ETC - Entrepreneurial Training Centre

Thought are Powerfull - TRY THIS

2007-05-10T11:24:00.001-07:00

Test your MIND READING ABILITY - Can you use your telepathic capacity to make this exercise work???

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/games/magic-gopher-central.swf

Thought are Powerfull - TRY THIS

2007-05-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Test your MIND READING ABILITY - Can you use your telepathic capacity to make this exercise work???

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/games/magic-gopher-central.swf

How to CHOOSE a PARTNER

2007-05-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

How to Test Whether or not to Take on a Partner There are countless examples of highly successful business partnerships. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computer. Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft. Sergey Brin and Larry Page launched Google.

All-star teams like these might convince you that finding a partner is a critical element in starting a business, but I'm here to tell you it isn't. More entrepreneurs wind up taking on bad partners for the wrong reasons than good partners for the right ones.

We all know that creating a company is tough, and finding anyone that is crazy enough to back your idea is hard enough. But how do you know if that person you're about to be married to is truly the right fit? Can you even afford to be selective?

Before you even consider taking on a partner, you need to ask yourself a few hard questions about whether or not the person sitting across the table from you is a really going to be there in good times and in bad.

Contributing Real Skills
Often entrepreneurs will look for partners that have skills or experience that they don't. You may look for someone with strong technical skills, experience with finance, or a knack for sales. It's reasonable to believe that someone who brings new skills to the table would be a natural fit.
But just because someone has a capability that you lack doesn't mean they're particularly great at it. I may be able to change the oil in my car while you don't even know how to pop the hood.

Still, that doesn't make me a mechanic.

If you're considering a partner just because they have complementary skills, you want to find someone who is exceptional at those skills, not mediocre. You can always find people that have basic skills and can work inexpensively. A partner is someone that is a true guru.

Commitment and Stamina
Even if someone passes the skills test, you still need someone that will match your commitment to the startup. You're going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time holed up in an office giving up friends, family and anything that resembles a social life. Is your partner going to do that?

For most, the answer would be “no.” Very few people are cut out to withstand the non-stop anxiety and pressure of a startup company. Anyone can get excited for three months. It’s the person that will stick by you for three years of agony that (or more) that really qualifies as a partner.

Look at your potential partner's situation. Can they afford to forgo pay for a year? Can they afford to give up everything outside of work for as long as it takes to be successful? If the answer is “no” then you’re going to find out in the long run that you have a buddy, not a partner.
ONLY Partner with an Architect who has Social Capital
Even if your potential partner looks like they are contributing real expertise and has a genuine commitment, the question then becomes “will they always be this valuable?”

Let's say we need to build a house. Before we lay a brick or pick up a hammer, we need an architect. We need someone that has serious expertise and knowledge of how to get this project started. For the first few months we won’t be doing much work at all – the plans will all be in the architect’s hands.

So the architect has a critical role in the creation of our new house. Yet after a few months, once the plans have been drawn up and we get to building, the architect has minimal impact. While his contribution was pretty important to get started, his long term contribution doesn't add up to much.

PAY WELL for EXPERTISE
Taking the architect on as a partner just because he is real valuable in the formative stages would have been a mistake. Startups do this all the time with attorneys, web developers, graphic designers and other professionals that are wildly helpful in getting started, but don’t offer as much long-term value. (So it is better to pay them to exicute.)

Before you consider taking the architect on as a partner for their great expertise, ask yourself “what’s this guy going to do a year from now?” A good partner doesn't lose value after the launch of your company.

Good Partners Never Fade
The reason great partnerships work so well is because they stand the test of time. Both parties are equally committed, capable and useful throughout the life of the partnership. As soon as one partner loses steam and begins to fade, problems are soon to follow.

If you're even the slightest bit unsure about taking on a partner for any reason, wait. Any time you may lose in getting your idea off the ground is worth every moment if you can avoid taking on a partner that doesn't deliver their end of the bargain.

Wil Schroter - Go BIG Network

The Secret - "THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS"

2007-04-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

(Click to reveal the most powerful IDEA known to mankind)

http://www.hasod.co.il/hasod.htm

"The Secret is the answer to all that has been, all that is, all that will be." - R.Emmerson
"Take the 1st step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase, just the 1st step." - M.L.King
"Immagination is everything, it is the preview of life's comming attractions." - A.Einstein

Based on the power of attraction, the laws of the universe and the success of those prominent figures in world history that understood The Secret.... everything you desire can be yours once you have begun to understand how -

"THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS"

This 90min presentation may change the world around you.
(Submitted by Lihi Mayer, Mushav Cherut, Isreal)

"Desire is the starting point" — Napoleon Hill

2007-02-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything."

"Your big opportunity may be right where you are now."

"Perseverance: The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those who fail."

"What you think, so you will become."

"Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit."

"Thoughts mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire are powerful things."

— Napoleon Hill

Rejection is only for people that try

2006-12-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

If you're not getting rejected, you're not really trying

Some entrepreneurs like to gloat about their successes. Me, I like to brag about how often I've been rejected. And with the number of times people have shut me down, I have a lot to talk about. Unfortunately many entrepreneurs don't share my brazen approach to utter failure. They look at their own failure and rejection as a Scarlet Letter to be worn shamefully which is a bunch of bull! As far as I'm concerned, if you’re not getting turned down, you're not really trying. And the only thing you should ever be ashamed of is not trying.

Rejection Represents Potential

Let me start by explaining what's so great about rejection and why you should take advantage of every opportunity to seek it out. Rejection delineates the limits of your potential. Said differently, until you get rejected, you don't really know how much potential you have.

I learned this lesson not in the office, but in the weight room. For the longest time I thought the limit of my bench press topped out around 225 pounds. To me that seemed like a lot of weight to keep off my chest, and so I assumed that my potential stopped there.

One day, a friend of mine challenged me to push more weight. We slapped 275 pounds on the bar he told me to give that a shot. In this case, lifting the bar wasn’t my only concern, I was afraid of crushing my whole body in the process! Two things happened when I took that leap. First, I pulled and strained just about every muscle north of my waist (I was sore for weeks). And second, I benched 275 pounds.

So I did what any ambitious entrepreneur would – I put on more weight. We jumped up to 305 pounds and I got ready to test my potential one more time. It took about one second to learn that 305 pounds was well beyond my potential – I'm an entrepreneur, not an NFL running back.

I didn't limp away that day ashamed of not lifting 305 pounds. I was ashamed that I hadn't tried it sooner. Until I pushed myself to utter failure and rejection, I never really knew just how much was possible.

My Goal – Utter Rejection
Since that moment in the weight room, my goal has been to get rejected as often as possible. I've come to embrace rejection as the only goal that is worth fighting for. Anything less than utter rejection means I've left something behind or gave less of myself to my goals. Nowadays I want to get rejected in everything that I do.

I want to get rejected when I call on new customers. I want to present prices that are far higher than they are willing to pay. My fear is not the word “no” when it comes to price, it’s the word “yes” while wondering if I charged enough.

I want to get rejected when I present to investors. I want them to think that my plan is overly optimistic, and that my financial projections are far too aggressive. I fear only two words from an investor – “reasonable” and “conservative”. If I’m ever called either of these things I'm going to storm out of the room ashamed.

I want to get rejected by the media when I write about startups. I want them to think my approach to startups and entrepreneurship is far too pessimistic and polarizing for mainstream businesspeople. If my editor stops rejecting my submissions I’m going to get pretty upset. If I stop getting letters from entrepreneurs complaining that I’m shooting down their blue sky dreams of entrepreneurship I’m hanging up my spurs.

I don't fear the failures that others would fear. I fear the implications of what acceptance leaves on the table.

Rejection Builds Great Companies
If you want to trade war stories with me, don't sell me your success stories. Success whispers little about who you are. Utter rejection and the ability to bounce back is what really make an entrepreneur.

What makes the entrepreneurial mindset so much different than that of your average worker is that an entrepreneur not only embraces risk, they embrace rejection. For every documentary that you read about the birth of a great company, there are endless stories about the failure and rejection the entrepreneurs faced to reach that destination of greatness.

Great companies are built on rejection. They are built on the resilience of the founders who took and endless barrage of punches to the chin and kept on fighting. Seeking rejection as a goal to find greatness is the only way to maximize the potential of what you really are and what you seek to achieve.

Wil Schroter is the Founder and CEO of the Go BIG Network, the largest network of startup companies and entrepreneurs at www.goBIGnetwork.com. He is also the author of the new book “Go BIG or Go HOME”.

You Have NO IDEA...

2006-12-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

You have no idea what you’re doing, and that’s just fine.

If you're like 99% of the entrepreneurs in the world that have never started a company before, then there is one trait you inevitably share – you have no idea what you’re doing. And that's just fine, because despite how much we pretend otherwise, none of us really know what we're doing.

Entrepreneurs are Type-A personalities comfortable taking charge and leading the way, so it generates anxiety when they realize (often without telling anyone) that despite all of their capabilities and for the first time in their lives, they really have no idea what they're doing.

If you're one of these entrepreneurs, you're probably wondering how everyone else pulls off the launch of a startup company without having the same anxieties. The reality is they don't. They're all in the same boat because none of them have ever done this before. It's all a matter of figuring out as you go.

There are lots of reasons why you have no idea what you're doing, most of which amount to the fact that you've never had this type of experience before. Realistically entrepreneurship can only be learned through a little on-the-job training. So let's take a look at why you haven't had any up until this point.

You've never started a company before. Sure, you may have worked at a small company or had a big title in your last job, but until your home equity is the company's line of credit, you've never really started a company before.

If it feels like your days and nights are consumed with anxiety and doubt, you're definitely on the startup path. Most entrepreneurs confuse this anxiety and doubt with doing something wrong, as if they could somehow avoid it. You can't.

You're jumping head first into the great unknown. There is no way to know exactly what to expect or how this trip will end. That’s why so few people begin the adventure, and those that finish it are so highly regarded.

Of course you can try to hold your head up and pretend like everything is OK, and you probably should. It's OK to realize you have no idea how this thing is going to end. It's your job to fearlessly lead your team into the black hole, even when deep down no one has any idea what’s on the other side.

You've never raised capital before
How many people do you personally know that have raised investment capital? Probably none. So how could you possibly know how the capital raising process works? You can't.

You can read books about it, you can visit Web sites, and you can ask around, but generally speaking, the process of raising investment capital is something you learn by doing, not through osmosis.

If you've never pitched a venture capitalist before, there's no reason you would have ever looked at a term sheet. There's no reason you would possibly know why some financial projections are reasonable and others are ridiculous. You have to do it, take a few in the teeth, and move past it all in order to know how it works. That's the process.

You've never been the Founder before. Maybe you've had a VP title or C-level title in your last company, but compared to the Founder, that doesn't mean squat. The difference between an executive and the Founder is that the executive can quit and go somewhere else when things go poorly. The Founder goes down with the ship.

You can no longer complain about working for the “The Man” because now you are “The Man,” and it's not always a great job. Unless you've started a company before though, there's no way to get the experience of owning every last fault and benefit of a company.

Even though everyone is expecting you to have all of the answers, there’s no way you can always know what to do next. So you do what every other startup Founder does – you guess, and hope your best guess works. We all just keep making really good bets and hope we walk away from the table ahead of the game.

Just admit it – you're lost – and that's OK
You don't need to admit to me that you're lost - I’m just as lost as you are. But at least we can both agree that we're all lost together and that there's no point in thinking we're the only ones that are dealing with the anxieties of starting a company.

The entire startup experience can be altogether humbling until you understand why you don't know what you're doing. It's because until you've actually experienced a startup, there is no way to really get any valuable startup experience.

So take heart my friends, we're all pretty much walking around in the dark. Anyone that tells you've they've got all the answers is just giving you a line of bull. There are really only two kinds of first-time entrepreneurs – those that have no idea what they're doing, and those that lie about it.

Wil Schroter is the Founder and CEO of the Go BIG Network, the largest network of startup companies and entrepreneurs at www.goBIGnetwork.com. He is also the author of the new book “Go BIG or Go HOME”.

Machiavelli on Establishing Something New

2006-08-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Machiavelli on Establishing Something New
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."
— Niccolo Machiavelli The Prince (1532)

ETC - Entrepreneurial Training Centre

2006-07-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

How Creative Entrepreneurs Succeed
by Susan Kirkland

Standard & Poor's predicts a 25% chance of recession in the next year "06-07' and small businesses are clamoring to ride out the next tide of a continuing soft market. Many small businesses find the current marketplace more competitive as big fish dip lower into the food chain to overcome business losses. Those little jobs they ignored (the jobs one person shops thrive on) are being gobbled up to replace lost revenues from big accounts now in demise.

What can you do to protect yourself? Here are some tips to help you solidify your client list:

1. Stay in Touch - Stay in touch with clients whether they have a job in house or not. A casual lunch, a quick call or a less invasive email will renew and remind a good client of available services without pressure. It's easier to maintain a relationship than establish a new one.

2. Call the vendors you've used most - Call the vendors you've used most; they know who's buying and succeeding even in a slow economy. Make friends at all levels of your industry. You never know where your next job referral will come from.

3. Maintain industry presence - Maintain industry presence; even though things are slow, stay active in professional affairs. Attend that monthly meeting, press the flesh, and work for charity to show off your creative skills.

4. Revamp your website - Revamp your website, then send out email announcements about the eye candy you've just displayed. Be excited about your work and that excitement will attract business.

5. New Clients - Above all, stick to your weekly phishing schedule. Cold call new clients whether you need them or not. Successful entrepreneurs always have a few new clients ready to step in to replace those who step out. What's the real key to success? Get up and get busy -- there's no time for sulking.

Start & Run A Creative Services Business by Susan Kirkland (Price: $16.95) shows you how to Translate your creative skills into cash ; Build a loyal client list to lock in repeat business; and market your creative skills worldwide. Learn what to do when from a veteran freelancer. Paperback: 200 pages; Publisher: Self-Counsel Press About the author

©2005 Susan Kirkland, veteran freelancer and author of Start and Run a Creative Services Business, shares the secrets to finding and keeping clients, negotiating with vendors, protecting yourself from scoundrels and scalawags--a valuable resource for students and seasoned pros. For additional information visit http://www.sdkirkland.com/

successBC - Managing Business Networks

2006-07-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Managing Business Networks
Seminar outline - by successBC

Objectives

1. Understand the value and importance of professional networking
2. Gain awareness about the networking game
3. Apply networks management knowledge for corporations (CORP) and small/medium-size enterprises (SMBE)
4. Know the principles of networking culture
5. Use online tools to improve and support networking activities
6. Manage online and offline presence (OOP)
7. Consider the creation of networks management team
8. Align networking activities with company goals
9. Schedule specific VIP networking activities
10. Elaborate a networking agenda

Audience: “C level”, directors, department managers and small to medium-size enterprise owners.

Format: in-company training or pool of small to medium-size enterprises.
Number of people: 20-30 people per workshop organized in groups of 5 people per computer.

Requirements: PC with mind-mapping software installed, such as FreeMind.
Recommended: bring contact database, business cards, Excel files and a wireless hand-held that has the option to store large amounts of contacts.

Duration: 16 hrs in total

Program
· Importance of networks management activities
· The Networking Game
· Win-win networking culture
· Role of CNO – Chief Networking Officer
· Creating a networks management team
· Describing a networks manager’s profile and activities
· Training executives to be professional networkers
· Use of online networking tools

o Difference among platforms
o How to use them
o Leverage time online and offline

· Company (dept) goals for next 5, 10, 20 years
· Resources needed to reach those goals
· Mapping resources out of existing networks
· Improving relationship with each network
· Identifying the ideal network for specific goals
· Building trust via VIP networking activities
· Defining a 6-12 month action plan

Building a Business Plan

2006-04-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Build a Business Plan - "A blueprint for success"
Whether you are starting out, need funding or just want to monitor the health of your business, creating a business plan is your first step on the path to success. Read our extensive how-to, check out dozens of sample plans, and use our calculators to complete your financials.

Web 2.0 - 25 North American companies

2006-04-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0's 25 North American companies
by noelia -13.03.2006 - 15:52:05, Categorías: Blogs,

Business 2.0, a magazine integrated in CNN.com, has gathered what they believe that are the 25 companies of the Web 2.0.Even though they've forgotten about Alianzo (for the time being) we'll pay a bit of attention to them, but we hope that someone reads this and starts the same project for the Spanish Web 2.0. "There are so many things going on!" claims the journalist who's created the list. [Mas:]

1. Social tool companies (blogs, picture sharing, etc.):
Digg (content), Last.fm (music), Newsvine (article, and income, sharing), Tagworld (tags), YouTube (videos)and.... Yahoo!

2. Companies that make mashups with contents taken from different sources (it's very common to do so with Google maps, like we did for Bilbao.bi or like Fon):
Bloglines (RSS aggregator), Eurekster (search engine), Simply Hired(jobs), Technorati, Trulia (state agency), Wink (tag search engine for sites like Delicious or Digg) and... Google.

3. IP phone services:
Fonality (free software for phone switchboards), SIPphone (similar to Skype), Iotum (software that sends you calls to the most convenient point for you), Vivox (similar to Skype) and... Skype.

4. Internet applications normally Ajax-based:
JotSpot (wikis), 30Boxes (social networks), 37Signals (online project management -Basecamp is its best known product), Writely (online texts treatment), Zimbra (online mail) and... Microsoft (if it finally manages to impose its Windows Live).

5. The impossible to classify:
Brightcove (Online TV distributor), Jigsaw (commercial contact management that uses common databases), SimpleFeed (marketing via RSS), Salesforce.com (CRM online), Six Apart (blogs) and... Amazon (including Alexa).

Feed43 - Aggregation for your Website

2006-04-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

What is Feed43?

Feed43 (pronounced as “Feed For Free”) is an online service, a proxy between your news reader application and third-party web sites that don't support RSS natively. It allows you to create your own news feeds in RSS format for any web site, that is to monitor any web site from within news reader.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

2006-03-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Are you The Artist, The Daily Grinder, The Patchworker, The Pundit or The Writer? Take this quiz and find out:
Blogging Personality Quiz

NCE - NEW COLLABORATIVE ENTERPRISES

2006-03-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

NEW COLLABORATIVE ENTERPRISES: LIFE AFTER CAPITALISM

Last week I outlined a scenario for a post-capitalist, post-consumer economy , and suggested that the engine for this economy would be New Collaborative Enterprises (NCEs), which writer-philosopher Daniel Quinn first envisaged and called New Tribal Ventures. The purpose of this post is to lay out a blueprint for creating such enterprises.

Are You Ready? First, a checklist of readiness. If you answer 'no' to most or all of these questions, you are probably ready to walk away from the consumer-capitalist economy and help establish a new economy that puts well-being ahead of wealth. Or perhaps you already have.

Does your standard of accomplishment and your measure of self-worth depend substantially on your material wealth and/or your level of income?

Do you (when you travel or go on vacation), and would you (when you retire), find it difficult to give up the personal physical possessions that root you in one place, in return for the freedom that comes from being comfortable anywhere?

Do you (or would you) get an important sense of security from having a large 'nest-egg' and knowing that you have enough assets to last a long time if your income suddenly stopped?

Does the idea of running your own business terrify you?

Are you genuinely happy doing what you do every day to make a living?

Social Networking Enablement

2006-03-25T23:54:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, I described Social Networking Enablement as the natural evolution of Knowledge Management:

(1) Knowledge Management vs. (2) Social Network Enablement

Knowledge Creation Strategy
(1) Submit what you know
(2) Publish your filing cabinet

Knowledge Use Strategy
(1) Re-use: Find & tailor appropriate knowledge from central repositories
(2) Qualify & Proxy: Use individuals' knowledge to qualify them as appropriate experts to converse with, and as a surrogate for that individual when they are not available for conversation

Where Knowledge Resides
(1) Large, centralized repositories
(2) Decentralized, personal weblogs (mostly)

Key Knowledge Tools
(1) Search engines, Community of Practice and collaboration tools
(2) Expertise finder, Weblog auto-publishing tool, Social software (described below)

Critical Connection
(1) People-to-knowledge
(2) People-to-people

As the table above suggests, the key technical elements of Social Networking Enablement (SNE) are business weblogs (the repositories of personal knowledge) and social software (the tools that connect people and mine their knowledge). Following is a high-level specification for commercial development of such software. In organizations with structured work processes (manufacturers, banks etc.) these elements would supplement centralized, filtered knowledge repositories of best practices, policies and methodologies etc. In organizations with primarily unstructured work processes (consultants, engineers etc.) these elements could largely supplant centralized.

By: Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays.
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2003/06/18.html#a275

Business Models

2006-03-25T23:43:00.000-08:00

Alex Osterwalder and I have been exchanging e-mails on the subject of business models. Alex's blog is devoted entirely to this subject, and the graphic above is his 'business model model', showing the nine 'building blocks' for such models from his synthesis of reading on the subject. The right side of the model is about how the business generates revenue, while the left side is about how it manages costs and hence generates profit. I've been advising clients and prospective new businesses how to document and evaluate their business model for years, and in my experience there are three types of business models, that organizations look at in sequence:

Viability Model: How the idea/project/plan/business will make money, and with which partners. In some cases it is actually about How the idea/project/plan/business will fill an untapped need, and with which partners. Such a model outlines the research that will be done to ensure the value proposition is compelling (i.e. customers want and are prepared to pay for it), that the business has, or can acquire, the competencies and resources needed to deliver it, and that it makes strategic sense for the organization (e.g. it's consistent with their mission and values and does not cannibalize existing business). This model culminates in a go/no go decision.

Formation Model: How the idea/project/plan/business will be set up. This model is focused on capital and infrastructure that must be in place before operations can begin: human capital (what people will be involved in what roles), intellectual capital (what knowledge, technology and know-how must be put in place), physical capital (what premises, equipment and supplies will be needed prior to start-up), financial capital (start-up money, and where it will come from), and social capital (organization, alliances and relationships that will drive it). This model culminates in a launch.

Operating Model: How the idea/project/plan/business will operate. This model describes the ongoing activities of the organization or project -- what megaprocesses it will entail (e.g. R&D, purchasing, sales & marketing, manufacturing, distribution, service, back office support, and management decision making), what budgets and other resources it will require and use, and what roles will be played by who.

When Should a Blog End?

2006-03-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

I don't get to quote Aristotle (link selected for passage relevent to todays blogosphere) on a blog very often, but he said: "All things must have a beginning, a middle and an end." So it must be with individual blogs. Dave Winer stepped into one of his periodic ruckuses with his recent announcement that he will be taking a year off.

Maybe he won't come back at all. Maybe he will. With all the chihuahuas nipping at his buttocks, I would understand why he didn't. It really is no big thing either way. There will be a time when Doc, Scoble, Rubel, even Israel will all step out. We will burn out, get old, move on to other things. It is no matter.

The void our departures will create will be filled in a microsecond. I'm already prepared for the morning, I'll wake up and discover that Shel Israel and Naked Conversations have become so yesterday. It will be a wise moment to quit and either reinvent myself yet again, or decide to grow roses and walk with grandchildren along the beach more often.

When Robert and I wrote Naked Cnversations, one question I now realize we overlooked is: "When should a blog be ended?"

When we were talking to L'Oreal executives in France, we learned that the Vichi Blog, one of my favorite case studies, had trickled to a close and some former fans were irate because Vichi had not announced that it was terminating.

Winer got torched for announcing he would quit. Vichi experienced the same fate for NOT announcing it.
Yesterday, I learned under NDA that two more blogs covered in our book will soon terminate. At first this felt like a worisome trend. For a short moment I worried that the book was already becoming obsolete.

Then I recalleded that in preparation for writing Naked, I reread Tom Peters', "In Search of Excellence." I determined he was the right guy to write the forward for our book--even though nearly every case study he used in his book was now obsolete. Blogs end. The good ones make useful points that others can use and expand upon before they do.

Companies, blogs, marketing programs, like human lives come and go. It's the natural order of things. The only problem wth it is that many people yearn for accurate analytics, and so far, the abandonment numbers are nearly impossible to determine.

I used to follow Ray Ozzie's blog when he headed up Groove Networks. I loved the blog, but must have unsibscribed at least three times, because he went dark so long between some postings that I assumed it was abandoned.

Some people change hosts and their old blogs appear abandoned when they really are not. Vichy's blog supported a product launch and ran it's natural course. Dave is quitting for whatever reason he chooses. When I accomplish in the blogosphere just a fraction of what he has, perhaps I'll quit too.

Posted by shel israel on March 23, 2006 Permalink
TrackBack URL for this entry:http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/4515911

Riya Enters Public Beta!

2006-03-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

Riya Digital Photography with Face Recognition tags

I've been waiting longer than I care to admit. Riya has entered public beta! This amazing idea lets you add a friends name to a photo which is recognized by a database and then all photos with that face can be discovered accross your albums and other peoples albums.

A Nice Short Blog Policy

2006-03-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

Blogging policy

Trevor Cook posted a nice short blog policy drafted by an Australian law firm. Personally, I continue to think that companies should worry more about an email policy than a blog policy, but it is clear that most corporations and their employees are more comfortable with blog policies than without them.

I like this one because t doesn't sound like a bunch of lawyers assembled it, even though a bunch of lawyers did. It is clear and cuts to the chase quickly.

Posted by shel israel on March 23, 2006 Permalink

TrackBack entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/4514875

ETC - Entrepreneurial Training Centre

2006-03-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Spell with flickr
Try this cute plugin that allows you to spell a word and using the Flickr API you can absorb images of letters and numbers to make the word. Then copy the code into your blog.

Create a XFN Universal Blog Profile

2006-03-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

The Problem: In the past few years, quite a few "social networking" websites have emerged, which have many aspects in common. Each prvoides a web page (typically called a "profile" page) which represents a particular person and a hyperlinked list of their contacts or friends. When contacts and friends are added, they are in turn automatically encouraged to join the site and further its growth.

After two or three of these sites were launched, even their most eager users began to complain about having to re-enter their information over and over. In addition to the inefficiency of data re-entry (which some are attempting to alleviate with import/export functionality), there is the problem of synchronization across all these different sites — when you change some information about yourself or add a friend on one site, it becomes quite a hassle to update all the other sites.

The Solution: Make 1 Blog profile for all your Social Networks using a Xhtml Friends Network
The Technology: Identity consolidation with the XFN rel="me" value XFN presents a simple and easy solution for this identity consolidation problem, with the new "me" value in XFN

XFN™ (XHTML Friends Network) is a simple way to represent human relationships using hyperlinks. In recent years, blogs and blogrolls have become the fastest growing area of the Web. XFN enables web authors to indicate their relationship(s) to the people in their blogrolls simply by adding a 'rel' attribute to their tags, e.g.:

Use this Tool: XFN 1.1 Creator to generate the code to describe your relationship to anyone on your blogroll

To find out how to write and use XFN, or to write a program to generate or spider it, then
READ MORE on how to use this CONCEPT
with LinkedIN, Myspace, Ryze, Orkut, Friendster, Tribe,.....

The Legal Guide for Bloggers

2006-03-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

The Legal Guide for Bloggers includes some answers about IP Copyright , DMCA , Trademark , Right of Publicity , Defamation , Section 230 , Privacy , Reporter's Privilege , Media Access , Student Bloggers , Election Law , Labor Law , and Adult Materials.

Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.

ABOUT BLOGS:101

2006-03-01T04:04:00.000-08:00

Web Logs 101: Blogging for Beginners: Lesson 1: Just The Blogging Basics
1.1 - Basic Blogging Terms 1.2 - The Components of Weblogs 1.3 - Types of Bloggers 1.4 - Blog Reader Basics 1.5 - Learn From Other Bloggers 1.6 - Helpful Hints for Beginners Discuss or Ask About This Lesson

from Sheila Ann Manuel CogginsHello and welcome to this fre*e online course, Web Logs 101: Blogging for Beginners. In this first lesson, you will get acquainted with this thing called a weblog. To read the sections of this lesson in full, just click on the appropriate titles. You need to be online to do this. You may also post questions, share thoughts and give feedback on the lessons of this course at the forums. Happy blogging!

1.1 - Basic Blogging Terms

Top 10 Terms That You Should Know About Blogs
In the world of web logs, you will encounter many different terms. The 10 most important terms you should know are: Web Logs (weblogs/blogs), blogger, blogosphere/blogistan, RSS, atom, trackback, ping, blogroll, permalink and aggregator. For more blogging terms, check out the Web Logs Glossary.

1.2 - The Components of Weblogs

Blog Anatomy
Other than understanding the different blogging terms, it is helpful to know the different parts or components of a weblog. Some of the components include: Blog Title, Subtitle, Date Stamp, Entry Title, Entry's Main Body, Blog Author, Comments Tag and Time Stamp, among others.

1.3 - Types of Bloggers

Who Uses Blogs?
There are varied types of bloggers out there. However, they may be categorized in to four main types as follows: Personal bloggers, Business bloggers, Organizational bloggers and Professional bloggers.

1.4 - Blog Reader Basics

Who Reads Blogs?
Blog readers are as varied as blog keepers. To learn more about them, read this piece on blog reader demographics.

1.5 - Learn From Other Bloggers

Reading Other Weblogs
One great way to learn about blogging is to read other weblogs. Here are some recommended weblogs arranged by categories or themes.

1.6 - Helpful Hints for Beginners

6 Tips For Beginning Bloggers
There are 6 things you need to consider when beginning a blog. They are as follows: Hosting, Content, Theme, Updates, Features, and Community.

Discuss or Ask About This Lesson

Web Logs 101: Lesson One @ The Forums
Share your questions, thoughts, ideas, tips and more on this lesson at the forums.

ABOUT BLOGS:501

2006-03-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

Web Logs 101: Blogging for Beginners: Lesson 5: Growing and Improving Your Weblog
5.1 - Add-ons and Plugins For Better Blogging 5.2 - Learning HTML and/or CSS 5.3 - More Blogging Tools 5.4 - Mobile Blogging 5.5 - Photo Blogging 5.6 - Podcasts, Audioblogs, and Vlogs Discuss or Ask About This Lesson

from Sheila Ann Manuel CogginsHi and welcome to the fifth - and final - lesson of this course. At this stage, you are well on your way to becoming a bonafide blogger. The first four lessons already equipped you with the necessary tools to start and maintain your very own weblog. This lesson simply shares with you additional information and tips on improving your blogging experience. So, enjoy and keep on blogging!
5.1 - Add-ons and Plugins For Better Blogging

Blog Add-ons and Plugins
If you wish to add more functions and features to your weblog, go ahead and explore different blog add-ons such as adding site counters, search engines, mood indicators, blinkies and notification systems. You can also add functionality if you use a blog software that supports plugins.

5.2 - Learning HTML and/or CSS

HTML/CSS Tutorials
For greater flexibility when it comes to tweaking blog templates (aka blog skins), it's best if you know at least a little bit of HTML and/or CSS. Of course, this is optional. You can still have fun with blogging even if you're not in to changing your blog's design.

5.3 - More Blogging Tools

Additional or Alternative Blog Tools
There are many other tools you can use in blogging, such as desktop clients (for updating your blog without going online) and FTP Clients (for uploading files). Again, these tools are optional.

5.4 - Mobile Blogging

Moblogging Resources
Once you're ready to explore other facets of blogging, such as blogging by phone / PDA / email, you can find some resources in this section.

5.5 - Photo Blogging

Photo Blog Resources
Another popular area of blogging is photo blogging. Find a collection of resources in this section if you wish to start sharing photos through blogging.

5.6 - Podcasts, Audioblogs, and Vlogs

Podcasting / Audio Blogging / Video Blogging
Podcasting (or audio/video blogging), is another type of blogging. Here, you will learn how to blog using multimedia tools.