Matthew Murdoch's Marketing Mashup

The six degrees of separation is now one degree

2012-01-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced that you can get to 75% of the world in just three stops. I just got back from Thailand where I was conducting some business:

I traveled from Salt Lake City to Portland (1st stop).
Then to Tokyo (2nd stop).
Then to Bangkok (3rd stop).

By adding in a 4th stop you can cover 95% of the world. I added a 4th stop and went to a small beach town called Krabi. (I'd never even heard of the place before!) But from Bangkok I could have gone to nearly anywhere in Southeast Asia.

We've all heard of the Six Degrees of Separation where you can connect yourself to anyone within six social connections. I think our ability to connect has dramatically shrunk. For example, I can send a personal note to @MittRomney or @BarakObama or @JLo. Of course it doesn't mean they will read it, but I now have a direct connection to them (or their handlers).

The point is that the world is shrinking my friends! We are no longer confined within our own borders. If you're not thinking global in everything you do, your not thinking big enough.

The Most Important Thing

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here's my best tip for this year, month, week, hour AND minute:

If you're feeling anxious and overwhelmed with everything that is piling up around you at work and at home DO THE IMPORTANT THING FIRST.

It's such a simple principle! List out your tasks, prioritize them, and then start with #1.

You may only get one thing done at work and one thing done at home today. But I gan guarantee you this: It will be the right thing!

Now I need to take a bit of my own advice and stop writing this blog so that I can do MY most important thing right now.

Help to think creatively

2011-11-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

I find that when I'm stumped by a problem at work, I need to read or see something that is completely random -- meaning it has nothing to do with the problem at hand. For some reason, it changes my brain waves and helps me think in different ways. Here is a list of some web sites that can help stir up your grey matter when you need some fresh ideas and help you think creatively:

Future Technology Portal: Crazy futuristic ideas and images
Picocool: Random images from social media and subcultures
PrintMag: Where you can read/see innovative print design. I also found this awesome video there created by Element X Creative (check out their demo reel).
Poetry Foundation: Fill your mind with new combinations of words
Dvice: Feed your technology obsession

There are a bajillion other places to visit so, if you've got others let me know and I'll add to this post.

Encoding video for Adobe Connect

2011-10-26T08:48:00.001-06:00

I just stumbled across a decent article on how to compress video for Adobe Connect. I've been doing it for years but never thought to write down my knowledge. I use Sorenson Squeeze to produce my final product. But I've been dabbling in Adobe Media Encoder lately as well.

Connect with Abbas has a good description of how to do it, including the three main factors you need to consider for a good final product:

Frame size - width & height of your video.
Bitrate (or data rate) - how many kilobits per second are needed to display video.
Frame rate (or frames per second).

So take a look at his post. I think it's well written. But the most important thing to remember when compressing your videos is that you should always test a variety of settings.

The Best Export Settings for Final Cut Pro

2011-10-19T07:24:00.002-06:00

I've been trying to figure out the best export settings for Final Cut Pro. I've traditionally just exported as QuickTime, but I was having problems with my traditional settings -- like getting strange grey screens, bitmapped images, video pausing while the audio continued, etc. So I found a decent tutorial on YouTube that helped with some new settings. The tutorial is a bit long (and the export settings don't start until about half way through) so I thought I'd type them out for you to save you some time:

1) Click File > Export
Select Using QuickTime Conversion...
Format = Quick Time Conversion
Use = Default Settings

2) Click Options > Settings
Compression = H.264
Frame Rate = Current
Key Frames = 24
Data Rate = Automatic
Quality = High

3) Click OK

4) Click Size
Select HD 1280 x 720 16:9

This produced excellent Final Cut Pro Export results that I then took into Sorenson Squeeze to compress even further.

We are all Digital Farmers

2011-10-17T08:20:00.001-06:00

On a farm, when the chickens needed feeding, the pigs needed slopping or the cow got out of the barn, you took care of it. That was your job, day and night. As a kid, when my dad and I were irrigating our apple orchard there were times we forgot to pull the headgate out of the creek. So, late at night, I'd trudge through the woods with a flashlight to take care of the chore. I didn't like it, but I did it because I had to.

I've found that today we've all become digital farmers. We get up early, not to milk cows but to work digitally with global partners and to ensure systems are up and running.

On a farm, you'd find that a fox got in with the chickens, today it's gremlins in the network. In either case, you have to answer the call quickly and efficiently to solve the problem so that the fox or gremlins don't eat your assets.

I find that many people complain they are "leashed" to their work day and night with mobile phones and email. Although that may be true, we have jobs to do whether it's collecting the eggs, irrigating the fields or replying to an urgent client need from another country.

It's interesting that the more things change the more they stay the same. I'm just glad my office doesn't smell like a barn.

Complete feature list for iOS 5 software update

2011-10-16T20:15:00.002-06:00

If you're like me, the feature list for the new iOS5 update went by too quickly -- I wanted to reread the iOS 5 Software Updates after I had uploaded it. So, when I updated my wife's phone, I captured it all. HGere is the full listing of new features for iOS 5:

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

Notifications

Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
View notifications from lock screen
Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

iMessage

Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
Track messages with delivery and read receipts
Group messaging and secure encryption
Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*

Newsstand

Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
Displays the cover of the latest issue
Background downloads of new issues

Reminders for managing to do lists

Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

Built-in support for Twitter

Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
Add location to any tweet
View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

Camera improvements for devices with cameras

Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
Volume Up button to take a picture
Optional grid lines to line up shots
Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

Photo improvements for devices with cameras

Crop and rotate
Red eye removal
One tap enhance
Organize photos into albums

Mail improvements

Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
Indentation control
Drag to rearrange names in address fields
Flag messages
Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
Customize mail alert sounds
S/MIME

Calendar improvements

Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
Tap to create an event
View and add event attachments

Game Center improvements

Use personal photos for your Game Center account
Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
Discover new games with custom game recommendations

AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
Multitasking Gestures for iPad

Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
Swipe left or right to switch between apps

On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
Software updates available over the air without tethering
iCloud support

iTunes in the Cloud
Photo Stream
Documents in the Cloud
Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
Backup
Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
Find My iPhone

Redesigned Music app for iPad

Hourly weather forecast
Real-time stock quotes
Wireless sync to iTunes
Keyboard improvements

Split keyboard for iPad
Improved autocorrection accuracy
Improved Chinese and Japanese input
New Emoji keyboard
Personal dictionary for autocorrection
Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words

Accessibility improvements

Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
Option to speak a selection of text
Custom element labeling for VoiceOver

Exchange ActiveSync improvements

Wirelessly sync tasks
Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
Improved offline support
Save a new contact from a GAL service

More than 1,500 new developer APIs
Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:

iPhone 4S
iPhone 4
iPhone 3GS
iPad 2
iPad
iPod touch (4th generation)
iPod touch (3rd generation)

* Normal carrier data rates may apply. Messages will be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable, carrier messaging fees apply.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Just Ask

2011-08-17T05:35:00.003-06:00

My wife is wise.

One of her famous quotes is, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." This is absolutely a correct principle.

For example, I was recently asked to conduct a speaking session at a conference. However, if I wanted to attend any of the other sessions I was going to have to register for the conference at a $1,500 fee. Ouch!

So, I called the conference and asked, in a very nice way, if there was any way they could comp me in. After a few minutes on hold she said she'd talked with the head of the conference and they'd provide me a pass for free.

Today I'm traveling back from Chicago, I've got an hour before my flight and really wanted a quiet place to work. So I walked into the Delta Sky Club and asked if I could go in for a while although I don't yet have a pass to get in. The gentleman at the desk looked through my records and saw that I travel a lot and that I will soon have earned a pass. He let me in.

People are generally nice (with a few bad eggs thrown in the mix) and will usually try to be of assistance -- especially if you are courteous and kind to them. I know that if someone asks me for something, I will really try and help them out.

13 years ago I asked my wife to marry me. Either she was feeling especially generous on that beautiful San Francisco day or I asked the right way (or maybe a bit of both). She said "yes" and my life has been blessed ever since.

The next time you're in a bind or need a favor, crack open the jar of honey and just ask real nice. You won't always get the answer you're looking for, but you should always ask.

Happy anniversary Laura!

Have you heard about the Singularity?

2011-08-09T07:44:00.002-06:00

I just finished reading this article on the coming Singularity. What? You haven't heard about this event predicted to occur in about 2020? I hadn't either...at least not in these terms. WARNING: The article will fry your brain around the edges a bit.

Here's a taster to get you interested:

The difficult thing to keep sight of when you're talking about the Singularity is that even though it sounds like science fiction, it isn't, no more than a weather forecast is science fiction. It's not a fringe idea; it's a serious hypothesis about the future of life on Earth.

This movement even has a university, SingularityU, and an annual conference. I have a friend from Denmark that actually paid the $25,000 to attend the university last year. He's trying to get me to go next year, saying that it is the most amazing experience he's ever had. I'll let you know if my wife let's me sell her car so I can afford the tuition.

So, read the article to get a glimpse of what this means. For me, I'm pretty excited about it all!

Export your Facebook contacts with new Open-Xchange tool

2011-07-10T21:46:00.002-06:00

I found this great post about how to import your Facebook contacts into Google+. The original post was found here. Thanks for the post Andrew Couts!

Right now, using the service is a little bit complicated. But for those of you who are anxious to migrate all you Facebook friends over to Google+, here’s how to use it:

1. If your browser is set to block pop-up windows, turn that off.
2. Visit ox.io.
3. Click “Create an account,” and fill out the necessary fields.
4. Validate your account via the link sent to your email address. A Wizard will pop-up on your screen. Cancel that, and instead go to Mail View, which is accessible though the blue envelope icon located in the top left corner.
5. Click “Add email account” on the left side, and add the email address you use for most of your contacts. You can add additional emails later, if you wish. The email you use must be IMAP (not POP), but that includes most major email services, like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc.
6. Click the Contacts View icon (black, fourth over in the top left corner). Then select “Import Facebook contacts.” To complete the process, we had to click “…or create a fresh one for your profile” button that appears in the pop-up menu. This will ask you to add the Open-Xchange app to your Facebook account, so it’s best to be already logged into Facebook before you get to this point.
7. Click “start” and the tool will begin the export process. (This takes about 5 minutes.)
8. And you’re done! Your contacts will then appear in the Open-Xchange, and you can also download the list directly to your computer. You can now import the contacts into a range of address books and social networks, including Google+

The Open-Xchange tool, which exports only email addresses, is not as thorough as the now-defunct Chrome extension, which also included things like birthdays. But it’s good enough to get things rolling past the Facebook blockade.

Why is the Space Shuttle project ending?

2011-07-05T09:18:00.001-06:00

It seems sad that the Space Shuttles are ending. I remember when this started and how it affected my life -- I was just a kid watching it blast into space but it opened my mind to new way's of thinking. I even built a pseudo-model that I would launch from my school's baseball field and then watch it glide back down to earth.

I'm sure the space program will continue, I just hope that it will have as dramatic effect on my kids as it did on me.

View Space Shuttle and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.

When it's Due - by Seth Godin

2011-07-02T09:02:00.005-06:00

I love this post by Seth Godin (by the way if you don't subscribe to his blog via RSS, you're really missing out!). You can find his blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/.

Here is the full text of this post:

WHEN IT'S DUE

Here's the schedule. Follow it.

There's your in box. Empty it.

When something is imminent, speed up. When you're off the deadline machine, take a breath and poke around a bit, explore, relax.

Nonsense.

The goal isn't to do work and hand it in just before it's due. The goal is to do the work as beautifully as you can, faster than anyone else, so you can do more work.

If it takes a deadline to get you off your butt and to push past the resistance, then move the deadlines forward.

You don't work on an assembly line any more. You work in project world, and more projects mean more chances to screw up, to learn, to make a reputation and to have more impact.

When it's you against the boss, the goal is to do less work.

When it's you against the project, the goal is to do more work.

Mid-year goals

2011-07-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

My goal setting bench in Cascais, Portugal.

I'm a goal-setting kind of guy. If you don't believe me just ask my wife. Each year for our wedding anniversary I'll take my wife out to dinner and we use this time to talk about our goals -- for each other and for each of our four children. Besides this routine goal-setting time, I'm always thinking about what goals should be accomplished.

This spring, while on a trip to Portugal, I found myself walking through the Parque Marechal Carmona one evening. It was a really beautiful park and I had the place to myself. So, I sat down on this park bench and started writing down a long list of goals that I wanted to accomplish.

I always write my goals in four areas: Spiritual goals, Mental goals, Social goals and Physical goals. I find that when I focus on these four areas I can usually capture the bulk of what I need to work on.

The secret, I've found, is to regularly review your goals and make weekly plans to move them along. I know...it 's really hard to work on them all of the time...so you have to plan on being flexible. I try to find a quite place each week to read my goals. It could be at lunch, on a Sunday morning, or on a plane ride. But the important thing is to keep them in the front of your mind all of the time!

So, here we are at the middle of the year -- July 1. If you haven't been able to keep up on your New Year's resolutions, try dusting them out today and make a Mid-Year Resolution to refocus on them and accomplish them during the next six months.

Three lessons I've learned this year

2011-06-30T08:34:00.007-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I like to use the excuse that I've been traveling a lot, but that shouldn't be an excuse...it should be a reason to post!

I've been learning and experiencing so much over the past few months it's unbelievable! Here are a few lessons learned:

1) You need to carry your own weather. I've found that I'm happiest when people around me are happy. The problem is that people aren't happy all of the time so I've made a resolution to try and make them happier, thereby having an impact on my environment. Here's a short video to help inspire you.

2) There's no place like home. I've logged more than 100,000 miles in the first half of this year. I've traveled to four different continents and seen some amazing sights like Cabo de Roca, the westernmost point in Europe; a Bollywood opera in New Delhi; The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. I don't list these things to brag and boast, rather to illustrate how inconsequential they are. Because there's nothing like coming home to your family -- pushing your daughter on a swing; riding a bike with your son; playing a game with a daughter on a lazy Sunday morning; or teaching a son to play baseball. I would trade my travel experiences -- all of them -- to have more family experiences like these.

3) Focus begets success. When you truly focus on a goal and take steps to accomplish it, you have a greater chance of success. Conversely, when you are unorganized and undisciplined you have a tendency to wander in circles, unable to attain that which you seek because you have not charted a course and diligently focused on it.

Isn't life strangely wonderful? It's like a constant puzzle that you're always trying to solve but, as one piece slips into place you see more pieces that need to be arranged. It's a never ending game of trial, error, and success. Hopefully we'll all find more success than error for the second half of this year!

Good Thoughts

2011-04-09T12:36:00.005-06:00

I was asked to go to India to speak at a conference this week. I really didn't want to go because:

1) India is really hard to get to (35 hours of multiple long flights)

2) It's really hot (The last time I was there it was 120 degrees)

3) It's extremely dirty

4) It's a really, really sad place

But I went.

While there, I saw the horrific poverty of the people -- families literally living in cardboard boxes in the dirt. I saw young children, the ages of my own kids, dragging sheets of corrugated metal through the streets, supposedly to create a rudimentary shelter for their family for the night. I saw beggars in the street with nothing to eat. I saw horrific pollution and dirt.

It's almost too much to take in.

But then I read an article online about how you should try and look for the good in everything, no matter the situation. The next day, I saw things differently.

I saw families laughing together. I saw neighbors helping neighbors. I saw hard workers providing for their families. I saw children playing soccer and having fun. I saw people serving each other. I saw beautiful colors. I saw lots of smiles.

I don't mean to diminish the horrific situation of these people. But they seem to be happy with what they have. Perhaps because they don't know any differently. Maybe they realize any other life is unattainable and they've come to accept their reality.

I have a new appreciation for India. It is a beautiful place filled with a rich culture that I will never be able to fully understand.

Hong Kong Kaboom!

2011-01-23T05:28:00.004-07:00

Treion and Matt have been visiting Hong Kong to help organizations understand The Learning Explosion and embrace virtual classrooms. Hong Kong is truly an amazing place with a great culture, lovely people, and, like other major cities, lots of traffic.

Imagine the stress relief you can experience by using virtual classrooms rather than having to drive in endless traffic to your training. We talk a lot about the convenience of virtual classrooms, but rarely do we hear about the stress relief it can have.

So the next time you plan a live training session, think about holding it virtually. You'll may save some unnecessary tension in your life and in those of your participants.

How long until I get one of these?

2011-01-17T08:34:00.004-07:00

My friend's agency, StruckAxiom, created this amazing technology display for PepsiCo.

PepsiCo Social Media Visualization from StruckAxiom on Vimeo.

My review of Adobe Connect

2011-01-10T08:12:00.003-07:00

Adobe asked if I would do a review of one of their software solutions, Adobe Connect. Here is the final video as posted on Adobe.com.

Life Imitating Art

2010-12-29T07:15:00.003-07:00

We got our kids an XBOX Kinect for Christmas. As I was playing it with my kids--waving my hands in the air to move things on the screen--I was truly amazed at how life imitates art.

I can see that in 3-to-5 years we are living with computing devices very similar to those seen in the Tom Cruise film "Minority Report". I vividly recall a scene where Cruise is manipulating objects on his screen with a flick of his hand and scrolling through information with the motion of his fingers. Of course he was wearing those silly gloves... Soon, you'll be doing it without any accessories.

In fact, someone already is! Check out this video by a programmer at MIT.

I think we're closer that we think.

2010-11-01T20:52:00.004-06:00

OK. I've been AWOL for a while and haven't written on my blog for a couple of months.

But I have been busy. A colleague (Treion Muller) and I are just completing a book entitled, The Learning Explosion. It's a take on how so much knowledge can be found in the strangest places. But the bulk of the book talks about how organizations can take their corporate training online through the use of virtual classrooms.

400 galley copies are being printed and delivered tomorrow. The final draft will be available sometime in January if all goes well.

You can follow our tweets here: http://twitter.com/learningexplosn.

An addicting game...

2010-09-09T21:51:00.001-06:00

This is, by far, the most addicting game I've played in a long time.

Dan Ball

Josh Loses a Tooth

2010-08-16T07:00:00.003-06:00

My son Josh has been wiggling his loose tooth all day. He finally asked if he could have a little help to get it out. This is what we came up with...

Adam Barker Photography

2010-08-05T12:49:00.002-06:00

If you want to see some great landscape photography, check out Adam Barker's galleries online. It makes me want to quit my day job and just shoot pictures all day! He's got a great training course coming up this fall... Perhaps an early birthday present?

http://www.adambarkerphotography.com/galleries

Moving the classroom online

2010-05-04T06:20:00.004-06:00

For a couple of years my team and I have been working on finding an effective way to move training classrooms online. We've always known there's more to online events than just free, promotional, webcasts. We knew there had to be a way to effectively teach people live online

I believe the main reason we succeeded at this project was because we didn't know any better. Had we known then what we know today we probably would not have tried. And trust me, there were times I really wanted to quit. It was really hard to blaze this trail.

But, in the end, it's interesting to see how many of our competitors have tried to follow (and copy) exactly what we've done. It's flattering actually. Some have copied our pricing. Some have tried to copy our technology. But the one thing they can't copy is our content. This is OUR intellectual property.

What content do you have that others can't copy? Put your stamp on it and put it online.

Expose Yourself by Seth Godin

2010-04-17T19:11:00.003-06:00

I really liked this post by Seth Godin a few days ago (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/). I think about my kids and what they're exposed to and how this will form who they are in the future. For example, each year, my oldest son reads more books than the librarian. Not surprisingly, it's his dream to be a best selling author. (I told my wife that we need to feed our children more candy so they have greater to the dental profession.)

Here's Seth's post:

"Expose yourself"
With so many options in media, interaction and venues, you now get to choose what you expose yourself to.
Expose yourself to art, and you'll come to appreciate it and aspire to make it.
Expose yourself to anonymous scathing critics and you will begin to believe them (or flinch in anticipation of their next appearance.)
Expose yourself to get-rich-quick stories and you'll want to become one.
Expose yourself to fast food ads and you'll crave french fries.
Expose yourself to angry mobs of uninformed, easily manipulated protesters and you'll want to join a mob.
Expose yourself to metrics about your brand or business or performance and you'll work to improve them.
Expose yourself to anger and you might get angry too.
Expose yourself to people making smart decisions and you'll probably learn how to do it as well.
Expose yourself to eager long-term investors (of every kind) and you'll likely to start making what they want to support.
It's a choice if you want it to be.

New Lens

2010-03-14T19:07:00.003-06:00

I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow my new Nikon lens arrives. I purchased a Nikon 18-200 VR. From everything I've heard, it's a great all-in-one lens. All of the articles I've read have pointed to the fact that this is a lens that you rarely take off your camera. I bought it at Pictureline (pictureline.com).

I can't wait to get it.

By the way the Nikon 18-135 lens is as horrible as all of the reviews state. It broke within a year. Don't buy it.

Rearview Mirrors

2010-03-02T18:52:00.001-07:00

I was walking through a parking lot and couldn't believe the volume of bangles and junk hanging from people's rearview mirrors. Some was creative. Some was filthy. And some left me wondering how people could actually see where they were going.

I mean really... just how much air freshener do you need?

FranklinCovey's New, Online Learning Suite Launches at Training 2010: World Renowned Content Now Available in a Unique, Online Format - FOXBusiness.com

2010-02-22T12:08:00.001-07:00

FranklinCovey's New, Online Learning Suite Launches at Training 2010: World Renowned Content Now Available in a Unique, Online Format - FOXBusiness.com

Posted using ShareThis

How do I get photos off of my Apple iPhone

2010-02-17T19:52:00.003-07:00

If you're using a Mac with Snow Leopard, there is an easy way to download your photos from your iPhone without ever opening iTunes.

Just follow these steps:

1) In your Pictures folder, create a new folder called "iPhone Photos"
2) Plug in your iPhone to your Mac
2) Open Image Capture
3) Select your iPhone in the left hand nav
4) At the bottom, select the new folder you just created, "iPhone Photos"
5) Import your photos

It's a piece of cake to import your Apple iPhone photos to your Mac.

Was it something you did, or didn't do?

2010-02-08T06:04:00.001-07:00

I'm convinced that most stresses are caused internally... you do it to yourself. They're caused by lack of preparation and planning. Stephen Covey calls this proactivity.

Think about it. When was the last time you were speeding to the airport, stressed that you weren't going to make it through security in time. Why were you stressed? Was it because of something the airline did? Probably not. Was it because of something your boss did? Maybe, but probably not.

I'll bet it was because of something you did, or didn't do. It was because of lack of preparation and planning. Were you late because you were surfing the web, or doing some other thing to waste time? Were you working on lesser important things rather than the things that really matter?

Like I said, I think most stresses are caused by this -- lack of preparation and planning. Of course there will always be stress caused by emergencies or accidents or the unforeseen problem that will surface tomorrow on your desk at about 9:00. But most stress is caused because you are not planning your time well -- or at all.

If you would have left for the airport just 15 or 20 minutes earlier wouldn't that have relieved a lot of the pressure and stress? As a result you'll be transferring your stress to others through poor driving. Speeding. Recklessness. Tailgating. Talking on your cell phone.

Getting out of bed 15 minutes earlier won't kill you. But the drive to the airport just might.

Plan your time so you know what's important and then do it.

Review: Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro 7.5

2010-02-05T19:53:00.003-07:00

I've been a faithful user of Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro for some time now. But before I started using it, I did a lot of due diligence in identifying the right webinar tool for my needs.

Needs:

Flawless streaming video
Customizable layouts (chat/polls/PowerPoints/whiteboards)
Ability to customize the wrapper around the platform to allow for a certification system
Customizable reporting
Integrated VoIP

It met all of these criteria with flying colors except the last one. The VoIP constantly had feedback loops and was hard to manage. We recently were upgraded to version 7.5 which is supposed to integrate multiple teleconference carriers into the system.

I've tried it once with pretty good success. It still seems a bit clunky, compared to the integrated audio in the Citrix products, but it seems to do pretty well. I'll be spending the next week or so giving it a run for it's money with some hard core testing.

Platform Grade: A

VoIP Grade: B

The Davis Principle

2010-02-05T05:35:00.003-07:00

I played in rock band for the better part of High School and College. Lots of ska, a bunch of covers and a few great originals. It was a great way to earn money for pizza.

After each performance we would inevitably have a box full of cords and cables that were all tangled up in a knot.

Matt Davis was one of our lead singers. He had a theory that if you took this knot and shook it, it would unravel -- it would de-knot itself. So he would shake, and shake, and shake and, in many cases the ball of cables would eventually unravel or get close enough that you could easily finish untangling them. Whereas the rest of us would be fiddling with them and usually end up tying them tighter than they were before and it would take twice as long to undo them.

Now, this didn't happen all of the time. It worked when the bundle wasn't too messy. When it was a big messy knot it required someone to tackle it and trace back the ends of the cord like a crazy three dimensional maze until the cords were untangled.

You know where I'm going with this story, don't you?

This is a lot like the problems today. In some cases when you have problems that cause you stress and pressure you don't always need to sit and worry over them as much as you think you do. Some knots will unravel themselves with just a little effort, just a little shaking. However, there are some knots that are so tangled that you do need to take time and manage them until they're resolved. These are typically the knots that have been in the bottom of the box the longest and haven't had regular shaking. But for the most part, many of the knots in our life just require a little bit of coaxing and they'll resolve themselves.

Go and talk with the person that is causing your stress.
Spend a couple of additional hours working on that high-pressure project.

Some days I wish I had a roadie to shake out all of my knots at work. Wouldn't that be nice!

The 5 Bypass Activity

2010-01-31T19:33:00.004-07:00

My father retired many years ago from a high stress, high pressure job as an executive at the leading TV and Radio stations in our market. Very shortly thereafter he had a massive heart attack. Five bypasses later, he recovered. But it was very scary for all of us.

Although there were probably many contributing factors to his heart attack, I believe stress was the fuel.

How long has it been since you checked your stress level? Here is something you may consider if you feel an overwhelming amount of pressure.

Pull out a piece of paper and evaluate the stress sources. I call this the 5 Bypass Activity.

What is causing your stress? Rank these in order of highest stress factor to lowest.

1. Is it your job? (Specific projects or people?)

2. Is it your family (Problems with your children, spouse, or parents?)

3. Is it a church responsibility? (Not enough time to accomplish it all?)

4. Is it volunteer responsibilities? (Concerns about the welfare of others outside your immediate control?)

5. Is it something else? (Something within or without of your control?)

Once you have these identified, it will be clearer to evaluate possible solutions to these problems.

Goal Tracking - New Year's Resoutions

2009-12-31T14:28:00.007-07:00

I believe it was Mark Twain who said that at the beginning of a new year "is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."

This year, as usual, we sat down with a family to figure out what our New Year's resolutions are. It was interesting that each of my kids already had them in their minds: Be better at turning in homework; Get straight A's; Learn to do the splits; Learn to read chapter books; Learn to dance. It was good to get them to vocalize them. That's the first step. But the hardest part is yet to come. That's where I'm going to try out some new goal tracking software solution called joesgoals.com. It's easy. It's free. It seems effective.

Joesgoals.com has a lot of great reviews for quite a few credible sources and recently won an award from ChannelFlip. Give it a try for a month and post your comments on if it actually worked for you and how you achieve your goals in 2010. I'm anxious to hear your successes or failures. Good luck with your goal tracking.

Problem: I can send email but can't receive it in Entourage - Here's the solution

2009-12-21T20:27:00.007-07:00

I recently had a problem where I could send email but couldn't receive it in Entourage. It was baffling! I searched all over for a solution, talked with my IT support team at the office and even went to talk to the so-called Mac "geniuses" at the Apple Store. According to them, they wouldn't "touch a Microsoft product if it was the last operating system left on earth."

So, I searched some more and found the solution to the Entourage e-mail receiving problem. I could only find this solution hidden on one site, so I thought I'd put it out here to hopefully help others:

1) Open Entourage

2) Option + Click on your main identity

3) In the next window select "Empty Cache" (note the warning.)

You should be up and running in just a few seconds. Hope this helps!

What I really want for Christmas...

2009-12-10T07:48:00.004-07:00

If anyone out there want's to surprise me with a gift under my tree, THIS IS WHAT I'D LIKE. It doesn't matter what color it is. :)

When Your Hard Drive Hits 0 KB

2009-12-07T21:03:00.004-07:00

Ever wondered what it was like when your storage capacity hits zero? THINGS STOP WORKING. I've suspected that the main hard drive on my home PC had some sort of leak in it a few months ago when we kept getting the automated warning, "Your Hard Drive has no more room--it's like a jar of olives. Please delete all of the junk you've accumulated over the past six years or else..."

So, as I was uninstalling Adobe CS3, it totally maxed out. Norton Security went crazy, sending me messages every 8 seconds about some mayhem that was about to ensue...and that was it.

I slowly had to take very small files off of my machine one at a time until I could finally get some of the behemoths extracted. I finally retained just over a gig of space. We'll see what happens over the next few weeks. (Secretly I'm hoping that it's hopeless and we'll have to go and buy an iMac.)

Flip Video

2009-11-24T20:06:00.003-07:00

I just got a great new toy: a Flip Video recorder. It's so incredibly small and it takes decent video.

MY REVIEW:

Video Quality: B+ (Pretty darn good! Plus they just came out with an HD model. The quality in the sample below is degraded due to Blogger's compression -- it looks much better than this!)

Audio Quality: B+ (Not Dolby quality, but it does the trick.)

Image Stability: C (It's hard to keep it from shaking because it's so small.)

Usability: A (It's so simple to operate. Just turn it on and press record!)

Battery: B (Two double A's will last long enough to get your shots.)

Recording Length: A- (You can record two hours of video on this little beast!)

Here's a sample video I shot from a recent trip to Amsterdam:

Overall Grade: A-/B+ (I recommend this great little gadget.)

Adobe Learning Summit

2009-11-24T19:57:00.002-07:00

I've always wanted to be selected to speak at a conference of my peers. For years I was always behind the scenes running the conferences. But I never had the opportunity to speak at one.

A few months ago, Adobe contacted me and asked if I'd speak at their Adobe Learning Summit in San Jose. Naturally, I accepted.

My session focused on the insights my team and I have gained for launching a global business over the past year. Here's a link to my abstract. It was a great experience and I met some great people.

My only regret is that I didn't have time to attend the shin-dig at the Adobe headquarters that night. But overall, the conference was great! Nice job Adobe!

Nothing Exotic About Business Travel

2009-11-17T14:00:00.003-07:00

There's nothing exotic about business travel. I've spent that past 8 days in Denmark and Amsterdam. Before that (in my previous post) I was is Asia. However, it's nothing but airports, train stations, offices and hotel rooms. It's really hard work!

I know. I know. I'm still in Europe, right? You're correct. And I did get a day to look around Amsterdam. I guess I'd consider that a bonus for the toughness of it all.

There are two big problems with extended biz trips.

1) my family is so far away. I really miss them a lot. I think of them all of the time and I Skype them whenever I get a chance. But even Skype doesn't bridge the physical gap of me being there with them. It's a really hard thing.

2) my email doesn't stop. Everyone is in the office while I'm trying to sleep. But before I can get to my email I'm in all-day meetings. So, it's really hard to do my work. I have to find seams of the day to do it... during a break or late at night.

So tomorrow I leave for home. The time can't pass quickly enough!

What time is it anyway?

2009-10-27T09:44:00.002-06:00

I was in Bangkok the past couple of days. I'm now in Manila. and Thursday I fly to Seoul for a day. In the meantime I'm conducting business in the U.K., and across the U.S. Plus I'm trying to schedule webinars in Polish time on Nov. 2 and in Greece on Nov. 20. I get to talk with my family for 20 minutes a day using Skype, but I can't remember how far ahead/behind they are from me. So I'm afraid I'm going to wake them up.

My brain is tied in a knot of timezones. Someone help!

Travel Then -- Travel Now

2009-10-08T20:18:00.002-06:00

How I wish for the days of vacation travel. Before my wife and I got married we traveled a lot. We were both in the travel industry so vendors threw free cruises, airline tickets and hotel nights at us so we could try them out. We had so many offers we had to turn many away. Our first date was to Italy followed by ten's of thousand's of more miles which led us to a family of four.

Unfortunately, I'm still traveling. But it's not the fun kind. It's the business kind. A day here...a day there. Airport after airport. Meeting after meeting. I've blown through every frequent flyer status available this year and still have two big international trips ahead of me.

I long for the days when I can travel to exotic places with my wife again.

Some Assembly Required

2009-09-22T17:10:00.004-06:00

The replacement parts for my mitre saw came today. Of course there are about 50 pieces in a box and no instructions on how to assemble them together.

If anyone needed the instructions on how to rebuild this death machine, it would be the imbecile who was using the saw incorrectly in the first place causing the destruction all safety gadgetry.

The next post I write may be using my toes or a pencil held between my teeth.

Thumbs and Mitre Saws Don't Mix

2009-09-13T20:33:00.003-06:00

So, I almost lost a digit yesterday. While cutting a lopsided piece of wood for a neighbor, I had to hold the "blade guard" up so it could cut properly. But somehow the thick plastic blade guard got sucked into the blade's path causing a deafening noise while shrapnel exploded across my front yard.

After I checked to make sure my son and neighbors were OK, I felt a horrible pain in my left thumb. The very thumb that was holding up the blade guard just moments before. Was I going to look down and see half my thumb missing?

My thumb was still there. Luckily. But the thumbnail was lifted up during the explosion -- it will probably fall off in a few weeks and look really ugly.

So, the moral of this story is simply, "don't be dumb" and "always wear safety glasses".

Five Tips to Reduce Your Stress: Tip #3

2009-09-12T16:30:00.004-06:00

If you’re like most people, including me, your task might require its own Dewey Decimal system. Do you get a dozen new tasks every day, on top of the dozen you were handed the day before? Although it may seem impossible, there is a way to get the most important things done.

Tip #3: Plan or Perish

If you’re like me, you have multiple projects. Each with dozens of sub-tasks that need to be done “right now.” Right? To get through this jumble of projects you must do one simple thing: plan. It’s as easy as that. It’s no secret. It’s pure and simple common sense. Try out this process and you’ll see for yourself.

1. This coming Sunday night, before your work week begins, review your list of tasks.
2. Prioritize the ones that are most critical to your team’s goals.
3. Identify those tasks that you can easily delegate to others (see my previous post).
4. Identify what meetings you have during the week and find tasks that can be accomplished during those time periods.
5. Then, every morning, before anyone else comes into the office, take five minutes and review your list. Check off things you’ve done, review the day’s appointments, and adjust your tasks as necessary.

If you’re a user of Microsoft® Outlook® or IBM® Lotus® Notes® you might consider checking out some quick and simple Time Management webinars offered by FranklinCovey. They’re only about 1 ½ hours long and will provide some amazing techniques to help teach you how to use these tools while you plan your days.

In my next post, I’ll cover tip #4: “No” is not a four-letter word.

A better frequent flyer program

2009-08-26T19:21:00.003-06:00

I’ve spent a lot of time on airplanes this year. Delta just came out with their “Diamond” status – a step above Platinum. To reach this you have to travel the equivalent of flying to Jupiter and back. I’m just rounding Saturn as I type this post.

But before you try for that new status, let’s look at it another way. Let’s view it in terms of memories missed.

How much will that “status” cost you in personal experiences with your family and friends. Important Caveat: I’m more than willing to travel for my job, it’s how I get my job done and I like my job. But this year has been a bit extreme.

Some memories I’ve missed this year:
--A couple of weeks of summer with my kids
--Several family member’s birthdays
--And this week I missed my kids first day of school

I’m not saying you shouldn’t travel. When it happens you have to deal with it. I’m just wishing there was a way that we could better plan it around our personal lives. Wouldn’t you?

I think that airlines should come up with a better reward system, especially when we have to sacrifice our memories. If I was in charge, here’s how I would award points:

--Missing a child’s soccer game or recital: 1,000 bonus miles
--Missing a child’s birthday: 10,000 bonus miles
--Missing your anniversary: 50,000 miles (transferable to your spouse)
--Missing the birth of a child: You get to ride shotgun next to the pilot.

Com’on Jet Blue. If you did this, I’d be a regular passenger.

Five Tips to Reduce Your Stress: Tip #2

2009-08-19T20:59:00.004-06:00

Have some of your colleagues been laid off recently? Are you being asked to pull up the slack and do more with less?

You’re not alone.

I mean, there are still other people in your organization, right?

Tip#2: Embrace Others

Odds are, when you’re working fast and furious, there is probably someone, somewhere in your organization that may have some downtime, or they’re worried about not being aligned with strategic projects. Find them. Grab them. Capitalize on their skills. And have them chip in. People are generally happier when they’re engaged and contributing. Sure, quality might slip a bit and it might take longer for you to get that project done. But there is a huge feeling of relief when you delegate a task to someone and you go back to your office and are able to tackle something else. And there is an even better feeling when they come back to you and the project is finished and better than if you did it yourself.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey outlines the principle of abundance. What this means is that there is always enough work for me and you, and the person in the office down the hall. Don’t be afraid to relinquish a bit of control over your projects. It will only benefit you and the people you bring into your circle. Your projects will get done better than before and you’ll be helping other people become engaged.

In my next post I’ll cover Tip #3: Plan or Perish.

Review of ClickHeat by LabsMedia

2009-08-18T21:23:00.008-06:00

OK. I admit it. I could sit for hours and look at web stats and analytics, evaluating different patterns of behavior...following paths...seeing what is or isn't working... I just love to dig into the data.

I was introduced today to another analytic tool that will eat away at my weekends, HeatClick by LabsMedia: http://www.labsmedia.com/clickheat/index.html.

Here's a sample ClickHeat image from a page off of one of my sites:

I know. It looks like a bunch of smudges. But what it's telling me are the popular places where people are clicking and where they are not clicking. It's even telling me where people rest their mouse when they're looking at my page (perhaps that's too much data). Anyway, from this you can tell what is and isn't working on each web page. It's a great visual indicator that I can't get from Google Analytics. In fact, it confirmed several suspicions I've had but couldn't validate until seeing it visually. I wouldn't ever use ClickHeat as my exclusive analytic source, but it's a great addition to my quiver of data tools.

To download ClickHeat which, by the way, is freeware, just click here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/clickheat/files/

I give this product an: A+
Download it today and recommend it to a friend!

Five Tips to Reduce Your Stress: Tip #1

2009-08-15T18:30:00.003-06:00

Some of you may have read portions of this blog before. However, I've expanded it and will now republish it in five sections. I'd love to hear any comments. You can leave them here or e-mail me directly at matthewmurdoch@yahoo.com.

Why is it that when layoffs occur, and the workforce retracts, the work seems to expand? The remaining employees are, quite often, left with additional responsibilities and fewer resources. Sound familiar? I’m going to share with you my five keys to remaining sane when your job requirements try to drive you mad.

Tip #1: Eliminate Chaos
When everything around you is moving fast it’s hard to get organized. Does this sound like your typical day? You return from one meeting only to go to another and yet another throughout the day; you don’t have time to focus strategically on one project because your time is spread so thin over a dozen; you have three people at your door waiting for a decisions on three different projects.

Unless you gain control over the madness of your days, it will control you. You need to do whatever it takes to prepare yourself for these tornadic days - because they’re not going to stop. You need time management. You need to get organized.

Come in 30 minutes early and straighten your desk and reply to urgent e-mails: It’s amazing how much quality work you can do when nobody else is in the office.

Organize your files so you know where everything is: It’s a great feeling to be called into a last minute meeting and be able to grab the appropriate file.

Block out chunks of your days to ensure you have time to get your work done: I find that I’m most productive on Monday-my brain is fresh and I’m still thinking clearly. After my morning meetings I’ve blocked out a few hours in the afternoon to actually work.

Take time to help others: You’ll find that when you’re organized, you’ll be better able to help others and help them with things they need.

I’ve learned that when my life is chaotic, I work minute-by-minute. I can’t see the horizon and I start to feel overwhelmed and stressed. So, take some time and eliminate the chaos by getting organized.

In my next post I’ll talk about Tip #2: Embrace Others

Lessons Learned

2009-07-22T19:22:00.003-06:00

Last week I was teaching my eldest son how to be thrifty by patching his bike tire rather than having to spend money on a new one.

Unfortunately, yesterday the patch job gave way and the tire was kaput. So off we went to WalMart to buy a new inner tube. We were having some great one-on-one guy talk about life when all of a sudden a cop appeared behind us with lights a blazing.

My registration was past due (side note: we recently moved and the registration forms never made it to our house and I totally forgot about the whole renewal process) and the cop said that it's within the time frame where he might have to tow my car.

My son, in the back seat, commented to the cop, "I always wanted to see a police car with the lights on but never like this." The policeman got a chuckle out of this and was somewhat leinient. He didn't tow my car, but I still got a ticket. Bummer.

In any case, it makes for a good story for my son, and I was able to teach him what it feels like to get pulled over.

Lessons learned:
1) How to change a bike tire.
2) What happens when you're not proactive.

Business and bicycles

2009-07-21T19:31:00.005-06:00

In high school a teacher once told me that I don't just burn the candle at both ends. I cut the candle in half and burn the other two ends as well.

I'm typically a pretty busy guy. I like to be busy. I like to have a lot on my plate. I like to be involved. I like to go into work early and get things done. But with this lifestyle there is also a lot of stress. Plus, I feel like I'm missing out on part of my kids lives. In fact my five-year-old told my wife that he'll never be able to finish riding his bike because his dad isn't ever home to teach him.

So, I'm going to change my ways.

As of yesterday, I've started to block out my morning for time to "sharpen my saw" and spend more time with my family. I figure everyone else at work rolls into work at 8:00 or 8:30 and they still have a job. Why can't I? Sure. There will still be times when I have early morning or night-time meetings with partners in Europe or Asia, but for the most part I'm going to try this out and see what happens.

So, yesterday I stayed home in the early morning hours and let my wife go running. Although I still did e-mail from home. She was happy.

Today I went running (to begin my training for a 10K in a couple of months) and still had time to read a book before leaving for work. I also got to see how my kids look in the morning when they wake up :). I was happy.

I even told someone that I couldn't meet at 7:00 am for a meeting and he didn't complain. We're meeting at noon instead.

Guess what? The earth hasn't exploded and I still have a job.

I'm commtted to this new way of life. I believe that I will be happier, more productive, healthier and most importantly, my kids will know that their father really exists.

But the best part though, is I taught my son how to ride his bike last night and he couldn't be happier.

A very wise man once said, "No success at the office can compensate for failure in the home." I've never been one to accept failure and I'm not going to start now.

The Life of Bob

2009-07-19T21:05:00.006-06:00

I recently went on a marathon trip to Mexico City, Costa Rica and Panama City with a couple of co-workers to launch LiveClicks to our offices there. The schedule was fast-paced and the flights had very little room for error. Five days...five flights. Miss one and you mess up the whole schedule.

I was traveling with someone I'll call Bob. Bob is a very hard worker yet he is very relaxed. I learned a lot from Bob on this trip.

On one leg of the journey, Bob's flight and that of our other co-worker, were accidentally scheduled to leave on the wrong day. Meaning they would miss all of the meetings in Costa Rica. We didn't discover this error until they went to check-in. The flight was oversold by 12 seats. Bob spoke kindly to the people at the ticket desk, letting them know that it was his fault that the dates were wrong. He smiled. He was relaxed. He was kind. My wife has a saying for this, "You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." The man behind the desk said to come back in 20 minutes and he'd see what he could do.

I was sweating. I thought that there was no way they were getting on the flight. My angry thoughts turned to the agent who booked the tickets... "how careless", I thought. Bob simply said, "It was just a mistake. Nothing we can do now but hope for the best."

20 minutes later we went back. Not only did they get on the flight, but got upgraded to first class!

On the next leg, we had 7 hours to make a flight. The only problem is we had to travel 1.5 hours in one direction, attend to 1.5 hours of business and then return 1.5 hours to the airport. 4.5 hours right? It was 1:00 pm and we thought we had plenty of time. We didn't factor in traffic jams.

We were sweating all the way to the airport. All of us except Bob. He was calm and casual. We made it back with 30 minutes to spare.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Dr. Covey teaches about the Circle of Concern and the Circle of Control. The Circle of Control represents the things you can actually do something about. The Circle of Concern are things you can't. Bob is a great example of living a life of less stress because he doesn't worry about things outside his control. He works hard to influence those things, but when it comes right down to it, he realizes there is only so much he can do.

On the last leg of the journey, Bob actually did miss his flight from Panama. But he didn't panic. He caught another one a few hours later and made it home without any problem. We should all take note of this and try and live without so much stress.

What your customers want.

2009-07-07T17:40:00.005-06:00

I recently got to take a break for a couple of days with my family driving through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming...essentially circling up through Island Park, down through Yellowstone and into Jackson Hole. We saw incredible sights and had a lot of fun like fishing in the woods. But at the end of the day, what my kids really wanted in a vacation was simply a swimming pool and a hotel room where they could watch the Disney Channel. I now realize I could've saved some time and money and just driven to the local Marriott.

Today I had a call with a product manager from a multi-billion dollar software company. He was letting me in on a sneak peak of their next release of some software which will be launching soon. He was very excited to show me all of the work his development team had done. And, certainly, they had done a tremendous amount of it. He even said that they had do develop a new technology for these added features.

The problem is they didn't listen to the customer.

They are only implementing half of what we really need. Had they taken the time to talk with customers before development they would've had a much better product.

I'm guilty of this same oversight -- as my kids let me know when they hit the pool in Jackson Hole. But this has opened my eyes to making sure I do my due dilligence before development. And you should too.

LiveClicks Webinar Workshops

2009-06-11T07:12:00.006-06:00

A couple of years ago I was working with some colleagues trying to launch a paid-for webinar. It was going OK. We were making a bit of money with it, but not nearly enough to consider it a new business model.

One day while on a business trip to Laguna, I was sitting on a patio looking over the sea and the vision hit me. (Sea air can do that to you.) I understood what the need was, and how to build the business to support the need. I'm not going to divulge the business plan (he he) but you can get a taste for the business by watching a video on this page (www.franklincovey.com/liveclicks).

The business is unfolding even more rapidly that I had initially imagined. On November 21, 2008 we launched LiveClicks. On December 5 we held our first true LiveClicks webinar workshops. On May 26 we held our first fully international LiveClicks webinar workshop delivered by our Mexico office. Today I saw the very first LiveClicks Encore (a recorded, on demand version) created by our Japan office. We have many top brand name companies that are in the process of adopting LiveClicks in their organizations. And I've been invited to speak at the Adobe conference this fall.

It all goes back to the principle that before there is physical creation of something, there is a mental creation. I'd also like to add that before there is physical creation, there is a lot of hard work from a devoted team.

Contrasts

2009-05-27T09:00:00.003-06:00

I've spent the past few days in India launching some new products to our offices here. It's been a fascinating experience, to say the least. I now understand the true meaning of contrast.

In one moment you're in a glass skyscraper eating delicious Chinese food and the next moment there are shoeless children in rags rapping on your car window, begging for a few Rupees.

There are BMW's speeding past men on bicycles loaded with bundles of sticks and narrowly missing cows wandering the streets.

There are dirty streets lined with refuse juxtaposed with women in beautifully colored saris.

There are smiling powerful executives being served by emotionless hopeless servants.

There is spicy curry and extra spicy curry (please, no more curry!!)

There are slums and there are mansions.

It's truly an amazing culture... and I've learned a lot about the market and the way people operate. But I'm really looking forward to my flight home tomorrow -- back to the U.S. where contrastss aren't quite so sharp and where I can get brush my teeth without using bottled water.

The Best Hot Dog - Gray's Papaya

2009-04-07T15:05:00.005-06:00

I'm just returning from a marathon trip to New York:

Red-eye flight Sunday night
Two hour nap at hotel
Eight hours of meetings to prep for our client meeting
Five hours of sleep
90 minute client meeting
15 minutes lunch at Gray's Papaya
Flight home

I'd never been to Gray's Papaya before, but a colleague refused to leave New York without one of their hot dogs.

The "Recession Special" was priced at $4.95 and I got two hot dogs (one with sweet onions and the other with ketchup and mustard) plus a cup of Papaya drink.

Perhaps I was delirious, perhaps just really hungry. But I placed it on my top 20 list of restaurants. Now, everytime I come to NYC, I'll be required to have one of their dogs.

Twitter: The New P.R.

2009-04-03T20:12:00.004-06:00

I have a great employee, Courtney, who has been wanting to bring FranklinCovey into the 21st century. So, she has started the official Stephen R. Covey facebook account, the official FranklinCovey Facebook fan page, the official FranklinCovey YouTube account and now the official Stephen R. Covey Twitter account.

At first I was sceptical. Who would ever want to follow these micro-blogs. 140 characters. Too basic? Too simple?

I'm now a believer.

I am truly amazed at the viral nature of Twitter. Within just a few weeks, we have 600 Twitter followers including many other authors and celebs like Tony Robbins and Oscar de la Hoya. The marketing power behind Twitter is amazing. It it truly the new PR.

We can try to get people to come to our website, or we can go to where the people are. It's really exciting to go where the people are already congregating and provide them with something the really want.

If we continue at this pace we'll have a great social community on Twitter where we can really help people and help educate them on how to be more productive in their lives, at work and in society.

By the way, you can follow my Twitter here :)

Book Review: Outliers

2009-03-30T21:23:00.005-06:00

I'll admit it. I never been a Malcom Gladwell fan. I read Blink, but didn't really enjoy it. I thought it was quite, well, ordinary common sense.

When my father-in-law gave me Gladwell's latest book, Outliers, I was less than excited (sorry Ken). It sat on my nightstand, looking at me every night. Then finally, my wife got tired of it sitting there and started reading it. "I think you'll really like this," she said every night and she devoured the book.

I'm happy to say that I'm now a Malcom Gladwell fan. This was one of the best books I've read in a quite a while. (Even though this guy has insanely crazy hair:)

The following paragraph sums up the book nicely, "[Successful people] are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and ingeritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky--but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all."

I thought the most intriguing part of the book was the discussion of 10,000 hours. Gladwell's theory is that to become an expert at something, you have to practice doing it for 10,000 hours. He cited the Beatles, and how they would play gigs all night in Hamburg, and that because of this time, they learned to work together and create the genius music they did. It left me wondering what I'm going to become an expert it. 10,000 hours is a long time...

Matt's Rating: ***** (out of 5 stars)

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I!

5 Tips To Help Avoid Burnout

2009-03-27T07:27:00.004-06:00

Stress, anxiety, and doing more with less. These are all things that are happening in today's workforce. I've never been one to back away from hard work, I put in my time. But when you work tirelessly without the chance to take a break, burnout can occur.

So, if you're 10 minutes from burnout, here are some tips I've learned to help you keep going.

1) Eliminate Chaos: When everything around you is moving fast and you come back from one meeting only to have to to go another, you don't have time to get organized. Do what you need to do to prepare yourself for your tornadic days. Come in 15 minutes early and straighten your desk. Organize you files so you know where everything is. Block out large chunks of your days to ensure you have time to get work done.

I know that when my life is chaotic, I work minute-by-minute. I can't see the horizon and I start to feel overwhelmed.

2) Embrace Others: Odds are, when you're working fast and furious, there is probably someone, somewhere in your organization that doesn't have enough to do. Find them. Capitalize on their skills. And have them chip in. People are generally happier when they're engaged and contributing. Sure, quality might slip a bit and it might take longer for you to get that project done. But there is a major feeling of relief when you delegate a task to someone and you go back to your office and are able to tackle something else. And there is an even better feeling when they come back to you and the project is finished and better than if you did it yourself.

3) Plan or Perish: If you're like me, you have several lists of projects each with a dozens of tasks. Before your work week begins, review this list. See what the critical items are for the week and see what you can delegate. Then, try to focus on one task at a time and get it done. You'll always have interruptions you'll have to manage. But come right back to the task at hand and execute on it. It will keep you moving forward on your plan and keep you sane.

4) "No" is not a four-letter word: When times are tough, people will ask you to do more. It's important to help others as much as you can. You may have the knowledge or skill they need, plus it's always good karma. However, there are times when you just can't do it all. You'll know when they are. And if you can sense that the request isn't "mission critical" just say no. The other person will survive. And it will keep you from getting distracted on your plan.

5) Find Time for Self: In the past this was the hardest thing. When I get to work I tend to be heads-down and not resurface for a long time. I would eat at my desk, or not eat at all. But what I found over time is that burnout comes faster. So, take time to read a news story of interest, run an errand at lunch, or call a family member or friend for a few minutes. Once I even went to Costco, grabbed a hot dog and walked the aisles for 20 minutes. It opened my mind and kept me fresh for the remainder of the day. Regardless of what you do, find some time just for you.

Hopefully these steps will help you avoid a crash and keep you moving forward.

The Art of Shawn Ray Harris

2009-03-13T18:33:00.004-06:00

I've known Shawn Harris for years (decades actually). I've seen his artistic styles grow and expand over the years. My claim to fame is being the first first face from which he made a plaster mold -- I'm still missing part of my eyebrows from getting the mold off.

Recently I was amazed with his "Ice Project" -- a photography series of things melting in ice. You can see it on his website shawnrayharris.com or on his Facebook page. My favorites are the gold fish, the foreign currency and the eyeball (I'm afraid to ask who's eye this is.)

Some of my favorite photographs are his self portraits at the top of this page -- they're definitely worth a look.

I Like Chicago

2009-03-04T08:40:00.004-07:00

There's something about Chicago that I really like.

My first trip to Chicago was about 10 years ago when I was doing market research for a client. At that time I categorized the people in Chicago as New York style without the attitude.

I just got back yesterday and realized that people are still the same. In Chicago people held the door for each other. Greeted people in elevators. Looked you in the eye on the street and smiled. There's something great about this city.

And then there's the cold. I've been to Chicago probably two dozen times, but never in the winter...until now. It was biting cold!

Monday night I needed to walk eight blocks to the Apple store to get a new headset for my iPhone but I walked two blocks, thought my hands were going to freeze off, and went right back to my hotel. People were walking around in full body-armor winter gear to protect them from the bite, all I had was just a thin leather jacket--no hat, no scarf, no gloves and no boots.

Perhaps now I realize why people were looking at me on the street.

Book Review: Lessons From Private Equity Any Company Can Use

2009-03-02T20:27:00.007-07:00

Here's a short book that carries a punch. Although "Lessons From Private Equity Any Company Can Use" is the more boring title of any book I've read lately, the content is quick, easy and informative. Here's my book review.

(Authors: Orit Gadiesh and Hugh MacArthur, Bain & Company; Harvard Business Press)

MATT'S RATING: * * * (out of 5)

WHO SHOULD READ THIS? Managers, Directors, Executive. Small business owners will learn something from this as well. I think it's a bit too analytical for the typical front-line worker.

WHAT'S THE POINT? Exactly what the title says. They try to offer "clear, practical suggestions" for implementing the ways PE firms do business in order to make your business more valuable.

WATCH-OUTS: I'm always suspect of books that use the word "top-quartile" within the first 100 words. Don't plan on some fast-reading Dan Brown novel.

SUMMARY: They cover six main lessons.

1. Define the full potential.
2. Develop the blueprint.
3. Accelerate performance.
4. Harness the talent.
5. Make equity sweat.
6. Foster a results-oriented mind-set.

Here are quick take aways that I learned from the book:

No company can be successful when it divides it's resources among too many initiatives. I'd like to also extend this to say, an individual worker cannot do this either.
"The prospect of being hanged focused the mind wonderfully." -Samuel Johnson
The discipline of NOT doing things can preserve tremendous value.
You need to be committed to your short list of key initiatives and designing action oriented plans to achieve them.
Make managers owners of the business. Often management teams will own 10-30% of the business - sometimes through phantom equity.
Watch cash more closely that earnings. It is the true barometer of performance.
Use substantial bonuses to reward great performance.
Find the entrepreneurial people in your business and harness goals to them.
Embrace those individuals in whom the company has invested a great deal and who could know more about any outsider ever could.
The job of a CEO is leading. And many times leading into change.
The best communicators find new and different ways to get the vision of change and milestones across to as many different internal audiences as possible.

The Leader In Me

2009-02-13T16:25:00.003-07:00

Here is a great new video by FranklinCovey that has really cool execution and style.

iProjecTrak™ - Free Project Management Task Software

2009-02-10T09:00:00.006-07:00

I've been really frustrated lately trying to manage dozens of projects and their tasks. It seemed like every time I went to a meeting I was having to try and dig through my brain or old notes about the status of my (and others') tasks.

So I've created a solution that I've named iProjecTrak™. This is a simple project management task tracking solution that keeps all of your projects in one Excel document. I built it so you have everything you need in one place. No more digging through old notes (or brain cells). It's all at your fingertips. Running to you project managment meeting? Just print it out and use it for notes. After the meeting and put the notes in the document. Managing multiple projects? Just add additional tabs for all of your project management needs.

It's free-ware for now. If you like it, just refer people to my blog to download it. If you have suggestions on how to improve it, please leave a comment.

To my new Italian friends...

2009-02-01T20:39:00.003-07:00

Since my post, dated October 2, I seem to be attracting a lot of readers from my most favorite of all of the countries, Italy. And to you, I say, "Ciao amici miei!"

Italy has had a powerful imact on my life. I've been there many times and every time I experience something new and amazing. It's also where I took my wife on our first date.

So, to all of my friends in Italia, I hope you enjoy my blog. I hope to see you soon.

A Pile of Books

2009-01-28T21:00:00.005-07:00

Ok. So over the past two months I've been the recipient of a load of different business books by many different people. I've stacked them all on my desk at work -- it's become quite a teetering library. I have the best intentions to get around to read them all. But where does one start? They are all on the "best seller" list and they all cover a wide variety of topics -- which are all of interest to me.

However, lately when I come home from my 12 hour days at the office [pause for tangent: when I leave at 5:00 pm and a co-worker breaks out the old joke, "Only working a half day today, Matt?" I can honestly say, "Yes."], I really just want to read something fun. My other personal problem is that when I read, I don't like to rush through books. I like to chew on all of the words [i.e. I'm a slow reader].

I estimate I have about 2,500+ pages of work related books to read. My goal is to read them all within the next six months. I'll post a brief synopsis of each of them when I'm done.

Stay tuned...

Wii Fit Reviews

2008-12-27T15:26:00.002-07:00

For Christmas we got our kids a Wii Fit. It's quite an amazing video game. My kids can't get enough. Here are our reviews:

Bud (age 9): It's fun. It makes you energetic and skiing is awesome. You can exercise without even leaving your front door.

Princess (age 7): It's really cool. Hoolahooping is really awesome. You have a piggy bank on it and you get money to get more games.

Tiger (age 5): Soccer is my favorite game.

Cousin Oshkosh (age 10): It's fun. My favorite thing is running. It sometimes hurts and you can trip.

Dad (age undisclosed): This is a great way to burn off all of the excess energy the kids have when you really want them to go to bed.

So there you have it. Our family gives Wii Fit it 5-stars.

E-mail Overload

2008-12-12T19:44:00.003-07:00

I believe that communicating with each other has become MORE difficult with the advent of certain technologies. Is there a light anywhere in this dark abyss we've all fallen into?

For a long time now, I've wanted to calculate the number of e-mails I send and receive in any given year. So I just did. For the last 12 months, I sent 8,420 e-mails. I received 13,980 e-mails (not including all of the sp*m that ended up in my landfill account, a.k.a. Yahoo Mail). That means for every e-mail I sent I received 1.7 e-mails in return. Yikes!

Am I sick? Is everyone experiencing this amount of volume?

This pattern has got to stop!

It's taken me a long time to realize the benefits of IM. I know. I know. I've been a real laggard in the adoption of this technology. I text message like my thumbs are on fire, but the whole IM thing has taken some time to adopt.

However, today, when I had a server malfunctioning at a very inopportune time, and I needed to get a tech to troubleshoot it fast, I realized the true benefit of IM. [Tech geeks have used IM for years. What's taking the rest of us so long to widely adopt it?] With my server crisis burning, I was able to communicate quickly, effectively, and get the problem resolved without a single e-mail.

I just found an article written by By Anne Fisher, Fortune senior writer. She did a review of a book called The Hamster Revolution, written by some people that help "the sickies" cut down on e-mail.

Here are a couple of points that are sort of "duh" but it doesn't hurt to read them anyway.

Send less. Think hard before you use the "reply to all" and "cc" features, and use group distribution lists sparingly. By targeting your e-mails, rather than spraying them, you'll be more efficient and effective.

Quit boomeranging. Send 5 e-mails and you'll get, on average, 3 responses, most of which aren't necessary. If you eliminate just 1 in 5 of your outgoing e-mails, you'll instantly shrink the incoming volume, and save time on needless back-and-forth exchanges.

Stop - then send. Before hitting the "send" button, ask yourself: Is this information timely, topical, and targeted? Will it help the recipient do his or her job better? If not, skip it.

So, in short, if you need to communicate with me, please consider my plight.

He Tried It

2008-10-24T17:06:00.002-06:00

I laughed. I cried. I'm glad he tried it.

http://hetriedit.blogspot.com/

This is a fun blog to check out: hetriedit.blogspot.com.

Useful Information for Web Developers and Designers

2008-10-22T19:46:00.002-06:00

Here is another great site chock-full of resources: sixrevisions.com.

Here is a sample of things it offers to date, with regular additions coming I'm sure:

20 Exceptional Websites for Learning Adobe Illustrator
20 Websites to Help You Master User Interface Design
30 Beautiful Photoshop Illustration Tutorials
15 Tools for Monitoring a Website’s Popularity
6 Exceptional Web-based Image Editors
30 Beautifully Blue Web Designs
8 CSS Techniques for Charting Data
6 Tools to Help You Analyze a Web Host
30 Beautiful Photoshop Text Effect Tutorials
Useful Cheat Sheets for Web Designers

Lessons from a Mexican Restaurant

2008-10-14T20:34:00.003-06:00

Five years ago a friend and collegue of mine recommended that when in Chicago I eat at a restaurant called Frontera Grill. I then got a second recommendation from another co-worker that this is the best Mexican restaurant north of the border.

As luck would have it, I'm in Chicago and the Frontera Grill is only two blocks from my hotel. I got there at five o'clock. It didn't open until 5:20. But that didn't stop the fifty people lined up to get inside for dinner.

The restaurant is in a very non-descript part of town. It's about six blocks off of Michigan Ave. And there aren't any big attractions nearby to draw patrons. Yet, by 5:30 the entire restaurant was full and people were waiting for tables.

So, how come so many people know about this place? Well, my guess is it's word of mouth. How else would I, a guy thousands of miles away, know about this restaurant and wait in line to get in? Especially when I have so many other dining options.

I believe the same goes for website traffic. Word of mouth is one of the three keys to web traffic: 1) Search Engines, 2) Direct Traffic, 3) Referrals (i.e. word of mouth).

Case in point: I dig through Google Analytics tied to my websites several times a day. I also watch my wife's blog analytics on a daily basis. With her stats lately I've noticed something very interesting . She has several friends who link to her blog from theirs. One of these blogs has gained dramatically in popularity, and in kind these visitors have found my wife's blog. Just by having that referring link, my wife's visitors have practically doubled. Why?

One could say they came from a "trusted" source. But many of these people were just "surfing" and found the first site (that of my wife's friend) through a search engine. Is that enough to make is a "trusted" source? Perhaps. Regardless, a simple link on other high traffic sites, will most certainly provide a new channel for traffic. I'm beginning to wonder if a linking strategy trumps a search strategy. I don't think you can ignore either, but it sure seems that getting your link on more relevant sites will bring fantastic traffic -- both in quantity and quality.

And by the way, Frontera Grill had the best taco's I've ever eaten in my life. If you happen to go there, tell them I referred you.

SEO Gurus

2008-10-05T21:34:00.010-06:00

For the next 12 months I want to learn as much as possible about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). As I discover great resources, I'll post them for all to see.

Here are a few that I've been reading lately:

Occam's Razor, written by Avinash Kaushik

http://www.kaushik.net/avinash

Bruce Clay, SEO expert

http://www.bruceclay.com/

Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

Converting MSS2 and wmv9 files to mov

2008-10-02T06:02:00.005-06:00

After weeks of research and e-mails to many different vendors, I've finally figured out how to convert an MSS2 file into a format that I can modify in Final Cut Pro. I'm still a bit uncertain about the relationship between MSS2 and wmv9, but there was a relationship in my files. I believe (and I could be incorrect) that MSS2 are essentially screen sharing files. Which would make sense because my files are webcast archive files produced with Citrix (Go-to-meeting).

So here's what I found.

1. You need to download Windows Media Encoder 9 onto a PC (it's free).
2. Click on "Convert a File".
3. Locate your original file and name your new file.
4. Continue to follow the simple onscreen steps until your file has been saved.
5. Transfer your file to your Mac.
6. Buy and download Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro ($99).

[note: Flip4Mac doesn't support MSS2 files yet. That's why you'll have to go through the Windows Media Encoder steps. In the encoder you'll be saving your file out as a wmv3, which IS supported by Flip4Mac which enables you to complete the following two steps.)

7. Open your new wmv file in QuickTime.
8. Export your file as a mov file.
9. Import into Final Cut Pro and edit as needed.

I'm continuing my process by squeezing my final files into flv using Sorenson Squeeze.

It's a relatively painless process, but it does take some time to do.

Just you you know, I've also tried to convert the wmv3 files to mov using ffmpeg on my PC and ffmpegX on my Mac but keep getting a bunch of errors. If I find a fix to that I'll post it as well.

The Final Episode of Seinfeld

2008-09-20T21:53:00.004-06:00

So... Microsoft clubbed Jerry Seinfeld.

That happened much faster than I thought. My friend Eric brought this up tonight at a party.

The initial focus group results must have been absolutely dismal for the Evil Empire to have dumped him that fast. I mean, they spent millions on production for these spots. And they dropped them faster than the stock market. (Quick tangent: About 20 years ago I learned about short selling and was amazed that this was even legal. Today we learn that this is one of the main reasons our financial institutions are crashing -- lousy short sellers. They come in like sharks smelling blood. They short a stock and when the price falls, they profit. Over the past few weeks these financial stocks have been easy targets for short sellers and they have driven the prices into the ground. End tangent.)

So, should Microsoft have kept Seinfeld on for a longer run? Despite my initial reaction that they should never have hired him, no. They did the right thing. If they're going to keep placing media buys, they should get a strategy that works for them. I understand they are now going to attack the Mac ads. Bad move. They need to fortify their strong holds and play them up. Don't go on the defense. Stay on offense. Aim their cannons in a different direction. (Perhaps they should aim them at the Vista product division and blow that up first.)

Matt's Recommendation to Microsoft (Bill, if you're reading, take note): If I were you I would first try and find out why your fans love Microsoft products so much and then blast that message loud and clear. This should at least stop the slide you're seeing from your brand to Mac. Then, once the bleeding is stopped, fire your product development team. Hire someone that can actually read the marketplace and do some research on trends. Find someone who will create products that are easy and enjoyable to use. Then, compensate them in a big way to create a trojan horse product that your users love and can't live without (ahem...like an ipod). Once your users are hooked on this gateway product, you can lure them into bigger and better stuff.

Or, you can sell all of your stock and by Apple (NASDQ: APPL). If there still is a stock market.

2008-09-14T08:12:00.004-06:00

I have a friend, Curtis Morley, who knows everything. He's a total braniac. I called him the other day about how to compress a .wmv9 video to a .mov. Within a couple of minutes he had a recommendation - FFMPEG. He also had a recommendation on how to navigate around the MIT-stumping installation instructions. He said he'd post these instructions in the near future.

I joked with my wife yesterday that if I knew 10% of what Curtis knows I'd be a genius.

Thanks Curtis!

Here's his bio (which is unaltered):

Mr. Curtis Morley joined Agilix as vice president of interactive development, leading the company's interactive development efforts around BrainHoney, a web 2.0 new learning community. Mr. Morley founded mediaRAIN and musicRAIN after emerging as one of the world's leading Flash experts, ranked second on Brainbench's Macromedia Flash Certification. He has subsequently been the writer of other certifications including the most recent exam. Mr. Morley has been the technical reviewer for Flash related books and continues to receive local and national recognition for his contributions to the Flash industry. Mr. Morley received the coveted Senator Reed A. Smoot "Entrepreneur of the Year Award" from the Utah Chamber of Commence. Mr. Morley was honored in both of Utah's Business magazines, "Utah Valley Business Q" and Utah Business Magazine, as "top 40 under 40" businessman an entrepreneur.

With a desire to spread his passion an understanding, Mr. Morley became one of the first instructors to teach Flash at the collegiate level. He has taught numerous classes in Web Design, Programming, Usability, Rich Internet Applications, Business, and e-Business. Mr. Morley has taught at multiple colleges and universities. including teaching in the Masters program at the largest private university in the country. Mr. Morley sits on advisory boards for several universities and businesses.

Mr. Morley has been honored with distinguished awards including a Flash Forward Finalist Award, Macromedia site of the day, and was deemed Webby Worthy by the Webby Awards for its web-based sheet music delivery applications. mediaRAIN/musicRAIN is one of only a handful of companies in the world that are Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash Alliance partners, and assisted in the development of Flash, by being on the beta team.

Microsoft and the courting of Jerry Seinfeld

2008-08-21T21:06:00.006-06:00

So, I just read that Microsoft is hiring Jerry Seinfeld to pitch their products. Although I'm a devoted Seinfeld fan and I love the show (even in syndication), I find it odd that Microsoft would hire someone who's past their prime, especially since they are trying to "be cool" like Google and Apple. It continues to reinforce the brand image that Microsoft is still living in the 1990's.

Although it might have some pull with older demographics, if Microsoft is truly trying to reinvent their brand they should look elsewhere. When I was in college, I learned about a thing called Q-report that rated a person's popularity. Here is a sample of some other people they could've used that would have been a better spend for their $10 million:

1) That kid from High School Musical. All he'd have to do is dance a bit and say the word "Vista" and you'd have millions of 18-24 aged girls lined up at Best Buy.

2) Simon Cowell. He could call the spots, "America's Idle." At least I'm idle for about 20 minutes every morning when I turn on my Vista machine. (Can someone tell me how to speed this thing up???)

3) Elvis. He's dead. 'Nuf said.

4) Fred Flintstone. Ok, a bit cliche... I won't say anything more about dinosaurs.

5) Gilligan. Because you need a professor, a skipper and a millionaire just to keep the machines running.

So, Mr. Seinfeld, enjoy your money. I hope the gig with Microsoft works out well for you. But hey, if you look closely at that picture above, am I mistaken or is that a Mac in your apartment?

Business Card Envy

2008-08-13T17:33:00.004-06:00

Here are some great business card designs I stumbled upon. Click Here. My favorite? The pop-up cards (#4). Although, who wouldn't like a tasty snack like a peanut with your phone number on it... or is it your fortune?

Apple iPhone 2.0 Download Problems? Cut Steve Jobs some slack!

2008-07-13T22:04:00.006-06:00

I, just like 6 million others, tried to download the new 2.0 iPhone software on Friday. The result? I just about bricked my iPhone. Luckily I had Googled a bunch of articles as my download was churning away and I was able to stop it and roll everything back to my original state before things got ugly.

To quote my wife, "You know better than that! Always give it a couple of days when a new release comes out."

So, today (Sunday) I tried again. and voila! It worked seamlessly. Everything went just as Steve Jobs planned -- just 48 hours too late. But I'm happy.

Why should we assume everything will work out OK. Think about what Apple was trying to do. I commend them for doing things that are different than the rest of the digital world. I mean, how many of you tried recently to update new software on a 6 million revolutionary hardware devices? So there were a couple of bugs and you weren't able to call your office for a few hours. Big deal. Think about what Apple has done to improve your life up to this point. I think they deserve a big break on this one -- even though I'm sure we'll hear about it in the press for weeks and months to come (primarily from non-iPhone using luddites).

I find it interesting that on Friday there were about 3,000 hundreds of articles written about the disaster that Apple was having. But when I Google how great the new tool is I only get a couple hundred articles.

The moral of the story is this: if you want to have cutting edge technology that does cutting edge tasks, cut the inventors some slack. No one's ever done this before.

Pre-packaged or from scratch?

2008-06-23T22:14:00.006-06:00

Lately we've been perplexed with something at the office. Is it better to find a vendor with a web-product that is close to what we need or develop the code from scratch and have it be exactly what we need.

There are strong opinions that could fight for either side of the argument. Here are a few:

PRO - USE A PRE-PACKAGED SOLUTION:
They already have some core competencies in the arena.
They probably have some sort of support structure.
You can leverage future dot-revisions.
They've already overcome a lot of the obstacles.

CON - USE A PRE-PACKAGED SOLUTION:
Sometimes you can't get exactly what you want.
If you want customization you'll pay handsomely for it.
Your competitors have access to it and you may lose your competitive advantage.

PRO - BUILD FROM SCRATCH:
You get what you design.
You can keep your competitive advantage.
You can own the code and make modifications whenever you want.
In the long run you'll probably save money.

CON - BUILD FROM SCRATCH:
You get what you design. (You sometimes don't have the wisdom of others who have crossed this bridge before you.)
You have to maintain it and support it.
You have to wait for it to be developed. If you need it fast, this isn't the best option.

I've had good experiences on both sides. It really depends on your personal willingness to design and manage the process of building something from scratch, plus the timeliness of your project needs.

I'm in the process right now of creating a webinar tool that is custom built for my needs. In the short term it's been a lot of work. But once it's done, it will be built precisely for the vision that requires it. (I'll blog about it another time.) Plus, over time as we make dot-revisions and add functionality, it should be an amazing tool.

Websites for Web Development

2008-05-30T18:44:00.004-06:00

I just stumbled upon this great site on Digg: Websites for Web Development. It's a fantastic list of web resources that Jacob Grube follows. His goal is to read something new everyday to keep fresh on web development. Excellent idea!

Creative Juicer

2008-05-30T17:57:00.009-06:00

At the office lately we've been debating the question of "what is creative?" We're in the midst of a major transformation of our organization and we have an opportunity to launch a refresh of our brand on our website. So, I've been researching a lot of creative sites and seeing who's really pushing the envelope.

I found this site quite appealing. I found it on Digg. It's a conglomeration of the simplest thing on your site: Web buttons. These designers have taken this often overlooked item on websites and and really done some amazing things with them. I especially like the illustrative look of the Asian-esque buttons. The time creating these must have been quite a commitment.

Another great site that I've been lost on lately is deviantart.com. Type "web designs" in the search bar and you'll get some impressive, cutting-edge design work. Some of the best I've seen. It will get your mind thinking differently about what your site should look like and how it should function. Here are some that I found appealing (click on them to enlarge):

My Mac

2008-05-15T20:43:00.005-06:00

For years I did graphic design work. Every day I sat down at a Macintosh computer. Since then I found that my PC would run most of the same programs (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc.) and I was happy. At least I thought I was.

At work I recently purchased an iMac so I can do some high-end video and audio editing. I fell in love again. I retained my PC laptop to do everything else.

You've seen the commercials -- the ones where there are two guys standing there (one representing a PC and one representing a Mac):

You can view them here.
They are so right on the money!

I'm now on the verge of giving my PC laptop the boot! I can now get my e-mail on my Mac; I have all of my Microsoft Office programs on my Mac; I don't have any of the problems of virus' and malware like that on my Mac.

My only regret is not getting the 17" MacBook Pro so I can travel with it. I just didn't know how much I was going to enjoy it! So, if you're looking for a new computer, take it from me, go with a Mac. You will NOT regret it.

Technorati

2008-02-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

So, I've heard a lot about Technorati. In my quest to deeply understand blogging and SEO, I've signed up with them (it's free) to see if my ranking jumps at all.

Here's a bit about Technorati:

"Currently tracking 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media.
Technorati is the recognized authority on what's happening on the World Live Web, right now. The Live Web is the dynamic and always-updating portion of the Web. We search, surface, and organize blogs and the other forms of independent, user-generated content (photos, videos, voting, etc.) increasingly referred to as citizen media."

Technorati Profile

SEO Resources

2008-01-25T20:03:00.001-07:00

SEO is tinged with mystery, intrigue, and an air of impossibility. At least that's what every web marketing firm wants you to think.

I'm embarking on an SEO journey and recently found this blog listing a bunch of great resources.

I'll report frequently on my findings and if all of those web firms I've talked to are just a bunch of liers.

Podcasts 101 (part 1)

2008-01-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

At my current job I have to be quite creative with my marketing budgets and resources. I don't have a broadcast or print budget. I mainly help drive leads to our sales force through webcasts and in-person events. Relatively low-cost or break-even activities.

Lately I've been thinking about getting into the podcast business. I figured they probably couldn't cost a lot to produce, as long as I did the production work. So I've jumped feet first into this fun medium hoping I can drive more leads to our sales force. At a minimum I'm having fun doing it.

Because I've had so many people ask me how to do I've decided to share a step-by-step guide to creating an audio podcast. I'll cover how to post them to iTunes and other engines in another post.

Basically all you need is 1) a computer and software, 2) a microphone, 3) a host, and 4) a topic.

1) The computer and software:
I use a Mac for this but you can do this on a PC just as easily. Don't get sucked into the argument that a Mac is better. Granted, there are some shortcuts by using a Mac. I also use Garage Band, which comes free with Macs. On PC you can use Audible which is a free download and a great piece of software.

When you start up Garage Band, just select the Podcast option and you'll be on your way.

2) The microphone:

For a microphone I purchased a Blue Snowball ($99). It's a fantastic USB mic that is essentially plug and play. It produced great sound quality, plus it looks cool sitting on it's neato stand.

After I purchased it I realized that I needed to be able to do telephone interviews for these podcasts. I purchased a little device from Radio Shack that plugs into the headset of your telephone and then into the microphone jack of your system. But, it wasn't until this time that I realized I had a problem. To get it to work you have to have a mixer where you can plug in the microphone and the telephone device. So I had to give the Snowball mic to a co-worker and run to the local guitar shop for some extra hardware. Remember, if you don't need to do any telephone interviews, you can just use the Snowball.

I walked out with an M-Audio Firewire 410 recording interface ($299). A Sterling Audio ST55 Condenser Microphone with shockmount ($130). A mini-boom stand ($59). And a pop-filter ($69). I also picked up a couple of 1/4" male adapters for the Radio Shack device to plug into the recording interface.

The plug-and-play of the Snowball mic was sorely missed.

NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE YOU PLUG IN THE M-AUDIO DEVICE OR YOU MAY FRY YOUR SYSTEM!

If you're using a 6-pin firewire cable, you won't need to use the M-Audio power source. Your computer will power it. Once youit's plugged in, plug the mic into input 1 and plug the telephone device into input 2 on the back. You're set to go.

3) The host:

Here's what I know so far. The better the production of the podcast, the more people will listen. I realized early on that I needed to find the best host possible. I have a good friend at FranklinCovey (Jennifer Colosimo) who I've used in the past to interview some big name people, like Jack Welch, she's really intelligent, and very personable. I contacted her to see if she would be willing to do this. Luckily she agreed and she's been fantastic. So my advice is if you're not a natural in front of the mic, find someone who is, or learn to do it well.

I've heard some podcasts that are so tired and boring that I will never listen to another one. Make sure your podcast has some life!

4) The topic:

If you can find a narrow topic to address, that's best. My podcasts are called "Greatness on the Go" where we help people improve their personal and professional lives through short tips of effectiveness. I have my host interview other subject matter experts on a specific topic (i.e. leadership, time management, building trust, etc...). When you save your podcast, make sure the topic is represented clearly in the title. That way when people are subscribed to your podcasts and they are uploaded on their iPod, they can see which topics interest them quickly.

I've tried to keep my podcasts under 30 minutes. They average about 20 minutes each. I'm able to get a short message about FranklinCovey (2 minutes), cover the interview (15 minutes), and have the host provide her "tip of the day" (3 minutes). I figure most people can easily listen for 20 minutes during a commute.

In my next post I'll cover how I'm getting these posted to podcasting services such as iTunes.

Tons 'O Design Resources

2008-01-03T21:21:00.001-07:00

I just found this great blog post at crestock.com. It's a jam-packed toolbox for all things design. I've been looking for a great aggregation site for this type of info. It covers everything from basic design, to color, to graphics, to photos, to CSS, to fonts, to layouts, to a ton of other great links. Enjoy.

Disruption

2007-12-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

So, the word of the year was "w00t". Merriam-Webster has officially declared it. The company that owns woot.com has got to be loving the quick, unpaid for PR blitz around their name.

I was introduced to woot.com many months ago by my friend Brian Christensen, CEO of Simple Product Corp.. He's always on the lookout for cutting-edge concepts -- and woot.com fits that bill.

The concept behind woot.com is almost insane. They sell one product a day from their site. That's it. One product. When they sell out of the product, it's over. The lights are turned out and the door is locked. Well, sort of.

You see, they have created an amazing following of groupies. Woot is like e-commerce rock stars. They've harnessed several Web 2.0 components that are feeding their community with cleverly written morsels of edutainment. They have a robust community, podcasts about their products, a blog, Google Adsense (to bring in some extra cash), and they leverage RSS feeds to let users know about the next deals they're about to miss if they don't act now.

In an e-commerce world where everything is secretive, Woot actually tells you everything about their sales: How much they made on each product (the Woot Wage), the Order Pace, when they sold out, and the percentage of sales per hour. For instance, on December 23 their product was a Creative Zen Micro Photo 8GB Media Player for $49.99.
The "First sucker" (the first person to buy) was: kgutah.
The first unit was sold in 29.327 seconds after it was launched.
The "Wooter to blame for sellout" was: red300m.
The order pace was 37.271 seconds. (WOW!)
The "Woot Wage" was $4,829.48.
The total units sold, or "Total Woots" was: 900.

Talk about disruption of the old way of doing business. The typical retailer tries to stock as much product as possible and then hope like crazy they've got what you're looking for. Woot is the exact opposite. One product and they don't care if it's what you want. They know that if you're not going to buy what they have to offer someone else will.

Ingenious!

E-mail Marketing Trends

2007-12-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

With e-mail marketing there is so much out there to explore and test... The problem is that there is so much out there to explore and test!

I recently read an article by Karen Bannan, "Looking Ahead: E-mail marketing in 2008" at www.btobonline.com (see full article here). To summarize, she spelled out four main points:

1. E-mail campaigns will have more CRM integration. I definately see this as a trend in my own work. However, integrating leads is just one part of the equation. I'm sure all marketers everywhere have been plagued with the fact that we can deliver premium leads to our sales force, but once they are sent, we have no control over whether or not the sales force actually calls on them. This can be exceptionally frustrating because so much work goes into generating the leads and then, more often than not, it seems sales people can't get around to them, or the are too busy doing something else. Granted, this is a blanket generalization, but throughout my 15 years in marketing, this is a typical scenario.

2. Automated e-mail tools are going to be used more. In my current organization, I have relied predominately on our tech team to ensure the messages look OK over various platforms. I've always known that I should never rely solely on the tech group to ensure this and I'm going to look for some tools to really help perform these operations.

3. Aligning e-mail closer with all marketing elements. It's true. It's time that we start looking at e-mail as a strategic marketing element rather than a purely tactical one. In my current ogranization I don't have a big marketing budget. But I do have access to a programmer and a massive database (although it needs quite a bit of segmentation work.) The article mentions the strategy of creating search-engine friendly landing pages that then direct people to opt in for more information. This could also be a great strategy to get people directed immediately to other areas of your site.

4. Using video with e-mails. Ahem. Read my post below. 'Nuff said.

One-to-One Marketing Microsites

2007-12-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I was stumped by a one-to-one marketing problem. I'm leading the marketing and managment of a new product at FranklinCovey, and needed a way to cut through the clutter of traditional e-mail, and make my target markets WANT to learn about what I had to say.

My target market was clear: Learning and HR professionals in 63 major corporations in the US, Mexico and the UK.
My message had been established.
My media was the big question...

The Project:
Because my budgets were limited, I was forced to think very resourcefully on this project, and handle the bulk of the work myself.

To be able to hit my market with a high-impact marketing piece, I created custom microsites with the target client's logo and several video clips. The main clip, which auto-loads, was done with individual custom video clips of Dr. Stephen R. Covey saying, "Hello my friends at XYZ Corp. I'm Stephen Covey and I hope you are all doing well." He then tactfully pitched the product (The 7 Habits Interactive) and presented the value proposition.

Because I needed to have these sites truly educate and entertain the prospect, I also included seven additional clips of Dr. Covey talking about different aspects of the product. There was also a link to an upbeat, promotional Flash piece as well as a PDF brochure of the product. To top it off, each site is customized with the sales person's name, phone number and e-mail address.

Click here to see one of the final microsites.

The Results:

So far the microsites have been working exceptionally well. The salesforce has been sending out the links to their prospects and the clients have been responding to the message. In one instance I was at one of the target companies (a Global 50 Corporation) on a sales call and played one of these custom clips in the meeting. Everyone in the room did a double take and wanted to watch it again because they were so impressed that there was a custom video mentioning their organziation by name. In fact I keep getting requests from other sales people to create them for their clients.

How To Make Your Own Marketing Microsite:

Step 1> To create these sites I first hired a professional video company to shoot the clips with Dr. Covey. Note: I don't think you necessarily need to use a "celebrity" for these marketing campaigns. I think you'll get a good reaction regardless of the spokesperson. Of course it will probably have more meaning if it's someone of import from the client (President, VP, etc.) We shot the video on a green screen and then digitally created a nice white background. Even if you have the video gear, I recommend using a professional because the difference in video quality is just so much better. (I had a teleprompter worker, a cameraman, audio guy, makeup artist and production manager/lighting guy for these clips. I know it sounds like a lot, but you can find video companies that don't cost a lot.)

Step 2> I also used this video company to do the first round of edits and touchups to the clips. They delivered to me a final set of clips that I then could edit in Final Cut Pro. (Cost= about $8,000; well worth it!!!)

Step 3> I then took the clips and did the bulk of the work myself in Final Cut Pro. By so doing I saved tens-of-thousands of dollars. However, the trade off was big. I spent a couple hundred hours doing the editing to make sure the clips were in the right aspect ratio (16:9), and the compression was adequate. I then used Sorenson Squeeze to smash these clips into Flash files. (Cost=$0; I already had access to the computer and software.) Sorenson Squeeze is an amazing tool...but pricey!

Step 4> I hired another agency to create a 60 second promotional Flash piece to also go on the site (Cost=about $4,000 including voice-over talent and studio time).

Step 5> I then hired a web programmer to finish out the project by creating individual microsites for each of the clients. (Cost= about $8,000)

Because I knew my target corporations upfront, I was able to "mass-produce" these microsites saving buckets of money and getting the results I wanted.

So, for $20,000 (and a lot of late nights and early mornings) I created a campaign that would have otherwise cost well over six figures.

Good luck and I hope this helps you explore this great medium!

In the Beginning

2007-10-26T19:31:00.001-06:00

I can't let my wife have all of the fun. She's been blogging for quite a while now and I really enjoy reading her blogs. This blog is going to be about insights, musings and just plain great marketing info that I come across. I hope you enjoy it! If you have any comments, please submit them!