The site is in its alpha version but will continue to get improvements and iterations as more value is created.  Even though the site was built rapidly…the vendor relationships we’ve built have taken years to mature.

Check it out and spread the word on Facebook.  If you use the service, you’ll get additional discounts when you share it socially!  Go for it and thanks.

Well I got this crazy idea to do a national (or international why not) fitbit personal record day because I’ve been stuck at about 21,000 as a record for a while.  I have friends who’ve crested over 30k steps in a day! I’m going to go for 40k steps in a day.  Big time for me.  So if you’re a fitbitter…or become one before then, please join us.  Here’s the process.

• put out your best effort sometime the weekend of April 21-22.
• take a picture of your step count on your fitbit device.
• Post that picture to your Facebook page and tag the fitbit page http://facebook.com/fitbit – or simply post it to their fan page.
• Spread the word about this on Twitter as well.  My handle is @mitchgroup – Use hashtag #fitbitPRday
• Consider joining this great FitBit group - http://www.facebook.com/groups/fitbitters/

Let’s see how many people can rock it out and WHO WILL GET THE record for most steps recorded that day???  Of course we’d love fitbit to play along with us since we love them so much but this is about you all so promote this and see where it goes!

All the best

Doug

http://www.fitbit.com/user/2243FY

After my first month, it seems that anyone who works in multiple locations and requires smart phone ubiquity and who needs to move beyond Google really appreciates what we’re doing and are joining us.  Our goal is to become the first name in small business cloud computing (or you can say desktop virtualization of course).  We don’t care what you call it because for business owners – it’s simple pain relief.

Related articles

• Cloud Computing Helps Small Business Compete & Thrive (esbjournal.com)

Cover of New New Thing

I read this piece in the LA Times today For Start-Ups That Aim at Giants, Sorting the Data Cloud Is the Next Big Thing – and I couldn’t help but have flashbacks to the last 90′s and early 2000′s.  I was coming off a calamitous startup ride and had witnessed the market blow up with ecommerce.  Then people got bored and began focusing on marketplaces.  As the race to 100% commodity was accelerating, people started focusing on platforms for commerce and network capacity.  Then the infamous “middleware” evolved. “We make all the stuff between the cluster work better.”

Now, I think people are bored with social startups.  “We’ve done everything.”  Pictures, videos, connections, social games, profiles, friends, tags, likes, etc.  Now investors are looking for the new new thing and I read now that it’s called “Big Data” and it’s all about managing the vast volumes of data flowing into the cloud.

As I read this I felt like I do every now again…like I’m reading a B movie script from the 90′s in which I had a bit part.  I didn’t have a starring role, those were reserved for the guys in Startup.com .

“Splunk is really the poster child for thinking differently about an enterprise challenge and creating a platform that ends up really being disruptive and valuable.”

Thinking differently (like webvan, boo.com and kozmo).  Creative a disruptive and valuable platform (like pcOrder).

It’s all just too weird sometimes.  As before, so much of the hype did transform the way we did things.  Hundreds of billions of dollars invested helped us all learn these lessons.  Will it take such a run again to learn that it takes more than a .ly domain and a good idea to create value?

I don’t doubt the value of the products mentioned in the article.  I’m not an enterprise data specialist so I defer completely.  It’s the language and gravitas that make me wonder.

“The talent is here” crackled over the radio as we parked and brought in our suitcases full of clothing options to supplement what they’d purchased for us.  After a quick visit to the catering tables, we were whisked into the basement and began the process of clothing options and being “made up” by the makeup artist.  It’s hard to fathom the scene unless you’ve experienced it.  At least 60 people scampering around.

There were food artists cutting perfect carrots – peeling them into perfect hexagonal pieces with ends cut on the bias.  Steaks that appeared fake they were so perfectly grilled with symmetrical char marks.  A salad so perfectly arranged and sparkling with water droplets that it almost hurt to imagine eating it.  There was a director, producer, multiple tiers of assistants, grips, gophers, sound, cameras and camera operators and more lights than a Friday night football game.

The action for us took place around a kitchen table.  Our family was to set the table in a natural but formulaic way.  We were to be completely normal yet do the same routine about 50 times.  Our kids were amazingly tough during the 6+ hours we spent on set.  At one point early on, our son Gavin was whisked away to get a new shirt because, “His current color blended in with the curtains too much.”  My dad was just outside the kitchen window in our view grilling those perfect steaks on the deck.  The shot was a long shot that had dad in the foreground and us in the background to start.  Then the camera pulls tight as dad presents the perfect bovine specimens to the family as our mouths drop and smiles erupt – it’s eatin’ time! Well actually, during the shoot the steaks are brushed with so much oil that eating them would be pretty gross but they loooook mahhhhhvelous.  We met the Giant Eagle advertising/marketing executives there too and I took that opportunity of course to deliver each a copy of my book and a bottle of Doug’s Last Wish Ultimate Steak Seasoning to pass on to the buying group there. (My inner Donald Trump kicked in – Never waste an opportunity to promote your own brand. If you don’t WHO WILL?)

It was an amazing 3 day diversion my first true experience with big budget big time TV production.  My world is all about rapid execution and cost-effective tools to reach audiences via the web.  So it was quite amazing to be in the middle of massive “made for TV” scene.   Dad worked until 5AM doing in-store shots and personal interview stuff.  We met the next morning and were off again to Iowa.

Yes we ALL get paid and every expense was covered.  The commercial airs in January and we’ll definitely point it out when it goes live.

So that’s how you get into commercials and a little sample of what 3 days in Columbus look like…when you’re an ACTOR!

But my big aha moment came when I asked the room, “How many of you have an Apple product on you right now?” (I was borrowing Apple’s powerful WHY – thank you Simon Sinek. 95% of the hands raised up.  Next I asked, of those who didn’t raise your hand, how many of you have an Apple product at home?  How many have multiple Apple products? It got stronger and stronger.  Unreal.  iPads are becoming standard issue (bye bye laptops).

The next time you think that businesses that use their hands are “less tech savvy” – stop – and go buy some Apple stock.

I recently found 5 local companies that have a service I wanted to procure.  I emailed all 5 and explained my situation.  “I’m leaving town in 4 days, I’d like to get this done before I leave, I’m very flexible, please respond with price or further questions.”

I received one response…one…within 6 hours.  The rest trickled in over 2-4 days (obviously too late to perform before I left on vacation)  One response JUST arrived about 4 weeks now after my initial contact. “Oh sorry are you still interested?”

The company that responded rapidly, continued the conversation via email, and was incredibly eager and friendly got the business.  This is repeat business by the way so the other firms actually lost far more than one deal.

I bought my house with the agent I did because he responded rapidly and got that I was an “email first” communicator vs. phone, etc.  I had 25 agents lined up to take the money on the deal and be my best friend…if only I communicate their way – on their schedule.

If you’re going to put an email communication or form on your website, understand that the expected response time these days is at most 24 hours.  I’d suggest that most people expect response within 4 hours.  Don’t put your email address on the site if you just “prefer to do business by phone and check that yahoo address every now and again.”  For the love of email…

One of my favorite quotes comes from one of our clients:

“Over the last few years, we’ve noticed a major shift by applicants away from the ‘traditional’ recruitment methods and toward social media, in particular LinkedIn and Twitter,” said Craig A. Stevenson, Air Care business development and sales manager. “Not surprisingly, the job seekers under 35 who have grown up with both find LinkedIn and Twitter the normal recruitment medium, with older job seekers relying on job boards or placed advertisements. We expect this trend to continue, and companies will be forced to embrace social media to attract younger talent or risk losing that talent to companies that are riding the social media wave.”
When I was focused on the ag/heavy equipment markets I often had people tell me how “those people don’t use social tools”.  Well, as I’ve said for years, if you only recruit those over 60, you may be able to ignore these newer methods of connecting and engaging for a while longer.  If not, get comfortable or you’ll be the one left with no team when the music stops.

Image via CrunchBase

My current role requires daily examination of how to decrease the distance from “I want a job” to “You’re hired” in the skilled trades sectors. We use a combination of SaaS software and Managed Services to accomplish that. So when LinkedIn came out with it’s “apply with LinkedIn” integration, I knew this would be a game changer.

Let me summarize so far.  I’ve had 3 people tell me that their job seeker experience was excellent.  It took seconds to apply because LinkedIn already had their robust profile information ready to rock.  They received a confirmation in minutes that “their application had been received” which surprisingly happens in about 10% of cases from my research.  Next, the seeker receives confirmation when the hiring manager/poster of the job reviews the application.  No guarantees here…but at least the job seeker has some sense that activity is happening and that’s better than in 99% of the situations I hear about.

So LinkedIn does integrate it seems with applicant tracking solutions for the archiving, searching, and matching of talent pipeline to openings…but in about 1 week, LinkedIn has gotten more positive feedback on their job seeker experience than I’ve received on the others…ever.

Related articles

• LinkedIn Debuts Embeddable Job Application Tool For Companies (techcrunch.com)

Image by Doug Mitchell via Flickr

More gracious words from DO’ers who are making an impact in the world.    Thank you Adam and Zane.  You both have given me opportunities to stand on the mountain top with a bull horn.

I would appreciate speaking to your group too.  My book is a great way to get to know me since everyone tells me “they feel like they’ve met me after reading it.” I will give you a free copy if you’re considering me for your event or group.  Thank you!

“Doug has spoken at several events I’ve coordinated over the past 5 years.  I consistently get great feedback and he always has updated and relevant content.  His presentations are extremely engaging and always leave the audience wanting more.” – Adam Steen, President, 25Connections

“Good marketers write bold promises. Great marketers deliver those promises. Repeatedly. Consistently. And, best of all, on a cash-flow positive, sustainable basis.  Doug’s book, The Multithread Marketer, is an excellent, readable, doable manual for becoming a great marketer.  Whether you are a  startup, a long-running business with employees and manuals and departments and meetings, a personal brand or all of these combined, you can be a great marketer if you follow the advice and tips and resources Doug lays out in The Multithread Marketer. Buy it. Be great.”  – Zane Safrit – ZaneSafritRadio.com

Related articles

• Business Record Write Up on MultiThread Marketer (douglasemitchell.com)