Forty-one years ago, my Mum was six months pregnant, and probably starting to get a little uncomfortable. A few months later I was born and turned my parent’s lives upside down.

For a first child there’s a predictable pattern of shock, intense anxiety, the start of routines and then problem-solving. The problem-solving is endless.

Perhaps, forty years ago, my Mum discovered a really good way to get me to sleep when I was teething. Most likely she would have shared it with some close friends, and if the idea was a good one, they in turn would have shared it with their friends and so on. 1970′s noline viral marketing.

But how many people could my Mum’s great idea reach? Tens? Hundreds? Thousands?

More importantly, if you had no connection with my Mum, and even lived in a different part of the same city, the chance of you stumbling across the tip was as good as zero.

Today the internet has changed everything. Today everyone is a publisher, and even the most non-technical of people with access to a PC can share their thoughts, tips, ideas and experiences with the whole world.

I recently noted that thanks to the growth of the internet, and its incredible expansion from the computer to our pockets, we now have access to the largest collection of information in the history of our world. A hive mind or collective consciousness if you will.

As sellers of products and services, the collective consciousness also poses a problem. The sheer quantity of information means that making a splash is almost impossible. A new Mother might well be able to share her experiences and tips with the world, but so will many thousands of others.

When you’re big enough to be noticed by many, the snowball effect will start to kick in. The more people you see and impress, the more will start talking about you and linking to you.

But how do you go from Mum with some good ideas to Metropolitan Mum? How do you go from being a software startup to OnStartups?

Dharmesh Shah certainly got it right.

But what if the next Seth Godin is somewhere out there waiting to be heard? How do you make the initial splash big enough to be noticed in an ocean?

Thoughts, as always, are welcome in the comments below.

Share and Enjoy

In the world of software, most developers have to conform to basic standards and norms. Failure to do so results in “eh?” instead of “aaah!” by users.

Microsoft standardised the File, Edit, View approach for so many years that not only are modern applications criticised for not using it, but Microsoft themselves were derided when they introduced their Ribbon interface in Office 2007.

Most websites employ the use of buttons to communicate that a click is required, and the norm is to make website buttons look like actual buttons. In the same way that people don’t wave their hands in front of an elevator button to activate it, no-one has any doubt that a website button needs to be clicked on.

But why, as we approach 2011, are we still using buttons that were designed in the 90s? So many websites (ourselves included) use the old-fashioned gray buttons standardised by FrontPage 95.

And most of those who don’t use coloured rectangular buttons with rounded edges and subtle 3D lighting.

Storenvy don’t. In a polarised online world of extremes, where web designers are either stiflingly conventional or “out-there” to the point of being unusable, Storenvy quietly employed the talents of a rare breed: a designer who merges functionality, originality and cool.

Share and Enjoy

This was captured by my wife when she went to book tickets online for an event at the Royal Albert Hall.

The team responsible for running the website and booking system clearly know that their server isn’t up to the task. So they’ve found a solution.

I don’t know who first invented the numbered ticket queueing system loved by under-staffed organisations throughout the world.

But applying it to an online ordering system lies somewhere between depressing and obscene.

Share and Enjoy

In the interest of experimentation, I ran a Google search for online services for small businesses. I was going to share lots of the results and enjoy a slightly sarcastic rant, but I’ll keep it simple.

The first AdWords result that showed up for me was relevant and crystal clear:

The second wasn’t:

It could be that they’re not using AdWords correctly, or it could be because it’s a Monday and I’ve only had one (instant) coffee so far.

But I don’t understand the main headline for the second example, and I need to think to make the connection between what I searched for and what I see after I click.

If visitors to your website can read a headline three times and find themselves questioning the grammar more than the message, something is wrong.

Share and Enjoy

Thought 1: Bodybuilding has always struck me as an odd activity.

At a very basic level, it’s about people wanting to look good and feel good about themselves.

taken from wikipedia

Most young (and not so young) men would be happy to look like that. But if the aspiring bodybuilder decides to take it to a more competitive level, odd poses, fake tans and oils come into play.

taken from wikipedia

Most men wouldn’t want to look like that.

And the fascinating thing about bodybuilders is that they generally only look good to other bodybuilders.

Thought 2: Google offer a range of certification programs, one of which is the Google AdWords Certification Partner scheme.

In a nutshell, our company is certified because one or more people have taken and passed a couple of exams, and we handle more than $10,000 a month in total budgets.

The issue that niggles me is that the exam is little more than a memory test, and doesn’t actually measure a person’s competence in Google AdWords. In fact we’ve received a couple of job applications from qualified individuals who clearly didn’t know one end of an AdWords stick from another.

So the certification is more or less meaningless. More people are becoming qualified, and less of them know what they’re doing.

So a part of me is tempted to abandon the whole thing, and not jump through Google’s hoops any more. But then doing so may imply that we’re not capable of becoming qualified, which might put some people off working with us.

Thought 3: I recently tried a local networking organisation and attended two of their breakfast events. Aside from the awfulness of explaining who you are and what you do to complete strangers at 7:00 in the morning while trying to eat, everyone wears a suit. I hate wearing a suit.

In hindsight I feel that I sold out. I should have gone in jeans and a t-shirt, and explained to the other suits that my type of work doesn’t require a suit, and that if they didn’t like that, they shouldn’t work with me. But I didn’t. I went in a suit because “that was how these things work“.

True, my jeans would have put some people off. And many of them would have dismissed me as amateur and clueless. But I don’t want to work with that sort of people anyway.

And now I have to take two more Google exams to get a qualification that I no longer believe in because this is how these things work.

But at least I don’t have to tan myself and rub myself in oil.

Share and Enjoy

There are many talented software developers in the world, and many people with great business skills. And while there are some lucky enough to be both, they are a tiny minority. Hence the number of great software products that never become great businesses.

Software developers fall into the extreme-high-risk category of contracting Developer Syndrome. Although at first the symptoms may be mild, if left unchecked they can become life-threatening. If not to the developer, then certainly to their business.

Symptoms may include:

1 – Adding features because they can. Not because they’re needed, but because they can be implemented.

2 – Extreme rose-tinted glasses that block out all reason. “There are 500 million Excel users. If only 2% of them buy my add-in…” *

3 – Not seeing the forest for the trees. Customers aren’t interested in the code, they’re interested in how it can help them.

4 – Not seeing the trees for the forest. Visitors to your website aren’t influenced by the website. They’re influenced (or not) by very specific sections of very specific pages.

5 – “Build it and they will come”. They won’t, at least not initially.

Developer syndrome poses a serious threat to a software company’s well being. And that’s before we get into the fact that developers know as little about marketing as marketers know about coding.

Seth Godin’s Beware The Nile perch posting contained an ingeniously simple observation:

“There are bright shiny objects you can bring into your life (that project, that employee, that new office) that might just push the other useful items aside. You get hooked on them or they demand more attention or they make too much noise and the less-shiny projects or people whither away.”

My experience is that Software Developers see a lot of bright shiny objects. The difference between a good developer and a great developer is their ability to separate the diamonds from the pieces of glass that will do little more than cut their fingers. Developer Syndrome costs business lives. Forewarned is forearmed.

* I probably hear a variation of this principle once a month on average. Apologies to those who still believe this way of thinking.

Share and Enjoy

I recently returned from the Business of Software Conference in Boston – the most interesting event I have ever attended.

The hotel we were staying at, like many, is keen to jump on the Green bandwagon. Yet the card in my bathroom seemed to be lacking in clarity. Apologies for the image quality – this was taken with my BlackBerry. And no I don’t usually take pictures in bathrooms:

In other words, they traditionally change the towels on a daily basis. If you don’t want them to, leave the towels on the rack. If you do want them to, leave them on the floor. But surely if you want them to be cleaned, their traditions should take care of this for you?

The cynic might point out that no hotel cleans all the towels – they only clean those that are obviously used. In which case nothing new is happening here at all. It’s just another attempt to look good without having to do anything. But I’m not cynical.

In the interest of scientific testing I left two towels out – one on the side of the bath, the other on the back of a chair. Both were changed.

If what you’re trying to say is important enough to be printed on cards and left in thousands of bathrooms, it should at the very least be clear.

Share and Enjoy

I came to this conference with high expectations. I haven’t been disappointed.

My notebook (Moleskine – no power or internet required) is full of scribbled notes, names, website URLs and more. And my head has been filled with interesting thoughts and ideas  that now need to settle and grow.

It’s been a long day, and I’m still jet-lagged and sleep deprived. I also suspect that I’ll have problems falling asleep tonight, with some of the ideas, imagery and opinions that I’ve been exposed to. Seth Godin’s view of sales people as human spam, Jason Cohen’s ‘planning is silly’ idea, or my favourite of the day, Jason Cohen’s comparison of enterprise sales to a Jedi Mind trick…

Sleep may be difficult to come by tonight.

Share and Enjoy

Not a sentence I thought I would ever utter.

Two of the people who have inspired, impressed and dazzled me most over the last few years.

Share and Enjoy

I’m writing this from my hotel room at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, and the Business of Software conference begins in a little over two hours.

Needless to say I woke up just before 5:00 in the morning – one of the many perks of jet lag. But it’s rare that my days begin with a little work, breakfast and an hour of Seth Godin…

Please be sure to say hello if you’re attending the conference.

Share and Enjoy