gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

flying up to glasgow tomorrow...

...to pick up the car for the road trip. It starts in Inverness the day after.

My itinerary is here. Anybody wants to organize geek dinners while I'm in the area, let me know. I've already got something happening with Ewan Mackintosh in Edinburgh at 8pm this Friday.

As far as what times I'll be arriving at what stores, probably the easiest thing to do is phone me on my cell on the day:

0770 309 9462

Thanks!

"put your money on world of warcraft"

I never could quite get into Second Life, somehow. All this media attention they've been getting in the last year or so never quite added up for me.

Finally NYU's Clay Shirky offers a totally bang-on explanation why me and countless others have been feeling this way.

richard edelman interview

Loic Lemeur interviews Richard Edelman at Davos. Great stuff. [Loic's blog is here.]

[Disclosure: gapingvoid is more evil than Microsoft and Edelman combined. Just so you know.]

commissioning gapingvoid cartoons

[A lithograph idea I currently have for Technorati.]

Over the last year, I've received DOZENS of commission requests to design people's logos, business cards, illustrate their books etc etc. All of which I've pretty much turned down.

The main reasons for dragging my feet: I was busy. I wasn't sure how much to charge. Should I charge a lot? A little? I could see it overwhelming me completely, at the expense of my other work. I never had any intention of becoming a professional illustrator. The business model does little for me.

Oh well, that is in the past. I am happy to announce I have talked to the folk at Stormhoek and we've come up with a solution.

If you fancy commissioning a gapingvoid drawing for your own use, I have developed a new business model that [A] works for me, [B] works for Stormhoek and [C] doesn't cost you an arm and a leg.

Please e-mail me if you wish to know more. Thanks.

loren feldman is my new hero

Scoble just turned me on to Loren Feldman and his 1938media.com. Fantastic.

I just saw the future of advertising as Loren sees it, and I want it [Bows down to 1938media etc]. Check out the video for that Italian restaurant on the page. An idea so wonderfully simple and elegant, it hurts.

[Yes, I know, two links to Scoble within hours of each other. Yes, I'm a shameless link whore. Every schoolchild knows this. Oh, and did I mention gapingvoid was more evil than Microsoft? Every schoolchild knows this as well etc.]

poor ol' scoble...

Lesson to be learned from reading these here Scobleizer comments: When the shit hits the fan, don't let anonymous trolls HAVE ANY CONTROL WHATSOEVER over the conversation.

They have nothing to lose, trying to tear you a new one. Nor will they stand accountable for their actions.

Without accountable identity, you owe them nothing. So use that delete button with impunity, I say.

Of course, why Robert tolerates them on his blog in the first place is a complete mystery to me...

My take on the whole Intel Scoble brouhaha? My guess is Robert did nothing wrong, at least, not on purpose. I know him well, he's not that dumb or dishonest. Sure, he's not infallible, so maybe he slips up on occasion, just like the rest of us. Whatever. I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt anyway, simply because I don't know anybody in the "A-List" so completely and relentlessly driven to do "The Right Thing" at all times.

Regardless, the trolls are out, right on schedule, hunting for their breakfast. I've seen it too many times before. Pathetic.

Maybe if the trolls had more well-paid jobs they didn't hate or god forbid, good-looking women actually wanting to sleep with them, we'd see less of their kind. But I guess that's unrealistic.

[gapingvoid, December 2004] "The Happy Troll":

Basically, the Happy Troll is happiest when he is "shitting in your living room" without you actually noticing. That's the art of it. He does this by "adding healthy, helpful dissent to the discussion"- at least, that's what he calls his little turdpiles. And he's hoping that's how you and your other readers at first glance see them as- a reasonable yet dissenting voice, good for the debate and democracy itself yak yak yak.

the stormhoek branding exercise

Over at Stormhoek, we've been messing around internally with what we call "Branding Exercises". Basically, we're trying to nail down in writing what the Stormhoek brand represents and stands for. It's still very much a work in progress, but here are some initial, strictly non-definitive thoughts of mine. Anybody else have any ideas? Thanks.

1. We're a small South African vineyard. We make the best South African wine for the money, end of story.

2. We believe in punching above our weight. In this regard, we've been pretty fortunate. We're known for trying out relatively "out there" marketing ideas. We do that for a reason. When you are a small company in a relatively isolated part of the word, thousands of miles away from your main customer base, you frankly have no other choice.

3. We believe that even a small company like ours can change the world, even in a small way. Why shouldn't a small wine company in South Africa see large international companies like Google and Microsoft as their competition? Why should the battle only be confined to other small South African vineyards? It makes no sense.

4. "It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it." There's more to life than wine. Sure, we love wine, we love making it, but it's a big world out there. We try to make allies not just with other wine geeks, but with other interesting people trying to do amazing things. This is why we're so drawn to the internet. That's where passionate people invariably head for.

5. On one level, we take ourselves very seriously. On another level, we try to keep a sense of humor about it all. We try to "keep it real", which is another way of saying, we try to keep it interesting, as much for ourselves as anyone else.

6. We believe the wine business can use a good kick in the pants. We certainly try to do our part. Burying oneself in the usual blanket of wine clichés to us is not a viable marketing strategy. With hundreds of thousands of vineyards out there, and only so many distribution channels available, you face two stark choices: Either rise above the clutter, or face a lifetime of misery and woe.

7. We live in extremely interesting times. The internet has changed everything. Our story is proof of that. Get with the program or reconcile yourself to entrepreneurial oblivion.

8. It's just wine, People. Sure, we make excellent product. But let's not get too carried away. At the end of the day, even the best Bordeaux is just fermented grape juice. What's more interesting to us is the conversations people have over a bottle of wine. There's a human element to all this we find utterly mysterious and fascinating.

9. You only live once, and not for very long. Try to make a difference while you're here. It isn't just about the money, and it sure as heck isn't about making "a good product at a good price". It's about doing something that matters. It's about doing something that resonates with both yourself and the people you care about.

10. We humans are incredible beings. Doing something that continually reminds us of this simple, basic truth is where the real fun is.

stormhoek world tour?

[The Stormhoek "Big Love" Valentine's Rosé... with this gapingvoid cartoon as the main design. Click on image to enlarge etc.]

I suppose I was too preoccupied with the Stormhoek Valentine's Road Trip in my previous post that I totally forgot:

"Hey, there's now a wine bottle with one of my cartoons on it!"

I mean, I've been trying to make this happen for nearly two years. And now it's real. Wow. Kinda neat, really.

Now the trick is getting even more cartoon labels out there in circulation.

An old friend of mine, Theresa asked me if there was any plans to do a similar road trip in the USA in the future. The short answer is "Yes, if it all goes well in the UK."

Sure, I could see a business model where I spend a lot of time on tour bus, driving up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, visiting tech communities, spreading the Stormhoek love thing. And maybe do an East Coast equivalent. Or a full-on national tour. I can imagine worse scenarios.

Sure, it would be a massive undertaking. But it could do wonders for the Stormhoek brand. Not bad for a couple of years' work.

Some thoughts:

1. Hire a tour bus and drive around the country, with a video camera in hand. Visit stores that carry Stormhoek. Talk to people. Sign prints. Make videos. Spread the word. Blog the whole experience.

2. Organize geek dinners en route. Similar to the 100 Geek Dinners thing we did last year, only this time with me and the Stormhoek tour bus in attendance.

3. Lots of PR, working away in the background. Lots of interviews with local radio stations and press etc etc.

4. This would not be an "overnight success" thing. It would probably take a couple of years on the road to build something massive. But hey, that's why they call it "working for a living".

5. The key for me would be to keep designing new Stormhoek cartoon labels. The more, the merrier, always trying to raise the bar in terms of intelligence, humor and quality. This is actually quite tricky when one is traveling. Being prolific requires lots of quiet down time. As soon as I find a working solution, I'll let you know.

6. I'm starting to think my place is no longer in the UK. Perhaps my place is back in the States, on the road, spreading the Stormhoek love etc. Geek dinners, blog confabs, in-store appearances, print signings, tech conferences, mashups, barcamps, all that good stuff.

7. I'm just throwing out random ideas here. I've not discussed this in any great detail with the folks at Stormhoek.

8. None of this might actually come true. But like I said, I can imagine worse scenarios.

introducing: stormhoek valentine's rosé

[The Stormhoek "Big Love" Valentine's Rosé... with this gapingvoid cartoon as the main design. Click on image to enlarge etc.]

The good news is, the Stormhoek Valentine's road trip seems to be coming together nicely. Looks like it'll be an interesting time all round. Looks like there will be a lot of Rosé being drunk in February.

The bad news is, because of the tight schedule, I've had to cancel my appearance at LIFT in Geneva. I was hoping to be able to take a day off the road trip to sneak away to the conference, but with 35 stores to visit in 2 weeks, it simply wasn't possible.

Dammit. I was looking forward to seeing Scoble et al again. But it's the biggest two weeks in Stormhoek's history, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

Yeah, I'm excited about the tour. But I'm more excited about the new cartoon label. That'll shift far more cases of wine than any crazy-ass blogging cartoonist, stalking people in supermarkets with a microphone and video camera. Heh.

the global microbrand rant 2

[Bonus Video Link: Loic Le Meur interviewing Jeff Jarvis at Davos recently.]

I suppose one of my seminal "blogger" experiences was following Jeff Jarvis' thoughts on what he calls "Exploding Media" over the last couple of years.

For all its amazing insight, the first thing you have to understand about the Exploding Media thread is that it isn't rocket science. To quote Clay Shirky:

"So forget about blogs and bloggers and blogging and focus on this -- the cost and difficulty of publishing absolutely anything, by anyone, into a global medium, just got a whole lot lower. And the effects of that increased pool of potential producers is going to be vast."

Yes, it really is that simple. And Jeff was one of the first people who [A] really understood it and [B] was able to explain it to large amounts of ordinary people.

Jeff gave up his career as a heavyweight big-media exec a couple of years ago in order to start up a business helping big media companies better understand this brave new world he and Shirky talk about.

And from what I can tell, he's done a damn fine job of it.

My favorite recent line of his: “I say media companies must turn from owning content to enabling networks”.

A worthy goal; it certainly gives one's brain something to chew on, although I'm not sure if it's realistic, to be honest.

Sure, if somebody like say, Time Warner wants to help sort out my social thing, bless 'em, though I'm not convinced they could do a better job than much smaller, focused companies like Six Apart or Wordpress, not to mention countless other bloggers I know personally. And the latter don't have a board of directors, nor vast armies of shareholders, celebrities and employees to keep fed and watered.

Basically, I'm not convinced this "top-down evolution of old media into new media" story, however fascinating it is to watch, is really all that useful to the average blogging schmoe, trying to make a living in the here and now.

Sure, it might be considered "news" to some that Time Warner now allows its Tom Cruise publicity nuggets to be distributed via RSS. Or that one of their companies, AOL bought out the Weblogs Inc network [the latter being a company I have nothing but admiration for]. Or that The Guardian in the UK has embraced blogs in force. But how does the average person take that information, and turn it into cash to feed his family? And do it yesterday?

Whereas, compare that to one self-employed guy I know [who shall remain nameless], who isn't even on the Technorati 1000, yet every Movable-Type-powered blog post he writes, on average, nets him $25,000-$50,000 in new business. What can I say? The latter, what I call "The Global Microbrand", in terms of my own selfish needs and ambition, is a far more powerful and useful an idea to me.

I'm not dissing Jeff or what he's doing. Far from it. He's one of my top-ten or so "must reads". But I'm not always convinced that the people he is paid to help are all that relevant to the Global Microbrand space.

I guess that's OK. "Sixty million blog, sixty million business models" etc.

Just let's say, as the blogosphere matures and more high-profile people start making the big money [e.g. Arrington, Calacanis et al], and big media companies start embracing Web 2.0 technology in all sorts of ways, sure, it makes for entertaining reading, and it's a good thing all round to be happening, but neither should we forget the little guy doing extraordinary things, quietly away in the corner. And utterly transforming his career in the process. The latter is to me where the real action is. In terms of pure selfish economic need, this is where more people are most likely to succeed.

We live in interesting times.

[Global Microbrand Archive is here.]

[UPDATE: You'll understand where Jeff Jarvis is coming from far better if you watch the Loic & Jeff video, linked above. Thanks also to Loic. Great stuff.]

here we go, right on schedule.

The Non-Issue raises its ugly head again etc. Bloggers busy clucking like hens etc.

bloggies

Heh. I've been nominated for a Bloggie award.

I'm in the "Best British or Irish Weblog" category. Cool.

pr blitz

With my Valentine's road trip kicking off one week from today, every one at Stormhoek is trying to get the PR organized.

Basically, we're looking to talk to local radio and press, as we move around the country [the UK]. I published the full itinerary here. Can anyone help me?

Anyone know the local media where I'm going, or have any media or PR contacts in the geographical areas in question? Feel free to phone me [+44 (0) 770 309 9462] or drop me an e-mail.

Or does anyone have any other ideas? I'm totally open.

Thanks for this...

the plot thickens...

From Microsoft Watch:

Oh my, it turns out that Microsoft really is scary after all.

Maybe just a little.

Microsoft has a new mascot, called Blue Monster--and it's not from the mass-marketing gurus that came up with the "Wow is Now" campaign for Windows Vista. Blogger Hugh MacLeod drew the creature, which he offered to buddy Microsoft employee Steve Clayton. MacLeod also is a cartoonist and marketing strategist; he doesn't work for Microsoft.

"Moonshine Marketing":

This is a striking example of how employees are turning into marketers. Clayton is stepping into the spotlight and announcing, "Regardless of what you're hearing through official channels, this is our company's story, and this sketch of a roaring monster that a friend of mine did embodies it." It's been happening for the last couple of years in Microsoft blogs, but (and as a writer it pains me to say this) you can't beat a really compelling image when it comes to getting your point across. MacLeod has given this grassroots movement within Microsoft a mascot.

[Blue Monster backstory here.]

road trip dates confirmed

[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]

My dates for my Stormhoek Valentine's Roadtrip have been confirmed:

February 2nd: Inverness, Corstorphine [Edinburgh].

3rd: Newcastle, Durham, Tadcaster.

4th: Blackpool, Bidston Moss [Merseyside], Horwich, Warrington.

5th: Stockport [Manchester], Altrichham [Manchester], Redditch [Worcestershire], Cardiff [Wales].

6th: Yeovil [Somerset], Bournemouth.

7th: Purley, Gatwick, Chichester.

8th: Sandhurst, Bursledon, Cirencester.

9th: Reading, Newbury, Abingdon.

10th: Barr Hill, Royston, Watford.

11th: Aylesbury, Ipswitch.

12th: Cheshunt [Herts.], Colchester.

13th: Pitsea [Essex], Twickenham.

14th: Brooklands [Surrey], New Malden [Surrey].

[UPDATE: Tour Map is here.]

You can download a more detailed itinerary here: [Word Document].

Cut and paste the postcode in the Word doc into Google Maps or Mapquest to get super-precise directions. If any bloggers want to meet me in Tesco's while I'm there, or maybe a drink in the evening, just phone me on my mobile on the day +44 (0) 770 309 9462.

We knocked down the final number of stores I'll be visiting by about a third, sadly. In the end we decided we wanted to spend more than ten minutes in each store, so there was really nothing else to do.

If this goes well, there's already talk of doing something similar in both Germany and the USA. The virus spreads.

english cut u.s. visit

[Savile Row's Thomas Mahon in New York last year.]

English Cut's next American visit is confirmed for April, 2007, if anyone fancies a $4000 English suit.

Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York. Full details can be found here.

[HINT:] If you fancy an appointment, I'd advise e-mailing Thomas sooner than later. He's a very busy man these days.

[Disclosure: Thomas and I are business partners.]

steve's blue monster video

[VIDEO:] Microsoft's Steve Clayton talks about the Blue Monster cartoon. My evil plan finally goes public! Rock on.

The Blue Monster was designed as a conversation starter. To paraphrase the ongoing dialogue between Steve and I:

For too long, Microsoft has allowed other people tell their story on their behalf- the media, their competition and their detractors, especially- instead of doing a better job of it themselves.

We firmly believe that Microsoft must start articulating their story better- what they do, why they do it, and why it matters- if they're to remain happy and prosperous long-term.

If they can do this, well, we don't expect people in their millions to magically start loving Microsoft overnight, but perhaps it might get people- including the people who work there- to start thinking differently. Small moves.

[Afterthought:] Granted, none of this is rocket science. But maybe that's Microsoft's main problem.

[Blue Monster backstory here.]

[Disclosure: gapingvoid is more evil than Microsoft. Just so you know.]

good one, shel!

Shel Israel on the state of the Press release:

The people who use them are fewer. The people who ignore them are more. The people who want to make money writing them seem to remain about the same in numbers.

These numbers could apply to SO MANY industries. Heh.

[Bonus Link:] "Hugh McLeod does these really funny drawings on the backs of business cards. I mean funny as in odd, strange. I mean funny as in... huh? I have a hard time understanding most of them. Maybe it's because I'm a girl."

the b. l. manifesto

B.L. Ochman's 12 Tenets of Social Media Marketing. Including:

I. The public is the Lord thy God

Ultimately you can only succeed if your communications produce results, which shall be known as return on investment, by reaching the greater public. This can only be achieved only if your product doesn’t suck and your communications are not only clear, but also interesting.

Verily, if you can become a useful source of information, your message may be heeded, or at least looked at ever so briefly.

IX. Thou shalt not refuse to comment when thy company is under fire.

Diggeth a hole and put in thy head only if thy care not that thy brand image will then turn to do do. “No comment” is a fine phrase for royalty, criminals and celebrities, but not so great for corporations who have a responsibility to shareholders, clients and consumers.

Unfortunately, in difficult situations it may be impossible for representatives to tell the media the whole truth. Try thee to be honest about which subjects thou wilt be able to talk frankly about and which you may find difficult to comment upon.

In accordance with the sixth tenet, it’s better to give a concise response that is straight to the point, than one that is evasive, lengthy and obviously spun.

[Manifesto submission guidelines are here.] [Manifesto archive is here.]

why so many companies find the whole web 2.0, post-cluetrain world so painful

For a young person, probably the hardest psychological adjustment to make when entering the working world is realizing that "Nobody cares about you".

I remember it well. And I didn't like it. Luckily it didn't last too long.

After all, once you're over the initial shock, you start to realize that actually, yes, universal indifference to your own "unique blip of insignificance" is actually quite liberating. It somehow frees you up internally to pursue what really matters, instead of endlessly worrying about the tiresome, political, incestuous, complicated and time-guzzling drama of the "Group Hug" crowd. Life's too short.

Every young adult has to make this adjustment, unless they want to spend the rest of their lives drowning in a foggy sea of neurosis. And you know what happens when you talk to someone who's old enough to know better, yet still has serious issues with it. You roll your eyeballs and tell them to grow up.

So, during the Edelman gig earlier today, I started thinking to myself, if this is something that any healthy 22-year-old can work through without too much fuss, then how come so many large companies, with all those smart, experienced, talented people making the big money and the big decisions, find it so difficult?

"Hi, I'm a large company, and I'm going to blow $100 million telling you how great I am. I'm so great. I rock. That's right. And you like me, too. You really do. You like hanging onto my every word. Group Hug!"

Maybe this is why so many companies find the whole Web 2.0, post-Cluetrain world so painful. Growing up always is, he said, rolling his eyeballs.

i want to be with you

[One of the new Stormhoek label designs.]

monday report

[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]

All my actions these days are centered around the Valentine's Road Trip. 2 weeks driving up and down the country, visiting Tesco supermarkets, signing Stormhoek lithographs. 50 individual stores in all. Ouch.

I don't have the final schedule yet, but it's roughly February 1st-14th. Pretty much the entire UK is being covered. Plymouth, Inverness, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, London... even looking at the list on paper leaves me feeling exhausted.

If it goes well, the potential payoff for Stormhoek is huge. Very nerve-wracking. But in a good way.

edelman trust barometer

[Richard presenting.]

I'm at The Edelman Trust Barmometer Presentation. Here's an article in the Financial Times giving the background.

Take-home Line: "Trust has a personality."

[UPDATE:] Edelman CEO Europe, David Brain posts a great summary:

7. Technology is the most trusted sector globally

8. In the UK, Technology (67%), Healthcare (62%) and Entertainment (57%) are the most trusted sectors, while Energy (34%), Insurance (27%) and Media (21%) are the least trusted.

9. Rank-and-file employees are more trusted than CEOs in both the United States and Europe.

10. A ‘person like yourself’ and a doctor/healthcare specialist are the most trusted people in the developed world (both 52%).

[Note to Richard Edelman:] Nice talking to you again. Thanks for inviting me. Have a good time at Davos.

public relations is "getting social media all wrong"

Stowe Boyd tells it like it is. It seems most PR folk are STILL pretty clueless about Social Media:

Please, please, please don't talk about audiences when you are theoretically promoting social media. As Jay Rosen has suggested, we are the people formerly known as the audience. Blogging is not just another channel for corporate marketing types to push their messages to markets, eyballs, or audiences. Social media is based on the dynamic of a many-to-many dialogue between people. Yes, people: that's the word that should have been used. Not audience.

Agreed, the blogosphere is not a good place to "push" corporate messages.

That being said, the 'sphere does have its uses for corporates, the same way it does for individuals. As I see it, the 'sphere is the world's largest "Idea Incubator". It's a great place to seed ideas. It's a great place to test which ideas have traction, which ideas are "Beyond Lame". Which conversations get people's attention, and which conversations make people roll their eyeballs.

If your ideas have merit, bloggers will talk about them. If they don't, they won't. This lets you know what to expect when you finally unleash your ideas for real on the big, bad world. Without spending a king's ransom finding out the hard way.

It's simple and brutal and it works.

None of this is rocket science. And the PR folk have no excuse. All the relevant information is easy enough to find, if one takes the time to actually look.

The fact that lots of them aren't bothering to take the time, well, that's another issue altogether.

[Afterthought:] If you wanted to find out more about the future of social media in the PR industry, you could do a lot worse than by giving my friend, David Parmet a call.

[Bonus Link:] The story on Techmeme.

web 8.0

With the people old enough to remember Web 2.0 now dying off because of old age, and with Web 8.0 now beginning to kick in, I am still amazed by how much has changed since then:

1. We take for granted that we don't have to work for a living. But for our grandfathers, life wasn't so easy. Believe it or not, back in the bad old days you actually had to make something, and then find a "buyer", and "sell" it at a "profit". No longer. Thanks to the "Long Tail", paying customers now magically spring out of nowhere and give you money, even if you don't have a product or service.

2. In Web 2.0, owning slaves was still considered a bad thing, and was illegal. Imagine! It wasn't really till Web 4.0 and 5.0 came along that everybody [i.e. not just the folk living around Silicon Valley] finally wised up about living in a "Startup Economy".

3. In Web 2.0, producers had to advertise to customers. Then along came the "Intention Economy" where customers now must advertise to producers. Or else. We know where you live.

4. In Web 2.0, you actually met people and had sex with their... BODIES. Flabby, wrinkly, smelly, fleshy things, not one bit like their avatars. Yuck. Disgusting. Foul.

5. In Web 2.0, people didn't serve long prison sentences for not reading Techmeme. Barbaric!

6. In Web 2.0 they had these things called newspapers. Not only were they read by an unbelievably tiny audience [e.g. a few hundred thousand people!], they employed vast, expensive armies of people to create non-user generated content. Yes, people were actually paid MONEY to create content! Can you believe it? This is so VASTLY different to what happens today, where even the smallest, humblest, modest of "Mommy Blogs" is read by tens of millions of people on a daily basis, ever since the immortal Technorati first managed to fix their bugs.

yes, the rumors are true...

Google owns the world. We just rent it.

it's the calacanis fanboy hour!

My friend Jason Calacanis is well known for both entrepreneurship and blogging.

And it turns out he's a very talented podcaster as well. His new podcast is now being hosted/run by PodTech, the same folk that employ Robert Scoble.

CalacanisCast 9 is just up. I appeared on it, as well as a bunch of former Gillmor Gang members- Doc Searls, Dan Farber, Michael Arrington etc- but no Steve Gillmor, sadly. We talk about the new Apple iPhone.

A good time was had by all. I hope you'll have a listen.

Doc Searls comments:

As I said on the CalcanisCast the other day, it's not smart to bet against Steve Jobs. (I'm talking about betting here, not what we like or dislike.) Apple, like Pixar (Steve's other company, now part of Disney), has relatively few SKUs (new products).

They're not a Panasonic or a Sony that can throw thousands of SKUs against the wall like spaghetti and see what sticks. They try to make a very few, very appealing, products. If you'd asked the pundits, including the many of us here in the 'sphere, what the chances were of Apple stores being a success were back when they started, what would we say? Those stores were radically new and different and well-thought-out and — it turned out — very successful.

In spite of the expectations of many, especially in the retailing business. But... they worked out. Personally, I think the iPhone is up against huge competition and is not likely to be a slam-dunk. But I wouldn't put money on that.

D'accord. Two thoughts:

1. This is business. Capitalism. Not some contest to see who gets to date the Prom Queen. Doc understands this. Based on some of the conversations I've spotted happening in comment sections everywhere, I'm not convinced everybody does.

2. Whatever Apple does with their phone, by raising the bar in certain areas [e.g. design], and failing to raise the bar in other areas [e.g. openess], they are creating a ton of opportunities for their competition e.g. Nokia, Sony, Motorola etc. The latter, instead of being worried, should be well pleased.

[Disclosure: I'm a very happy and satisfied Nokia N73 user.]

the architect's manifesto

Saw this one from Josh. Beautiful:

How to be creative in architecture

Being an architect in and of itself is supposedly a creative endeavor. But, it's not. The business model, the approach - not creative. It has become a commodity. Architects undercut each other to the point of insanity, creating a "low-baller's profession". The good architects transcend all of this. Joe Schmoe will not undercut Daniel Libeskind. You have to be creative, not just in your designs, but in your approach and mentality.

* Understand that anybody can be an architect. Being an architect is different from being "the" architect. It's worth your time to become "the".

* Understand your strengths. Know how good you are, and demand that people recognize it. The best of the best demand the best, while the everyone else takes what they can get.

* "Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There's no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one." Thanks, Hugh.

* Don't even think for a second that you will be discovered. Architecture is not really a "discovered" kind of profession, but to an extent, some people think waiting around to be noticed for being exceptional will happen to them. No, it won't. You're not an actor. Your plan has to be unique. Do something different.

* Don't be afraid to change. The world is changing, are you? When it comes down to the come down, what will stay with you throughout your career is how you help other people, and how many people trust you.

* Evangelize the profession. Do not bitch and moan about architecture and how terrible the pay is. You decide what you get paid, as stated above. It makes architecture look bad. Do something that is good for the profession, and you will be heralded.

* This is not your grandfather's architecture. It's not 1890. We need to move forward. Do something about it. Think about your heroes...did they regurgitate the same old stuff? The guys at the top of this field in 25 years will not be thinking about the "new" same old skyscraper. Are you capable of being somebody's hero?

* Realize that any creative endeavor will be subject to scrutiny. Do it for yourself. Nobody will care about you until you are OK with what you are doing.

* "The best way to get approval is not to need it." So very true in so many ways.

* Don't be a hermit. Get to know people. Help them.

* Not everyone will understand the power of good architecture. It's your job to make them understand.

Thanks for the mention as well, Josh. But it would've been just as good without me in there etc.

[Manifesto submission guidelines are here.] [Manifesto archive is here.]

hallam foe trailer

1. I've just uploaded the Hallam Foe trailer movie trailer up onto Google Video. It was made by Colin Kennedy, author of the official Hallam Foe blog, who was also second unit director on the film shoot. Colin is in London at the moment. He's helping me with the Stormhoek World Tour film thing.

2. Hallam Foe stars Jamie Bell of "Billy Elliot" fame, and was directed by my old school friend, David Mackenzie. Due for release late summer, 2007.

cashola

Steve Rubel:

But the point I want to make here is that no blogger - full-time pro or part-time paid - is exempt from disclosing how (not necessarily how much) they are paid and who is paying them.

Agreed. Though I don't see what the big deal is, really. If people don't want to read about what I do for a living, it's not my problem.

[Bonus Link:] Tom Raftery's "Blacknight Solutions don’t tolerate criticism."

Blacknight Solutions contacted me this afternoon and asked me to move all my sites off their servers. They no longer want my business. Why? Because I criticised their customer service after they lost all my podcasts, didn’t tell me about it until I discovered it a couple of weeks later, and when I did report it to them, they blamed me for asking for a temporary home for my podcasts (untrue).

This story just made it onto the front page of Techmeme. News travels fast etc.

update: geek day out

[Cartoon from the mid-1990's, from my "pre-bizcard" days. It was later published as a greeting card by Nobleworks.]

Here's an update on the Geek Day Out this Sunday.

Basically, the plan hasn't changed. We're all meeting at The Texas Embassy for lunch at noon on Sunday, the 21st. After that we hit the museum, then a pub after that.

If you're coming, please send me an e-mail if you haven't already. Thanks.

[PS: My cellphone number is 0770 309 9462 is anyone has a problem on the day.]

marketing exists...

From Woodstock:

Put simply: Marketing exists to tell you that you're deficient and point out the ways in which Company A's product can help you make up for that heretofore unknown deficiency in ways that are so much more productive, efficient, and have a higher probability of getting you laid - because creating the illusion that a product will increase your probability of getting laid is really what marketing is all about - than Company B's product.

Disagree. If marketing was that easy, everybody would be rich.

xbox, blogs and wine

[One of the new Stormhoek label designs.]

I was hanging out the other day with two gamer friends of mine who play a lot of X-Box. Though the conversation bent in many different directions that evening, one nugget stuck out for me:

The Short Version: X-Boxers and bloggers aren't really that different. They're just trying to connect, just X-boxers use games and the internet, and bloggers use the written word and the internet. The tools differ, but the primal need [i.e. the need to connect] remains the same.

Perhaps this is why in the early days of Web 1.0 there was so much porn, cybersex and flame wars going on. We bloggers are used to seeing the internet in contemporary and/or futurist terms. But these days I've started seeing the internet as just a manifestation of something far more primal and ancient.

Of course, being in the wine business, I can see why. Wine has been used as a social object for thousands of years. So seeing the connections between a $10 bottle of South African vino and other social objects i.e. X-Box and blogs, isn't that far of a stretch for me. It's all about Human Connection. Love. Everything else is secondary.

Random Thought: As any former choirboy will know, wine is mentioned a lot in The Bible. Funny how they don't talk about the quality much.

You read "Jesus, knowing that tonight was his last night on earth, offered his disciples wine", or "King David, being full of internal conflict, drank a lot of wine, and then went home to give Queen Bathsheba a good seeing-to."

But you don't read, "Jesus, knowing that tonight was his last night on earth, offered his disciples an unpretentious little Sauvingnon with undertones of blackcurrant and lemons."

Or "King David, being full of internal conflict, downed a few sips of a delightfully characterful Chateau Le Feuvre, and then went home to give Queen Bathsheba a good seeing-to."

Why not? Because maybe, just maybe, all that wine geekery doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If it mattered, they would've fit it in there somehow.

blue monster update

Steve Clayton's signed "Blue Monster" litho is now bidding on e-Bay at £62.00 GBP [approx. $120 US]. Thanks to everybody who bid on it so far.

At time of posting, the auction has just over 24 hours to go. Exciting!

[UPDATE:] All proceeds are going to charity [the NSPCC]. Steve just announced: "If we hit £100 I'll add £100 to it myself. How's that?"

Thanks, Steve!

[UPDATE:] Final bid was £113.00 GBP. Wow. Tell Steve to get his checkbook out. Heh.

the parenting manifesto project

It seems the gapingvoid mainfesto thread has inspired a Parenting Manifesto Project, courtesy of RebelDad.

Very cool. I think it's wonderful. Heads up to Superha for pointing me to it [She's got a great little Mommy blog, by the way. Ashley's a real cutie...].

Yes. I like kids, believe it or not.

thanks, guy

Many thanks to Guy Kawasaki, one of my "writer heroes" for saying such nice things about "How To Be Creative", which he recently read for the first time.

Guy read the ChangeThis version [PDF file], though if you prefer you can also read it in its original blog format here.

[Bonus Links:] Guy's ChangeThis manifesto, The Art Of The Start, which is excellent, and his book of the same title.

Thanks again, Guy...

[P.S. I wrote HTBC in Summer 2004, but as you can see from Technorati, it's still doing the rounds.]

interview with david sifry

Last month in Paris, Estelle and Marc conducted an absolutely fascinating interview with David Sifry, the founder and CEO of Technorati. You can watch it here.

Besides making an indispensable service for the blogosphere, David is one of those rare chaps I know that I would describe as passionate and lucid as he is visionary. Besides that, he's a lot of fun to hang out with.

If you're seriously interested in the internet, you can't afford to miss this one. Rock on.

random thoughts on being an entrepreneur

Random thoughts on being an entrepreneur.

I wouldn’t say I was an authority on entrepreneurship, certainly not in the same league as people like Fred Wilson or Jason Calacanis. That being said, the last couple of years haven’t been too shabby, either. With that in mind, here are a few thoughts I have on the subject, in no particular order. The list, by the way, is far from complete- I'll probably be adding to it sooner than later etc.

1. Everything takes three times longer than it should. Especially the money part.

2. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

3. People want what they can’t have. In fact, that’s pretty much all they do want.

4. Once you become an entrepreneur, you find the company of non-entrepreneurs a lot harder to be around. You’ve seen things they haven’t; the wavelengths alter, it’s that simple.

5. In a world of over-supply and commodification, you are no longer paid to supply. You’re being paid to deliver something else. What that is exactly, is not always obvious.

6. Word of mouth is the best advertising medium of all. The best word of mouth comes from disrupting markets.

7. People buy your product because it helps fill in the narrative gaps in their lives.

8. You can either be cheapest or the best. I know which one I prefer.

9. Some people think that once they secure venture funding, their problems will be over. Wrong. That’s when your problems REALLY begin.

10. It’s better to be underfunded than overfunded.

11. If an average guy in a bar can understand what you do for a living, chances are you’re halfway to becoming a commodity.

12. It’s easier to turn an ally into a customer than vice versa.

13. If you’re happy in your career before the age of thirty, you’re probably doing something wrong. Heck, if you’re happy in your career before the age of seventy, you’re probably doing something wrong.

14. Smart, young, artistic people are always asking me which is a better career path, “Creativity” or “Money”. I always answer that it doesn’t matter. What matters is “Effective” and/or “Ineffective”.

15. Write the following on a piece of paper, have it framed, and stick it on your office wall: “Have you hugged your customer today?”

16. People will always, always be in the market for a story that resonates with them. Your product will either have this quality or it won’t. If your product fails this test, quit your job and go find something else. Just making the product incrementally cheaper or better won’t help you.

17. Products are idea amplifiers. The molecules and/or bytes are secondary.

18. People remember the quality long after they’ve forgotten the price. Unless you try to rip them off.

19. Markets serve entrepreneurs better if the latter can keep the former undersupplied. Oversupply is the kiss of death.

20. I personally know a former CEO who, once he attained control of the company, ran an EXTREMELY profitable business into the ground in less than two years. From a market cap of $100 million to ZERO, just like that. Why? Short answer: He loved being “The" CEO, but he didn’t much care for being “a" CEO.

21. In terms of becoming an entrepreneur, probably the most useful thing I learned in the last twenty years was how to enjoy my own company for long stretches of time.

22. One successful entrepreneur I know well has a wonderful quality, namely that he never, ever compares himself to other people. He just does his own thing, which actually serves him rather well. Just because his competitor has bought himself a bigger motor boat, doesn’t mean he feels the need have a bigger motor boat. This quality helps him to build his business the way he sees fit, not the way the motor boat people see fit.

23. Running a startup is full of extreme ups and downs. Which is why so many successful and happy entrepreneurs I know lead such normal, stable, unglamorous, "boring", family-centered lives. Somehow they need the latter in order to balance out the former. Extra-curricular drama looks great in the tabloids, but that’s all it’s ultimately good for.

24. MBAs are conditioned to use their brains in much the same way as sex workers are conditioned to use their genitals. Nice work if you can get it.

25. Bill Gates may have a million times more money than me, but he isn’t going to live a million times longer than me, watch a million times more sunsets than me, make love to a million times more women than me, drink a million times more fine wines than me, listen to a million times more Beethoven String Quartets than me, nor sire a million times more children than me. Human beings don't scale.

26. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “There are no second acts in American lives.” F. Scott was a drunkard and a fool.

random notes on blogging

Random Notes On Blogging.

1. The First Rule of Blogging: “Blogs don’t write themselves.” It’s the hardest and most frustrating part of professionally helping others to blog.

2. Most bloggers I have met I would describe as smart, decent, passionate people. This includes bloggers that I don't particularly like on a personal level. I have yet to meet a blogger who I would describe as a "Thoroughbred Scumbag".

3. Blogging is an art, same as any other method of self-expression. Some are better at it than others.

4. Stay as honest as you can, for as long as you can. Once you cross the line it’s hard to go back.

5. A lot of serious bloggers became so because frankly, they had a lot of time on their hands. And often there were good reasons for that.

6. Blogging is a great way to make things happen indirectly. I say that all the time, and will KEEP saying it till people finally get it [I’m not holding my breath].

7. Far too much time and energy is spent watching people make money directly off their blogs [e.g. via advertising revenues etc], as opposed to indirectly [e.g. becoming an authority on something, and using said authority to enhance your already-existing business]. I believe the latter [which Doc Searls call The "Because" Effect] is a far more pleasant, effective and likely way to succeed.

8. So you a read lot of A-Listers. Congratulations. You now know a lot of stuff everybody else knows.

9. It’s damn hard not to read a lot of A-Listers. They got to where they are for a reason.

10. I hardly ever leave comments on other people’s blogs any more.

11. If somebody makes a harsh remark about me in the comments or somewhere else, usually my first reaction is to ask, “Yeah, and what is it THAT YOU DO that is so fucking interesting, Asshole?”

12. Cube-dwellers-with-attitude are pathetic.

13. When I first started blogging, I was living the Cumbrian boonies, being a bit of a recluse. When business finally picked up, as I started traveling more often and meeting more people, my “audience” became far less abstract to me. Conclusion: It’s far nicer writing for real people that you know personally, than for demographic “eyeballs”. I think when talking about the former, Doc Searls’ embodies this better than any one I know.

14. I agree with Doc Searls' thought that “Wuffie is earned”.

15. Why aren’t there more women bloggers in the circles I travel in? The answer is a three-letter word, beginning with the letter “M”.

16. The day you can write as compellingly and consistently as say, Kathy Sierra, Jeff Jarvis, Guy Kawasaki or Michael Arrington, will be the day I start taking your complaints of low traffic seriously.

17. Corporate America doesn’t really like blogs. Like I care.

18. If your goal is to have a large, influential online readership, I’d say give yourself five years. That's how long it took Om Malik. Some do it in less, of course, but they seem to be quite exceptional.

19. For us serious blog evangelists, it’s tempting to think “Everybody should have a blog”. About as tempting as the thought, “Everybody should be able to write well.” And about as realistic.

20. Blogging will never be a mainstream activity so long as being able to write [A] well, [B] often and [C] about stuff THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT remain the main barriers to entry.

21. Barely a week goes by without me contemplating permanently turning off the comment section.

22. How to know you’ve arrived: When you suddenly realize that to stop blogging would be tantamount to an act of economic suicide. That moment came for me at Les Blogs 1, in Paris back in early 2005.

23. Another way to know you’ve arrived: When you realize that every business relationship you’ve established in the last twelve months was a direct result of blogging.

24. You think A-Listers are arrogant bastards? You should meet the B-List.

25. There is no A-List. If you think there is, you’ve missed the whole point.

26. There is an A-List. Fuck with us and we’ll have you destroyed like stray dogs.

27. The best way to raise you profile in the blogosphere [besides writing good stuff] is to attend the various conferences; the more, the merrier. I am [at least] fifty times more likely to link to you if I’ve already met you in real life. The other good way is to attend the geek dinners.

28. I wish I were better at linking to other people. The list of people I should have linked to, but haven’t, would fill a phone book.

29. Sixty million blogs. Sixty million business models.

30. Yes, the blogosphere is a great place to get laid. No, I’m not telling you how I found this out.

31. If you ever forget your manners, you will pay, and quickly.

32. You are not carving in stone. You die, the blog dies.

33. It’s tempting to think that people read your blog. Sadly, they don’t. They skim them. So always make your content skim-friendly. Write it with “skimmabilty” baked-in.

34. Anybody who harbors the idea that Madison Avenue EVEN SLIGHTLY understands the internet is a fool. I’ve been looking for YEARS for evidence to the contrary and simply can’t find any.

35. In this internet-enabled world of ours, Madison’s Avenue’s loss is PR’s gain. Which is why, as a former advertising hack, I follow the Edelman story very closely.

36. Getting other people to “blog for you” is a big mistake.

37. Z-Listers are every bit as selfish, self-important and psychologically flawed as A-Listers. Except the former don’t have large armies of people with real and imagined incentives for tripping them up.

38. I like and respect Robert Scoble a lot, but I find his high tolerance for trolls in his comments bordering on the clinically insane.

39. If a blog doesn’t allow comments, then yes, it’s still a blog. People who say otherwise are just getting in touch with their "Inner Idealistic Wanker".

40. When people ask me what the future of media is, I always answer, “RSS”. Thank you, Winer & Co. Seriously.

41. Most of the stuff on this list is wrong.

i move with the times

[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]

[Bonus Link:] Edelman's European CEO, David Brain, is very bullish on 2007. Watch the video.

the london culturally-deprived geek day out: sunday 21st january

Having spent most of the last few years in front of a computer screen, immersed in a tangled web of blogging, business and cartooning, I'm starting to feel a bit deprived of culture. And I'm sure a lot of techie/geek/entrepreneurs types out there feel the same.

It's been ages since I went to an art museum. Months and months. I think it's time I went and visited one, here in London. Not only that, I think it would be more fun if I brought along some fellow cuturally-deprived techie/geek/entrepreneurs types along with me. We could all use a dose etc.

So all you geeks out there, feel free to join me. I'm planning on going Sunday, the 21st of January. Let's meet somewhere for lunch at noon, check out a museum [my vote would be for the Tate Modern], then maybe go grab a beer afterwards. Drop me an e-mail if you fancy coming, also please add your name to the wilki. It should be fun!

One stipulation: Taking a page out of the London Girl Geeks' book, I find this kind of event is always far more jolly if there's a good balance of men and women. So the rule is: Everybody who attends must bring along another person of the opposite sex. Easy.

If enough people turn up maybe we can turn this into a regular event...

the social customer manifesto

[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]

Christopher Carfi is one of my favorite marketing bloggers. His writings are mostly based around the following:

THE SOCIAL CUSTOMER MANIFESTO

* I want to have a say.

* I don't want to do business with idiots.

* I want to know when something is wrong, and what you're going to do to fix it.

* I want to help shape things that I'll find useful.

* I want to connect with others who are working on similar problems.

* I don't want to be called by another salesperson. Ever. (Unless they have