Category: Rant

A little while ago I was blogging on about The Sleeper’s Almanac. So I thought, this would would make a great Christmas present. So I ordered a copy online and planned to have it shipped to my holiday destination. Unfortunately it did not arrive.

Louise Swinn at Sleeper’s Publishing has been fantastic about helping to sort this out. While the transaction seemed to clear through PayPal, it doesn’t seem to have found its way into the bank account of Sleeper’s Publishing. I am sure it is just a matter of time before it turns up … but in the meantime, Louise has kindly taken me on trust and promised to forward me a copy.

Sure, I sent her receipts etc … but it is nice to know that people are passionate about getting a product into the hands of their equally passionate audience. So why don’t you go ahead and order yourself a copy of the Almanac … you will get hours of good readying and be supporting an independent publisher at the same time.

And, for what it’s worth, I will provide updates on my reading when it arrives!

S.

This one made me laugh out loud! I know myself that I will often try to get everything right, answer all the questions (asked or not) and test and retest before releasing a new idea, website or branding concept. But I do believe in learning fast too!

Any new idea needs to be thought through, but an innovative idea will be granted some grace as long as it is followed up quickly. Which comes to Guy’s point 7 — act Digital, think Analog. You have got to surprise and delight people … tell them a story (of how you got this far), make them a promise (to keep them interested) … and then deliver, deliver, deliver.

S.

It strikes me that Google is constantly opening new doors for us all to walk through. Amazingly, we are all still happy to do so!

The Google guys have been one of the success stories of the Internet age. They continue to align their own story with action. They use acts and deeds as a way of further illustrating and extending the Google story, with the Google Pack only the latest in a long string of efforts.

The Google Pack draws upon the massive goodwill owned by the Google brand. By offering a range of useful softwares for free, they are using their huge distribution network to begin building credibility in household software — essentially following the path that Microsoft used with Internet Explorer. And we all know how well that worked!

I think it will be easy to see how much market penetration occurs. Just check your site access logs for the number visitors using the Firefox browser. If it gets above 7-8% then you know Google is succeeding.

If you are particularly keen help on this front, you can add the Explorer Destroyer to your own site.

S.

When I worked at IBM years ago, I used to concentrate on my work most of the day, and then look at my email after lunch. Now, of course, my day revolves around email. I read it first thing, action items and then look again. Email has become absolutely essential in my work. In fact, most of my work and creativity revolves around it.

So after a short break, I came back to review the many hundreds of email messages that were unread, and found a nice surprise buried way down the list.

Some time ago, John Moore over at Brand Autopsy had issued a challenge — to tell 5 friends your top 5 blogs. I had sent mine out and received a few in return (I think that is cheating). Anyway, one of the more interesting returns came from an old buddy, Phillip Allen.

Phil is an interesting chap … he works at IDC the IT industry analysis group, has a background in sales, marketing — and loves a gimic, a red light special and almost anything to do with technology. One of his favourite sites was Pandora. I decided to check it out.

This a very cool site! Not only does it allow you to find the music that you like, it also suggests new music that you may be interested in, then lines them up for your aural pleasure. I remember reading somewhere that many people don’t buy new music after the age of 30 … and that seemed to be a great indictment on the creativity and imagination of my generation. And while iTunes may have changed the game a little, my guess is that we are all just downloading all the old songs that we used to love — not new material.

And as music continues to create a soundtrack to our lives, even into old age, I have a hunch that keeping engaged with new and emerging music has something to do with our own sense of creativity. Even if we don’t like it. So check out Pandora, and see what pops up! Let me know if you find something unexpected but good!

S.

If you have ever wanted to run a startup, then there are many insights to be gained by visiting Guy Kawasaki’s blog. He is a venture capitalist and was product evangelist for Apple’s Macintosh. He has written a number of books on how to kick start a new business in a fast paced world.

While you may have heard some of this before, it is important to be reminded often. It is too easy to slip into an ordinary way of thinking, acting and creating.

I have started to get into delicious. It is great place to check out the bookmarks of other web surfers. On one hand it allows us to take a peek into the private/public world of another person’s view of the web, and on the other hand, it provides a way of building community.

It is this community aspect that interests me most. In the real world we consider community to be about the places that we inhabit … the cafes we frequent, the libraries, shops, halls and sporting fields we visit. Online, our communities become much larger in territory, but also more focused in their intent. And through places such as delicious, we can even find new communities that come in a new flavour that we can grow to like.

In the flurry of web surfing following Christmas Day, I noticed this interesting little article. In it, John Masone explains how you can create a web remote control for iTunes. Sure it only runs on Mac OSX but it just goes to show the lengths that people will go to when they love a device, a technology or brand.

Hey … sorry I missed this earlier, but I have been on holidays catching up with the family.

I just had a quick look at Seth Godin’s blog and saw this. It is a day long seminar hosted by Seth Godin in New York. And while I would love to attend myself, I am guessing my boss would be reticent to pay the US$1650 + airfares etc for one day. BUT … if you happen to be closer to New York than I, then I expect it will be more than money well spent. You will be sharing the room with the rare breed of strategists, leaders and entrepreneurs who prefer action and quick learning over planning and risk management.

Anyone going? I would love to share your notes! ha!

S.

In a time when publishing houses are closing their doors and going for the safe option, it is great to see a duo with a passion for language and writing bringing some exciting new writing into the world. I only just found out about Zoe Dattner and Louise Swinn’s Sleepers Almanac, and while I like the idea of the almanac (especially its title "The Deathbed Challenge"), I love the network and community that they have built around their publishing house.

Sleepers Publishing have built a strong, tight-knit community of writers and readers by hosting regular salons. They use their website to keep the community engaged and up-to-date, and they rely on the passion of their regulars to generate word of mouth and ultimately sales. Not bad work for a two-person company.

S.

Remember when you were a kid and there were toys that really linked in with the way you saw yourself? Looking back now, I could see that these were toys that had a story that I could understand, but also a story that I could make my own.

But these days, I look around and see toys that want kids to be something else. They are not so much about story – just about money. Hey, I don’t have a problem with that, but really, if you are going to fork out hard earned dollars for a toy for your kids, then you want it to be for a toy with heart.

Call me old fashioned, but didn’t we leave the industrial age behind for a reason? Didn’t we (as a society) come to the realisation that children were entitled to a childhood? And, if so, why do we continue to produce toys that encourage kids to age-up?

What a breath of fresh air it was then to discover Groovy Girls. These dolls look like little girls, they are individual, diverse in terms of ethnic makeup and provide a fresh perspective to girls during their formative years. And while they may not quite be a Purple Cow, some at least dress in purple. And that is groovy.

S.

Oh – and they have a great website. Check it out!