I enjoy Jason Calacanis. I guess it’s his downright cheek which makes him entertaining. If you view everything he does in terms of self promotion and publicity then it all makes perfect sense.

Flock has the potential to create a vibrant and passionate user community. I can feel myself becoming more and more evangelical with every passing moment I spend with Flock. Firefox was and is great. But there's something about Flock which is getting under my skin. Within the space of 24 hours I'm already passionately positive. They must be doing something right. But quite what, I've yet to fully appreciate.

Technorati tags: flock, browser, firefox, evangelist, passion

You know the entire fabric of publishing and media is undergoing a revolution when you look at the phenomenon of Roger Smalls.

This lone (and by his own admission lonely) soul hooks into the network via nothing more than a lowly dial-up modem from his home in Guildford, Surrey. He blogs and records audio clips on his mobile phone. Many of these clips have been played by Adam Curry on the highly successful podcast The Daily Source Code. Roger's audio clips have proved so popular that they get their own jingle whenever Adam Curry plays them on the show. It has even been reported that some media executives have the Roger Smalls theme tune as rings tones on their phones.

This has not gone unnoticed by Nokia who have given Roger a free phone to review and record podcasts with. And it's on this very phone that Roger now contributes a one minute spot to BBC Radio One's oneclick/ future show.

'The Roger Smalls Show' is only a matter of time. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated while the incumbents make their way to the exits.

The furore surrounding TechCrunch's redesign reminded me of a debate I used to have with clients all the time. They would insist that their website was theirs because it belonged to them. I would say quite the opposite is true. Your website belongs to your customers/ users not yourself. You don't actually use your website. You might look after it, tend it and generally make sure it's working for it's audience but the idea that you would redesign your site for yourself seems peculiar.

There’s something reassuring about the way Google launches new products. There’s little or no fanfare, minimal hype and a quiet, sort of: “Er, here it is. If you don’t like it, no problem, if you do, great” delivery. In contrast to Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL’s “this is the greatest product since…” style, Google comes across as modest and unassuming although the reality is anything but. It’s as if they know the product has a life of its own once it’s in our hands and and it will either thrive or die. If a product isn’t successful, fine, no problem. Next.

I find myself commiting more and more of my information to Google’s silo simply because it feels better. I don’t get the sense I’m being sold to all the time. I am, of course, but it’s what I perceive that’s important. I perceive I’m being given a choice to make my own decisions. When I interact with Google the message I hear is: “take us or leave us.” Most times I take them. But it’s just as easy to leave them too. Something I don’t feel when confonted by the others players.

We won't know because it won't be advertising anymore. I can't remember the last time I endured an advertisement and yet I happily digest, in Dave Winer's words, commercial information, all day every day.

How does this work? Simple. I asked for/ subscribed to the information using RSS (Really Simple Syndication). I asked. It wasn't forced at me. I can turn it off whenever I please. I probably won't because the commercial information I consume isn't advertising. It's authoritative and high quality content, produced by passionate people. Why would I turn that off?

I've been meaning to point to Gapingvoid ever since Hugh got his new Tablet PC and started doing his cartoons digitally instead of using pen on business card.

Here a few of my favourites:

We're 34
We are on the Verge
Crime-Infested Urban Cesspool
Stay Ahead of the Culture
Your Traffic

Great post from Gapingvoid.

“Maybe it’s more important to be interested in the conversation you’re actually having, rather than only what’s in it for the bottom line.

Have you ever noticed how impossible and tedious it is to have a conversation with somebody who’s only thinking of what’s in it for them? What’s true of people is also true of products.”

[Technorati tags: marketing products consumers]

There are striking similarities between Paul Graham's essay What Businesses Can Learn From Open Source and some of the early part of Chris Locke's classic Gonzo Marketing.
Both authors highlight an extremely important point relevant to the power and success of blogging and open source projects. Namely that when people work for the love of it as 'amateurs' they do a much better job than if paid to do something without passion.
[Technorati tags: amateur opensource blogging passion love]

My wife runs an eBay shop. She's never run or worked in a shop in her life and yet in the short time it's been going it has been remarkably successful.
This could be attributed to the fact that she sells great items at good prices. But this is only part of the story. Although she spends a great deal of effort sourcing stock, pricing and presenting it, the part of the business which takes the most time and effort is customer service.
Fortunately she has a great instinct for this and it's reflected in the feedback from her customers. She deals with all correspondence as quickly as possible and she always tells her customers exactly what is going on when a problem arises.
She also takes the time to print custom designed labels and complement slips which although seemingly trivial touches always feature prominently in the feedback she receives.
Although each of these tasks is, in isolation, a tiny fraction of the whole picture, they all add up to define and determine the nature of the whole.
The devil is to be found in the detail for sure, but it's also where your saviour lies too.
Charabang Homeware eBay Shop
[Technorati tags: ebay ebayshop customerservice service homeware]