch points where this needs to happen.

The golden rule: under promise, over deliver.
You’ll always have happy customers if you do that. Leave padding in your price and in the delivery time frame. That’s one way to always be a hero.

Communicate, communicate, communicate!
Do you charge 50% up front and 50% upon delivery? Communicate this in your estimate, by email, when people inquire by phone, etc. Heck, even tell people how you want to be paid: PayPal, check, cash? Send invoices immediately and use something like Harvest to do the legwork for you.

Offer Reassurance – Sell it Again
Selling doesn’t stop once you get a contract signed; it begins. The client (no matter how cool they are) wants to know they made the right decision. When they start to express doubt, don’t take it personally. Instead, offer them a reassuring phrase like, “the results will speak for themselves” or talk about other clients that you’ve successfully helped in their niche.

How do you choose your clients?

We all get used to hearing the murmur on the radio, our iWhatever, and in shopping malls. The background of waves is affecting us all the time. I like to think I am able to tune out all of the white noise. I know I bob my head and tap my feet to memorable beats occasionally (ok, I do it a lot).

The question is, how much does sound really impact us? Marketing whores (read: agencies) are obviously familiar with sound bytes that they use promote big brands like Gap, Intel, and Mazda. I can’t tell you how many times I have said, “Zoooom, zooom or heard the Intel jingle in my head. I am still singing “Mellow Yellow” from that Gap commerical more than a decade ago. Want to see how sound is used to lure you lately? Watch the latest TV commercials laced with addictive melodies.

There’s a TED Talk, The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us, speaking to the physiological, psychological and behavioral influences of sound.

As some of you know, I went to an Unleash the Power Within (Tony Robbins) conference in July of this year. Robbins really chews on the meat of self improvement, realization and actualization in a logical, methodical manner, giving you tools to use on a daily basis. If you have the opportunity and seek change in your life, I highly recommend the seminar.

Through friends I met at Unleash the Power Within, I now belong to a group that is in the process of consciously deciding how to paint our lives through a method called RPM. In doing that, some of us have decided to choose songs that inspire, motivate, and otherwise pump us up! Do you have a soundtrack for your life? If not, I encourage you to think about what gets you going and inspires you to be the best person you can be. Sound reaches all of us deeply.

Here are the 5 songs that currently get me going:

This is Your Life – Switchfoot

I like the intro, and since it’s a new song to me, the words seem to have more of an effect on me. “Today is all got now. Today is all you ever have. Don’t close your eyes. This is your life. Be who you want to be. Are you who you want to be?”

If Everyone Cared – Nickelback

I didn’t think I even liked Nickelback, but the lyrics regarding gratitude for life, letting go of ego, and giving, gave it spot on my pump up list. “Amen, I’m alive. If everyone cared, nobody cried.  If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride.”

I Need to Wake Up – Melissa Etheridge

“I need to move. I need to wake up. I need to change. I need to shape up. I need to speak. Somethin’s gotta break up. I’ve been asleep and I need to wake up.” This song was featured in the documentary, the Inconvenient Truth. I think the lyrics are self explanatory.

Hands – Jewel

This has to be one of my all-time favorites. I remember hearing this song shortly after September 11th. It struck a chord deep in me then, and still does. It’s about giving, using your hands and owning your purpose. “If I could tell the world just one thing, it would be we’re all ok. Not to worry, cuz worry is wasteful and useless in times like these. My hands are small I know, but they are not yours they are my own. And, I am never broken.”

What are your top 5 songs? And, how do they make you feel?

I just returned from the Tony Robbins seminar, Unleash the Power Within in San Jose, CA. I learned an immeasurable amount of life and myself, but I thought it would be fun to translate the principles to SEO as well.

“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. ”
Enter web analytics. Several years ago, web analytics was just for geeks and statheads.  Today, web analytics gives SEO oxygen.

Are you passively looking at data, mesmerized by lines that go up and to the right?
OR – Do you align your goals and customer satisfaction with the questions that you ask?

Ask questions better questions of your data:

What are my measurable goals? How are they performing?
What percentage of people are abandoning the shopping cart? Why?
How is social media traffic performing? How engaged are visitors that arrive from facebook? Why?
Which keywords do people convert on? Do the visitors originate from organic or paid search? Which search engine?

You can ask better questions of your keywords:

What keywords do I want to target? Should I target the long tail with my keywords?
What will the search engine recommend that people search for? 
What do people search for regarding this topic?
What kind of language will make people want to click?

The next step is making a decision based upon the data…

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. ”
Now that you’ve asked outstanding questions, generating solid answers, you need to truly decide by taking action. This is where many organizations get stuck in the bottleneck of politics and red tape.

As an individual or an organization, you not only need to ask better questions, but you need to DO something different as a result of obtaining this newfound wisdom.

Change the checkout process. Try changing out button colors. Test, test, test and test more.

“You need to be outstanding to get excellent results. ”
It’s not good enough to be good anymore, you have to be outstanding to “stand out” from the rest.

Concentrate on the buyer, not the product. Think about the quality of your content, rather than just your advertising revenue. Eventually, the web is going to be a completely user defined experience, so you better be ready. You need to define your space, create your audience and serve their needs.

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. ”
By now you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Uh, DUH! This is common sense.” But, are you getting what you’ve always gotten? Time to do something new then, isn’t it?

“Create a vision and never let the environment, other people’s beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions. Ignore conventional wisdom. ”
This goes back to the last tenant. Do something different. Dare to dream about functionality that will change the name of the game. Think about your goals in whatever choice you make, but don’t let anyone else define the limits of your business.

“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results. ”
Use SEO tools to look at your competition. What are they doing different from you? How many inbound links do they have? What’s the quality and relevance of those links? Are they utilizing social media? How many pages do they have indexed? How often do they update content?

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. ”
Are there conflicting goals within yourself or your organization? Are you dabbling in your blog, but never fully contributing powerful, meaningful content? Are you consistent? Do you know what your providing for who and why? If you don’t, neither do they!

That aside, I think the new breed of web 2.0 concepts are very sexy. When typical business models are flipped upside down, the Internet takes on a whole new dimension. It’s exciting to see companies giving ordinary people so much choice. One day, you’ll be able to order the exact Honda you want with every feature custom to your taste (we’re not just talking about the paint and the trim — you’ll literally be able to choose the engine, seats, door panels, stereo, etc.).

In the meantime, I’ve listed several web 2.0 business concepts that are too good to keep to myself.

Kiva.org
Thanks to Seth Godin, I discovered this jewel. In just 2 years, Kiva raised over $11 million and funded nearly 17,000 loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, utilizing individual contributions as little as $25 each. Upon agreement to the loan repayment terms and interests rates, you too can start making a difference.

NotchUp.com
You’ve probably received a pesky email from a friend inviting you to NotchUp.com, the new invitation only resume bank. It’s another reverse model; employers pay for your attention. You set the price you’ll accept to go on an interview (the built-in calculator recommended that I charge $240 per interview). The reason you get so many invitations? NotchUp.com gives the referring party 10% commission on any interviews you setup through the site.

Moo.com
Standing in line at Slide in San Francisco, I met a Babak Nivi, a self proclaimed venture capitalist. He handed me his slick business card (half size with thick high quality paper and photo printing on one side). I learned that I could order my very own set of 100 business cards with 100 of my own photos printed on one side and contact information on the other for just $19.95. Hell, these are a fun conversation piece if nothing else. I ordered mine.

Jott.com
Sign up, register your phone, and then call (866) JOTT-123 (someone will type as you talk) and it can be posted directly your blog, text messaged somewhere or even used as a reminder, but that’s just the beginning. You can also Jott directly to Twitter, send specific Amazon.com listings to your email, and create a Google Calendar events on-the-go. It’s free to join and Jott 30 second messages.

WooMe.com
You may have seen the ads for WooMe.com plastered all over facebook.com. This is where speed dating meets iGen. Well, not quite. With a microphone and webcam, you’re in business to meet 5 people in 5 minutes, and you can setup a profile complete with your photo, the ability to add favorites, and meet an unlimited amount of Wooer’s. You get the other persons email address as long as you both Woo one another at the end of the 5 minute session. In all reality, this turns into a lot of pointing and laughing.

FeedBurner monetizes publisher’s feeds by embedding targeted ads in the syndicated content.  They host well over 880,000 feeds and so many subscribers that it’s impossible to count.  FeedBurner StandardStats will tell you what your approximate circulation is, feed readers used, and click throughs (must redirect links through FeedBurner to do this).  To do all of this, your feed has to come from FeedBurner, and not your own URL. They offer all sorts of tools to analyze, optimize, publicize, and monetize your content, but does it come at an SEO cost?

The drawback to using a 3^rd party solution like FeedBurner, which serves and tracks your RSS feeds is that you’ll forfeit the link popularity created by syndicating your feeds.  Instead of the feed coming directly from your URL, it originates from yourfeedprovider.com and you won’t ever be able deeply segment your readership. In fact, they recommend you redirect your pre-existing feed using a 302 redirect to your new FeedBurner account. 

They provide colorful stats and pretty pie charts, but how accurate are the FeedBurner subscriber counts?

By their own admission:  FeedBurner calculates subscribers by matching IP address and feed reader combinations and then [uses a detailed] understanding of the polling behavior of a multitude of readers, aggregators, browsers and bots on the market to make additional inferences.

More…

FeedBurner’s subscriber count is based on an approximation of how many times your feed has been requested in a 24-hour period. Subscribers is inferred from an analysis of the many different feed readers and aggregators that retrieve this feed daily. Subscribers is not computed for browsers and bots that access your feed.

Did you catch that?  This means they are collecting all sorts of information about your RSS feeds from many different sources – and then estimating the number of subscribers you have on a daily basis!  One day you could have 11,000 subscribers and be down to 6,000 the next. This is like using Alexa.com as an accurate statistic for measuring your web site traffic.  It’s an estimate generated by a number of variables, not a reliable stat for internal measurement that can be used for decision making.