My friend Cheryl is a maven of audience-building. When she teaches her documentary students, she tells them, “build the audience first.”

Wait…what?

Once we said “build it and they will come,” but in the new age of personal branding and micro celebrity, it actually makes a lot of sense. You need to build a little tribe, as it were, and then launch your baby into the world. Then you’ve already got a grass-roots community built in for your efforts.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a woman about an idea for a startup that she had. She had a unique perspective and network already established. I asked her if she had considered extending that and building a little more of a digital profile for herself before she dug into the startup itself, with all of its attendant staffing and logistical difficulties. What about a blog, a place where you can define and carve out her expertise?

Launching a project that doesn’t have an audience yet is challenging, but not impossible. Consider the case of Kickstarter entry The Mystery of Marie Jocelyne. Writing in the Kickstarter blog, one of the filmmakers, Martha Shane says that: “Without a niche audience that the film can specifically appeal to, where, and how, do we find our supporters?”

But the process of developing a crowdfunding campaign has had a lot of positive impact on the film:

The wonderful thing is that doing this work for our campaign has helped us to tighten our vision for the movie and understand what we need to make the final film work. And that, I think, is the gift that Kickstarter has given us. Beyond providing a platform for us to raise money, it has forced us to learn how to talk about and promote the film in the most effective way possible.

I’m of two minds about Kickstarter. I listened to employee Cindy Au give a talk about the crowd-funding platform at the ArtsTech Meetup and have had this stat tattooed to my brain ever since: if you can make it to 30% of your goal, you have a 90% chance of sucess.

Ms. Au said it in the context of: you need to get your thing “kick-started” by your own network. And the stronger network you build, the better chance you have of doing that.

I’m not really sure that Kickstarter is the meritocratic utopia that it is portrayed to be. I think that the most successful projects belong to people who already boast a profile.

At the same time, good ideas can be surface on Kickstarter, within reason. Martha Shane’s blog post is an excellent illustration of that in action. I became one of the film’s backers, without even knowing the filmmakers, and I’m glad to say it recently met its goal.

I was watching an online video with a guru of self-publishing. “Your marketing begins when you first have the idea,” he said, explaining that he gets a book jacket made, a landing page put up, even before he’s written a word.

That’s incredible…and really smart.

Are you building your audience right now, in every way you can?

If not, here are some simple ideas you can try:

• Produce something of value and give it away for free.
• Build the email sign-ups
• Participate in Twitter chats
• Comment on other people’s blogs
• Become a expert on something on Quora

Related: 7 Digital Ways to Raise Funds for Your Nonprofit, Cause or Project

The Face Behind the Artisanal Ball Bearing that Keeps Your Plane in the Air?

Don’t Mock the Artisanal Pickle Maker, read the headline in this past Sunday’s New York Times magazine.

It tackled something that I’ve been mulling for quite a while. It’s all well and good to make novelty t-shirts or artisanal bitters, but with small, home-spun craft businesses proliferating, can they really, seriously stay afloat?The author of the Times piece says that there is hope in the surge in micro-scale businesses–and it’s because they say something important about the direction in which our economy is heading:

It’s tempting to look at craft businesses as simply a rejection of modern industrial capitalism. But the craft approach is actually something new — a happy refinement of the excesses of our industrial era plus a return to the vision laid out by capitalism’s godfather, Adam Smith. One of his central insights in “The Wealth of Nations” is the importance of specialization. When everyone does everything — sews their own clothes, harvests their own crops, bakes their own bread — each act becomes inefficient, because generalists are rarely as quick or able as specialists.

For most of human history, though, people needed to do a bit of everything to survive. The result was a profoundly inefficient economy that required almost everyone to work very hard just to create enough of the essentials for survival; even then, famines were still disturbingly common. Efficiency, Smith explained, comes when individuals focus on specific tasks. The miracle of the Industrial Revolution was that through specialization, humankind became far more productive.

The article goes onto point out how entrepreneurs are seizing micro-niches in very “business-y” contexts like precision metalwork and healthcare — and using their very artisanal specializations to make major bank and differentiate themselves.

So today…handmade suspenders, tomorrow… a handmade widget on a rocketship?

Stranger things have happened.

Social Media Week is nigh upon us and Susan Halligan and I have been busily preparing a knock-out panel on the future of books and “social reading.” In a prep session a couple weeks ago, we gathered together Jason Carey of Brooklyn Public Library, Stephen Duncombe of NYU, Richard Nash of Small Demons, Aziz Isham of Arcade Sunshine and Corey Menscher of Findings.com to come and chat about some of the topics we would hash out during the conversation.

I was slightly in awe to listen to this diverse group of individuals who are working in so many different parts of a very exciting frontier — we’ve got tech founders, developers, academics, thinkers and people who, of course who wear many hats. Susan and I kept shooting each other looks as our panelists chatted over everything from Apple’s new Author software, to the attention spans and digital reading habits of children. If this is anything like the panel is going to be, I think both of us were thinking, this will be amazing. 

I don’t think this conversation could come at a moment more ripe with possibilities–and pitfalls–for writers and readers. Just a scan of the past week or so’s headlines shows why:

Mashable published a story headlined: “Apple Will Own Your Work with iBooks Author” and ripples of dismay filtered through the blogosphere. Hope to get beyond the hysteria in a subsequent post but for now, let’s just say, no, Apple will not own your content and copyright so take a deep breath and read some better research and reasoned analysis such as this piece in Ars Technica.

Jonathan Franzen weighed in on the downsides of ebooks, remarking: “I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change.”

On the plus side, TechCrunch published a pretty good overview of key considerations for those who want to embrace the world of book creation and self-distribution, entitled “Why every entrepreneur should self-publish a book.”

All of the above are likely to be among the many subjects we cover during the panel on the morning of Tuesday, February 14th.

Hope you’ll join us!

I’ve written in the past about Facebook ads and how much of a boon they are for small businesses and nonprofits.

For instance, I created the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s first digital marketing program by purchasing ads that helped connect our diverse programming with appreciative audiences. These ads in turn put our programs in front of thousands of prospective ticket-buyers in the metro area who might not have otherwise heard of us.

One thing that I think is really important for a fledgling effort is building up a base of “fans” to consume and interact with the content you post. That’s why if you’re just getting started, I’d strongly suggest that you post an ad that asks for “likes.” You’ll find you can drive up your fan count really, really quickly with highly qualified individuals and prospects.

Now there’s even less reason to weigh the pros and cons of Facebook advertising — because the social network is giving away ad credit for FREE!

The Facebook Small Business Boost contest is great encouragement to get out there and start racking up the fans. If you have at least 50 fans and are based in the U.S., you qualify. Plus, if you are able to get 100 more fans during the duration of the contest, you win even more credit!

Here’s the gist, from Facebook:

What you need to participate:

1. A Facebook Page for your small business
2. Your business must be based in the US
3. Your page will need at least 50 likes^[?]

How It Works:

1. Get $50 in free ads if you have at least 50 likes on your Page
2. Get $100 more in free ads if you add 100 more likes to your Page before April 1, 2012
3. Win $10,000 more in free ads if you are one of the top 10 pages that gains the most new likes before April 1, 2012

I believe the adding 100 more likes goal is completely attainable — here are some tips on how to do it.

Some things I discovered while participating:

• Make sure you have at least the city and state of your business filled out on your profile page. I found that most of the pages I manage do not have this info filled out. This contest only applies to businesses in the U.S.
• Make sure you select your fan page from the drop-down of the ad creator (I accidentally selected an “app” I had made that was called Jellybean Boom, making for an unfriendly user experience for the first few days the ad ran). Then, the “like” button will appear with your ad, which is essential for racking up fans.
• Make the copy simple and engaging. For instance, if you run a catering business, you might put “click “like” if you love cupcakes.” That will rack you up new fans very, very quickly (with a hat-tip to Brian Moran).

Get out there and start advertising your business — it’s a powerful way to gain more visibility in 2012!

Late last week, Chris Brogan had a great post up called 97 Ideas for Building a Valuable Platform. It’s jammed-pack with ideas on standing out, with so many I thought I’d underscore a few that resonated most with me here.

One common thread throughout the piece was something that should be familiar to readers of Jellybean Boom — a strong exhortation to get up and go.

1. Don’t fret as much about the technology. Don’t have a blog? Start one atWordPress.com or Tumblr.com. If you want more flexibility, get your own WordPress blog (affiliate link) by clicking the 4th option on this page.

39. Never worry that someone else “stole” your idea. Ideas are free. Execution is what makes you money. I’ve met countless bitter people who “invented Facebook” years before.

50. Start where you are. Lots of people worry that everyone’s so far ahead. Those people? They started somewhere.

Stop waiting for permission or for the exact right market conditions. You’ve got to start somewhere. That’s always been a strong theme of this blog — that acting, executing is as important as having all those brilliant ideas.

But Chris’s list also has a bunch of things I need to work on myself!

76. There are very few successes in the world that happened as solo acts. You need a team, a network, and a lot of goodwill.

After being inspired to by the advice of Susan Halligan, I’ve spent a lot more time this year making the time to actually meet people I admire, learning about what they’re doing and how they got started. While I’m actually a pretty introverted person, I’ve been delighted, time and time again, by how much energy and momentum comes out of a having a conversation with someone who’s doing something really cool and inspiring. A lot of new opportunities, too.

I’m also thinking a lot about how I’m connected to various communities — of bloggers, of tech people, of creative people right down the street. During this year I’ve made it a goal to be a much stronger participant in and advocate for those communities.

Definitely check out these 97 ideas — they deserve to be bookmarked by anyone who’s trying to start or grown a business.

The Creative Penn is a an absolutely invaluable resource for writers out there seeking guidance on navigating the new landscape of e-publishing and self-publishing. On it, Joanna Penn provides both her personal experiences and practical advice on creating, publishing and marketing. It’s an absolute trove of useful information well worth a visit.

I was excited to see that The Creative Penn is hosting a free webinar specifically aimed at small businesspeople who are thinking about creating their own ebooks on Thursday, January 19. 

Who might this be right for? Anyone who is raring to share their expertise. Maybe you’re a photographer who’s really good at shooting babies. That could be an ebook! A CPA who has amazing insight into retirement planning. A personal trainer with a innovative park workout for a person and her dog (hint, hint: I will be your first customer). You get the idea.

As I’ve written before, the powerful, low-cost options for self-publishing that exist today are really exciting. This webinar sounds like it will be an excellent way of getting your feet wet if you’re curious about productizing your business expertise.

Learn more and register here.

I just got this in the mail yesterday — Natalie Canavor’s new book Business Writing in the Digital Age.

It has a quote from yours truly on page 224, in the chapter called “Writing for Websites and the Wired World.” 

I think it looks like a pretty useful and comprehensive book that anyone in business will find useful. Hope you check it out!

This year, I once again triumphed in my quest to “shop small” for the holidays. And I have quite an eclectic brood to shop for. In case you’re looking for a few special last-minute items, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite finds. I shopped local for these but many of the vendors (linked to below) do mail order.

For the nieces and nephews: 

I absolutely love Area Kids on Fifth Ave in Park Slope. It’s filled with unusual finds, creative games, and even a shirt I desperately wanted to get that said “My crazy aunt lives in Brooklyn.” I snagged these impressive beasts:

Plus some really adorbs apparel:

For my sisters

My sisters are two really creative gals, so I loved this tote bag:

And beautifully knit hair band (below). Both were finds at the Brooklyn Flea.

For family faraway

I have part of my family living in France for the year, and for them, I wanted to send some of the comforts of home, so here’s a goodie bag from Bklyn Larder:

For the moms

For my mom and Josh’s mom, I got these absolutely gorgeous handmade cutting boards, from Gowanus Furniture, a new vendor at the Brooklyn Flea. If you want, you can get boards “monogramed” with a pattern made in Morse code. He also makes a super-cool space-saving bike rack.

For the Brothers-in-Law

I hit Bergen Street Comics with a bit of trepidation. I don’t know much from comic books. But I found a lot of interesting stuff, including these two titles from Nobrow Publishing. The book on the left–”People”–seemed like it would be one of those presents that’s good for kids and adults.

Do you have any great small finds this year? I hope you’ll leave a comment if you do.

Working at the Film Society of Lincoln Center for a little more than two and half years was such a blast because it really tested my creativity and allowed me to open up a lot of new digital frontiers for the successful development of new community support and awareness of their programs:  

• I oversaw their first television commercials and video program.
• I spearheaded their adoption of a comprehensive social media strategy to raise awareness for programs, including a YouTube channel, an active Twitter presence, and the organization’s first blog filled with original content and a variety of contributors.
• I created and managed their first modern email marketing program.
• I established and oversaw their first online marketing efforts.

But I have to say that one of my biggest accomplishments at the Film Society was also the most quixotic: creating stand-alone, social-media rich, content discovery-encouraging websites for their major film festivals that met with fantastic traffic, ticket sales and exposure…all on a absolutely bare-bones budget.

And the quixotic journey I took from mild-mannered web editor to the producer of several high profile event websites within an nonprofit is something I set out to chronicle in this presentation for 501 Tech NYC, and to turn into an educational resource for anyone else who has the same sort of (slightly) crazy ambitions for their nonprofit or organization.

I like to think that if I did it, so can you, so in the video, I show my “3 rules” for rocking WordPress when you have big aspirations for creating a web property but don’t have a lot of money.

Plus, I’ve also started a web resource that goes into these three rules in a little greater depth. I plan to add more resources to this site on using WordPress to build great websites. Check it out at The One Hour Website.

I hope you enjoy it.

Stop yourself the next time you start to say: “I have a great idea for a _______, if only _______.”

I have a bit of a beef with idea people.

Humor me for a sec.

A while back I was in an environment where the staff turnover was high. Seemed like every other week, there was a changeover in senior management.

The new guy would come in and what you’d hear is “he has some really great ideas.” 

The ideas? They would invariably turn out to be something someone else had already proposed in another form.

The lesson I learned there was that ideas? They are pretty much worthless.

A much higher complement about a person is: “She really brings people together.” “He knows how to get things done.” “She’s able to bring out the best skills in her employees.”

All of those things are characteristics of movement, of progress.

A few weeks ago, blogger Jonathan Fields posted this tantalizing headline: “Why your boss keeps killing your great ideas.”

Of course I clicked through.

Much of the author’s thesis has to do with the fact that many companies are not equipped to deal with fear and uncertainty.

Having been in an environment that rated extremely high on the fear and uncertainty scale, I would tell you that ideas, in and of themselves, were some of the biggest impediments to creating a productive working environment. What’s more, in highly uncertain environments, people become whirling dervishes of ideas. 

Meetings would go something like this:

“I just read an article about such-and-such. Why don’t we try it?”

“My friend did this. Why don’t we try it?”

“I’m the new guy, why don’t we brainstorm with this whiteboard?”

And people would just stare at each other, paralyzed. No one wanted to try and possibly fail. Failure could threaten your job. Having lots and lots of ideas on the other hand? That was OK.

The problem with ideas is that they are by nature, fantastical. As long as you just have to come up with ideas, you’re not really hard pressed to test them out.

I was watching an online webcast with Scott Belsky, the guy behind Behance, The Action Method, and the 99% Blog. His book is called Making Ideas Happen.

You notice something about that title? Yeah, me too. I reviewed it right here.

During the webcast, I asked him a question about how you litmus test ideas for their worth in trying out. Essentially, how you can tell a worthwhile idea from a cool, interesting, amazing, creative yet ultimately untenable idea?

He said the secret was in iteration–or micro-iteration. How anxious are you to road test your idea, and embrace the little micro-steps that will make it possible?

I thought this was excellent advice, naturally.

One other thing you hear a lot of is “I have a great ideas for a startup that’s like Facebook meets Netflix, if only I could find a developer.”

That’s just not how it works. Facebook was not somebody’s amazing idea that was farmed out to a crack IT team. It was made by a person who could execute, and surround himself with the sort of people who could execute.

The very best startups are usually an innovative technology applied to a real need in the marketplace, and thus they require people who have both great business acumen and the ability to arrive at those technological breakthroughs. Think of it as an organic process–one where there are no shortcuts.

You can be a “founder” and not be a technical whiz, but you can’t shortchange the kind of partnership you’re going to have to strike to make your business work. An idea and an ad on Craigslist for a developer who will work for stock options is pretty much worthless in the economy that we’re in.

Want to do a startup when you’re not a tech person? I think you have two choices, and neither of them are easy. You can either do the tiring legwork of finding a person you have synergy with–and that’s important, because you’re going to be business partners. If you want a quicker, bootstrappy path, then by all means teach yourself just enough to prototype your idea so that it can more easily be presented an explained to others. For instance, if you want to build some spin on a social network, teach yourself BuddyPress and get out there and build it.

So I think it’s not so much a question of “why is your boss killing your ideas?” but rather:

• Are you presenting your ideas in a way that makes them seem inevitable?
• Are you willing to micro-iterate your ideas?
• Are you willing to do the difficult work of finding the collaborators who will help you execute your ideas?
• Are your ideas keeping you from action?

Or, in essence, a good litmus test is: what can you do today to get you on the path to making that idea work?