Light, Motion and Magic

One of the things I like best about being connected on the internet is following links to all sorts of interesting things. Sometimes I discover blog articles, YouTube clips, art or music sites, political media, food articles…It’s an interesting world out there, and I know I’m only exploring a tiny fraction of it.

Here are some of the recent interesting things I’ve found:

From @FranchiseKing: “Here’s what a TRILLION dollars looks like” at PageTutor.com. WOW!

From Gary Price’s Resource Shelf Newsletter: This week’s issue was all about statistics, and I found A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009 especially interesting from the blog Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang. Here’s some highlights:

• Nielsen Online shows that Social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular online activity ahead of personal email, Member communities are visited by 67% of the global online population, time spent is growing at 3 times the overall internet rate, accounting for almost 10% of all internet time, PDF, Nielsen Online, March

• 150 million people around the world are now actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day. This includes people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria. Facebook is used in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories. Source: Mark Zuckerberg, Jan 7, 2009

• 175mm users, with 600k daily growth of users, with the fastest growing segment “45% of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older.” Inside Facebook, Feb 15th, 2009.

• On LinkedIn: “The site’s traffic is up in the recession. It hit 36 million members last Monday and is adding them at a rate of about one member per second. According to ComScore, it’s gone from about 3.6 million unique monthly visitors a year ago to 7.7 million today, Adage, March 2

• According to Compete, the growth rate for Twitter was 752%, for a total of 4.43 million unique visitors in December 2008, in the start of 2008, Twitter had only around 500,000 unique monthly visitors. Source: Mashable/Compete, Jan 9, 2009

• Demographics of Twitter: Lots of stats here: 11% of online adults use Twitter or update their status online

• Comscore data shows that “In February, 4 million people in the U.S. visited the site, up from 2.6 million the month before, according to the latest data from comScore. That represents a 55 percent month-over-month growth rate, compared to 33 percent growth in each of the two months prior.” Comscore, March

And this last item is just too cute! From @Amy2boys on Twitter “This is not my kid or my dog, but I had to pass it along!” Check it out.

Tags:@Amy2boys, @FranchiseKing, A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009, Facebook, Gary Price, Internet, Jeremiah Owyang, LinkedIn, links, PageTutor.com, Resource Shelf Newsletter, Trillion dollars, Twitter, Web Strategy

A French philosopher, said that “to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly” (Henri Louis Bergeson.) I believe that is an accurate description of my business endeavors. Change, maturity, re-creation.

Clearly this is not an economy to manufacture and try to sell non-essential decorative merchandise, as I started out to do with Miri Market. Although I have not given up on that idea, I have definitely put those dreams on hold.

But Miri Market still exists, my legal business entity, with the ability to go on creating itself endlessly, as in the quote above. “Miri” means to be amazed, to marvel, to wonder at. It is from the language Esperanto, an international language based on words common to the chief European languages. For example, mira in Spanish means sight; intention; just look. Miracolo in Italian means miracles; wonder. And as a girl’s name (Latin, Slavic, Hindi) Miri means ‘wonderful’; ‘peace’; ‘prosperous’. Can you think of better connotations for a business name?

So it is to marvel and wonder at that my husband and I were presented with a business opportunity that - yes, even in these uncertain times - we decided to seize. David and I together will be working on a small service business. Our website, and this blog, is being reworked to reflect our new venture.

Miri Market coffee service - using state-of-the-art gourmet coffee machines, stocked with the finest coffee and backed by a committment to service and responsibility - makes barista-style coffee drinks available any time at your business for your employees and/or clients.

Our system grinds and brews each coffee drink in 30 seconds flat. At the push of a button a cup of delicious freshly ground and brewed specialty coffee is yours to savor. Miri Market coffee service allows your employees and/or clients to enjoy the flavor, cost and convenience benefits of coffee house drinks at a fraction of coffee house prices.

On the one hand, it seems crazy to jump into a new business when the bad economic news is piling up around us like dead leaves in the fall. Yet we made our decision quite quickly to do this. We’ve always wanted to work together, and this business seems to have the right requirements of each of our strengths and expertise. It is a simple business, a delicious business, that we can run to our standards of taste and responsibility.

Hazel Henderson is a futurist and economist, and the author of several books. In 2007 she started EthicalMarkets.tv for public television to showcase video of people and organizations around the world with socially responsible endeavors. She has said, “If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic.”

So I guess that in these uncertain times, David and I simply don’t know enough to be pessimistic. We’re going to give it a whirl!

Tags:business, change, Coffee Service, Hazel Henderson, Miri Market, start-up

I was a good girl, today. I had a colonoscopy.

I got a clean bill of health, so I won’t need to have another one for 10 years.

If you don’t think it’s important, just ask Katie Couric.

YOU are your own, best health advocate, so be proactive and have the screenings your doctor recommends at the appropriate times. If you’re putting it off, pick up the phone and make the appointment right now. Go!

Tags:Colonoscopy, Katie Couric

Andy Sernovitz in his blog Damn! I Wish I’d Thought of That! had a great post recently:

“I wrote this post in 15 seconds.
Just to make this point:
Don’t over-complicate your blog writing.  No one wants an essay.
Just share one good idea.“

Tags:Andy Sernovitz, Damn! I wish I thought of that!, Jim Kukral, Pycon, The Daily Flip, Twitter

What a wonderful trip we had to Costa Rica!
I didn’t know much about this beautiful country before last week, but I got a wonderful education while I was there.

A few facts from the Moon guide:

“For years travelers had neglected this exciting yet peaceful nation,
primarily because of a muddled grasp of Central American geopolitics.
While its neighbors have been racked by turmoil, Costa Rica has been
blessed with a remarkable normalcy–few extremes of wealth and poverty,
no standing army, and a proud history as Central America’s most stable
democracy.

The nation’s 12 distinct ecological zones are home to an astonishing
array of flora and fauna–approximately 5 percent of all known species
on earth in a country that occupies less than 0.003 percent of its land
area–including more butterfly species than in the whole of Africa, and
more than twice the number of bird species than in the whole of the
United States–in colors so brilliant that their North American cousins
seem drab by comparison. Stay here long enough and you’ll begin to
think that with luck you might, like Noah, see examples of all the
creatures on earth.“

We stayed at the wonderful Occidental Grand Papagayo Resort, with a fabulous view from the main building:

We even had a lovely view from our room:

Lawrence was our first TAM tour guide, taking us on a boat excursion on the Tempisque river in the
Palo Verde National Park. I can’t say enough about the knowledgeable, articulate, warm and wonderful guides we had through TAM. They taught us so much about the culture, history and biology of Costa Rica during our tours. Here is Lawrence teaching us about the water hyacinth:

We saw lots of American crocodiles, as well as herons, iguanas, bats, monkeys, mangrove trees and the region’s namesake, the Guanacaste tree.

We saw iguanas at our hotel, too!

The beach at our hotel was okay, but rocky, so we took a taxi to nearby Playa Conchal- a beautiful beach. We were 10 degrees north of the equator, and the sun was intense! The native Costa Ricans spread their beach towels under the shade of the trees lining the beach, and we did the same.

Then we went to Playa Flamingo. We bought some pottery from a peddler on the beach:

Many people gathered on the beach to watch the sunset:

We are a still a happy couple after 25 years!

The Costa Rican people were so friendly, and quick to smile:

We took a fabulous day tour that started with an exhilerating rain forest canopy experience! Whee!

Another excellent guide, Gustavo, then led us on a horseback ride to the Buena Vista hot springs. The Guanacaste region, where we were, has vast savanna land, with many farms and cattle ranches. The sabaneros, or savanna horsemen, play a big part in the culture. Gustavo was raised on a farm and has been riding since he was a child:

One guy in our group was crowned king of the mud baths!

On our last day we went on a snorkeling excursion. Freddie was another great guide, who is also studying to be an airline pilot:
It was so much fun!

It was a gorgeous day. The name of the sailboat was Kuna Vela which means “god of the sails.” The gods were certainly smiling on us. We saw jumping Devil Rays, porpoises, and even whales in the distance.

It was sad to leave this paradise. Thanks to my husband for the pictures, for the trip, and for 25 great years.
Costa Rica has a saying, “Pura Vida.”  Directly translated it means the good life, but it’s come to mean “everythings OK” or “it’s cool!” All I can say is, ‘Costa Rica - pura vida!”

Tags:Buena Vista hot springs, Costa Rica, iguanas, Kuna Vela, Moon, Occidental Grand Papagayo, Palo Verde national park, Playa Conchal, Playa Flamingo, TAM

What was it like to go to a brainstorming session at a creative agency on the future name of my company?
It was great! It was also interesting, and fun, and reflective and productive.

Who was there? I had already met Jason, and he was there in the capacity of note-taker at the meeting, but also took part in the process. Neelu greeted me, who had contacted me by email and phone - she is the “point person” or account manager for me with this project. Gretchen and Maggie were also there; Gretchen as designer and Maggie as editor and “word” person. You can meet them all on the Adsoka web site. They were all soft-spoken, thoughtful, very nice and not intimidating at all.  We sat in comfortable chairs and it was informal and pleasant.

How did we go about this?  Through email with Neelu, I had already taken four general categories and narrowed it down to two to focus on.  And here I want to take a moment to digress…

I have deliberately not talked about what my “particular thing” is that I’ll be manufacturing and selling. To be prudent and smart about this whole process I cannot. I’ve read too many warnings about opportunists that search for other people’s ideas and get them manufactured quickly and out on the market first. When I’ve got some legal protection and I’m further in the manufacturing process then I’ll be most pleased to be able to talk about my product specifically. For now, it is enough to say that it will be a decorative item, intended for holidays and celebrations as well as everyday use. So now I go back to my meeting…

The four name themes I was given were Fun/Whimsy, Expanding on Traditions, Serenity/Spa, Home/Decor.  Two days before our meeting I narrowed those down to two: Fun/Whimsy and Expanding on Traditions.

For the meeting they had prepared 2 medium-sized poster boards with various designs - one for Fun/Whimsy and one for Expanding on Traditions.  These boards had all kinds of snippets of design pieces like stationary, mail advertisements, coasters, business cards, logos, etc., all variations of the two themes. First we looked at the Expanding on Traditions board and I verbalized my response to what I saw - what I felt related to my product and what didn’t.  What specific pieces I liked and what I didn’t.  Next we looked at the Fun/Whimsy board and talked about the same things.  I related more strongly to elements of the Fun/Whimsy board, with brighter colors and patterns. We talked about where elements of both boards intersected.  Then we moved on to the brainstorming.

Jason took notes on a little laptop that showed up on a big-screen TV that we could all see.  They chose a category “Carnival” and we just started saying words that came to mind, like clowns, popcorn, laughter, etc. At first I thought it was a bit strange because none of this really had anything to do with my product, but I went with it and contributed words as well.  This free-association went on for some time, until we had I’d say about 50 words down.

Then we changed categories, and brainstormed in the category of art: words like figure, color, design, warm, and canvas built up, until we had about the same number as before. By now some conversation was sparked by the different words, and what was associated with them, and I also verbalized various thoughts the words evoked about my product.  The rest of the words we put down were in association with these further connections and observations.  When we were done - and honestly I think we spent at least 45 minutes on this exercise - Jason put all the words together in columns, and we each looked through the list and pulled out words that had special resonance to us, and Jason put those words in bold font to stand out.

It was a very productive exercise, because the words that stood out were pretty evocative and “juicy” - full of connotations beyond the word itself, at least to us in the meeting!  I laughed as I looked at them, and asked them what in the world would they do with those words now!?! Jason said that they let it percolate for a while. Then Maggie the editor would begin drilling down into the word list deeper, and Gretchen the designer would begin to sort the basic color and designs ideas out further, and they’d get back to me.

I cannot even tell you how glad I was at that point that I had taken the step to go to professionals for this job.

Why? When I was working on names on my own, I solicited the help of my family and friends, but believe me the list of names I had on that legal pad were all of one sort: variations of words on what my product IS. The process with the Adsoka team allowed us to collectively delve into dozens of words that are more about what my product MEANS, and that, my friends, is the essence of branding.

I am really grateful that I was able to participate in the process. The people I’m working with at Adsoka are not flashy or high-powered, but thoughtful. I really like them. And the brainstorming session was much more of a quiet, introspective process than I’d imagined. So far I feel that my money and my confidence has been well-placed. But now I wait…to see what comes of it all.

Tags:Adsoka, brainstorming session, Branding, free-association, word list

Earlier entry in this series: Prototype Saga - Part I

I posted an ad for a “pattern/model maker” in the Sun Sailor papers reaching the Minneapolis southwest metro area, and got four responses.  I didn’t want strangers to come to my home to interview, so I asked respondents to meet me at the local library.  For each interview I went early and was able to grab a private study room, which was perfect.

The best applicant was Dan - not retired, and young - who worked in design engineering, but had grown up tinkering in his father’s wood shop.  I was most pleased with his response to my idea. Jim and Tony at SCORE mentioned to me that enthusiasm would be an important factor to consider when making my decision to hire someone, and Dan raved about how happy he would be to participate in this project.  I also felt his Dad might be interested to work a little with the idea as well.  After his interview we left it that he would call me within the next few days to let me know if he wanted to work on this and what it would cost me.

He called the next day.  Rather than working for an hourly fee, he proposed getting 7½% percent of future net profits.  Interesting…It indicated to me that he thought highly of the product potential, but I felt reluctant to sign away profits I hadn’t even seen yet.

This is an instance where my husband David’s business experience and advice was so valuable.  When I ran it by him he confirmed my gut reluctance, and urged me to keep the big picture in mind.  At his previous job, employees earned fractions of a percent for their bonus.  His rule of thumb for profits was this: allow 1/3 of profits for taxes, 1/3 for employee salaries, and 1/3 for stockholders.  Good for me to know and keep in mind for the future (hopefully a future in which I had to deal with PROFITS!)

So I called Dan back and told him I was pleased that he liked my business idea enough to consider a stake in its future, but it was premature to make that kind of arrangement.  I offered him $40/hour to work on it, and he accepted. $40/hour is the same salary I agreed on to work with an artist for my project.  I knew that both commercial artists and engineers could command hourly fees of more than that, so in the grand scheme of things, I felt this was a good price for me, and fair to them.

Dan accepted!  I told him I’d like him to put in about 10 hours on the project, and then check in with me to give me an update.  I wanted to stay current both on his progress, and how much it was costing me.  I also told him I’d send him a basic contract to sign: a generic on-line work-for-hire agreement.

Phew!  I did it!  It was February 15. I found my guy and I was on my way!

Or so I thought.

Please feel free to send me comments, suggestions or examples of your own experience.

Tags:hiring, model maker, pattern maker

I was a lucky gal yesterday…I was able to attend a great event and hear Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking.  Jeff Rabkin of WOWZA and Terri Whitesel of Interpret-her also spoke at the co-sponsored the event titled, “Word of Mouth: Your Perpetual Marketing Machine.”

I loved the book Word of Mouth Marketing, and have referred to it already in my previous Blogworld post. In fact, it was one of the inspirations for me to start this blog.  The book is very amusing and accessible - Sernovitz writes in a conversational, easy-to-read way - and I was curious whether his speaking style would be as fun as the book style.

In a word, yes, it was.  He has a very relaxed speaking stye and yes, he was very funny.  The audience of about 100 was very responsive to his anecdotes, and laughed often at his observations.  He was also very genuine and approachable.

Before the program started he was standing by his table and not very busy, so I decided to introduce myself to him and tell him how much I enjoyed his book.  He was very gracious.  I told him that his book was an inspiration to me. That I found it to have an exciting message, but was very accessible as well, and he answered, “That’s great!  I’d love it if you’d write a review on Amazon.”  I said, “Really?  Aren’t there already a lot of reviews there?” He answered, “Yes, but every one helps.  ‘Exciting and accessible’ - that’s a great comment.  I’d love it if you would write a review - really.”  So I said, “Sure!  I will.”  He thanked me, and I enjoyed the rest of the program.

Can you guess what I did as soon as I got to my computer that afternoon?  I wrote a review of “Word of Mouth Marketing” on Amazon.com.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you” and yesterday, that was it.  I’ve never written a review on Amazon before.  I wasn’t sure how to write an Amazon review,  nor did I feel
particularly worthy of having my opinion on an Amazon review, but I did it anyway.

So, to recap…I read a great book on word of mouth marketing, and one month later I have my own blog,  meet the author in person, hear him speak, at his request write an Amazon review, which appears on the top right hand side under “Most Recent Customer Reviews.” And to top it all off, I get a personal thank-you email from him.
How cool is that !?!?

Thank you, Andy Sernovitz.

Tags:Amazon.com, Andy Sernovitz, blog, Blogging, blogworld, Eleanor Roosevelt, Interpret-her, Jeff Rabkin, Terri Whitesel, Word of Mouth marketing, WOWZA