A while back, when I really felt the need for some self-improvement, I had a look at a couple of different Web startups who I thought might be worth watching. Archived post is here. Today, I went back to see how they were doing and I have to say I found a clear winner.

The Traineo user experience is really excellent. I had a good swing at it and it held up. The design is clean and uncluttered (nice job!) and the light-weight tools do the job they need to do and nothing more.

I was considering taking a deep look at PeerTrainer, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. The site just doesn't do it for me. It's too cluttered. I don't want tools, member posts, community threads, team activity, diet, fitness, health, groups, and tours. I want something simple. I don't have time to go on a discovery mission through the eight+ sections of the site. I just want a product that solves my two issues: 1) set up a program, and 2) motivate me daily to take action (through my iPhone). That's it.

Trying to do too much is "normal" in this space. Don't do it. Keep your product simple. Work on your user experience and make the design really sing. That's what Traineo has done and it works.

Now, I'm going to swim for the first time in a year. Go Phelps!

All the cool kids are playing in the social networking playground. Even the big kids want in. Fortune 500 and mainstream brands. They want to be cool. They want to be where the smart kids are. So they grab their ads, their banners, their messaging and head outside.

But the kids don't care. They don't click. They don't bite. Dammit. Wonder why?

It's simple actually. Kids - even grown ups - in social networks are there for a reason and it's not to "engage with ads." It's to engage with other people - peers - humans - people they like to get to know or meet. When you shove commercial products (read: ads) into that experience you run a big risk. "Excuse me, do I know you?" If I don't - bugger off. I'm here to interact with humans. Could it be that simple? Yes, I think so.

So what's an advertiser to do? Well, for once, you got to understand how people use a social network. Social networks are utilities - or tools - that help people accomplish things such as "finding old friends" or "finding peers with similar interests." Facebook, for example, is not an entertainment medium. Yeah, I know some people think the games and widgets are really just entertainment, but think about it: You don't sign up for Facebook to play games. You sign up to connect with people and play in the social playground. It's not about entertainment. It's about connecting with other humans.

Let's say you're a beverage company and you want to get to "25-year-old males who love sports." Good news: They are all on Facebook. The opportunity? Create tools (applications) that allow them to connect socially with relevant places (bars) or people (women who love sports!) I would develop location based applications - such as a competition to "challenge your buddy to a fist-fight" (that's a joke - but hey it could work!) or "rate the best drinking holes" (where the best looking women are). The point is, you don't engage this audience with ads and you don't splash your logo everywhere. Focus on what they care about and you're miles ahead of everyone else.

While the major advertisers are sorting through social networks - trying to build ad serving models and argue at conferences about "how to make ads work in social networks" - you have a shot at making an impact. If you want to build a cool brand - you need to do cool stuff. No one cares about ads. That's why we've been buying TIVO for years now.

If you think I'm crazy, I want to hear from you. If not, check out my next post where I yell at "Ad Agencies and their Micro-sites."

Today was one of those days. I decided to spend much of my day just browsing around the Internet looking for interesting stuff. Since I love to see what other people think is cool, I got stuck on BestStuff.com. I kept hitting the "suprise me" button on the top right. Had a beer. Had a coffee. Oh, I found a lot of good stuff. Try it yourself. Come on'

I really like this site. They got a few features right and that's what matters the most. As mentioned, the "Suprise me" feature is awesome. I also like the "Votes by Category" view in the right column. If it could be moved up a bit, that would be even better. Nice shoes. Hair. Its all good.

This does remind me a bit of 43 Things. However, I think the interface is more interesting and bold. Keep it cool, lads and ladies. This is good.

They had me in 1999. Then in 2001 with another shot at 2004. They never made an effort to really get to know me. That's Yahoo!'s problem. Its quite simple actually. If you don't understand your customer, you won't ever be able to capitalize on the relationship.

What's your opinion? Does Yahoo! get you?

Just came across this list on Top 9 Social Media Guides. Lots of interesting reading there. Thanks Chris Kieff!

The Road Trip kicked off with two great shows in Miami. Lots of pictures, video, and some cool stories are available here: Sasha & Digweed in Miami. Next, Boston. Watch out!