Saturday, February 10, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Glass House Denver
Chris writes in about his work at Glass House Denver.
1. We placed a site sign at the construction site directing people to a website (not the one that exists now).
2. At that site, we ran a short slideshow of what I would call benefit pictures - no renderings of a pool, just a guy sitting by a pool.
3. Once the slideshow ended, we offered people a chance to "get on the list" for more information.
4. When we had permission from these people, we began updating them on our progress once a month, including revealing in more detail each feature of the building.
5. By the time we began the next step, over 5,000 people (I can't remember the exact number) had signed up (85% saying they were recommended by a friend.)
6. About 500 of those people had come by our office and REALLY expressed interest/granted permission.
7. We had about 45 cocktail parties for those people, about 15 at a time, at a restaurant in our neighborhood. In essence, we invited them in for drinks. We brought no collateral. No models. Instead, we just spent time with them. Answered their questions. Filled them in on the details that mattered to them.
8. Then we created a private website for those people who had expressed interest answering the most common questions we had heard in our cocktail parties.
9. From there, using a system that met some pretty stringent real estate law requirements, we offered those people who had expressed the most interest in Glass House an opportunity to purchase.
10. We're moving the first people in and are completely bought out - 389 residences before the completion of construction in a market that is decidedly not booming. (Don't get me wrong, this was a good building priced well in a great location. But, our marketing was the x factor in making it work.)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Turning your idea/text into a visual context
David at Boingboing points us to: A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods.A great way to visualise textual information
Monday, January 08, 2007
HoW tO bE REmArKaBlE - Seth Godin
1. Understand the urgency of the situation. Half-measures simply won't do. The only way to grow is to abandon your strategy of doing what you did yesterday, but better. Commit.
2. Remarkable doesn't mean remarkable to you. It means remarkable to me. Am I going to make a remark about it? If not, then you're average, and average is for losers.
3. Being noticed is not the same as being remarkable. Running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won't accomplish much. It's easy to pull off a stunt, but not useful.
4. Extremism in the pursuit of remarkability is no sin. In fact, it's practically a requirement. People in first place, those considered the best in the world, these are the folks that get what they want. Rock stars have groupies because they're stars, not because they're good looking.
5. Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn't always matter which edge, more that you're at (or beyond) the edge.
6. Not everyone appreciates your efforts to be remarkable. In fact, most people don't. So what? Most people are ostriches, heads in the sand, unable to help you anyway. Your goal isn't to please everyone. Your goal is to please those that actually speak up, spread the word, buy new things or hire the talented.
7. If it's in a manual, if it's the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It's boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister's record wasn't. He was just faster ... but it doesn't matter.
8. It's not really as frightening as it seems. They keep the masses in line by threatening them (us) with all manner of horrible outcomes if we dare to step out of line. But who loses their jobs at the mass layoffs? Who has trouble finding a new gig? Not the remarkable minority, that's for sure.
9. If you put it on a T-shirt, would people wear it? No use being remarkable at something that people don't care about. Not ALL people, mind you, just a few. A few people insanely focused on what you do is far far better than thousands of people who might be mildly interested, right?
10. What's fashionable soon becomes unfashionable. While you might be remarkable for a time, if you don't reinvest and reinvent, you won't be for long. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must commit to being remarkable again quite soon.
Posted by Seth Godin on January 07, 2007 | Permalink
2. Remarkable doesn't mean remarkable to you. It means remarkable to me. Am I going to make a remark about it? If not, then you're average, and average is for losers.
3. Being noticed is not the same as being remarkable. Running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won't accomplish much. It's easy to pull off a stunt, but not useful.
4. Extremism in the pursuit of remarkability is no sin. In fact, it's practically a requirement. People in first place, those considered the best in the world, these are the folks that get what they want. Rock stars have groupies because they're stars, not because they're good looking.
5. Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn't always matter which edge, more that you're at (or beyond) the edge.
6. Not everyone appreciates your efforts to be remarkable. In fact, most people don't. So what? Most people are ostriches, heads in the sand, unable to help you anyway. Your goal isn't to please everyone. Your goal is to please those that actually speak up, spread the word, buy new things or hire the talented.
7. If it's in a manual, if it's the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It's boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister's record wasn't. He was just faster ... but it doesn't matter.
8. It's not really as frightening as it seems. They keep the masses in line by threatening them (us) with all manner of horrible outcomes if we dare to step out of line. But who loses their jobs at the mass layoffs? Who has trouble finding a new gig? Not the remarkable minority, that's for sure.
9. If you put it on a T-shirt, would people wear it? No use being remarkable at something that people don't care about. Not ALL people, mind you, just a few. A few people insanely focused on what you do is far far better than thousands of people who might be mildly interested, right?
10. What's fashionable soon becomes unfashionable. While you might be remarkable for a time, if you don't reinvest and reinvent, you won't be for long. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must commit to being remarkable again quite soon.
Posted by Seth Godin on January 07, 2007 | Permalink
Friday, January 05, 2007
Set Godin the Master of Simplicity/Strategy
Seth Godin again manages to show why he is where he is - he can pin point with laser accuracy and clarity strategy and tactics.
Go see his blog on The difference between strategy and tactics.
Go see his blog on The difference between strategy and tactics.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Why social media are important
Here's a few statistics that explain why:
* By March 2006, 84 million Americans had broadband at home, a 40% jump from 2005 figures
* By March 2006, Pew estimated 48 million Americans were regular online content creators
* By the end of 2005, 139 million people in the world had a DSL (broadband) connection
* In 2005, $6.7 billion worth of digital cameras were sold in the U.S.
* About 41% of all cell phone owners use them as content tools
* By the end of 2005, just over 1 billion people were online -- that's 1/6th of the world
* Asia represents the world's most populous online segment
* By July 2006, 50 million blogs had been created and their number was doubling every 6 months
* About 7,200 new blogs are created every hour
* By 2006, 10 million people were listening to podcasts in 2006; by 2010, it's expected to be 50 million people
* About 100 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube; about 65,000 videos uploaded every day
* In 2006, MySpace had over 100 million registered members, most of them from the U.S.
* By March 2006, 84 million Americans had broadband at home, a 40% jump from 2005 figures
* By March 2006, Pew estimated 48 million Americans were regular online content creators
* By the end of 2005, 139 million people in the world had a DSL (broadband) connection
* In 2005, $6.7 billion worth of digital cameras were sold in the U.S.
* About 41% of all cell phone owners use them as content tools
* By the end of 2005, just over 1 billion people were online -- that's 1/6th of the world
* Asia represents the world's most populous online segment
* By July 2006, 50 million blogs had been created and their number was doubling every 6 months
* About 7,200 new blogs are created every hour
* By 2006, 10 million people were listening to podcasts in 2006; by 2010, it's expected to be 50 million people
* About 100 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube; about 65,000 videos uploaded every day
* In 2006, MySpace had over 100 million registered members, most of them from the U.S.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Worthy Blogs
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Andy Nulman
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
Darren Barefoot
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Carpe Factum
Steve’s 2 Cents
Simplicity
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Make it Great!
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
Urban Jacksonville
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com
37 Days
A Clear Eye
Alex Halavais
Blog Brothers
Brand Autopsy
Brand Soul
Creating Passionate Users
Crossroads Dispatches
Doc Searls
Drawn
eHub
FAST Company
gapingvoid
gillianic tendencies
Good Experience
Hitchhikers Guide to the Blogosphere
Hobopoet
How to Save the World
Josh Hallett
Joy of Six
Learned on Women
Listics
Make it Great
my topography
New Charm School
Occupational Adventure
Orbit Now
Pause
PureLand Mountain
Seth Godin
Simplicity
Songs of Experience
Talking Story
Time Goes By
Tom Peters
Tomorrow Today
WonderBranding
World Changing
Tertiary Education
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Creative Think
8wishes
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
100 Bloggers
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
OrbitNow!
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That’s Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
How I try to spend my days – Manifesto to my children
Do what you value
This is different from doing what you love. I love chocolate but making it is not what I value – no disrespect to chocolateurs.
I value hard work and innovation and surprises and play. And because I value them I work on them.
Do not seek permission to dream
You know what’s right. It’s in your genes to be the punk rocker of your life.
Yet we often (constantly?) seek endorsement, sanctioning, approval from defined and undefined authorities.
This is a vestigial remnant of too many years in the schooling system – self appointed authorities that demand your respect, when you know you should just…
…Love
It’s a verb – NOT just a fuzzy feeling inside.
Love demands actions. So when you say you love something make sure your actions say it too.
Respect your art
Whatever ‘art’ you’ve chose for yourself: from selling strategy to film making, from basket weaving to driving trucks, from taming lions to plumbing houses and everything in between.
Respect means you’ll work at it to do better than what you did yesterday and the day before.
Respect the artist
Don’t be too hard on yourself – just showing up everyday is a big achievement when most have stopped showing up a long time ago.
Be humble to your art but not submissive.
Be there and…
…Be present
You have to be in the moment to make the moment count. Get rid of distractions and do what you value.
There’s no TRYING - it’s all about TRYING.
Do not make TRYING an escape clause – as in “I’m trying this to see if it works, if not I’ll quit.” There’s no trying – there’s doing.
And yet, it’s all about trying. After all, no one walks before crawling.
Be sure to know the difference.
Write
It’s one of the few hallmarks of being a human being. The ability to read meaning in abstract scrawls and symbols is uniquely human.
Write love letters and poetry. Write menus and business plans, write novels and your dreams and fear. Even write abuse if you need to. But put it in writing. Do it with style. Write.
Rinse Repeat
Persistence pays off.
The mightiest mountain will crumble under the gentlest breeze of eternal winds.
This is different from doing what you love. I love chocolate but making it is not what I value – no disrespect to chocolateurs.
I value hard work and innovation and surprises and play. And because I value them I work on them.
Do not seek permission to dream
You know what’s right. It’s in your genes to be the punk rocker of your life.
Yet we often (constantly?) seek endorsement, sanctioning, approval from defined and undefined authorities.
This is a vestigial remnant of too many years in the schooling system – self appointed authorities that demand your respect, when you know you should just…
…Love
It’s a verb – NOT just a fuzzy feeling inside.
Love demands actions. So when you say you love something make sure your actions say it too.
Respect your art
Whatever ‘art’ you’ve chose for yourself: from selling strategy to film making, from basket weaving to driving trucks, from taming lions to plumbing houses and everything in between.
Respect means you’ll work at it to do better than what you did yesterday and the day before.
Respect the artist
Don’t be too hard on yourself – just showing up everyday is a big achievement when most have stopped showing up a long time ago.
Be humble to your art but not submissive.
Be there and…
…Be present
You have to be in the moment to make the moment count. Get rid of distractions and do what you value.
There’s no TRYING - it’s all about TRYING.
Do not make TRYING an escape clause – as in “I’m trying this to see if it works, if not I’ll quit.” There’s no trying – there’s doing.
And yet, it’s all about trying. After all, no one walks before crawling.
Be sure to know the difference.
Write
It’s one of the few hallmarks of being a human being. The ability to read meaning in abstract scrawls and symbols is uniquely human.
Write love letters and poetry. Write menus and business plans, write novels and your dreams and fear. Even write abuse if you need to. But put it in writing. Do it with style. Write.
Rinse Repeat
Persistence pays off.
The mightiest mountain will crumble under the gentlest breeze of eternal winds.
Make Stuff
" WHY MAKE STUFF?
You can change the world with a pencil, a piece of paper, a chunk of
charcoal and piece of cardboard, a paintbrush, a crayon, a d-cam, a
blog, a cell phone, a recorder; a projector, some clay and a kiln, some
wood and a few tools, some sticks, stones, and grasses, a stove and
some vegetables, found glass, paper, metal, plastic, a torch, a welder,
a stick and some sand, a knife to carve with, an idea, some mud and
hay, a computer, some seeds, a needle and thread and scrap of fabric,
the list goes on. You can change yourself by using any of this stuff or
any thing else that might come to mind and hand.
Why we make stuff matters. How we make stuff is secondary. Any method,
material or vehicle that allows you to get to what you're trying to
see/feel/say/suggest is equally valid. What we make is not the point.
That we make, that we DO, is.
Making stuff develops the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel.
Making stuff is about problem solving, the openness to possibilities,
development of skills, internal and external navigation and resolution,
a sense of exploration and adventure. Making stuff transforms one from
a consumer to a contributor. Making stuff is not passive. Making stuff
involves making choices. Realizing you have choices and making them is
empowering. Empowerment leads to confidence, and the courage to
question and challenge the status quo. Making stuff and sharing it is a
social and political act, which opens avenues for communication. That
can help prevent us from becoming mindless drones subservient to the
mass media, politicians, advertisers and commercial interests that have
constructed the consumer culture for the purposes of distracting and
desensitizing us from reality.
Make it up, make do, make it real, make it personal, make it public.
Make it work, make it accessible, make it cheap, make it fun, make it
serious. Make it loud or soft, make it bright or dim, make it big or
small. Make it obvious, make it subtle, make it to be touched, tasted,
smelled, heard. Make it open to interpretation, open for discussion,
open to criticism. Make it open. Make it from found stuff, made stuff,
recycled, reused and repaired stuff. Make it from scratch, from a kit,
a mix, a box. Make it new or make it old. Make it specific, make it
general, make it purposeful, make it pointless. Make it a question,
make it an answer, make it clear, make it vague. Make it high tech,
make it lo-fi, make it inclusive.
Just make it. When you're done, make more and make different. No need
to explain, justify, apologize, or validate. Make it, and let it go.
Dare to fail big, and attempt to change the world. Resist conformity,
think for yourself and go make some stuff of your very own."
From gapingvoid http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/003479.html
You can change the world with a pencil, a piece of paper, a chunk of
charcoal and piece of cardboard, a paintbrush, a crayon, a d-cam, a
blog, a cell phone, a recorder; a projector, some clay and a kiln, some
wood and a few tools, some sticks, stones, and grasses, a stove and
some vegetables, found glass, paper, metal, plastic, a torch, a welder,
a stick and some sand, a knife to carve with, an idea, some mud and
hay, a computer, some seeds, a needle and thread and scrap of fabric,
the list goes on. You can change yourself by using any of this stuff or
any thing else that might come to mind and hand.
Why we make stuff matters. How we make stuff is secondary. Any method,
material or vehicle that allows you to get to what you're trying to
see/feel/say/suggest is equally valid. What we make is not the point.
That we make, that we DO, is.
Making stuff develops the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel.
Making stuff is about problem solving, the openness to possibilities,
development of skills, internal and external navigation and resolution,
a sense of exploration and adventure. Making stuff transforms one from
a consumer to a contributor. Making stuff is not passive. Making stuff
involves making choices. Realizing you have choices and making them is
empowering. Empowerment leads to confidence, and the courage to
question and challenge the status quo. Making stuff and sharing it is a
social and political act, which opens avenues for communication. That
can help prevent us from becoming mindless drones subservient to the
mass media, politicians, advertisers and commercial interests that have
constructed the consumer culture for the purposes of distracting and
desensitizing us from reality.
Make it up, make do, make it real, make it personal, make it public.
Make it work, make it accessible, make it cheap, make it fun, make it
serious. Make it loud or soft, make it bright or dim, make it big or
small. Make it obvious, make it subtle, make it to be touched, tasted,
smelled, heard. Make it open to interpretation, open for discussion,
open to criticism. Make it open. Make it from found stuff, made stuff,
recycled, reused and repaired stuff. Make it from scratch, from a kit,
a mix, a box. Make it new or make it old. Make it specific, make it
general, make it purposeful, make it pointless. Make it a question,
make it an answer, make it clear, make it vague. Make it high tech,
make it lo-fi, make it inclusive.
Just make it. When you're done, make more and make different. No need
to explain, justify, apologize, or validate. Make it, and let it go.
Dare to fail big, and attempt to change the world. Resist conformity,
think for yourself and go make some stuff of your very own."
From gapingvoid http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/003479.html
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
A William
Forse l'hai già capito: non è facile crescere, ancor meno diventare adulti.
Essere grandi significa avere più libertà, più mezzi economici, ma anche molte più responsabilità.
Il tuo compito, la tua meta in fondo al viaggio, è diventare migliore dei tuoi genitori.
Alza la fronte. Non farti imbrogliare da chi vorrebbe comprare il tuo consenso con denaro o adulazioni, non ti far bastare ciò che sono disposti a darti. Il tempo ti dirà che le idee sono tanto più preziose quanto più sono diverse.
Alza la fronte e non porre limiti alla tua ambizione: essi sono fatti per essere superati attraverso passione e capacità. Non è vero che nella vita bisogna accettarsi, piuttosto è fondamentale sapere che ti puoi migliorare, qualsiasi sia la stagione che stai attraversando.
Sforzati di trovare il coraggio per dare spazio alla tua creatività, confida nel tuo talento cercandolo ogni giorno e ogni notte dentro di te.
Raschia il barile delle tue capacità, scopri ogni cunicolo della tua anima ma non donarla mai tutta, riservane sempre una briciola per ogni tua prossima passione.
L'esistenza non è una corsa di cento metri, ma una maratona meravigliosa e per arrivare alla fine occorre merito, non furbizia; voglia di essere disponibili a meravigliarsi, non infruttuose ricette alchemiche: "un uomo libero agisce sempre in buona fede e non ricorre all'astuzia", diceva Spinoza.
Non dare retta a chi ti indica le scorciatoie, prova ad osare strade difficili, evita tutto ciò che è comodo e diffida di chi te lo propone. Fa' crescere dentro di te rabbia e sete per l'inquietudine.
Non buttarti via, impara a dannarti senza perderti.
Alza la fronte e tieni dritta la schiena: nemmeno gli anni la curveranno, soltanto l'ignavia.
Ama la tua libertà e difendila da tutto e da tutti; adora la tua autonomia, riparala dal canto delle sirene ricattatrici: le dipendenze non fanno crescere, aiutano soltanto a smarrire il senso del viaggio.
Non farti atterrire dall'urto delle tue emozioni, contamina con l'eco di quel rombo magnifico chi, accanto a te, ha abbassato lo sguardo.
Impara che hai diritto a pensare che nella vita si possa e si debba tentare e sbagliare, e che nessuno ti deve poter giudicare per gli errori che commetterai, ma semmai per le omissioni che ammetterai a te stesso.
La riga la si tira alla fine, non certo a vent'anni, e, quando ti verrà di guardare alla vita come ad una straordinaria vallata percorsa, avrai finalmente capito che la sera cui sei giunto conosce segreti che il lontano mattino nemmeno poteva immaginare; ma dovrai anche sapere che ciò che di buono è stato l'ha costruito la tua anima, così come anche ciò che le tue forze non sono state capaci di compiere.
From the preface of 'I figli non crescono più' by Paolo Crepet
Essere grandi significa avere più libertà, più mezzi economici, ma anche molte più responsabilità.
Il tuo compito, la tua meta in fondo al viaggio, è diventare migliore dei tuoi genitori.
Alza la fronte. Non farti imbrogliare da chi vorrebbe comprare il tuo consenso con denaro o adulazioni, non ti far bastare ciò che sono disposti a darti. Il tempo ti dirà che le idee sono tanto più preziose quanto più sono diverse.
Alza la fronte e non porre limiti alla tua ambizione: essi sono fatti per essere superati attraverso passione e capacità. Non è vero che nella vita bisogna accettarsi, piuttosto è fondamentale sapere che ti puoi migliorare, qualsiasi sia la stagione che stai attraversando.
Sforzati di trovare il coraggio per dare spazio alla tua creatività, confida nel tuo talento cercandolo ogni giorno e ogni notte dentro di te.
Raschia il barile delle tue capacità, scopri ogni cunicolo della tua anima ma non donarla mai tutta, riservane sempre una briciola per ogni tua prossima passione.
L'esistenza non è una corsa di cento metri, ma una maratona meravigliosa e per arrivare alla fine occorre merito, non furbizia; voglia di essere disponibili a meravigliarsi, non infruttuose ricette alchemiche: "un uomo libero agisce sempre in buona fede e non ricorre all'astuzia", diceva Spinoza.
Non dare retta a chi ti indica le scorciatoie, prova ad osare strade difficili, evita tutto ciò che è comodo e diffida di chi te lo propone. Fa' crescere dentro di te rabbia e sete per l'inquietudine.
Non buttarti via, impara a dannarti senza perderti.
Alza la fronte e tieni dritta la schiena: nemmeno gli anni la curveranno, soltanto l'ignavia.
Ama la tua libertà e difendila da tutto e da tutti; adora la tua autonomia, riparala dal canto delle sirene ricattatrici: le dipendenze non fanno crescere, aiutano soltanto a smarrire il senso del viaggio.
Non farti atterrire dall'urto delle tue emozioni, contamina con l'eco di quel rombo magnifico chi, accanto a te, ha abbassato lo sguardo.
Impara che hai diritto a pensare che nella vita si possa e si debba tentare e sbagliare, e che nessuno ti deve poter giudicare per gli errori che commetterai, ma semmai per le omissioni che ammetterai a te stesso.
La riga la si tira alla fine, non certo a vent'anni, e, quando ti verrà di guardare alla vita come ad una straordinaria vallata percorsa, avrai finalmente capito che la sera cui sei giunto conosce segreti che il lontano mattino nemmeno poteva immaginare; ma dovrai anche sapere che ciò che di buono è stato l'ha costruito la tua anima, così come anche ciò che le tue forze non sono state capaci di compiere.
From the preface of 'I figli non crescono più' by Paolo Crepet
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