Jim Keenan is a Senior Sales Executive, Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 Connector, an Entrepreneur still trying to get it right, and a PSIA Certified Ski Instructor for Vail Resorts. Husband to Big E and father to four great kids. In a nut shell, I'm a Sales Guy. Life is good!
Ten years ago I tried to buy my last name, keenan.com Another Keenan owned it. He refused an offer of $5,000. I wouldn’t pay more for it. He has since sold it to a company called Keenan. I suspect I will never own my last name. That bums me out. Jim Keenan is also owned by someone else, although it’s an individual. I suppose, for the right price, I could have jimkeenan.com.
I don’t own my name and I don’t like it.
I think it is critical we own our online brand and that includes our names. I have bought my two daughters names and will be buying my, soon to be arriving, third daughters as well. I am securing their Facebook pages, their Twitter accounts and more. Will they use them? Who knows? But if they do, they will have their names.
Names are becoming a market. We can share names offline. We can’t share names online. User names and web domains are acquired on a first come, first serve basis. Once gone, they are gone forever. Depending on your name it could be very expensive to get after the fact. If your name is John Williams, expect to pay big. Deshawn Breznican, on the other hand, will probably be available for a while.
In a world were our online presence is the biggest asset we have, owning our names will be one of the critical investments we’ll need to make.
Have you invested in your name yet? The longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.
I wonder if we will see more Deshawns, Chantels and Matravius’s in the coming years. That would certainly solve the problem.
If I can’t get jimkeenan.com maybe I’ll change my name. How many Matravius Keenan’s can there be?
My IPhone experiment is over. I’m writing this update from my Mac. That pretty much tells the story.
My MacBook shit the bed a week ago, just before I left on a week long trip. I couldn’t get it fixed before I left, so I had to use my IPhone for everything.
For context, I didn’t have to use my phone for VPN purposes, or to tap into any corporate ERP applications, other than Exchange.
What I did use the phone for was all my social interactions, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, blogging, (posting and commenting), email, and surfing the web.
The results of the experiment are pretty simple. The IPhone is a GREAT mobile device; literally. It’s a great augment for a desktop or laptop. It’s not a replacement. It did everything I needed it to. It just took 2 to 3 times longer to do it. There was an app for everything. I blogged using WordPress’s app. I took notes and saved info using Evernote. The Facebook, LinkedIn, and TweetDeck apps were great. Besides loading times, they were as easy, if not easier than the desktop apps. I used IPhone’s Safari browser for the web. It was SLOW! It was definitely a deterrent to browsing. Also, I desperately want to see plug-in’s for mobile safari or a browser alternative.
I used a couple of other social services, like BizSugar who don’t have an IPhone app. Using them without a mobile app was painful. Note to internet services, build a mobile application quickly, very quickly.
At the end of the day I was able to do what I do on my laptop. It slowed me down. It took me out of my rhythm. I had to change my processes. But, I was able to do everything I needed.
I missed my laptop. That is for sure. The plus, I am now better with the IPhone keypad AND like a good Swiss army knife, if I ever lose my laptop again, I know I can survive with my IPhone.
Afterthought-
What does this mean for the I-Pad? Will it close the gap?
This question has been ruminating in my head for awhile. Not just the question of profanity, but the idea of a reduced sense of formality; swearing in blogs, wearing jeans in the work place, access to authority, etc.
Are we becoming a less formal country and is that OK?
My thoughts are yes and YES!!!
The formality of this country has been steeped in its Puritan ethic, going all the way back to the first day the Pilgrims stepped onto Plymouth rock. It has dictated our behavior for 400 years. In my opinion, it has stunted innovation, communication, collaboration and engagement. It has created social hierarchies and limited the spread of information and ideas. Formality, is a social contract that says; “I will act a certain way until a particular level of engagement or interaction has been established” OR worse, the formality is the result of a hierarchical structure. It says; I will act a certain way because of WHO you are.
I say BULL SHIT!
The erosion of formal social contracts is accelerating interaction. It is getting to the core of issues. It’s not shackling ideas. It’s calling out the elephant on the table. It’s cutting to the chase. It’s getting real.
Professional speakers dropping F-bombs that enhance authentic, real, presentations where the swearing brings value is exactly what we need. Gratuitous swearing does none of this and therefore I’m not a fan.
I’d like to see greater erosion of social formality. It allow people to focus on the message. Informality puts people at ease. We let down our guard. It allows us to quickly assess our environment. Asking; is this a person I want to spend time with? Is this a message that resonates with me? Not, who is the person really. Are we still being formal? What do they REALLY think? Can I say what I want now? Can I be me?
Enough with the formality. Let’s get right to it. Let’s open the flood gates. If you are a swearer, then let em fly in your presentations. As Nick comments in the post: Be who you are, swears and all.
I think that people should be themselves on stage no matter what. If they swear a lot while talking normally, then they should swear on stage. AUTHENTIC speakers grab my attention, not their cuss words. -Nick Campbell
I’m fighting the loser tonight. The loser is the little guy in all of us who looks to sabotage our efforts.
What sucks about the loser is he only hurts us. He never helps us.
The loser tells us to do it later. He tells us we’re too tired. He convinces us it’s not our job. The loser blames others when we screw up so we don’t have to blame ourselves. The loser is behind most of our failings.
The loser knows when we are vulnerable. And that’s when he’s at his best. When we are tired, frustrated, down, and feeling helpless, the loser in us springs into action convincing us that it’s OK to deviate from our goals, to push off our objectives or to avoid our commitments. The loser does everything he can to make us fail, to lose. That’s why he is called the loser.
The loser has been working on me all night. I wanted to do a blog post tonight. But, I am not feeling well, I have ton of other work, I wasn’t coming up with any good blog ideas and I had to write the post from my Iphone. (doing an Iphone experiment).
This is the type stuff the loser loves. It’s the ammunition he uses to thwart your efforts He uses it to get you to blow off what is important and then convinces you it’s justified.
The loser was telling me I didn’t have to, it was OK.
The loser is a master. He knows how to distract you and get you to take your eyes off the goal.
The loser will win everyone once in awhile. He’s that good. The key is to beat him more than he beats you.
He almost got me tonight. But, in the end I just couldn’t let him have this one. It never feels good when the loser wins.
To get where you want to go in life you have to get good at beating your loser.
A few hours ago, just as I’m heading out of town for a week, my Macbook crashes. Nothing but the grey screen of death.
I am now without my computer for at least a week.
I figure rather than get upset I’m going to run a little experiment. I’m only going to use my IPhone.
I will be using only my IPhone for the next week. I will use it for my blogging (writing this post at the airport now), Twitter, e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, feedreader, blog comments, web-surfing and more. It will be my only device.
I’m curious to know if the type pad will get me frustrated, especially for longer posts and e-mails. I’m also curious how I’ll feel about the browser speed for surfing and commenting.
I use my IPhone for many of these things now, but mostly in a mobile capacity. It will be interesting to see how I feel after a week of just the IPhone.
I will update you with my thoughts when it’s over and I get my beloved Mac back.
I love the competition innovation brings. You have those who lead the pack and grab share early. Then you have your followers, those who run out and copy the original idea and add their own spin. Then you have your laggards who commoditize the market and drive the prices down.
I’m always curious to what’s going to happen to the innovator. By being first were they able to capture the market or just seed it?
Philips TV launched the flat screen TV but didn’t capture the market.
Apple launched the first real personal computer, but didn’t capture the market.
Friendster launced the Social Media craze but didn’t capture the market
The Kindle launched the ebook reader but won’t capture the market and is about to lose to the IPad
It’s hard to be first AND capture the market.
10 reasons why, despite being first, the Kindle will be relegated to a second tier ebook reader an not capture the market.
Read your blogs without paying- Readers can subscribe to blogs and read them on the IPad with out paying. The Kindle charges to subscribe to blogs
Share – The IPad allows you to share what your reading instantly with apps for Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and cut and paste etc. Sharing is huge
E-mail – Beyond the sharing capabilities email provides, readers can access other tools of their day in a single device
Social Media – The IPad will allow users to stay connected and engaged with their friends
The apps - There are over 140,000 applications users will be able to use on the IPad. This increases the utility of the device 10 fold
Internet access - The IPad allows you to search the web with a fully functional browser. Links provided in the reading come to life instantly. You can access your online newspaper subscriptions and more without additional cost
Movies – You can watch movies on it. (that’s all I need to say about that)
Pictures – The IPad is a killer photo album
Listen to music – I like to listen to music when I read.
Bonus Reason - there is a Kindle app for the IPad, therefore you can buy your books from Amazon, and access any books you’ve already purchased as a current Kindle user. The Kindle is in the IPad.
The Amazon Kindle seeded the ebook market, but like many before them, they won’t own the space. I guess you could call them Amazon “Apple” seed.
Many of you know I am a big fan of enterprise micro-blogging. Think Twitter for your company. It is by far the most efficient way to share information, exchange ideas, collaborate and engage people in your company. Enterprise micro-blogging tools make companies more agile and improve performance because they capture the invisible.
Salesforce.com is going to launch their own micro-blogging tool called Chatter (now in private beta.) Chatter will compete with Socialcast, Yammer, Socialtext and all the other microblogging tools out there today. It’s a crowded space, but they will have an advantage because of it’s integration into their Salesforce.com platform.
Chatter provides all the typical features you would expect from traditional micro-blogging tools. You can create groups, follow the people most interesting to you, filter feeds to easily find things that are important, respond to specific users directly, share documents and links and more.
But, Chatter also has a few unique features. The most interesting is, unlike Yammer, Socialcast and other pure play micro-blogging tools, Chatter gives you a home page where all of your Salesforce data and important information is laid out for you to monitor. Think of it like a business application dashboard. Another unique Chatter feature is the profile page. The Chatter profile page appears more informative than Yammer and Socialcast from what I can tell. It provides your experience, skills and other personal information so others in the organization know who you are and what you do. It has more of a Facebook profile feel.
Another unique feature Chatter has is its ability to allow you to follow a document. I like this feature a lot. You can follow a PowerPoint presentation, a spreadsheet, a word doc. anything. I like this feature because it makes updating, and managing versions super easy. It also allows you to see what others think of the information and make corrections on the fly. Beyond documents and people, Chatter allows you to follow other applications, including non-Salesforce.com applications.
Chatter also gives you the ability to bring information in from outside social networks like Twitter. The value here is you can create a Twitter search for a specific company or customer and anytime time that company or customer is mentioned on Twitter, everyone in your Chatter group can see it. This is a powerful way to manage a customer and stay ahead of the competition.
One question I do have about Chatter that concerns me is integrating an entire organization. Traditionally, only sales, and marketing and the executives use Salesforce.com If Salesforce wants it to be a ubiquitous tool for the entire company they will have to create licensing pricing that makes it worth it to have everyone in the company to use it; including those who normally don’t use Salesforce, like product, finance and HR. The real value in micro-blogging comes from connecting the entire organization. Not just a few functional groups.
If you are a Salesforce.com customer, Chatter is a compelling tool to bring your organization together. If used appropriately, it has the ability to create proposals faster, identify useful information faster, improve customers relationships, increase sales, accelerate product development and more.
Whether it’s Chatter, Socialcast, Yammer, Socialtext or any other micro-blogging tool, your organization will benefit from their use. Find one and use it. They are about more than chattering, yammering or twittering, they are about getting business done.
Do u think Apple will offer the Kindle app for the IPad?
Bijan
No idea but I hope so
Me
It would create an intersting dynamic. Having two book reading
options. One that makes you money and one that doesn’t.
It would get me to buy the IPad for sure. I would all but abandon my
Kindle.
Being able to play on both devices would be a boon for Amazon.
This got me thinking.
If Apple allows the Kindle App on the IPad, it could canniblize their own book store revenue. For Kindle readers, there is little reason to buy from the Apple book store. However, it is a great reason to buy an IPad. IPad’s are far superior devices than the Kindle. If I can leverage my Kindle account on an IPad, it would be no brainer to switch.
Apple has an interesting dilemma. Risk losing some book revenue and lower the barrier to adoption for existing and potential Kindle users or draw a line in the sand; have a monopoly on bookstore revenue but sell fewer IPads. I think Apple will be better served by offering the Kindle app. Mostly because, they should want as many people on their device as possible. Secondly, because Apple and Amazon will each be lacking titles. Users will go to both stores to find the titles they want. The bookstore revenue loss may not be that material.
Amazon is in a bit of a different situation. They run the risk of the Kindle device becoming completely obsolete. If Amazon offers the Kindle app on the IPad, they in essence remove any value or need to buy a Kindle. If Amazon offers the Kindle app for the IPad the deliberation between buying a Kindle or an IPad becomes fruitless. The IPad wins. You can simply buy any of the Amazon titles the Kindle offers on the IPad, as well as have access to the Apple bookstore, email, the web, your music, pictures etc. Game over, no contest, case closed, the Kindle just isn’t the device the IPad is.
If I’m Amazon, I put the app on the IPad. I’m not going to play the hardware game. Hardware margins traditionally suck. Hardware is a vehicle to higher margin sales. I suspect this is/was the case for the Kindle. It was created to drive more book sales. If I’m Amazon, I’m going to keep this focus on getting people to buy books from me and let Apple make the device. This is what Amazon does best. They know the online retail space better than anyone. They need to compete on their own turf, where they can win. Competing with Apple on hardware is not a good fight.
If Apple wants to sell more devices, which is where they play best, they need to offer the Kindle app on the IPad. It will kill the Kindle. If they want to be the next Amazon, they shouldn’t. I don’t want to know why they would want to be Amazon.
If Amazon wants to sell more books, they should offer the Kindle app on the IPad. It will get them more book sales. If they want to sell more Kindles, they shouldn’t, but can they be an Apple with the Kindle? I say no.
The Kindle (app) needs to kill the Kindle (device), it is best for everyone.
I’ve been arguing for awhile that social media is changing everything and peer to peer lending is an example of this.
Peer to peer lending sites like Prosper pair people looking for a loan with people looking to lend.
Prosper in its own words:
Peer to Peer Lending—Rewarding for Borrowers and Lenders
* Peer to Peer lending is a financial community made up of individual people seeking lower rate loans and investment opportunities with higher returns.
* Borrowers apply online for a loan. Lenders bid on loan listings. Registered lenders have access to the borrower’s credit information. They can view the purpose of the loan, the borrower’s Prosper Rating, and more.
* If the loan gets enough bids, funds are placed in the borrower’s bank account. Payments are automatically deducted from their bank account.
* Lenders enjoy the rewards of this alternative investment: they receive monthly payments of principal and interest.
* The high costs of banks are removed because we connect people directly: everyone benefits.
I dig this concept. In many ways banks are no different than any other type of “agent.” They are middlemen. They loan our deposits to others and make money on our money. I like the idea of cutting out banks.
Prosper creates a more personal component to lending. I can see how loans could be evaluated by the people who know the space in which the money is being used. Rather than have a “loan officer” determine if the 10 grand you’re asking for to start a hair salon, people who know something about starting hair salon’s etc decide if the loan is worth giving.
I can also see people incorporating their social profiles or their online presence which could increase the comfort level and relationship component of the transaction. Just like the relationship bankers have with their clients but deeper.
To the extent that the Prosper network can grow to million of users it could can have a huge effect on the access of capital. It spreads capital, rather than it being aggregated in an industry.
I’m also intrigued with the lending component. Prosper has the ability to provide an alternative asset class to a portfolio. They currently tout returns of 6 to 14 percent. Micro-lending or peer to peer lending is a unique way to add debt beyond bonds to a portfolio.
The downside to prosper as I can see it is on the lending side. What concerns me is those looking for a loan. Why are they choosing Prosper? Why aren’t they going a traditional route, if they have good credit? Why are they willing to accept a higher interest rate? I do think Prosper and other Peer to Peer lending companies will attract a higher risk clientele. Felix Salmon has a good post on the downside. I especially like his “adverse selection” assessment.
I haven’t tried Prosper yet. But I am curious. I’m intrigued by the peer to peer lending concept.
What about you. Would you loan someone money this way? Would you borrow money in this fashion?
Yesterday was Groundhog Day and the little guy saw his shadow. Therefore; it means we have 6 more weeks of winter. I think.
As a kid this made no sense to me. It was confusing as hell, actually. To me, the logic was backward. If the groundhog saw his shadow, it meant the sun was out. If the sun was out, it was warm. If it was warm, spring must be close.
From my point of view, being from Boston, it was cloudy and cold all winter and sunny and warm in the spring. Therefore, the idea that seeing his shadow (made possible by the sun) meant spring was further away was backward.
Selling is similar. Often what makes complete and logical sense to us, is the complete opposite of how the customer sees it. We need to make sure we understand how are customers are looking at the problem. Their point of view my draw very different conclusions.
Don’t be quick to assume your customer is following what you’re saying, they maybe just as confused as I am with Groundhogs Day.
Can anyone explain to me why if he sees his shadow, spring is further away? I still don’t get it.
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