JordanLyall.com

TweetPerView Review

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:56:00 -0700

quicklink | periphery, tweetperview and the new preroll tool

super productive day today and i’ve recorded another batch of webperiphery finally after what seemed like forever (actually four months - scary) - part of the problem was the ‘not enough tshirts quandary’ of trying to…

The Google Plus Start-Up Guide By Saidur (Cy) Hossain

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:20:00 -0700

The Google Plus Start-Up Guide By Saidur (Cy) Hossain:

googleplusapps:

If you are new to Google+ then this guide by +Saidur (Cy) Hossain will certainly point you in the right direction. Nicely presented.

nikf.org: Google+ Redirects And Tumblr

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:27:23 -0700

nikf.org: Google+ Redirects And Tumblr:

nikf:

So Richard pointed out this excellent post about using HTACCESS files on a server to redirect domain.com/+ to your Google+ account. In his post, he lamented the inability to do is with his domain as it’s hosted on Tumblr, just like this blog is.

However, with Tumblr you can actually hook this up…

Twitter Massive Influence 2.0 Virtual Summit (by...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:02:03 -0700

Twitter Massive Influence 2.0 Virtual Summit (by missiondrivenbrand)

Short logic: Groupon IPO: Pass on this deal

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:45:43 -0700

Short logic: Groupon IPO: Pass on this deal:

shortlogic:

Groupon has filed its S-1 and hopes to raise $750M in its initial public offering. Given they’re currently losing a staggering $117M per quarter, despite revenues of $644M, they’ll be burning through that cash almost as soon as it hits their account.

At the moment, it’s costing them $1.43 to make $1…

Photo

Tue, 03 May 2011 15:07:21 -0700

gary: I had the great privilege of being on MSNBC’s Morning Joe...

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:55:09 -0800

gary:

I had the great privilege of being on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, Watch. What do you think?

workersoftheweb: Tweet Per View. “Prompt your viewers to tweet...

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:21:58 -0800

workersoftheweb:

Tweet Per View. “Prompt your viewers to tweet before they can watch your video.”

The Founder Institute - A Graduate's Account

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:21:00 -0800

For the last four months I’ve been making a weekly two hour trek down the 5 freeway to join like-minded entrepreneurs plot out a course for tech startup domination.

Tomorrow I graduate from the San Diego chapter of The Founder Institute, an early stage technology incubator.

For two years I’ve been cursed with what Cobb from Inception called “the most resilient parasite.” An idea. It has evolved from its original form, seemingly taken a mind of its own, yet outlasted the multiple attempts to silence it.

I had heard about Founder Institute from a handful of posts on TechCrunch, but it was at Andrew Warner’s recommendation on his show Mixergy that I took action. I applied, took the test, and was ultimately accepted into San Diego’s Season 3.

As with many things in life, the value taken from it is directly related to to the amount of effort you put in.

Four months of lectures, team meetings, homework, weekly “hot seats”, monthly pitch sessions graded by the mentors - the experience was once in a lifetime.

I walked in with an “interesting concept”, a few lines of code, and no real idea on how to make money. I’ll graduate with an actual business, a solid product offering, a board of advisors and investor attention.

In the next couple months I will launch FanFare, a tool combining digital media with social networking. We’re helping online publishers grow their audience virally.

Stay tuned.

—

Some random thoughts from my experience at FI:

Amazing connections. Normal entrepreneurs would kill to be able to schedule a meeting with some of the people I’ve met with. Networking is not a strength of mine, but even in the last two weeks, I’ve surprised myself with some of the names on my calendar. All thanks to the mentors.
The sounding board that is the other founders. It made it easier being able to interact with people in the same position and with the same struggles.
Helpful homework. I initially considered the weekly homework “busy work”. But the assignments do help you build your business. It forces you to do the things where you tell yourself “I’ll get to that later” and never get done.
Pitching is important. I dread public speaking. But being able to clearly and confidently convince a room full of people on the brilliance of your idea and why you are the guy to pull it off, is a skill only learned by doing.
The Product isn’t as important as you think. I originally had the thought “I wish we spent more time on product and customer development.” But 1) many of the group members are not developers and, like me, have full time jobs and 2) that’s the easy part. Anybody can throw together a mock-up and talk to potential customers. But idea validation, business formation, presentation, publicity, fundraising, etc. these are the things that the structure of FI proves most valuable.

Through Founder Institute I gained the knowledge, experience, and contacts that would have typically cost me tens of thousands of dollars and years of trial and error.

just tristan.: Favorite Companies to Watch in 2011

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:42:00 -0800

just tristan.: Favorite Companies to Watch in 2011:

tristanwalker:

I think these companies will have a real breakout year and at the end of 2011 we will say these companies did something really important for their industries. Warning: it’s a very short list. These are companies I observed pretty early on and loved from day 1 using the service.

How can I create a Twitter list of my followers?

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:31:01 -0800

Formulists.com lets you create “smart” lists that self-populate and auto-update. One of the options is a list of people that follow you.

How can I create a Twitter list of my followers?

Betashop: 57 Things I've Learned Founding 3 Tech Companies

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:56:14 -0700

Betashop: 57 Things I've Learned Founding 3 Tech Companies:

betashop:

I’ve been founding and helping run technology companies since 1999. My latest company is fabulis.com. Here are 57 lessons I’ve learned along the way. I could have listed 100+ but I didn’t want to bore you.

1. Build something you are personally passionate about. You are your best focus group.

…

"First impressions are important. But keep in mind…everyone knows that. Everyone dresses nice on the..."

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:20:52 -0700

“First impressions are important. But keep in mind…everyone knows that. Everyone dresses nice on the first day. But what are they wearing on the second day? If you ask me, that’s much more telling.”

- Second impressions (via hiten)

6 Best Practices for Email Marketing

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I’ve uncovered a truth about email marketing: It works! However, if you’re just joining the party you may have to adjust your marketing habits. Your focus will need to shift from quantity to quality. For example: Like it or not, the law states that you must get explicit permission prior to sending and email. Email marketers must demonstrate a certain level of agility in handling the opportunities that arise from this very interactive marketing channel.

Here are 6 best practices to consider when developing an email marketing strategy:

1. Deliverability is Key
Even if your customer has agreed to receive email from you, you may find it difficult for your email to get to their inbox. Most large ISPs now use thorough spam protection systems to filter any email it thinks may be unsolicited, before it gets into the customers’ inboxes.

To avoid being flagged as spam, and therefore go unseen by your subscribers, avoid using spam-trigger words like “sale”, “free” and “offer”, etc in both the subject line and the body of your email.

2. One-Click Unsubscribe – Make it Easy
It may sound counterintuitive, but if you want your email marketing campaign to succeed, you must have an easy way for customers to unsubscribe. If you make it difficult, you run the risk of the recipient marking your email as spam. That will make deliverability in the future even more difficult.

It’s actually mandated by law that your emails contain an unsubscribe link. The link should lead the recipient right to a page where they can immediately be removed from your list.

3. The Power of Personalization
When it makes sense for your specific email creative, we suggest taking steps to personalize them. It’s as simple as starting your email with “Hi [first_name]“. By doing this, you increase both your reading and click-thru rates. Why? By addressing them by their first name, your subscribers feel like they already have a relationship with you.

4. Subject Line in Under a Second
You have less than a second to catch your recipient’s attention with your email’s subject line. In this very short amount of time they will either choose to read, delete, or simply ignore your email. As mentioned before, you should avoid “spam words” and consider using the customer’s first name. We suggest you avoid using promotional phrases, ALL CAPS, or punctuation in your subject lines. Make sure your subject line is straightforward.

5. Above the Scroll
Whenever possible, place the more interesting content at the top of your email. Once your recipient starts reading the email, they’ll continue reading and even take action, but only if they find it interesting. Some popular email clients show a preview of an email in the inbox, even before a user opens it.

6. Don’t Over Sell
The goal of an email creative is to get buyers to take action by clicking on a button, signifying that they want to know more. It is only once they’ve clicked and are directed to your website that they can begin the buying process. Therefore, don’t overload them with product information or market data in the email. Give them just the right amount of info that, with a strong call to action, they’re intrigued enough to click.

By following these best practices, doing some of your own homework, and obeying the spam laws, you’ll be on your way to a winning email marketing campaign.

—

What do you think? What else contributes to a successful email campaign?

You Registered a Domain Name for your Newborn?

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

My one month old son has just learned how to hold his head up. His mother and I are ecstatic. We’ve got a hard drive full of DV to prove it.

Being the forward thinking father, I registered (within just a week of his birth) his very own domain name: CarsonLyall.com – Don’t go there, it’s a GoDaddy parked domain. It will probably remained parked until he masters HTML (we’re thinking about teaching him English first).

Why did I register a domain name (and gmail address) for my newborn? Two words: personal branding.

Tom Peters wrote in Fast Company in ‘07:

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

Thanks to his crazy dad, my son will have a head start on creating his own personal brand.

As we all know, employees used to work for one company all the way until retirement. Decades ago this began to change. My generation job hops. My son’s generation will see another radical shift: the era of the free agent.

He may not have one business that he calls his “job.” He’ll more likely freelance, consulting for many companies. I may be going way out on a limb, but I see value in preparing for this cultural change.

Whatever profession he enters into, he’ll have to compete with other “mini-brands”. He’ll need to stand apart from the crowd (again, this is after he learns to stand period).

This may be totally unnecessary. The Lyall last name isn’t extremely popular. He may go his whole life without another Carson Lyall popping up. But you never know. I now compete in search engine rankings with a female photographer in Canada. Hi Jordan!

In 20 years we may shift from domain names entirely (Even now, the shift from the .com TLD continues). But until then, we’ll continue to encourage him to keep his head up.

Email is Dead. Long Live Email.

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:06:00 -0700

Spammers have ruined it for everyone. Legit email marketers fight an ongoing battle for the inbox. Even though our email marketing is permission-based, some ISPs block us anyway.

A recent study as reported by MediaPost brought up some interesting stats (emphasis mine):

Successful deliverability to consumers’ inboxes varies by ISP. Gmail, Google’s email service, is the most stringent US-based ISP for permission-based marketers to reach, according to the report, as 23% of emails that marketers sent to Gmail addresses did not reach the inbox.

So what’s the solution? Do we all switch to RSS-based communication? RSS is virtually spam-free. It fits the definition of permission-based marketing to a T. Yes, it’s got its drawbacks, but nothing that a few years and a few genius engineers can’t solve. Right? It’s a topic for another time. As we all know, email’s not going anywhere.

The problem? Your email sucks! As CopyBlogger puts it: “Many people will just mark you as a spammer for the crime of being boring.”

To be honest, I’ve clicked “Mark as Spam” on a newsletter where I could have easily spent the extra few seconds to unsubscribe the proper way. Google realizes this and has just created an auto-unsubscribe feature in Gmail. But by doing so you must report it as spam.

Solution = Write Better Content.

The DMA still claims that the ROI on email still beats search and other marketing channels.

Call Gmail’s tactics extreme, but it should prompt us marketers to create a better email. Let’s be smarter about this. Let’s do our own R&D.

Keep reading this blog as we discuss how to improve email deliverability and learn to further expand our reach online.

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:48:56 -0800

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.

"Purging the Bookcase" or "My Many Interesting Phases"

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:40:00 -0800

In preparation for baby, I’m cleaning out our second bedroom. I’m getting rid of a bunch of books I’ll probably never read again. I sure have had some peculiar interests. Here’s a random sample:

Sports Style Guide & Reference Manual
Tim Sweeny’s Guide to Releasing Independent Records
Beyond Roots: In Search of Blacks in the Bible
The Clock of the Long Now: The Ideas Behind the World’s Slowest Computer
The Tao of Sales
Podcasting Hacks
Y2K: It’s Already Too Late
Hunger, Hunches, & Hustle: An Englishman’s 40 Years of Selling Experiences and Misadventures in California Real Estate

Jordan Lyall’s Top 10 Albums of 2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:39:03 -0800

This is a list of my favorite albums this year. I’m not trying to claim these as the “absolute best” albums, it comes down to personal preference. These are albums I had a change to pick up in the last 12 months. If you have any recommendations for me, email me at jordan.lyall [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks and enjoy!

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes released their first full-length album last Summer. They call their music “baroque harmonic pop jams” and have been compared to The Beach Boys. Beautiful, beautiful music. @atubbs says “Opening the Fleet Foxes CD reminds me what buying a record must have been like.” Amazon | Listen to “White Winter Hymnal”

2. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular MGMT (pronounced “management”) can be categorized as “Indie Electro Pop.” The album is catchy and danceable, though I wouldn’t have minded if the last few tracks were left off. @spencerante calls it “Flaming Lips meets Daft Punk.” Amazon | Listen to “Time to Pretend”

3. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend’s debut album of the same name is packed with melodious modern grooves. Very fun. @blahbleorg enjoys their “Great afro beats and pop hooks.”
Amazon | Listen to “Oxford Comma”

4. Santogold - Santogold Santi White (a.k.a Santogold) says her intentions with this her first solo album were to “help break down boundaries and genre classifications.” She succeeds with these infectious, foot-stomping tracks. @current_music calls it “a new kind of funky music.” Amazon | Listen to “Lights Out”

5. She & Him - Volume One She & Himis what you get when you mix indie rocker M. Ward and “that chick from Elf” (Zooey Deschanel). Simple melodies and one amazing voice. Side note: Deschanel is now engaged to Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard. Talk about some talented offspring. To @frickness the album “sounds like: Sufjan Stevens, the Everly Brothers, [and] even the intro to Spongebob” Amazon | Listen to “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”

6. The Cool Kids - Bake Sale The second EP for the Chicago-based rap duo is what I would call “infectiously obnoxious.” Hip-hop is fun again. @jchristie regards Bake Sale as a “fun, bass-heavy retro CD.”
Amazon | Listen to “Bassment Party”

7. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster This debut album from Welsh indie rockers Los Campesinos is a sugar rush of guitar-heavy pop punk. Another fun, energetic album. @davidalln relates there’s “nothing like waking up to Los Campesinos!’s You! Me! Dancing!” Amazon | Listen to “Death to Los Campesinos!”

8. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs Though Death Cab’s sixth studio album didn’t quite live up to some of their previous albums, it proved that they can still turn out quality indie-blues. @movingsideways says it’s “a great ‘riding alone on a train after a long holiday’ album.” Amazon | Listen to “I Will Possess Your Heart”

9. Beck - Modern Guilt Beck is back! Produced by Danger Mouse, Modern Guilt, the 10th album from Beck, unveils some of his retro styles. @therichbrooks “found it boring on first listen, but finding more layers after additional listens. Amazon | Listen to “Gamma Ray”

10. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing Yet another debut album made the list. You may have heard this English pop duo on a commercial slinging iPods. Rolling Stone calls it “peppy New Wave.” @wende opines: “people either love them or hate them. Clearly, I’m in the former.” Amazon | Listen to “Great DJ”

Forty inspirational speeches from classic movies into two...

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:24:04 -0800

Forty inspirational speeches from classic movies into two minutes.

via lifehacker via waxy.org